Maria looked around the hotel suite. Now what? She was about to sit down on the sofa when the door of the room was flung open.

A tall dark haired man in a tuxedo walked in followed by two others dressed similarly.

“Oh, hi,” the tall one said looking at her with a smile. “Who are you?”

“I’m Maria,” she said with a smile. “Maria Valenti.”

“Hey, Alex,” one of the other guys said, “we’re going to run downstairs and check in with the minister.”

“Ok, thanks guys,” Alex said as they left. He turned back to her, “I’m Alex Whitman. Take it you’re here for the wedding?”

Nodding, Maria laughed slightly and pointed at his attire, “I take it you are too?”

He laughed and walked over to the table of food picking up an éclair, and wiggling his eyebrows as he took a bite, “Oh, yeah. That’s why I’m here.”

Maria laughed, and he laughed a little harder and accidentally squeezed the éclair too hard. Some of the filling fell down onto the lapel of his jacket. Alex looked down in horror.

“Oh no. She’ll kill me.”

“Who?” Maria asked.

“Isabel. My bride. She.Will. Kill me.”

Maria pursed her lips and walked over to him grabbing a napkin and wiping up the majority of the cream. There was still a large grease spot that was highly visible.

“Uh, let’s get this into the bathroom,” she said helping him shrug out of the jacket.

***

“Maxwell, I do not see what you think I’m going to do. I can almost guarantee that I’m the last person she will want to see right now. Besides, I say if she doesn’t want to get married, don’t make her.”

“Look, Michael,” Max said, glancing around to make sure no one was in the hall as they stepped off the elevator, “she does want to marry him. She’s just sort of forgotten that fact. I’ve managed to keep my mom away, and Alex has no idea, but it’s going to be pretty obvious to everyone if they play ‘Here comes the Bride’ and no one walks down the aisle.”

“Don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” Michael muttered.

“She keeps talking about you. And, how something isn’t right, and she isn’t honest enough. That he’s too good for her…I don’t know what to do with her. Just talk to her, please. It can’t hurt anything.”

Michael raised his eyebrows at Max, “It can’t hurt anything? How do you know I won’t just make things worse?”

Max pulled him into a hotel room, then led him down a hall and opened a door to what must the bedroom, turning, his friend whispered a plea, “Just go in there and get her to snap out of it. I’ve tried everything, you’re my last hope. You don’t know Alex, he’s a really sensitive guy, it would kill him if I had to go tell him she won’t go through with it.”

Shaking his head and rolling his eyes as he walked into the room, Michael hissed, “Trying to get me to feel sorry for him is not going to help your cause.”

He looked around as soon as Max shut the door behind him. The room was almost dark, lit only by a small lamp on a table near the bed, quietly, hoping she wasn’t there, he whispered into the darkness, “Iz?”

There was no answer. He walked to the middle of the room and felt a cold breeze. The balcony. He walked out and found her standing there in her white gown with it’s enormous skirt looking like she was in an ad for a dress designer.

“Hey,” he said, walking up to her.

“Michael?” her voice was soft, and she didn’t turn around.

“Yeah.”

“I-I can’t do it.”

She sounded scared. He didn’t know if he’d ever really heard her sound like that.

“Can’t do what?”

“I can’t marry him. He deserves much better than me,” her voice cracked. “ You know that.”

“What are you talking about? I think pretty much everyone agrees it doesn’t get much better than you,” he said, nudging her arm to get her to look at him.

“Michael, I’ve never been completely honest with him. I told him that you and I were broken up when we started things,” she looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

He’d never really known for sure, he’d never really seen the guy’s face, “So, it was him?”

Nodding, she laughed dryly and turned away from him.

“And, I had just met him when I found out about…I knew I wanted something else, and I was afraid that if I told you somehow you’d talk me into keeping it…”

He let out a sharp gasp and turned away from her. Well, there was the truth finally…two years after the fact.

“Don’t hate me. Please, Michael,” her voice sounded beside him. “If I hadn’t met him, I wouldn’t have-.”

[/i]You’re supposed to be comforting her, you’re supposed to be comforting her, you’re supposed to be comforting her…[/i]

“It’s not like I was some one night stand, Isabel. For God’s sake, you’d known me all your life. No matter who you wanted to be with, I would have been there, I would have done anything-.”

Her hand was on his arm, trying to turn him around, “I know that, and I’m sorry. It wasn’t fair, I know. If it helps, I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself. No matter how I look at it…that just wasn’t the answer. Please, tell me you don’t hate me.”

She was still pulling on him, so he turned to look at her. He looked at her pleading face and felt sorry, he got it now. It wasn’t her fault he’d reacted to all of it the way he had. If he had an ounce of maturity…

“Iz, I don’t hate you. Could never hate you,” he reached up to touch her cheek.

Letting a tiny sob escape, she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly. He held her, trying not to mess up her hair or make-up, she’d always hated that. This wasn’t easy for him. It still hurt, but she needed to move on, and she needed his help to do it. He owed her that much.

“Thank you, Michael,” she whispered as she pulled back.

“Yeah. So, now, are you ready for this whole wedding thing?”

She shook her head sharply, “I can’t.”

“Yes, you can.”

“ No. I can’t.”

“Isabel-.

“No. He deserves someone better than me. Someone who will always be honest with him, who’d never hurt him.”

“Do you want to hurt him?”

“No.”

“ Willyou hurt him?”

“No, never.”

“Then, what’s the problem? As long as you’re willing to do everything you can to make things right between you-.”

“I haven’t been honest with him.”

“Be honest with him later. I don’t think it will make much difference to him anyway. Has more to do with you and me than it does him.”

“No, I can’t, it isn’t right.”

“Look, Isabel. You want this guy, want to marry him, you’re having a family with him…and he, well, it’s pretty obvious he’s completely gone for you. You’ll wind up together anyway, so why delay things by leaving him standing at the altar?”

“Ok.”

“Ok,” he said, turning to leave.

“Uh, bye…” she called after him.

He walked toward the elevators, and when he was inside one he slumped against the wall trying to pull himself together. The last thing he’d ever expected to do at Isabel’s wedding was try to get her to walk down the aisle and into the arms of another man.

***

“Ugh, why couldn’t they just have regular old donuts? No, it had to be éclairs,” Alex groaned as Maria dabbed at the lapel of the jacket.

She had laid his black coat out carefully on the bathroom counter, trying her best with the large grease spot while Alex sat on the toilet seat with his head in his hands.

“Hey, if this is the worst thing that happens on your wedding day you should be thanking your lucky stars,” she said, trying not to laugh.

“Yeah, but things were going perfectly,” he said looking up at her.

“Don’t worry so much,” she giggled. “It’s just a jacket.”

“You don’t know Isabel. She’ll notice, and then I’ll feel awful. I just want things to be perfect, the way that she wants them. I have been waiting for this for so long.”

Maria shot him a big grin, “I think your Isabel is probably thanking her lucky stars that she found such a great guy. Trust me, she won’t notice the stain. She’ll be rejoicing that she has you, instead of being a typical groom who’s ready to chicken out at the last minute – I mean look at you, you can’t wait to say ‘I do’.”

“Well, I love her,” he said, a dreamy look coming over his face.

“That is so adorable, Alex,” Maria said as she pressed down hard on the spot with the towel, trying to dry it. “Now, why don’t you go get yourself a drink of water or something, to make sure your throat doesn’t get dry.”

“Ok,” he said as he stood and walked out into the other room.

She was still blotting when he came back in the bathroom, and he was starting to look worried again, so she decided to try to take his mind off it by talking about what she guessed was his favorite subject, “So, tell me how you met Isabel.”

“Oh, well, I was here for a conference, and I ran out of underwear,” he paused and shook his head laughing at himself. “Anyway, I had to go shopping, and she was there, and I noticed her – ok, I was watching her. Well, she accidentally left one of her bags after she sat it down on the floor to look at a sweater. So, I picked it up and chased her down, and we wound up having lunch together.”

“Wow, so it was love at first sight?” she asked, looking up at him in the mirror.

“Sort of,” he scrunched up his nose. “We got off to a pretty steamy start, but she was in the middle of a break-up, and I think she started to feel weird about moving on. Anyway, we broke things off and did the ‘friends’ thing for a while before we got back together again.”

“Well, that sounds like a good thing. I mean, if you had time to develop the friendship…well, isn’t that what they always say is best?”

“Yeah. I guess,” he said. “Didn’t think so at the time, though, because I was in New York and she was here…she kept calling me, because she was having a tough time with her ex…well, when I finally convinced her to get back together with me things were great – she moved east to be with me and everything.”

“Oh that’s sweet,” she said, looking closely at the stain. It looked like she’d nearly done it. “Well, let that be a lesson to you. Tough times have always strengthened your relationship – so you can live through the éclair stain.”

He laughed, “Yeah, I guess.”

She knew she shouldn’t ask, but she couldn’t help herself, “So, I bet you wanted to punch out her ex as much as you wanted to flush the éclair, huh?”

“Huh? Well, yeah. I don’t know. Everyone is always telling me that he’s misunderstood and high strung,” Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t like what it did to Izzy, but I guess break-up’s are never easy. It’s kind of tough, though, because he’s like a member of their family still. I mean he spent Thanksgiving with us for crying out loud.”

Maria didn’t know if he was talking about Michael or not. It didn’t sound like it.

They heard the door of the suite open, and Alex stood, “I’ll go see who that is.”

Pulling up the towel she’d been using to clean the jacket, Maria grinned. The spot was basically non-existent.

She stepped out of the bathroom and practically ran down the hall, “Alex, look! It’s all better, now.”

***

Michael walked in the room and went to sit down on the sofa, hoping to finish calming himself before he found her. Alex walked in from the hallway. Michael looked up at him, and saw the surprise on the man’s face.

“Alex, look! It’s all better, now.” Michael turned and could just see around Alex. There she was, holding up a black suit jacket.

Alex walked toward her and inspected the front of it, then grinned, “Maria! You’re my savior!” He smiled and gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek, then a bear hug.

Michael was on his feet in a flash, and tried to keep the venom out of his voice, “You ready?”

Maria looked startled when she looked at him, then her head moved to the side as if she was confused. Slowly, she walked over to him and then looked up meeting his eyes, “D-do you know Alex?”

He didn’t look up at Alex, but nodded down at her, thinking, ‘Yeah, I know him. He’s already got Isabel…’

“We’ve met,” Alex interrupted his train of thought.

Looking up at him, Michael nodded briefly, then turned back to Maria. She was looking at him, looking him in the eyes, she seemed concerned, and her hand squeezed his arm lightly.

“Well, we’ve only got about twenty minutes. We should be going, I suppose?” she asked him.

In response, he nodded.

She smiled at Alex as Michael led her to the door, “Good luck, Alex.”

“Thanks! I owe ya’ one,” Alex replied.

In the elevator she turned to face him, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t look very well.”

“I had to…do something,” he looked down into her eyes. Those eyes. She’d never looked at him so much, not even that night…

“Are you all right?” she asked, searching his face.

“Yeah…” he wanted to look away from her, but couldn’t.

The elevator doors opened, and snapped him out of his daze. He led her out and they stopped to check her coat before walking into the ballroom where both the ceremony and the reception would take place. It seemed that most of the guests were already there, the seats were nearly all filled. An usher led them up to the second row and Michael was irritated to notice several men’s eyes on her. Possessively, he placed an open hand on her back as she stepped into the row and sat down, leaving him the aisle seat.

***

Maria looked over at him, wondering what to do. He didn’t look very well at all. It was the same look he’d had that night…Like he was ready to wretch but was using all of his strength to hold it back. She was beginning to get an idea of what the situation with Isabel was, and she knew that seeing Alex had been the last thing he needed. It was strange to think of anything affecting him, he always seemed so cold, but now…Well, no it really wasn’t that obvious that something was bothering him – maybe you just had to know him. Not that she knew him, really.

Liz and Max were seated in the front row and kept glancing back to look at them. Maria ignored them, but she caught Michael giving them a glare. He was probably irritated at what Max had come up with for date material.

Alex and his two groomsmen walked in from a side door with the minister and stepped up onto the raised dais that had been laid out with what seemed like thousands of candles and flowers. The lights dimmed as strains of music from the string quartet in the corner filled the room. Two bridesmaids and a flower girl made their way up the aisle, then everyone stood to watch the bride and her father. Maria couldn’t make out her face, because she was wearing a veil, but the dress she was wearing was stunning. It was strapless and the skirt was large, it looked fairytale chic. Isabel obviously had a near perfect figure, and Maria couldn’t help but lay her right arm across her waist to grip her left arm, in an attempt to cover herself.

As the woman and her father passed, Maria got a good look at her. She couldn’t help her sharp intake of breath, it was the woman she’d seen outside his apartment that night. So, this was the ex. Max’s sister. Alex’s love. Isabel. Maria was sure she saw the blonde’s eyes flick briefly to Michael as she passed.

If only there were some dark corner she could hide in. She didn’t want to be here, and she didn’t want to be with him. Now it was obvious just how different they were, how ridiculous her feelings were. Most likely he was embarrassed to be seen with her, he was way out of her league.

Throughout the ceremony, Maria managed to stay calm, letting her mind wander to happier thoughts, like watching Abby unwrap her presents that morning, or Kyle pressing a wrapped plain paper copy of his manuscript into her hands with a wink.

Before she knew it, it was over, Alex was kissing his new wife, and the audience was sighing happily. She turned to Michael who had been sitting absolutely still though the entire thing. His eyes appeared to be completely focused on the happy couple, but with closer inspection, she realized that his gaze was most likely on the tall arrangement of flowers that stood behind the minister.

After the wedding party had exited, the guests began to trickle across the hall to the banquet hall, where an informal meal was being served, and a dance floor was set up. Max and Liz walked over to them and asked them to join them at a table. Michael simply nodded, and they followed the other two and sat next to one another at the round table.

Liz and Max were discussing the wedding.

“Well, actually, Isabel thinks this is small. There are only 150 guests,” Max said to Liz.

“Small? That seems big to me,” Liz laughed.

Michael sucked in a deep breath, and started looking around the room with a bored look on his face as Liz and Max continued their conversation. She watched him carefully. He was agitated. Probably hoping no one he knew saw him with her.

“I’m going to go powder my nose,” she said to no one in particular as she stood and left the table without a backward glance.

***

“So, was this your bright idea?” Michael asked Liz, interrupting her conversation, as soon as Maria was away from the table.

Max and Liz both looked at him.

“What?” Max asked.

“This. The set-up,” he hissed leaning closer to Max. “Setting me up with a girl who can’t stand me.”

Liz laughed and Max smiled. Shaking her head, Liz spoke, “I think she can stand you, Michael.”

“Why, did she tell you something?” he asked her suspiciously.

Liz looked at him strangely, “No. What are you talking about?”

“Nothing. I’m going to get a drink.”

He got up and walked away from them and made his way over to the bar on the far wall. Leaning against the bar as he waited for the bartender to take his order, he saw her re-enter the room. She moved with her usual light steps, but something about the lighting, or that dress made her movements seems sensual, interesting. First she stopped at their table, and apparently after being told where he was, started walking toward him, weaving between the tables set-up in the room.

More than one pair of eyes turned her way, and it infuriated him.

“Can’t really blame you for wanting to escape the drool twins,” she said as she stood at his side looking back at Max and Liz who were engrossed in each other.

He laughed out loud, and she turned to him, looking startled. Biting the inside of his cheek, he looked down at her, “I do have a sense of humor.”

“Yeah…” she looked away. “Look, if you want to go, I understand, I mean…well, I know you wouldn’t have agreed to this if you’d known…”

“Known what? I don’t want to go anywhere.”

“Ok…”

The bartender spoke behind him, “What can I get ya’?”

“Scotch, rocks,” he said turning his head briefly to look at the man.

“What about me?” she asked him after the bartender had turned to get his drink.

“Are you even legal?” Michael asked, looking down at her.

She smirked, “Yes.”

“All right, do you want something?”

Blushing, she looked at her hands, “Not really.”

“Ok,” he said, looking back at Max and Liz.

The lights flickered, and he looked up to see Alex and Isabel walking in the door hand in hand. Most of the people in the room clapped, but he just watched. The veil Isabel had been wearing was gone, revealing her hair piled high on her head as he’d seen it earlier. They walked to the dance floor, where the lights dimmed and music began to play, then was joined with the sound of Etta James’s voice hummed out over a hidden sound system.

“At last…my love has come along…my lonely days are over…and life is like a song…”

Michael looked down at Maria. She was staring at the dancing couple with a sweet smile on her face, watching them sway in time to the music.

“Oh yeah, yeah…At last…the stars above are blue…my heart was wrapped up in clover, the night I looked at you…”

He watched as she pressed her palms together and interlaced her own fingers, then pulled her clasped hands up to her lips as her green eyes glimmered while they stared at the dance floor.

“I found a dream that I could speak to, a dream that I can call my own…”

“Beautiful,” she sighed.

He stared at her, and whispered, “Yeah…”

“…I found a thrill to press my cheek to, a thrill that I have never known…”

“I love this part of weddings,” she whispered back, never taking her eyes from the dance floor.

“Oh yeah, yeah…You smiled, you smiled…”

Something made him want to reach down and grasp her face between his hands, and still those luscious lips that were now silently singing along.

“…Oh and then the spell was cast…”

He watched her melt as Alex whispered something in Isabel’s ear, which she replied to with a nod and a smile. Her head tilted to the side, and her eyes took on a dreamy quality.

“…and here we are in heaven, for you are my ‘At last’…”

Sighing slowly, she dropped her hands in front of her and bit her bottom lip.

Michael tried to compose himself as the last strains of music faded away. What the hell was that? Getting all gooey over some sappy old song…It was a wedding. Everyone gets sappy at weddings.

Maria followed him as they made their way back to the table. Liz immediately asked her to go to the ladies’ room with her, and Maria complied.

“Thank you, for talking to Isabel,” Max said with a serious look on his face, “I don’t know what you said, but-.”

“Don’t mention it,” Michael said sharply, meaning exactly that.

“Ok…so, things seem to be going well with Maria, huh?”

Michael gave his friend a withering look, “Shut up.”

Max looked angry, “You know, she happens to be a wonderful girl. I mean when Liz told me everything about her taking care of Kyle and Abby, I was-.”

“Who are Kyle and Abby?”

“Her brother and his daughter. Don’t you know? You’ve been hanging around that coffee shop for as long as she has, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Well, haven’t you ever had a conversation with her?” Max asked incredulously.

“No. Oh, well, I guess we might have had one tonight. In the car.”

“ My God. I just figured that with all of the looks and the tension that…I don’t know…”

“No, you don’t know,” Michael said raising his eyebrows. “Now, what about her brother and his daughter?”

“Her brother was in a construction accident, I think it was more than a year ago, anyway he’s just now starting to recover – still can’t really walk. But, that’s not really even the worst part. A few days after he had the accident, his wife left him and their daughter. So, Maria had to drop out of school to help take care of the little girl, and then she had to get a job-.”

“And work fourteen hours a day,” Michael said softly.

“Well, yeah, I guess.”

“Miss us?” Liz asked as she and Maria approached the table.

“Of course,” Max smiled at her.

Michael looked up at Maria. She was watching him, but looked away when he caught her eyes. Silently, without looking at him again, she took her seat beside him. So, there it was – the truth. She was perfect.

“It looks like all of the traditional dances are over…” Liz winked at Max.

“I suppose you’re hoping someone will ask you to dance?” Max asked her.

“Well, yes, I am…You wouldn’t know anyone who’s available, would you?” Liz said with a sly smile.

“Yes, as a matter of fact-.”

“Oh, good grief, just dance already,” Maria said with false exasperation, softening it at the end with a small grin.

The pair looked at her, and then gave slightly embarrassed laughs as they stood and walked to the floor.

“Thank you,” Michael said, glancing at her sideways.

“Believe me, I did for all mankind.”

He snorted. Had she always been this funny? Looking over at her, he mulled over his knew found knowledge. Well, he’d known for a while that his original assumptions about her were incorrect, but he’d never guessed anything close to the truth. She was a poster child for good people everywhere.

Making a face as she drank the last of her soda, she looked around, presumably for a waiter. There wasn’t one nearby.

“Want me to get you another one?” he asked, gesturing at her empty glass.

Her eyes widened in surprise, “Yes, thank you.”

He stood and walked over to the bar, and laid a five on out on the counter so that he wouldn’t have to wait for the bartender’s attention. Within seconds, he had a new glass of cola and was on his way back to the table, when he saw that there was someone at their table talking to her. A guy.

Moving faster, he reached them just in time to hear the man say, “…so, I thought to myself, that little lady should be dancing. Care to?”

Her smile was polite as she looked up at the man.

“Maybe you should go hit on someone else’s date,” Michael said.

The guy looked up at him, startled, “Sorry, didn’t know she was taken.”

Michael narrowed his eyes, and the guy smiled quickly down at Maria, then walked away. He sat down and put the glass in front of her. Her lips were pursed, and he could tell that she wasn’t happy. Well, he wasn’t going to stand by and watch some sleaze grope her.

He didn’t notice when Alex walked up to their table, “Maria, I was hoping for a dance with the girl who saved the day.”

She smiled at him and stood immediately, “Love to.”

Michael watched them walk away and swore under his breath.

***

“The wedding was beautiful,” Maria said, smiling at Alex.

“It was, wasn’t it? Can’t take credit, it was all Isabel’s ‘vision’.”

They laughed.

“So, Maria, I’m curious, why didn’t you tell me to shut up when I started going off about Isabel’s ‘ex’ - who just happens to be your date?”

“Oh, well, I wasn’t sure which ex you meant,” she said. “I don’t really know anything about them other than that they were once together.”

“Really? Doesn’t he talk about her?”

“I don’t know, really,” Maria blushed and looked down.

“Ok,” Alex said looking at her strangely. “Well, do you have any idea why he was in the room earlier?”

“Oh, Mrs. Evans wanted him to leave his gift in there. She was afraid it was too valuable to be left out with the others.”

“Really? Wonder what it is…”

She laughed slightly, “Oh, it’s a painting, I’m pretty sure. Maybe it’s a portrait of Isabel or something.”

“I doubt that,” Alex said, “I asked Izzy once if she didn’t have a bunch of paintings of her laying around somewhere since they’d been together so long, and she said he doesn’t paint anyone he knows.”

“So, he does landscapes, or what?” Maria was interested, even though she knew who he was, she had absolutely no idea what his work was like.

“No, he paints people, but only strangers,” Alex shrugged.

“How long did they go out?”

“It was a little more than going out, they were together for three years after he was done with school.”

“Wow, I had no idea,” she said softly, then looked up at him. “Oh, Alex, I’m so sorry. It’s your wedding day and I’m discussing her ex.”

He laughed, “It’s no big deal. So, I take it you haven’t known him long?”

“Oh, I’ve known him for a while, just not very well.”

“Hmm. Well, I hope he deserves you.”

Maria laughed nervously, “It’s nothing like that. Really…”

“You don’t have to explain,” he said, looking embarrassed.

The song ended, and Maria noticed that the bride was walking, no gliding, toward them.

Alex wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist, “Isabel, I want to introduce Maria Valenti.”

Isabel furrowed her brow, “You seem very familiar to me.”

Maria blushed, hoping she wouldn’t remember that the last time she’d seen her she was delivering food to Michael.

“I just have one of those faces,” Maria said with a small smile.

Smiling, Isabel nodded, “Well, nice to meet you.”

Maria smiled.

“Alex, honey, the coordinator is insisting that we do cake and toasts now,” she said looking at her husband who was gripping her tightly still.

“Whatever you say,” Alex said looking deeply into her eyes.

Feeling embarrassed, Maria looked away. They were so in love it was overwhelming.

“Well, have a great night, I’m going to go sit back down,” she said, smiling in Alex’s direction.

“Ok,” Alex returned the smile, “and thanks again. You’re great in a crisis.”

She giggled slightly then walked back to her seat next to Michael, who looked upset again.

***

He watched her as she danced with Alex. She was smiling, like she was enjoying herself, and he couldn’t help but stare.

“You’re Michael Guerin, aren’t you?” the woman on sitting at their table on the other side of Maria’s chair asked.

“Uh, yeah…”

“I just love your work,” the woman plastered a smile on her face. “It’s absolutely fascinating.”

He hated these types. Right now, he wanted to tell the woman to take a flying leap. She’d probably never spent more than five seconds looking at his stuff.

“Thanks.”

“So, tell me, do you always let your emotions flow through your work? Do you see it as an outlet, or do you see it as a catalyst?”

He stared at the woman. Was she serious? What an ignorant, pretentious-.

When he didn’t answer, she spoke again, “Well, for instance, do you paint to show love, or do you feel love when you paint?”

She didn’t have to explain her stupid question, he understood her. This was getting annoying and he wanted to get away.

He used his best ‘you’re annoying me’ tone, “I don’t believe in love.”

Instead of taking the hint, the woman looked more intrigued, and started babbling about her own feelings on the subject. He ignored her and looked over at the dance floor, Maria said something to Isabel and Alex, then walked back and sat next to him.

***

Maria tried to act polite as the woman spoke to Michael as if she wasn’t even there.

“…so, I suppose I can understand why people would say they don’t believe in love.”

“Really?” Maria turned to the woman, enjoying the irritated look on her face that it was Maria and not Michael who was listening to her. “I think saying that you don’t believe in love is silly. If you believe that you feel anything at all, you have to feel love. Anger, jealousy, sorrow, rejection – if you believe you feel any of them, you have to believe that you feel love.”

The woman gave her an eye roll and then fixed her eyes on Michael. Maria turned to look at him as well. He was staring at her intensely, his brow furrowed and his jaw clenched. She hadn’t meant to step on his toes, she’d thought he was completely ignoring the woman. Raising her eyebrows at him, she shrugged and took a sip of her cola.

He picked up his empty tumbler glass, “I need another one of these, you wanna’…” he jerked his head toward the bar.

She was surprised he was inviting her along. Maybe he didn’t want to leave her alone with the woman to embarrass him in his absence. Nodding, she rose and they walked over to the bar.

Just as the bartender turned their way, the lights flickered and a voice over the loudspeaker said that it was time for the toasts. Maria looked to her right, and saw that the man with the microphone was actually the best man, standing behind Alex and Isabel just a few feet away from the bar. Everyone in the room quieted as first the best man, and then the maid of honor gave their best wishes to the bride and groom. She looked up at Michael and saw that he was staring blankly at the star couple.

After the first two toasts, Alex grabbed the microphone, and Maria couldn’t help but smile at his obvious discomfort with doing so.

“Uh, Isabel and I would like to thank everyone for coming,” Alex smiled at his wife and reached for her hand. “This is a really special day for us, made even more so by a certain upcoming event. And, even though I’m sure some of you would say we’ve got it a little bit backwards, we’re expecting baby to make three in about seven months.”

Several people in the crowd whooped and clapped, and Alex kissed Isabel on the cheek as he handed the microphone off to someone else. Maria was surprised that Isabel wasn’t looking at Alex after they started to walk back to the dance floor, she was looking at…Maria glanced up…Isabel was looking at Michael, and he was looking back.

His face had taken on the same look of illness from earlier, and the color seemed to drain from him. This look of his always seemed to get to her, so reached out and laid her hand on his arm.

He looked down at her and for a moment, she wasn’t sure if he knew who she was. Something was very wrong, and obviously it had to do with Isabel…

“Do you want to go?” she asked him quietly.

Michael’s eyes darted around quickly, and then he looked back at her, giving her an almost imperceptible nod. He didn’t move, just stayed in the same position half leaned on the bar. She wondered if he would be able to stand on his own. Reaching out, she grabbed his hand and led him out of the room. Without a word, he followed her, but his grip on her hand was almost painful.

Stopping quickly at the coatroom, she picked up her own coat and remembered that he’d left his in the car. While she was doing this, he simply stood behind her, staring off into space.