| The hum of the car engine was the only sound heard between the occasional grunt of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ from Michael. The ability to form sentences or words was stuck in the back of their throats as Michael and Maria drove to the café. The air was thick with tension. Michael glanced over towards Maria, noticing that she was concentrating on the road as if she was taking her driver’s test for the first time. Her hand grasped the steering wheel so hard that it made her knuckles turn white. Michael finally relaxed just a bit, knowing that she was just as uncomfortable as he was. Although it was only a short distance from Michael’s apartment, the car ride seemed to last forever. Maria had never been towards this part of town and was kind of glad that Michael was with her, but having him in her car made it hard to breathe. The Jetta was not a small car, it was big enough for her, but with him sitting in the passenger side, the space seemed to have squeezed out of the car. Making a right turn, Maria let out an auditable sigh, relaxing at the fact that she would no longer be in the enclosed space with him. Back Door Café was on the outskirts of downtown in the ‘not so nice area’ of the city. It was surrounded by big run down warehouses near the train tracks. Maria never had been there before, and really doubted would ever come again if she didn’t have someone accompany her. And although it was close to four in the morning, the café had quite a few patrons. On the outside it looked run down and un-kept, but the interior told of a different story. It wasn’t the trendy coffee shops that crowded the downtown area; it was just a whole in the wall that had it’s own atmosphere, just like Michael. The murmur from the café’s patrons was not as loud as the silence that was between the couple sitting in the corner booth, away from the rest of the people. For five minutes, Maria found her napkin more interesting than anything around her. Michael was studiously reading the menu, although he already knew it by heart. Both of them were relieved when the waitress finally came over to take their order. “Well, Michael! Long time no see sweetie!” the waitress slurred in her southern twang as she smacked on a piece of gum. “It’s nice seeing you too Gloria,” Michael replied. He looked at the aged waitress and smiled. “Oh, is this your girlfriend? She’s been keep’n ya away.” Gloria gave Maria a wink and smiled before she started to talk to her. “He never brings any of his lady friends here. For a while I thought he was, you know… homosexual. Being all good-looking and artsy. So whacha having shu-ga?” She asked when she suddenly changed the subject as she faced Michael. “Nope, don’t tell me… your regular?” “It’s kind of heavy, but sure, why not.” Michael gave Gloria the menu as she reached for it. “And you sweetie?” “Ahmmm… I’m not really hungry. How about just some decaf coffee?” “Sweetie pie… Look at you… you’re wasting away! Now you need some meat on those bones. Don’t worry I know exactly what you need.” Before Maria could protest, Gloria quickly jotted down something on her order pad and walked away to add their order before she attended to the other customers. "Is she always like that?" Maria asked giving Michael a questioning look. "Pushy? Yeah… Kind of over protective… but she means well." Michael looked into her eyes, almost staring, almost lost. Maria quickly looked away as their eyes lingered a bit too long. Because she didn’t know where else to look, her eyes started to wander around the café, taking notice of the paintings on the walls. Young artists were selling their works at the 'whole in the wall' café. Her eyes settled on the drawing behind the cash register. Furrowing her brows, Maria wondered why the picture looked so familiar. Michael eyes followed the general direction of where Maria was looking. The picture she was looking at had been there for as long as he had been to Backdoor. And everytime he looked at it, it bought old memories back. “Is that…” “Yeah…” “I’ve never seen it before? When did you-” “A very long time ago… I just realized how long I’ve been going here.” “Since highschool?” “Pretty much. It was the only place that-” “No one bought it? It’s still up?” “Gloria owns it. She fell in love with it when she first saw the picture.” “It’s very beautiful, who’s the girl?” “Thanks… someone in high school. Haven’t been able to do anything similar to it…” “Yeah, your work has changed a lot.” “Why do you like that one?” “There just something about it. I don’t know… I just do.” They both sat there looking at the portrait of a young girl on the wall. Michael snuck a glace towards Maria, wondering if she knew that the portrait was of her. He did it from memory after he came back from visiting Maria and Kyle after the death of their parents. It was the clink of dishes that brought both of their attention back to the present moment. Gloria set their drinks and utensils down on the table. “Your food should be coming out any moment now.” Michael quickly thanked Gloria as she walked away to retrieve their food. Looking at Maria for a moment as she continued to study the drawing, the question circulated his mind until he finally spoke up, “So what’s up? Why were you sitting in the car?” Maria's head shot up and her eyes went wide, but she quickly recovered and gave him a look of confusion, tilting her head to emphasize it. “What was keeping you up so late?” Michael rephrased his question. “I had a lot on my mind.” “Like what?” Michael brought the coffee to his noise to let the strong aroma fill his noise, he liked his coffee straight. “Oh, I don’t know… a lot of things. Did you know Kyle and Tess are getting married.” “Oh is that it. I thought you wanted to go another round?” “What?!” “Trying to be funny.” “Well you weren’t.” “Figured as much. So Tess and Kyle finally decided to tie the knot. What took them so long?” “You’re not surprised?” “No… they’ve been together for a while. Surprised they didn’t do it sooner. I’d figure they would have moved in together a long time ago.” “Her family wouldn’t have it.” Maria stated as she sipped her coffee. “Uptight…” “Traditional…” “Yeah… sure…” Michael commented off handedly. A moment of silence settled in on the conversation, but it wasn’t uncomfortable like it was at the beginning. Both taking time to drink in their environment, there was no rush. Maria was not a girl to like the quiet, she prefered to be active and although the silence was not unbearable, she just didn’t like the lull in the conversation. “So you’re not going to ask me how Kyle proposed to Tess?” “Why should I, you’re going to tell me anyways.” “What are you trying to say? I have a big mouth?” “Nope, just that I know that you’re dying to tell me.” “Am not!” “Sure Princess…” Michael just shook his head when he saw her pouting like a little child. He hated when she pulled that trick on him. And he hated it even more that it always worked. Letting out a defeated sigh, Michael asked, “So how did he propose to her?” “Well if you have to know…” she gave him a wicked smile. * Michael ate in silence as he listened to Maria yapping about her brother and his future wife. For 30 minutes straight she didn’t stop talking, even when she had her mouth full, just like her brother. Michael shoved his plate away when he was done with the steak burger. He continued to watch her eat while chopping on the last of his potatoe wedges. He observed as Maria finished up the two pieces of stake, the ones she said she wouldn’t be able to fit in her stomach. Michael shook his head in disbelief; Gloria never ceased to amaze him. She always knew what the customer needed. “Hungry?” “Not really…” “Fooled me.” “It was good.” Maria pushed away her plate and sat back, satisfied. “So aren’t you happy for them?” “Sure…” “You don’t sound happy.” “That’s because it took you too long to tell the story. I could have gotten the shorter version from Kyle.” “And that would be?” “ ‘So Kyle, heard from loud mouth you got engaged.’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘She say yes?” ‘Yup.’ ‘Congratulations man.’ ‘Thanks.’ See, nice and simple.” He looked at her smugly at what took her 30 minutes to tell him, where it would only take 5 seconds with Kyle. “Whatever. The point is… you would have missed out the important stuff.” “The important stuff is Tess saying yes, what’s more important than that?” “The fact that he took her to her parents to ask them for permission. The fact that she was surrounded by people she loves and that he knew that her family means a lot to her and that he tried. Not to mention the fact that he set up a romantic dinner with flowers and candles and got her family involved in the whole process.” “That’s because he isn’t creative.” “Then how would you propose to a girl?” Maria knew that Michael always thought of himself as ‘creative’ just because he was an artist, but she knew for a fact that he was never ‘creative’ in relationships. “Haven’t thought about it much.” “You don’t want to get married? “I didn’t say that, I’m just saying it’s not on my mind. Anyways, it not like there is someone important in my life right now.” As soon as he said it, Michael wished he hadn’t. His stomach started to feel uneasy. It got worse when he saw Maria’s demeanor unchanged. She sat there still smiling, unmoved except for her constant blinking. “How about Isabel?” “What about Isabel?” “Well she’s in love with you and she gets whatever she wants…” “I’m not a thing to get. It’s all infatuation with her.” “Well I never understood her infatuation.” “Me either,” Michael agreed. It brought a crocket grin to Maria’s face. “Michael, can I ask you something?” she waited for him to nod before she continued. “So you never wanted her or even thought about Isabel?” “She’s always been Max’s sister and we practically grew up as brothers and sister. The thought of dating my sister. I don’t want to think about… so no I’ve never had anything for her, ever.” “Well, I’m Kyle’s sister, that never stopped you?” “Yeah, but you're different. Plus it was a bad idea back then. Wrong reasons and wrong timing.” “How about now?” “What about now? Oh... You said not strings…” “No strings…” “Unless you want to stop…” “No, no… I just, just want to make everything clear. Well I’m glad that all is clear.” “Yeah.” “So why did Isabel call you?” “She wanted me to pick her up at the airport.” “She’s here? Already? But… I thought she wasn’t coming home until next week. Liz told me that she was coming a few days before your opening.” “Yeah, that was what I thought too.” “So you picked her up?” “Hell no. Woke up her worthless brother and told him his sister is at the airport. After that I have no idea.” “Oh…” Maria eyes opened wide in excitement. “I like to be there when she gives you a piece of her mind.” She grinned broadly at the thought of Queen Isabel giving it to Michael. “Well she’ll probably be there this Wednesday.” “Oh… I guess Kyle will invite her since she is in town now. Can I sit next to you and watch as she bitch slaps you?” Maria giggled loudly when she saw Michael’s disgruntled face. Maria quickly looked down at her watch when Gloria came back to refill their coffees. It was close to five in the morning. They'd been talking for almost an hour. Maria started to yawn when she caught the contagious yawning from Michael. “Yeah we better go,” Michael said in a sleepy tone. Maria nodded. She reached for her wallet and started to look for some money. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get it.” “No… I can’t let you do that.” “Maria…” “No…” “How about this. Ahmmm, you pay the next time?” “Next time?” “Yeah, why not?” “OK…” Maria looked down to hide her flushed cheeks as she put her money away. * The night-air brushed their faces as they walked out from the restaurant. It was a lot warmer outside than it was in the café. The sky was still cloudy, but the wind had died down some. “Catch,” Maria called out to Michael when she threw the keys to him. Maria hated to drive, she didn't mind taking her car, but she hated to drive. So when the opportunity rose, she always made others drive so she could do nothing. Michael raised an eyebrow then shrugged his shoulders before he headed towards the diver side. He made a few major adjustments to the seat before he was able to sit down comfortably. Looking over to the passenger side, he made sure that Maria was securely bulked in before he reversed the car out of its parking space. Maria was lost in her own thoughts as she looked out of her window. It was early, but the office buildings were slowly showing signs of life. It was the sound of the radio that got her attention back to who was driving. Maria quickly smacked Michael’s hand away from the turner as he tried to look for a radio station. “My car, my radio. I don’t want to listen to that crap that you always listen to.” “Hey- I drive, I have control. And heavy metal is not crap. It’s way better than the flowery, depressing Sarah chic you always have on.” “Hey, don’t you insult Sarah McLachlan, at least she can carry a tune unlike the James guy.” Again Maria tried to push his hand away form the tuner, but he was a lot stronger than her. Using both hands she tried to turn the tuner to its original station, but she couldn’t get the knobs to turn since Michael’s hands were too big for her. Using all her might she tried to push his hands way. When that didn’t work, she resorted to slapping his hands with her own. Michael's grin quickly turned into pain when he felt the sting from Maria’s assault on his hand. He jerked his hand away after a few hits and shook off the pain. He swiftly reached out and caught hold of Maria’s hands before she was able to change the station. Michael held both of Maria’s tightly as she struggled to get free. Michael smirked when Maria gave up and sat back, she could win some battles, but this one was his. “You can let go of my hands now,” Maria said softly. Michael looked down to see her smaller hands encompassed by his lager one. He didn’t even realize he was still holding her hands. Opening his fingers, he released her hands from their capturer. “Sorry…” “It’s ok…” “Did I hurt you?” “No I’m fine.” “Ok.” Michael was relived when he pulled up in front of his building. The thought of physically hurting Maria made him uneasy. They’d always played rough when they were younger, but she was lot more delicate then she was before, more grown up. They both opened the door at the same time, relieved to be out in open air. Maria walked toward the driver side while Michael held the door open for her. He stood there waiting, shifting his weight from one foot to the next. Maria turned towards him to see him scratching his eyebrow. “Well I guess this is goodnight.” “Yeah, I guess.” “So.. ahmm, thanks for, you know… paying.” “Sure no problem.” “Well, I’d better be going.” “Ahmm, you can come up if you like,” Michael said in a hurry rush. “No I’d better get home… maybe-” Before Maria was able to finish her sentence she felt soft lips kissing her as powerful hands cupped her face. Michael gently ran his thumbs across her cheek before he broke the kiss. “Maybe another night,” he said in a throaty whisper. “Yeah…” It took all her will to calm herself down as she climbed into the driver seat. Michael closed the car door and watched as she turned the key and started the engine. Maria gave him a quick wave before her car started down the street. Michael ran his hand over his face then slowly he made his way back into his building. TBC |
| Part 8 |
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