Too bad.

Marshall was just sitting down in his room, doing absolutely nothing. The TV was switched off, there wasn’t a pen in his hand and the phone wasn’t ringing. He was just sitting there, doing nothing. He tilted his head back until it rested on the edge of the sofa. He gazed to the blank ceiling, just thinking. Thinking about what he should think about. Wow, you’re bored. He realised it wasn’t doing anything so he sat up again. He only went to New York about Danielle, and now that she’s not here, he’s here for no one. Otherwise, he’d be home enjoying his NFL or NBA. The Lions weren’t playing until Sunday. No decent game is on the middle of the week. “F**k it” he thought. He stormed to the door, wanting to desperately get out of this hotel and at least do something. He paced down the hallway and met Paul at a near corner. Marshall stopped, sighed and rolled his eyes. “Where do you think you’re going?” Paul asked. “Somewhere…” Marshall was quick to answer, trying to go past him. But Paul was a big guy and nobody could go through his brick hard body. “You’re not going anywhere. We need to talk” Paul said. “Now?” Marshall winged. “Yes, now!” Paul insisted. Marshall sighed deeper this time and regretfully turn around and headed back to his room. “So what is it?” Marshall asked impatiently. Paul slowly closed the door. “We’re gonna talk about tomorrow” Paul said “Tomorrow?” Marshall was confused. “The video shoot?” Paul reminded him. “Oh yeah, right!” Marshall remembered. Paul rolled his eyes and sat down. Their conversation was only 10 minutes long. Paul dished out the facts and Marshall simply nodded. He wasn’t going to go against anything as after this boring day, he wouldn’t mind going to a Britney Spears concert. “So you okay with this?” Paul asked. “Yeah, absolutely” Marshall answered. Paul shrugged his shoulders and clipped one of his buck cigars. He walked to the door and Marshall followed him. “I’d be careful if I was you” Paul warned. “What do you mean?” Marshall asked. Paul placed his cigar in between his index and middle finger, waving it around whilst he said “Because women like Danielle are lonely as f**k and will grab onto the first man they get a hold of.” Marshall started to get angry. “Man, she’s not like that” he protested. “Aight, I’mma let you see for yourself then. Let her get a hold of your dick and she’ll be carrying it around like lipgloss” Paul said with aggression in his voice. “I’mma prove you wrong, then” Marshall said. Paul looked at Marshall in disapproval. “Alright, then. I hope you do” Paul said sarcastically. He held the cigar on his lips and left. Marshall clinched his fists, but then relaxed. “Man, f**k him” he whispered to himself. He headed to the room’s kitchen to see whether the hotel had provided Mountain Dew, other than the typical sparkling water.

Eric gathered his clothes, his notepad and his headphones and shoved them into his only backpack. He closed his bedroom door and locked it before running to the living room, where Danielle was waiting for him. “Ready!” he said with a grin on his face. Danielle stood up and put her arm around his shoulder. Chris popped out of the kitchen and grabbed Danielle by the arm. “Hold up” he said. “Go down to the limo and I’ll wait for you, okay?” Danielle whispered to Eric. “Okay” he replied and headed downstairs, leaving Danielle and Chris alone. “What do you want?” she asked him. “Can we just talk for a second?” he asked. “Are you high?” she asked him. “No…” he replied. “Talk” she ordered. “Why don’t you come back to New York? You can be with Eric more” Chris suggested. “The only reason why I’m not back here is because of your stoned self, always trying to make a move on me” she said. “Come on, I’m not high all the time” he insisted. “And when you are, you’re doing it right in front of Eric. And I don’t want you to be whispering in my ear, saying “Baby, I wanna f**k you so hard”. You’re disgusting and vile. The only reason why I’m here is because of Eric” Danielle debated. “I’m trying to be the best father I can be” he protested. “Then drop the weed and take some responsibility, you a*****e!” she yelled. “Go ahead and take my son away from me then. You think you’re all that too. You’re out in LA, doing your business and you don’t even give him a call to see whether he’s okay” Chris yelled back. Danielle wasn’t in the mood to be fighting about this again. They’ve been fighting since Eric was born when they were both 17. Chris is who Danielle picked over his mother. Now, all he’s doing is blaming everything on her and spending the money she sends over on weed and prostitutes. “I swear to God, Chris” she threatened him. “What?” he asked, grabbing her aggressively close. “Get the f**k off me!” she shouted. She struggled to break loose but she was strong enough to get out of his grip. “You still love me” Chris said, pointing a finger at her with a bent elbow. “ No, I f*****g don’t. I regret the day I met you, I regret the day I let you talk me into moving in together and I’ve hated you since ever my mom died!” she yelled, her voice getting shakier by each word. She bit her bottom lip, trying to stop it from quivering. “I need to go” she said, picking up her jacket. “C’mon, Danielle, I’m sorry” Chris said as she turned around. He tried to hold her hand but she quickly snapped and said “Just don’t.” Danielle slammed the door behind her, loud enough to be heard around the block. She raced downstairs and she put her jacket on and hopped back into the limousine, where Eric was patiently waiting for her. “You okay?” he asked. “Yeah, I’m fine” she replied and ordered the chauffeur back to the hotel.

“So what are you doing in New York?” Eric asked as they both entered the elevator. “I’m shooting a video and getting ready for promo” she explained. “Are any girls gonna be there?” Eric asked instantly. Danielle smiled to the side. “You might be 17 but you ain’t anywhere old enough to be getting a date with the girls in my videos” she said smiling. “You never know” he said with an eyebrow raised. Danielle chuckled. Ding went the elevator. Just down the hall was Danielle’s leading actor in her fantasies. She walked down the hall towards her door, pretending not to notice Marshall. He heard steps coming towards him and diverted his eyes from notepad. “Danielle” he said exhaling. Danielle looked up to him, still pretending to not have seen him. “Marshall!” she said then smiling. Eric was just observing confused. “Oh, Marshall, this is Eric. Eric, Marshall” Danielle introduced them. “Hey” Eric said. “Hey” Marshall repeated. Danielle then inserted her hotel card into its slot and opened her room’s door. She went inside but Marshall and Eric looked at each other. Eric broke the awkward silence by asking “Are you screwing my mom?” Marshall was confused. He didn’t know he was talking about Danielle but figured he was. “No…” he replied, almost disappointed. Eric made a frown and raised his eyebrows. “Too bad…” Eric said and followed Danielle inside. The door closed and Marshall gave himself an evil yet seductive smile.