Chapter 16
Dominic
Marley was confident and bold, and sweet and gentle at the same time. She had such a positive outlook, and she was always wearing a huge smile. He had missed her so much that he could not wait to see her.
That was why it rubbed Dominic the wrong way when he first laid eyes on her and she had looked sad. Marley was always so upbeat that she didn't complain about it, but Dom knew that she was bothered.
He could tell that she braced herself as they interacted with Joan's family. He could also tell that these people were happy to meet him, and he wanted to use that for Marley's benefit if possible. Dominic knew they were impressed by him because of who his father was, and was thankful for his dad's hard work and everything it had gained him over the years. He intended to use his platform if necessary. These people wanted his approval, and what would earn it was being nice to Marley.
He held onto her hand as they walked back through the living room. He would let her set the tone. If she wanted to leave without saying a word, that's what he would do.
"Can we get a picture with you guys before you head out?" It was Patrick who had asked. "For Joan's birthday?"
"Yeah, a group shot," Brandon's wife said.
Dominic glanced at Marley. "Up to you," he whispered where none of them could hear.
She shrugged a shoulder. "If you don't mind."
"I don't," he said with a little smile. "Sure," he agreed, looking at everyone else. "Should we stand here in the living room?"
"I know how to set the timer on my phone," Patrick's friend offered. She then openly admitted to being a fan of Dominic and said she wanted to solidify her place in the photograph.
Everything happened quickly.
Emma set up her phone, and they all stood together. Dominic held onto Marley the whole time. She stood in front of him for the picture, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding onto her. He had no desire to let her go. He also wanted them all to have photographic evidence of how much she meant to him. She rested her arms comfortably on his and he leaned in and smelled her neck, causing her to smile and discreetly press her fingertips into his arms.
Someone counted down.
"Everybody smile in, 3…2…1!"
And Dominic looked up just in time to smile at the camera. He used his best photo-ready smile, and he never for a second let go of Marley. He kept her securely tucked in his arms. His hand instinctually went to a number two symbol, but it was mostly hidden since his arms were around her waist.
Joan's family thanked him and asked them to stay, but Dominic politely said that they had to be going. Dominic didn't lose touch with Marley physically, not even for a second, even when he shook a few hands, he held onto her.
It wasn't just to prove a point, either. He had missed her so much while he was away. He wanted her to be closer to him in Milwaukee since he spent most of his time there. Dominic felt like he could breathe now that she was there next to him.
"Thank you for doing that," she said once they were outside. "I can't say that they won't post that picture. I can ask them not to if—"
"I'm not worried about it," he said, knowing what she was going to say and cutting her off. "I take photos with people all the time."
Dominic turned to Marley and kissed her cheek.
"That was amazing," she said, grinning broadly.
"What was?" he asked, still walking.
"You. That. Their faces. I hate to take pleasure in seeing them gawk at you, but it was pretty fun. Thank you for coming in there. I feel like you earned me some favor with them."
She was smiling and making light of the whole thing, but Dominic felt like he needed to take some sort of action with this living situation.
"What can I do to help with it?" he asked.
She glanced at him like she didn't understand. "You already did! That's what I'm saying!"
She was being sweet and happy, and Dominic was glad she was in good spirits, but he still felt like he wanted to rescue her from her life. Maybe he wanted her to rescue him. Either way, he wanted to be closer to her. They got into his truck and mentioned heading to the mall.
He let out a sigh as he looked at his phone.
"Do you know Gina at the gym, who we met the other day?" he asked.
"Yes. I liked her."
"Yeah, well I don't know if you know anything about her job, but she does a little bit of everything."
"Yeah, I gathered that when I met her."
"She's sick today, and they're behind. We could really stand to go by there after the movie. I know I haven't seen you in forever, and we thought I had the afternoon off, so we don't have to—"
"Dom, yes. Let's just go now. We can go there instead of the movies."
"No, I promised you."
"But I would have just as much fun going to ETC with you. I'd be happy to help with some of Gina's stuff."
"Really?" he asked. "It might be folding towels. She does all sorts of mundane chores on top of her job. That's what they're behind on."
"That's great," I said. "Mundane stuff would be easy, and we can knock it out."
He couldn’t understand how she was so easygoing. She looked at him from over the console.
"I'm not just saying this to make you think I'm a nice person. I do want you to think that, but I really wouldn't mind going to fold towels or whatever else needs to be done. That sounds like fun. Let's do it!"
"Amazing. Thank you so much, Marley."
"Oh, I want to," she said. "This'll be fun."
***
It was five hours later when Dominic went to the front desk to look for Marley. He had seen her there a half-hour earlier so he was surprised when he rounded the corner and she wasn't behind the desk.
"Hey Becca, have you seen Marley?"
"She was here, but she went to the back with Stef."
"What for?"
"I don't know. I think she said something about folding towels before you guys go."
Dominic smiled and leaned against the counter while he texted Marley.
Dominic:
Hey, you ready? I'm at the front. Where are you?
He pressed send and put his phone on the counter. Becca had been talking to a customer, but she turned to Dominic.
"I love her."
"Who?" Dominic glanced at the customer, thinking that was who Becca was referring to.
"Marley. She's just… adorable. She got so excited about that uniform shirt Stef gave her earlier. She's just so sweet and real. I like being around her. I don't know who she is to you, but I—"
"She's my girlfriend. And I know, I can't get over how sweet she is. What'd she say about the shirt?"
"She was so excited when she tried it on. She was impressed, talking about how nice and thick it was. She's just so nice."
"I know," he said. Just as he said it, his phone buzzed.
Marley:
On my way.
Dominic could see the hallway in his periphery, and he noticed three minutes later when Marley and Stef came back to the front. Stef was the trainer from California. He was smiling at Marley, and how could he not? She was beautiful and adorable. She was wearing the ETC sweatshirt with her jeans. She glanced away from Stef and toward him as she walked, and when she saw that Dominic was looking at her, she smiled at him and made a silly face. She briefly stuck her tongue out a little and crossed her eyes, and he shook his head at her. She and Stef were having a conversation, and they continued it until they got back to the desk.
"I told Marley you would agree that Mrs. Crosby's one of our more challenging customers," Stef said, looking right at Dominic.
"Yeah, she is. Why, was she mean to you?" Dominic looked at Marley who smiled and shook her head.
"She loved her," Stef said. "Marley's a natural with the customers. We saw Mrs. Crosby in the main hall and talked to her for a minute. She had already met Marley earlier. They hugged in the hallway, and Ellen asked Marley how her afternoon had been. And Marley says… 'I'm feeling blessed, Ms. Ellen.' It was cute. Ellen loved her. I've never seen her soft like that."
"She has that effect on people," Dominic said. They all looked at him, and he just stared at Marley. "That shirt looks good on you." He looked directly at her, feeling possessive like she was his girl.
She touched the front of it shyly. "Thank you. I love it."
"Do you want a smoothie before we go?" he asked.
"She earned it," Stef said.
"I know," Dominic said, smiling and resisting the urge to reach out and punch Stef in the face. He knew he would never act on feelings like that, but it was funny that Marley gave him those kinds of possessive urges.
They told everyone goodbye and headed toward the café area. They were walking down a long corridor when another customer walked by and spoke to them.
"Bye, Dom. Nice meeting you today, Marley."
"You too," Marley said.
The customer kept walking and so did they, and Dominic looked at her once he was out of earshot. "How'd you meet Cameron?"
"We talked to him earlier when I was going around with Maggie. He's a nice guy. I like Stef, too. And Becca, Maggie, Will. They're all cool. I had so much fun today!"
She added that last part with a spring in her step. She went ahead of him and then turned around. "I've been thinking about what kind of smoothie I want to try next, and I have my order ready. I'm adding some oats to my recipe because I'm copying you."
"You'll like it."
"Yeah, oats in there will make me feel like I'm doing something good—like I'm making good choices with my life."
She was so sweet and lovely. Dominic wanted to give her everything. A smoothie with oats was the tip of the iceberg—maybe he'd let her refine her favorite flavor and name it after her.