Ben and Molly

Ben was glad to be working. The pay wasn't bad. Neither were the benefits. Of course, there was Steve to put up with. Which meant, listening to a lot about Evie.

"You sure, you're happy?" Ben didn't think Steve honestly trusted her. She'd been kind of mean to him in the past.

"Why couldn't I be happy with her?" Steve winced back as if he might be in some sort of dream world with her. "I got my kid. She's family, you know."

Ben nodded, thinking he was trying to get away from everything like that with his own family. The obligations. Even the noise.

Of course, there was Molly's own parents to put up with. He thought half the time, her dad was pretty much a baby about things.

"How does he get away with that?" Ben didn't take to kind how her father left everything for her mother to do, which in turn, turned out to be Ben's TO DO LIST.

"Get away with what?" Molly seemed oblivious to her Dad's attitude too. Was it just Ben? Or was her Dad taking it just too easy.

"He has a bad back." Molly reminded him.

"Yeah, and I might get one too with all the crap I'm doing around here." Ben said without even thinking one night when they were getting ready for bed. Now she was offended.

She eyeballed him. "I know he's not perfect." She hugged herself tight. "But he's my Dad."

"Crap," Ben said under his breath, not wanting to start a disagreement. "Its just..I'm working now. I'm..I'm on my feet a lot. I thought I'd just be doing touch up paint jobs on this..hotel, but I'm having to do some major painting, you know." Ben fumed.

He shook his head, remembering how that old receptionist lady about fired him because she thought he had a milk shake in his hand instead of a Styrofoam cup of paint that he was taking to touch up on one of the suites.

Ben was putting in a hard days work, and this was the thanks he got. Wanting him to do all those little odd jobs around the house while her Dad lounged around with the paper and watched all his favorite comedy shows in the basement.

"I know we have to get out of here." Ben told her as if that was the trick.

She put her arms around him as if that would be a dream come true. As much as he loved the weight of her pressing against him, Ben wished he knew where to go. He certainly didn't want to be telling stories like Steve.

They had to be different, than those two.

"I told Steve we'd go bowling with him and Evie." He'd waited until bedtime to tell Molly. Of course he knew that look of hers when she looked up at him.

"Fine. Maybe he knows of a place we could move into." She kissed him before he had time to think about it.