Carlos has said about him, but I can’t help feeling uneasy around him. It’s something I can’t quite put my finger on, I just can’t shake the inkling that nothing good will come of him being here.
Chapter 8
The morning drags by, Marcus is unwavering in has charm offensive and Carlos equally so in his refusal to give more than one word answers. Twice I offer quietly to Carlos to leave them alone to hash it out once and for all and twice I am refused.
Alternatively I find myself stuck to Carlos’s side at all times, like a conjoined twin. Don’t get me wrong, at first it was enchanting to have such constant affection from him, but when I can’t even go to the toilet without him asking where I’m going, it starts to grate.
I feel suffocated, I need to get out for a while, but there’s no way Carlos is letting me out of his sight, at least as long as Marcus is around.
There is nothing more I can do to re-assure him, we spoke about it, I gave him my word and I have been true to that; playing along with the ‘couple that can’t keep their hands off each other’ scene he invented, keeping my distance and being nothing but ice cold towards Marcus. What more can I possibly do, past having sex with him right here on the floor, for all to see? Or have ‘property of Carlos’ tattooed on my forehead?
I tell Carlos I’m going to the toilet, again, but instead slip silently through the connecting door into our bedroom; picking up the phone in there I carefully dial through to Blair’s room, it rings once, please answer, twice, please be in, three times, oh come on Blair! My plan is to get her to call right back with some sort of emergency that means I must go to her immediately, but something that is too sensitive for Carlos to come as well, maybe a fight with John or something. That way he’ll be forced to stay behind and interact with Marcus. That was the plan anyway, but after ten rings, I have to accept that she is not in.
Placing the receiver back in its cradle I plod back downstairs defeated, into the kind of atmosphere you could slice through with a knife.
Marcus is sat watching TV, while Carlos perches on the breakfast bar, glowering at the back of his head.
“Can we please go out or something, I’m getting sick of sitting around all day” I speak to Carlos.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” he says openly, then under his breath “be nice to get away from him for a while”
I nod in agreement, taking his hand and leading him straight to the door before he has a chance to change his mind. The second my fingers make contact with the handle, Marcus speaks.
“What you guys doing?”
“Going out” comes Carlos’s standard short reply.
“Oh nice, I’ll come with you, let me just grab my shoes” Oh for Pete’s sake, is this man completely devoid of sense? He is seriously asking for trouble. If I have to take much more of this I’m going to snap, so I can’t even begin to think how Carlos is feeling right now. About ready to explode I’m betting.
Sneaking a look at his face I can see his jaw clenched and flexing. His arms are crossed, protectively across his chest, his hands balled into fists. Yep he’s seething alright.
Marcus re-appears downstairs, shoes on, looking all smug with himself.
“So, where are we going?” he asks. Carlos just rolls his eyes and stalks out into the sun. All I can do is shrug and follow his lead; with an undeterred Marcus bringing up the rear.
It’s overwhelmingly hot as usual, normally me and Carlos would not even be holding hands in this kind of heat, but because Marcus is present, he has pulled me in close and draped his arm round my shoulders. It would be cruel to remove him, but I’m sweltering under his added body heat; shifting my shoulders I guide his hand down to rest on my hip instead. At least this way I don’t feel half as trapped!
Marcus does not stop talking for even one minute; it makes no difference to him whether anyone is listening, let alone responding, he just keeps on jabbering away about everything and nothing. On very rare occasions he even says something mildly amusing, but god forbid I show even the slightest smile in his direction, so