A/N: Takes place nine years before the movie "Planes, Trains and Automobiles".

Marie

Marie Griffith sat at the small dining table in the living room of the Chicago apartment she shared with her husband Del. The table contained a few bills, a postcard from her brother's vacation in Florida, and an opened letter from Dr. Chandler. The details contained in the body of the letter weren't important; everything past the word 'inoperable' faded into insignificance. Very calmly she folded the letter and put it back in the envelope, checking to make sure the name and address on the front were correct; that really didn't matter either, because her name was on the inside as well and Chandler was the name of her doctor. She hid the envelope under the other mail and sat quietly stunned at the table, the only sound the ticktock of the clock and the occasional drip from the kitchen faucet that Del had been promising to fix for six months.

A small part of her, a very small part, wondered what it would be like to leave. The vast majority however was taken up with worry about her husband; how was he going to survive? As if the very thought of him had conjured the man, she heard a car door slam out front and steps coming up the walk. In a detached way she noticed they sounded quicker than normal before they stopped and the keys started working the locks.

Plop. Del always dropped the keys at some point in the process. Jangling continued as he resumed the ordeal, working the bottom lock that was supposed to be fixed after he finished the faucet. He had worked a deal with the landlord to cut the rent in return for making some of his own repairs, but his job had kept him working long hours lately. She heard the door open and looked around for a place to put the mail; not finding a suitable hiding spot she quickly stacked the mail neatly to one side near her.

"Marie," Del announced as he made a grand entrance into the kitchen "you're looking at a happy man!"

"Del, you're always happy" she replied, trying to keep calm. The heavy-set man, with short curly hair and matching brown mustache was always the first to introduce himself and would tell you his life story by the time the day was over if he had the chance. It usually didn't matter if you had heard it already.

"Well yeah, that's true. But today you're looking at the happy man who also happens to be the new head salesman for the Shower Ring Division of the American Light Fixtures company" he boasted, standing straight with hands grabbing his jacket's lapels. "Well, the only salesman so far."

"That's...great" Marie managed.

"Great? It's wonderful, it's terrific, it's...you don't sound too happy about it."

"Oh no, I think it's wonderful too; I was just thinking...won't it keep you away more?"

Mel sat down and reached for her hands across the table. "It will, at first. But in a few months it will be 1980 and the company wanted to expand while the time was right; they looked over all their candidates and picked me. Me! Little Mel Griffith, floor lamp salesman and just a nobody. But Al Jackston said he thought I had what it takes and recommended me. He said 'Mel, you're the real article; what we see is what we get'. Wow, what a guy."

"So you'll be gone more? Mel, you're away enough as it is."

"Just to start, Honey. I'll have to set up the division accounts in the Northeast region, then after that it should take care of itself. I'll make my way back to some desk job at headquarters and be just a regular schmo. But it's a great chance, and it'll be good for us. So, how was your day?"

"Oh, it was fine. I heard from the doctor."

"Chandler? What did he say? It was your iron level, wasn't it. When you said how tired you were getting I told you it was the iron in your blood. More red meat, that's what you needed; those steaks I got wholesale sure came in handy. You won't have to get a shot will you?"

"No shot, the problem will...my tiredness will be gone soon enough."

"Great!"

"Yeah, it is. Mel...what would you do without me?"

"What, after all these years you've finally decided to divorce me? I should have known, with that line of suitors at the door when I came home. Is that what those papers are?" He pointed to the mail.

"Oh, these? No, just the mail." She pretended to go through them. "Here's a card from my brother; Helen and the kids are really enjoying it down there in Florida." She handed the postcard over to distract him.

"I tell you Marie, once I get settled in we're gonna travel more too. I know we never were able to have kids, but it's no reason we can't see more of the country. How does Disneyland or Walley World sound?"

"Nice."

"Nice? Is that all? What's wrong Marie, have you been watching that soap opera Beyond Our Dreams again? Is that why you're asking what I'd do without you? Don't tell me that Rachel character had another car accident..."

"Sorry Mel, sometimes I just get worried is all."

"You listen to me, Marie. You're my home, not these four walls and table and chairs and a TV that works when it wants to. If I had to, I'd find a way to make it without you but I don't want to. We're going to grow old together, and feed pigeons in the park and yell at the neighbor kids to stay off our lawn and wonder why they don't make good music anymore. My friend Bert Dingman is still single, and he comes home from work at the railroad to feed his goldfish; that's no life. I like spending time with you, I really do." He gripped her hands again tightly.

"I do too, Mel. Just try not to spend too much time on the road, okay? You don't have to make friends with everyone." She smiled weakly; maybe she could tell him the news later instead of spoiling his big day.

"Hey, what's not to like, right? Say, I'm starved; what do you say we go out and celebrate tonight?"

"With you? I can't think of anything I'd rather do" she said.

The End

A/N: John Candy's character has a hidden side that Steve Martin discovers at the end of the movie. This is a setup for that bit of history from the super salesman of shower rings.