“So where’s Mr Martin?”
Chloe sits down across from Kim, Marshall leans against the cupboards,
“And why we having this chat?” he asks
“Well, so I have all the facts for when my daughter’s teacher wants to know what show and tell was all about”
“You think its gonna come to that?”
Chloe sits in silence as they back and forth, Kim leans back In her chair and casually slings her arm over the arch of it,
“Probably not but It would satisfy my curiosity” she smirks at him
“Been a long time Chloe, what’s been happening? I thought you didn’t wanna see Marshall again?”
“Why would you think that?” Chloe looks quizzically at her
“Not really the point of this chat, as for the girls it concerns you Kim, nothing else does really”
Marshall says walking over to the table,
“Anyway Chloe has to get to work,”
He pulls her up and starts leading her out of the kitchen,
“See ya Kim,” she calls over he shoulder as Marshall walks quicker.
Once out of earshot of the kitchen Marshall pulls Chloe into him,
“So I’m seeing you again then?”
There’s a questioning tone but more rhetorical. Without skipping a beat, without thinking about Chris, Chloe nods
“Tonight?”
He nods and leans down and kisses her forcefully, pushing her against the wall, her arms circle around him, pulling him into her further.
“Marshall, coffee is getting cold”
Kim calls from the kitchen.
They pull away from eachother, Marshall leans his forehead against hers,
“Tonight” she says again,
once more he nods.
******
“So she’s married”
Is the first thing Kim says when he walks back into the kitchen
“Yep”
He doesn’t want to play into this, he grabs himself a cup and makes a fresh coffee
“Thought you had your principles? Your standards?” she mocks
He doesn’t say anything, he knows she is fishing for a reaction and he refuses to bite.
“Well I guess that changes with Chloe hey? She has always been the exception to your rule”
He still doesn’t say anything, he knew this was gonna come, it was always the way with Kim, every time she had tried to bring Chloe up in the past and boy had she thrown that in his face plenty of times, it was always the same line
“I guess she was the special one”
Kim finishes his thought for him.
“Golden girl Chloe, second place Kimmy hey”
He turns to her and rolls his eyes
“This going somewhere Kim or we gonna have the same conversation for the millionth time? Shit we aint even married anymore and you still have this complex?”
She stands up and begins to walk out of the kitchen
“Not a complex Marshall, just gets a bit chilly always being in someone’s shadow”
She walks out the kitchen and he hears the front door open, she offers one last parting shot
“Just try to keep it out of the kitchen when the girls are here please”
Marshall nods to himself, she always had to have the last word. His phone buzzes in his pocket, a text
“Incredible night, cant wait to see you again”
He smiles to himself, feeling like a stupid kid again.
*******
“He’s not staying here Chloe”
“God Mum have some compassion he was kicked outta home”
“And I wonder why with a mouth like his”
Chloe glares at her mum, well aware that Marshall can hear her in the next room
“Although I shouldn’t be surprised with a mother like the one he has”
“And what about the mother I have? A boy may have to sleep on the street tonight because you couldn’t care less?”
“Oh Chloe you are overreacting, he will find somewhere.” Her mum brushes her off,
“Marshall I know you can hear us, so you can take your own cue with the door” she calls into the next room.
Chloe seethes shooting daggers at her mum,
“Stop being so dramatic Chloe for Christ’s sake.”
Her mother walks out of the room, Chloe storms out and slams the loungeroom door behind her, Marshall is at the front door opening it to leave, Chloe rushes in front of him and slams the front door behind him so her mum thinks he left, she raises her finger to her lips to signal him to be quiet and grabs his hand leading him to her room. Closing the door behind them both Chloe turns to face a confused Marshall,
“Maybe I should go Chloe”
She shakes her head
“No fuck her, you are staying here”
She leans in and kisses him.
YOU ARE READING
Ghosts of the Past
FantastiqueMarshall was Chloe's first everything; boyfriend, kiss, love. They met whilst at school when Chloe had moved to Detroit with her mum from Australia, although only together for two years before returning back to Aus it was meant to be them against th...
