I'm Your Man

As soon as Derek saw the 37 Ford Sedan parked in front of Marie’s apartment building, he knew he had but only a few short moments.

Stepping out of the caddie, Derek flipped on his pin stripped top hat. Quickly paying the driver he crossed the street meeting the front doors to the apartment. The sent of Marie’s perfume still lingered in the lobby from the night before. Why did she always smell so damned good? No matter how crabby he felt her smell always melted his heart, and the next thing he knows he is at her beck and call.

No, not today. Today he is going to be strong. Today he had enough.

Derek casually smiled at Mrs. Pembroke while waiting for the lift to meet him at the first floor. Glancing at his wrist watch he saw it was a quarter past eight in the morning. Marie expected him sometime around eleven. He would have come then, if he knew she had no prior arrangements. Some days she was so predictable.

“I’m sorry Sr. but our lift I am afraid is broken, you will need to take the stairs.” Nodding to the lobbyist in appreciation, Derek darted for the stairs. The smooth marble on the railing cooled his hands and kept him at a steady pace while dodging the morning traffic up the stairs. Everyone was heading off to start their day no doubt.

Reaching the 5^th floor Derek stopped. Leaving Marie’s apartment room was Dean, just as he assumed. That bastard always had a liking towards her. He couldn’t believe she would do this to him when just the night before, he had proposed marriage to her. Technically she never committed with him, still he felt she owed him some loyalty. She was just coming around.

Giving him a goodbye kiss Marie wished him a good day. While tucking in his white collard shirt Dean headed for the stairs. Glancing up he gave Derek one of the most heart stabbing grins he has ever received. Then, at that very moment every gentlemen like thing his good mother taught him was out the window. Brushing shoulders with Dean, Derek made a bee-line to Marie’s door. Although he was really mad at Dean and his cockiness he knew where the real fight was. When she finally looked up she cold only stand in the door way paralyzed from the shock of Derek’s face. Had she lost track of time? Surely it couldn’t be eleven yet.

“Derek, I…I…”

Derek shoved Marie into the room with such force that she was nearly knocked off her feet. While slamming the door, he never lost eye contact with her. All Marie could do was gasp as he smashed her between him and the wall. He put both hands forward leaning on the wall, making any escape impossible.

“This is not what it looks like, why Dean was here to help me…”

“Was it worth it?”

The puzzled look on Marie’s face baffled him. “And when you say ‘it’ you mean…”

“Him! Was HE worth it?” Derek’s voice raised with every word. Balling up his fists was all he could do from keeping himself from punching in the wall. “How could you do this to me? How could you do this to us? How in the hell could you do this to your own self!”

Marie never took to being backed into a corner, when she was, she came out swinging. “Don’t you dare raise your voice to me! I am a grown woman and demand respect!”

Grunting, Derek turned around with his hand to his forehead. “I am tired of seeing you with Jeffery, Lewis, Oscar, Maxwell, Carl…and any other God forsaken man who has crossed your path. I will no longer be made a fool Marie, do you understand that?”

Marie was flabbergasted. Had Derek known about all of them this whole time? Her heart started to race, mostly with fear. This was the beginning of the end. She knew it. Being prideful she reacted the only way she knew how.

“I’m so sorry Derek…” she said in a sarcastic tone. “I am sorry that you couldn’t ever fully give me what I wanted! All your long nights at the club, you never had time for me even when I begged. I never got what I wanted.”

Derek leaned in so his cheek rested on her cheek and his lips grazed her right ear. “What do you want from me baby? You want a singer? I will serenade you to tears. Need a protector? I will be your body’s own personal guard. Need to be swept off your feet? Honey, I have my shining armor and white horse waiting outside. But if you want me to beg, I will never, ever do that for you. You never took in a man on his knees.”

Marie’s heart was betraying her with every pounding in her chest. Feeling the whiskers of his jaw rub against her cheek while he spoke sent chills up her spine. She had a huge urge to grab his collar on his shirt and bring him even closer then where he was already at.

“You’ll never be what I want Derek, no matter who you pretend to be.”

Sighing Derek stood up straight leaving more distance between them. Taking one hand he brushed his fingers across her collar bone. Up her neck, to her lips. Marie closed her eyes, he couldn’t help but lean in for a kiss, right on the side of her neck.

“You are right kitten, it could never work between us, what was I thinking? Good luck with your other male escorts.”

Turning around, with his hands in his slack’s pockets, he walked away. Pushing the button and never once looking back he heard his favorite voice.

“Will you still marry me?”

Derek couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Some days, she was so predictable.