@ Carolyn: Thank you! With small bits we discover every little detail. You’ll see Liz in this chapter, for the both of them together you’ll need to be a bit more patient. I’m writing pieces of their story right now.
@ Eve:
I kept the basis characters from the original but let them grow. They are all ten years older and you can clearly see that in their reactions and how they embrace life.
Michael had indeed the hardest life, which wasn’t that surprising: from the beginning life had dealt him the worst cards of all. He tried to escape that, with his career, with Courtney,… but he never found inner peace.
Alex begins to see Isabel differently but it will take a while to see her the way she is right now. Cause you’re right: she too had to find her way and that changed her.
No, Tess will be totally different. I truly believe she would’ve been another person, if she hadn’t been raised by a nutcase as Nacedo. And that’s the way I’m trying to describe her.
Both Max & Liz studied medicines. Max did it because it suits him greatly. Above that, he wanted to learn the “earthly way” of healing people and at the same time he wanted to hide his own healing powers.
Liz had always been an analyst. Her studies reinforced that even more. So for her it’s harder to understand and to trust something so unreal as an alien than when she was a teenager. But like always she follows her gut feeling too. She sees that Max is a person too, with feelings, with his positive and negative abilities. And maybe that will help them both out?
@ Sara: Isabel knew that she was the one holding the keys to unravel the truth and for the first time she used it. She’s at an age where she wants to change her acts. Her alien background didn’t bring her anywhere, she’s a lonely woman who has nobody outside her family. For the first time in her life, she finds happiness with the kids in her class and that makes her long for more.
Author’s note: I reused some quotes from the second episode “The Morning After.” I only reversed some conversations, because things turned out differently in this timeline.
Chapter nineteen
With eyes still weary from sleep, Kyle stumbled through his house on autopilot. Actually it was his dad’s house, but after Jim’s marriage to Maria’s mom Amy, Kyle had inherited the place. It was still the same masculine furnished home he had grew up in. He had never felt the need to put his mark on the interior.
Kyle rubbed his face while entering the kitchen. He pushed his coffee machine on and while the thing started to simmer, he checked out his refrigerator to examine its contents. He bumped his head against the thing when the doorbell woke him out of his morning doze.
“Fuck!” he hissed while rubbing the painful spot on his head.
“Yeah?” he barked while pulling his front door open.
An extremely polite courier flashed his white teeth. “Hello sir, UPS at your service! I’m happy to deliver this express delivery to you, sir!
Just as the guy pushed the parcel into his hands, Kyle’s mobile rang.
With a quick node he thanked the man while he unlocked his cell phone. “Valenti.”
“Did you receive the file?”
Kyle looked at the envelope in his hands. “Yeah, I think I just did. And a good morning to you too, Tess,” he teased her. The sexy voice of the beautiful blond woman made his morning mood vanish into thin air.
She laughed. “Thank you, mister Valenti.”
“God no, that sounds like you’re talking to my old man.”
It made Tess laugh even harder.
With his cell squeezed between his ear and shoulder, Kyle ripped the envelope open. “But to answer your question: I got the file!”
Tess immediately became serious. “What you’re holding in your hands is everything I could lay my hands on regarding Michael Guerin. Biography, last known address, curriculum… the whole kit and caboodle.”
Kyle reviewed some of the papers and whistled. “Indeed, quit complete. Nice work! I’m not happy with it though.”
Tess furrowed her brow. “Why? What’s wrong?”
She knew she hadn’t put anything in the report that would raise questions. This Michael Guerin had led a pretty normal life as a human, keeping low profile as much as possible.
“I haven’t read everything yet but it seems that Guerin didn’t turn into the trailer park trash I thought he had. Now I’ve got no reason to kick him out of my sister’s house,” Kyle grumbled. “But I’m going to dig through this thing from front to back. And oh boy, when I find something…”
Tess had to smirk at his big brother attitude. It reminded her a lot of her own over-protective brothers. She could only hope Kyle wouldn’t find out more about Michael before she did. So she resumed her professional attitude.
“The quest for the car is still rolling as we speak. I hope to find some answers soon. If I do, you’ll be the first to know.”
Kyle nodded. “I couldn’t ask for more. And thanks for the quick service, Tess.”
“That’s what you’re paying me for, Kyle! I’ll make sure you get your money's worth and even keep some extra to buy me dinner.”
“Deal!”
Kyle’s laugh sounded like music to her ears. To her surprise he took her witty remark for granted.
***
After dropping Emily off at Kindergarten, Maria dropped down in her favourite booth in the Crashdown Café. Although she knew the whole menu inside out, she played with the card while going over the possibilities.
“You are an evil woman, Maria Deluca!”
The mock harsh comment made Maria look right up into her best friend’s eyes.
“Hi, Alex. How did your meeting go?” she asked without going into his remark.
‘How did the meeting go?” Alex snorted. “Why didn’t you tell me Miss Izzy is actually Isabel Evans?”
“Oh,” she answered innocently, “I didn’t know that was important. Was there anything wrong? Was she rude to you?”
“No, I was.” And with that he slumped next to her.
“Oh no, don’t tell me you’re still not over Isabel Evans!” Liz shouted out loud while eavesdropping the last minute.
“Could you yell it any louder?” he hissed but that didn’t stop Maria from throwing more oil on the fire.
“Why didn’t you tell me you lust for Isabel?”
“God, rescue me from these two.” Alex tried to hide under the table.
Maria and Liz looked at each other and couldn’t help laughing. While Liz took a seat, Maria grabbed Alex by his collar. “Come on, goofball, tell us every sloppy detail.”
With a dramatic move he closed his mouth, locking it with an imaginary key and throwing it away.
A conspiring Liz winked at Maria to come closer. “Isabel is Alex’s unattainable love. He’s been thinking about her since forever.”
“Correction: until I was smart enough to see her like she actually is: a heart breaking ice queen!” His head appeared next to his friends.
“You never mentioned her.” Maria reprimanded him playfully.
“Because there was nothing to mention!” he exclaimed.
“Not completely true, Alex,” Liz teased him.
“No, no, Parker, I –,” Alex tried to interfere but he couldn’t stop the girls.
With a wicked gleam in her eyes, Maria smiled devilishly at Liz. “Give me all the facts, girl!”
“Well, Isabel was Alex’s high school crush. But she was totally out of his league. She never noticed him, let alone considered him. On her behalf I’ve got to say he didn’t make any efforts either.”
Maria wrinkled her nose. “But why haven’t I met her before?”
“Hey, I’m still sitting her, you know.” Alex acted offended.
But the girls deliberately didn’t pay any attention to him. In full gossip-mode the teenagers in them came above.
“Alex’s crush suffered a big dent when he saw her kissing another guy at our last prom. The summer after, when you came into town, Isabel was out of town on a family trip and he –” Liz nodded at Alex, “He was trying to forget her. In September we all moved to Boston and the rest is history as they say.”
“Not completely” Alex mumbled out loud.
“Alexander Charles Whitman? What aren’t you telling us?” Maria’s exuberant voice attracted everyone’s attention.
“Okay, that’s it.” Firmly he stood up and started lecturing them. “Now, girls, you’re cornering me. Again! And you both know I don’t like that.” He glared at them. “Actually I hate it. So I’m going to the men’s rooms and when I come back you’ll be talking about something else or I’ll open up a book or two about you,” he pointed at Liz, “and Mister Evans.”
When the door clicked back, Liz and Maria looked at each other and couldn’t help giggling out loud.
“It’s true. We were driving him up the wall again.” Liz admitted with twinkling eyes.
“Yeah, we were.” Maria chuckled. “But you have to admit he’s an easy target.”
“True again, but let’s talk about something else. I’m not ready for him to start chitchatting about Max Evans.”
Maria snorted. “’Cause you got more than you bargained for?”
Liz almost choked. “Why do you say that?”
“Because I know the secret too,” Maria whispered.
An astonished Liz looked wide-eyed at Maria. “How? I didn’t say anything.”
“No, Michael did.” Maria rolled her eyes. “Actually, he didn’t. He isn’t much of a talker. Let’s say he couldn’t hide it anymore after his breakdown.”
“What did he do?”
“The question is what didn’t he do. Besides breaking down the place, collapsing in my arms, sending me weird lifelike imagines, repairing all the damages in a flick…”
The more she said, the more Liz looked at her as if she herself had come from outer space.
“What? I think I've earned the right to babble, all right? So just deal with it.”
“Babble all you want. It means I’ve still got my best friend. For a moment I thought they’d changed you or something like that.”
Liz sighed in frustration. “You’re being like so casual about this, I want to choke you! You should be sniffing some oils or didn’t you get it at all? Maria, we’re dealing with alie-”
Maria immediately clapped her hand over Liz’s mouth as another client strolled by their table.
“Can you please not say that word in public?” she hissed. She took in the stubborn look on her best friend’s face. Liz had always been the rational one, the one who loved to explain everything in life by scientific facts, considering all the pros and cons.
But she had to acknowledge that Liz was right too. The fact that she had seen glimpses of Michael’s shattered soul had made her react very out of character.
“Look, I understand that you don’t know anything about these Czechoslovakians. Are they good Czechoslovakians? Bad Czechoslovakians? You don’t know. But take my word, the one I encountered is a random one. And if you’re honest with yourself, the one you talked to is the same way.”
Liz nodded. Although every fiber in her body demanded reasonable answers, she had to admit Maria was right. The last three days had felt as if she had been on a rollercoaster but in the end Max was still the same person. She still couldn’t explain everything completely, but every word or detail Max had said or shown her, had convinced her about his sincerity. Although she could’ve strangled him a million times in the past for his evasive behavior, she understood his motives now. A blush appeared when she recalled their last conversation but with her zappy attitude Maria luckily didn’t notice.
“And maybe they don’t have their passports. But in the end these Czechoslovakians are just like us. For the greater part anyway.”
In that moment Alex popped up from the front booth. “Who’s Czechoslovakian?”
Trying to come up with a reasonable explanation, Liz and Maria answered simultaneously. “A new neighbor” and, “The guy at the hardware store.”
Liz had the awareness to correct herself instantly. “The new neighbor who works at the hardware store.”
Relived, Maria agreed. “Exactly.”
“Oh. What about him?” Alex asked while he retook his place at the booth.
“Oh, he’s a cutie. His blue eyes –” Maria fantasized.
Alex rolled his eyes when he heard the direction the conversation was headed. “Fantastic,” he snorted, “Can we now order?”