BEAUTY MARKS

5. HAMMER TIME

Dominque finished mashing his bite of burger, "I wouldn't call that hanging out, but yeah, I've been seeing her."

Marco posed his fork, "Dom, I already told you she's not one for play."

Dominque dipped a fry in the ketchup saucer and tried to retain a sigh. He smiled instead, "Marco, can you explain. Did something happen between you two?

Marco hesitated, "why do you ask?"

"Because you keep warning everyone as if she was some endangered species."

"There's nothing between Kaede and me." The response was abrupt and aloof, despite that Dominque pursued.

"If that's the case, then I hope you don't mind if I continue to go to her."

"Why?"

Dominque shrugged, "why what? I like her. I would even add a lot."

Efficient and straightforward, Dominque didn't need permission. He just informed Marco in what one could call a common sense formality. They were grown-men who knew each other's limits. The discussion was one they could have like civilized adults without it blowing out of proportion, especially when one noted that nothing flagrant happened between Kaede and Dominque.

Marco blinked; he didn't expect his friend's direct answer. He took a few gulps of his Diet coke, which went down the wrong way and left an uncomfortable knot in his stomach," Dom, you can't. Don't touch her."

Dominque gave Marco a crooked smile and leaned forward, "Dude, you've got to explain because I don't get it. Kaede wasn't anything except your colleague, right?"

"Why do you need an explanation? Will it stop you?"

One more silence wiggled in the wavelengths between the men.

Marco leaned back in his seat, "okay, I'll give you one. Remember my Ex, the one I dated for a year. The woman I thought of being falling in love with until she became a possessive stalker fiend. The one you told me to let go of when I had you over the phone. You told me to leave if she was too much of a hassle. Well, Kaede was the hassle; it was with her that you advised me to break up. So you see, it's a little ironic that's it's the same girl you want," Marco picked up his burger and took a bite.

Dominque remained dumbstruck as Karma slapped him back and forth.

"Marco, Iㅡ."

Marco posed his burger, took his napkin, wiped the corner of his mouth, and placed both elbows on the table like a mobster, "I broke up with Kaede because of you. It was good with her, sometimes," Marco paused, looked around, and resumed, "sometimes, I feel I made a mistake, Iㅡ."

Dominque didn't like the turn of the conversation, which made him appear as a criminal mastermind. Marco let Kaede go; it was his stupid choice and not Dominque's to assume at least the man thought, "why did you listen to me? If you loved her. Why did you take the advice of a guy whose last relationship erupted like a volcano and who had strong resent for women at the time? If you loved her, why did you cheat on her? You say she was a stalker; Kaede had all the right reasons to do so. You couldn't hold your dick in place."

Marco chuckled, "look, who is talking? On Skype, you laughed at my stories. You said, and I quote, at least you are living the good life."

"Marco, that was before."

"Before what? You met my Ex and decided she suited your tastebuds."

The man, too comforted by the stable relationship, saw it as an opportunity to see how green the grass was between other women's thighs. It reassured Marco to know that Kaede was there, and she had no plans of going anywhere.

Marco never brought a girl home as it wasn't rare to find Kaede to whom he gave the keys to his apartment in bed waiting for him in the kinky lingerie he bought her.

Kaede was his best-kept secret in life, but also the best kept of his emotions. Marco only realized and managed to weigh how much she meant to him when he ended the relationship.

The woman was the first to believe in his potential to be something else than a pretty visage. Kaede helped him with his CV and covered letters by giving him tips on putting forward his assets. She prepped Marco for interviews and encouraged him. Kaede made the man expand in many ways. Marco even discovered what it was to make love; it was with her that the man drew the line separating performance and intimate passion.

All these thoughts collided in his mind; he glared at his friend, "don't go there, Dom."

Dominque swiped both hands behind his head in a headlock motion, "Marco, I have no intention of playing with her. I'm not asking you for your blessing; I don't even expect that. I'm just letting you know, becauseㅡ."

Marco's expression hardened, he scrunched his nose, and his lips became crooked as he scorned, "because of what? I'm a friend, then don't touch. Kaede's mine; she'll always be. Just like Hye Ju will always hold the spot for you. Kaede is my Hye Ju. Now tell me, Dominque, would you like me to render your Ex visits? Can you imagine me fucking her like it's hammer time? And all the joints of her body reddening by the marks of the positions?"

Dominque closed his eyes; the thought was an abomination, which caused a cataclysm in his mind. The man wished he could shoot himself in the head to demolish the wrongful image.

"You see, Dom, that's why I can't let anyone in my entourage touch Kaede. I know it sounds insane and childish. I can't hold everyone off, but I'm sure one day, I'll make my way back to her."

Dominque's meal was cold; his appetite strutted off and left the man hollow. The man persuaded himself there was nothing Marco could say, which would make him change his opinion. His feelings for Kaede attained the level where they could not be folded, put in a box, and placed in his mind's attics. Marco was slick; his Hye Ju example was a masterpiece that hit the spot most offensively. Dominque's resolve melted like an icicle under sunlight. The scenario was the type that smelt betrayal and death if one liked to aggravate things. Dominque, who hated drama, just wanted the reality to fade.

The man's love vinyl wasn't scratched; his turntables needle stopped.

There was no more music.