Page 8 of So Normal

“Don’t bullshit me, Faith!” Michael said.

The words weren’t unusual, but the tone was. He wasn’t ragging her; he was genuinely angry. She sighed and said, “I don’t know, Michael. He’s never been that way with anyone before.”

“You know she’s never going to be comfortable around Turk after that.”

“Oh man,” Faith said drily. “Does this mean I have to move out?”

“I’m serious, Faith, what’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on, Michael! For Christ’s sake, it’s not a big deal! He wasn’t going to attack her.”

“It sure looked like he was for a moment.”

Faith turned to him and said, “Would you like to ask him? He’s sitting right here.”

She gestured to Turk, and Turk’s ears pricked up as he realized he was being talked about.

“Okay, fair enough,” Michael said. “I’ll take your word for it. Still, he clearly didn’t like her.”

“And I’m sorry for that,” she said, “but I didn’t make him decide not to like her.”

“Are you sure about that?” he asked. “The only time I’ve ever seen him behave that way before is when he thinks someone is a threat to you.”

“Well, you know,” Faith said, “Ellie is pretty intimidating. I guess I was just afraid she might kick my ass, and Turk picked up on it.”

“Sarcasm aside, Faith,” Michael said, “he picked up on something.”

“Well, maybe you should ask Ellie what that might be,” Faith retorted.

“You see, that’s what I mean,” Michael said. “You don’t like her. Why don’t you like her?”

“I never said I didn’t like her,” Faith said.

“Do you like her?” Michael asked directly.

Faith sighed. “It doesn’t matter, Michael. You like her. That’s what matters.”

“It does matter,” Michael said. “It matters to me that you like her. How would you feel if I didn’t like David?”

“Unless you felt a need to point it out every time we saw each other, I wouldn’t think about it, Michael,” Faith replied irritably. “That’s the truth.”

Michael was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “Well, I guess that’s just one of the differences between you and me.”

Faith sighed. “Look, Michael, can we just forget about it, please? Next time we see each other, I’ll have David watch Turk. Ellie never needs to see him again.”

“Yes, she does,” Michael insisted. “I want to spend the rest of my life with Ellie, and that means I want her to be able to interact with all of my friends, even the furry ones.”

Faith couldn’t stifle the surprise in her voice. “You’re asking her to marry you?”

“Is that a problem?” he asked.

Faith’s initial reaction was frustration but before she could repeat that she didn’t have a problem with Ellie, her second reaction took over. She recalled the tension in Ellie’s body when Michael kissed or touched her, the way she seemed to deflect the conversation away from her husband. The fact was that shedidhave a problem with Ellie, a lot of problems. Now, Michael was planning to marry her, and she wasn’t even divorced from her current husband.

She chose her words carefully. “I think you might want to wait until her current marriage is over before you start a new one.”

“Her current marriage is over,” Michael insisted, “in all but name.”

“Well, if you want her to take your last name, then you’ll have to wait until she gives up the other guy’s,” Faith pointed out.

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