Spiral Bound Journal

Shore to Please

With a bit of time between mini-camp and preseason practice, Marlon itched for a summer vacation. He knew Garrett had time off to burn, and Felicia was getting toward the end of another round of paid leave. The real question mark revolved around the rest of Felicia's family. For that matter, he barely knew Angie. Maybe some time away from the Midwest would remedy that little issue. Where to go was the question. Marlon itched to go to the ocean. However, he knew the Texas beaches he'd grown up with would be far too hot in July. He fired off a text to Felicia. Maybe she'd know a good place or two.





It turns out she did and then some. Marlon marveled at his luck finding this rental house not too far from the beach just north of Cape May. Sitting on the east balcony, he sneaked peeks at the sunrise while nursing a coffee. Early mornings like this were sometimes too hard in the Midwest, but having a chance to experience the coast in some solitude provided plenty of motivation for him to wake up. He had left the drapes a little bit open so Garrett could join him once he woke up. For now, though, he listened to the waves and contemplated the first couple days of the trip.

Marlon and Garrett arrived first, thus having all of Saturday and Sunday to themselves. The others showed up on Monday in two separate cars. Felicia and Adrian showed up first with takeout from Fitzpatrick's. Marcus and Angie had gotten a bit lost but showed up about a half hour later. Lucky for them their pastrami sandwich and shrimp salad lunches didn't require reheating. Since Felicia and Marlon had larger than expected meals, they joined Angie and Marcus at the dining room table while Adrian and Garrett lounged nearby in the open living room. Once all the meals were finished, the six of them piled in the SUV Garrett rented to find some ice cream in Wildwood. This morphed into an impromptu boardwalk visit to both get some Kohr Brothers custard and watch Marcus and Felicia snicker like children at the sign for the Grab-a-Weiner hot dog stand.

Tuesday was another group outing. At dinner the previous evening, Felicia mentioned visiting the sprawling Cow Town Market in the middle of South Jersey farmland as a teen. This caught Angie's attention, and soon everyone decided to go. Marlon smirked at how Marcus needed a bit of persuasion to go. Felicia convinced the rest of the group to budget time for travel delays so Marcus could get out to film the sights along the route.

Indeed, the drive through rural New Jersey blew everyone's minds. They spotted yard artwork made of hundreds of painted gallon milk jugs and baffling above ground storm shelters that were open to the road. Marcus had them stop at one so he could get pictures and video. Felicia decided to join in on the fun as well, putting her plushies in said shelter. She also alerted them to a restaurant just a couple miles away from Cow Town that served all sorts of milkshakes. Said milkshakes were consumed after a few hours browsing the vendor stalls at Cow Town. At one point, the group split up, and Marlon ended up wandering around with Marcus and Angie. Marlon soon discovered just how full of vintage aesthetic information Angie was, information that got put to use at the antique vendors. While Angie haggled with sellers, Marlon gleaned a bit more information from Marcus about how he and Angie met and got married. By the time all the shopping was done, Marlon thanked providence for the SUV rental, as everyone bought far more than expected. All the shopping and traveling resulted in a quiet night in the condo.



Even over the surf, Marlon could hear the rustling of the drapes and the slide of the door bolt. He looked over his shoulder to find Garrett step out in only his pajama pants. His beau's chestnut tresses spiked in all directions with the exception of a few locks obscuring his forehead.

Goddamn, I'm a lucky bastard, he thought to himself.

"I'm surprised you're awake," Garrett greeted him.

Marlon stuck out his tongue. "Good morning to you, too."

Garrett leaned over the back of the chair and gave Marlon a kiss. "I'm guessing you have plans for today."

"Yeah, I do, at least the first part of the day. Felicia wanted me to join her on an excursion to Atlantic City. Something about pranking Marcus with salt water taffy and wanted to make sure he's nowhere in sight for it."

"I thought he couldn't stand taffy, or chews, as he calls them."

"Oh, Felicia knows that, judging by the really devious smirk she had when relaying her plans. Anyway, I agreed to tag along and maybe get some more tea from her about how she and Marcus are doing these days."

"Are they actually together? Last I heard, Felicia was still on the fence about it."

"She hasn't said anything," Marlon replied, "but I have a strange feeling that there has been resolution, if the way she and Marcus were behaving on the boardwalk on Monday is any indication."

"You have a point," Garrett agreed. "I just don't see her being super open about it even if she did decide to hook up with him. Her behavior could be seen as flirty but wasn't all that revealing. Marcus, on the other hand, was all Guy Smiley."

"Even though that puppet didn't really smile all that much."

"Yeah, whatever. Any other plans for today?"

"Well, I figured I'd do some cooking. I like to cook and haven't had a chance to really do much of it lately. I know I'm on vacation, but I like to cook. It's relaxing."

"And I won't complain any time you decide to cook. I have clearly taught you well."

"Hey, now. I knew how to cook before we met."

"And then you'd douse everything in ketchup. Man, Felicia almost threw a fit the first time she saw that."

At that, Marlon chuckled. "Maybe she'll try to find Marcus some ketchup flavored taffy."

"Now that's just disgusting."

"So what else brings you out here other than to speculate on the fourth couple in the house?"

"Well, to say good morning to you and let you know that I saw Felicia get back from her run. She mentioned something about rinsing off so she didn't offended all of Cape May County with her B.O."

Marlon snorted. "She's not quite as bad as she thinks she smells, allium addiction aside. Still, I appreciate her courtesy and the heads up. I should also try to have something for breakfast before our little jaunt north."

After a brief shower of his own and throwing on some shorts and a t-shirt, Marlon headed downstairs to the kitchen. When he got there, he spotted Marcus brewing some more coffee and Felicia nibbling on a bagel while perched at one of the counter seats. Marcus looked up from the coffee maker and waved.

"Morning," he mumbled.

"Morning, Marcus," Marlon replied. "Take it you're still trying to wake up?"

"Something like that. Felicia's telling me about your plans is admittedly making that a bit more difficult."

"I bet."

Felicia turned and gave Marlon a nonplussed look. "I assured Marcus that he would certainly find a way to keep busy without my company for a day, or half a day depending on how long we're in Atlantic City."

"What did you suggest?"

"Antique shopping en route to Mays Landing, venturing down to Cape May for a house tour, hitting up county museums to get info on Native American history in the area, that sort of thing."

"Admittedly they are good suggestions," Marcus conceded.

"And you know that Angie will appreciate those things a tad more than I will. If it was up to me, you'd be going on a tour of Somers Point, Corson's Inlet, and eight million other parks and similar types of places."

"Looking forward to it," Marcus replied with a wink thrown in Felicia's direction.

Marlon grinned at the interplay. "When you two are done bickering like an old married couple, let me know so I can finish my breakfast. Then we can get going."

"Now, now. Adrian and I are the old married couple," Felicia chided.

"Speaking of Adrian, where is he?"

"He slept in and left for his walk about ten minutes ago. I told him that I might be out the door by the time he gets back, so he may take an extra long stroll."

"Alrighty."

For his part, Marlon ate a small-ish breakfast of eggs and Jersey blueberries. Part of it stemmed from still being a bit full from yesterday, but he also wanted to get going as soon as he could. After setting the dishes in the sink, Marlon wandered over to where Felicia perched on a couch as she reviewed photos she had previously taken.

"You ready?" he asked her.

Felicia looked up. "Ready when you are."

"Then let's go."

They decided to take Felicia's rented Impala to Atlantic City since it was just the two of them. Marlon contemplated how his legs just fit in the designated space on the passenger's side.

"I figure it's easiest to just leave that seat as far back as it will go," Felicia mumbled. "Seems like I get to haul all sorts of tall guys around."

Marlon chuckled. "I imagine. Even Adrian's no slouch. Now who's taller between him and Marcus?"

"Marcus. Not by much but enough to best him."

"Speaking of Marcus, what's going on between you two?"

"Damn. You didn't even wait for us to get off the island before asking."

"Oh, quit dodging me here. We all know that you in effect left Marcus hanging after you stopped in Chicago on your way home from DC. That was the last time you were in Chicago, right?"

"Nope," Felicia replied with a brief shake of her head.

"Oh really! Do tell."

"Jesus, Marlon, you are relentless."

"But I have nothing on Garrett."

"And if I say anything, it will get to him. Next thing I know, there will be ridiculously smutty RPF of Marcus and me online supposedly written by 'Anonymous', but I'll know that Garrett brainstormed it all."

"Bah! But seriously, when else were you in Chicago?"

"Two weeks ago, when Angie was away at the costumer's conference."

"So it was just you and Marcus?"

"For a week, yes."

"Did you finally get your shit together?"

Felicia shot Marcus a cross look. "I was hoping not to talk about that on this trip, but yes."

"Does Angie know?"

"She does."

"Then what's the big deal?"

"I was hoping to spend a little more time with him before we needed to explain ourselves to people other than our spouses for a bit."

"Alright," Marlon relented. "I have one question, though. How do you feel about it otherwise?"

"Like an idiot for not having talked to him about this two years ago."

"Fair enough."

After a bit of a haul on the Garden State Parkway and hopping on the Expressway, Marlon and Felicia arrived in Atlantic City. Marlon consulted Google Maps long enough to find a small parking lot in the middle of town. He lead Felicia to a nearby jewelry shop that didn't look like much from the outside. A couple neon signs about gold a Rolex took up one of the windows, obscuring their view of the inside.

The store did indeed hold a case of Rolexes, but they found scores of other offerings in the cases and on shelves along the walls. Marlon glanced at Felicia, who was occupied with assessing the wares on the wall. An older gentleman in a blue striped button down approached them.

"Hello. Anything I can help you with?" he asked.

Marlon grinned and nodded. "I'm here to pick up a custom piece. Do you need the name or order number?"

"The order number will be easier."

Marlon fished his cell phone out of his pocket and opened his email. After a quick search, he found what he needed and showed it to the gentleman.

"Perfect. It will take me a few moments to get from the back."

With that, the gentleman walked off. Felicia glanced over at Marlon and cocked her head at his bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"You know the coach will hang you if you strain your calves from doing too much of that."

Marlon sighed but still grinned. "I know, but this shouldn't take too long."

"So why have me tag along for this? This isn't for me, is it?"

"Nope. It's for Garrett."

Felicia's mouth formed a small 'O' shape. "Have you two talked about this?"

"Over the last six months or so, yeah. He's been introduced to my ex and my son, and everyone's cool with each other. Once they all had a couple visits together, I started to feel confident in this decision."

Felicia nodded her approval. "I'm glad to hear you took that approach. Admittedly, it doesn't get talked about too much, likely because the celebrities most likely to take it tend to value privacy a bit more in the first place."

"You're not wrong."

The gentleman came back to the case with a small box the color of espresso. Felicia whistled at the rich depth and craftsmanship of this presentation.

"I have to say that is some top rate packaging," she remarked.

This got a smile from the gentleman. "If you like the box, wait till you see the contents."

He opened the box, prompted Marlon and Felicia to peer inside. A thick platinum band with a single square cut diamond in the middle sat in a nest of cool white velvet. The platinum had a brushed finish, subtle strokes painted along the length of the band. Marlon looked up and nodded.

"It's perfect," he said.

"Excellent. Let's go ahead and get the remainder of this rung up."

After Marlon paid the remaining balance, he slid the box in his pocket before leading Felicia out of the store. He would pat that pocket every other second, eliciting smirks and snickers from his friend. They walked in silence toward the boardwalk and ocean.

"So when's Garrett going to get the ring?" Felicia asked.

"Well, that's actually the main reason I had you tag along with me," Marlon replied. "I could use your help in getting everyone out of the house this evening so it's just Garrett and me."

"Going for the more intimate option, I see. That's a good call. I can see about dragging the rest of the gang out for some chicken wings and bad pool playing at a bad in Somers Point."

Marlon laughed. "That is wildly specific."

"I've always wanted to do something like that. Well, that and hold one of the deli number ticket dispensers and yell 'Take a number and get in line!' to a crap ton of people wanting to do something."

"Like kiss Marcus?"

"Well, I was thinking watching him getting tied up, but that could get out of hand. He has referenced dressing as a piece of rope for Halloween in the past, and I have it on good authority that he's not joking."

"Note to self: do not tell Garrett."

This time it was Felicia's turn to laugh. "Yeah, seriously. If he finds that out, he will run with it."

"Anyway, so if you can get everyone out of the house for the evening, I'll be able to cook dinner and surprise Garrett with the ring."

"Nice!"

Felicia then came to a stop, prompting Marlon to follow suit.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah. I overheard a bit of the taffy conversation you and Garrett had this morning. Mind if we try to find some taffy on the boardwalk? It'll help maintain your cover now that I know the real reason we've ventured all the way up here from Wildwood."

"Sure. We can grab lunch, too, while we're here."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

With that, Marlon and Felicia resumed their trek to the boardwalk.



Entry 3 in "The Bard's Hall Contest"