The Facade

Chapter 2

Marlon and I sat at the kitchen table as he ate feverishly. Every time I fed him it was like he hadn't eaten in ages. They say that when you have an insatiable appetite for food, you also have it in other ways.

Marlon had an insatiable appetite in many ways.

"Well I heard on the radio you were taking many photographs with Grace Kelly." My cheek was placed in my hand. "How was that?"

"Grace is a beauty, but I wish you would've come out." Marlon frowned, eating a mouthful of food.

"I have no business being at the Oscars." I rose my eyebrows as I held my tea cup in front of me.

"You do, you definitely do. I invited you, what's more of a reason than that." Marlon reached out his hand as he spoke.

"Mr. Pretentious, can you come out of your bubble for a moment? They don't like people like me there." I pursed my lips together.

"There were many people like you there... you would've been fine." He told me, then continued on to stuff his face.

"Oh really? Did you see how they treated Miss Dandridge?" I sat up in my seat.

"I'm well acquainted with her." A mischievous grin spread across Marlon's full lips. It was all over the paper that he'd shared a very scandalous kiss with Dorothy at the Oscars. To his studio, Marlon always found his arms wrapped around the wrong woman, especially those of the wrong color.

"You were better of going without me." I crossed my legs in my seat and looked away. There was a silence as I stubbornly avoided looking toward him. Marlon's knuckles turned another color as he squeezed and twisted his fork in his hand. His jaw clenched, he didn't like to be ignored.

"Hey, can I tell you something?" Marlon asked in a low, growling voice. That wasn't going to move me, I still ignored him. "Rose."

I graced him with my attention by looking back over with hooded eyes. My eyelashes created a slight shadow on my cheek bones as the light from the window flowed in.

Still, my body was turned away with my legs crossed.

"Just so you know, Grace and I barely spoke." He told me. At this point, I knew better than to believe that. Marlon was known for pretending his conquests with women never happened. He wasn't my husband, nor were we going steady, so it truly wasn't my business. Still something ate at me knowing he'd try to cover his tracks.

I stood up and walked off into the hallway, getting away from the emotional parasite at my table.

"Come on, Rose!" Marlon wiped his mouth with a napkin then hastily tried to walk after me. I began walking up the steps slowly, the fabric of my robe moving along with each leg.
I heard him walk in behind me, then he stood beside me on the steps as he tried to speak to me.

"Marlon, I don't have time for this." I told him. Before I could see him out, I was pressed against the railing by Marlon's body. Marlon held either side as he boxed me in. His warm body was pressed against mine, one of his legs tucked between the two of mine. His knuckles were white from squeezing onto the rail.

"I just want you to know I haven't seen anyone." Marlon told me. I gripped onto his biceps in a failed attempt to remove his arms from either side of me. They wouldn't budge.

"Alright. It's no bother to me anyway." I lied, looking up into his eyes. "As I said on the telephone— you and I are no more. In fact, we never were!"

"Precisely, so it should be no problem." Marlon closed his eyes and began lowered his face to mine, tilting his head as if he expecting to get something.

"Oh yes it will be." I sternly said, my nails sinking into his strong arms. His eyes opened and looked into mine once more. He paused, keeping his body close as if he was reading me. Then he released me from his clasp.

"I apologize." He nodded, then began making his way down my opulent steps. On his way out, he noticed my coat rack. A dark colored fedora hat hung at the top of the rack. His large hand covered the span of the hat as he slowly took it off.

"That's not yours." I spoke out to him, my bottom still pressed against the railing just like Marlon left me. All I could wonder about is when Marlon would finally make his way out of my house.

"You've had another man here." Marlon looked at the fedora hat in his hand.

"Yes Marlon, in fact I've had men here." I spoke up, slowly turning toward him and stepping down one step. "It may be a shock but I've had sex since you've been gone. And it didn't involve you."

"I'm sure you thought about me all the while." Marlon spoke up, his ego looking to make sense of it all. He truly couldn't phantom why I always had a life on my own. Unlike his other girls, everything didn't revolve around him.

"You were the last thought on my mind." I said softly, his eyes squinted as he thought of it. Then, he placed the hat on his head. "Marlon, that's not your hat."

"It is now." Marlon spoke up. "What could that prick possibly do about it?"

"You don't even know who left it." I spat.

"And there'll be nothing for them when they come to retrieve it." Marlon's hands touched the rim of the hat, tilting it in a stylish way on his head. Then, he slowly walked back up to the steps where I were. I raised my chin as he stopped right below me, his eye level right at my bosom.

He noticed a necklace I wore around my neck, then reached out and touched the pendant. "It's all mine now."

His hand took hold of mine and lifted it to his lips, leaving a slow and seductive kiss. Then, he walked back down the steps back toward the door. As he opened it, the light shined around his silhouette, and with the hat he left.