I faked a smile while beauty contestant waving at Daniel six the next morning. He stood on the porch, smiled back, then frowned as soon as Marley hopped into the car. She kissed my cheek, then stuck her middle finger up at her husband. I couldn't help but laugh.

"What happened?"

"Daniel is what happened." She unzipped her puffy coat, then pointed to a bruise on her neck.

Snickering, I asked, "Is that what I think it is?"

"Hell yeah. This bastard thought putting a hickey on my damn neck was cute. Like, who the fuck does this?" Nearly screaming, Marley lowered the visor, then stared at the purple quarter sized bruise before fumbling through her purse to seize a tube of concealer.

"Apparently your husband." I laughed again, then asked. "So, why is he the one mean mugging you from the porch?"

"Because his shit sore, that's why. After I saw this bullshit this morning, I gave his ass a blow job with that same damn energy, fucking asshole."

Creeping to a stop at the light, I took the moment of pause to throw my head back and laughed until tears ran down my face. "You did not, mess up that man's junk. What the hell is wrong with you?" The way she vigorously rubbed N25 onto her neck, she answered my question.

She and Daniel were the ebony and ivory of love. He was from and still loved the streets. She was from a strict, upper middle class family, began messing with him in college to piss off her parents, then ended up falling in love, like, deep. The only thing that brought her back to reality was when we both graduated from college and moved back to Axum. Before higher education, we were inseparable from the moment our parents closed on our childhood homes. The only reason we went to different universities was because I wanted to get as far from Axum as I could and because of Daniel, she wanted to be within a hour's drive back home.

Right after graduation, she tried to get pregnant. That was a tense period between us. At the time, Daniel didn't want to commit, but he begged her to have his baby, to give him a family. I was the one who had to remind her that's not how we do things, and that Daniel didn't want a family. He wanted to mark his territory because she was on the fast track for becoming an executive at her parents' engineering firm. Men in suits had always intimidated Daniel, which was why I had been her plus one ever since she chatted it up with her project manager, Bryson Gales outside of business hours, and when Daniel found out, he showed his entire ass at a company function.

It was then that Mr. Thomas told Marley he couldn't stop her from ruining her life, but he could stop her from bringing embarrassment to his. That was twelve years ago, and her parents had not seen Daniel since. They didn't come to the wedding, so my father walked Marley down the aisle. She still worked at the family firm, but somehow had managed to keep her two worlds apart like South African apartheid. I did see the good Daniel bought into her life. I mean, it was minute, but it did exist, and she was my best friend. So, as long as their tumultuous love remained petty and benign, I respected her marriage and supported her decision to love her husband the way she wanted.

"That motherfucker gets on my last damn nerve." Marley narrowed her eyes and shook her head slightly as she stared at the covered dark spot on her neck. "Bryce and I have a presentation Monday morning. Now, I gotta wear a damn turtle neck."

"Oh, he's Bryce now," I taunted as we pulled into our routine coffee spot's parking lot.

"Yeah, Bryce." She slid her eyes to the left real quick, waiting for my next statement.

"And you're calling him "Bryce" when talking to your husband?"

"What's your point?"

"I don't have one, I'm just playing devil's advocate."

"Daniel can be how he wants, but that's not going to change who I am. I've worked with this man all of my adult life, know his family well, and yes, we are close, but we're more like brother and sister than anything else that you, "devil", and my crazy ass husband can make up."

"Why are you going off on me? I've just never heard you call him "Bryce" before. Shit, I don't ever agree with Daniel, but those late office nights and now, the intimacy of a new name would make me feel some kind of way too."

Before zipping her coat, Marley stared at me with an expression of betrayal. "That's what you, of all people, think of me?"

I shrugged, grabbed my purse, then hopped out of the car. Standing shoulder to shoulder in the extra long coffee line, Marley fumed, huffing louder each time we inched closer to the register. Just as we were about to be next in line to order, she turned to me and said. "So what's the big deal if I find him a little attractive."

"So, from the car to here, you suddenly find your 'like a brother, a little' attractive, okay."

Responding as though her hand had been caught in a cookie jar, she muttered, "It just happened."

"You fucked him?" Apparently that came out way too loud because the little girl with a pink, sparkly dress and pigtails, standing with her parents three people behind us giggled, then pointed at me and shouted, "Mommy, she said, fuck!"

Marley and I both snickered, ordered our coffee, then walked two blocks to our every third Saturday playground, the Axum County Flea Market.

________________________________________

"No, I didn't fuck him." Marley admitted during our crisp autumn stroll.

"But you want to."

"We just kind of made out, a little."

"Like, nipple-hard kind of made out or blushing because that's a sexy idea kind of made out."

"Like, his fingers traveled into the golden cavern kinda made out."

"You jezebel! That's cheating!"

"I didn't touch him." She retorted.

"You have a whole husband, another man touched you, and you enjoyed it. That's cheating. No wonder Daniel is tripping more than usual. He knows."

"There's nothing for him to know."

"You now call this man, "Bryce."

"So?"

"So, that screams intimacy!"

"It's not intimate. It's something that happened, that's all."

"Every woman knows that fingering the pouch is a reason to get all excited about what's coming next, so stop lying to yourself and to me. And my feelings are hurt. You didn't tell me that happened and now, you're feeling some type of way about this man. It's all over your face. That's why you have a damn tattoo on your neck. Daniel knows something has or will happen between you and Bry...SON."

We walked a few feet in silence before Marley suddenly shouted, "Shit," right as we reached the first booth. Waving and with an awkward smile, I mumbled good morning to the attendant, then snatched a panicked stricken Marley towards a set of empty picnic tables. The shame she felt was apparent in her quizzical expression and slumped shoulders, but that ship had sailed, and she had to hear the truth.

"It only happened once." She confessed, then breathed a sigh of relief. "There was just so much pressure from Dad to finish the Wally project. Daniel and I were on the outs as usual, Bryce and I had been pulling super long hours, so his wife was tripping too. Work tension built up into sexual tension, and before I knew it, my legs were gapped, and I was cumming on the conference room table."

"And you expect me to believe that you didn't touch that man at all?"

"I didn't say I didn't want to." She admitted. "Lord knows I did, but the cleaning crew came in."

"Marley Soleste Houser!"

This time, she shrugged, teared up, then asked, "What should I do?"

"For one, stop calling that man, "Bryce," and especially when talking about work with your husband. Shit, you're better off calling his ass Mr. Gales. Two, once this project is done, you need to tell your parents you want another project manager."

"That's not going to happen. I've been under him this long because I don't want to be promoted. Hell, I don't even know if I want to stay at the firm."

"So leave."

"I can't, that would break my parents' hearts. I'm literally stuck between a rock and a rock hard dick."

When I didn't take the gleaming opportunity for an epic jab, Marley glanced in my direction, then followed my gaze across the flea market grounds. When she noticed what I was noticing, she wiped her tears, then leaped from the picnic table and nudged my arm. "Holy shit. I've never seen him here."

Quincy's conversation with the three people in his company abruptly ended when he noticed me. It was strange that he was suddenly, there. But that smile, though.

Marley whispered as though he could hear her from yards away. "How is he as fine in this dusty ass flea market as he is on tv?"

He raised his hand, excused himself from the group, then headed in me and Marley's direction.

"Oh, my damn. Here he comes," Marley squealed with delight.

Where did that come from? I swore her life was falling apart just thirty seconds ago. Watching him stroll closer to us, I had to admit, my stomach did have a few flutters. But I was nowhere near as excited about seeing Quincy as she was, and from the stares and whispers, it was obvious he had never been there prior to that day... strange.

"Go, get that man," Marley urged.

"Why, I'm here with you, and we have a lot we need to talk about."

"We have all the time in the world to talk about me. Right now, go and get yourself something worth talking about. It's time to move on."

I pressed my lips during my extra long, judgmental blink. After the conversation she and I just had, I'm not sure my best friend was still the person to take relationship advice from, but while glancing towards Quincy, that smile of his overshadowed my hesitation, and I walked, no, was pulled in his direction.