I don't know how to post this safely during the PW (post-Weinstein) era so forgive me my sins if I make a mistake.
Mark had a problem most men don't have. Mark had women/girls throwing themselves at him from grammar school on.
He worked for our family's business. All of our secretaries were women. Every time one of them talked to me at work the conversation would end up on Mark. I'd see them adjusting their hair and makeup when he crossed to the Xerox room--they knew he had to come back their way.
Secretaries (young, old, married, divorced, single, didn't matter)
"Is he single?"
"Does he have a girlfriend?"
"Does he date brunettes, blondes, redheads, etc.?"
"What's he like?"
"Would he date someone who has kids? A wooden leg?"(jk, I made that up).
My underage cousins:
"Gosh, do you think he'd date someone who can't drive yet?"
My 80 y.o. grandmother:
"Ja, dat Mark, he's a handsome boy, he'll make some Madchen very happy...."
My mom's bridge group:
"Why isn't that nice Mark Rollins boy ever over when we are?"
The girls in high school:
"What's Mark like? Why is he going out with (fill in the blank)?"
"Which party are you guys going to (i.e. which party will Mark be at)?"
Being around him was a lifelong episode of "The Bachelor". Often, at parties, there was an open competition for his attention.
Mark could have taken advantage of it all.
He didn't.
He really wasn't obsessed with his appearance the way some "pretty people" are.
He pretty much treated every woman the way he treated his mom or sister.
He knew his impact on the opposite sex and most of the time he'd try to play out the humor of the whole thing.
Mark never engaged in the usual cruel games teenagers play on each other. Never.
He never had an unkind word for someone.
He never made a remark about someone's appearance.
He would tease and flirt with women; but, it was in a friendly, self-deprecating way.
It became clear after a while that his handsomeness was less important than his personality.
He would laugh and smile and everything in the world seemed right.
This was the Mark I knew. This seems like a long time ago.