Re: Live and Breathe: Derek / Marta
Marta nodded at the instructions. She'd been in the hospital enough times to have encountered the oxygen tubes before. It was still a little strange to her to be using one when she wasn't trapped in a hospital bed, but she did as instructed and then looped the tube over her ears. The air was cool in her nostrils and she took another breath as Derek talked about Irish air. It only made partial sense to Marta, but she nodded and gave the woman a small smile.
Her smile faded at being called out on a lie, and she was back to feeling like she was in a very glaring spotlight. Derek's words and smile were gentle enough, but they left Marta blinking for a moment. She didn't know what exactly to say in response, or even if it was really needed. She didn't actually want to deceive Derek - not about anything they'd been talking about, at least. In fact, she figured that it was better that Derek knew about her not being right for the manager position. It would've been much worse if Marta had tried to fake it.
Marta knew that sometimes she didn't catch on as quickly as she should. Even a few years ago, she didn't always know what people were talking about, but it was common enough these days that she couldn't quite follow a conversation. Especially when someone jumped from topic to topic. Sometimes she thought that some people did it purposely, but Derek didn't quite seem the type. At least not from what Marta had picked up from her so far. Which meant that when the shift to fashion caught her off-guard, it was Marta's fault for not being ready.
"It's fine?" She hesitated a moment as she tried not to glance down at herself and what she was wearing (unsuccessfully). It wasn't anything she could really call fashionable - some simple pieces from the thrift store and a pair of flats from a Wal-Mart. At one point, she would've tried a little harder and put in a little more effort, but it hadn't seemed particularly important lately. She was, for lack of a better word, plain.