Chapter 3

"Perfect indeed soon to be Mrs. Anderson." Jessie blushed when he said those words. Mrs. Anderson sounded right in her ears. Imagine people calling her that. A girl that grew up in a slum finally has to be treated like someone that mattered. 

"Thank you, Mr. Anderson." She blushed again as she looked at him. He smiled back and both of them could feel the spark that went around them. It was unavoidable.

Silence. 

Mark cleared his throat as the waiter gently dropped his food on the table. Jessie thanked the waiter and watched him walk away. She adjusted the napkin on her lap and smiled at Mark again. She glared at his food. He had ordered a Tuna poke bowl and Balsamic chicken with a spinach salad. While she ordered a sausage and shrimp gumbo, creamy chard, and mushroom stroganoff. 

She wanted to talk when she saw the tuna on his plate but kept quiet instead. She has to be perfect while she eats. Mark doesn't like tuna. He had never liked tuna but what changed today? He was eating them. 

"Won't you eat?" Mark broke her thought. He met her gaze and realized she was staring at him. 

"Uh?" looked like her mind was gone again. 

"You haven't touched your food, Jess. It looks good to me." She gave a small smile and then focused on her food. She picked up her spoon and attacked the creamy chard first then later went to the mushroom stroganoff. Mark used the fork to eat his tuna. That would be a question to ask after they were done eating. 

She couldn't take her eyes off him the entire dinner. She was starting once in a while as she ate but Mark had noticed she had something on her mind. He had noticed her eyes on him. Whenever she behaves like that, her mind is occupied with loads of things to talk about. 

He gently placed the fork on the plate and adjusted himself on the chair. "Come on Jess. Spill it." He said. Jessie looked up at him and met his gaze. She was confused at what he said. "Come on Jess. I know you have a lot of things you want to talk about. You always stare at me whenever you've got questions or things to talk about." 

He had noticed her eyes. Now she would have to ask him questions. Thankfully she was done with her food. She poured water into the cup and drank it all. Gently placed the cup on the table, cleared her throat then looked at him again. She took her time doing that. 

Mark was expecting the type of question that would be thrown at him this time. He was wondering what she was going to ask him. 

"You don't like tuna," she said in a calm, warm voice. 

"Uh?" 

"You ate an entire plate of tuna today Mark. You don't like tuna. You always say it gives you allergies. What changed today?" The question hit Mark on his chest. He does not know how he was going to answer how suddenly he started liking tuna. 

"It looked good on the Menu Jessica." He gave out a nervous laugh. "I just wanted to try it out and you see..." He touched every part of his face and hands. Showing it to her. "No reactions." He sounded happy.

But Jessie felt curious all of a sudden. Whenever Mark called her by her full name, it meant something was up. She doesn't doubt him. Not a bit but in her gut, she could feel something was up with him but he was trying not to hurt her. 

"All right. If you say so." She locked up and kept quiet. 

"Was that all that was on your mind? The tuna?" He asked. "Or is there more?" 

She nodded slowly. "We need to talk." Her response became cold and Mark could read them. Those four-letter words made him curious about what she wanted to talk about.  

"Talk to me, hun." 

Jessie inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. "We need to cancel the old list and make a new one." 

"What do you mean?" 

"I don't think I will be able to work on Fridays alone. I know you want that type of sophisticated wife."

"Which you are Jessie."

She exhaled. "Mark," she called. "I do not want to wake up one morning and have regrets for not pursuing my dreams. You know what this means to me. You said you love me. Don't you?" Jessie asked.

"I love you Jessie and you know that but I am not understanding what you are about to say."

"All I'm trying to say is that my dreams mean a lot to me. I have worked so hard in getting to this stage and I want to keep going. I want my name up there, Mark and I need your support on this. I promise to make this work between us when we are married. I don't want to be a stay-at-home wife when her friends and mates are out there working and building a name for themselves." 

Mark sighed. "But we talked about this babe. I said I will provide for us." 

"That is not enough. Mark, my dreams need to be achieved, you know? And if you truly love me, you will help me in these things. Please, I need you." 

He scoffed. "When did you start to talk like this Jess? All my life knowing you, you have always accepted anything I said. Was it Taylor? Did you meet her? Did she tell you these things?" Mark asked. Frowning.

Jessie shook her head. "No. Taylor isn't involved. I know you have been of help to me and my sister Bev. We appreciate that and I want to marry you and also support you." 

He scoffed again. "Sounds like you are doing me a favor by marrying me."

"Please Marco. You have to understand that I need to make a name for myself too. Just the way you have done for yourself." 

He sighed and took both her hands in his. He rubbed them gently. "We talked about Jessica. We had a list and plans on how this was meant to be. You work on Fridays when we are married and focus on being a good mom when you get pregnant. We need to teach our children that there is life outside music. I don't want them to know that their mother sings for crowds for money. That is wrong!" 

"You are mocking me," Jessie said as she slowly removed her hands from his. "What is wrong with singing in crowds for money?" she asked. 

"Jessica!" He called in a high rhythm. Everyone around them glanced their way towards them. Jessie had tears in her eyes and for the first time, Marco could see them. She had to be perfect so she wouldn't dare the tears to run down her cheeks and ruin her makeup. "Jessie," His voice went back to being calm. 

"Please Marco. I need this. Please just say yes and we will work this out." She pleaded. 

"And what if I don't want that?" He asked. "What if I don't want to get married to you anymore Jessica?" 

"What do you mean by that?" Jessie asked. 

He threw the napkin on the table in animosity and looked up at her. "I changed my mind, Jessica. I can't deal with you. Is this how you are going to repay me for all these years of being good to you?" He asked. "Was it Taylor?" he asked again. "I told you to let her go, Jessica!" he yelled. "Fuck!" he banged on the table which took Jessie aback and made her gasped loudly. Jessie saw a new side of Marco. He has never been this furious in front of her before. Maybe not in her presence but for the eight years they have spent together, she had never seen that side of him before. He stood up frowning as he took the chair away from him. He rested both his hands on the table and looked at Jessie. "I really loved you, Jessica. I really do and if only you had listened to me and did as I advised, we wouldn't have been in this tight situation we are in now." He took his finger up and pointed at her. "Let's see how far you will go without me. Let's see if you will ever find a man that will love you as much as I do. Remember, you are from the slum. No one would ever love a girl who didn't graduate." He threw his hand into the air and scoffed. "This is ridiculous!" 

Jessie's life flashed before her as she watched Mark walk away. The tears hidden in her eyes rushed down in a flash. She tried to catch her breath but she felt suffocated. It was hard to breathe. 

Jessie held her neck with her hand, trying to wait till the feelings hit. What had just happened? That wasn't how she expected it to go. She had expected him to be an understanding man. Maybe all these years, he had lied to her about who he was. Maybe all these years, he had kept his real feelings for this day so he could pour everything out at her. Just maybe! 

She couldn't think of anything else to defend his actions of what just happened.