| Max looked up from his book as his wife walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head. “Did you have a nice bath Sultan?” Max grinned at Liz when she stuck out her tongue at him. “How was your day with Maria? I thought she had to work today?” “It was fine but it was cut short because Pierce called. He said it was an emergency. So I went in to help him out,” Liz said softly as she sat down at her vanity. “Oh? So what was it?” “Deadline and he wasn't even close to being done.” “Oh I see, but you got back kind of late tonight honey. I mean with two people working, it shouldn’t have taken that long, right?” Max asked concerned. He closed his book and put it on the nightstand, ready to listen to her. “Well it was a lot more work than I anticipated. Plus, I ended up having to finish it up because he had an emergency at home and had to leave.” “Liz....I think he is abusing his position and using your generosity,” Max said in a supportive tone. “It was his responsibility, but at the end you had to do it all. I’m starting to really hate your boss.” “No- he wouldn't do that. Well I don't think he would.” Liz voice was full of confusion. “So you really think so Max?” She turned around to her husband and looked at him for an answer. The anger that etched Max’s face softened as he looked at his soul mate. He patted the space next to him on their bed, asking her to join him. His bride. They were married for over a year, but his heart still fluttered every time he looked at her, just like that first time he saw her in high school. She was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. He would watch her from afar, always amazed by her grace and beauty. He was so thankful that Kyle Valenti and his Liz broke up, the day that Michael forced him to talk to Liz, the day they began their life together. Max reached for Liz as she slid next to him, laying her head on his shoulder for comfort. She looked up at him. Max held her close and caressed her hair. She always felt so safe in his strong arms. He kissed the top of her forehead before he spoke. “Honey, I really think you should talk to him. Stand up for yourself. I’ve seen you do it. I just don’t understand why you are letting Pierce running all over you like that.” “I know-” She nuzzled closer into him. “Well at least I get tomorrow off. He told me to take the day off.” “Generous-” Liz giggled at her husband’s sarcastic tone. She closed her eyes and let herself relax in Max’s arms. “So what did you and Maria talk about this time?” “Well I had to rush since Pierce called during lunch. So we didn’t get to talk much.” Liz cringed when she mentioned Pierce’s name, but it was too late, she felt the tension radiating off of Max’s body. “Maria was pretty off,” Liz quickly added to take the subject off of Pierce. “What do you mean?” “Hard to say- it was just different. She wasn’t all there, like her mind was elsewhere.” “Well that doesn’t sound too different from her everyday personality.” Max chuckled when Liz playfully hit him on his chest. “No, it’s... it’s hard to explain. I’ve known her all my life and she only gets this way when she is preoccupied with a guy.” “Did you ask her about it?” Max asked as he pulled Liz on top of him and took off the towel on her head. Her wet hair cascaded down on her face. The wet tips of her hair chilled Max’s skin as it swept across his chest, when he brushed her out of her face. He was greeted by a sheepish grin. His heart fluttered as he looked upon his wife. He could never get enough of her. Max pulled her up higher so that they were face to face. “I did, but she brushed it off.” Liz lips hovered dangerously close to her husband’s; teasing him as his hands roamed the soft expanse of her back. “Oh, I see.” Max lifted his head to catch her lips, but Liz pulled back and gave him a teasing grin. He pulled her back and with a swift move, turned and pinned her under his weight. “Now, what is that that I hear? You have tomorrow off?” Max said before he attacked her neck. * Maria squinted to focus as she looked at her watch in the moonlit room. It was a little after midnight. As quietly as possible, Maria got out of bed and started to look for her clothes. Maria noticed that Cookie was sleeping on Michael's side of the bed and was about to wake her, but decided against it, she didn’t want to wake him up just yet. She started to walk towards the bathroom when something grabbed her hand. She looked down to see Michael sitting up, causing the covers to pool around his waist. "Where are you going?” he asked with a sleepy voice. Maria started to feel self conscious as his eyes roamed her naked body. She didn’t understand why she was feeling this way, since they’d seen each other naked before, but his eyes made her skin burn. She tried to hide herself behind the clothing that she was holding in her hand, but it didn't do any good. Michael was lying there waiting for an answer, still holding her hand. "I- I have to get going." Michael kept on looking at her, his face unreadable. “Stay…” * The deadbolt clicked and the door cracked open. It bolted open and a loud boom echoed as the door slammed against the wall as Cookie scurried into the apartment. “Shhhhh… do you have to be so loud?” Maria chided at her dog for making so much noise. She sternly looked at Cookie who found a nice place on the carpet. Cookie sat down and started to scratch the ear with her hind legs, as if she had nothing to do with the noise. Maria carefully listened to hear if she had awakened Tess or not. Finally satisfied that Tess was still asleep, Maria carried all the bags in as quietly as possible. It was the sudden click of the lights that made Maria jump up. Startled, she looked up to see Tess standing in front of her, in only boxers and tank top, and by the looks of her face, she'd just woken up. “Oh My God. Tess. I’m so sorry for waking you up,” Maria said apologetically. Tess just mumbled a few words as she walked towards Maria and helped her with the bag without being asked. “Tess, it’s ok sweetie. You don’t have to help me. Go back to sleep,” Maria commanded, but Tess continued to ignored her. She took the bags to the kitchen and started to unpack them. “Ok, I’m sorry. I’m sooooooooooooo sorry I didn’t call. Are you happy? You’re starting to be like Kyle!” “And you should be. I was worried! I come home to an empty house. I knew you were at work, but Cookie was nowhere to be found. And I called you! Why didn’t you pick up the phone?” Tess said in a mad rush. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I am sooooooooo sorry… I had to go pick up Cookie from Michael’s and I left my cell in the car,” explained Maria, as she gave Tess an apologetic look. “But I called Michael’s, and no one picked up the phone.” “I dunno… maybe he had it off?” Maria answered quickly. “Hmmm… Then why are you late? You know, I tried to stay up and wait, but I was so tired!” Tess picked up the bag of dog food and looked at it puzzled. Maria reached for it and walked toward the pantry and put it way. “I was tired too, I kinda fell asleep.” Maria gave Tess a pout. Tess giggled at how pathetic Maria was. Using her left hand, she swept her hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. The shrill from Maria not only woke Tess from her sleepiness, but it also caused Cookie to rush into the kitchen to see what was going on. A very happy Maria was pulling Tess’ hand. “Oh my God! When did he ask you? Did he ask you this weekend? How did he do it? You said yes right?” Maria gave Tess a bear hug in her excitement. It took Tess some time to process what Maria was saying because Maria was all over the place. Tess pulled herself away and tried to calm Maria down, but Maria continued to bounce off the walls, which caused Cookie to do the same. Tess took a few steps and looked down and admired the beautiful engagement ring that Kyle had given her. The ring was a little over a caret, princess cut solitaire on white gold. Looking at the ring and seeing how beautiful it looked on her hand, Tess felt giddy and warm all over. The whole thing came as a total surprise to her. She finally looked away from her ring when Maria’s arms slid around her waist and ushered her into the living room, onto the couch. “Tell me everything!” Maria commanded. She started to scratch behind Cookie’s ear, who found her way in-between the two girls. “Well I’m kinda tired Maria…. You know I have a long day tomorrow and I just don’t know if I can stay up any longer.” Tess covered her mouth with her hand, faking a yawn. “Cut the crap. You don’t have to work tomorrow,” Maria said knowingly. Maria started to pout when Tess leaned back on the couch and put here arms behind her head, ignoring her. It was a power play. Tess and Maria had been at it since they’ve met, it was all in fun, but Maria hated it since she tended to lose, but not this time. Maria narrowed her eyes and gave Tess a lop-sided grin before she got off the couch and went to her room. Two can play at this game. She knew Tess well enough that at something this big, Tess couldn’t hold it in for long. Maria lay down on her bed and turned to her side. She met dark round black ones looking at her. She had forgotten about Cookie, but there she was on Maria’s bed, looking at Maria with sad eyes, her face framed between her paws. “Don’t look at me like that… You know she’s gonna come in. I’m not letting her win this one.” Maria reached out her hand and pulled Cookie closer to her so she could scratch Cookie’s back. Cookie snuggled her head on Maria’s arm that was propping Maria’s head. Finally finding a comfortable position on her back, Cookie lifted her paw so that Maria could scratch her under her belly. “You are so spoiled!” Maria leaned over Cookie and started to make loud kissing noises, not noticing the squeaking noise from the bedroom door. “Oh, is this a bad time? Should I leave you two alone?” Tess said jokingly. Maria turned around and threw a pillow towards Tess, which hit the ground a few feet from where Tess was standing. Tess looked at the pillow on the floor then looked at Maria pathetically. Maria just shrugged her shoulders. She put her free arm behind her head and leaned back on her pillow-less bed. Tess sat at the end of the bed and threw the pillow that she picked up off of the floor at Maria as she sat up. “Ok fine! I’ll tell you. I know you are dying to hear about it.” “I think you're dying to tell me,” Maria said with a wink. They both started to laugh that the same time. “So….?” “He took me to my parents.” “Noooooo!” * The mess mounted around him as Michael sat in front of the canvas and painted. Oil painting was one of the hardest techniques to master and it took Michael a long time to learn to be patient and meticulous. But tonight all the techniques that he had honed were thrown out the window. His need to paint magnified as soon as she left. He didn’t understand why, but having her around him charged him in a why that no one had before and his panting was the outcome of that energy. His long strong strokes blended the various colors together as he moved his hand across the canvas. Taking a generous amount of yellow on his brush, not bothering to even clean it, he painted the yellow like cascades of waterfall. Michael squeezed a fair amount of burnt umber on the palette and took a smaller brush to work in the details and shadows. Slowly a figure emerged from the mixture of colors. Michael was so wrapped up in his work that he didn’t hear the phone ring. It was the echo of a female voice leaving a message on the answering machine that made him pick up the phone. “Hello?” “Michael… I thought you were asleep.” “Then why did you call for?” “Because I’m here at the airport. Come pick me up.” “What?!” * The red light of the alarm clock shone brightly as Maria lied awake on her bed. She could hear Cookie snoring lightly at the foot of the bed. Turning around she reached over to turn the clock to see that it was 3:31, ten minutes from the last time she looked. Tess had left her room around 2 am, but Maria hadn’t been able to fall asleep for almost an hour. There was so much going on in her head, that every time she closed her eyes, her brain would not stop working. She needed to clear her mind. Quickly getting out of bed Maria went to her desk and scribbled a few words on a piece of Post-It and got dressed. She looked over to Cookie, who had not moved since she got out of bed. Seeing how peaceful Cookie was, Maria decided to leave her home. She shouldn’t take that long anyways. Grabbing her keys off of the bar, Maria carefully placed the Post-It on the door, before she headed to her car. The streets were unusually quiet tonight. She had been driving aimlessly for 10 minutes and only saw a few cars on the road. Were they out driving in the middle of the night for the same reasons she was? Maria didn’t understand why Tess' news was keeping her awake. She was extremely happy for her brother and roommate, but somehow the news made her sad, and that made her upset. She didn’t understand why, but it did. The Jetta stopped when the light turned red. Looking out her window, Maria noticed she was in downtown. She shook her head as she tried to figure out how she got downtown in the first place. The car started on its way when the light turned green again. Maria looked up at the skyline and her car screeched to a hauling stop when she realized that she was driving outside of Michael’s building. She wanted to run, to turn around and go home, but her foot wouldn't move, frozen. It was even difficult for her to breathe. Maria quickly rolled down the window to let the hot summer air in, which didn’t help, but it momentarily made her think of something else and not him. Maria’s fingers fumbled to open the car door; it was getting too claustrophobic in the car. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. Or why this was bothering her so much. Subconsciously she must have wanted to see him for her to be here. Maria finally looked up at the top floor and his lights were still on. It was past three in the morning but he was still awake. Out of nowhere, Maria summed up some form of courage or craziness and crawled back into her car and started to dig in her purse and found her cell phone buried under all her junk. She took a long time studying it before she opened the flap and started to dial. She didn’t know if this was a good idea or not, but she really couldn’t think straight right now. Her breathing started to slow down as she ringed and no one was picking it up. When she was about to hang up, she heard the phone click on the other side. “What do you want?!” Michael screamed into the receiver. “Excuse me?” Maria apologized to the screaming voice. “Who’s this?” “Maria…” Maria’s voice creaked when she answered, unsure if it was a good idea to call him. “Oh I’m sorry, I thought you were Isabel,” he said apologetically. “Oh is that how you greet a friend?” Maria tried to add some humor so that she could calm down. “Hmm…” huffed Michael, trying not to roll his eyes. “Ok, I’ll let you go then.” “No, don’t… ahmm… what’s up? It’s three in the morning. Is something wrong?” “No, no, no… nothing like that. I couldn’t go to sleep and I got bored laying around in bed, so I went for a drive to clear my head.” “Oh… Where are you right now?” “Driving.” “Want some company?” “Sure… know of anyone?” “Cute… I know this all night diner,” Michael suggested. “I’ll be there in 5?” “Call when you’re here and I’ll come down.” “Ok…” * Michael started to clean his brush after he hung up the phone. That was a pleasant surprise. He was expecting the call to have been from Isabel, figuring she would have been upset when he didn’t pick her up from the airport. That was a job for a sibling, not him. With his brushes in hand, Michael got up and took a few steps back away from his work. It wasn’t done yet. He used the biggest canvas he had at this studio for this particular one. Michael tilted his head to the right while carefully squeezing out the excess turpentine from the brush with a rag. He was surprised at the progress he made; the canvas was three-fourth way done with only the figure left to do. He had painted her. He didn’t know he was painting Maria, but there she was looking at him with her eyes, waiting to be filled in with life. Looking at the painting made him uneasy, and that made him upset because he had no idea why it made him that way. Quickly, Michael tossed the brush next to the rest of his supplies then started to descend the stairs. Halfway down, he stopped and hesitantly turned around. He took a few steps up and stopped when he could see the painting. Maybe he’ll finish it one day. Picking up a shirt from a pile in his room and he smelled it. He threw it to the side until he found one that smelled clean enough. He turned around to head towards the bathroom, but stopped when he saw the bed. It had only been a few hours, but the bed looked lonely. Rubbing his face with the palm of his hand, Michael tried to get the image of her standing naked above him, ready to leave, out of his head. Michael still had some time before Maria would be there, so he went to sit in his favorite chair to watch TV, but something pulled him away from that idea as he walked towards the large window to look outside. It was a nice clear day, where the moon shined brightly over the skyline. In the distance he could see the tall business buildings, which seemed miles away, but were actually only a few blocks away. There were a few scattered wispy clouds, which hurriedly moved across the dark blue sky. The sky seemed claimer than it did that afternoon. Instinct told Michael to look down towards the deserted streets. Something caught his eyes. * Maria hung up and set the phone on the passenger seat. Closing her eyes, she rested her had as she leaned her head. She sat there quiet for a few moments, trying to calm her breathing, which had just returned to her. Like lightening breaking the silence in the middle of a desert, Maria suddenly started to pound her head on the steering wheel lightly. She must be possessed! A groan of stupidity came out of her mouth as her head lay on the steering wheel for a long time, letting her mind clear. “This is so crazy…” Maria thought out loud in a whisper. “I can’t believe I’m here. In my car!” she whined in disbelief. “In the middle of the night? What was I thinking?” asked Maria in hopes to find some answer for her out of character action. She’d been acting ‘out of character’ for a few days now, three to be exact. It was just Michael, not anybody special, a boyfriend or something, but being around him made her just want to jump him. Maria stayed there with her head on the steering wheel, hoping that the five minutes would come faster as she dreaded the wait. It was the tapping on the window that got her attention. Looking toward the passenger side window, she saw him standing there, waving at her. Her cheeks flushed when Michael busted her. TBC |
| Part 7 |
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