FicWad

Week 41

Mark only had to ring the doorbell once and Gia opened it. He smiled at her, and was disappointed to find she didn’t smile back. Then he noticed how puffy her eyes were.
“Have you been crying, Gia?”
“Yeah, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it,” she said, turning and walking back into her flat, “Come on in.”
“Are you sure? What were you crying about?” Mark followed her in.
“Oh, just Steve again. Coming in, saying he loved me, coming up with crazy ideas and stories of why I should end up with him. But it’s nothing I can’t handle, so don’t worry. Just sit down, the soup’s getting cold,” she said.
Mark did as he was bidden, going into the dining room and sitting in front of a bowl of soup.
“Smells nice. Did you make it yourself?”
“No,” Gia said, joining him, “It’s from a can. I didn’t really have time to cook today-what with Steve arriving and everything.”
“Oh,” Mark allowed a pause before continuing to press Gia, “You sure you don’t want to talk about him? I mean, if he’s really annoying you, I can probably give him a stern word.”
“No, it’s all right,” Gia said, absentmindedly playing with a soup spoon, “I mean, I didn’t cry about anything he said, really.”
“Oh, so what were you crying about?”
“About me, really. I think I may have misjudged Steve. I mean, he said some things to me today, things that show me who he truly is. And I’ve been trying to see him as a lying, cheating, bastard. Well, maybe he’s not that anymore. At least, I’m certain he’s telling me the truth now, he’s being honest. And honesty is such an important thing, don’t you think?”
“Oh, definitely,” Mark agreed, but tried to change the topic, “This soup is delicious by the way.”
“Great. It’s on special at Safeway,” Gia immediately shot down his attempt, “And even though I’ve never given him a hint of encouragement he’s become very faithful and loyal to me. I mean, Kelly told me has hasn’t been with any girl since he’s had his epiphany. Faithfulness, that’s important too, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely. Do you have any bread to go with it?”
Gia totally ignored him, “You can’t really have a decent relationship if you’re not honest and faithful, can you? They pretty much go hand in hand. No good relationship can be built on lying, can it?”
Mark smiled, “It seems like you’ve changed your mind over Steve quite a bit. You aren’t going to run off with him, are you?”
Gia gave a sly smile, “Oh, don’t worry Mark, as long as our relationship is built on honesty, and faithfulness, you don’t have to worry about any competition. Of course, if you started lying to me, and cheating on me, then that would be a different matter. Steve would suddenly seem a much better choice. But thankfully, that won’t ever happen. Because you are totally faithful and honest to me, aren’t you Mark?”
“Of course I am,” Mark said, “Look, are you trying to imply something here, Gia?”
“No, nothing at all. I’m just saying how nice it is that we are so honest with each other. And I’m glad you feel the same way too,” Gia said, “Eat your soup.”
“Because I thought we went over this argument last night. I also thought we finished it last night.”
“Oh, believe me, whatever we talked about last night, completely gone from my memory,” Gia said, “I can’t believe I got so worked up over something so minor. Really, as long as you’re faithful to me, and honest to me, these other issues will work themselves out, won’t they?”
Mark nodded, and went back to the soup. Gia, however, continued to fiddle with the spoon.
“You came up when I was talking to Steve, you know.”
“Oh, how?”
“He claimed to have seen you last night,” Gia said, “Now where were you last night, I can’t recall.”
Mark looked up, trying to remember, “I was heading home. I had an early start in the morning.”
“Oh, that’s it. I remember now. And you got to work all right?”
“Easily. Now what did Steve say about me?”
“He said he saw you walking into a gay pick up joint.”
Mark stopped consuming the soup and looked up. He appeared nervous for a second, then began to laugh.
“You serious? That’s what he came up with? Oh, I think you judged him correctly, Gia. He’s a liar, and worse, a particularly bad one,” Mark said, “Like I said, I’ll have a word with him tomorrow.”
“Oh, I know, it’s ridiculous. But Kelly was certain Steve was telling the truth as well.”
“Well, she never seemed naïve, but I’ve only spoken to her briefly, so obviously I was wrong. She’s been led away by Steve’s fancy stories,” Mark said, “Unless, of course, they’re both just playing a game with you, Gia. You can’t honestly take their word when it’s something this ridiculous.”
“No, no, of course I can’t,” Gia said with a smile. Mark smiled back and went back to the soup.
Gia continued, with a tear growing on the edges of her eyes, “I know I had no reason to believe them. So I called up the club to find out. Turns out you’re part of their regular clientele.”
Mark looked up from his soup, and his face went absolutely pale.
“You know, most guys have the decency to use a fake name when they’re cheating on their partners,” she said with a sneer, “Who the hell are you, Mark, and why have you been hanging around me?”
“Look, this must be some sort of mistake-“
“I thought so too! I kept on making sure I had given them your full name, and an accurate description of you. But it all checked out,” Gia said, letting out a small distraught laugh, “Here’s a funny thing. One of the guys working there told me your occupation without prompting. I was making sure we were talking about the same Mark, and the bartender just called you Mark McClaren, the insurance broker.”
“You were seen, Mark. You were seen by many, many men. Now quit trying to avoid the issue and answer me, or get the hell out of my flat! Who are you?”