Mark Thomas Campbell, esq. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
aussielawyer) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
muserevival2017-01-14 01:39 am
aussielawyer) wrote in muserevival2017-01-14 01:39 am
Quote of the Day (003)
"If you love someone, set them free. If they come back they're yours; if they don't they never were." - Richard Bach
One thing Mark usually wasn't was oblivious. Well, he was a typical man, so he had his moments. He didn't know the bloody difference between Maybelline and Clinique, or why the hell a push-up bra was needed when a woman had natural beautiful breasts with her own anatomy. He just wanted to play with them, end of story. That night, he definitely had an oblivious moment... or maybe it was more his son lulling him into a false sense of security here.
Music was Justin's life. He sang, he performed. It was what he did. It didn't matter if it was in a professional setting or not. More often than not, he was be doing something with music. The Karaoke evening at their hotel seemed right up his alley, but Mark never assumed is kid would want to sing by default. Sometimes Justin would be all over the mic like a rash, and it was game-on for anyone trying to get it off him. But this trip, Mark had witnessed Justin mostly laying back, with his priority definitely being focusing on time with Sasha.
Then Amarlie pulled the big sister card, and it was cute. Mark couldn't deny that. He had feared, after their first interaction was a complete disaster, that Justin might not want anything to do with Amarlie. Shit could have gotten really awkward. They had sorted stuff out, and it was a reminder to Mark that his kid could actually be really mature and understanding in the most difficult of situations.
Amarlie got Justin up to the mic, and Mark continued to sit there and be the dad. All that involved was sitting there watching, being proud of his son for the incredible talent he had. He got to see Sasha there with heart-eyes, and be pleased his son had found someone who loved him for a second time when he didn't believe there was much about him to love. Some adults didn't even look at each other like this, so they were onto a good thing. Amarlie was filming the whole thing on her phone, making her own memories. As far as Mark was concerned, the purpose of this trip was nailed.
The one anomaly was how stuff was with him and Gen. They had been separated a couple of months now, and just a couple of weeks ago, he filed the divorce papers. It was nothing more than procedural. Deep down inside, he knew if things ever rekindled between them, he would want to take it from the beginning, and not just strike back up something that failed in a terrible way, and hurt their son in the process. Gen was Justin's mum now. She had legally adopted him, and whatever was going on between her and Mark didn't change that.
That was why they were all on this trip together. Amarlie had come into the picture, and Mark learned subsequently Gen had a baby in her teens, and gave her up for adoption. He didn't understand why Gen had never told her that, but he didn't really feel hurt by that. It would be hypocritical to judge on any level. He got a girl pregnant in his first year of college, and had a son he hadn't known about until Justin was suddenly on his doorstep; drunk, trashed, and puking all over his shoes. It had been the start of both a wonderful and cripplingly painful new life for Mark.
And right in the wake of a drunk wedding in Vegas to Gen. He wasn't going to lament on that anymore. When push came to shove, it fell apart, and in the process, they had broken promises to Justin and hurt him. That hadn't ended well, and triggered another series of suicide attempts when it triggered an episode of Justin's bipolar. It was never Mark's intention to get in the way of the relationship Gen had with Gen. When they separated, all it meant was they were then both left to their own devices to made sure they still had a relationship with their son, it was just mostly separately. Mark kept Gen in the loop about what was going on with Justin, yet effectively became a single father.
During their separation, Mark had a one night stand with a business associate, but it was all he did. He had his own issues going on, and that had been some much-needed distraction from the messes piling up around him. The only person that knew about it was the woman, and his twin, Sam. It had been one night when Justin was in Boston with Sasha. Mark had been wondering whether what he and Gen had was salvageable. He had been doing a lot of soul-searching, but for some reason, nothing really progressed on that front. Their interactions had solely been down to what was going on with Justin. Was that why it had crumbled to begin with, because he was all they had left in common?
Still, this was Mark's holiday too, and there had been something that had happened between him and Gen that he wasn't sure he was ready to over-analyse. And over-analyse was what he did for a living as an attorney. They had gone out to dinner, that was a date on some level, and they slept together when they got back to the hotel. Mark just wasn't quite sure if that was progress or complicated things.
Earlier that day, Justin and Sasha wanted to go off on their own and have some quality time alone together, and Gen and Amarlie wanted to go shopping. Mark told them it was all good, he had an old college mate to catch up with. That wasn't really accurate. He just didn't want any of them to think he was being left back at the hotel alone, when that was what he needed. He Skyped with Sam to try to talk some of the stuff out that was going on in his head, and then sat back in the room and caught up on some work he brought with him.
Then all of a sudden, his kid was throwing them a curve ball. Mark had been sitting on a glass of Coke. After the last disastrous fall off the wagon that had been the slippery slope for Justin into the danger zone, he wasn't going to risk making the same mistakes again. Not that he should be drinking now at all with his medication. The time for fuck-ups was over. He reached his quota.
When Justin finished serenading Sasha, he assumed they would do exactly what Justin hinted they were going to: go back to their room and do what horny teenage boys did the best. Mark should know, the kid had his blood. Like father, like son and all that. Justin didn't, though. He started to sing again, and the little pain in the arse was hitting them with what was their song... or had been when they were still together. Mark hadn't even known Justin could sing this. Then it hit him exactly why Justin did: he had been planning to sing this at their wedding that wasn't.
What felt like forever ago, Mark re-proposed to Gen. They had been planning to have a wedding do-over, getting it right this time. Justin had been excited, he was going to be Mark's Best Man. But then nothing happened. It was barely even mentioned again, and life just kept going on. Gen didn't bring it up, so Mark didn't either. It all ground to a halt, and Justin tried to give them the nudge they needed, arranging the wedding, so all they had to do was show up. One thing he asked of them only. He wanted them to divorce so they could officially remarry again with him there to witness it. Gen somehow thought... well, Mark still didn't really know what she thought. That Justin was sabotaging them, maybe not, but that was how Justin thought it was.
Then it came a full circle, and they separated, upon Mark finally admitting to himself that their marriage had hit a brick wall and gone stale. He didn't want to keep fooling himself that it was anything healthy for anyone anymore. It wasn't. Not what it had become.
Mark closed his eyes when he heard what Justin was singing. It was a scramble of emotions inside him, but as he went to turn his head away, feeling put on the spot, he saw Justin was watching them. It was the exact reminder Mark needed not to automatically trip into another fuck-up here. Not to assume anything. Not to let his brain take over and drown all this in procedure, because procedure was easy.
It was a crossroads moment, so Mark pushed his practical mindset out of the way so it didn't shackle his mind into making errors he would regret in an effort to protect himself from getting hurt again. If he did that, he was going to hurt his kid again. Justin was their priority, and Amarlie now, even if Mark was still not quite sure where he stood in all that either.
Instead of overthinking, he just stood and stepped over to Gen, holding his hand out. "Would you like to dance?"
MARK CAMPBELL // Original Character
One thing Mark usually wasn't was oblivious. Well, he was a typical man, so he had his moments. He didn't know the bloody difference between Maybelline and Clinique, or why the hell a push-up bra was needed when a woman had natural beautiful breasts with her own anatomy. He just wanted to play with them, end of story. That night, he definitely had an oblivious moment... or maybe it was more his son lulling him into a false sense of security here.
Music was Justin's life. He sang, he performed. It was what he did. It didn't matter if it was in a professional setting or not. More often than not, he was be doing something with music. The Karaoke evening at their hotel seemed right up his alley, but Mark never assumed is kid would want to sing by default. Sometimes Justin would be all over the mic like a rash, and it was game-on for anyone trying to get it off him. But this trip, Mark had witnessed Justin mostly laying back, with his priority definitely being focusing on time with Sasha.
Then Amarlie pulled the big sister card, and it was cute. Mark couldn't deny that. He had feared, after their first interaction was a complete disaster, that Justin might not want anything to do with Amarlie. Shit could have gotten really awkward. They had sorted stuff out, and it was a reminder to Mark that his kid could actually be really mature and understanding in the most difficult of situations.
Amarlie got Justin up to the mic, and Mark continued to sit there and be the dad. All that involved was sitting there watching, being proud of his son for the incredible talent he had. He got to see Sasha there with heart-eyes, and be pleased his son had found someone who loved him for a second time when he didn't believe there was much about him to love. Some adults didn't even look at each other like this, so they were onto a good thing. Amarlie was filming the whole thing on her phone, making her own memories. As far as Mark was concerned, the purpose of this trip was nailed.
The one anomaly was how stuff was with him and Gen. They had been separated a couple of months now, and just a couple of weeks ago, he filed the divorce papers. It was nothing more than procedural. Deep down inside, he knew if things ever rekindled between them, he would want to take it from the beginning, and not just strike back up something that failed in a terrible way, and hurt their son in the process. Gen was Justin's mum now. She had legally adopted him, and whatever was going on between her and Mark didn't change that.
That was why they were all on this trip together. Amarlie had come into the picture, and Mark learned subsequently Gen had a baby in her teens, and gave her up for adoption. He didn't understand why Gen had never told her that, but he didn't really feel hurt by that. It would be hypocritical to judge on any level. He got a girl pregnant in his first year of college, and had a son he hadn't known about until Justin was suddenly on his doorstep; drunk, trashed, and puking all over his shoes. It had been the start of both a wonderful and cripplingly painful new life for Mark.
And right in the wake of a drunk wedding in Vegas to Gen. He wasn't going to lament on that anymore. When push came to shove, it fell apart, and in the process, they had broken promises to Justin and hurt him. That hadn't ended well, and triggered another series of suicide attempts when it triggered an episode of Justin's bipolar. It was never Mark's intention to get in the way of the relationship Gen had with Gen. When they separated, all it meant was they were then both left to their own devices to made sure they still had a relationship with their son, it was just mostly separately. Mark kept Gen in the loop about what was going on with Justin, yet effectively became a single father.
During their separation, Mark had a one night stand with a business associate, but it was all he did. He had his own issues going on, and that had been some much-needed distraction from the messes piling up around him. The only person that knew about it was the woman, and his twin, Sam. It had been one night when Justin was in Boston with Sasha. Mark had been wondering whether what he and Gen had was salvageable. He had been doing a lot of soul-searching, but for some reason, nothing really progressed on that front. Their interactions had solely been down to what was going on with Justin. Was that why it had crumbled to begin with, because he was all they had left in common?
Still, this was Mark's holiday too, and there had been something that had happened between him and Gen that he wasn't sure he was ready to over-analyse. And over-analyse was what he did for a living as an attorney. They had gone out to dinner, that was a date on some level, and they slept together when they got back to the hotel. Mark just wasn't quite sure if that was progress or complicated things.
Earlier that day, Justin and Sasha wanted to go off on their own and have some quality time alone together, and Gen and Amarlie wanted to go shopping. Mark told them it was all good, he had an old college mate to catch up with. That wasn't really accurate. He just didn't want any of them to think he was being left back at the hotel alone, when that was what he needed. He Skyped with Sam to try to talk some of the stuff out that was going on in his head, and then sat back in the room and caught up on some work he brought with him.
Then all of a sudden, his kid was throwing them a curve ball. Mark had been sitting on a glass of Coke. After the last disastrous fall off the wagon that had been the slippery slope for Justin into the danger zone, he wasn't going to risk making the same mistakes again. Not that he should be drinking now at all with his medication. The time for fuck-ups was over. He reached his quota.
When Justin finished serenading Sasha, he assumed they would do exactly what Justin hinted they were going to: go back to their room and do what horny teenage boys did the best. Mark should know, the kid had his blood. Like father, like son and all that. Justin didn't, though. He started to sing again, and the little pain in the arse was hitting them with what was their song... or had been when they were still together. Mark hadn't even known Justin could sing this. Then it hit him exactly why Justin did: he had been planning to sing this at their wedding that wasn't.
What felt like forever ago, Mark re-proposed to Gen. They had been planning to have a wedding do-over, getting it right this time. Justin had been excited, he was going to be Mark's Best Man. But then nothing happened. It was barely even mentioned again, and life just kept going on. Gen didn't bring it up, so Mark didn't either. It all ground to a halt, and Justin tried to give them the nudge they needed, arranging the wedding, so all they had to do was show up. One thing he asked of them only. He wanted them to divorce so they could officially remarry again with him there to witness it. Gen somehow thought... well, Mark still didn't really know what she thought. That Justin was sabotaging them, maybe not, but that was how Justin thought it was.
Then it came a full circle, and they separated, upon Mark finally admitting to himself that their marriage had hit a brick wall and gone stale. He didn't want to keep fooling himself that it was anything healthy for anyone anymore. It wasn't. Not what it had become.
Mark closed his eyes when he heard what Justin was singing. It was a scramble of emotions inside him, but as he went to turn his head away, feeling put on the spot, he saw Justin was watching them. It was the exact reminder Mark needed not to automatically trip into another fuck-up here. Not to assume anything. Not to let his brain take over and drown all this in procedure, because procedure was easy.
It was a crossroads moment, so Mark pushed his practical mindset out of the way so it didn't shackle his mind into making errors he would regret in an effort to protect himself from getting hurt again. If he did that, he was going to hurt his kid again. Justin was their priority, and Amarlie now, even if Mark was still not quite sure where he stood in all that either.
Instead of overthinking, he just stood and stepped over to Gen, holding his hand out. "Would you like to dance?"
MARK CAMPBELL // Original Character