"You have to understand that I love you and ONLY you." "That's what all men say when they've been caught out," Molly returns in a growl. "Yeah, but I really mean it, baby,” I insist. “... I love you." "And you prove it by doing that, Jack?" I groan and run a hand over my face feeling the slightest glisten of sweat on my skin. Things haven't been going well today. However, this fight is just the tip of the iceberg. You see, it all started with a phone call. My fingers tips spill through the strands of my slightly too long black hair as Molly waits with obvious impatience to see what I will say in reply to her comment. Her normally rather cute heart-shaped face is pinched inwards with deep creases between her eyebrows and a definite downward curve to her gorgeous lips. This is the way that Molly looks when I'm in hot water and soon to be boiled and served. I can almost feel the scolding heat already. “It's because she's lonely,” I admit. That doesn't go down well. Molly snarls at me, almost animal-like, and biffs one of the small yellow pillows from the couch next to where she is standing at me. It slams into my chest clean and square. I step back and look down at it. Stitched into the fabric is 'love you forever.' She did that last Valentines Day. I remember being really happy about it. It's quite the contrast from how I feel right now. “Your ex-girlfriend is lonely and you spend an hour talking to her on the phone when you should be spending time with me.” She slaps her hand down on her side for emphasis. “Don't you think that might make me a little mad?” I drop the pillow on the floor next to the couch and say, “She's really struggling.” “Then why don't you go be with her!” Molly throws back her blond hair and turns to face the window that looks over the long avenue into the city. A little of the warm breeze from it makes her hair ripple slightly as I stare at her trying to figure out how to calm the fiery woman down. “You obviously don't care about me.” There is a loud triple knock at the entrance door at just that moment. “Go get that,” Molly spits out, “Someone else needs your attention more than I do.” I try really hard not to roll my eyes and stomp off down the short hallway that leads to the entrance of our one bedroom apartment. I glance through the peep hole and groan loudly. It seems that trouble has come visiting. “I really can't talk to---” I start into the intercom. Unfortunately, Molly's hand flashes under my side and twists the door handle around to unlock and open the door. “I'm sorry for--- Oh...” The woman of my past and the woman of my present eyeball each other. It's clear by the heat in their gazes that they hate each other. “Girls...” Hilary struts in on her ultra high silver heels, expensive black brand bag swaying left to right under her arm and breasts virtually spilling out of her extreme low cut yellow top, the view only partially covered by her long curly brown hair. “Molly.” “Hilary.” This isn't good. They are squaring off. Hilary has her bag cupped to her oversized breasts with a haunty look of distasteful for the other woman while Molly has her hands on her hips, jaw forward and eyes locked on my ex. If lasers could sprout from a woman's eyes the latter would be set to the death setting. I'm in the middle of them before a word can be said. “Ladies. No fighting.” My voice is firm. Pity my will isn't. Hilary grabs me by the shirt and biffs me aside. Unfortunately, as she's never that careful about things, I trip over the discarded pillow and go down hard. “Ouch---” Then the lights go out. I must have hit the wooden edge of the arm rest on the couch. I told Molly we shouldn't have bought this one...
*****
I'm piled up on the soft covers of our bed when my eyes flutter open and get a good view of what is left of the tense situation from before. Molly is looking a little worried, hands on hips, hair