Break Myself

Natalia sat in her living room, flipping through a magazine, avoiding all of the incoming calls on her phone. After her father had called ten times in a row, she had just started to ignore all the calls, not caring if anyone else was calling.

Her phone rang again, and she threw it across the room. She was still furious at her father. She knew that he had good intentions, but the fact that he was more concerned about one of his players than his own daughter, angered her.

All of a sudden, there was a knock on her door. She got up, figuring it was her father, groaning. “Why can’t you just take a hint?” she said loudly, making sure John could hear her through the door. “I don’t want to talk to you!” she exclaimed, opening the door.

“Okay, sorry. I’ll just leave then,” Marty said when the door opened, turning around and heading towards the stairs.

“Wait! Marty!” Natalia called, when she realized it was Marty and not her father. She ran after him, stopping him at the stairs, as she grabbed a hold of his arm and spun him around. “I thought you were my dad,” she explained.

“You’re still mad at him?” Marty questioned, following Natalia back to her apartment.

She shut the door behind them and made her way over to the couch, throwing her magazine on the table in front of her. “You know?” she asked, never having told him what John had said to her. Not that she was surprised since she had told Olivia and Summer. She was sure that they would end up telling him eventually if Natalia never got around to it.

Marty nodded his head. “Sum and Liv told me you went over to their place, all upset,” he admitted.

“I figured they’d tell you eventually,” Natalia said.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Marty asked, looking into her eyes.

Natalia tore her eyes away, looking over at the magazine. “I don’t know. I guess, I just figured that you shouldn’t have to deal with my problems.”

“Natalia,” Marty began, but she continued to look at the magazine. “Natalia,” he repeated, and she finally looked up at him. “We’re in a relationship. Your problems are my problems.”

“Marty, my dad thinks you’re better off without me. Maybe he’s right,” she suggested. “I mean, I’m still a mess from the Army.”

Marty ignored her statement. “What do you say we go out tonight? And, this time, I’m thinking we should have a proper date. No teammates interrupting us,” he suggested.

Natalia smiled at him. “Oh? And how do you figure we get around your teammates?” she asked.

“Why don’t you come over to my place? I’ll make you dinner. We can watch a movie or something? I know it’s nothing special or fancy, but…” he began.

“It’s perfect,” Natalia smiled, interrupting him. “Do I get to pick the movie?”

“Sure, anything you want,” Marty told her. “I’ll see you at eight?”

Natalia nodded her head. “Yeah,” she told him, looking him in his eyes. She slowly leaned forward, giving him a sweet, simple kiss on the lips. As they pulled away, Marty looked into her eyes to make sure she was okay. The last time they had kissed, she hadn’t been too comfortable, and he needed to know that she was alright.

He let out a breath of relief when he saw her smile. “I’ll see you tonight,” she told him, and he smiled back at her.

“See you at eight,” he said, standing up and making his way out of her apartment.

Later that night, Natalia went to her closet, rummaging through all of her clothes, trying to find something to wear. She couldn’t find anything that screamed “perfect” and she kept digging through everything. Finally, she came upon a yellow sundress in the back of her closet. She pulled it out with a smile, hoping that it still fit. It had to have been probably two years since she bought it.

She slipped it on, grinning as she realized that it still fit. She looked at herself in the mirror as she slipped on a pair of white shoes. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table and realized it was already 7:30. She ran to put her makeup on, before grabbing her purse and keys, heading down to her car.

She pulled up to Marty’s apartment ten minutes after eight. She got out of the car, running up the stairs and knocking on his door. “Sorry I’m late!” she exclaimed, before Marty had a chance to say anything.

“Don’t worry about it,” Marty laughed. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she smiled, taking her coat off and placing it on a chair right inside the door. “You don’t look so bad yourself. So, what’s for dinner? Whatever it is smells good,” she said, walking towards the kitchen.

“Hey, hey, hey, not so fast,” Marty told her, grabbing her hand, and pulling her back around. Natalia looked up at him, wide-eyed. “It’s not done yet.”

“I just wanted to know what it was!” she exclaimed. “Come on, just tell me!”

“You can’t wait fifteen minutes for it to be done?” Marty asked.

“Fine,” Natalia sighed, rolling her eyes at him. “I guess,” she said dramatically. “Oh, I forgot, I brought the movie,” she smiled.

“What one is it?” he asked curiously.

“Well, you’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?” Natalia teased.

“Ha ha,” Marty said sarcastically.

Forty-five minutes later, they had finished their dinner, which consisted of shrimp pasta with roasted peppers and chocolate cake for dessert. “So, are you ready for the movie?” Natalia asked, after telling Marty how much she had enjoyed the meal and thanked him at least a million times.

“Yes, I can’t wait to see what it is,” he told her.

“Well, I decided to bring my favorite. I swear, I’ve seen this movie at least four hundred times, and I still love it,” Natalia told him, grabbing the movie out of her purse and showing him the cover as she put the DVD in the player.

“Slapshot?” Marty asked with a laugh.

“What? You don’t like it?” Natalia asked, worried. “We can pick another movie if you want to,” she told him.

“No, I love it,” he smiled, sitting down on his couch.

“Good,” Natalia smiled, sitting down next to him, leaning back into his chest. Marty put his arms around her, and she leaned her head against his shoulders, getting comfortable for the movie.