Page 34 of Scar

Tally sighed. She stood straighter, taking her hands off of her desk, and leaned back against him. “I miss you too,” she said softly. “And we do need to talk about our future, Mark. I’m sorry for being such a bitch. You deserve better than me.”

“I deserveyou, Tally. We’ll figure out our schedules and create something that works for us.” He pressed his lips to her temple. “Will you come over tonight?”

“Mark, you know it’s hard for me to be at your place. I’d much prefer to go to mine?—”

“I’ll clean up!” he swore. “I promise.”

Tally’s face scrunched, but she still said, “Fine. I’ll try to be done by eleven-thirty.”

“Awesome.” He turned her face to kiss her on the lips. “I’ll be waiting with bells on.” Then Mark walked out of the office.

Tally let out a long sigh. She clicked her tongue several times but her head never moved directly up at him like she’d found his hiding spot. She did however find the plate of food on the filing cabinet. She reached out for it, frowning when her fingers discovered the full plate.

Sadness like Scar had never seen before crossed her face. Like she was mourning the loss of the uneaten food. Scar felt a pang in his chest like he’d taken a blade to the heart at the sight of her dejected expression.

Tally took the plate with her as she left the office, closing the door behind her.

* * *

[WiseWave620: Oh fuck! I don’t even know if you know about Jenna. Shit, man. Why can’t you just be here when we need you?]

[WiseWave620: Jenna was diagnosed with late-onset multiple sclerosis. She claims it’s not a death sentence, but you should see Steel. It’s like he’s being burned alive from the inside out. I can’t imagine Steel without Jenna. The universe sucks sometimes.]

* * *

By the timeMark was pulling into the parking lot ofThe Unseen Palette, Scar was entering Mark’s two bedroom apartment. He lived in a fancier building towards the heart of Atlanta on the fourteenth floor. Scar had stopped by the apartment earlier in the week to look into the sort of man Mark was and he had not been impressed.

In a word, Mark was a slob.

Scar completely understood Tally’s hesitation to come to Mark’s apartment. In comparison to hers, Mark’s was a sty.

Looking around now, Scar could see where Mark had attempted to clean to keep his promise to Tally, but the man had failed miserably. Rather than placing his shoes on the rack by the door, the shoes werebythe rack. A pillow was still on the floor next to the couch and the remote control for the television wasonthe couch. The bed was made but the comforter was too large for the mattress. A wet towel was on the floor in the bathroom. From the water droplets still in the bathtub, Scar could only assume that Mark had just showered prior to departing to pick Tally up. None of the chairs in the kitchen were pushed under the table and the odd angles of the chair legs could easily be caught by a foot or a shin.

Shaking his head, Scar started picking up all of the tripping hazards. The man could do his own fucking dishes, but would it kill him to put the knives somewhere Tally’s hands couldn’t accidentally brush them on the counter? Maybe this was why Scar did not like Mark. It wasn’t that he was a bad guy, he just wasn’t therightguy for Tally.

* * *

[WiseWave620: Did you know Tessa and Bear had their baby? They named her ‘Julia’ after you.]

* * *

Tally kepther cane in front of her as Mark guided her into his apartment. She really wasn’t sure about coming over, but he’d been so insistent and she really did feel guilty about the state of their relationship. She needed to find a way to break up with him gently. Her argument not to do so before his birthday was becoming flimsier.

Before or after his birthday, it wasn’t fair to him to string him along. She needed to come clean about the fact that she wasn’t in love with him and didn’t believe she ever would be. She cared about Mark too much to be dishonest, and blaming her busy schedule was the coward’s way out. Yes, it was nice to have someone, but he could still be her ‘someone’—just a friend ‘someone’, not a lover ‘someone’.

Tally was shocked when she was able to walk into his entryway without coming across a shoe, coat, or sock on the floor. “Wow, you really did clean up.” She hoped her chuckle took away any criticism he might take from the statement.

“Um, yeah…” His voice trailed off, but there was a hint of confusion in it too. “I guess. I mean, I cleaned but… I guess I cleaned more than I thought I had?”

Tally didn’t know what that meant. He’d, what, subconsciously been cleaning? Sleep cleaning? Didn’t he know how much he’d cleaned his own apartment?

Tally heard Mark’s footsteps change from the carpet that covered the entryway, living room, bedrooms, and hallway to the linoleum of the kitchen floor. “So weird. I could have sworn I’d left… And where’s my… Oh, there it is…”

Tally took careful steps as she headed towards the living room. She knew approximately where his furniture was, but it had been known to shift over the years. Using echolocation, she was able to find the back of the couch without walking into anything and then used her hand to guide herself around with the intention of sitting. The lamp at the end table had a cord that she’d tripped over before, but she couldn’t find it with her cane. Using her ears and tongue, she found the lampshade and then guided her fingertips down to the base of the tabletop lamp to locate the plastic cord. Squatting, she followed the cord all the way down, discovering it was now tucked between the table and couch with it spiraled around itself like a snake under the table to the in-floor plug.

It was so surprising that Tally made a nondescript sound.

“What is it?” Mark came out of the kitchen. From the tinkling of glass, she knew he was carrying wine glasses. But she did not hear the swirl of liquid and wondered if he was bringing the entire bottle out for them.

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