The Music Producer and the Teacher 2

Chapter 3: I wasn't tough enough to stick it out with Kim

To my surprise, I went the whole next week without feeling anything like I had felt after court that day. I did my best to cast the event out of my mind and not dwell on it too much. Marshall had become the person for me to lean on when I felt anxious or like I was going to slip into a similar pattern. All I ever had to do was call him and he usually always picked up to talk me down.

Today he was over at my house while Melissa was at her parents' house. She tried to give them one of her less busy days to help them around their house. Usually, I would accompany her. But I felt they would want to discuss recent events and I was worried that may trigger something in me, so I stayed home. I could only imagine what they would say if they witnessed me in the middle of an episode of mine. Marshall had ordered us a pizza and brought over a few movies he said I just had to see once. We were cuddled up together on the couch, me with my arms around him, my head on his strong chest. I was beginning to lose focus on the movie, letting his steady heartbeat lull me towards sleep. Suddenly, his phone rang jilting me out of my trance and causing me to shoot straight up, almost clean up off the couch. I could tell by the look on his face, Marshall found this extremely funny, however he was doing his best not to laugh. "Sorry." He said when he was able to gain some composure. "Can you give me a few minutes? I promise this wont take long." I nodded, and he gave me a quick peck before exiting the room, heading towards my room for privacy.

I waited for what seemed like ever. I could hear muffled conversation but nothing I could make out. I knew this wasn't one of his simple work calls because he never let them keep him for longer than a few minutes. At this point my curiosity was getting the best of me. So, I got up and headed towards the back of Melissa and I's small apartment. When I got to the door I could really hear the conversation, or at least his part of it. Marshall sounded angry, nothing like I had ever heard him sound like on the phone with anyone before. "What the fuck you mean you need more money?! I paid every one of your fucking bills, what else could you need money for?" He paused for few seconds and sighed. I'm also pretty sure I saw him roll his eyes. "Alright, is two hundred enough?" Is he giving someone some money? For what? He was silent for another second or two, then he pulled the phone away from his ear. Whoever he was talking to seemed to have hung up. He went to get up, and I was ready to turn away, but he began to rub his temples like he was aggravated. I took this opportunity to stick my head in the door. "Hey babe. Is everything okay in here?" He looked kind of surprised to see me, but he patted the spot next to him on my bed for me to sit, so I obliged. Marshall went back to rubbing his temples again briefly before answering. "Yeah, everything is fine." He looked down at the floor like he often does, so I grabbed his hand. "Whatever is going on you can tell me. Shit look at all my baggage." He smiled in response to that. I was trying to offer him at least a fragment of the comfort he had been giving me in boatloads over the last week, but I wasn't sure if it was enough. "Remember me telling you about Kim?" he asked me after a few seconds. "Yeah, of course." I replied. "Well, that was her on the phone. I've kind of been supporting her for a little while. She was convicted of another felony about six months ago and she's had had a hard time finding a job. So I've been paying her bills in a little place downtown." He stopped talking and looked over to me for a reaction. I think he expected me to flip out or get angry, but I understood his desire to take care of her, even if she didn't entirely deserve it. I squeezed the hand of his I was still holding onto lightly to let him know I wasn't angry. He laid his head on my shoulder and sighed again. "I really should have told you sooner. If I had known you would be so calm about it, I would have." "I know." I responded. "I understand you're not used to having someone who you can be totally transparent with." I then leaned my head against his. "This is the first time she's ever asked me for more money. Usually I don't hear from her after I pay everything."

Of course, I had a million different judgments running through my mind. This didn't seem legit to me. I had many questions that I wasn't sure I should ask. Was it even my business? Does he visit her? How often? Is she coming to his place? Judging from the way that conversation went, he probably gives in to her a lot. Would he give her parts of him that were only supposed to be for me? I tried to push all the curiosities out of my mind as I needed to fill the silence that had taken shape with all my thoughts. "I'm really sorry you're going through this. You don't deserve it." He removed himself from the position we were in together and kissed me deeply. "You don't either." He whispered to me. What did that mean? Maybe he was just trying to be sweet. Before I could have any more thoughts like the ones I had been having Marshall had went in for another kiss, leaning into me more with this one and eventually getting me on my back on my bed. He began to climb up my body, all the while kissing and lightly biting in certain places. When he got to my neck, he began to leave light hickeys there and on my shoulders. He grabbed for mu shirt, so I lifted my arms and he pulled it right off, pulling his own off right after. I put my arms around his neck and ran them down his bare torso feeling every curve and feature he had. Then he reached around my back and unhooked my bra, taking a few minutes to admire my bare chest and give my breasts the attention they longed for from him. He kissed me once more before starting to work his way back down my body the way he came up it. He gently helped me to tug my pants off the bottom half of my body, along with my underwear. This continued until I forgot what had brought me into this room in the first place.

Once we had finished we untangled ourselves from each other and we assumed our usual sides of the bed. "Feel better now?" I asked him, teasingly. I couldn't help but giggle a little when I asked this because I certainly already knew the answer. He pulled me closer into him and said "Yes. Much. All thanks to you, Marissa." He kissed me in the crook of my neck. "Good. Try not to let her get to you okay? You're too good for that." I responded. I waited a few seconds for his reply, but I never got one. I rolled over to check on him and saw he was already asleep. I laid my hand over his where it was resting on its usual spot on my bare torso and drifted off to sleep shortly after.