Mark My Words (4 page)

“I may throw up…”

“Don’t worry, Holly will protect you,” Luke said with a smirk. Brant wasn’t laughing though and lunged forward to steal the basketball from his buddy.

“Very funny, wise guy…”

“What about her parents...?”

“I’m not sure.”

“We have to get them there…”

“She’s pissed at her father.”

“She’ll regret it if he’s not there, though. Let me talk to Holly. I’m sure there’s a way we can figure this out.”

“Good luck with that. I gotta make a call to get Marv and Gloria on board.”

“That won’t be hard… They are on their fifth honeymoon… They’ll be thrilled for the excursion.”

***

Holly walked out of the coffee shop with a million thoughts on her mind at once. She waved bye to Sloane and immediately picked up her cell phone.

“Hello?!” yelled Philomena Markowitz into her cell phone.

“Hey, Phil, how’s it going? It’s Holly…”

“Aww, Holly! Thanks for calling… How is everything?”

“Great, actually. So what did you think of Luke?”

“He’s a charming and polite young man. I can’t wait til the wedding.”

“Oh, good. Because there is something I want to talk to you about.”

“Okay…”

“Sloane has moved up the wedding.”

“What?! To when?!”

“Next weekend…”

“Holy crap… Hold on, honey get me out from under this dryer. I have a romantic crisis on my hands,” said Philomena to her hair dresser.

“I am not going to be able to convince Artie to go by next weekend…”

“I have an idea…”

“Honey, I’m all ears…”

Chapter Five

Other Plans

Arthur sat at his desk pouring over the contents of his computer screen. His glasses slid down his nose as he browsed through the search results for rabbis in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. If Philomena knew what he was doing, she’d kill him for sure. Suddenly, he heard Philomena emerge from her bedroom humming along to a Perry Como song that was blaring from her radio. She danced along with the beat.

Papa loves Mambo! Mama loves Mambo! Look at them sway!

Arthur rolled his eyes at his carefree wife as his eyes went back to the search results on the computer.

“Arthur! Did you feed FiFi today?! He’s whining downstairs.”

“Not yet. I will.”

And think of a better name for that dog. FiFi for a boy dog. It’s appalling.

“He’s starving!”

“He’s the fattest Pomeranian on the planet. He is not starving!”

“Poor FiFi. Mama will feed you! I’ll give you all of Daddy’s bacon!”

“That’s why that dog is so fat!”

Arthur continued browsing the web, trying to find something concrete that he could bring to Sloane. He’d have to do it carefully, though. Philomena wasn’t in the mood for his usual bargaining. Just last night she told him to leave his negotiating at the dealership.

“We’ll see about that!” Artie said to himself as he printed the results.

He went to pick up his phone when he realized it wasn’t on the desk where he left it.

“What the hell did she do with it?!”

“Mena….! What did you do with my cell phone?!”

Suddenly she emerged in the room.

“I was vacuuming in here earlier and your phone was beeping and needing to be charged. So it’s down in the kitchen.”

“Just because it beeps, it doesn’t mean it needs to be charged. Those beeps are text messages.”

“Oh, you know I hate these gadgets of yours…”

“Can you grab it for me?” asked Arthur as he tried to hide his print outs from his wife.

“Arthur, I’m very busy. I have to finish putting away the laundry and then we are going to brunch with Marv and Gloria!”

“Brunch?!”

“Yes, Arthur. Is there a problem?” Gloria asked as she glared at her husband.

Arthur grunted to himself. He grabbed the print out from the desk and shoved them into his pocket as he went to grab his phone. If he could make it quick, he knew that he could finish the phone calls before Philomena came back into the office. Arthur quickly bolted down the stairs and tripped over the fat Pomeranian and nearly broke his neck as he raced for his phone. Meanwhile, Philomena had come out of her bedroom again with a load of laundry in her arms. Still humming, she put towels in the powder room and then entered Arthur’s office where she dropped off his throw blanket on his office chair.

“This place is a mess!” Philomena complained as she looked at the crumbled pieces of paper on the floor.

She picked up each paper one by one and put them in his waste basket that sat under the desk. Accidentally, she hit the mouse with her elbow and Arthur’s computer screen lit up.

“What’s this…?” Philomena said as she looked at his screen. “Rabbis in St. Thomas… ARTHUR!!!!!!!!”

Just as Arthur had reached his cell phone, he heard his wife’s bellowing cry.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

Oh, bugger.

Philomena stormed down the stairs with a furious look on her face. Arthur waited for her in the kitchen with baited breath.

“For the last time, this is
their
wedding! Let them have it
their
way!”

“I’m just trying to help…”

“Do you want to piss her off even further?!”

“No… But this is her history...”

“She’s not forgetting her history… She creating her
future
with a lovely young man. Now stop pressing the issue! It’s not like she’s converting! Now get dressed! We’re going to brunch!”

***

Marv McCresson woke with a start as he shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight that shone in his bedroom window.  

“Rise and shine, cowboy… It’s nearly 10,” said Gloria as she pulled the curtains aside to let in some light. 

Marv groaned as he buried his head in his pillow. 

“What do we have to wake up for?” 

“We are having brunch with Artie and Philomena today.” 

“I thought we were hibernating until the spring? Look at it outside. It’s freezing.” 

“C’mon, don’t you want to get out?” 

“Oww… If you insist... Where are we going?” 

“The Fountain for brunch… We’re meeting Artie and Philomena.” 

“That sounds like fun. I’ll be up in a minute. I’ve been looking forward to bothering that old fella.” 

“Poor guy. He’s wound so tight.” 

“Yeah, especially when he hears that the wedding has been moved up to next weekend.” 

“I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to go… White sandy beaches, crystal clear water…” 

“You in a swim suit…” 

“So fresh, Marv!” 

“Are you breaking out the bikini?!” 

“God no! Not at my age! But I have something saucy you might like,” Gloria said as she winked at Marv.  

“Now get dressed!” she yelled as she yanked the covers off of their bed, revealing Marv’s 
Yogi Bear
 boxer shorts.  

“Oh, baby, don’t leave…” said Marv trying to pull Gloria back into bed.  

Gloria shook her head ignoring him as her boots clicked against the floor.  

“I wish you wouldn’t leave me, but I love seeing you walk away.” 

“That line is old as dirt.” 

“Like me,” Marv said snickering as he got out of bed. 

***

“Does no one know how to keep time, anymore?” grumbled Artie as he peered at his watch. They had just arrived at the Fountain restaurant no less than five minutes ago, and Artie was already beginning to get antsy.  

“Quit your fussing. Look… Here they come now. Oh! She looks gorgeous!” 

Marv and Gloria were strutting across the busy street looking as if they had not a care in the world. It was apparent that Marv felt like a teenager again, just thrilled to have his lady back by his side.  

“Look at you!” squealed Philomena as she took in her old friend. She twirled Gloria around, eyeing her up and down and proceeded to hug her tight.  

“And you! I love the red hair!” 

“You look stunning. So svelte!” 

“She’s a stone cold fox,” quipped Marv smirking at Gloria. 

Artie rolled his eyes at his youthful friends.  

Marv held out his hand for Artie to shake. He was immune to Artie’s grouchy moods. Marv smiled at his oldest friend with a jovial grin, just waiting for him to crack. Arthur finally did, and he started laughing heartily.  

“How was the land down under?” asked Marv. 

“Amazing. We took so many pictures,” mentioned Artie. 

“Speaking of amazing. A little bird told us that you were back in town,” Philomena said excitedly to Gloria.  

“I couldn’t miss my girl’s wedding. Not a chance.” 

“We were so happy to hear that they got back together,” Philomena added. 

“Me, too. They are at peace. Perfectly happy,” said Gloria, so pleased at things had fallen right into place again. 

“So,” began Artie, “What’s this I hear that you too are shacking up together?” 

“God. Word travels fast,” complained Marv giving his friend a surprised look. 

“Any news on you two tying the knot again?” asked Philomena curiously. 

Marv and Gloria exchanged a funny look as smiles spread across their faces. 

“Technically, we were never divorced.” 

“What?!”   

“I could never bring myself to do it. I loved him too much.” 

“So things are back to being perfect again… As if nothing happened…” asked Artie. 

“Well, if you think about it. Nothing did happen. Gloria needed space, I wanted to stay home. I hoped she’d fly back to me eventually,” said Marv as he gave Gloria a sweet smile. 

“That’s so sweet…” gushed Philomena. 

“That’s so…
weird
! I’m sorry. It’s just weird. C’mon. What husband wants his wife back after she says she needs space? Enough space to fill up two decades?” 

Gloria and Philomena gave Arthur hostile glares as if they were about to murder him on the spot. 

“Have you no sense of romance?” asked Philomena with agitation in her voice. “Are you not in enough trouble?” 

“Uh, oh… What did you do?” asked Marv as if he was speaking to a bad dog who had chewed up his master’s carpet. 

“Oh, hell. Can we not discuss it?” Artie begged.

“Oh, were discussing it, alright,” Philomena reassured him.

“I love you Philomena, and our children, but you all drive me insane.” 

Suddenly the server came to the lobby and escorted the group to their seats. Arthur attempted to be a gentleman and took Philomena’s coat for her and hung it up on the coat rack that stood in the corner by their table.  

“So, I’m sure you’ve heard by now that our Sloane is engaged,” said Philomena opening up the conversation in a happy tone of voice.

Arthur refrained from showing his great disdain for the topic, for now.  

“I did hear… We are so excited!” said Gloria as she eyed Arthur hoping to get a good read on him. 

“So when is the big day?” 

“Apparently sometime in June,” Arthur said gruffly.  

“Don’t sound so thrilled…” 

“I just don’t want her rushing into something.” 

“Honestly, I don’t think she is. She’s known the fellow for a really long time, and they’ve gone out for over seven years…” 

“It’s just so sudden for me. I just met the bloke yesterday.” 

“I wonder why…” quipped Marv as he smirked at his friend. 

Looking confused, Artie gave Marv a hostile glare. 
 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“You’re a tad overbearing. Tone it down a bit. They’ll come to you more readily with this stuff.” 

“Oh, right. Father-in-law of the year who actually set his daughter up with his son-in-law. I forgot.” 

“Yup. I know what I’m talking about,” said Marv proudly. 

Artie rolled his eyes.  

“He’s a good kid, Artie. Once you get to know him. He has a good head on his shoulders,” Marv said agreeing with Philomena. 

“It seems like it, and I’m happy for her. Truly, I am. I am just not pleased that they are breaking tradition. He didn’t even ask me for her hand in marriage.” 

“You do know who your daughter is, right?”  

“Of course. Bull-headed, stubbornly independent Sloane.”  

“How can you give something away, that wasn’t yours? She’s a grown woman, pal. It’s time to let her go.” 

Arthur looked at his jovial friend Marv with solemn eyes. For once Marv was not joking. He said exactly what he needed to hear. For once, it wasn’t agitation that took over him, but sadness. Marv could read his friend like a book. While he seemed against the idea completely, he was just against the idea of losing his daughter. Philomena and Gloria exchanged surprised but pleased glances. Marv had cracked his hard exterior. It was time to monopolize. 

“So, Gloria… Do you and Marv have any special plans for Valentine’s Day?” Philomena asked with a spark of excitement in her eyes.  

“I was hoping that we could go down to the Casinos for the weekend. It would be 
so
 nice to get away.” 

“Ya know… I was just thinking the same thing. Arthur, wouldn’t it be lovely to visit St. Thomas and start scouting out venues? It is beautiful there this time of year.” 

“Will it get me out of the dog house?” 

“It just might.” 

Arthur grumbled to himself as he thought about his credit card bills. He was wealthy, there was no questioning that, but he was also a spend thrift, too. Philomena, on the other hand, was not. At the end of the day, though he complained every second of it, he just wanted to make Philomena happy.

“Oh, just book it.” 

“Big spender!” cheered Gloria as she gave Philomena a high five. 

Artie shrugged as if it was no big deal. 

“Whatever is going to keep her happy.” 

“God, you people make my trip to AC look cheap. Thanks,” said Marv playfully.