A New Story: I Know I Love You

Julie returned to her desk.  The talk with Marsha altered her impression of the woman.  Rather than the top hen who pecked at and crapped on everyone below her, Marsha seemed human.  The vulnerability she saw in Marsha made Julie want to give her a hug.  Looking back at the moment Julie smiled inwardly.  Is that the maternal instinct her mother always talks about?  She laughed out loud at the thought of motherly feelings for a woman old enough to be her mother. 

“Whatcha laughin’ about?” Marcus asked. 

“Oh, nothing.  Just thinking silly things, I guess.”

With a slight chuckle Marcus asked, “Like what?”

There was no way Julie was going to say she had maternal feelings for Marsha.  Changing the subject, she said, “Oh, nothing.  What brings you over here?”

“Do I need a reason to come see you?”

Julie replied with a demure voice, “A girl likes to hear what makes it special for her boyfriend to visit her.”

“Ok.  I will try but if I don’t say it right, it ain’t cause my heart ain’t in it.  I was thinkin’ of how pretty you are and I had to check if my memory is as good as I thought it was.  How’s that?”

Julie’s heart overflowed into a beautiful smile.  “That’ll do.”

“I was told by my buddy Greg back in high school that what you say is just as important as how you say it when talking to girls.”

The thought of high school boys talking about girls caused Julie to cross her arms.  Slowly she asked, “Oh really?”

“Yeah, he once told me it’s ok to tell your girl, ‘Honey, when I’m with you, time stops.’”  He said the phrase with passion and Julie thought it sounded very nice. 

“Ok, true.”

With the same sweet, passionate voice he said, “But you should never say, ‘Honey, your face could stop a clock.’”  Marcus burst out laughing. 

“Oh shut up!”

“You know you love it.”  He laughed.  He turned serious and said, “And I know I love you.”  Then he blew her a kiss and returned to his cubicle. 

A contented smile appeared on Julie’s face as she turned to face her computer.  She beamed for several minutes as she replayed his face saying those words.  “And I know I love you.”  Julie had to admit, she was in love with Marcus.

Just then she received a text from Marcus. 

“I’m glad we met.”
“Me too”
“Crazy that you stole my heart in such a short time.”
“Not giving it back.”
“Darn lol”