“It’s kind of a long story,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I guess you could say that our families are rivals, the problems go back generations, and I don’t know if they’ll ever go away.”
“You mean like a feud?” Marty asked, his eyes wide. “I didn’t think that kind of stuff happened anymore, you know, twenty-first century and all that.”
“Time doesn’t change hatred,” he said, then sighed. “The thing is, Thomas’s family aren’t very nice people; they have a lot of power, and they don’t always use it for the best reasons. My family has a problem with that, so we’ve been at odds for a long time.”
Marty was silent for a second. “Man, that’s some serious shit,” he finally said, then looked over at him. “We’re not talking about the mob or something, are we? I’d like to stay alive until I graduate.”
“Don’t worry, you’re perfectly safe, no one is going to try and eliminate you just for being my friend,” he said, laughing and shaking his head. “The mob isn’t involved, just a family that is more evil than good. Our problems won’t spill over into your life, I promise.”
“That’s good, sometimes the look in your eyes when you go after him is a little scary,” Marty admitted. “I’m not afraid of much, but you’re pushing my limits sometimes.”
He instantly felt bad. “I’m sorry, Marty, I’ll try to rein it in a bit,” he said. “He just drives me crazy with all those fake smiles, and I hate the way he kisses up to everyone. He’s got Coachcompletely fooled. The worst part is that no one will listen to me when I try to tell them what he’s really like.”
Marty looked over at him, then away again. “The things is, everyone thinks that you’re the one with a problem, he’s making you look like…well… a huge jerk,” he said. “I don’t want to make things worse, but the guys are starting to lose respect for you. They all like Thomas and you going after him all the time... well, it just looks bad.”
That was the last thing he wanted to hear and he realized with a sinking feeling that he was playing right into Thomas’s hands. All he was doing by fighting with him was helping the man destroy his life. Letting out a string of curses, he forced himself to take a deep breath. He’d have to find a way to ignore Thomas; he couldn’t keep going the way he was, or he would end up losing everything that was important to him, just like Thomas wanted.
***Maddie***
Monday morning brought more snow, leaving the roads slick and icy, the classrooms drafty and cold, and even worse, the forecast predicted the same weather for the entire week. After fighting for an hour just to get to school that morning, two classes that seemed to last forever, skipping lunch to meet with her advisor, only to be told the meeting wasn’t necessary, the last thing she felt like doing was having coffee with Thomas. But she’d made a promise, and she never broke a promise, so she hiked through the snow after her meeting, wishing she’d never said yes.
The student center was packed when she walked in, and for a moment, she considered turning around and leaving, but then she saw Thomas waving at her from across the room. Withan audible sigh, she started fighting her way through the over-crowded tables and people standing around, ending up slightly out of breath when she finally made it over to the table. When she paused to catch her breath, she noticed for the first time that there was another woman sitting next to Thomas and didn’t say anything for a second, a bit surprised.
The woman gave her a dirty look before turning back to Thomas. “So, my place for dinner tonight?” the woman asked. “I’ll make that chicken you like so much.”
“Sorry, I’ve got other plans,” Thomas said, not even looking over at the woman, his entire focus on Maddie, who was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. “Why don’t you run along now? My coffee date is here. I’ll call you later.”
The woman gave her another dirty look, then got to her feet with a huff and stomped off, but not before grabbing Thomas and giving him a long kiss, which he returned with enthusiasm. Shocked and wondering what she was doing getting involved in a bunch of adolescent drama, she thought again about turning around and walking out, but Thomas jumped to his feet before she could.
“I’m sorry about that. I didn’t know Morgan was going to do that. We went out a couple of times. I guess she’s a lot more into me than I thought,” he said, grabbing her arm. “Please don’t let it bother you. She means nothing to me, I promise.”
Against her better judgment, she let him guide her into the chair Morgan had just vacated, then help her slip out of her coat, which he draped over the back of her chair. “I can’t stay long, I have a paper due tomorrow,” she said, already sure she’d made a mistake agreeing to a second coffee date. “I need to get to the library before practice this afternoon.”
“Oh, that’s too bad, I’ve been looking forward to this all weekend, it’s all I’ve been thinking about,” Thomas said, sinking into the chair across from her and taking her hand. “I haven’tmet a woman like you in a long time, you’re beautiful and smart, a killer combination, I think I’m already halfway in love with you.”
“Wow, that was…flattering, but I’m not sure…” she stammered, not at all comfortable with how strong he was coming on.
“Too much?” he asked, a sad look on his face. “I’m sorry, I do that sometimes. From the outside, it may look like I’m good with women, but the truth is, I always do or say something to screw up.”
She studied him for a second, not sure that she believed him, then decided that it didn’t matter, she wasn’t going to see him again after this, even if it did drive Walker crazy, giving her a sick sense of satisfaction. Thomas really didn’t interest her romantically, and pretending otherwise just to get under Walker’s skin wasn’t a good idea, especially when he made her feel a little uncomfortable.
“It’s fine, I know you didn’t really mean it the way it sounded,” she said, waving off his apology. “Let’s just get some coffee and forget about it. I really do have to go soon.”
“I really wish you could stay longer, but I understand, grades and all that,” he said, pulling a wad of bills out of his pocket. “I’ll have a medium Capuchino, with whole milk and double foam and one of those great big chocolate chip muffins they have, sometimes you have to ask them to get them from the back, just tell them it’s for me.”
He tossed a twenty on the table, then sat back in his chair. “Do you need to write that down?” he asked when she just stared at the money, too shocked and insulted to move for a second. “That should be enough to cover it, use what’s left to help pay for yours, I don’t mind.”
It took her a few more seconds to realize that he was really serious; he expected her to wait in line for their coffee, and hewasn’t even going to pay for hers. Then, a couple more seconds passed as she struggled to control the anger that surged to the surface. Reaching out, she slowly picked up the money, resisting the urge to cause a scene, promising herself this would be her last date with Thomas. The man was a walking red flag.
After waiting in line for fifteen minutes, then another five while they found Thomas’s muffin and heated it up, she finally made it back to the table, only to find Morgan sitting there again. She set his coffee down in front of him using every ounce of her patience, then sat down at the table again, ignoring the other woman’s dirty looks. Watching Thomas blow her off again was almost amusing until the other woman flounced off and she realized that she was alone with him, and he was staring at her with a big smile on his face.
“Now, where were we?” he asked, reaching out and taking her hand again. “Oh, I remember, I was going to talk you into having dinner with me tonight.”
His hand was cold and a little slimy, it reminded her of the way a reptile felt and she desperately wanted to pull away, but managed to control the impulse. “I’m sorry, I can’t,” she said. “Evenings are impossible for me right now. I don’t have any free time at night and I don’t see that changing in the future.”
“Oh, come on, it’s just one night, I’m sure you can find a way,” Thomas said, taking her other hand too, then looking deeply into her eyes. “I really want to spend time with you, Maddie. You’re special, I can tell; you’re just the kind of woman I’ve been looking for all my life. Can’t you just give me one night? I promise you won’t be sorry, we’ll go out and hit the town, I’ll take you to an expensive restaurant, you can get all dressed up, it will be fun.”
She was about to tell him no again, had even opened her mouth to speak, but Walker was suddenly there, bumping into their table, spilling their coffee and causing a huge commotion inthe middle of the student center. By the time it was all over, she had a huge coffee stain on her shirt, a headache from the tension between the two men, and just wanted to run away.
