| Michael leaned back on his chair as he looked at the door of the restaurant. Maggiano's was buzzing with life as he waited for his friends to arrive. He hated being early and what he hated even more was to wait for the rest of the group to come. Kyle had called him earlier and made him promise to come early so he could hold a table for the group. Michael liked Maggiano’s, since it was five blocks from him and not to mention the food was delicious, but he hated the crowd. The dinner rush was on and it didn’t make him happy that he had to wait 30 minutes for the table. Michael glared at the waiter that kept on coming back to ask if he wanted anything to drink. He didn’t understand the need for people to talk to him. Couldn’t they tell that he wanted to be left alone until his friends came? Maybe he should order something just so the waiter would leave him alone. Michael quickly stood up when he heard the noise of a crowd. As quickly as he got up, he sat down again; it wasn’t the people that he was expecting. Once more, Michael leaned back on his chair. He was dangerously close to falling a few times, but he had a lot of practice in high school, so this was not a problem for him. Losing patience by the seconds, Michael looked around the slowly crowding restaurant. There were all sorts of people that patron the restaurant. The bar was full of happy-hour people as well as those who were waiting for a table. Spotting an elderly couple, Michael gave them a smug smile at the look of disgust they were giving to him. Michael really hated being at fancy restaurants, he hated getting dressed up. Finally loosing his patience, Michael got up; ready to leave when Kyle and Tess came in. “Sit your butt down Guerin, we’re all here,” Kyle said in a joking tone. He gently pulled out a chair, across from Michael, for Tess, before he took a seat himself. “You weren’t waiting that long.” “Long enough.” “You’re a-” Kyle wasn’t able to finish what he wanted to say since the pain from Tess’ elbow on his rib caused the air to rush out of his lungs. “Thank you Michael for doing this huge favor for Kyle and I. We really appreciate it,” Tess added politely, giving Michael a cute smile. “Tess, what was that fur- OUCH!” The pain in his shin was starting to hurt that he almost forgot what he wanted to say, but it was the glare from Tess that told him to shut up. Michael furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he watched what just happened in front of his face. He was never able to understand couples and why they acted so strangely around people. All three of them got distracted when the waiter set down a basket of bread and olive oil on the table. Both of the men’s hands reached out, as if they were in a race, and grabbed a piece of bread. Tess just shook her head at their childish behavior. “Michael, couldn’t you at least dress up!” Maria commented with a smile as she walked towards the table. “Oh, Maria! You look very nice,” complimented Tess. It was not an everyday event that Maria would wear a dress since she was too comfortable in her scrubs. Today, she actually looked feminine and made up. Maria wasn't by far an ugly girl. She had a natural beauty that never called for makeup, so on days when she did; Tess always remembered to compliment her. Maria smiled graciously at her friend as she stood behind the chair between Michael and Kyle, waiting. After standing a little too long, Maria let out a frustrated sigh and sat down. Neither her brother nor Michael even noticed she was standing there. “Kyle!” Tess said between her teeth. “What?” Kyle questioned in confusion. Maria comfortable situated, let the black shawl fall off her shoulders. She was trying to get Michael’s attention, but he was too busy dipping the bread into the seasoned olive oil. Why is he trying to avoid her? Maria was relieved when she saw Liz and Max walking towards the table, but soon lost that feeling when she saw the beautiful Isabel close behind them. “Sorry we’re late,” apologized Liz for their tardiness. She quickly sat down on the chair Max had pulled out for her. “Hi Kyle, Tess… Thank you for inviting me,” Isabel said with a gracious smile to her host. She rounded the table and stood next to Michael before she spoke. “Hey Michael.” “Hey Iz,” Michael replied. “It’s nice seeing you again.” Isabel quickly sat down next to him. “Yeah, sure…” Maria sat there watching whatever that was. She was waiting for Isabel to yell or bitch or slap Michael for not picking her up at the airport, but nothing. That was very disappointing. Maybe she would let him have it when he least expected it. Maria got all giddy at that evil thought. Maybe she could even initiate the argument. “Hey Isabel. How was your flight in? I heard you had a late flight?” “Maria! I didn’t see you there. Yeah it was good. I prefer the late flights since it’s so much quieter.” Maria narrowed her eyes at Isabel’s remark. “Oh, I’m sure. But wasn’t it difficult to find a ride home?” “Not really. Michael was so sweet, he called up Max and got him to pick me up.” Isabel reached over and started to rub Michael’s arm as she placed her head on his shoulders. “Next time I’m going to leave you at the airport for calling me so late.” Michael careful removed himself from Isabel, trying not to offend her too much. “Ah you wouldn’t do that to me. Anyways, whom else am I going to call? I didn’t remember Max’s number so I had to call you.” “Well you have it now, so don’t lose it this time.” Max said. “Ok Max, I already got the lecture on the car ride to your place. I swear, sometimes I wonder who is the older sibling.” “Well, I need to change my number. Every Joe and his mom have it, calling me all the damn time, in the middle of the night.” Michael was trying to give Isabel a clue, but somehow, looking at her, he knew she wasn’t able to get it through that thick skull of hers. Michael turned to this right when he heard the chair push back. Maria slowly got up and turned around to look at the table and said, “Be right back. Going to the ladies room.” She gave the table a quick smile before she turned around to make her way towards the bathrooms. “Maria wait, I’ll go with you,” Isabel called. Michael looked as Isabel joined Maria on their quest to the bathroom. It was the look of indifference from Maria that made him shudder inside. She had to know that he wasn’t talking about her when thought about changing his number. He just didn’t want Isabel to call him. Michael turned around and flipped open the menu, but his mind and heart weren't into it. This aching feeling in his head told him he did something wrong, somehow he had inadvertently hurt her. He quickly looked up towards the restroom, but both blonds were nowhere in sight. Disappointed, he was disappointed in himself for not having any self-control. Since Maria approached the table, he’d been secretly glancing her way without her knowing. Tess was right, Maria looked beautiful tonight and that made it hard for him not to do what his body wanted him to. So he tried to ignore her, not look at her, so that he wouldn’t embarrass the both of them. Michael was so lost in thought; he missed the inquisitive look from Tess. *** Maria used her fingers to brush through her hair to get the tangles out as she waited for Isabel to finish reapplying her lipstick. Her thought ran back to what Michael had said before she left the table. She understood that the comment wasn’t meant for her, rather just for Isabel, but still it stung. She just wanted a moment to get over it since they both agreed that this was a no strings relationship, but the moment of peace was gone when Isabel decided to join her to the bathroom. "You know Maria, you're such a pretty girl, but you should wear make up more often," Isabel commented as she passed Maria her lipstick. "No thanks Isabel, I'm not on a date or anything and my lipstick is fine." Maria never understood Isabel’s need to make people better. She always tried to change them, mold them into something she thought they should be. Maria already had a mother, and Isabel could never replace her mother or be her sister. "Well, it doesn't matter to me. I mean, I have to look my best when Michael is around." Isabel gave Maria a big gummy smile when her subject of choice came to light. "What is the deal with you and him?" questioned Maria. She wanted to hear Isabel’s ‘reason’. "What do you mean? You can't tell?" Isabel looked at Maria as if she’s been living under a rock all this time. "Tell that he's not interested," retorted Maria. She didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but sometimes, it was best to ripe the ban aid fast and quick. "Of course he is. He's just playing hard to get," Isabel stated matter-of-factly. “I’ve never seen Michael Guerin ever playing hard to get. Isabel are you sure, maybe you are reading too much into this. I mean you’ve been infatuated with him since high school and he didn’t show any interest in you back then.” Maria tried reason, maybe that will work. “Well that was because I was dating your brother, so he never had a chance. I just know ok Maria. A woman knows this kind of thing.” Isabel didn’t need some little girl to tell her lies. She already knew how Michael felt about her, always had felt about her. She just needed to make him realize it. “You were dating my brother because you wanted to make Michael jealous.” Isabel gave Maria a look of annoyance at her accusing tone. “You don’t know what you are talking about. I know you didn’t want me to date your brother and you tried to get me jealous by dating Michael!” Maria was about to say something until she heard the toilet flush. They didn’t know that someone else was in the ladies room with them. The two blonds stood there quietly, trying to find something to do, when a red head walked out of the stalls. She gave them a shy smile, having overheard what they said. The red head kept glancing their way, contemplating on whether she should say something. “Hey, are you two talking about Michael Guerin, the artist?” She continued after the two blonds nodded yes. “Well can you tell him that April said Hi?” “How do you know Michael?” Isabel questioned defensively. Reading Isabel’s tone April also got on the defensive. “It’s none of your business. But if you have to know, we used to date.” April smiled smugly as she emphasized the word date. “What do you mean date?” Isabel questioned. “You know, eat, drink, movies… sex.” April didn’t like what Isabel was implying by her tone of voice. From what she could tell from the conversation earlier, Isabel wanted to get into Michael’s pants for a very long time and since she had, she was going to play it as much as she could. April just didn’t get very good feelings about Isabel, she seemed delusional. April wanted to laugh when she saw Isabel’s face after she mentioned sex. April made her way toward the bathroom exit, but turned around to face the girls before the left the room. Giving them another mischievous smile, she spoke, “And he really is great in bed.” *** Kyle waited until everybody was seated. He was all smiles as he held Tess’ hand under the table. Looking around, he was happy to share this moment with his friends, friends who had always been supportive of him. “Thanks guys for coming on a short notice... it really means a lot to me and Tess." After a glass of wine, Michael was feeling a little relaxed and happy. "Hey, you said free meal." He made sure he was looking at Tess, she has yet to make him his lasagna. "And you know me, a free meal is the best kind of meal." “Gosh Michael... you can be so..." Liz had to roll her eyes at him. She never understood him, only humored him because he was Max’s friend. “Don’t be such a priss Liz. He was only joking. I don't see anything wrong with what Michael said.” Isabel ran to Michael’s defense, she had to take care of her man, although she was a little pissed at him herself. Maria as getting a little agitated with Isabel gushing over Michael. He far from being the perfect guy that Isabel had in her screwy little head. "Anyway, who cares? Kyle, you were saying?" She was trying to bring the conversation back to the reason why they were together today. “Oh, yeah… Michael, this replaces the lasagna,” Kyle stated as he made his point by pointing at Michael. “Anyways, I'm sure you all know already since Maria knows-" “A-ah, nonono…. Not this time Kyle. I was a perfect angel!” Maria shot a dirty look at Michael when he snickered at what she just said. She was about to say something to Michael when the waiter interrupted them. “Hello everybody and welcome to Maggiano’s Little Italy. I’m Matt and may I say, everybody looks wonderful tonight.” Matt gave the table an honest smile and quickly dipped his eyes down to look down Maria’s dress before looking at his order page. It was a quick smooth move that no one caught except for Michael, who was getting red at the ears. After pretending to joint something down on his pad Matt look up and spoke to the group again, “May I start you off with some appetizers?” Matt quickly jotted down the appetizers that Tess ordered. “Would you like another bottle of wine?” Matt asked as he spied the three-fourth empty bottle on the table. “Yes please,” replied Tess. Matt intentionally bumped Maria as he bent over to reach for the bottle. “I’m sorry,” he said apologetically while giving her his best smile. “Oh, that’s ok,” Maria smiled back at the cute waiter. She wasn’t able to get a good look at him since he was standing behind her, so this was the first time. He was a little bit younger, but very cute. She moved her chair closer to Michael to give Matt some space so he could pour the rest of the wine in the empty glasses before taking the bottle way. “He’s really cute Maria,” Liz commented as soon as Matt was out of earshot. “Yeah… and nice little butt too.” “Very nice,” Tess agreed. “He was a jerk,” Michael said harshly which surprised everybody, except for Isabel, who wasn’t listening. “No he wasn’t. He was nice and polite,” defended Maria. “That little prick was looking down your dress.” “He was not, I would have noticed.” “You were too busy looking at his butt.” “I was not. And why would it matter if he was looking down my dress.” “I was… Forget it, just forget it.” Michael sat there almost pouting, men never really pout. Isabel had been sitting quietly for a while with her arms across her chest. She hadn't spoken since Matt left the table, which started to get Max worried. Max knew his sister and she was not a quiet person. He watched her closely, studying her demeanor and he knew something big was going to happen. Hoping to divert the bomb before it hit, Max touched his fingers on her arm as he leaned over and asked, “Iz, are you ok?” Looking over to her brother, Isabel’s eyes told of the emotions that were boiling inside of her. From out of nowhere, Isabel said hurtfully, “Michael, how could you!?” Her outburst brought everybody’s attention to Isabel from Michael and Maria. “What?! What could I… what?” Michael questioned defensively. He didn’t want to be mean, but sometimes Isabel was a little too much for him. She was never this way with any of the people, just him. He knew she was a very pleasant person to be around, but not when he was around. “You know what you did! I can’t believe you slept with her!” Isabel was on the verge of tears, but Michael didn’t care because all he could feel was all the blood rushing away from his face and the feeling of cold sweat tickling his forehead. Michael looked around the table to look for help as his friends stared in interest. He couldn’t read Maria since she was the only person not looking at them. He couldn’t believe that Maria would tell Isabel. Of all the people to tell, why Isabel? They were only gone for the restroom for a few minutes, she wouldn’t, would she? He didn’t know what to say, so the only thing he could do was play dumb. “What are you talking about?” “You know what I’m talking about, Maria…” Maria’s head shot up when she heard her name. She dared not to look at Kyle or anybody else for that matter. “What are you talking about?” Maria asked timidly. “That girl, that girl in the restroom. What’s her name?” “April?” “Yeah April… how could you Michael?” “Yeah Michael, how could you sleep with April when you are with Isabel?” Maria knew it was evil doing what she was doing, but she really wanted Isabel to realize that Michael was never interested in her, but also, it was too fun to see Michael suffer like that. “What in the hell is going?” Michael questioned as he watched Maria going over to Isabel to comfort her. He shook his head while narrowing his eyes at Maria; he never would have imagined her to be so evil. “First of all, Isabel, I have no idea who this April person is and even so, why would it matter.” He wiped his face with his palm in frustration. “Isabel, I don’t know what Maria has been saying, but we, you and me, we are only friends. And that’s it.” He knew he wasn’t getting to Isabel. She was unreachable at this point. Michael looked at Maria and wanted to bite her head off, but the look she had on her face made him stop. He could tell she felt bad for doing what she did and like him, she wanted Isabel to understand, and in a way that was the only way to go, but Isabel shut down. Michael let out a distraught sigh in frustration. “I need some air.” He left the table and walked out the front door. He didn’t want to deal with Isabel any more. Maria returned to her seat and looked towards Tess and Kyle apologetically. Although she wasn’t the cause for the debacle, but she helped it along. An uncomfortable silence fell on the table as they all sat in silence, trying not to look at Isabel. They were all relieved when the waiter brought their appetizer. “Max, I want to go home.” Isabel said between sniffles after the waiter left. “Isabel, we just got here and the food just arrived,” Max reasoned. He didn’t want to be impolite to their host. “Max. I. Want. To. Go. Home,” Isabel said between her teeth. Max was about to say something until he felt Liz's hand on his arm. He turned around to see his Liz’s warm understanding eyes and he smiled. “Thank you for having us. We’re sorry we can’t stay,” Liz apologized as she got out of her seat. Isabel walked off without saying good-bye to anybody. Max followed his sister while Liz stayed back. “Tess, Kyle. I am so sorry.” “It’s ok Liz… it’s not your fault. Don’t worry about it,” Tess replied as she put a comforting hand on Liz. She can only image how this would play out at home. “Bye Maria. Bye Kyle.” Liz stood there a moment before she left. “Now that was strange.” Tess threw her napkin on the table and placed her chin on her hand. She seemed to have lost her appetite. “Not really,” Kyle commented as he took a spoonful of mussels and scooped it onto his plate. “We are talking about Drama Queen Isabel here, nothing strange about it at all.” Kyle started to eat the mussels with gusto. “Yeah, she tends to like attention. And if the attention is from Michael than it doesn’t matter if it’s positive or negative,” commented Maria while she speared a mushroom cap. “You mean she does this a lot?” questioned Tess. She quickly nudged Kyle as he was stuffing his face. Getting the hint, Kyle feed her the mussel instead. “Well not really a LOT, but enough,” Maria said after she finished chewing her food. Something willed Maria to look up towards the door. She saw Michael standing there looking at her. He motioned for her to come outside before he turned around and walked out the door. “Hey, I’m gonna check on Michael, be right back.” “Maria, don’t worry about Guerin, he’s a big boy. He can handle Iz,” Kyle said with his mouth full. “I’m not worried about him. I just, I feel bad for what I said earlier. Be right back ok?” Maria left before Kyle could say another word. She was half way toward the door when she started to feel uncomfortable, as if someone was watching her. She quickly returned and retrieved her black shawl and wrapped it around her shoulders before the started off to look for Michael. *** There was a cool breeze blowing as Maria stepped outside. It was a beautiful night and all the tables outside were just as full as they were inside. Maria was glad she brought her shawl since the wind was picking up, causing the hem of the dress to flutter. It took her a while to spot him. She thought he would be walking around, but he was leaning against the building a few yards away, away from the crowd. Maria took her time walking since the wind was making it hard for her to keep her balance with her heals on. She was getting upset that Michael didn’t move an inch. He just stayed still on the wall watching her come to him. Holding her shawl tightly with one hand, she used the other one to keep her hair out of her face. Michael finally turned his body to face her. They both stood there in silence. He was unreadable to her, but she was distracted by the flying into his face, but he didn’t seem to care. Maria let out a yelp when she was caught by surprise when Michael spinned her around and pinned her against the wall with his larger frame. “So the wind won’t bother you,” he explained when he saw the confusion on her face. Maria nodded, not knowing what else to do. Her head was spinning, having him so close, but yet he felt so far away. She let he hand fall to her side as she loosened her shawl. She looked up to see his face hidden beneath the stony façade. Slowly licking her lips, Maria tried to buy some time before she had to speak, “I’m sorry about what I said inside. I… that was really wrong of me.” “Yes it was. But it was bound to happen. You just hurried up the process.” “So how are you going to resolve this with Iz?” Maria asked as she tucked her hair behind her ear. The movement of her arm caused her shawl to fall of her shoulder. “I’m not. Not my problem.” Michael eyed the bare skin of shoulder and willed himself some self-control. He really wanted to lower his head and gently caress it with his lips, but instead he slowly placed the shawl back on her shoulder. Maria stood there, unable to breath. She mentally prayed that he was not able to feel her heart beat since his hand was so close. She half wished he would stop caressing the nook of her neck with the back of his hand, it was making it unbearable. Maria lungs released an inaudible gasp when Michael lowered his head to whisper in her ear. “Tess was wrong,” Michael said softly. Maria tilted her head toward Michael, feeling the intense heat of his breath on her skin. “What was Tess wrong about?” she questioned breathlessly. She tilted her head a bit more so that they were face to face, but Michael was purposely being invasive. “She said you looked ‘nice’. You look more than nice.” He was now looking straight into her eyes with their mouths inches apart. He had his hand that was leaning against the wall while the other one was gently running down her arm. Neither of them noticed that Maria’s shawl had found its way to the ground. “’More than nice?” Maria repeated. It was hard for her to hide her happiness. She didn’t think Michael had noticed her at all. “Just how nice?” she asked in a whisper. She slowly licked her lips in anticipation of his answer. Michael meticulously took his time to respond to her. He slowly got closer; close enough so that they could touch, then pulled back. He was playing, dragging out the moment, making her lose all thoughts. Finally, he slowly lowered his head as his eyes started to half close. The distance between them shrank as Maria edged herself forward, waiting for the moment… A loud crash of dishes caused both of them to break apart, unsatisfied. They both turned their head to see broken dishes and worker on the ground. Michael turned back to Maria, to continue where they were so rudely interrupted, but she was not there. She had bent down to pick up her shawl. Quickly standing up she started to shake off the dirt that had accumulated while it was on the ground. Michael started to scratch his eyebrow out of nervousness. The moment had gone and both of them found it rather awkward at the time. Maria tried to wrap the shawl around her shoulder, but was finding the task a bit difficult. Michael tried to help, but she brushed his arm away. It took a while before she got it the way she wanted. She finally looked up at Michael and asked, “So why did you call me out here for?” Scratching the back of his head nervously, Michael tried to recall the reason why he called her out. “I wanted to tell you I was gonna leave. I’m not very hungry anymore and I know, I mean, I know what Kyle and Tess were going to say. So you know, I don’t need to be here. So can you tell them that I left?” “No way. Don’t be rude. You go and tell them yourself. Stop being a baby and go in. Anyways Iz left, so you have nothing to be scared of.” “I saw them leave. I just… fine.” Michael turned around and started walking towards the restaurant. He took a few steps before the realized Maria was not close by. Turning around, he saw her slowly making her way towards the restaurant. Michael stood there waiting for her to catch up before they both entered the restaurant together. As they entered Michael took her arm and wrapped it around his. Maria looked up at him questioningly. She got her answer when they passed by Matt, who didn’t look as happy as he did before. Maria took her original seat next to her brother and Michael took the one next to her. They were outside for quite some time since Kyle had eaten all the mussels and there was only one more mushroom cap left. “Sorry guys. We can order more if you like?” Kyle asked as he sat back satisfied. “No thanks, I’m not that hungry. I came in here to tell you, I gotta go. I have an early meeting with the art director. Tess, Kyle, I’m really sorry about tonight.” “Oh, Kyle explained it to me. Weird stuff. Never knew you had it in you Michael.” “Then maybe you can explain it to me because I never understood it.” “Too hard for you to understand Guerin, you have a thick skull.” Kyle laughed at his own joke. He had a little bit more wine then the rest, thus making him feeling really happy. “Whatever. I gotta go. Later.” “Michael wait,” Tess called. “Yeah?” “When are you free?” Tess asked Maria. “Me? Well I’m not scheduled for Saturday. Why?” “Michael, are you free this Saturday?” Tess inquired. “My schedule is flexible, what’s up?” “How about you two meet us at Empire Café around noon?” “Ok, noon it is then.” With a wave Michael disappeared. “Tess?” Maria question timidly. “Yeah?” “Are you ok? I mean… I know today was your special day to tell the group and this crap happened.” “Oh that… I’m fine. Disappointed, but fine. I mean, the two people that we wanted to know already know, so it’s not like the others won’t find out. They will, but they aren’t as important.” Tess gave Maria a reassuring smile to her concern. “Ok, just making sure. I’m going to head home too, so you two can have a nice quiet dinner.” “Hey, Maria… I’ll stay with Kyle tonight. He had too much…” Maria giggled when her soon to be sister-in-law made the ‘I had too much to drink sign’. “So I guess it’ll be Cooks and me with a good book tonight. Night guys.” *** The refrigerator door light was the only life that shined in the loft. Michael reached for a bottle of corona then closed the door, causing the kitchen to go dark again. The cap fell on the floor with a ‘clink’ as he slowly kicked off his shoes. The moonlight lit the dark living room in an eerie glow. He walked toward the couch and picked up the remote then decided against it. Walking toward the window he looked out towards the busy city. Although it was only Wednesday, downtown was busy with nightlife. Looking down at the cars passing by, Michael wished that one of those cars would stop, but none did. Raising the bottle to his mouth, the cold elixir quenched his dry throat. He turned away from the window, knowing that he wouldn't get an unexpected visitor tonight. He made his way toward the stairs, but stopped when he got to the foot of it. It was the door under the stairs that got his attention. Since he moved in, he’d never even noticed the door until Sean mentioned it. Michael walked towards it and unlocked the dead bolt, then turned the knob. The cool breeze surprised him as it hit him hard. Reaching around with his hand, he searched for a switch. Finding the switch a few feet away, he clicked it on. Michael closed his eyes as the brightness from the lights. It took his eyes a few seconds. He was surprised at what he saw. Light bulbs were huge on strings, which gave the garden an Italian feel. It was the plotted plants what that really surprised him. Someone had been taking care of them since they were so green and healthy. There was even patio furniture on there. Although Sean said this was his garden, Michael felt as if he invaded someone else’s place, but he didn’t want to go back into his apartment. Instead of sitting on the chairs, he choose the ledge. Leaning his back against the building, Michael took another swig of his beer. He tried hard not to think of her, but he wasn’t able to. They were so close, just a second more he could have tasted her on his lips. He licked his lips, trying to remember the taste he’d been missing for three days. He closed his eyes tightly to get the image of her out of his mind, but it made it worse with images of her flashing in his head. Finally having enough, Michael took one last swig of his beer and returned to the solitude of his apartment for a cold shower. TBC |
| Part 9 |
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