When they were younger Margo liked to snub Mary, making her feel more like a thorn in her side than her sister. Maybe it was also the fact Mary looked nothing like her family. Where she had dark hair and blue eyes, all of the Trellises had blond hair and green eyes. If looking in the mirror every day hadn’t solidified the fact she was so out of place, hearing Margo’s twelve year old voice tell her she was clearly not a “Golden Trellis” had made it abundantly clear that she would never fit in. Of course, her mother had told her every night that she loved her, and that she was part of their family whenever Mary brought it up. Maybe it was just the years of her questioning her self-worth, Margo’s hurtful words, of the murmurs behind cupped hands whenever she went to a social function that had her feeling that way? The years had gone by though. Margo no longer said those things to her, but there would always be a part of Mary that never felt like she belonged.
She took a left, and then a right until the small single story house she shared with her roommate came into view. She pulled into the driveway right beside Darcy’s faded blue Corolla. Turning off the car and sitting there for a moment. Mary let the sound of the engine cooling fill the interior. The BMW had been a high school graduation gift from her parents, and although she hadn’t really wanted it, and knew them giving it to her had been more due to the fact they wanted to look good, Mary also knew she needed transportation. So, she had smiled and thanked them, but hated every minute driving around in the thing. It made her feel like a fake and fraud, and she wasn’t quite sure why that was. So, Mary made sure to send them payments for the car and insurance, and ignored their complaints when they received her check. It made her feel better knowing she could stand on her own two feet, because there would be a time when her parents wouldn’t be here, and if she was dependent on them where would she be then? Margo took everything their parents gave her, and Mary knew when the time came when her sister was alone, she would drown.
Mary grabbed her purse off the passenger seat, got out of the car, and headed toward the front door. There weren’t any lights on, but then again it was midnight. She normally didn’t tutor this late, but Adam was having a difficult time understanding the dynamics of economics. Mary had a feeling he hadn’t been paying attention either, not when his eyes had been trained on her breasts instead of the textbook.
Oh well, if he didn’t want to focus on what he was paying her for that wasn’t her problem. She unlocked the door and pushed it open, and immediately was assaulted by the loud, sexually explicit sounds of Darcy having sex. Mary rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen for water. Leaning against the counter and bringing the glass to her lips, she turned her head to the side and listened with astonishment as the sound of a headboard banging against the wall resounded in the silence. After only a few seconds of that racket all was quiet again. Mary finished her water, and just as she was about to head to her room a very naked Darcy and her current guest for the evening, Dane she thought his name was, came walking into the kitchen. The lights were still off, but there was enough of a glow from Darcy’s bedroom light that Mary saw everything.
Darcy stopped when she saw Mary standing there, which in turn had the guy slamming into her back.
“Shit, Mary.” Darcy placed a hand over her heart. “You scared the hell out of me. What are you doing creeping around in the dark? Did you just get in?” The nude couple didn’t seem to be the least bit self-conscious over their body parts just hanging out in the open since they moved further into the kitchen. Dane opened the fridge and bent at the waist. Talk about an unattractive picture, even if he did have a nice body. She quickly averted her eyes and looked back at Darcy. Her roommate had started walking over to the fridge, and Mary decided now was a good time to get the hell out of there.
“Just got home from tutoring, and I’m beat. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Yeah, all right.”
She quickly headed down the hall to her room, and when the door was firmly shut behind her she breathed out. God, she so needed her own place, but of course she couldn’t afford that on her own, and even if Darcy had a lot of sex, she was good company. There were far too many times she had either walked in on a lot of flesh jiggling around as Darcy screwed her boyfriend of the week, or heard the sound of their almost animalistic sex, or seen enough wieners in her house to give her nightmares. She supposed it was just one of the hazards of having a roommate that liked to get it on … a lot.
Getting undressed and changing into a t-shirt, Mary climbed in bed and closed her eyes. She was tired, but of course the blissful peace of sleep didn’t come right away. Instead the image of Alex Sheppard slammed into her brain. Even now she could swear she smelled Alex. It was a darkly intense aroma that had her heart racing and her toes curling. She was insane, certifiably so, because there was no way anything would ever come between them. Well, maybe a one-night stand, but that wasn’t Mary’s style, and anything long term certainly wasn’t Alex’s calling card.