Sara, part 2

The following morning proved to be remarkably normal. Too normal, in light of what had happened between Sara and Mark; and it worried him.

It was a Saturday, and Mark’s parents were up early as usual, laying out the weekend work chores for everyone. Mark noticed the conspicuous absence of Sara, although he knew that she was home. He was very conscious of not making obvious his concern though, but all through the weekend he could feel that Sara was avoiding him.

By Sunday evening, he felt like a leper. In the week that followed, nothing changed much; Mark continued work mowing lawns in the neighborhood to earn a little spending money and Sara spent most of her time hanging out at her friend Sally’s house. Mark continued to feel a bit nervous when Sara would enter the room, and would be on pins and needles when the whole family would be together.


But as the days went on, and nothing happened, his nervousness waned.

He did notice that Sara was beginning to spend more and more of her time alone, in her room, and less with everyone else. Marks parents seemed to notice little, perhaps chalking it up to normal adolescence, but Mark knew better.

For the first week, he worried that he had seriously screwed up his kid sisters life, twisted permanently by his uncontrolled sexual tension, and he began to avoid Sara as well.

The second week began similar to the previous, but as that weekend approached, Mark finally began to sense a change. Sara was beginning to return to her normal talkative self, openly giggling and laughing, relaxing with the folks.

It was Friday afternoon, as Mark was out in the garage putting away the mower after having worked all day, when he heard one of the cars pull into the driveway. Mark looked over his shoulder to see his mother stepping out of the car. Mark said hello to her and turned back to what he was doing as his mother walked into the garage. She walked past him to the door but then stopped, holding open the door.

“Mark?” She called out.

“Yeah, Mom?” He replied.

“When you’re finished, can you come in and see me? I want to ask you something.” She said.

Without being able to put his finger on it, Mark sensed something unusual about her request. And it made him nervous. He finished cleaning off the mower and stepped into the house to wash his hands. He was standing at the kitchen sink, scrubbing away the dirt and grease he’d collected working on the mower when his mother walked up next to him.

“Mark, I’ve got a little problem.” She said to him.

Mark gave her a quick glance and continued to scrub the soap on his hands, returning his gaze to the sink.

“I have a friend of mine at the office that has a little place over in Sutterton. It’s down on the river, kind of a little cottage that her family owns.” She said. Mark began to rinse the soap from his hands and arms under the faucet, bending down close to the sink to let the water run up clear to his elbows.

” And… well, I’ve been wanting to do something for your father, who has been working himself way too hard.” She continued.

Mark began to nervously wonder where she was going with this, hoping it was not a family outing of some kind. He had seen very little of Karen over the past few weeks, owing to his own paranoia, and was hoping to be able to see her this weekend.

“So, I was thinking that I would take him there for the weekend to relax.” She said.

“Ok?” Mark said, waiting for the catch.

“But I’ve got a bit of a problem.” She said.

“Here it comes…” Mark thought to himself.

“Well… I was kind of hoping that just your father and I would be able to go… alone.” She was looking at Mark intently to see his reaction, which was one of immediate relief.

“Now I know that you would probably want to stay here anyway…”

Mark nodded approvingly to her, “…and I don’t have a problem with that.” She continued.

“I was going to speak to Beth, Sally’s mother, about Sara staying over there but I feel a little uncomfortable asking. I mean, I don’t really know her all that well and she’s already got enough kids in that house, so I feel guilty about asking.”

Mark began to feel uncomfortable again as he began to realize where the conversation was leading to.

“So, I want to ask a favor from you…” She began, ” If I let you and Sara stay home, alone… can I trust you?”

“Trust me?!? Holy shit! What does she mean by that!” Mark screamed inside.

As his mind raced on, he stood silently, his mouth agape.

“What I mean is no parties, and no hanging out with your friends till all hours of the night? And that goes for Sara as well.” His mother continued.

The relief that washed over Mark as he heard her continue on was too much for him, and he let out a long, deep sigh. “I’m serious, Mark. If I’m going to trust you to behave yourself, you are going to have to give me your word. And that means watching Sara as well.”

Mark’s mother was now staring intently at Mark, waiting for his reply.

Mark took a deep breath, and relaxed a bit and answered her, “I promise. No parties, I swear.”

“Okay, then.” She replied, “I’m counting on you.”

*****

Mark and Sara stood out on the small front porch and waved as their parent’s car left the driveway. Watching their car disappear down the street, Mark heard Sara walk back into the house, the screen door slamming behind her. He waited out on the porch, watching as the sun set behind the trees across the street until he felt the night air begin to cool, and contemplated whether or not to call his girlfriend Karen.Things had not been good between them, especially since Mark had lost his temper with her. It had been nearly two weeks now and she seemed to be increasingly distant, and Mark knew that it was his own fault. The writing was on the wall.

He went inside the house and fixed himself a little dinner, noticing Sara as she wandered around the house with a decidedly long face. He attempted to make casual conversation with Sara, hoping to relieve his own anxiety and maybe hers, but her reactions convinced him that it was probably best to just stay out of her way. Each and every time that he would see Sara, since that fateful day, he noticed more and more that she was no longer the “kid” that he’d once seen. The way she carried herself, the way she spoke, and most of all the way she looked; she was truly an incredible looking young lady.

And worse yet, each and every time he would lay his bed, he would immediately think back to that night, and for as much as just the memory of seeing her in her room or in his as she sat on the end of his bed excited him, his fantasies would ultimately be overcome by his guilt.

The moment he heard his mother ask her question, realizing that he would be alone with Sara, his stress level had gone through the roof, and it occurred to him that Sara was probably feeling the same way.

However, as Mark sat alone in the family room, eating his dinner watching the boob tube, he resolved that tonight he would oblige his mother’s wishes and stay home. In the last two weeks, he had managed to chase away his girlfriend with his over zealous attempts to get laid, as well as quite possibly screw up his kid sister for just the same reasons. Losing Karen was one thing, but the situation with Sara was still something that he thought about every time he saw her, and living in the same house it was hard NOT to see her.

It was nearly midnight, and Mark had finally given up on finding anything more of interest on the television and settling in on an old movie in an effort to bring on sleep, when he heard soft footsteps coming down the stairs. It was Sara, and Mark was suprised that she was still awake.

She seemed almost to avoid his gaze as she walked into the room, turning to look at the television as if to see what he’d been watching. Mark was unsure what to say to her, and noticed that she wore the same sad look on her face that she’d had all night.. She was still dressed in the same blue jeans and T-shirt that she’d had on earlier and Mark made notice of the fact that she hadn’t even begun to get herself ready sleep, as was her usual by this hour.

She sat herself gingerly down on the couch caddy corner to Mark’s, and lifted her legs up to rest her feet on the coffee table, wriggling her sock covered toes nervously. Mark looked at her hoping, as well as dreading, that she would talk but she simply sat silently looking at the television. He tried to think of something to break the ice between them, and was building the courage to ask when he heard Sara speak, still looking at the tube.

“Mark, can I… ask you a question?” Sara asked timidly.

The hesitancy with which she’d asked made Mark feel a little uneasy. And with the expression that she’d had on her face for most of the night, he began to worry what was coming.

“Umm… sure.” he said. Sara sat silent for a moment, staring at her feet as they rubbed together on the coffee table.

He heard her take a deep breath, then let it out slowly, and realized that Sara was building up the courage to ask her question. He began to feel his stomach tighten a little more.

“Well, could we…” She paused for a moment, wrapping her arms around her waist in obvious tension, “… could we just talk for a little while?”

“Talk?” Mark blurted out nervously.”I mean… uhh… sure.”

Sara just sat for a moment, still hugging herself and looking around the room nervously, occasionally glancing Mark’s way.

“What.. umm… did you want to talk about?” Mark asked as he cleared his throat.

“About… what happened.” She said.

“Oh.” Mark answered quietly, knowing instantly what she meant.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Sara offered to him with a voice of concern; wondering maybe she’d been wrong to bring up the subject.

“No, we can talk… I don’t mind.” He replied, his stomach wrenching once more.

“Really?” She said, sounding a little relieved. When Mark heard the tone of her voice lighten, his did as well.

“Sure. We can talk… I’d like that.” She was still curled tightly to herself as she sat on the sofa, her feet poised on the edge of the low table, her head tilted down, when she looked up through her brow with an innocent looking smile. Gazing into her big, puppy dog eyes and genuine smile, Mark couldn’t help but feel the knot in his stomach rise.