A Tough Sell

Malcolm entwined his fingers in her long, luscious hair. “God I love your hair,” he said as he played with it. “I’m on the board of 3 charities. I own my own active wear clothing line called Inertia...I do appearances and other events. Usually for money but not always,” he said. “I visit sick children at hospitals too when I can,” He added. “Date very sexy women and make love to them over and over,” he said then heard his phone go off. “Food is here,” he said and got up out of bed. He made a small picnic in the room and put on a pair of black jogging pants and gave her his shirt to put on. He spread out the food on the coffee table and they sat next onto one another on his large, tab, cushy couch. He got pizza and Chinese not knowing what she might want. And he poured them some whiskeys.

Natalya was glad that the food had arrived. She had worked up quite the appetite and was ready to eat something. She smiled when he gave her a shirt to wear and she put it on. It was oversized on her and came down to her mid-thigh. She followed him out to the living room and sat down on the couch. The pizza and Chinese food smelled amazing and she grabbed a slice of pizza first. "So, it sounds like you keep pretty busy." She took a bite and then looked at him. "So, what...position, is that the right word, did you play?"

Malcolm has just eaten a fork full of noodles and had to chew them down before he could answer. “I pitched for the Detroit Tigers. I was a good hitter to but I mainly pitched and relief pitched,” he said.

“You know I have a lot of questions about you but I feel like a criminal whenever I touch on something you don’t want to tell me. I can only guess there is some really bad stuff there and when your ready to tell me, I’ll listen,” he said and noticed she had paused in her eating. “I don’t tell you to obligate you into telling me, just tell me your not ready to talk and I Will accept that, ok?” He asked. “There are parts of my life that I’m not proud of to that I Don't like to talk about. And truly somethings, well can stay in the dark to I think,” Malcolm said and was glad to see her eating again. “I’m a very patient man Natalya, and I feel as if your worth it,” he said honestly. He could very well be wrong but he didn’t think that he was. She was an avenger and that meant she did a lot for other people...for the world. He felt he did to but on a lesser scale then they.

“So besides shooting and pool, do you have any hobbies? I love swimming, especially in the ocean and boating. I love the solitude of being out there on the water,” he said as he recalled the last time he was out there.

Natalya just looked ahead when Malcolm began to talk about her past and suggest that some bad things must have happened. She knew he wanted to know more about her, but it was difficult for her to talk to anyone about her past. Some of it she still didn't even remember because her subconscious had blocked it out because it was that traumatic for her. She wasn't ready to talk about it and she was glad that Malcolm wasn't going to push her. Perhaps one day she would be willing to tell him, but not now. He needed to earn that trust first.

She glanced over at Malcolm when he then asked her about hobbies. She gave a little shrug because she didn't really have any. Hobbies were not apart of her training regime with the SSB and working as an Avenger she didn't have any time. "I...I don't have any time for hobbies." She was quiet a moment before she turned and looked at Malcolm. "I think you've already guessed this, but I'm not going to be anything like any other girl that you've been with before. My entire life has been training and fighting and killing...that's it."

Malcolm didn’t respond for almost a minute as he considered what Natalya said. He put down the carry out container and put it on the table then shifted up to her. She still held a piece of pizza but she wasn’t eating it right then.

“Natalya, I cant begin to imagine what it must be like to go through what you went through. I don’t expect you to be anything but what you are. And I know I’m seeing the side of you that isn’t...what you said. But that is proof that you are more than just violence and death,” he said as he lightly touched her face. He brushed back her dark hair and rubbed his thumbs along her cheek bones.

“You are an amazing woman with more to offer a guy like me than you realize. So you go do your thing and I’ll do my thing and when we meet together again...let’s do some really fun stuff, ok?” He said. His smile was taken up in his eyes when he looked at her. “Now is that good pizza or what?” He said as he let go of her.

Natalya wasn't sure what Malcolm might say in response to what she had just said, but he needed to know the truth. She wasn't going to be like any other woman he had ever been with. She felt him looking at her as a silence settled between them. For a moment she thought he was going to respond negatively. However, what he actually did say surprised her and brought a few tears to her eyes. She looked up into his own as he lightly caressed her face and she suddenly wondered how she had gotten so lucky to find a man as understanding and caring as Malcolm was. He saw past her exterior and cared about what was on the inside. That mattered to her more than she could ever say.

She slowly nodded in agreement and continued to eat. After a few minutes of silence she spoke again. "So, do you have any brothers or sisters?"