| The next week passed. Michael visited his solicitor twice. Maria and Isabel visited a solicitor. Liz didn’t talk to Alex all week. Max spent a lot of time talking to Michael. Cassie and Michael went out each day. Sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon and sometimes in the evening. It was Monday night, 10 days since Michael and Maria had first met again. Cassie was in the living room with her uncle and her mother and aunt sat in the kitchen over hot cups of coffee. “Do you think she’ll be okay?” Maria asked breaking the silence. “Yea,” Isabel said reaching across the table to give Maria’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “He wouldn’t hurt. He loves her.” “Yea,” Maria murmured lifting her cup to her lips. “I just hope …” She drifted off and started at the table. “I just hope she still wants to live with me.” “Maria,” Isabel said with a sigh. “Cassie loves you. She’s not going to stop loving you just because she’s staying at Michael’s for the night. It’s just not going to happen.” “I know I’m being silly it’s just …” Maria stood up and washed her cup before putting it into the dish-washer. “I just love her and him so much. It’s so hard seeing him and … not being with him.” “I know Ria,” Isabel said. “I wish you’d tell Michael you still loved him.” “I can’t,” Maria said with a sigh gazing out the window. She saw Michael making his way out of a taxi below and towards the building. “I don’t think I could bear to hear him say he didn’t love me.” Isabel looked at her friend, not knowing what to say. She’d seen the looks that both gave each other when they thought no one was watching. Over the last few days, Isabel had noticed the looks Michael had been giving Maria. He still loved her, that much was clear. But how could she convince either of them to tell the other. The doorbell went making her jump. She heard Alex answering the door. Maria walked out of the kitchen and made her way to the lounge. Isabel stood in the doorway of the kitchen and watched the scene unfold before her. Cassie came tottering out of the lounge a small bag in her hand. She beamed up at her father and said, “Hello daddy.” “Hello princess,” he said lifting her up into his arms, kissing her. He slung the bag over his shoulder. “Right,” he said putting her down. “Say goodbye to your mom. What time do you want her home tomorrow?” he asked. “I’ll collect her,” Isabel piped up. “About 3 o’clock okay Maria?” Maria nodded hugging Cassie and whispering her goodbyes and instructions into her ear. “You be good for daddy and I’ll see you tomorrow. Do as daddy tells you. I love you Cassie.” “I love you too mommy,” Cassie said kissing Maria and hugging her tightly around her neck. She then pulled away and ran over to her father and dragging him out the door said, “Goodbye mommy. Bye Uncle Alex. Bye Auntie Isabel. See you tomorrow.” “Bye,” they all echoed as with a last look from Michael the pair disappeared out the door. *** Michael and Cassie walked into the apartment and Cassie looked around it in awe. It was her first time being there. “Daddy,” she said. “It’s so big.” “Would you like to live here?” he asked carefully. “I’d like to with you and mommy,” Cassie replied walking up to the TV. “It’s so big!” she said running her hands over it lightly. “Yea,” Michael echoed deciding not to push the subject. His voice brightened and he said, “So what would you like for tea?” “Chinese,” Cassie said excitedly. “Okay princess,” Michael said, picking up the phone and dialling the number. He ordered their take-away as Cassie started to wonder from room to room. He went searching for her a few moments later and found her in his room looking at a photograph sitting beside his bed. “Its mommy,” Cassie said when she heard him come in. He came up behind her and sat down pulling her onto his knee. “That’s your mommy and me when we were about 16.” “You look funny,” Cassie said giggling. “Your hair is sticking up!” Michael chuckled and said, “Don’t you like it that way?” Cassie nodded and said, “I do. But I like your hair the way it is now.” Michael laughed again and tickled Cassie making her laugh. When they had stopped and were sitting again in silence, both looking at the photo, Cassie spoke again. “Did you love mommy very much?” “Yes,” Michael said quietly. He was worried to where the conversation was going and so stood up, Cassie still in his arms. He was lucky, as the doorbell went at that moment. “That must be our food,” he said walking through with her to the door. He set her down just before the door taking his wallet out of his jacket pocket and then opened the door. The delivery guy stood behind the door and Michael told Cassie to take the food as Michael took out the cash to pay the guy. Afterwards the pair sat on the settee, the food in front of them, facing each other as they ate. “Mommy, doesn’t like us to eat in front of the TV,” Cassie told her father. “We always eat at the table.” “So this is a treat then?” Michael asked. “Yea,” Cassie said smiling at her father. “So what you wanna do next?” Michael asked when they had finished eating. “Watch a video?” “Yea,” Cassie said wiping her hands on the wipe that her father had handed her. “What do you have?” “Well I haven’t got anything yet. I thought you might like to go down to the video shop and choose something.” “Yea,” Cassie said. “That would be cool.” “Okay,” Michael said gathering the boxes together. “Just let me put these in the trash and we’ll both go to the toilet and then we can go, okay?” “Okay,” Cassie said and made her way out to the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later and both were ready to go. They walked along the sidewalk to the video shop, a five-minute walk away. They walked into the video shop and Cassie headed straight to the section called children. She looked fervently at the covers of the DVDs. Michael came up behind her and said, “See anything you’d like to get?” “There’s a couple,” she said. “Well we’ll get three, okay?” “Yea,” Cassie said and picked up three videos; ‘The Piglet Movie’, ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’. “Are these okay daddy?” she asked handing him the videos as she picked each out. He looked at them, desperately trying to hold back a laugh. If someone had told him two weeks ago that he’d be picking out cartoons with a six year old he would have told them he was mad. The last time he’d watched anything like this was with Maria and that was only with extreme begging. Here, he wouldn’t even have dreamed of protesting. He would have given his daughter the world if he could. He walked up to the counter, handed over the videos and paid for them. When they left the shop he tucked the DVDs under one arm and took Cassie’s hand whilst they walked along the much busier sidewalk. They passed a supermarket and Michael stopped and turned to Cassie and said, “You wanna get some junk food?” “Yea,” Cassie said excitedly as the pair walked into the supermarket. They wandered along the food aisles picking up candy, popcorn, chocolate and chips off the shelves. They walked up to the counter, joining the fairly long queue to pay for their food. When they got home they headed to the kitchen where they started to pop popcorn. When they had everything in bowls, Michael carried it through to the living room and put the DVD into the machine and sat back on the sofa, Cassie curled up into him. Just over three hours later, they had gotten through ‘The Piglet Movie’ and ‘The Little Mermaid’. Cassie was starting to get sleepy as it was well past 11 o’clock. “I think it’s time for bed Cassie,” Michael said picking her up as he stood up. Cassie nodded and curled into her father’s arms. He smiled and then said, “You wanna have a hot chocolate before you go?” “Yes please,” Cassie murmured. “Okay,” Michael said and headed into the kitchen. He put the kettle on and sat Cassie on the worktop as he looked around in the cupboard for the hot chocolate. “Found it,” he said a few moments later and held it out to her triumphantly. She giggled as he made her drink. He put the warm mug into her hands and she soon had it drunk. “Okay missy,” Michael said taking the cup from her and rinsing it. “Let’s get you to bed.” She yawned and nodded. He soon had her changed and washed and tucked up in bed. Basically as soon as her head had touched the pillow she was asleep and Michael, giving her a last kiss, left the room quietly. *** The next afternoon, Isabel pulled up outside Michael’s apartment block in a taxi. She paid the driver and told him not to wait, as she may be a while. She then took the lift to the fifth floor after the doorman had waved her through. She knocked on Michael’s door and after a few moments he came to the door. “Sorry,” Michael said. “She went for a nap about an hour ago and she’s not awake yet.” “That’s okay,” Isabel said and walked into the apartment. “I wanted to talk to you first anyway.” “You did?” Michael said with a sigh. Isabel sat down and waited for a reluctant Michael to sit down also. “It’s about Maria,” Isabel began. Michael groaned. “It’s about Maria,” Isabel repeated. “There’s something I need to ask you and I promise you it’ll stay between you and me.” “What?” asked Michael suspiciously. “Do you still love Maria?” she asked. Michael was startled by the question and fumbled with his words. “I … wha… do … I’m …” he sighed. “Why do you ask Isabel?” “Just answer the question Michael,” Isabel said impatiently. “Do you or do you not love Maria?” “I love her so much it hurts,” Michael said quietly. Isabel’s heart jumped. It was so good to hear this. “Go on,” she urged him. He ran his hand through his hair and said, “When I saw her that night I just couldn’t believe it. All I wanted was to hold her again. Then when we got back to hers to see that she kept my daughter from me … it just hurt so much. That she hated me that much to keep from her … well it just hurt. So I lashed out. I wanted to hurt her like she had hurt me. But I still loved her. I couldn’t and can’t stop. She and Cassie are everything to me. I want them both.” Isabel sighed in relief and then said, “I’m so unbelievably glad to hear you say that! You can’t imagine how much.” Michael looked at her in confusion and asked, “Why?” “Maria still loves you too Michael!” Isabel said in exasperation, as if it wasn’t obvious. “Can’t you see that? She regrets that she didn’t stay but imagine what it was like for her. She was trying to protect you and she finds the two of you together.” Michael sighed, “But I didn’t …” “I know,” Isabel said cutting him off. “But she didn’t and now that she believes that can’t you see how hard this is for her too. So are you going to try and get her back?” Michael hesitated before asking, “She really loves me?” “So much that she’s crying practically all the time.” “Is she…” Michael asked not quite able to say the words. “A prostitute?” Isabel asked. “Yea,” Michael asked embarrassed. “No, never has been,” Isabel told him. “She did the stripping so that Cassie could have a half decent life. Not because she got kicks out of it!” “Okay,” Michael said in relief. He was silent for a few moments before he asked, “How do I even begin ….” Isabel cut him off again. “Alex and I are going to go out tonight with Cassie. You are going to come to ours and you and Maria are going to talk this out. You’re going to tell her what you’ve just told me. And you’re going to explain why you’ve been lashing out at her. Then you are going to kiss her and do whatever it is the two of you want, in your apartment I might add and then you are going to tell her she has to live with you. As much as I love having them both, they need to be with you. And from there on in, you can do as you like as long as you don’t break her heart. You hear me?” Michael laughed and said, “You got it planned out much Isabel?” She laughed too and then got up. “Okay I’m going to wake Cassie up and then we’re going to go back home.” “Okay,” Michael said with a nod. “Her stuff is all packed.” Fifteen minutes later, Isabel and Cassie appeared, bag in tow. “Bye daddy,” Cassie said and hugged her father. “Thank-you for a lovely time.” “No worries princess.” “We’ll be gone by seven, Michael. Make sure you come!” “Okay,” Michael said with a smirk. TBC |
| Part 9 |
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