Good Girl Mary Kitson by Oleksandra Kuhut

Mary Kitson considered herself a confident and strong girl until tonight.

In the morning, she and her girlfriend Lily were choosing songs for the soundtrack for the new film Mary. An aspiring young director tried to do everything as best as possible, she spent sleepless nights developing the script. The action of the film took place in the 70s, and it was necessary to create the atmosphere of those times with the help of the soundtrack. But suddenly, either from fatigue, or from loss of inspiration, the search for songs suitable for the motion picture came to a standstill. Mary was terribly angry with herself, because if she cannot solve the problem with the songs, how will she finish the film? Loving and caring, Lily noticed that her girlfriend was beside herself and offered to consult her father, Chris. It was in the 70s that he was young, and he had a collection of records with old music, so he could find something suitable. 

Mary had a hope that she will finally be able to solve this problem. She and Chris already knew each other - last week, in honour of the anniversary of Lily and Mary meeting each other for the first time, Lily finally introduced Mary to her parents. Chris and Patricia were divorced but maintained a good relationship. Lily's mother, Patricia, was an energetic, attractive modern woman, and Lily's father Chris was an incredibly handsome and talented artist and photographer. They were very friendly and open people, they really liked Mary, and the feeling was mutual, especially for Chris. So subconsciously, although Mary did not want to admit it, she would like to meet with Chris. 

She asked Lily "And I won't inconvenience your father?" 

The girl replied, "And even if you do, will something terrible happen?" Mary looked at her girlfriend with a slight bewilderment, and then smiled. Lily laughed and then continued, "Seriously, you won't. He loves to participate in all kinds of creative projects. He will be happy to help. Especially you, you are his daughter's girlfriend". Lily kissed Mary on the forehead, and she replied "Thank you boo. Love you". Lily promised to warn her dad that Mary will visit him tonight. 

Mary felt strange. Although she tried to muffle the strange flutter in her chest, it ran from her chest higher to her throat, and it was difficult for her to breathe. The girl did not understand where this feeling came from, but she could hardly fight it. In her heart, she seemed to have a presentiment that she would deliberately make a terrible mistake, but still she would not be able to cope with herself. Lily's voice, coming from the hallway, ripped her out of her thoughts. "Honey, dad said he was waiting for you at any time. You can come whenever you want, he has no plans today". 

An hour later, Mary stood at the door of Chris's house. The thrill grew stronger. She rang the bell and a few moments later Chris appeared in front of her, smiling and apologizing for the little mess. She smiled and thanked her girlfriend's father for his help. 

"Not at all, dear. In fact, I should be grateful to you. I am very glad when someone needs my knowledge of music", replied Chris. 

They stood for a minute in the hall and smiled looking at each other. Then Mary took an agitated breath and asked, "Will you show me your collection? I'm madly impatient". Mary giggled sweetly to win over Chris. He fussed charmingly "Yes, of course, sorry. Let's not waste another minute. Come on, love, I'll put you the records of Janis Joplin, Buster Benton, Pat O'Brian. Yeah, I guess we'll start with them. I know a lot about their biography, by the way. If you wish, I will tell you where they came from, what they were interested in etc."

"Yes, of course", the girl replied. 

They spent two hours together, listening to the blues of the 60s and 70s, talking and laughing about music, cinema, painting, literature, and a feeling flared up between them, as if they had known each other all their lives, as if they could describe their feelings to each other without words, as if they two needed just a glance or a gesture.

"You know, Lynch's films are amazing. Blue Velvet and Lost Highway are my favourites"

"I love Elephant Man. The character's story touched me to the core"

"I'm glad to know that we have similar tastes", Mary said, slightly embarrassed.

"I am proud to know such an educated young beauty"

They stared at each other again, and an awkward silence enveloped the room. 

Suddenly the girl jumped up, "I have to go, it's late". Chris, trying to hide his disappointment, quietly said "I will walk you to the exit" 

"No, no, I will find a way out myself", she said a little roughly. He drew back from her and replied, "Okay, Mary. See you another time" The girl noticed that Chris wanted to hug her, but did not let him approach her.

She nodded and hurried to the door. Once gone outside, Mary leaned her back against the wall of the building. She felt that she was about to cry. Subconsciously, she understood that she would be saved from what was about to happen. The girl bit her lip to stop her tears from falling. 

She checked her phone and saw a text from Lily: "I hope you had a good time. Have you chosen songs?"

Behind Mary there was the sound of rapid steps and the sound of the door opening. She turned and saw Chris's eyes. She remembered them. He looked at her as if it were the last second of the existence of the world. Suddenly the anxiety disappeared. She trusted her instincts and fell into the arms of a man. He started kissing her and the lovers slammed the door behind them ...

A few hours later Mary woke up, got dressed and was about to leave. Going down to the hall, she saw Chris smoking in the kitchen. They looked at each other and the girl left. 

... Mary woke up at noon. She never woke up early. She heard a noise in the kitchen. Lily made breakfast, she was not an early riser either. In the kitchen, the girl saw Lily in a bright apron cooking eggs. 

"Good morning, love"

"Good morning Lily"

"How are you? You came back late yesterday"

"Honey, I have to tell you something"

"What?", smiling and not suspecting, Lily asked.

"I can't lie to you, so I'll tell you as it is"

Mary could hardly resist the temptation to change the topic of the conversation, but she was sick of the thought of lying to her girlfriend. The girl stood with her arms around herself. She tried not to look Lily in the eyes, because she knew what she would see in them, and it made her think of killing herself. Mary was cold, although it was summer outside. Her breathing was choked, and her eyes were wet. "I cheated on you ..."

Lily didn't immediately understand what she had heard. "What have you done?"

"I cheated on you, Lily", Mary mumbled in a low and trembling voice. She looked up and saw her girlfriend's face. Lily's eyes have filled with pain.

"With whom?"

"I can't tell you"

"With whom?!"

"I can't, Lily ..."

"When?"

"Please don't ask me to tell you" 

Lily was furious. She hurled the cup into the wall. "Are you kidding me?!"

Yes, Mary did disgustingly, but do not rush to judge her. Mary fell in love. She has never met someone like Chris. Mary would not have survived if she had ruined the relationship between Chris and Lily. All the same, she can love many girls, but she has only one father.

Lily was in pain and angry with misunderstanding of the situation, "Mary, please tell me!""

"I won't tell you, Lily", Mary repeated apologetically but forcefully. Lily cried and screamed. In the end, she just sank to the floor in hysterics and cried incessantly. Mary tried to calm her down, Lily kicked her out of the apartment. She only said "Get out".

Mary went outside and lit a cigarette. She cried. She hated herself for breaking Lily's heart. Suddenly the phone rang. She accepted the call without glancing at the number - "Hello". There was no answer. She glanced at the number. It was Chris. She heard nervous breathing on the phone and in a few seconds "Can we meet?". Mary agreed. They met in the park half an hour later. Chris was already waiting for her on the spot. They sat down on a bench. 

Chris started: "How are you?"

Mary, thinking a little, answered "It sucks"

"I see", he snapped, took a drag, and then continued, "Look, I wanted to ask, did you tell Lily?"

Mary looked at him and replied, "I told her that I cheated, but I did not say with whom and when"

Chris nervously blew smoke from his mouth. He lowered his head and began to cry. Mary put her hand on his shoulder. He touched the girl's hand and whispered "Thank you". Mary nodded. He wiped away his tears and started:

"We'll take this with us to the grave. We can't let Lily know ... We'd better not see each other, baby... Forgive me... Shit, I know you can't... It's all my fault..."

Mary kept nodding, but her soul was split. The worst of her supposed finals was unfolding. Chris got up from the bench, put out his cigarette and kissed Mary goodbye and left forever. Thunderstruck and it started raining. The girl was left to sit alone in the falling rain washing away her tears.