“Are you sure?” Kyle looked at her sideways as she finished
making another ham sandwich.
“I’m sure. It’s fine.”
“And,
I’m supposed to believe you’re just friends.”
“Kyle, we’re not even
friends, really. Believe whatever you want.”
“Maria, you’re killin’
me here.”
“Oh, leave me alone. Get going, I’m a big girl, I can
take care of myself.”
“Uh huh…”
“ Kyle.”
“If
you’d just wait until later tonight so that I could help
you-.”
“You shouldn’t be doing the lifting anyway. That’s why your
buddies are helping you, remember?” she was starting to get annoyed, they
were arguing like they were kids again. She was beginning to wonder when
it would dissolve into ‘are too’ - ‘am not’. They were locked in a bizarre
power struggle, a struggle that seemed to be manifesting itself all over
the place.
“Did I do something to piss you off? Every single time I
try to talk to you, you close down and get defensive. I’m just trying to
help you move, does that make me the anti-Christ?” his tone belied some of
the tension that had been building between them for weeks.
“You
know what, Kyle? You did do something to piss me off. I’ve been running my
life just fine without any help from you, so why wouldn’t I resent it that
you suddenly have opinions about who I’m seeing and what I’m doing? God,
I’m not Abby. This parenting crap is really getting on my
nerves.”
“Fine. Great. This is really how I wanted our last few
hours of sharing a living space to go down,” he angrily took the
sandwiches she’d made and tossed them into a paper bag. “And, you know
what you’re missing here, Maria? Me having opinions about who you’re
seeing and what you’re doing – it means that I care. God forbid I should
be concerned about what’s going on in your life, especially when it
involves one of the weirdest guys I’ve ever met.”
“Have fun moving,
Kyle,” she started to put away the sandwich fixings, hoping he’d
leave.
He walked out of the room without another
word.
***
“Yeah, yeah, coming,” Michael shouted as the
knocking on the door got more insistent.
He opened the door and
almost shut it again.
“Uh, hi.”
For a moment he considered
moving…to a place where no one knew his name, or anything about
him.
“Hi. Alex, right?”
“Yeah…” the dark haired man gave him
a weak smile.
“Come in,” Michael said.
When they were both
seated in the living area, Alex began to nod absently as though he were
having an internal conversation.
“Look, I don’t mean to rush you,
but I’ve sort of got somewhere to be this morning, so…” Michael watched
him closely, wondering exactly what the other man was going to
say.
“I,” Alex paused for a moment and cleared his throat as he
began tapping his fingers together, “well, I think I did something that I
regret.”
“You think you did something that you regret,” Michael
couldn’t stop the smart-assed mimic from passing his lips.
Alex
looked up at him, irritated, “Look, this isn’t easy for me. Isabel told
me…well, let’s just say I wasn’t exactly aware of how things ended between
you two. I’ve recently had certain things cleared up for me, regarding
those… circumstances…and, I-.”
“So, she told you that I
walked in on you f*cking her.”
“That’s my wife you’re
talking about,” Alex glared at him, obviously making an effort to restrain
himself..
“I think I know that,” Michael gave the guy a
smirk.
“You don’t know anything about her.”
“I’d be willing
to bet that I know more than you do,” Michael raised his eyebrows
leeringly, not caring if he was baiting the guy.
Alex stood, “All
right. Scratch what I said before. I don’t regret anything I’ve done. You
loved her, and believe me, I can understand that making someone act crazy,
but you are without a doubt the most arrogant assh*le I’ve ever
met.”
“Right, whatever makes you feel better about screwing with my
life,” Michael whispered as he got to his feet, intending to show Alex to
the door.
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, hey, you’ve
got Isabel. Now, you’re messing with Maria-.”
“What are you talking
about? I didn’t mention Maria,” Alex narrowed his eyes.
“Isabel
told me. She told me that you said something to Maria about me. Doesn’t
really matter, she was on to my ‘assh*le-ness’ before you ever entered the
picture, but-.”
“ Isabel told you? When?” Alex looked
shocked.
“The other day. She dropped by,” Michael knew his tone was
too casual, but he didn’t care - let the guy sweat a little.
“How
often does she ‘drop by’?”
“Afraid she might be re-living the past?
Or is it more about the ‘once a cheater, always a cheater’
adage?”
Alex stood and took a menacing step toward him, Michael
knew he’d crossed the line. It did take guts for the guy to come here and
try to clear things up. Clearing his throat, Michael shook his head slowly
as he spoke, “That was probably uncalled for. She doesn’t ‘drop by’, she
just wanted to give me a heads up.”
Still looking skeptical, Alex
pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger and closed
his eyes as he let out a long sigh, “I did say something to Maria. Not
much, I just told her she could do better, that you’d been weird with
Isabel.”
Michael sat back slowly in his chair and looked up at the
other man, “I guess that’s true. So, no hard feelings. Just go in peace,
or whatever.”
Instead of leaving as Michael expected him to, Alex
sat down again, and spoke softly, “Did you see it coming?”
“Did I
see what coming?”
“Her, leaving you. Did you see it coming?” Alex
asked wearily.
“Isabel? No. But then she’d just tell you that’s
because I’m emotionally illiterate or something. There were probably
signs...”
Alex nodded, “I don’t know what she’s doing with me. At
first, I spent every minute thanking my lucky stars, but now…” he shrugged
and held his hands out in a gesture of helplessness.
Michael was
starting to feel for the guy – the truth was that if he’d had a brain,
he’d have been this insecure when he was with Isabel.
Standing
again, Alex walked over to the windows, “How did you survive it? I can’t
imagine getting over her. I could never love anyone else.”
“Love is
bullsh*t,” Michael said almost cheerily as he stood and walked into his
corner studio.
“What, you don’t want to love again, or do you mean
you don’t believe in it?”
“Don’t think I ever believed in it. It
isn’t real. Everything is just a chemical response.”
“That is one
of the stupidest statements I have ever heard,” Alex gave him an almost
pitying glance.
“Whatever.”
“Is that Maria?” Alex asked,
walking in his direction.
Why was everybody able to tell who it
was?
“Yeah,” he replied, looking up at the painting Alex had
spotted.
“I guess you really aren’t dating then.”
Michael
glanced at the other man, “What makes you say that?”
“Well, I mean,
you’re painting her.”
“Yeah…so?”
“You don’t paint people you
know,” Alex said matter of factly.
“Hey, I don’t know what school
of thought that’s from, but speaking as someone who ‘paints’ on a regular
basis…that’s really stupid,” Michael snorted.
“No,” Alex shook his
head. “It’s not a school of thought, Isabel said…”
Michael stared
at the man who now had a suspicious look on his face, “Isabel said
what?”
“Have you ever painted Isabel?” Alex asked
softly.
“Uh, yeah,” Michael nodded his head slowly, beginning to
wonder if the guy was right in the head.
“Can I see?” Alex’s voice
was barely more than a whisper.
Scratching his head, Michael
nodded, “Um, I guess. I think there are a couple of pieces upstairs. Why
do you ask?”
“No reason.”
“Ok…” Michael said quietly as he
started toward the stairs. “Follow me.”
He entered his storage room
on the third floor and quickly walked into the back corner where he kept
his work.
“Here,” he said, throwing a dust cloth back and laying
out his three paintings of Isabel.
“That’s it?” Alex asked,
gesturing at the pieces.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, that’s
all there is? You were together for three years, and this is all there
is.”
“Well, I have stuff in sketch books, and then there’s the one
that I gave Diane.”
“So, you do paint people you know?” Alex
asked softly.
Things were getting strange, Alex was looking a
little bewildered, and Michael was clueless as to why. He wished this
little visit would end.
“Yeah. I mean, not all of the time, but
yeah…” Michael glanced at his watch. “Look, I’ve got to go, I’m supposed
to be helping someone move.”
“Oh, sorry,” Alex said, as he followed
Michael out of the room and down the stairs.
“So, uh, I guess I’ll
see ya’…” Michael tried to come up with something polite to say as he lead
Alex to the door.
“She told me that you’d never done a painting of
her.”
“Huh?” Michael turned around to face the guy. What was he
talking about?
“Isabel. She told me that you don’t paint people you
know,” Alex’s voice was soft, and he was visibly upset.
“I don’t
know why she told you that.”
“I don’t either,” Alex shook his head
slowly as he walked out the door.
***
Maria quickly grabbed
her jacket from her room after she buzzed up Michael, then ran for the
door when she heard his knock, “Coming!”
She threw it open, and was
greeted by a face she didn’t expect to see at all. It hadn’t been Michael
who’d buzzed.
“Alex?”
“Hi, Maria,” he gave her a small
smile. “Hope you don’t mind, I got the address from Liz…”
“Oh, uh,
no,” she smiled back, wondering what he was doing there. “Would you like
to come in?”
“Yeah, I’ll just stay for a minute, I need to talk to
you.”
“Ok…” Maria stepped back and let him enter the
apartment.
“Are you moving?” Alex gestured at the boxes stacked all
around.
“Oh, yeah. My brother rented a house, and I’m moving closer
to school.”
Alex nodded, but looked lost in thought, “I said some
things, Maria, that I probably shouldn’t have.”
“Really?” she was
puzzled.
“About Michael.”
“Michael.”
“Yeah,” he
nodded and looked at her. “I gave you the impression that he was a bad
guy, when the truth is I didn’t know what I was talking
about.”
“Oh,” Maria smiled uncomfortably, “hey, no big
deal.”
“No, it is. Obviously he’s interested in you,
and-.”
“No, no,” she shook her head and laughed slightly, “he’s not
interested in me. We just got fixed up for your wedding, and then by some
bizarre coincidence, my brother knew Tess-.”
“Maria, I don’t really
know him, but from everything I’ve seen-.”
Alex was interrupted by
the buzzer, and Maria absently pushed the release button as he
continued.
“…well, he acts interested. And, then, the paintings –
well, I suppose they speak for themselves.”
“Honestly, Alex, he’s
not interested,” she smiled. “And, as for the paintings, all they do is
prove how little he thinks of me. You know, he doesn’t paint anyone he
knows – you’re the one that told me that.”
“That’s not true. He
does paint people he knows, just not often.”
Maria shook her head
sharply, “No. You-.”
“Maria, I saw five times more paintings of you
in his studio than he did of Isabel in all of the time they were
together.”
Still shaking her head, Maria started to feel dizzy,
“That’s not-.”
A knock at the door stopped her mid-sentence. She
squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath before she walked over to
open it. There wasn’t any doubt as to the identity of the knocker this
time.
“Hi,” she said softly as she opened the door to
him.
“Hey,” Michael replied, raising his eyebrows slightly in
greeting, then letting out a long sharp breath as he walked into the
apartment.
Alex glanced quickly back and forth between Maria and
Michael, and Maria felt like her face was going to burn up.
“Hello
again, Michael.”
“Uh, hey, Alex…” Michael nodded at him, looking
slightly uncomfortable.
“Well, I guess Maria was the person you
were supposed to help move?”
“Yeah…” Michael glanced at her briefly
then looked back at Alex.
“I was just, ah, going,” Alex pointed at
the door, then walked toward it. “I’ll see you later, Maria. I think you
should consider what I said…”
Maria nodded, her face felt so hot
she thought she was going to faint as she closed the door after
Alex.
Obviously Michael had an idea what the guy was doing there,
and she was more embarrassed than she’d ever thought was possible. She
didn’t want Michael to think that she held any hope of anything happening
between them.
“So, where do you want me to start?” Michael asked
her, but kept his eyes on some boxes in the corner. It was unusual, he
almost always insisted on eye contact.
“Well, I suppose my
furniture first, I’ve got a bed, and a desk, and a dresser,” it took a
concerted effort for her to keep her voice even, and her knees from
buckling.
“Yeah, ok,” he nodded, immediately setting off down the
hall.
She followed after him, he didn’t even know which bedroom was
hers.
***
Michael tried not to smile as she flopped down on
her bare mattress.
“ God, I’m exhausted,” she sighed loudly,
as she threw her forearm over her eyes dramatically.
“This was the
easiest move I’ve ever been a part of,” he said condescendingly, watching
her face for a reaction as he leaned casually against the doorframe of her
new room.
She moved her arm and scowled at him, then softened her
look, “Thank you for helping me.”
“Yeah, no problem,” he
shrugged.
“No, seriously, I don’t know what I would have
done-.”
“I said no problem.”
She scrunched up her
nose, “All right, no need to get snippy.”
“Whatever.”
“I’ll
take you back so you can get your car,” she said quietly as she got to her
feet.
“Ok,” he said turning and walking down the hall toward the
front door.
Things hadn’t been as awkward as he’d thought they’d be
after he’d walked in on her with Alex. Obviously she’d already finished
telling the guy what she thought of ‘Michael the assh*le’ before he’d
arrived.
He watched her as she worked with the ancient lock on the
rental truck. Her face was scrunched in concentration, her lips out in a
serious pout.
“Did I tell you I got a job over there?” she asked as
she pointed across the street to the coffee house that had once been his
hang-out. He’d taken her there.
Glancing at her out of the corner
of his eye as she pulled away from the curb, he decided to try making
conversation, “When do you start work?”
“Monday,” she
smiled.
“Oh,” he nodded. “So…are you excited, for
school?”
Her smile grew broader, and he couldn’t take his eyes from
her profile, “Yeah, I never thought I’d say it, but I actually am. It’s
stupid, I know.”
“No, it’s not stupid.”
She glanced at him
for a moment, then moved her eyes back to the
road.
***
Maria adjusted her small tie-on apron slightly,
then went back to refilling the straw containers. She loved her new job
already, of course it was only her first day. Her boss was incredibly
easy-going, and had told her to wear whatever she wanted as long as she
looked ‘cool’.
The door chime sounded, and when no one came to the
counter to order coffee, she peaked over at her new co-worker, “Gina, did
that person sit at a table?”
Gina looked up briefly from her
magazine, “Yeah, you wanna’ take him?”
“Sure,” Maria smiled and
walked out to the small round table.
There he sat, lounging, his
chair leaned back on two legs, his face drawn up in it’s usual
devil-may-care smirk, “Michael?”
“Hey,” he nodded slightly and
raised his eyebrows before lowering his chair back to the
ground.
What was he doing here? Why…Why…Why…?
“W-What…what
are you…?”
“I’ll have two dishes of-.”
“
Michael.”
“What?” he leaned forward and looked up at her as if
she were crazy.
“What are you doing here?”
His look seemed
to be questioning her sanity, and he spoke slowly, “I’m ordering. They
still serve food here, don’t they?”
This couldn’t possibly be a
coincidence. He knew she’d be here, he knew it.
She swallowed hard,
“It’s two dishes of chocolate mousse, right?”
He relaxed and leaned
back slightly, still looking at her intently, then nodded,
“Yeah.”
Maria tried not to trip on her way back to the
kitchen.