Ralphie snapped his mouth shut, looked peeved, took a sip of his coffee and then his eyes bugged out.

“My God. This is fab-you-las,” he exclaimed, staring at his white paper cup.

I took a sip of mine and my eyes bugged out too.

He was absolutely right.

* * * * *

Several days later, Marcus Sloan walked into Art.

Ralphie was installing a painting at someone’s house so I was, for the first time since The Ricky Incident, alone.

This stunk. I didn’t want to be alone and Ralphie really didn’t want me to be alone but I had to get on with my life eventually so I encouraged him to go.

I was doing okay until Marcus came in.

Being alone was one thing but I didn’t want to be alone with Marcus Sloan.

* * * * *

I knew that I couldn’t lean on Buddy and Ralphie forever. Eventually I had to pick up the threads of my life, find my own place and learn to take care of myself again.

I’d heard nothing from Ricky or any of his crazy brothers. I didn’t press charges because I was my father’s daughter. When you were down and you found an advantage, you didn’t squander it. You waited and used it when the time was right.

Rape was a felony, if found guilty Ricky would go to prison. I knew I could press charges and I knew I’d win. And I had time. There was a statute of limitations but by then I was hoping the Balduccis would have moved onto new prey. In the meantime they knew I could go to the police anytime and cause Ricky, and all the Balduccis, a world of hurt.

I had one card to play and I wasn’t going to play it too soon. If I brought down Ricky, I had three more brothers who could come after me. Right now he was Top Dog. I didn’t need another Balducci dog after me, putting in his bid to make me his prize.

If I kept my card, they all had to sit back and wait for me to play it. In the meantime, they could concentrate on tearing each other apart.

At least, this was what I told myself.

However, telling Ralphie and Buddy about it and talking with Bex was one thing. Facing Ricky Balducci again was another. I wasn’t ready for that.

I knew it made me look like a wimp but I could live with that. I was holding it together, seeing Ricky might make it come flying apart.

I’d put it together once, with the help of Ralphie and Buddy, but I knew I couldn’t do it again.

* * * * *

Marcus walked up to me at the counter and smiled.

“Sadie,” he greeted me softly.

I just stopped myself from putting my hand to the bandage that, at that point, Buddy still put on my face in the mornings to hide the healing cut.

I didn’t need the bandage anymore but I wasn’t ready to go out in public with my scar on display. That would take another few days and another night of lemon drops for Buddy and Ralphie to get me to give up what they called “The Bandage Crutch”.

“Sweetheart, you’re gorgeous. You’ll always be gorgeous. Trust me,” Buddy had said.

It took awhile but I trusted him. People looked but they didn’t say anything and I knew I’d get used to it with enough practice.

Instead, I looked coolly at Marcus Sloan who I’d always thought was handsome. Daisy chose well, Marcus was a colleague of my father’s and I knew he wasn’t clean but I also knew he was nowhere near as dirty as my father.

“Marcus,” I replied.

“You’re…” he hesitated, “well?”

“Never better,” I informed him and I saw his eyes flash in response.

He didn’t hide it and he didn’t let my flippant answer put him off.

“How’s business?” he asked.

“Excellent,” I replied in a tone that didn’t invite further discourse.

Marcus watched me for several seconds, his eyes giving me the impression that he missed nothing and furthermore, I wasn’t fooling him. Then he nodded and started to wander the gallery as if he had all day to peruse my wares.

I watched him.

“Are you here alone?” Marcus asked from across the gallery, his eyes on a display of exquisite glass paperweights.

“Yes,” I answered and kept my eyes on him.

He picked up a paperweight. “Is that wise?” Marcus asked quietly, studying the paperweight.

The reminder that he knew about what happened to me and the indication that he cared that I might not be safe made my heart lurch.

I ignored it.

“Ralphie will be back in ten minutes,” I told him. I didn’t know why I was forthcoming with that information but I was.

“Good,” Marcus responded, put the paperweight down and continued to wander the store.

He didn’t speak again until he went back to the paperweight, picked it up and brought it to the counter.

“Can you gift wrap that for Daisy?” he requested.

“Certainly,” I replied and then busied myself with the invoice, his credit card and the gift wrap.

He was silent until I started to put the finishing touches on the bow. My gift wrap was a matte pistachio green, ultra-thick paper, the inside was a sumptuous, opalescent cream and the bow was powder blue organdie, it was Art’s signature wrap and I thought it was lush.

“You should know, I never told Daisy you came to see her or called her after Nanette’s party,” Marcus said.

My head came up and I almost (but still managed it) couldn’t hide my surprise.

His eyes locked with mine. “She knows now,” he went on.

“Is that so?” I asked with sham fascination but my heart was beating in my chest.

“She’s not happy I kept it from her,” Marcus explained.

I just stared at him.

“She had a tough time in that social circle. You were the only one she liked. When you were gone, she missed you.”

My stomach clutched. Painfully.

I didn’t let it show. Instead, I put his wrapped box in a powder blue bag with the word “Art” in fancy pistachio script on the side, the handles made of pistachio, satin ribbon and I handed it to him.

The door opened and Ralphie walked in. Marcus looked at Ralphie, nodded then took the bag.

His eyes came back to mine. “She still misses you,” he finished.

Then he was gone.

It wasn’t until a few days later I realized that even though I knew after watching hundreds of customers make hundreds of decisions about hundreds of purchases, Marcus had decided what he wanted the minute he picked up the paperweight but he still stayed until Ralphie returned.

Now, how bizarre was that?

* * * * *

“What are you doing?” Buddy asked Ralphie as I watched Veronica Mars mouth off to her father (but in a plucky, cute as a button kind of way).