Standing in the bathroom, Danica Phillips stares bleary eyed at her reflection in the mirror. It is hard to say whether she disapproves of her reflection or her reflection disapproves of her. Either way the eyes are sad, disappointed and one of them was ringed with a fresh bruise.
Trying to brace herself on the counter, she raised to her full height and twisted at the waste. The eye bruise was nothing new, but the bruise along her rib cage was something alien. He had been mad before, but not like this. In the past it was just a slap to remind her of her place. Well more to remind her of his place as the man. He was the one in charge, not her, and his word was law.
Examining the bruise she thinks about this and realises it was her fault really. They had been out to dinner earlier in the night and she had done something wrong. Now she was unsure of exactly what she had done, but she knows it was bad.
Mark had been flirting with the waitress. Harmless really. He loves Danica, he tells her all the time. He had just wanted to charge his batteries, that was all. He wanted to flirt, and Danica should not have been rude to the woman. That's all.
That's not the whole story, but right now, Danica is to upset to admit the rest. She is too ashamed to admit her own jealousy. Too frightened to admit Mark's anger over being questioned. Too embarrassed to admit how it made her feel at times good and bad to know he cared this much.
Maybe she was justifying his behaviour. Giving it altruistic motivations to quell the fear she is feeling.
Danica is not a stupid woman. Far from it in fact. Like many people, Danica is just afraid of being alone; furthermore, she secretly doesn't think she is worth the love he does show, so the hate he shows is just her penance for the good.
Danica is glad she woke up so early, and too proud to admit it was the pain that jolted her from her troubled sleep, where she dreamt the dreams of the frightened and possessed.
She has grown proficient at make-up. So proficient she can cover up almost anything. She begins with a good healthy foundation.
As she cleans herself up she reveals deep blue eyes in an almost almond shaped setting. She has a vaguely exotic appeal in her face despite her usual pale complexion. She won't have time this morning to wash her sholder length Raven hair. She doesn't really have time for much other than make-up.
A quick shower was all she got. Enough to wash away the surface dirt, but not enough to scrub her really clean. Not enough to wash all of what happened off her.
Heaving a deep sigh she examines herself in the mirror. She will forgo the contacts today. Hopefully the make-up, her thick rimmed glasses, and the luggage of the damned under her eyes will hide the truth enough to fake her way through the day.
She is close to the end of her cover-up when her heart jumps out of her well formed chest when she hears the sound of a harsh knock at the bathroom door.
Cursing the fact that Mark had the annoying habit of waking up 5 minutes before the alarm went off and never giving her any warning of his impending arrival, she cautiously intoned "Just a couple more minutes."
Outside the door Mark shook his head, both in exacerbation and in an attempt to shake off the last vestiges of sleep. "Whatever babe."
Danica knew he would be heading to the kitchen to get some coffee, and that meant she had 4 to 7 minutes to pull herself together.
Pulling on her light green scrubs and tieing her hair back in a severe bun, she makes the final inspection. The glasses would work she decides, and then leaves the bathroom.
In the kitchen, Mark is dressed only in boxers, sitting on a stool, glancing at his laptop. The modern form of reading the paper. His RSS feed has carefully combed the internet for everything the wife beater on the go needs for his more ablutions.
I think it would make us all feel better if he was reading tips on how not to leave bruises, or domination daily, or how to make her feel worthless and dependant quarterly, but instead he was checking the morning market, grabbing a laugh from an online cartoon, and checking the latest from cnn. I think we would feel better if at least he was checking Fox news, but no such luck.
In a sense, Mark is average. He has a decent job working at a small law firm as an associate, is a decent guy, in the fact he tips well, gives money to homeless people and says all the right things at all the right times to all the right people. Plus, he has decent hygiene; bathing regularly and looking after himself.
His body and looks are not average. He is the perfect specimen of body fat to muscle ratio, and he has those little protruding bones at the waste that women like so much.
Mark is handsome and just slightly rugged, without being overly manly or overly prissy. The modern man for the modern times. In a sense, he looks much like he walked out of a Sears catalogue, wherein he was portrayed in a suit, camping gear, and playing soccer.
This is why Danica was so attracted to him. He was everyman, and yet no man can be this. He embodied women's desires so completely he almost defied existence, yet he was so banally average in every other respect that he defied interest.
Looking up from his computer he smiles, revealing an average set of off white teeth. "Well hello there." His tone switches to a playful baritone and pattern, "I wish I knew what it is you women do in bathrooms that takes so long."
Danica fakes a smile and dies just a little inside.
Mark gets up, walks over to her, kisses her offered cheek, gives her a playful smack on her rounded buttocks. "Be ready in ten babe, I gotta get to the office."
True to his word, he is ready on time. They go to the apartment complexe's parking garage and get in his car, a silver suv.
Mark is more particular about time this morning than he usually is. He his constantly checking his watch as if he is afraid of being late for work.
The ride begins in silence, but shortly becomes a cacophony of Mark's voice regaling her of his coming day, of how difficult his coworkers are, and how he has no idea what he is going to have for lunch.
After checking his watch for the umpteenth time, Scott reaches over and turnes on the radio just in time to hear a loud annoying bass heavy song cease, and the dj commence.
"Got an email dedication this fine morning, from Mark to Danica...oh you gotta be kidding, it is way to early to be this sappy...my producer is waving frantically at me to carry on, so with all apologies to those who just had breakfast, Danica, my love, my sweet, nothing in this world will ever come between us. You are my everything and I would do anything for you, always. How sweet and what not."
Danica doesn't hear the rest. She doesn't even really hear her favourite song come on. Her heart is pounding and her eyes are welling up.. In the back of her mind, where the mean lady who tells her to be careful all the time lives, she hears, don't cry, it will ruin your make-up job, and we don't want that Danny, definitely not that.
She ignores the voice, but not the advice, stealing her courage and willpower, she suppresses the tears and looks at Mark.
"I'm sorry babe. I don't know what got in to me. You're the best, and it will never happen again."
His eyes look so sincere. His steel grey eyes convey truth, a truth he believes, and so does she.
She leans over to kiss him and snuggles in to his shoulder. Taking his eyes off the road, he appraises her. He has great taste he thinks to himself. She takes care of her body, and it shows. She mostly eats right, mostly remembers to exercise, and mostly fills out those scrubs properly. A bit chunky around the hips, but that's ok. It translates to a bit extra up top as well.
He reaches out to cup one of her breasts and completely ignores the road. He completely ignores the fact that he is blowing through a red light. He is so transfixed by the beauty of his giurl...well not beauty, she is kinda slightly overweight isn't she? And her lips could be fuller, and her eyes are all poofy, and she is wearing too much make-up today, but she is still attractive. He is so transfixed that only the sickening sound of grinding metal shocks him back to the here and now. The here and now where he just ran a red light and as a consequence, caused an accident.
Danica's eyes snap open and she stiffens, craning her neck to see what just happened.
"Oh my god Scott, we have to stop."
Mark's average mind computes the options for a moment. It takes a moment longer for him to come to a conclusion because, after all, his mind is only average.
"Gonna be late babe, forget about it, it doesn't concern us. I am sure someone will stop to help."
With that, they carry on, her with concern and the natural curiosity of an ER nurse, and him with his self absorbed diatribe about his coming day.
Behind them, Scott Reynolds is dying, and being reborn.
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