Make An Effort

Who: Isabella and Lucius
When: 6pm-ish
Where: Streets of Marquette

Isabella was not a fan of fast food. Perhaps she had lived on it way too much in college, or on her travels, but since becoming a successful writer, she was used to finer things, like steak and expensive wine. Marquette was not full of top tier restaurants, so she found herself cooking her own meals, sitting down at her table and eating alone. Which wasn't as depressing as it sounded. She was used to being on her own, and except for the random spurts of time where her hormones told her differently, Isabella was perfectly content in her life.

Tonight she was definitely in the mood for something home cooked. Since the weather was fairly tolerable, and there were no evil beings on the streets looking to attack, Isabella walked to the grocery store. She bought only what she needed, but really that turned into two large grocery bags full of meat, vegetables and other assorted items. Maybe she didn't need the ice cream, but who didn't have dessert after working hard in the kitchen?

She walked down the streets of Marquette, heading back to her home. She had to stop a few times to shift the bags in her hands so they wouldn't topple out and she thought about using magic to just get them home. She had a lot on her mind - mostly about Brian leaving, and really, why bother struggling with grocery bags when she was this upset? Only that made her feel extremely lazy and if someone noticed floating bags, she might have a problem on her hands. Isabella sighed and lifted her knee to push the bottom of one of the brown bags further up in her arms. If she dropped the eggs, she was going to be incredibly pissed off.

After work Lucius went back to his room for a quick shower to rid himself of the grease stains and mechanic smell he'd received at work. Now he was en route to find fast food since he couldn't cook for the life of him, but seeing the woman struggling with the bags he decided that his rudeness today with Marek might stand a little reverse effects if he did a good deed. He sauntered up to her and before getting to close and perhaps running the risk of startling the woman he asked her if she needed help. "Hey... can I uh, help you out there, ma'am?" he questioned, his southern accent leaking off the tip of his tongue like honey.

Isabella's blue gaze shifted to the guy talking to her. It took her a second to understand what he was offering. Oh, right. The difficult grocery bags. But she bristled a tiny bit at being called "ma'am". It made her feel old. She decided to let it slide because she would much rather have this guy carrying the eggs into her house instead of finding them splattered all over the sidewalk. "Yes, thank you." She moved one arm, offering him the heavier bag. "Thank you, I appreciate it. I don't live very far. Just a few houses up to the left." She nodded in the right direction. "My name is Isabella, by the way." Because she'd be damned if she let him continue calling her 'ma'am'.

He nodded taking the bag from her and adjusting it in his arms, careful to keep his hand at the bottom of the sack. His eyes drifted over the bags contents. "Dinner?" he questioned with a smirk. "Lucky you, I couldn't cook to save my life."

"Dinner," Isabella confirmed with a slight nod and started walking again. Her boots may have been Gucci, but they were killing her feet. "I was growing tired of pizza and McDonald's, so I taught myself how to cook. It takes a bit longer, and a lot more effort, but at the end of it, I get sirloin steak and vegetables on my plate instead of a Big Mac and greasy fries." Isabella studied Lucius. "Do you have a name?"

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, sorry, my heads a bit everywhere lately." he admitted. "Lucius. I'm Lucius." he offered. "Sirloin steak does sound a bit tastier than a Big Mac." he agreed. "Perhaps I'll have to find someone to teach me how to cook before I turn into some form of fastfood."

Both of Isabella's eyebrows lifted when he introduced himself. "You're Marlowe's Lucius?" How many men in Marquette shared that name, after all? She was paying him more attention now, trying to get an initial vibe off of the man, if he was indeed who she thought he was. He didn't look like Marlowe's type, in Isabella's opinion.

He nodded. "Yeah. Well sort of. I don't really know anymore. We kinda had a fight so yeah. You know Mar?" he questioned. Inwardly he was annoyed that his mind having finally managed to subdue the thought of Marlowe was suddenly thrust back into the pool of emotion as this woman mentioned her name.

A fight. That was interesting. Hadn't they already broken up once before according to Brian? Then again, a fight didn't always means breaking up. Fights were good and healthy for any relationship, in Isabella's opinion. "Yes, I know Marlowe. I've known her for several years. She told me all about you," Isabella added casually, reaching her free hand into her purse to pull out her house keys as they came upon the large victorian home.

He raised a brow at that. "She did?" he questioned softly as he followed the woman towards her door. "Hopefully those things came before this argument... doubt I could take the thoughts and words she's had about me since it." He sighed. He didn't want to think about that. About all the things that Marlowe could and probably was thinking about him at this point. How he'd hurt her and how he'd broken a promise to her. He didn't want to be the reason for her being upset and it sent a wave of guilt crashing over him yet again as the thoughts continued to pour. He shifted the bag slightly and with the movement hoped to shift the thoughts away as well.

"I would say that they did, given it was a couple of days ago and she seemed fairly happy at the time." The answer was blunt and probably not what he wanted to hear, but given she had no details about their argument, her first initial siding was, of course, with Marlowe. Isabella motioned for Lucius to follow her up her steps to the porch where she pulled open the glass door to get to her lock. "Is this the kind of fight that showing up on her door step with a bouquet of flowers wouldn't fix?"

He shrugged. "That actually kinda sounds like a good idea, to be honest. I left her a couple of voicemails and I haven't really made an effort to go over there. Felt like she needed a bit to cool off and everything." he sighed and bit his lip a bit. "It's my fault... I need to figure out a way to fix it." he mumbled as he made his way up the porch steps.

Isabella shot him a look as she unlocked her door and pushed it open. She held the glass door open for him to follow her. "Honey, you need to make a bigger effort than a couple of voicemails. If she won't answer, you go over to her house and knock. If she doesn't answer, sit your butt down in front of her door until she does. Having an armful of flowers for her certainly won't hurt your cause. Especially if it's your fault." Which she was pretty sure it was. Men. Isabella started for her kitchen. "You need to show her you're sorry, not try to convince her through some messages."

He nodded. "Yeah, I know that. I told her I was sorry to begin with but it's not like she wanted to listen to my side of the situation either." He sighed. There was more than one side of the story and he was quickly figuring out that Isabella obviously would side with Marlowe regardless. "It's just a big mess..." he muttered as he followed her through to the kitchen and sat the bag down on the counter.

Isabella set her purse on the kitchen table and then placed her own bag down on the counter next to the other one. "Go see her," she suggested. "You probably tried to explain your side while she was still upset and the hurt feelings, whatever they were, were still raw. If it's been a day or so, it's time to go talk to her like a grown up. If you two have a solid, adult relationship, she'll be willing to listen." Isabella pulled out the celery to wash and slice. She gave Lucius a slightly sympathetic look. "If she's not, perhaps she's not the right woman for you."

He shook his head. "She is the right woman..." he breathed out, a pained look crossing his face. "I just screwed it up... I gotta fix it." He stood there another moment and then let out a sigh. "I should probably let you get to making your dinner. Glad I could help..." He turned to walk away and back out towards the door but paused and looked over his shoulder again at the woman. "If you see Marlowe before I do... tell her I miss her, that I'm sorry. And that I love her..." he muttered softly. With that he moved again to leave the kitchen.

"You really should go tell her that yourself," Isabella called after him, turning on the sink to start washing her vegetables. "But if I see her, I'll let her know. Thank you for the help, Lucius." She had given the guy the advice she knew would probably be the most effective for getting Marlowe back. If he decided not to take the advice, she probably would tell Marlowe she was better off without him. Any guy who settled for phone calls rather than making the effort to go beg on their hands and knees was simply not worth the trouble.

He nodded. "Your welcome... thank you, for the advice..." he replied from the front door as he exited her home and returned to his original path, heading off to find some sort of food substance, though now he didn't really feel much of an appetite. There were far too many thoughts running through his head now for him to keep his mind on anything other than Marlowe and how he was going to patch up the mess he'd made.