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Sarah raised one eyebrow, playing along with Mark.
“Do you want to be caught? They know what all my cars look like, I’m sure there were many resources scouring the streets looking for us driving,” she said.
“Ok, ok, smarty pants. How did you get so good at this?” Mark asked, then realized it was a stupid question. He thought that maybe he was trying to flirt with Sarah, but he sucked at it.
“I’ve just been doing this a long time,” Sarah replied.
Mark realized, he shouldn’t flirt. He was very bad at it and it only made him feel dumb, it was Sarah’s thing.
Sarah walked in the front door and waived to the desk clerk before going through a door to the back room. Mark was amused at how Sarah always acted like she was in charge. Then Mark understood, she probably did own this place. This woman was the Sarah that he had known for almost as long as he had known Jen, but there was so much more to her than he had ever suspected. This woman owned corporations, hotels and obscure shipping companies. What else did he not know about his best friend? This intrigued Mark and his longing for her grew stronger.
As they walked through the almost vacant loading docks Mark thought about the first time he met Sarah. It was during the dress rehearsal for his wedding to Jen. Sarah wore a long flowing, red evening dress with slits up to her thighs. The dress had spaghetti straps and a low cut neck line that nearly went to her stomach, this was to show off Sarah’s ample cleavage. Mark found himself staring at her all night, but it wasn’t just her beauty that mesmerized him. If it had been only beauty he would have quickly forgotten about her. She was funny and smart and had a personality that no one could find fault with. That was the first time he realized that she was Jen and Jen was Sarah, they had nearly the same personality. The only thing that kept them from being the exact same person was their looks and Sarah’s outgoing, flirty demeanor. Jen was just as flirty and just as sexual, she just did it in private and only for him.
“Here it is,” Sarah said sounding disappointed. In front of Sarah was a plain looking delivery truck. “There is a delivery uniform in that room.” Sarah pointed to a door that said ‘Employees only’ and then looked at him like a puppy being left at the side of the road.
“What’s wrong?” Mark asked. Even Mark’s near obliviousness to Sarah’s feelings couldn’t miss this one.
“This is where we say goodbye. At least for a while,” Sarah said then looked at her shoes again.
“What?!” Mark nearly had a panic attack. Why was Sarah leaving?! How could he do this without her?! Where was she going?!
“I have to find out what’s going on. We need information. You need time to grieve. Truthfully, so do I.” Sarah didn’t sound happy about this but this was something that needed to be done. After an awkward silence she started again. “You will be fine. My sister Agnus will look after you and hopefully teach you what we’re up against, if you’ll listen.”
“I’ll listen!” Mark realized that he sounded too eager to please Sarah but it was too late to unsay it. Mark didn’t want to leave Sarah and he certainly didn’t want to disappoint her again. “Another sister? So, is she like a drill instructor or something?” Mark asked.
“No, silly,” Sarah’s upbeat personality returned for a moment. “She’s a professor of ancient history. You and I…” Sarah put her hand flat and raised it up to her nose. “We’re smart.” Then she raised her hand above her head. “She’s SMART!”
Honestly, Mark thought Sarah was quite a bit smarter than he was. Sarah was being kind or protecting his feelings. Most of the time, even before today, Mark felt like the kid they let in to the advanced math class who really didn’t belong there. Even with something he was really good at, computer programming, Sarah left him in the dust.
“I’m gonna miss you.” Sarah held her arms out wide for a hug.
This sent Mark into another panic attack. He avoided hugging Sarah while he was married to Jen. Not that Jen would have minded, it just felt like a betrayal. Often times he told Sarah he was just not a hugger, when in reality he really wanted to. He just knew the overwhelming guilt that would follow. He always vowed that he would never put himself in that kind of situation, where he might feel something for Sarah. Jen was everything to him when she was alive, why was it different now?
This time Sarah didn’t give him any choice, she had no idea how long it would be before she saw him again. He wasn’t getting out of it this time. Before Mark could come up with an excuse, Sarah thrust herself at him and squeezed. Mark had little choice, she was stronger than he was. After a few seconds he hugged her back. It felt wonderful. She was warm and soft and smelled magnificent, all his apprehensions left, there was only her.
After a few moments they both decided that they needed to stop. Mark nervously took a step back.
“I’ll miss you,” Mark said then immediately felt embarrassed.
“I’ll miss you too, cutie,” Sarah said, she on the other hand, was not embarrassed.
