My deepest apologies for keeping you all waiting so long. I got a new job which keeps me up to my elbows in work. Combined with one hell of a commute which alone costs me over 4 hours a day, time is running short. And since stupid me is working on three fics at one time, it can take awhile to post something. Alright, those are the excuses. Back to more important matters; the story. I’ll post the next part as soon as possible. I have the plot for the next episodes ready, I just have to write them. Keep replying people, I love to read what you all think about it.
Friendship often ends in love; but love in friendship--never
--Charles Caleb Colton
~~
Max and Liz stared in each other’s eyes, hoping to find the answers to their questions somewhere in there. Max had just given up his last shred of dignity and basically begged Liz to take his sorry ass back. But it was not that easy and he knew it. Still, he had to try.
“Max”, Liz said softly, “I… I can’t… I can’t do this. I’m sorry”
Max swallowed, trying to hold back his tears. “Liz, can’t people make mistakes? I love you and you love me… isn’t that enough? Isn’t that enough to give it another try?”, he said with obvious pain in his voice.
“No Max, that’s not enough. Something might happen to me again… and I want someone who won’t run away when things turn to shit.”, Liz explained.
“I get that Liz… I really do. But I don’t make the same mistake twice. I realize I messed up and should something terrible ever happen again, I won’t be so stupid”, Max said.
“I don’t wanna make the same mistake twice either Max”, Liz said, “You know, for months after I woke up, I pictured this moment. The moment when you finally would come back to me and beg me to take you back, and then we would kiss and go through the rest of our lives together.”
“Sounds good”, Max says softly
“You didn’t come. I waited for over a year, praying every night that you would come back… until I realized I was being an idiot. You had obviously made your peace with it and probably moved on with your life, while I was sitting alone in my room thinking about you. It’s not about that one mistake that you made that one time in that one moment of weakness. You had two years to come back. Two years where you could have picked up the phone to find out I was awake. What you did was not just a mistake, it was a concious decision.”
Max looked back at Liz. What could he say in his defense? He said it all and repeating it would have no effect. On the other hand, what else could he do?
“I wanna respect your decision Liz, but just ask yourself… what do you really have to loose?”, Max said softly.
“Last time I lost my husband, my parents, my house, my money and the capacity to proply speak… I don’t think I need to add anything more”, Liz spat back.
“Look Liz, I’m not proposing that we get remarried tomorrow… maybe we can just start over and try to be friends”, Max asked. Even though being just friends with Liz was the farthest thing on his mind, he felt this was his best chance.
“I don’t know if that’s possible Max”, Liz protested.
“We can make it possible. I’d give everything to keep you in my life. I can be your friend Liz. I can be your friend if you let me.”, Max stated, doing his best to sound convincing.
“I don’t know Max… I need to think about this…”, Liz said softly and Max’ face lit up.
“Don’t worry about that. Take your time… I’m not going anywhere”
~~
“And then I said I’d think about it”, Liz said to her dumbstruck best friend Maria.
“So you really punched the guy out?”, Maria managed to say while barely being able to restrain herself from smiling widely..
“Okay, this is not funny Maria. He could have died”, Liz said emotionally.
“But he didn’t and he managed to use the moment to make a move at you again… so I’m entitled to find it a little bit funny”, Maria said, making it very clear what her opinion was in all this.
“Well, I did almost kill him”, Liz said, “How could I…”
“…tell him to take a hike like you did before?”, Maria asked, finishing Liz’ sentence while smiling widely. “ You know how some people hate to say I told you so? Well I’m not one of them and… I told you so”
“What are you saying Maria?”, Liz asked, a little annoyed
“I’m saying that when it comes to Max, you don’t do your best thinking. It’s just a matter of time before you cave and tell him whatever he wants to hear”, Maria says matter-of-factly
“Then what should I do?”
“Look Liz, the worst thing you can do is to make a bad choice now and regret it tomorrow. If you really wanna give Max another chance, don’t do it because you feel guilty.”, Maria explains.
“I really don’t know what I want”, Liz said softly
“Look, I’m not gonna pretend to like Max or anything but I think you know exactly what you want. There’s only one questions… can you forgive him, and can you move past it?”
“That’s two questions. Not one.”, Liz stated,
“That depends on how you look at it… but you really do need to decide, Liz”, Maria said as she glossed over Liz’ comment and jumped right back to the point.
“I really don’t know Maria. Don’t you have some good best friend advice?”, Liz pleaded.
“Sorry Liz, but I think it’s time to give that a speech where I tell you that everything is gonna be fine as long as you follow your heart and all sorts of other crap.”, Maria lectured.
“You think it’s crap?”, Liz asked
“A little… but it’s still the best advice I can give you. If you want better advice, there are people who made whole studies about people with problems. We call them psychologists”, Maria said
“Are you.. suggessing I go to a shrink?”, Liz asked disbelievingly
“Maybe it’s not such a bad idea. Remember how you said you liked to talk to someone who doesn’t throw her opinion on the table and tell you how big of an ass Max is?”, Maria asks, clearly referring to herself, “Well, why wouldn’t you?”
“Because… it’s weird. Have you ever seen a shrink?”, Liz asked Maria
“Are you kidding… the first months I started to date Michael I spent so much time with a shrink I memorized which books were on his bookshelf”, Maria said jokingly
“You really did? But why?”, Liz asked
“Well, I had to do something when the guy keeps you waiting over fifteen minutes every time”, Maria said
“No, I mean why on earth would you go to a shrink?”, Liz clarified
“Well, I did just lose my best friend and in case you haven’t noticed, Michael ain’t exactly easy”, Maria explained.
“But weren’t you embrassed to go to a shrink? Isn’t that meant for people with severe mental problems?”, Liz asked.
“I did have severe mental problems Liz… and now, so do you.”, Maria said, “And besides, these times, half the city sees a shrink every once in awhile. I bet you fifty bucks that Max already saw a shrink in the past week”
Liz looked at Maria, trying to find a way to end this conversation.“Well, you’re a big help today Maria”, Liz complained to her best friend in a playful manner.
“I suppose I could say the same thing to you”, Maria smiled at Liz, glancing at a dozen wedding-brochures lying on the table. Liz caught the hint, even though you could barely call this a hint anymore, and gave Maria an embarrassed smile, just like Maria knew she would.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I know I’ve been yapping about Max for almost an hour when we were supposed to get started on the wedding”, Liz said apologetically.
“Oh don’t worry about it”, Maria said with a smile and picked up one of the brochures and handed it to Liz. “Make yourself useful”, Maria said. She took another one herself and they both started reading.
~~
After Maria left, which was shortly after lunch, Liz started to think about what Maria said. Should she really see a shrink? It just sounded so weird. On the other hand, Maria made it sound like it wasn’t all that weird nowadays abd taking that into consideration, she started to figure why not?.
Lost in throughts, she almost didn’t hear the doorbell. When she walked over to open the door, she saw Alex standing in the doorway.
“Hello Liz, can we talk for a second”, Alex said
Liz gestured him to come in and they both walked towards the living room. “I need to talk to you about Max. Look, I’m sorry if I’m intruding…”, Alex started.
“No, you’re not”, Liz interrupted him
“No, you’re right. I’m not”, Alex said quickly. “I suppose you could say that your private life is your own business… but everyone who was involved in what happened last night is either working for our firm or has worked for our firm in the past and that leads me to believe that this might affect our work-situation, which entitles me to ask you to explain it to me”
“Alex, breathe”, Liz said, commenting on the long-winded sentence Alex just used. “Listen Alex, I like you… but I’m not gonna discuss my persnol life with you. Max and I may both work for the same firm but that doesn’t mean that we have to explain ourselves to you.”
“That’s not what I meant Liz”, Alex explained, “As a manager, I just wanna know if this will affect your work or Max’ work and I want to know if there’s something me or the firm can do to improve the working conditions”
“Oh”, Liz said, a little embarrassed for what she just said.
“What happened last night Liz?”, Alex asked with a caring voice, fully aware that he was sticking his nose in her private life here.
“Max and I had an argument… I hit him, he lost his balance and hit his head”, Liz explained.
“Somehow, I didn’t take you for the kind of person who would just hit someone for no good reason”, Alex said, attempting to provoke Liz to tell him more.
“No good reason?! The son of a bitch slept with someone else less than a month ago!”, Liz said, raising her voice.
“So?”, Alex said calmly
“The girl he slept with…”, Liz started to explain.
“Tess”, Alex interrupted
Liz gave Alex an annoyed look. “Yes, Tess… she’s an old friend of mine. He slept with one of my friends”, Liz said with a grossed-out voice
“Again I say, so?”, Alex said, “So he slept with someone else. You can’t blame him for trying to move on with his life. It took him almost two years to even start trying.”
“I can and I will”, Liz pouted
“Liz, you’re being unreasonable here. Was he supposed to see the words Liz’ friend written on Tess’ forehead”, Alex said.
“He humiliated her in front of the entire office because things didn’t turn out his way”, Liz shouted in Alex’ face.
“She slept with someone else while she was still with Max. How would you have felt if Max had slept with someone else while you were still married?”, Alex said, remaining calm.
Liz was quiet. He had a point. She’d have freaked out as well.
“Look, I know I’m butting in on things that don’t concern me but since Max is my brother-in-law as well, I sometimes feel compelled to defend him. If I don’t, I have to answer to my wife”, Alex said jokingly, trying to relieve some of the tension that filled the room since he came in.
“Well, we don’t want that to happen”, Liz said softly with a smile on her face.
Alex took a few steps towards the front door. “Just promise me you won’t go all Forrest Gump on me”, he said
Liz looked at him with her eyes wide open. “Gee, thanks”, Liz said sarcastically.
Alex smiled widely. “I meant with the running… you know, run Forrest run”, Alex said, “Whatever the problems are, I’m sure we can work them out.”
Without waiting for an answer, Alex walked back towards the front door and opened it. As he walked through it, he almost crashed into Tess, who was standing in the doorway. Alex shot her a small unfriendly smile and walked away, leaving the door open.
“Tess?”, Liz asked as she came walking towards the door.
“I was hoping we could talk”, Tess said cautiously
A Beautiful Brain (AU, M/L, TEEN) [COMPLETE]
Moderators: Anniepoo98, Rowedog, ISLANDGIRL5, Itzstacie, truelovepooh, FSU/MSW-94, Erina, Hunter, Forum Moderators
Episode 12
Didn’t expect me to give you the next update so soon huh? Took me almost a month to write the previous part and this one is ready in two days. This part features a poem and as much as I would like to take credit for it, it’s not mine. I did modify it just a little to suit the situation better. Alright, that was about it. Have fun and let me know what you think of this part.
FRIEND: A member of the opposite sex in your acquaintance who has some flaw which makes sleeping with him/her totally unappealing.
--The Dictionary of Dating
~~
Liz stepped aside and gestured for Tess to come in without saying a word. Tess walked in and the both of them moved to the living room where less than a minute ago, Liz and Alex had been talking.
“So…”, Tess began
“Okay… and why are you here”, Liz asked.
“Look, I never knew about you and Max. If I did I would have…”, Tess said, “I would have told you the truth”
“Okay, I’m listening”, Liz said, the word truth getting her attention
“You know how you always exaggerate when you’re with your friends?”, Tess said cautiously.
“Well, I usually don’t have to exaggerate. My life is dramatic enough as it is”, Liz said mockingly
“Well, I do. I know that Max and me didn’t work out but... I guess he’s not the only one to blame. I did sleep with someone else without breaking up with Max first. I can understand that he was upset and I’m not angry with him.”, Tess said.
Liz was silent for a few seconds and then looked directly at Tess.
“So Kyle sent you here?” Liz suddenly asked, surprising Tess.
Tess soon realized that the time to deny everything had passed and sighed deeply. “Yes, he was the one who asked me to talk to you… but I’m not lying. Pretending to be angry with him was just my way of getting over him. Please don’t hate me for it, or him.”, Tess said softly
Liz looked at Tess another few seconds, thinking, trying to figure the whole situation out. “Tess, I’m sorry. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, or him… but I hate you more than you can possibly imagine….. Please get out.”, Liz said softly, her voice sharpening at the end of the sentence..
“I’m sorry too Liz. I’ll let you calm down for a few days. Then we’ll talk.”, Tess said, reacting to Liz’ words as if everything was completely normal, as if she knew that Liz didn’t mean what she just said. Liz didn’t respond and Tess made her way out the apartment and closed the door firmly behind her. Liz closed her eyes and let out a sign of relief.
~~
“Okay Max, we can go”, Kyle said as he stepped into Max’ hospital room.
Max wasn’t lying in the bed anymore; he was fully dressed and sitting in one of the waiting chairs. “Thank god, I can’t wait to get out of here”, Max said.
Kyle walked further into the room and noticed a filled glass of water and a full tray of food on the table. “What? You don’t like the food here?”, he said while smiling and took a sip of the drink“
“You know, that’s my urine”, Max said, causing Kyle to spit the substance out almost instantly. He then looked up to see Max smiling. “Just kidding”
“You are gonna go to hell”, Kyle claimed
“I’m already going to hell… I might as well have some fun”, Max said with a half-smile.
“Ah… and what kind of fun did you have in mind next?”, Kyle asked, “And please, please don’t let the word Liz be in your next sentence. You might not survive another conversation with her.”
“Funny”, Max said dryly
“I’m a funny guy”, Kyle said
“No, I’ll give her a few days before I start to bother her again”, Max said flatly
“So you realize you’re bothering her and yet you plan to go to her again”, Kyle said. He then figured he didn’t want to have that discussion again and just shrugged. “Just don’t get your hopes up Max”, Kyle said softly
“Why not?”, Max asked softly
“Because it’ll hurt more when she’ll tell you that she can’t be your friend”, Kyle explained.
“Maybe she’ll say yes”, Max defended
“So much for not getting your hopes up”, Kyle said sarcastically, not trying to persuade Max any more.
~~
“Good morning sweetheart”, Max said softly as Liz woke up; her face resting on his chest. Liz had awoken from a most wonderful dream but lying in Max’ arms was even better than the dream she had.
She looked up at his face and smiled. “Mornin honey”, she said softly. It was that smile that he longed to see every since he woke up almost half an hour earlier. He didn’t want to disturb this moment though and just laid back and watched her sleep.
Liz was nothing short of amazing. They were married for six months now and every day he spent with her, he still felt like it was the first day he met her. So desperately in love. Max thought of how they met three years ago. She worked in Roswell as a waitress in this restaurant called the Crashdown. The food there wasn’t really that good, in fact some of it tasted downright atrocious. But when he sat down and Liz came to his table to get his order, he fell instantly in love with her.
He was extremely grateful that his best friend Courtney was with him at the time because as hard as he tried, no words could come over his lips. He remembered Courtney laugh when Liz left to get their order, calling him a love-sick puppy and making fun of him. He didn’t care though. All he could think about was that beautiful girl in that silly uniform which, if possible, made her look even sexier than she already was.
He came by regularly after that. Some days, he was lucky and Liz would come to take his order. When she smiled at him, his whole day was perfect. Some days, he was less fortunate and someone else took his order. When that happened, he was in a bad mood the entire day. He didn’t get the nerve to actually talk to her until almost two months later. He rehearsed it over and over to himself in front of the mirror. He would ask just her out. If she said yes, then he’d consider jumping on the table and singing a song, if she turned him down… well, he’d just have to keep having breakfast there until he died.
On one day, he had finally gotten the courage to ask her out, and he was beginning to get tired of saying it in front of the mirror. He sat down at his regular table and almost literally prayed that it would be Liz who would come to get his order. When a blonde girl, who he would later learn was Maria, came to his table he considered beating her with her notepad for a second and then saw Liz coming from out back in her regular clothes. “Damn, it was her day off”, he thought. He looked at her talking to one of the cooks, oblivious to Maria who stood at his table. “Oh my god!”, Maria said out loud to him. “You got it almost as bad as she”, she whispered in his ear. “For heaven’s sake, would you just ask her out? She’s driving me nuts talking about you”, Maria had added. He remembered that he almost fell off his chair when he heard that. She actually liked him too?
After that, things started to get better and better. He got the courage to ask her out and they went out on a long row of dates before going steady. Two and a half years later, they would get married. And now, six months after they got married, he still felt like that boy who came in the Crashdown and saw Liz for the first time. He was in heaven, he was sure of it.
Max opened his eyes to find himself asleep in his own bed. The alarm clock said it was 3:45 and it was dark outside. He instantly realized that it was all just a dream. He wasn’t in heaven anymore. He was alone. Max tried desperately to get back to sleep, yearning to feel again and crying softly as he drifted away.
~~
The next morning, Liz sat at the dining room table in her house. It was a little past nine. Normally, she’d be at work right now but this morning was different. Yesterday, she had called Alex to apologize for the way their last conversation went. Thankfully, he didn’t make a big deal out of it. Then for some reason, they got to talk about Maria’s suggestion about her seeing a shrink and Alex commented that he knew a good one and would set up an appointment for today.
It was just a few seconds that Liz didn’t object to the idea… and now she was stuck with it. She didn’t want to lay down her innermost problems in front of a complete stranger, even though it might be helpful. She would go, but she dreaded the moment she sat down there. Her appointment was not for about an hour though, so here she was, just sitting quietly at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper.
As she looked out the window, she saw that the red flag on her mailbox pointed up, indicating that she had received mail. Strange, she thought, the postman usually comes around eleven. She quickly walked outside to the mailbox and took the contents out of it. It was just one letter. It didn’t have a stamp on it which indicated that whoever wrote it dropped it off himself. It didn’t take her long to figure out who it wrote, especially when she recognized Max’ handwriting.
She took the letter inside and sat down at the dining room table again. Part of her wanted to throw the letter away and part of her wanted to know what it said. She sat there with the letter in her hand for a minute before finally deciding to read it.
Regret flows from the depths of my soul
With the strength of a flood
I have held these gates shut for too long
And though tormenting, they should not be stopped.
The thought of your anguish
Even as I write to you now
Stops my heart cold
As well it should
What I see in front of me
Is a painting of our love
Its most thoughtful brushstrokes
Mottled by hurried abstraction and inattention
A person who had not seen this masterpiece created
Might think it to be refuse and pass it by unknowingly
Letting be obscured the deep beauty of its many scenes
By layers of the tarnish of mistreatment
But as the painter
I see beyond the dark smears
To recall the hours that I attended to the details
And wonder how I could let it become so discolored
The painting that took me my life to create
Has lost its divinity in my careless treatment
And even if I were to refine it
I fear you would always see it as it is today
So today I paint a new masterpiece
One inspired by the muse of respect
A work that you can love through our old age
One that you will look to each day for inspiration
This one will take some time
As I want my brushstrokes to be carefully placed
I need to move steadily to ensure that this time,
My art represents my dream
This is my opus
Don't judge me on my past works
As I have never before had so much skill and inspiration
And never before have I wanted to please you so much as I do today
With you as my muse
I will paint for you a lifetime
A portrait of devotion and friendship
A panorama of passion and admiration
All I ask is that you gaze upon it with an open heart
And you shall unquestionably love me again
Max
And Liz was silent. She couldn’t say a word if she wanted to. Maybe a talk with that shrink wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all.
FRIEND: A member of the opposite sex in your acquaintance who has some flaw which makes sleeping with him/her totally unappealing.
--The Dictionary of Dating
~~
Liz stepped aside and gestured for Tess to come in without saying a word. Tess walked in and the both of them moved to the living room where less than a minute ago, Liz and Alex had been talking.
“So…”, Tess began
“Okay… and why are you here”, Liz asked.
“Look, I never knew about you and Max. If I did I would have…”, Tess said, “I would have told you the truth”
“Okay, I’m listening”, Liz said, the word truth getting her attention
“You know how you always exaggerate when you’re with your friends?”, Tess said cautiously.
“Well, I usually don’t have to exaggerate. My life is dramatic enough as it is”, Liz said mockingly
“Well, I do. I know that Max and me didn’t work out but... I guess he’s not the only one to blame. I did sleep with someone else without breaking up with Max first. I can understand that he was upset and I’m not angry with him.”, Tess said.
Liz was silent for a few seconds and then looked directly at Tess.
“So Kyle sent you here?” Liz suddenly asked, surprising Tess.
Tess soon realized that the time to deny everything had passed and sighed deeply. “Yes, he was the one who asked me to talk to you… but I’m not lying. Pretending to be angry with him was just my way of getting over him. Please don’t hate me for it, or him.”, Tess said softly
Liz looked at Tess another few seconds, thinking, trying to figure the whole situation out. “Tess, I’m sorry. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, or him… but I hate you more than you can possibly imagine….. Please get out.”, Liz said softly, her voice sharpening at the end of the sentence..
“I’m sorry too Liz. I’ll let you calm down for a few days. Then we’ll talk.”, Tess said, reacting to Liz’ words as if everything was completely normal, as if she knew that Liz didn’t mean what she just said. Liz didn’t respond and Tess made her way out the apartment and closed the door firmly behind her. Liz closed her eyes and let out a sign of relief.
~~
“Okay Max, we can go”, Kyle said as he stepped into Max’ hospital room.
Max wasn’t lying in the bed anymore; he was fully dressed and sitting in one of the waiting chairs. “Thank god, I can’t wait to get out of here”, Max said.
Kyle walked further into the room and noticed a filled glass of water and a full tray of food on the table. “What? You don’t like the food here?”, he said while smiling and took a sip of the drink“
“You know, that’s my urine”, Max said, causing Kyle to spit the substance out almost instantly. He then looked up to see Max smiling. “Just kidding”
“You are gonna go to hell”, Kyle claimed
“I’m already going to hell… I might as well have some fun”, Max said with a half-smile.
“Ah… and what kind of fun did you have in mind next?”, Kyle asked, “And please, please don’t let the word Liz be in your next sentence. You might not survive another conversation with her.”
“Funny”, Max said dryly
“I’m a funny guy”, Kyle said
“No, I’ll give her a few days before I start to bother her again”, Max said flatly
“So you realize you’re bothering her and yet you plan to go to her again”, Kyle said. He then figured he didn’t want to have that discussion again and just shrugged. “Just don’t get your hopes up Max”, Kyle said softly
“Why not?”, Max asked softly
“Because it’ll hurt more when she’ll tell you that she can’t be your friend”, Kyle explained.
“Maybe she’ll say yes”, Max defended
“So much for not getting your hopes up”, Kyle said sarcastically, not trying to persuade Max any more.
~~
“Good morning sweetheart”, Max said softly as Liz woke up; her face resting on his chest. Liz had awoken from a most wonderful dream but lying in Max’ arms was even better than the dream she had.
She looked up at his face and smiled. “Mornin honey”, she said softly. It was that smile that he longed to see every since he woke up almost half an hour earlier. He didn’t want to disturb this moment though and just laid back and watched her sleep.
Liz was nothing short of amazing. They were married for six months now and every day he spent with her, he still felt like it was the first day he met her. So desperately in love. Max thought of how they met three years ago. She worked in Roswell as a waitress in this restaurant called the Crashdown. The food there wasn’t really that good, in fact some of it tasted downright atrocious. But when he sat down and Liz came to his table to get his order, he fell instantly in love with her.
He was extremely grateful that his best friend Courtney was with him at the time because as hard as he tried, no words could come over his lips. He remembered Courtney laugh when Liz left to get their order, calling him a love-sick puppy and making fun of him. He didn’t care though. All he could think about was that beautiful girl in that silly uniform which, if possible, made her look even sexier than she already was.
He came by regularly after that. Some days, he was lucky and Liz would come to take his order. When she smiled at him, his whole day was perfect. Some days, he was less fortunate and someone else took his order. When that happened, he was in a bad mood the entire day. He didn’t get the nerve to actually talk to her until almost two months later. He rehearsed it over and over to himself in front of the mirror. He would ask just her out. If she said yes, then he’d consider jumping on the table and singing a song, if she turned him down… well, he’d just have to keep having breakfast there until he died.
On one day, he had finally gotten the courage to ask her out, and he was beginning to get tired of saying it in front of the mirror. He sat down at his regular table and almost literally prayed that it would be Liz who would come to get his order. When a blonde girl, who he would later learn was Maria, came to his table he considered beating her with her notepad for a second and then saw Liz coming from out back in her regular clothes. “Damn, it was her day off”, he thought. He looked at her talking to one of the cooks, oblivious to Maria who stood at his table. “Oh my god!”, Maria said out loud to him. “You got it almost as bad as she”, she whispered in his ear. “For heaven’s sake, would you just ask her out? She’s driving me nuts talking about you”, Maria had added. He remembered that he almost fell off his chair when he heard that. She actually liked him too?
After that, things started to get better and better. He got the courage to ask her out and they went out on a long row of dates before going steady. Two and a half years later, they would get married. And now, six months after they got married, he still felt like that boy who came in the Crashdown and saw Liz for the first time. He was in heaven, he was sure of it.
Max opened his eyes to find himself asleep in his own bed. The alarm clock said it was 3:45 and it was dark outside. He instantly realized that it was all just a dream. He wasn’t in heaven anymore. He was alone. Max tried desperately to get back to sleep, yearning to feel again and crying softly as he drifted away.
~~
The next morning, Liz sat at the dining room table in her house. It was a little past nine. Normally, she’d be at work right now but this morning was different. Yesterday, she had called Alex to apologize for the way their last conversation went. Thankfully, he didn’t make a big deal out of it. Then for some reason, they got to talk about Maria’s suggestion about her seeing a shrink and Alex commented that he knew a good one and would set up an appointment for today.
It was just a few seconds that Liz didn’t object to the idea… and now she was stuck with it. She didn’t want to lay down her innermost problems in front of a complete stranger, even though it might be helpful. She would go, but she dreaded the moment she sat down there. Her appointment was not for about an hour though, so here she was, just sitting quietly at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper.
As she looked out the window, she saw that the red flag on her mailbox pointed up, indicating that she had received mail. Strange, she thought, the postman usually comes around eleven. She quickly walked outside to the mailbox and took the contents out of it. It was just one letter. It didn’t have a stamp on it which indicated that whoever wrote it dropped it off himself. It didn’t take her long to figure out who it wrote, especially when she recognized Max’ handwriting.
She took the letter inside and sat down at the dining room table again. Part of her wanted to throw the letter away and part of her wanted to know what it said. She sat there with the letter in her hand for a minute before finally deciding to read it.
Regret flows from the depths of my soul
With the strength of a flood
I have held these gates shut for too long
And though tormenting, they should not be stopped.
The thought of your anguish
Even as I write to you now
Stops my heart cold
As well it should
What I see in front of me
Is a painting of our love
Its most thoughtful brushstrokes
Mottled by hurried abstraction and inattention
A person who had not seen this masterpiece created
Might think it to be refuse and pass it by unknowingly
Letting be obscured the deep beauty of its many scenes
By layers of the tarnish of mistreatment
But as the painter
I see beyond the dark smears
To recall the hours that I attended to the details
And wonder how I could let it become so discolored
The painting that took me my life to create
Has lost its divinity in my careless treatment
And even if I were to refine it
I fear you would always see it as it is today
So today I paint a new masterpiece
One inspired by the muse of respect
A work that you can love through our old age
One that you will look to each day for inspiration
This one will take some time
As I want my brushstrokes to be carefully placed
I need to move steadily to ensure that this time,
My art represents my dream
This is my opus
Don't judge me on my past works
As I have never before had so much skill and inspiration
And never before have I wanted to please you so much as I do today
With you as my muse
I will paint for you a lifetime
A portrait of devotion and friendship
A panorama of passion and admiration
All I ask is that you gaze upon it with an open heart
And you shall unquestionably love me again
Max
And Liz was silent. She couldn’t say a word if she wanted to. Maybe a talk with that shrink wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all.
Episode 13
Woohoo, another one finished within a week. I’m not sure the readers of my other fics are liking this fact as I’m kind of neglecting my other fics in favor of this one at the time, but I’ll pick those up again soon enough. Don’t forget to tell me what you think of this part after you’ve read it.
Forgiveness is me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me.
--unknown
~~
“Hello Elizabeth, I am Dr. Green; Lisa Green”, a woman behind a desk said as Liz entered an office she’s never seen before. The way Dr Green said her name reminded Liz of that James Bond phrase, Bond; James Bond and she couldn’t suppress a smile.
“Hi… I’m sorry”, Liz said.
“What’s so funny?”, Lisa said as she made a friendly gesture towards Liz to sit down on the chair opposite to her.
“Oh, nothing”, Liz said as she sat down where Lisa pointed her.
“You’re at a psychologist’s office. The first rule here is that nothing is unimportant. Anything you wanna say, you can say. If you feel like talking about shoelaces for an entire hour, please be my guest.”, Lisa said.
Liz looked back at Lisa and gave her a polite smile. “It’s really nothing dr. Green”, she said.
“Okay, first of all, why don’t you call me Lisa, and then I’ll call you Elizabeth… okay?”, Lisa asked.
“Actually, everybody calls me Liz”, Liz said with a small, almost embarrassed smile. She was clearly not at ease in this office.
“Alright, Liz it is”, Lisa said as she picked up a folder from her desk. She then held the folder open as she showed Liz that the folder was entirely empty. “Okay Liz, this is everything I know about you”, Lisa said, “Tell me something about yourself”
“Okay, I’m Liz Parker and I’m a secretary at Whitman & Whitman. Lately, I’m having trouble with this guy who keeps saying that he wants me back. I don’t know what to do anymore so Alex suckered me into coming here”, Liz said quickly.
“Alright, you’re a secretary. I heard a lot of stories about Whitman & Whitman; some more positive than others. How do you like it there?”, Lisa asked.
“It’s okay”, Liz said.
“Liz, did you know that 90% of all people means not so good when he or she says okay?”, Lisa said matter-of-factly.
“Okay, it could be better…. Max works there too”, Liz said softly.
“Alright, and is this Max the same guy who’s trying to win you over?”, Lisa said. Liz nodded softly. “You mentioned he wanted you back… he’s an ex-boyfriend?”, Lisa asked.
“Actually, he’s my husband… ex-husband!”, Liz said quickly correcting herself.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. How long were you two married?”, Lisa asked, leaning over the desk a little that made it seem she became increasingly interested in the story.
“Six months… we were married for six months”, Liz said softly
“So what happened?”, Lisa asked.
“I… I don’t wanna talk about that”, Liz said softly but firmly
“That bad, huh?”, Lisa said, deciding not to force Liz anything right now. Eventually, she’d get to the bottom of it.
“Uh huh”, Liz said as she nodded, her eyes averted from Lisa. “He hurt me so much… and now he just wants me to pretend like it never happened”, Liz continued, much to Lisa’s surprise.
“And now your old feelings for him are starting to come back?”, Lisa guessed.
“A little..… yes”, Liz said softly, looking down at her feet and playing with a small thread on her shirt..
“And now you don’t know whether you should push him away or take him back?”, Lisa said.
“Yes”, Liz said softly. When she looked up again, Lisa could clearly see the tears welling in Liz’ eyes.
“You know, it’s considered common knowledge that men can be enormous pricks”, Lisa said, making Liz smile a little. “So how much of a prick was this Max?”, she asked.
“He ran out on me when I was in a coma”, Liz said bluntly
“Coma, my god! How long were you…”, Lisa asked
“Six months”, Liz interrupted Lisa’s question.
“Maybe he just needed to distance himself a little. Six months is a long time”, Lisa tried to rationalize the situation.
“No, he left as in had no idea where he was. He divorced me and took everything I had and then left without giving us any way of contacting him. He disappeared until I accidentally met him again last week”, Liz explained.
“And now he’s trying to win you back. Why do you think that is?”, Lisa asked. Of course she knew the answer but she wanted Liz to say it out loud. “He… he thinks he still loves me”, Liz said.
“He thinks he still loves you? How do you know he doesn’t really love you?”, Lisa asked while looking Liz straight in the eyes.
She half expected Liz to turn her head away but instead Liz looked directly back at Lisa and her eyes hardened. “Because if he loved me, he wouldn’t have abandoned me”, Liz said coldly.
“So, you think he did the wrong thing in leaving?”, Lisa asked, causing Liz’ expression to turn a little angry for a second.
“Of course! You think he was right?”, Liz asked angrily.
“Liz, what I think really doesn’t matter. What matters is what you think”, Lisa explained, trying to stay as calm as possible.
“I think he’s a self-centered dick. I don’t think he cares one bit about what I want”, Liz said, her voice and expression having reverted back to normal.
“Which brings us to the bonus question… what do you want?”, Lisa asked.
“I don’t know”, Liz said, turning her eyes away for a second.
“Nonsense. Liz, in this room, with me, you can say anything. You’re free to change your mind, you’re free to want crazy thing… but don’t say you don’t know because that’s a lie”, Lisa said. Liz was silent for a few seconds.
“You sound like Maria”, Liz softly said.
“Is.. that a compliment?”, Lisa cautiously asked
Liz smiled a little. “Yes, yes it is”, she answered.
“Tell me about her”, Lisa said.
“She’s my best friend. She and Michael helped me after I got out of the hospital. They were all I had for two years. They did for me what I always expected Max would do”, Liz said softly.
“I take it they’re not big fans of Max”, Lisa said, “Have you talked to them about this?”
“Yes”, Liz answered
“And what do they think?”, Lisa asked.
“They say I should do what I want”, Liz said
“Well, I’m sure you remember the bonus question… what do you want Liz?”, Lisa said.
“I want things to be like they were before… before the accident. That Max never left me, that my parents never died, that I was still the way I was before… but I can never get that back, so wanting it is completely pointless”, Liz said
“Knowing what you want is never pointless. But when it comes to Max here and now, do you want him back or not? That’s really the question you should be asking yourself. What makes you happier?”, Lisa said
“I…”, Liz said before she was interrupted.
“…and don’t say you don’t know…”, Lisa said while smiling and pointing her finger at Liz.
“I…”
~~
“Jesse, for Buddha’s sake…. let it rest”, Kyle said with an annoyed voice.
“Come on Kyle… Max and Liz were married. You can’t tell me that’s not a little weird”, Jesse said while making large gestures with his arms.
“Maybe it is… why do you care?”, Kyle asked, remaining totally calm
“Oh please! You knew, you all knew… and no one bothered to fill me in”, Jesse said
“Ok Jesse, I don’t know how to tell you this so I’m gonna just say it…”, Kyle said softly, “…You, are the most terrible secret keeper in the entire town and Max didn’t want him and Liz to be office gossip the next day”
“What?! That is so not true.”, Jesse gasped in surprise
“Not true? Who told Max that I dated Tess? Who told Max I went for coffee with Liz?”, Kyle queried.
“Okay that was both me, but…”, Jesse said
“I rest my case”, Kyle interrupted with a smile
“Fine… so what’s gonna happen now?”, Jesse asked, dropping the argument
“I have no idea. I’m positive that Max is not gonna give up trying to win Liz back”, Kyle sighed. “Which means there’s a fresh batch of drama just waiting to kick in any second now”
“Is there any way we can help?”, Jesse asked
“Yeah, we can stay out of it. He must work out your own salvation and not depend on others”, Kyle said.
“Another Buddhist saying?”, Jesse scoffed
“Actually yes”, Kyle smiled.
“So did Tess talk to Liz?”, Jesse asked, a little uncomfortable with talking about Tess.
“Yeah… Tess talked to her”, Kyle said, his voice already indicating bad news, “Apparently, Liz is not in a very forgiving mood”
“Well, it’s hard to feel that emotion when someone did all the things Max has done”, Jesse said bluntly.
“Forgiveness is not an emotion Jesse, it’s a decision. And I can understand Max’ situation when he left her. I’m not saying I agree with what he did… but I understand why he did it”, Kyle said
“You have got to be joking me. There’s nothing he can say in his defense; he left her for dead ”, Jesse said, “How could he do that to someone he loved?”
“Maybe he did it because he loved her so much…. Watching the person you love lie in that hospital bed, unable to move, unable to speak… getting paler and skinnier every day, when you know each day that the chance that he will wake up is less than the day before…”, Kyle said softly
“What do you mean he?”, Jesse interrupted in a soft voice.
Kyle flashed Jesse a small smile. “Damn, I never thought I was that transparent”, Kyle commented. Jesse just looked at him; waiting for an explanation. “A few years ago, my dad got involved in a gunfire. He was shot in the chest three times. The doctors said it was nothing short of a miracle that he had survived at all… but he was in a coma.”, Kyle explained.
“Jesus Kyle, I didn’t know”, Jesse tried to apologize to him.
Kyle gave Jesse a quick smile to show that he wasn’t upset with him. “I remember I used to sit by his bed every night for three weeks. My hope got smaller every time I stepped in the hospital room. It hurt so much to see him laying there. Every day, there was a voice inside my head telling me to stop tormenting myself and stay away, and that voice got louder each day.”, Kyle explained.
“So what’d you do?”, Jesse asked, “Did you stay?”
“Well, after three weeks… he suddenly woke up. One week later, he was back on the job”, Kyle said proudly, “You see, he was the county sheriff and he was shot in the line of duty, and then he just went right back in. I respected him so much for that.”
“So what would you have done if he hadn’t woken up?”, Jesse asked.
“I honestly don’t know. But I remember that the thing I feared most of all was that one day, I would step into his room… and find out he died. That’s why I can understand what Max did. He was afraid that Liz would die… and if she did, he didn’t wanna know”, Kyle said.
“That is such a lame excuse. He was a coward and he was only thinking about himself. How did he get divorced from her anyway?”, Jesse asked.
“From what I heard, our firm handled the case. We pulled a few strings and he was legally divorced within days”, Kyle explained.
“Talk about flash divorces”, Jesse commented.
“I think Max was wrong to leave, but what’s done is done. All he can do now is try to heal the damage he did, and it’s not like he has any special healing powers so it will take awhile…. if it works at all. I wonder if he can.”, Kyle said
“Only god knows that”, Jesse said
“You mean Buddha”, Kyle commented.
~~
“So tell me Liz, what do you want?”, Lisa said to Liz in a very forward way
“I told you, I don’t know”, Liz said, a little annoyed. This was like the fifth time Lisa asked this question.
“Do you hate him Liz? Does he deserve to be hurt?”, Lisa asked while looking straight in Liz’ eyes..
Liz knew that Lisa was just trying to push her buttons. She didn’t want to be angry but it was getting harder and harder.
“Come on Liz, why don’t you say what you want? The guy abandoned you. You must feel something! You must want something!”, Lisa said, her voice rising a little.
“I want him to feel what I felt, okay!”, Liz shouted and tears formed in her eyes. “He left me. How could he? He was all I had; my whole world. He took everything from me”, Liz sobbed before she broke down completely and just hung her head forward as she cried.
Forgiveness is me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me.
--unknown
~~
“Hello Elizabeth, I am Dr. Green; Lisa Green”, a woman behind a desk said as Liz entered an office she’s never seen before. The way Dr Green said her name reminded Liz of that James Bond phrase, Bond; James Bond and she couldn’t suppress a smile.
“Hi… I’m sorry”, Liz said.
“What’s so funny?”, Lisa said as she made a friendly gesture towards Liz to sit down on the chair opposite to her.
“Oh, nothing”, Liz said as she sat down where Lisa pointed her.
“You’re at a psychologist’s office. The first rule here is that nothing is unimportant. Anything you wanna say, you can say. If you feel like talking about shoelaces for an entire hour, please be my guest.”, Lisa said.
Liz looked back at Lisa and gave her a polite smile. “It’s really nothing dr. Green”, she said.
“Okay, first of all, why don’t you call me Lisa, and then I’ll call you Elizabeth… okay?”, Lisa asked.
“Actually, everybody calls me Liz”, Liz said with a small, almost embarrassed smile. She was clearly not at ease in this office.
“Alright, Liz it is”, Lisa said as she picked up a folder from her desk. She then held the folder open as she showed Liz that the folder was entirely empty. “Okay Liz, this is everything I know about you”, Lisa said, “Tell me something about yourself”
“Okay, I’m Liz Parker and I’m a secretary at Whitman & Whitman. Lately, I’m having trouble with this guy who keeps saying that he wants me back. I don’t know what to do anymore so Alex suckered me into coming here”, Liz said quickly.
“Alright, you’re a secretary. I heard a lot of stories about Whitman & Whitman; some more positive than others. How do you like it there?”, Lisa asked.
“It’s okay”, Liz said.
“Liz, did you know that 90% of all people means not so good when he or she says okay?”, Lisa said matter-of-factly.
“Okay, it could be better…. Max works there too”, Liz said softly.
“Alright, and is this Max the same guy who’s trying to win you over?”, Lisa said. Liz nodded softly. “You mentioned he wanted you back… he’s an ex-boyfriend?”, Lisa asked.
“Actually, he’s my husband… ex-husband!”, Liz said quickly correcting herself.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. How long were you two married?”, Lisa asked, leaning over the desk a little that made it seem she became increasingly interested in the story.
“Six months… we were married for six months”, Liz said softly
“So what happened?”, Lisa asked.
“I… I don’t wanna talk about that”, Liz said softly but firmly
“That bad, huh?”, Lisa said, deciding not to force Liz anything right now. Eventually, she’d get to the bottom of it.
“Uh huh”, Liz said as she nodded, her eyes averted from Lisa. “He hurt me so much… and now he just wants me to pretend like it never happened”, Liz continued, much to Lisa’s surprise.
“And now your old feelings for him are starting to come back?”, Lisa guessed.
“A little..… yes”, Liz said softly, looking down at her feet and playing with a small thread on her shirt..
“And now you don’t know whether you should push him away or take him back?”, Lisa said.
“Yes”, Liz said softly. When she looked up again, Lisa could clearly see the tears welling in Liz’ eyes.
“You know, it’s considered common knowledge that men can be enormous pricks”, Lisa said, making Liz smile a little. “So how much of a prick was this Max?”, she asked.
“He ran out on me when I was in a coma”, Liz said bluntly
“Coma, my god! How long were you…”, Lisa asked
“Six months”, Liz interrupted Lisa’s question.
“Maybe he just needed to distance himself a little. Six months is a long time”, Lisa tried to rationalize the situation.
“No, he left as in had no idea where he was. He divorced me and took everything I had and then left without giving us any way of contacting him. He disappeared until I accidentally met him again last week”, Liz explained.
“And now he’s trying to win you back. Why do you think that is?”, Lisa asked. Of course she knew the answer but she wanted Liz to say it out loud. “He… he thinks he still loves me”, Liz said.
“He thinks he still loves you? How do you know he doesn’t really love you?”, Lisa asked while looking Liz straight in the eyes.
She half expected Liz to turn her head away but instead Liz looked directly back at Lisa and her eyes hardened. “Because if he loved me, he wouldn’t have abandoned me”, Liz said coldly.
“So, you think he did the wrong thing in leaving?”, Lisa asked, causing Liz’ expression to turn a little angry for a second.
“Of course! You think he was right?”, Liz asked angrily.
“Liz, what I think really doesn’t matter. What matters is what you think”, Lisa explained, trying to stay as calm as possible.
“I think he’s a self-centered dick. I don’t think he cares one bit about what I want”, Liz said, her voice and expression having reverted back to normal.
“Which brings us to the bonus question… what do you want?”, Lisa asked.
“I don’t know”, Liz said, turning her eyes away for a second.
“Nonsense. Liz, in this room, with me, you can say anything. You’re free to change your mind, you’re free to want crazy thing… but don’t say you don’t know because that’s a lie”, Lisa said. Liz was silent for a few seconds.
“You sound like Maria”, Liz softly said.
“Is.. that a compliment?”, Lisa cautiously asked
Liz smiled a little. “Yes, yes it is”, she answered.
“Tell me about her”, Lisa said.
“She’s my best friend. She and Michael helped me after I got out of the hospital. They were all I had for two years. They did for me what I always expected Max would do”, Liz said softly.
“I take it they’re not big fans of Max”, Lisa said, “Have you talked to them about this?”
“Yes”, Liz answered
“And what do they think?”, Lisa asked.
“They say I should do what I want”, Liz said
“Well, I’m sure you remember the bonus question… what do you want Liz?”, Lisa said.
“I want things to be like they were before… before the accident. That Max never left me, that my parents never died, that I was still the way I was before… but I can never get that back, so wanting it is completely pointless”, Liz said
“Knowing what you want is never pointless. But when it comes to Max here and now, do you want him back or not? That’s really the question you should be asking yourself. What makes you happier?”, Lisa said
“I…”, Liz said before she was interrupted.
“…and don’t say you don’t know…”, Lisa said while smiling and pointing her finger at Liz.
“I…”
~~
“Jesse, for Buddha’s sake…. let it rest”, Kyle said with an annoyed voice.
“Come on Kyle… Max and Liz were married. You can’t tell me that’s not a little weird”, Jesse said while making large gestures with his arms.
“Maybe it is… why do you care?”, Kyle asked, remaining totally calm
“Oh please! You knew, you all knew… and no one bothered to fill me in”, Jesse said
“Ok Jesse, I don’t know how to tell you this so I’m gonna just say it…”, Kyle said softly, “…You, are the most terrible secret keeper in the entire town and Max didn’t want him and Liz to be office gossip the next day”
“What?! That is so not true.”, Jesse gasped in surprise
“Not true? Who told Max that I dated Tess? Who told Max I went for coffee with Liz?”, Kyle queried.
“Okay that was both me, but…”, Jesse said
“I rest my case”, Kyle interrupted with a smile
“Fine… so what’s gonna happen now?”, Jesse asked, dropping the argument
“I have no idea. I’m positive that Max is not gonna give up trying to win Liz back”, Kyle sighed. “Which means there’s a fresh batch of drama just waiting to kick in any second now”
“Is there any way we can help?”, Jesse asked
“Yeah, we can stay out of it. He must work out your own salvation and not depend on others”, Kyle said.
“Another Buddhist saying?”, Jesse scoffed
“Actually yes”, Kyle smiled.
“So did Tess talk to Liz?”, Jesse asked, a little uncomfortable with talking about Tess.
“Yeah… Tess talked to her”, Kyle said, his voice already indicating bad news, “Apparently, Liz is not in a very forgiving mood”
“Well, it’s hard to feel that emotion when someone did all the things Max has done”, Jesse said bluntly.
“Forgiveness is not an emotion Jesse, it’s a decision. And I can understand Max’ situation when he left her. I’m not saying I agree with what he did… but I understand why he did it”, Kyle said
“You have got to be joking me. There’s nothing he can say in his defense; he left her for dead ”, Jesse said, “How could he do that to someone he loved?”
“Maybe he did it because he loved her so much…. Watching the person you love lie in that hospital bed, unable to move, unable to speak… getting paler and skinnier every day, when you know each day that the chance that he will wake up is less than the day before…”, Kyle said softly
“What do you mean he?”, Jesse interrupted in a soft voice.
Kyle flashed Jesse a small smile. “Damn, I never thought I was that transparent”, Kyle commented. Jesse just looked at him; waiting for an explanation. “A few years ago, my dad got involved in a gunfire. He was shot in the chest three times. The doctors said it was nothing short of a miracle that he had survived at all… but he was in a coma.”, Kyle explained.
“Jesus Kyle, I didn’t know”, Jesse tried to apologize to him.
Kyle gave Jesse a quick smile to show that he wasn’t upset with him. “I remember I used to sit by his bed every night for three weeks. My hope got smaller every time I stepped in the hospital room. It hurt so much to see him laying there. Every day, there was a voice inside my head telling me to stop tormenting myself and stay away, and that voice got louder each day.”, Kyle explained.
“So what’d you do?”, Jesse asked, “Did you stay?”
“Well, after three weeks… he suddenly woke up. One week later, he was back on the job”, Kyle said proudly, “You see, he was the county sheriff and he was shot in the line of duty, and then he just went right back in. I respected him so much for that.”
“So what would you have done if he hadn’t woken up?”, Jesse asked.
“I honestly don’t know. But I remember that the thing I feared most of all was that one day, I would step into his room… and find out he died. That’s why I can understand what Max did. He was afraid that Liz would die… and if she did, he didn’t wanna know”, Kyle said.
“That is such a lame excuse. He was a coward and he was only thinking about himself. How did he get divorced from her anyway?”, Jesse asked.
“From what I heard, our firm handled the case. We pulled a few strings and he was legally divorced within days”, Kyle explained.
“Talk about flash divorces”, Jesse commented.
“I think Max was wrong to leave, but what’s done is done. All he can do now is try to heal the damage he did, and it’s not like he has any special healing powers so it will take awhile…. if it works at all. I wonder if he can.”, Kyle said
“Only god knows that”, Jesse said
“You mean Buddha”, Kyle commented.
~~
“So tell me Liz, what do you want?”, Lisa said to Liz in a very forward way
“I told you, I don’t know”, Liz said, a little annoyed. This was like the fifth time Lisa asked this question.
“Do you hate him Liz? Does he deserve to be hurt?”, Lisa asked while looking straight in Liz’ eyes..
Liz knew that Lisa was just trying to push her buttons. She didn’t want to be angry but it was getting harder and harder.
“Come on Liz, why don’t you say what you want? The guy abandoned you. You must feel something! You must want something!”, Lisa said, her voice rising a little.
“I want him to feel what I felt, okay!”, Liz shouted and tears formed in her eyes. “He left me. How could he? He was all I had; my whole world. He took everything from me”, Liz sobbed before she broke down completely and just hung her head forward as she cried.
Episode 14
Ah yes, I have a new part for all of you. I’m gonna try to have another one ready this weekend but as always, I’m not gonna make any promises. This part features a song from the Backstreet Boys which was pointed out to me by behrsgirl1230. Thanks a lot for the tip Kristen. That was about it, have a pleasant read.
The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground
--Buddha
~~
Outside, the leaves of the trees swung with force and it rained softly. Being forced to wait in the waiting room, Max had gotten up and stared out of a half-open window. Funny, the weather outside reflected exactly how he felt.
Everything has been so crazy the last weeks that, at the moment, he wondered if it was an improvement. He was finally getting over Liz and then she showed up causing him so much pain… but on the other hand, just seeing her, talking to her, even getting hit by her made him feel so much better than he felt in years. He felt alive again, but is that a good thing when all that life does is cause pain?
He pushed those thoughts aside pretty fast and thought about Liz, wondering where Liz was at this very moment.
~~
“Liz, are you feeling okay?”, Lisa asked with concern. Maybe she went a little too far; maybe she shouldn’t have pushed it so much. Liz hadn’t said a word in minutes. She had stopped crying but that was about it. She just stared in front of her, obviously deep in thoughts.
“Liz, talk to me”, Lisa said sternly. She had to break Liz out of this state.
It seemed to work; Liz looked up towards Lisa. “Huh”, she asked.
“Liz, how are you feeling?”, Lisa asked.
“I feel dead”, Liz said without any effort to sound even the least bit positive.
“Do you remember what you want?“, Lisa cautiously asked. It happened quite often that people blocked out such a revelation to make it easier to bear.
“Yes… I still love him, but I want him to suffer” ,Liz said. “What kind of person am I?”, Liz asked with a worried look.
“Look Liz, there is nothing wrong with feeling that way. Do you hear me Liz, there is nothing wrong with that. Liz, you can control the way you feel here. You have two choices here: you can forgive Max and try to make it work together, or you can pull away from him to hurt him… and yourself. It’s all up to you.”, Lisa said
“So you think It’ll hurt me if I pull away from Max?”, Liz asked
“I think you know that better than me, but if you still love him, I think it will”, Lisa softly said.
“So what do you think I should do?”, Liz asked, wanting some advice.
“That is up to you Liz. But I think you might find the posters behind you helpful”, Lisa said. Liz turned around and indeed, there was a poster on the wall next to the door. She never noticed it when coming in. It said Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace
~~
Max was still waiting in the waiting room, standing in front of the window and looking outside when Liz came walking out of the office. Max turned around just in time to see Liz walking towards the exit. Did Liz just see his psychiatrist? Right, go figure! What a nightmare!
~~
“So what are the two of you gonna do?”, Maria asked Liz.
“What do you mean?”, Liz asked.
“Oh come on chica, don’t try to act all innocent. It’s your six-month anniversary. What are you and Max gonna do to celebrate?”, Maria asked with a big smile on her face.
Liz looked back at Maria with a large grin.
Maria got what Liz meant. “Hey, gross… I mean besides that!”, she said with a disgusted grin. “I don’t have a boyfriend so I have to live through you, but I don’t wanna know about your sex life. That’s just gross”
“My sex life is gross?”, Liz asked with raised eyebrows.
Maria shot Liz an embarrassed grin. “Uh….”, Maria stammered.
Liz smiled at her. “We’re gonna have diner at Javier’s in ten minutes and then Max said he had a whole evening planned”, she said.
“This is so not fair. You reeled in one of the cutest men on the planet and the best I can get is a date with Larry Umberger”, Maria complained
“Larry’s a nice guy Maria and he obviously has a crush on you”, Liz said
“Yeah, I noticed. He gives the word ‘computer nerd’ a whole new meaning. Sorry Liz, but I’m in the market for something better… Max doesn’t happen to have a brother, does he?”, Maria said with a small smile
“No, I think he has a sister but I never met her… interested?”, Liz joked.
“Very funny chica”, Maria said
“I thought so… hey, there’s Max”, Liz said loudly, looking at the entrance to the school cafeteria they were sitting in. And indeed, there stood Max, scanning the room; looking for Liz and Maria. After a few seconds, he spotted them too and walked towards their table.
“Hey Liz”, Max said, “What are you doing?”, he asked interested.
“Discussing Maria’s love life”, Liz blurted out. Maria shot her a deadly gaze.
“O…kay… you ready to go?”, Max asked Liz.
“Yeah”, Liz smiled as she got up from her chair.
“See you later Maria”, Liz said back to Maria. Liz smiled widely as she and Max moved towards the exit. Max flashed Maria a smile as a goodbye. Liz looked so excited; even after she and Max got married. Those two were just perfect for each other. Liz and Max walked towards the car and Maria looked at them through the window. Look at them, Maria thought. Could things get any better?
The first weeks, Maria and Max didn’t exactly get along, mostly because Maria and Courtney, Max’ best friend, couldn’t stand each other. But Maria quickly got to like Max and deemed him worthy of dating Liz. Such a thing didn’t come easy with Maria for many of Liz’ old boyfriends had suffered the wrath of Maria and cowered off.
Then she saw that car coming around the corner and it was going fast, really fast. Maria saw it coming but Max didn’t; he stepped on the road, right in front of the oncoming car. Maria saw Liz screaming something but from inside, she couldn’t hear what. Then, she saw Liz jump in the road and push Max away. And then the car hit Liz.
“Liz!!”, Maria screamed as she sat straight up in her bed.
~~
“Don’t tell me to calm down!”, Max said as he paced around Lisa’s office. “Liz just came out of this office!”
“Yes, she did. What is the problem? You think I talk about my patients behind their backs?”, Lisa asked Max. Max looked at her with a you’re-damn-right-I-do-look. “Well, I don’t”, Lisa said matter-of-factly.
Max sighed deep. What was he thinking? Liz was probably here for the same reason he was. “Liz is one of your patients”, Max said, more a statement than a question.
“Yes”, Lisa just said
“So… what did she say?”, Max asked in a curious voice.
“Max… what on earth makes you think I’m going to discuss the private thoughts of another patient with you?”, Lisa asked sarcastically
“Because she’s the whole point of this session”, Max said
“No, you doofus. You are the reason of your sessions. Psychology is always about yourself…. besides, I doubt you would like it if I discussed your sessions with Liz”, Lisa said
“Okay… point taken”, Max said as he sighed and sat down
“Let’s begin, shall we? How’ve you been the last week?”, Lisa asked and then listened intently to Max response.
~~
“Great. It all went great”, Kyle said enthusiastically
“how great?”, Alex asked Kyle and Kyle could already see the sparkle in Alex’ eyes.
“Ten million dollar”, Kyle said with a smile
“Kyle, I could kiss you right now”, Alex said
“Don’t you dare.”, Kyle said back while smiling.
Kyle, Max and Jesse just closed a case where a young woman wanted to sue the largest hospital of the city for mistreatment. Given the severity of the situation and the indisputable evidence provided by Whitman & Whitman, the defense decided to settle for ten million dollars, and ten percent went right to Whitman & Whitman.
“Okay, we need to celebrate. I see Jesse and Max already took off. Dinner? On me?”, Alex asked.
“Sure”, Kyle said as the two of them walked out of the office and towards the car.
Fifteen minutes later, Alex, Isabel and Kyle arrived at Han Cho’s; Kyle’s favorite restaurant. He had thought about inviting Tess but figured that wasn’t such a good idea considering that Tess wasn’t very liked by Alex and Isabel.
The three of them entered the restaurant. As they hung their coats on the coat rack, a small, kind-looking Chinese man approached them and started speaking to Kyle in Chinese. Kyle answered in Chinese too and the two exchanged a few sentences before the man showed them to their table and then left.
“Alright Kyle, I didn’t know you spoke Japanese”, Isabel told him.
“It wasn’t Japanese; it was Chinese, and I’m just a beginner at it. And uh, I took the liberty of ordering champagne for all of us”, Kyle said
“I’m gonna have to pass, Kyle”, Isabel said with an apologetic smile.
“Not feeling well?”, Kyle asked with a slightly concerned voice
“No, it’s not that it’s….. isn’t that Tess?”, Isabel said.
Kyle turned his head to where Isabel was watching. He saw two persons sitting at a table and one of them was undoubtedly Tess. The other was a young, good-looking blonde guy.
“That’s probably just her brother or something”, Kyle said to himself… out loud, to his surprise
The two of them hadn’t spotted Kyle and stood up from their seats. Kyle then felt a burning pain in his chest when the blonde man bent forward and intimately kissed the woman Kyle thought loved only him, who was obviously eager to respond. The two of them didn’t waste more time and made their way out of the restaurant.
Kyle just stared in front of him, thinking about how big of an idiot he’d been!
~~
“There, that should fix it”, Michael said as he flipped up a switch and everywhere in Liz’ apartment, the lights went on, the radio went on and the coffee-machine went on.
“Thank Michael, I didn’t know who else to call”, Liz said. The lights went off in her entire apartment and she had no idea how to get them back on so she called Michael, who was kind enough to come over and fix it.
“Hey no problem. How ‘bout a cup of coffee for the hard worker?”, Michael asked. Liz looked into the kitchen and noticed that the coffee-machine was already on. Right, she was making coffee when the power went out.
“On its way”, Liz said with a smile.
“…caller is Max Evans”
Liz’ attention suddenly turned to the radio.
“So Max, you have a request?”, the radio-host said.
“Yeah, I wanna request the new Backstreet Boys song; Crawling Back to You?”, Max said.
“Oooh, in trouble with the ladies?”, the radio-host asked.
“Yeah, I’m an idiot when it comes to women”, Max said which made Liz and Michael both smile a little bit.
“I hear ya buddy. Any lady in particular you want us to play this song for?”, the radio-host asked.
“Liz”, Max just said.
“Well, all right then Max. Crawling Back to You it is.”, the Radio-host said as the music started to play.
Everybody knows that I was such a fool to ever let go of you
Baby I was wrong
Yeah I know I said we'd be better off alone
It was time that we moved on
I know I broke your heart, I didn't mean to break your heart
But baby here I am
Banging on your front door
My pride spilled on the floor
My hands and knees are bruised and I'm crawling back to you
Begging for a second chance
Are you gonna let me in?
I was running from the truth and now I'm crawling back to you
I know you're in there and you can make me wait
But I'm not gonna wait
It's the least that I can do, just to tell you face to face
I was lying to myself, now I'm dying in this hell
Girl I know you're mad, I can't blame you for being mad
But baby here I am
Banging on your front door
My pride spilled on the floor
My hands and knees are bruised and now I'm crawling back to you
Begging for a second chance
Are you gonna let me in?
I was running from the truth and now I'm crawling back to you
If you could see these tears I'm crying
Touch these hands that can't stop shaking
Hear my heart that's barely beating
You will see a different man
But baby here I am
Banging on your front door
My pride spilled on the floor
My hands and knees are bruised and I'm crawling back to you (come on)
Begging for a second chance
Are you gonna let me in? (let me in)
I was running from the truth, now I'm crawling back to you
Banging on your front door (darling)
My pride spilled on the floor
I was running from the truth, now I'm crawling back to you, yeah
Now I'm crawling back to you
Crawling back to you
Crawling back to you
Crawling back to you
“Well, I don’t know about Liz, but I’d take you back Max. Bye bye Max, hope things work out for you and Liz”, the radio-host said.
“You and me both”, Liz softly whispered.
The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground
--Buddha
~~
Outside, the leaves of the trees swung with force and it rained softly. Being forced to wait in the waiting room, Max had gotten up and stared out of a half-open window. Funny, the weather outside reflected exactly how he felt.
Everything has been so crazy the last weeks that, at the moment, he wondered if it was an improvement. He was finally getting over Liz and then she showed up causing him so much pain… but on the other hand, just seeing her, talking to her, even getting hit by her made him feel so much better than he felt in years. He felt alive again, but is that a good thing when all that life does is cause pain?
He pushed those thoughts aside pretty fast and thought about Liz, wondering where Liz was at this very moment.
~~
“Liz, are you feeling okay?”, Lisa asked with concern. Maybe she went a little too far; maybe she shouldn’t have pushed it so much. Liz hadn’t said a word in minutes. She had stopped crying but that was about it. She just stared in front of her, obviously deep in thoughts.
“Liz, talk to me”, Lisa said sternly. She had to break Liz out of this state.
It seemed to work; Liz looked up towards Lisa. “Huh”, she asked.
“Liz, how are you feeling?”, Lisa asked.
“I feel dead”, Liz said without any effort to sound even the least bit positive.
“Do you remember what you want?“, Lisa cautiously asked. It happened quite often that people blocked out such a revelation to make it easier to bear.
“Yes… I still love him, but I want him to suffer” ,Liz said. “What kind of person am I?”, Liz asked with a worried look.
“Look Liz, there is nothing wrong with feeling that way. Do you hear me Liz, there is nothing wrong with that. Liz, you can control the way you feel here. You have two choices here: you can forgive Max and try to make it work together, or you can pull away from him to hurt him… and yourself. It’s all up to you.”, Lisa said
“So you think It’ll hurt me if I pull away from Max?”, Liz asked
“I think you know that better than me, but if you still love him, I think it will”, Lisa softly said.
“So what do you think I should do?”, Liz asked, wanting some advice.
“That is up to you Liz. But I think you might find the posters behind you helpful”, Lisa said. Liz turned around and indeed, there was a poster on the wall next to the door. She never noticed it when coming in. It said Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace
~~
Max was still waiting in the waiting room, standing in front of the window and looking outside when Liz came walking out of the office. Max turned around just in time to see Liz walking towards the exit. Did Liz just see his psychiatrist? Right, go figure! What a nightmare!
~~
“So what are the two of you gonna do?”, Maria asked Liz.
“What do you mean?”, Liz asked.
“Oh come on chica, don’t try to act all innocent. It’s your six-month anniversary. What are you and Max gonna do to celebrate?”, Maria asked with a big smile on her face.
Liz looked back at Maria with a large grin.
Maria got what Liz meant. “Hey, gross… I mean besides that!”, she said with a disgusted grin. “I don’t have a boyfriend so I have to live through you, but I don’t wanna know about your sex life. That’s just gross”
“My sex life is gross?”, Liz asked with raised eyebrows.
Maria shot Liz an embarrassed grin. “Uh….”, Maria stammered.
Liz smiled at her. “We’re gonna have diner at Javier’s in ten minutes and then Max said he had a whole evening planned”, she said.
“This is so not fair. You reeled in one of the cutest men on the planet and the best I can get is a date with Larry Umberger”, Maria complained
“Larry’s a nice guy Maria and he obviously has a crush on you”, Liz said
“Yeah, I noticed. He gives the word ‘computer nerd’ a whole new meaning. Sorry Liz, but I’m in the market for something better… Max doesn’t happen to have a brother, does he?”, Maria said with a small smile
“No, I think he has a sister but I never met her… interested?”, Liz joked.
“Very funny chica”, Maria said
“I thought so… hey, there’s Max”, Liz said loudly, looking at the entrance to the school cafeteria they were sitting in. And indeed, there stood Max, scanning the room; looking for Liz and Maria. After a few seconds, he spotted them too and walked towards their table.
“Hey Liz”, Max said, “What are you doing?”, he asked interested.
“Discussing Maria’s love life”, Liz blurted out. Maria shot her a deadly gaze.
“O…kay… you ready to go?”, Max asked Liz.
“Yeah”, Liz smiled as she got up from her chair.
“See you later Maria”, Liz said back to Maria. Liz smiled widely as she and Max moved towards the exit. Max flashed Maria a smile as a goodbye. Liz looked so excited; even after she and Max got married. Those two were just perfect for each other. Liz and Max walked towards the car and Maria looked at them through the window. Look at them, Maria thought. Could things get any better?
The first weeks, Maria and Max didn’t exactly get along, mostly because Maria and Courtney, Max’ best friend, couldn’t stand each other. But Maria quickly got to like Max and deemed him worthy of dating Liz. Such a thing didn’t come easy with Maria for many of Liz’ old boyfriends had suffered the wrath of Maria and cowered off.
Then she saw that car coming around the corner and it was going fast, really fast. Maria saw it coming but Max didn’t; he stepped on the road, right in front of the oncoming car. Maria saw Liz screaming something but from inside, she couldn’t hear what. Then, she saw Liz jump in the road and push Max away. And then the car hit Liz.
“Liz!!”, Maria screamed as she sat straight up in her bed.
~~
“Don’t tell me to calm down!”, Max said as he paced around Lisa’s office. “Liz just came out of this office!”
“Yes, she did. What is the problem? You think I talk about my patients behind their backs?”, Lisa asked Max. Max looked at her with a you’re-damn-right-I-do-look. “Well, I don’t”, Lisa said matter-of-factly.
Max sighed deep. What was he thinking? Liz was probably here for the same reason he was. “Liz is one of your patients”, Max said, more a statement than a question.
“Yes”, Lisa just said
“So… what did she say?”, Max asked in a curious voice.
“Max… what on earth makes you think I’m going to discuss the private thoughts of another patient with you?”, Lisa asked sarcastically
“Because she’s the whole point of this session”, Max said
“No, you doofus. You are the reason of your sessions. Psychology is always about yourself…. besides, I doubt you would like it if I discussed your sessions with Liz”, Lisa said
“Okay… point taken”, Max said as he sighed and sat down
“Let’s begin, shall we? How’ve you been the last week?”, Lisa asked and then listened intently to Max response.
~~
“Great. It all went great”, Kyle said enthusiastically
“how great?”, Alex asked Kyle and Kyle could already see the sparkle in Alex’ eyes.
“Ten million dollar”, Kyle said with a smile
“Kyle, I could kiss you right now”, Alex said
“Don’t you dare.”, Kyle said back while smiling.
Kyle, Max and Jesse just closed a case where a young woman wanted to sue the largest hospital of the city for mistreatment. Given the severity of the situation and the indisputable evidence provided by Whitman & Whitman, the defense decided to settle for ten million dollars, and ten percent went right to Whitman & Whitman.
“Okay, we need to celebrate. I see Jesse and Max already took off. Dinner? On me?”, Alex asked.
“Sure”, Kyle said as the two of them walked out of the office and towards the car.
Fifteen minutes later, Alex, Isabel and Kyle arrived at Han Cho’s; Kyle’s favorite restaurant. He had thought about inviting Tess but figured that wasn’t such a good idea considering that Tess wasn’t very liked by Alex and Isabel.
The three of them entered the restaurant. As they hung their coats on the coat rack, a small, kind-looking Chinese man approached them and started speaking to Kyle in Chinese. Kyle answered in Chinese too and the two exchanged a few sentences before the man showed them to their table and then left.
“Alright Kyle, I didn’t know you spoke Japanese”, Isabel told him.
“It wasn’t Japanese; it was Chinese, and I’m just a beginner at it. And uh, I took the liberty of ordering champagne for all of us”, Kyle said
“I’m gonna have to pass, Kyle”, Isabel said with an apologetic smile.
“Not feeling well?”, Kyle asked with a slightly concerned voice
“No, it’s not that it’s….. isn’t that Tess?”, Isabel said.
Kyle turned his head to where Isabel was watching. He saw two persons sitting at a table and one of them was undoubtedly Tess. The other was a young, good-looking blonde guy.
“That’s probably just her brother or something”, Kyle said to himself… out loud, to his surprise
The two of them hadn’t spotted Kyle and stood up from their seats. Kyle then felt a burning pain in his chest when the blonde man bent forward and intimately kissed the woman Kyle thought loved only him, who was obviously eager to respond. The two of them didn’t waste more time and made their way out of the restaurant.
Kyle just stared in front of him, thinking about how big of an idiot he’d been!
~~
“There, that should fix it”, Michael said as he flipped up a switch and everywhere in Liz’ apartment, the lights went on, the radio went on and the coffee-machine went on.
“Thank Michael, I didn’t know who else to call”, Liz said. The lights went off in her entire apartment and she had no idea how to get them back on so she called Michael, who was kind enough to come over and fix it.
“Hey no problem. How ‘bout a cup of coffee for the hard worker?”, Michael asked. Liz looked into the kitchen and noticed that the coffee-machine was already on. Right, she was making coffee when the power went out.
“On its way”, Liz said with a smile.
“…caller is Max Evans”
Liz’ attention suddenly turned to the radio.
“So Max, you have a request?”, the radio-host said.
“Yeah, I wanna request the new Backstreet Boys song; Crawling Back to You?”, Max said.
“Oooh, in trouble with the ladies?”, the radio-host asked.
“Yeah, I’m an idiot when it comes to women”, Max said which made Liz and Michael both smile a little bit.
“I hear ya buddy. Any lady in particular you want us to play this song for?”, the radio-host asked.
“Liz”, Max just said.
“Well, all right then Max. Crawling Back to You it is.”, the Radio-host said as the music started to play.
Everybody knows that I was such a fool to ever let go of you
Baby I was wrong
Yeah I know I said we'd be better off alone
It was time that we moved on
I know I broke your heart, I didn't mean to break your heart
But baby here I am
Banging on your front door
My pride spilled on the floor
My hands and knees are bruised and I'm crawling back to you
Begging for a second chance
Are you gonna let me in?
I was running from the truth and now I'm crawling back to you
I know you're in there and you can make me wait
But I'm not gonna wait
It's the least that I can do, just to tell you face to face
I was lying to myself, now I'm dying in this hell
Girl I know you're mad, I can't blame you for being mad
But baby here I am
Banging on your front door
My pride spilled on the floor
My hands and knees are bruised and now I'm crawling back to you
Begging for a second chance
Are you gonna let me in?
I was running from the truth and now I'm crawling back to you
If you could see these tears I'm crying
Touch these hands that can't stop shaking
Hear my heart that's barely beating
You will see a different man
But baby here I am
Banging on your front door
My pride spilled on the floor
My hands and knees are bruised and I'm crawling back to you (come on)
Begging for a second chance
Are you gonna let me in? (let me in)
I was running from the truth, now I'm crawling back to you
Banging on your front door (darling)
My pride spilled on the floor
I was running from the truth, now I'm crawling back to you, yeah
Now I'm crawling back to you
Crawling back to you
Crawling back to you
Crawling back to you
“Well, I don’t know about Liz, but I’d take you back Max. Bye bye Max, hope things work out for you and Liz”, the radio-host said.
“You and me both”, Liz softly whispered.
Episode 15
I didn’t think I would be able this weekend, but I managed to finish another part despite the computer trouble I had. I lost a part of my story due to a Windows error so I had to rewrite that part. Well, at least it’s finished now. Have fun and let me know what you think of it.
"The hardest part about moving forward is not looking back"
--unknown
~~
“I heard that”, Michael said softly with a weird grin on his face
Liz looked at Michael with a confused look. “What?”, Liz asked
“Don’t act all innocent. I get enough of that from Maria”, Michael said, “You gonna take Max back?”
“Yes… no… I dunno. Can we lay off the tough questions? I have a psychologist for those”, Liz said, flashing Michael a half-smile.
“Fine. I just wanted to say that…”, Michael said, stopping to take a deep breath, “…that I understand if you decide to take him back”
Liz smiled at Michael’s comment. “I thought you hated Max”
“Liz, I never had any brothers or sisters… but I see you as a sister and I love you. What I want is for you to be happy. Whether Max is happy or miserable doesn’t interest me in the least.”, Michael said
“Oh really? What about you wanting to drown in his own barf?”, Liz said
“Well, this may come as a surprise but I didn’t like Max a lot. When I had him on the phone, I just said what I thought”, Michael explained, “Truth is, I felt really good when telling him”
“So you do care whether Max is happy or miserable”, Liz concluded
“Saying that I despised him felt good for a second, but after that it was kinda empty. Liz, take it from me, staying angry will just make you miserable”, Michael said
“How would you know?”, Liz asked
Michael hesitated for a second. “When I was sixteen, and I was living with my foster dad, my real mother and father suddenly stood on my doorstep. They said they wanted to talk to me…”, Michael said before stopping.
“So what did they want?”, Liz asked softly
“I don’t know. I told them that I hated them for leaving me with Hank and I told them to get lost”, Michael said, “I never saw them again after that”
“And now you think you should have heard them out?”, Liz asked softly
“It felt good for a second to tell them how I felt… but ten minutes later, I wished I would have let them in… so they could answer all the questions that I had”, Michael said
“How come you never mentioned your real parents before?”, Liz asked.
“I just wanna forget about it”, Michael said, “I haven’t even told Maria”
“Well, I won’t tell her anything”, Liz said, causing Michael to flash her a smile
“Maybe I should, you know, tell her. I’m just afraid that she’ll go all… Maria… and try to track them down”
“And would that be such a bad thing?”, Liz asked
“How can I possibly face them after what I said to them?”, Michael asked softly
“Michael, I’m sure they would be very happy if you stood on their doorstep. And I think you’ll feel better when you forgive them”, Liz said
“If it’s so easy, why don’t you just forgive Max?”, Michael asked.
~~
Darkness had taken over the day about an hour ago, and yet Kyle was reluctant to get up from the bench in the park; the one near the fountain. He had come here because the fountain always made him relaxed. Just watching the water fall always gave him a good feeling. This night, he had hoped to do the same.
He arrived here a few hours ago. Since then, he discovered that watching a fountain couldn’t make him relaxed; couldn’t make him feel any better. Some part of him wanted to go to Tess and demand an explanation… another part of him wanted nothing to do with Tess anymore… and then there was the part of him that just didn’t believe it.
He spent the night trying to find a possible explanation for what he saw, but he came to the same conclusion every time; Tess was seeing someone else. Before he knew it, it became darker and darker and now he just stared to the fountain in the dim light of a lantern a few yards away.
How could he have been so naïve? Tess did the same thing to Max a few weeks ago. Did he really expect her to have changed? Did he really believe that Tess really loved him? These questions raced through his mind. He wanted to know what Tess’ answers to these questions were but he was too afraid to ask the questions; too afraid of the answers he would get.
And the day started out so good. He landed the case of the year for the company and he was looking forward to properly celebrate that with Tess. He didn’t feel so cheerful anymore… that feeling was gone.
What would Buddha say, Kyle wondered. ”Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace”, Kyle whispered aloud. Strange that resentful thoughts was all he felt right now. This was just insane… why was he still here? He had to talk to Tess about this… so why was he still sitting here?
“Hey stranger, is there room for another confused soul at the fountain?”, Kyle heard someone say from behind him. Instinctively, he jerked his head back in surprise and saw Liz standing there with a sympathetic smile.
“How’d you find me?”, Kyle asked with a small smile
“I didn’t. I like this place to think. It’s peaceful.”, Liz said as she sat down next to Kyle. “So what’s wrong, Kyle?”
“Nothing important”, Kyle said
“Yeah, because we both love to stare at a fountain late at night because of unimportant things”, Liz said sarcastically, “Come on Kyle, spill”
Kyle couldn’t help but smile at Liz approach. “Just some problems with Tess”, Kyle said
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that Kyle”, Liz softly said.
“I think she’s seeing someone else”, Kyle said
Liz smiled widely for a second before the smile disappeared again. “Come on Kyle, no way! The way she was talking to you during our dinner, she made it sound like you were superman himself… no way she’s cheating on you”, Liz said defiantly
“I saw it with my own eyes. She was having dinner with another guy and she kissed him… and not in a friend/family kind of way, if you get what I mean?”, Kyle said, trying to use a bit of humor to mask how hurt he felt at the moment.
“So, have you talked with her?”, Liz asked.
“And say what? There’s nothing she can say that will make this okay!”, Kyle said emotionally
“Just talk to her Kyle. Maybe there’s a logical explanation for what you saw”, Liz said
“There is a logical explanation for what I saw… she moved on with someone else”, Kyle said with a hint of anger in his voice.
“What would the Buddha say about that?”, Liz tried
“I don’t know”, Kyle said
“Just go to her Kyle. Talk to her and then you can flip out.”, Liz said.
Kyle sighed deeply. “Fine, I’ll talk to her”, he said, before recovering “Now tell me… what are you doing here?”
~~
In his apartment, Max was busy working in the kitchen. For some reason, the microwave wasn’t working anymore and after a lot of work, he found out that the problem was actually in the electricity outlet. So now, he was replacing that.
“Hey Max”, Isabel said from behind him
Max turned around and saw Isabel standing there. “Hey Izz”, he said back.
“Sorry to just barge in but the doorbell didn’t work”, Isabel said
“It’s okay. The doorbell’s wired to the kitchen area and I’ve shut down that group to fix this… or make it worse, who can tell?”, Max joked and took a step away from the outlet.
“I swear this thing is cursed”, Max said and pointed at the electricity outlet, “Wouldn’t it be easier if I could just wave my hand over it to fix it?”
“Well, you can wave your hand over the phone and call an electrician”, Isabel suggested.
“I did. He said he doesn’t have time until Wednesday, so I decided to fix it myself”, Max explained.
“…or make it worse”, Isabel reminded him.
“True… so to what do I owe this visit”, Max asked as he sat down at the kitchen table
“Well, I’ve been dying to tell you something all day”, Isabel said excitedly
“You’re pregnant?”, Max asked with a smile
“No, I’m pregn… how did you know?”, Isabel asked, confused, “Did Alex tell you? Because Alex and I agreed that I would tell you myself”
“No, Alex didn’t tell me”, Max said softly while smiling, “You held your hands on your belly when you said you wanted to tell me something”
“Oh, okay”, Isabel said.
“Well congratulations big sis”, Max said as he stood up and hugged Isabel. “Mommy Isabel… well it was about time”, Max said with a smile.
“Thanks… uncle Max”, Isabel mocked back.
“Well, I’m really happy for you and Alex… it is Alex’ right?”, Max asked, a smile plastered on his face.
Isabel gave him a soft punch at the chest. “Very funny. Of course it’s Alex’”
Max held his hands up in defense. “Just checking”
“So how are things going with you?”, Isabel asked.
“I’m not really sure”, Max said, “I think Liz is seeing a shrink”
“What’s so special about that. Half the town sees a shrink”, Isabel argued
“She’s seeing dr Green”, Max answered
“As in, the same shrink you’re seeing?”, Isabel asked, just a little bit amused.
“Yes and it’s not funny Isabel”, Max said, a little bit annoyed
“Oh come on Max, she’s a professional.”, Isabel said.
“Yeah, that’s what she said too. I’m just not very comfortable talking about Liz to a shrink who talks to Liz about me right after that”, Max said
“I wouldn’t worry about it. By the way, I heard your radio request for Liz”, Isabel said.
“I knew that it was her favorite station. I hope she heard it”, Max said
“Don’t worry Max. I’m sure she did”, Isabel comforted him
~~
Kyle looked at Tess apartment from across the street. He was building up the courage to step to the door and ring the doorbell. He had the nagging feeling that he was gonna get his heart broken and that made him reluctant to go. But still, he felt like he had to.
“Come on Kyle, for Buddha’s sake pull yourself together”, he said aloud. “You know everything so well when it comes to someone else, you can do this”, he encouraged himself. Finally, he sighed deeply and took a step towards Tess house when the front door suddenly opened and the same man from earlier stepped in the doorway and looked back inside.
“Come on, hurry up. We’re gonna miss the musical if we don’t go now”, he shouted inside, but in a friendly manner. Kyle then saw her appear in the doorway and the both of them walked towards the car. Kyle just stood there when she seemed to notice him. She turned her head away just as soon like she didn’t even know him.
“What did I do?”, Kyle couldn’t help but ask himself. He knew there was the whole Max/Liz issue but he figured that had nothing to do with him and Tess. But what else could there be? He didn’t know and at this point, he didn’t want to know. He took a step back and disappeared in the night.
~~
It was a little over two in the morning when the doorbell rang at Tess’ place. Tess groined as she was awakened from her sleep and decided to ignore the ring. But then the doorbell rang again and again and she decided she had no choice than to answer if she wanted to get any sleep tonight.
She walked downstairs and peeked through the window, frowning when she saw who was standing at the front door. She opened the door and began talking at that exact time.
“Jesus Christ Ava, you said no later than twelve”, Tess said as she saw an exact replica of herself enter, along with an obviously drunk man leaning on her.
“Sorry sis”, Ava said in a British accent, “You didn’t give me a key and Billy ere really needs some rest”
“That’s because you said you’d be home by twelve”, Tess said, annoyed because she wanted to sleep.
“You shoulda just come with us”, Ava said as she walked past Tess, half-carrying Billy
“Remind me why I agreed to letting you stay here”, Tess said as she yawned
“Because I’m your only sis and we aven’t seen each other in years”, Ava said
“Right… we’ll talk about this tomorrow. Go to sleep. And just so you know, noise after midnight gives me the urge to kill. You’re warned”, Tess said groggily as she dragged herself back upstairs.
“Wha is her problem?”, Ava said aloud.
"The hardest part about moving forward is not looking back"
--unknown
~~
“I heard that”, Michael said softly with a weird grin on his face
Liz looked at Michael with a confused look. “What?”, Liz asked
“Don’t act all innocent. I get enough of that from Maria”, Michael said, “You gonna take Max back?”
“Yes… no… I dunno. Can we lay off the tough questions? I have a psychologist for those”, Liz said, flashing Michael a half-smile.
“Fine. I just wanted to say that…”, Michael said, stopping to take a deep breath, “…that I understand if you decide to take him back”
Liz smiled at Michael’s comment. “I thought you hated Max”
“Liz, I never had any brothers or sisters… but I see you as a sister and I love you. What I want is for you to be happy. Whether Max is happy or miserable doesn’t interest me in the least.”, Michael said
“Oh really? What about you wanting to drown in his own barf?”, Liz said
“Well, this may come as a surprise but I didn’t like Max a lot. When I had him on the phone, I just said what I thought”, Michael explained, “Truth is, I felt really good when telling him”
“So you do care whether Max is happy or miserable”, Liz concluded
“Saying that I despised him felt good for a second, but after that it was kinda empty. Liz, take it from me, staying angry will just make you miserable”, Michael said
“How would you know?”, Liz asked
Michael hesitated for a second. “When I was sixteen, and I was living with my foster dad, my real mother and father suddenly stood on my doorstep. They said they wanted to talk to me…”, Michael said before stopping.
“So what did they want?”, Liz asked softly
“I don’t know. I told them that I hated them for leaving me with Hank and I told them to get lost”, Michael said, “I never saw them again after that”
“And now you think you should have heard them out?”, Liz asked softly
“It felt good for a second to tell them how I felt… but ten minutes later, I wished I would have let them in… so they could answer all the questions that I had”, Michael said
“How come you never mentioned your real parents before?”, Liz asked.
“I just wanna forget about it”, Michael said, “I haven’t even told Maria”
“Well, I won’t tell her anything”, Liz said, causing Michael to flash her a smile
“Maybe I should, you know, tell her. I’m just afraid that she’ll go all… Maria… and try to track them down”
“And would that be such a bad thing?”, Liz asked
“How can I possibly face them after what I said to them?”, Michael asked softly
“Michael, I’m sure they would be very happy if you stood on their doorstep. And I think you’ll feel better when you forgive them”, Liz said
“If it’s so easy, why don’t you just forgive Max?”, Michael asked.
~~
Darkness had taken over the day about an hour ago, and yet Kyle was reluctant to get up from the bench in the park; the one near the fountain. He had come here because the fountain always made him relaxed. Just watching the water fall always gave him a good feeling. This night, he had hoped to do the same.
He arrived here a few hours ago. Since then, he discovered that watching a fountain couldn’t make him relaxed; couldn’t make him feel any better. Some part of him wanted to go to Tess and demand an explanation… another part of him wanted nothing to do with Tess anymore… and then there was the part of him that just didn’t believe it.
He spent the night trying to find a possible explanation for what he saw, but he came to the same conclusion every time; Tess was seeing someone else. Before he knew it, it became darker and darker and now he just stared to the fountain in the dim light of a lantern a few yards away.
How could he have been so naïve? Tess did the same thing to Max a few weeks ago. Did he really expect her to have changed? Did he really believe that Tess really loved him? These questions raced through his mind. He wanted to know what Tess’ answers to these questions were but he was too afraid to ask the questions; too afraid of the answers he would get.
And the day started out so good. He landed the case of the year for the company and he was looking forward to properly celebrate that with Tess. He didn’t feel so cheerful anymore… that feeling was gone.
What would Buddha say, Kyle wondered. ”Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace”, Kyle whispered aloud. Strange that resentful thoughts was all he felt right now. This was just insane… why was he still here? He had to talk to Tess about this… so why was he still sitting here?
“Hey stranger, is there room for another confused soul at the fountain?”, Kyle heard someone say from behind him. Instinctively, he jerked his head back in surprise and saw Liz standing there with a sympathetic smile.
“How’d you find me?”, Kyle asked with a small smile
“I didn’t. I like this place to think. It’s peaceful.”, Liz said as she sat down next to Kyle. “So what’s wrong, Kyle?”
“Nothing important”, Kyle said
“Yeah, because we both love to stare at a fountain late at night because of unimportant things”, Liz said sarcastically, “Come on Kyle, spill”
Kyle couldn’t help but smile at Liz approach. “Just some problems with Tess”, Kyle said
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that Kyle”, Liz softly said.
“I think she’s seeing someone else”, Kyle said
Liz smiled widely for a second before the smile disappeared again. “Come on Kyle, no way! The way she was talking to you during our dinner, she made it sound like you were superman himself… no way she’s cheating on you”, Liz said defiantly
“I saw it with my own eyes. She was having dinner with another guy and she kissed him… and not in a friend/family kind of way, if you get what I mean?”, Kyle said, trying to use a bit of humor to mask how hurt he felt at the moment.
“So, have you talked with her?”, Liz asked.
“And say what? There’s nothing she can say that will make this okay!”, Kyle said emotionally
“Just talk to her Kyle. Maybe there’s a logical explanation for what you saw”, Liz said
“There is a logical explanation for what I saw… she moved on with someone else”, Kyle said with a hint of anger in his voice.
“What would the Buddha say about that?”, Liz tried
“I don’t know”, Kyle said
“Just go to her Kyle. Talk to her and then you can flip out.”, Liz said.
Kyle sighed deeply. “Fine, I’ll talk to her”, he said, before recovering “Now tell me… what are you doing here?”
~~
In his apartment, Max was busy working in the kitchen. For some reason, the microwave wasn’t working anymore and after a lot of work, he found out that the problem was actually in the electricity outlet. So now, he was replacing that.
“Hey Max”, Isabel said from behind him
Max turned around and saw Isabel standing there. “Hey Izz”, he said back.
“Sorry to just barge in but the doorbell didn’t work”, Isabel said
“It’s okay. The doorbell’s wired to the kitchen area and I’ve shut down that group to fix this… or make it worse, who can tell?”, Max joked and took a step away from the outlet.
“I swear this thing is cursed”, Max said and pointed at the electricity outlet, “Wouldn’t it be easier if I could just wave my hand over it to fix it?”
“Well, you can wave your hand over the phone and call an electrician”, Isabel suggested.
“I did. He said he doesn’t have time until Wednesday, so I decided to fix it myself”, Max explained.
“…or make it worse”, Isabel reminded him.
“True… so to what do I owe this visit”, Max asked as he sat down at the kitchen table
“Well, I’ve been dying to tell you something all day”, Isabel said excitedly
“You’re pregnant?”, Max asked with a smile
“No, I’m pregn… how did you know?”, Isabel asked, confused, “Did Alex tell you? Because Alex and I agreed that I would tell you myself”
“No, Alex didn’t tell me”, Max said softly while smiling, “You held your hands on your belly when you said you wanted to tell me something”
“Oh, okay”, Isabel said.
“Well congratulations big sis”, Max said as he stood up and hugged Isabel. “Mommy Isabel… well it was about time”, Max said with a smile.
“Thanks… uncle Max”, Isabel mocked back.
“Well, I’m really happy for you and Alex… it is Alex’ right?”, Max asked, a smile plastered on his face.
Isabel gave him a soft punch at the chest. “Very funny. Of course it’s Alex’”
Max held his hands up in defense. “Just checking”
“So how are things going with you?”, Isabel asked.
“I’m not really sure”, Max said, “I think Liz is seeing a shrink”
“What’s so special about that. Half the town sees a shrink”, Isabel argued
“She’s seeing dr Green”, Max answered
“As in, the same shrink you’re seeing?”, Isabel asked, just a little bit amused.
“Yes and it’s not funny Isabel”, Max said, a little bit annoyed
“Oh come on Max, she’s a professional.”, Isabel said.
“Yeah, that’s what she said too. I’m just not very comfortable talking about Liz to a shrink who talks to Liz about me right after that”, Max said
“I wouldn’t worry about it. By the way, I heard your radio request for Liz”, Isabel said.
“I knew that it was her favorite station. I hope she heard it”, Max said
“Don’t worry Max. I’m sure she did”, Isabel comforted him
~~
Kyle looked at Tess apartment from across the street. He was building up the courage to step to the door and ring the doorbell. He had the nagging feeling that he was gonna get his heart broken and that made him reluctant to go. But still, he felt like he had to.
“Come on Kyle, for Buddha’s sake pull yourself together”, he said aloud. “You know everything so well when it comes to someone else, you can do this”, he encouraged himself. Finally, he sighed deeply and took a step towards Tess house when the front door suddenly opened and the same man from earlier stepped in the doorway and looked back inside.
“Come on, hurry up. We’re gonna miss the musical if we don’t go now”, he shouted inside, but in a friendly manner. Kyle then saw her appear in the doorway and the both of them walked towards the car. Kyle just stood there when she seemed to notice him. She turned her head away just as soon like she didn’t even know him.
“What did I do?”, Kyle couldn’t help but ask himself. He knew there was the whole Max/Liz issue but he figured that had nothing to do with him and Tess. But what else could there be? He didn’t know and at this point, he didn’t want to know. He took a step back and disappeared in the night.
~~
It was a little over two in the morning when the doorbell rang at Tess’ place. Tess groined as she was awakened from her sleep and decided to ignore the ring. But then the doorbell rang again and again and she decided she had no choice than to answer if she wanted to get any sleep tonight.
She walked downstairs and peeked through the window, frowning when she saw who was standing at the front door. She opened the door and began talking at that exact time.
“Jesus Christ Ava, you said no later than twelve”, Tess said as she saw an exact replica of herself enter, along with an obviously drunk man leaning on her.
“Sorry sis”, Ava said in a British accent, “You didn’t give me a key and Billy ere really needs some rest”
“That’s because you said you’d be home by twelve”, Tess said, annoyed because she wanted to sleep.
“You shoulda just come with us”, Ava said as she walked past Tess, half-carrying Billy
“Remind me why I agreed to letting you stay here”, Tess said as she yawned
“Because I’m your only sis and we aven’t seen each other in years”, Ava said
“Right… we’ll talk about this tomorrow. Go to sleep. And just so you know, noise after midnight gives me the urge to kill. You’re warned”, Tess said groggily as she dragged herself back upstairs.
“Wha is her problem?”, Ava said aloud.
Episode 16
This is it. The part you’ve all been waiting for. This is the concluding part with only an epilogue left. I hope you all liked the story. I’ll post the epilogue a.s.a.p.
Happiness is not a brilliant climax to years of grim struggle and anxiety. It is a long succession of little decisions simply to be happy in the moment.
--J. Donald Walters
~~
When Michael came home from visiting Liz, he found Maria sitting at the dining table, not doing anything but looking extremely pissed.
“Uh, hi Maria”, Michael said cautiously
“Don’t give me that hi Maria crap. I waited for over an hour at the restaurant, where were you?”, Maria asked in an angry voice.
“Something came up. Liz needed a hand”, Michael said, unaware that he did anything wrong
“And you didn’t consider calling me?”, Maria asked. Michael was about to say something when Maria interrupted him. “Tell me you forgot about our dinner and you’re sleeping on the couch tonight”, Maria said in a serious, flat tone.
“I didn’t forget. I just didn’t think you’d mind”, Michael said
“Look Michael, I think it’s great that you and Liz are so close but we have got to establish some ground rules”, Maria said
“You’re not saying… you’re not thinking that….”, Michael stammered.
“No, no, I really don’t. I trust Liz and I trust you… but I don’t want to come second place here Michael... to no one”, Maria said
“Look Maria, I’m sorry if I made you feel like you come second place, but I thought you wouldn’t mind me helping Liz”, Michael said
“I don’t mind you helping Liz, but at the very least you could have called me. Look, I love Liz and I’m glad that you love her too so please don’t get it the wrong way”, Maria explained.
“Okay, I get what you mean. I’m sorry”, Michael said
Maria sighed loudly, glad to have it off her chest. “So what did you and Liz talk about anyway?”, Maria asked.
“Well, we heard Max request a song on the radio and dedicate it to Liz”, Michael said.
“He did? What song? How did he know she’d listen?”, Maria asked. Michael looked at Maria for a second. Maria’s mood just jumped from pissed off to curious in less than ten seconds.
“One question at a time Maria”, Michael said, “He requested a song from the Backstreet Boys and….”
“… let me guess, Crawling Back To You?”, Maria interrupted with a grin
Michael smiled at Maria’s comment. “Good guess”, he said in a complimenting tone. “Anyway, he probably knew that it was Liz’ favorite station and just hoped she would hear it”, Michael explained.
“So what’d she say?”, Maria asked
“Nothing much”, Michael said
“What do you mean nothing much? Was she excited about the song or was she annoyed?”, Maria asked.
“I’m not really sure. Look Maria, I wanna talk to you”, Michael said in a somewhat serious tone.
“Well, we are talking Michael”, Maria said, a little confused.
“This is about something else. You know, I told Liz something that I never told you… you know I was raised by a foster dad named Hank?”
“Yeah, thankfully I never had the displease to meet him”, Maria said, remembering the stories Michael had told about him.
“Yeah, consider yourself lucky. Well anyway… one day, my real parents are standing on my doorstep”, Michael said.
“Your real parents? I didn’t know you knew them”, Maria softly said
“I don’t. When they stood on my doorstep I told them to get lost… and I never saw them again. And I regret that I did that; I really do”, Michael said.
“Well why didn’t you tell me. If you want, I can find out who they are”, Maria told him.
“Don’t. I already told Liz to let it rest”, Michael said calmly and clearly appreciating the offer, “Just leave it.”
“Well, whatever you want….. wait a minute, you said this to Liz?”, Maria suddenly realized
“I was afraid you would make this into an issue”, Michael said cautiously, prepared for a lecture
“Well, maybe it’s for the best”, Maria sighed
“Huh, what?”, Michael said, taken aback
“This situation she’s in now, it’s not healthy. If she keeps things up like they are now, she’s gonna have a nervous breakdown within the month. At this point, any choice is a good choice”, Maria explained.
“Okay, I’m a little lost…. didn’t you hate Max?”, Michael asks
“Hey, you’re the one who told him to drown in his own barf… but you’re right, I haven’t exactly been a big Max-supporter. But in the end it’s her choice and if she thinks that there is any chance that Max can make her happy again, I encourage her to try”, Maria said
Michael stared at Maria for a second. “Okay, what have you done to Maria?”, Michael asked.
~~
The next morning at 7.30 am, the doorbell rang at Tess’ place again. “Go away”, Tess mumbled half asleep in her bed. But again, whoever was ringing the doorbell was insistent. “Alright, I’m gonna kill someone”, Tess grumbled as she rolled out of bed, quickly slipped into a pair of pants and a shirt and stumbled down the stairs for the second time this morning.
When she looked through the window again and saw Kyle standing there, her mood brightened a little… just a little. She opened the door and saw Kyle standing there with a serious look.
“Hey Kyle”, Tess said in a yawning voice
“Tess, I need to talk to you”, Kyle said seriously
“Yes, but why at seven thirty in the morning? Unemployed people don’t get up before nine”, Tess said groggily
“I’m sorry. But I’ve been awake all night thinking about it. This can’t wait”, Kyle said.
Tess sobered up quickly at the sound of Kyle’s voice. “Ok, come in”, Tess said. For some reason, the sound of his voice made her worry a little. Kyle stepped inside and Tess closed the door behind him. The both of them walked towards the living room where Tess sat down. Kyle sat down on a chair opposite to her.
“I don’t know exactly how to start, so I’m just gonna say it”, Kyle said softly, “You’re seeing someone else, aren’t you?”
“Okay Kyle, my sense of humor is still asleep so if this is your idea of a joke…”, Tess said
“So you’re telling me it’s not true?”, Kyle asked
“No! Of course it’s not! What on earth would make you say that?”, an indignant Tess shouted.
“Please Tess, please don’t lie to me”, Kyle said softly.
“Where the hell did this come from?”, Tess shouted, “You just come here and accuse me? How dare you!”
Kyle looked at Tess for a few seconds without talking. She seemed genuinely hurt by what he said. Could he have been wrong?
“Could the two o ya keep it down”, Ava said, appearing at the top of the stairs in her underwear. She didn’t seem to mind Kyle staring at her and walked down.
Kyle looked at Ava, and then at Tess, and then back to Ava. “Okay, what the hell is going on here?”, Kyle asked.
“Ey, you Tess’ boy toy Chris?”, Ava asked
“It’s Kyle… Kyle, this is my sister Ava. She’s staying with me for a few days”, Tess said
“A’right, I’m gonna go back to bed. Now, if you two could just stop shouting, that’d be bloody marvellous”, Ava said before dragging herself upstairs.
Kyle and Tess watched Ava disappear upstairs before continuing your argument. “I’m sorry Tess… I… I thought I saw you…”, Kyle stammered
Tess smiled at Kyle’s stammering. “You saw Ava with her boyfriend and you thought it was me?”, Tess said, a little hurt
“I’m sorry, but what was I supposed to think? I didn’t even know you had a twin sister”, Kyle tried to apologize.
“And you didn’t think that there could be an explanation for that?”, Tess said, trying to keep sounding angry. How could she possibly be mad at him. He didn’t know about Ava so she could understand his conclusions.
Kyle looked at the ground “I’m sorry Tess. I just… I just thought that…”, Kyle stammered until he looked up and saw Tess with a smug smile plastered on her face. “Hey!”, Kyle said.
“I just love to see you squirm”, Tess said, her smile growing bigger.
Kyle stood up and hugged Tess tightly, a wave of relief washing over him.
“Just promise me one thing”, Tess said
“Anything”, Kyle said
“Never… ever… come see me before nine in the morning”, Tess said with a smile on her face.
~~
A short while later, Max, Kyle and Jesse were working together in Max’ office.
“No time to lose people. There’s another important case waiting to be handled”, Kyle said enthusiastically.
“You’re acting all hyper, Kyle and it’s not even nine o’clock. What’s up?”, Jesse asked.
“Nothing. I’m just in a good mood. Can’t I be in a good mood?”, Kyle said defensively
“You’re not exactly a morning person, Kyle”, Max backed Jesse up
“Well, I am now. By the way, congratulations Max, Isabel told me you’re gonna become an uncle”, Kyle said, still enthusiastic
“Isabel is pregnant?”, Jesse asked, a little taken aback.
“Sorry Jesse. We knew you were hoping she’d save herself for you but…”, Kyle joked.
“No, no, I’m happy for her. I am, I am, I really am… okay, I’m working on it”, Jesse said, trying his best not to sound too disappointed.
“So how’s things going between you and Liz?”, Kyle asked Max.
“Are you trying to make us both depressive”, Max said sarcastically
“Still no word from her?”, Jesse asked
“No. I even dedicated a song for her but I’m not even sure she heard it”, Max said.
“Oh, don’t worry Max. She’ll come back to you”, Kyle reassured him
Max just looked at Kyle. “What going on with you Kyle. I haven’t seen you like this in… well, never”, Jesse asked.
“Like I said, just in a good mood”, Kyle said
“Right… well, I hope you’re right”, Max said to Kyle
~~
About an hour later, Kyle and Jesse had retreated to their own offices and Max was working alone in his office when someone knocked on his door.
“Come in”, Max said loudly
Max’ heart started racing when he saw Liz standing in the doorway. “Liz”, he said softly
“I need to talk to you Max”, Liz said, “I was wondering if I could stop by your place tonight”
“Yes, of course”, Max said hopefully.
Liz then flashed Max a small smile and walked away, closing the door behind her. Max was still breathing heavily. He glanced at the clock on the wall. “Nine thirty am? I’m gonna go insane”, Max whispered.
~~
Liz stood in front of a large light-blue front door. She didn’t hesitate and rang the doorbell. Several seconds later, Ava opened the door.
“Hi Tess, I was hoping that we could talk”, Liz said
“Sorry, but Tess ain’t ere”, Ava said
“Is this your way of saying you don’t wanna talk to me?”, Liz asked with a small, forced smile.
“No, I’m saying that miss goody goody and her boy toy are out for dinner”, Ava said
“So you’re not Tess?”, Liz said, half-expecting Tess to yell just joking any second now.
“No, I’m Ava… and you must be Lizzy”, Ava said
“It’s Liz… and you’re Tess’ sister?”, Liz asked.
“Uh huh, just in town for a few days. I heard about the whole Max-situation…. the walls here are very thin“, Ava explained, “You got that guy totally whipped Lizzy, you rock!”
“I don’t have him whipped”, Liz said in defense, “And it’s Liz”
“Oh please, he doesn’t stop calling, he constantly tells you he loves you… now if that’s not whipped, what is?”, Ava said.
“It’s all a little complicated”, Liz said
“Of course. What’s the fun if it’s not complicated? You think too much”, Ava said
“Maybe so… well anyway, I gotta go. It was nice meeting you”, Liz cut off the conversation and walked away. Until this moment, she wasn’t sure what she was gonna say to Max, but now she did. She finally did.
~~
It was a little past eight and Max was a walking bundle of nerves right about now. This was gonna be it; the moment of truth, he was sure of it. Her could hear it in her voice, she was going to make a decision tonight and whatever that decision was, it would be final.
Why did she have to come to him this morning, he wondered. She had to know this would make him crazy… this is probably just what she wanted. Maybe she wouldn’t even come.
Then, the doorbell rang and Max practically sprinted towards the front-door to open it. When he opened it, he was relieved to see Liz standing there.
“Liz…”, Max said, “Please come in”. Liz stepped inside and Max closed the door behind her.
“Max, when I told you that I wanted to talk to you… I can’t keep going like this”, Liz said softly. “I… I have to do something. Y..you said that you wanted to be my friend… did you mean that, Max?“, Liz asked.
Max looked at Liz for a second. What should he say? “I want to be more than just your friend, Liz. I want to be the guy you wake up next to. I want to be the guy you go to when you need someone to talk to. I want to be the guy who grows old with you. But I realize that you may not want all that… so yes, if you want me to be your friend, I can be your friend.’
“We… we can’t be friends”, Liz said and Max could feel a lump starting to form in his throat. “I mean, how can I be friends with someone I care about so much? It’s just not possible to just be friends with you”, Liz said. “Over the past weeks, a lot of people have given me advice on how to deal with this situation. A lot of friends and even a psycholist… and they all gave their opinions and their arguments. And then, less than an hour ago, I got the advice I needed from someone I didn’t even know. She said: you think too much… and I realized she was right. I have to go with what I feel and the only thing I know… is that I need you”, Liz softly said, looking at the floor the whole time and now looking up to see Max’ reaction.
Max had a hopeful smile on his face. “I need you too Liz”, Max said, breathing heavily.
“I know it’s gonna take time to figure everything out, but I wanna try”, Liz whispered.
”Liz… are you saying that you’ll try to forgive me?“, Max whispered
“I already did Max”, Liz said as she looked him in the eyes.
Max could possibly remain where he was anymore. He stepped forward and hugged Liz tightly. “I’m sorry Liz… I’ll never do anything to hurt you again”, Max said emotionally.
“I know you won’t”, Liz said, holding onto Max as if her life depended on it. Somehow, she knew she had made the right decision.
Happiness is not a brilliant climax to years of grim struggle and anxiety. It is a long succession of little decisions simply to be happy in the moment.
--J. Donald Walters
~~
When Michael came home from visiting Liz, he found Maria sitting at the dining table, not doing anything but looking extremely pissed.
“Uh, hi Maria”, Michael said cautiously
“Don’t give me that hi Maria crap. I waited for over an hour at the restaurant, where were you?”, Maria asked in an angry voice.
“Something came up. Liz needed a hand”, Michael said, unaware that he did anything wrong
“And you didn’t consider calling me?”, Maria asked. Michael was about to say something when Maria interrupted him. “Tell me you forgot about our dinner and you’re sleeping on the couch tonight”, Maria said in a serious, flat tone.
“I didn’t forget. I just didn’t think you’d mind”, Michael said
“Look Michael, I think it’s great that you and Liz are so close but we have got to establish some ground rules”, Maria said
“You’re not saying… you’re not thinking that….”, Michael stammered.
“No, no, I really don’t. I trust Liz and I trust you… but I don’t want to come second place here Michael... to no one”, Maria said
“Look Maria, I’m sorry if I made you feel like you come second place, but I thought you wouldn’t mind me helping Liz”, Michael said
“I don’t mind you helping Liz, but at the very least you could have called me. Look, I love Liz and I’m glad that you love her too so please don’t get it the wrong way”, Maria explained.
“Okay, I get what you mean. I’m sorry”, Michael said
Maria sighed loudly, glad to have it off her chest. “So what did you and Liz talk about anyway?”, Maria asked.
“Well, we heard Max request a song on the radio and dedicate it to Liz”, Michael said.
“He did? What song? How did he know she’d listen?”, Maria asked. Michael looked at Maria for a second. Maria’s mood just jumped from pissed off to curious in less than ten seconds.
“One question at a time Maria”, Michael said, “He requested a song from the Backstreet Boys and….”
“… let me guess, Crawling Back To You?”, Maria interrupted with a grin
Michael smiled at Maria’s comment. “Good guess”, he said in a complimenting tone. “Anyway, he probably knew that it was Liz’ favorite station and just hoped she would hear it”, Michael explained.
“So what’d she say?”, Maria asked
“Nothing much”, Michael said
“What do you mean nothing much? Was she excited about the song or was she annoyed?”, Maria asked.
“I’m not really sure. Look Maria, I wanna talk to you”, Michael said in a somewhat serious tone.
“Well, we are talking Michael”, Maria said, a little confused.
“This is about something else. You know, I told Liz something that I never told you… you know I was raised by a foster dad named Hank?”
“Yeah, thankfully I never had the displease to meet him”, Maria said, remembering the stories Michael had told about him.
“Yeah, consider yourself lucky. Well anyway… one day, my real parents are standing on my doorstep”, Michael said.
“Your real parents? I didn’t know you knew them”, Maria softly said
“I don’t. When they stood on my doorstep I told them to get lost… and I never saw them again. And I regret that I did that; I really do”, Michael said.
“Well why didn’t you tell me. If you want, I can find out who they are”, Maria told him.
“Don’t. I already told Liz to let it rest”, Michael said calmly and clearly appreciating the offer, “Just leave it.”
“Well, whatever you want….. wait a minute, you said this to Liz?”, Maria suddenly realized
“I was afraid you would make this into an issue”, Michael said cautiously, prepared for a lecture
“Well, maybe it’s for the best”, Maria sighed
“Huh, what?”, Michael said, taken aback
“This situation she’s in now, it’s not healthy. If she keeps things up like they are now, she’s gonna have a nervous breakdown within the month. At this point, any choice is a good choice”, Maria explained.
“Okay, I’m a little lost…. didn’t you hate Max?”, Michael asks
“Hey, you’re the one who told him to drown in his own barf… but you’re right, I haven’t exactly been a big Max-supporter. But in the end it’s her choice and if she thinks that there is any chance that Max can make her happy again, I encourage her to try”, Maria said
Michael stared at Maria for a second. “Okay, what have you done to Maria?”, Michael asked.
~~
The next morning at 7.30 am, the doorbell rang at Tess’ place again. “Go away”, Tess mumbled half asleep in her bed. But again, whoever was ringing the doorbell was insistent. “Alright, I’m gonna kill someone”, Tess grumbled as she rolled out of bed, quickly slipped into a pair of pants and a shirt and stumbled down the stairs for the second time this morning.
When she looked through the window again and saw Kyle standing there, her mood brightened a little… just a little. She opened the door and saw Kyle standing there with a serious look.
“Hey Kyle”, Tess said in a yawning voice
“Tess, I need to talk to you”, Kyle said seriously
“Yes, but why at seven thirty in the morning? Unemployed people don’t get up before nine”, Tess said groggily
“I’m sorry. But I’ve been awake all night thinking about it. This can’t wait”, Kyle said.
Tess sobered up quickly at the sound of Kyle’s voice. “Ok, come in”, Tess said. For some reason, the sound of his voice made her worry a little. Kyle stepped inside and Tess closed the door behind him. The both of them walked towards the living room where Tess sat down. Kyle sat down on a chair opposite to her.
“I don’t know exactly how to start, so I’m just gonna say it”, Kyle said softly, “You’re seeing someone else, aren’t you?”
“Okay Kyle, my sense of humor is still asleep so if this is your idea of a joke…”, Tess said
“So you’re telling me it’s not true?”, Kyle asked
“No! Of course it’s not! What on earth would make you say that?”, an indignant Tess shouted.
“Please Tess, please don’t lie to me”, Kyle said softly.
“Where the hell did this come from?”, Tess shouted, “You just come here and accuse me? How dare you!”
Kyle looked at Tess for a few seconds without talking. She seemed genuinely hurt by what he said. Could he have been wrong?
“Could the two o ya keep it down”, Ava said, appearing at the top of the stairs in her underwear. She didn’t seem to mind Kyle staring at her and walked down.
Kyle looked at Ava, and then at Tess, and then back to Ava. “Okay, what the hell is going on here?”, Kyle asked.
“Ey, you Tess’ boy toy Chris?”, Ava asked
“It’s Kyle… Kyle, this is my sister Ava. She’s staying with me for a few days”, Tess said
“A’right, I’m gonna go back to bed. Now, if you two could just stop shouting, that’d be bloody marvellous”, Ava said before dragging herself upstairs.
Kyle and Tess watched Ava disappear upstairs before continuing your argument. “I’m sorry Tess… I… I thought I saw you…”, Kyle stammered
Tess smiled at Kyle’s stammering. “You saw Ava with her boyfriend and you thought it was me?”, Tess said, a little hurt
“I’m sorry, but what was I supposed to think? I didn’t even know you had a twin sister”, Kyle tried to apologize.
“And you didn’t think that there could be an explanation for that?”, Tess said, trying to keep sounding angry. How could she possibly be mad at him. He didn’t know about Ava so she could understand his conclusions.
Kyle looked at the ground “I’m sorry Tess. I just… I just thought that…”, Kyle stammered until he looked up and saw Tess with a smug smile plastered on her face. “Hey!”, Kyle said.
“I just love to see you squirm”, Tess said, her smile growing bigger.
Kyle stood up and hugged Tess tightly, a wave of relief washing over him.
“Just promise me one thing”, Tess said
“Anything”, Kyle said
“Never… ever… come see me before nine in the morning”, Tess said with a smile on her face.
~~
A short while later, Max, Kyle and Jesse were working together in Max’ office.
“No time to lose people. There’s another important case waiting to be handled”, Kyle said enthusiastically.
“You’re acting all hyper, Kyle and it’s not even nine o’clock. What’s up?”, Jesse asked.
“Nothing. I’m just in a good mood. Can’t I be in a good mood?”, Kyle said defensively
“You’re not exactly a morning person, Kyle”, Max backed Jesse up
“Well, I am now. By the way, congratulations Max, Isabel told me you’re gonna become an uncle”, Kyle said, still enthusiastic
“Isabel is pregnant?”, Jesse asked, a little taken aback.
“Sorry Jesse. We knew you were hoping she’d save herself for you but…”, Kyle joked.
“No, no, I’m happy for her. I am, I am, I really am… okay, I’m working on it”, Jesse said, trying his best not to sound too disappointed.
“So how’s things going between you and Liz?”, Kyle asked Max.
“Are you trying to make us both depressive”, Max said sarcastically
“Still no word from her?”, Jesse asked
“No. I even dedicated a song for her but I’m not even sure she heard it”, Max said.
“Oh, don’t worry Max. She’ll come back to you”, Kyle reassured him
Max just looked at Kyle. “What going on with you Kyle. I haven’t seen you like this in… well, never”, Jesse asked.
“Like I said, just in a good mood”, Kyle said
“Right… well, I hope you’re right”, Max said to Kyle
~~
About an hour later, Kyle and Jesse had retreated to their own offices and Max was working alone in his office when someone knocked on his door.
“Come in”, Max said loudly
Max’ heart started racing when he saw Liz standing in the doorway. “Liz”, he said softly
“I need to talk to you Max”, Liz said, “I was wondering if I could stop by your place tonight”
“Yes, of course”, Max said hopefully.
Liz then flashed Max a small smile and walked away, closing the door behind her. Max was still breathing heavily. He glanced at the clock on the wall. “Nine thirty am? I’m gonna go insane”, Max whispered.
~~
Liz stood in front of a large light-blue front door. She didn’t hesitate and rang the doorbell. Several seconds later, Ava opened the door.
“Hi Tess, I was hoping that we could talk”, Liz said
“Sorry, but Tess ain’t ere”, Ava said
“Is this your way of saying you don’t wanna talk to me?”, Liz asked with a small, forced smile.
“No, I’m saying that miss goody goody and her boy toy are out for dinner”, Ava said
“So you’re not Tess?”, Liz said, half-expecting Tess to yell just joking any second now.
“No, I’m Ava… and you must be Lizzy”, Ava said
“It’s Liz… and you’re Tess’ sister?”, Liz asked.
“Uh huh, just in town for a few days. I heard about the whole Max-situation…. the walls here are very thin“, Ava explained, “You got that guy totally whipped Lizzy, you rock!”
“I don’t have him whipped”, Liz said in defense, “And it’s Liz”
“Oh please, he doesn’t stop calling, he constantly tells you he loves you… now if that’s not whipped, what is?”, Ava said.
“It’s all a little complicated”, Liz said
“Of course. What’s the fun if it’s not complicated? You think too much”, Ava said
“Maybe so… well anyway, I gotta go. It was nice meeting you”, Liz cut off the conversation and walked away. Until this moment, she wasn’t sure what she was gonna say to Max, but now she did. She finally did.
~~
It was a little past eight and Max was a walking bundle of nerves right about now. This was gonna be it; the moment of truth, he was sure of it. Her could hear it in her voice, she was going to make a decision tonight and whatever that decision was, it would be final.
Why did she have to come to him this morning, he wondered. She had to know this would make him crazy… this is probably just what she wanted. Maybe she wouldn’t even come.
Then, the doorbell rang and Max practically sprinted towards the front-door to open it. When he opened it, he was relieved to see Liz standing there.
“Liz…”, Max said, “Please come in”. Liz stepped inside and Max closed the door behind her.
“Max, when I told you that I wanted to talk to you… I can’t keep going like this”, Liz said softly. “I… I have to do something. Y..you said that you wanted to be my friend… did you mean that, Max?“, Liz asked.
Max looked at Liz for a second. What should he say? “I want to be more than just your friend, Liz. I want to be the guy you wake up next to. I want to be the guy you go to when you need someone to talk to. I want to be the guy who grows old with you. But I realize that you may not want all that… so yes, if you want me to be your friend, I can be your friend.’
“We… we can’t be friends”, Liz said and Max could feel a lump starting to form in his throat. “I mean, how can I be friends with someone I care about so much? It’s just not possible to just be friends with you”, Liz said. “Over the past weeks, a lot of people have given me advice on how to deal with this situation. A lot of friends and even a psycholist… and they all gave their opinions and their arguments. And then, less than an hour ago, I got the advice I needed from someone I didn’t even know. She said: you think too much… and I realized she was right. I have to go with what I feel and the only thing I know… is that I need you”, Liz softly said, looking at the floor the whole time and now looking up to see Max’ reaction.
Max had a hopeful smile on his face. “I need you too Liz”, Max said, breathing heavily.
“I know it’s gonna take time to figure everything out, but I wanna try”, Liz whispered.
”Liz… are you saying that you’ll try to forgive me?“, Max whispered
“I already did Max”, Liz said as she looked him in the eyes.
Max could possibly remain where he was anymore. He stepped forward and hugged Liz tightly. “I’m sorry Liz… I’ll never do anything to hurt you again”, Max said emotionally.
“I know you won’t”, Liz said, holding onto Max as if her life depended on it. Somehow, she knew she had made the right decision.
Epilogue
Here it is, the final chapter of A Beautiful Brain. I really hope you all loved to read this fic as much as I loved to write it. I’d like to thank you all for all the feedback you’ve given. All you lurkers, let me know what you thought of this story. I’d love to know what you all think. I’m sad that the fic has come to an end but I’ll start a new Dreamer fic soon enough. I’ll probably search the challenges for one that I like. Anyway, this part’s wise sayings come from my readers. Yes, we’re all very wise here. The poem at the end of the fic is written partially by me and partially cut from a poem I found. Have fun reading
Sometimes people do things that we just don’t understand and we are hurt by their actions
--FamersAmers
Even a person who passes on is remembered in one way or another.
--g7silvers
It's really difficult to be best friend
--begonia9508
~~
For minutes, they held each other close. For so long, they had been apart, and now they were finally back together. After everything that happened, love really did conquer all.
“Liz…”, Max said softly to Liz, “I… there is something that I want you to have”. He then guided Liz over to his bedroom where he stepped towards one of the shelves on the wall and picked up a small jewelry box. He hesitated for a second but then held the box in front of Liz. Liz took the box and slowly opened it. Her eyes watered with what she saw.
“Max? Your…. your wedding ring?”, Liz said dumbfounded. She expected Max to have gotten rid of it because it reminded him too much of her.
“Yes, I know I wanted to start over… but I couldn’t bear to let it go. I just couldn’t go on without at least the memory of your smile, your loving touch and all the times you made me feel like… whole”, he admitted, “I want you to have it, Liz”
Liz took the ring out of the box and placed it in her hand. She then looked down at her hand and stared at the golden ring. “I… I can’t… It’s your ring”, Liz pleads.
“Liz… for years, I looked at that ring and I felt sad because you weren’t with me anymore”, Max said, “But that’s different now, and I don’t want to be reminded of how I felt the past years”
Liz looked at the ring again. To Max, this ring was about pain and suffering. To Max, it represented all those years of missing her. She held her hand with the ring in front of Max’ chest and closed her hand. She then patted her fist with her other hand and then opened her fist again. Her hand was empty.
“How did y….”, Max said before he was interrupted.
“I’m prepared to let the past be the past Max… I think you should do the same”, Liz said
Max looked at Liz with love in his eyes. Very slowly, he leaned in and kissed Liz slowly but with much passion. Behind her back, Liz opened her other hand to reveal the missing ring.
~~
Seven months later --- Maria’s wedding day, ten o’clock a.m.
“Okay, I feel like I’m gonna explode”, Maria said in a panicking voice. “My hands are shaking, my legs are shaking… I can feel my head swelling”
“Maria, calm down… breathe”, Liz said. She knelt down before Maria, who was sitting down on an ugly brownish sofa, so she was face to face with her. Liz breathed in and out, looking Maria in the eyes and motioning her to follow her breathing. After a few breaths, Maria started to follow Liz breathing. “There, just breathe in and out”
“Okay, I’m calm….”, Maria said calmly before erupting again. “I’m not calm. This whole wedding is going to be a disaster. The best man and one of my bridesmaids are in the hospital, the caterer just bailed on me and don’t even get me started about the fact that my wedding dress is still in Santa Fe. My wedding is in ten hours!”
“Maria, don’t forget to keep breathing… now I’m sure we can fix all that. I’ll tell Michael to find another best man and you just gotta find a new bridesmaid. That’s not so difficult, is it?”, Liz said in a comforting tone.
“N..no, I guess not”, Maria said with a trembling voice
“And I’ll ask Max to pick up the dress in Chicago”, Liz said
“Okay… but what about the caterer. There’s no way I’m gonna find another caterer within a day”, Maria said in a panicking voice.
“I might know a solution for that”, Liz said
~~
“What? Are you kidding? In one day? I’ve only been in the business for a few months Liz and it’s not like I have an entire crew to help me cook”, Tess said in a panicking voice
“Come on, it’s for Maria. Her caterer bailed on her and she really really needs you”, Liz said in a pouting voice. “Can’t you find someone to help you?”
Tess suddenly smiled widely. “Yeah… I think I know someone who can help”, Tess said
~~
“No, no way. It ain’t happening. I refuse”, Ava said loudly. She was sitting on the couch while Tess was standing in front of her, towering over her.
Tess sat down next to Ava and put her arm around her. “Listen sis, you’ve been camped out in my guestroom for over a month now doing god-knows-what with your time… either you help me out, or you pack your bags”, Tess said in a fake nice tone and a big fake smile on her face..
Ava shoot Tess a forced smile. “Well, I don’t suppose you’re leaving me much choice…”, Ava said cautiously
“I knew you’d see it my way, now come on, we have work to do”, Tess said, standing up and dragging Ava behind her.
~~
“Max…. honey?”, Liz said playfully
“Uh-oh, when you say that, that usually means you need something”, Max said
“I’d resent that if it wasn’t true. Maria’s dress is still in Santa Fe. Could you be a dear and pick it up?”, Liz asked, smiling seductively
“That’s not fair”, Max said, giving Liz an embarrassed smile
“Oh come on, please?”, Liz said, giving Max a really sad look
Max smiled at Liz. “Well alright”, Max said
“Great”, Liz said as she put her cars keys in Max’ hands. You better get going, we need the dress her within nine hours so you’d better hurry. And remember, if the dress is damaged in any way, I won’t be able to protect you from the wrath of Maria”, Liz added quickly. She then quickly exited the apartment, leaving Max baffled.
“Okay, what just happened?”, Max asked himself aloud.
~~
Later that day, at Tess place, Tess, Ava and Kyle were hard at work preparing the food for Maria’s wedding when Liz stepped in, coming to see how everything was going.
“Hey Tess, everything on schedule?”, Liz asked
“Hey Liz… yeah, we’re gonna make it; me and my happy volunteers”, Tess laughed as she saw Ava try to dice a piece of melon and Kyle busy taking some things out of the oven.
“Hey, I got suckered in this deal”, Ava said loudly
“Yeah, me too”, Kyle said, “I’m so not meant to be in the kitchen”
“Says who?”, Liz asked
“Says all the ruined food I had to throw away so far”, Tess intervened
“Hey, Buddha says it’s the woman’s job to cook”, Kyle said
“He so did not”, Tess said
“Well, he should have said it”, Kyle defended, “You know, I’d do a better job suing the caterer who bailed on us”, Kyle tried to wiggle himself out of the situation he was in.
“Let’s just concentrate on getting the food done on time. Maria’s already close to hyperventilating, let’s not make it worse”, Liz said
“Ain’t a weddin day supposed to be a happy day?”, Ava asked
“Not if you’re a perfectionist like Maria. She wants everything to be perfect tonight”, Liz explained.
“How about some actual help here?”, Kyle asked Liz.
“I’d love to but I have another crisis to attend to that I want fixed before Maria finds out”, Liz said. “Okay, great that you all wanna help. See you all tomorrow”, Liz added before quickly exiting the apartment
“That was weird”, Tess said before noticing that both Kyle and Ava weren’t doing anything. “Come on, the food isn’t gonna prepare itself!”, Tess shouted, “Go, go, go!”
~~
“Okay, tell me exactly what happened?”, Liz asked a young woman from the local bakery.
“Well, the cake was standing in the back when someone bumped into it and it fell on the floor”, the woman explained.
“Okay… then quickly make a new one”, Liz said, “My best friend is getting married tonight so the cake has to be ready by seven p.m.”
“Sorry, but that’s just not possible”,
“What the hell is the hold-up Liz?”, Isabel asked in an annoyed and bored voice as she stepped in the store. She was obviously in the last stage of her pregnancy.
“Sorry Isabel, but they ruined the cake and they can’t make a new one in time”, Liz explained.
“Listen here little miss Donut or whatever… you better make sure we have that cake or I’m gonna get cranky”, Isabel said in a threatening voice. Liz mouthed hormones to the woman.
“Maybe I can arrange something. I’ll see what I can do”, the woman said.
“Well you better. I’m coming to pick it up at six-thirty and it better be here”, Isabel said to the woman who quickly fled to the back, “Now come on Liz, I have to pee and that caramel stench here is making me nauseous”. Liz decided to let it all pass, over the past months, she had come to realize that all the stories about pregnant women were true when it came to Isabel. So without arguing, Liz exited the bakery, feeling a little sorry for the woman who was obviously scared to death of Isabel. Well, maybe it would help to get that cake, she figured.
~~
At seven o’clock p.m, Maria and Liz were in Maria’s changing room at the hotel where the wedding would be held. Maria was sitting on a chair there, looking panicked again.
“Where the hell is my dress, and where is the wedding cake… and the rest of the food?”, Maria asked.
“Don’t worry Maria. It’ll all be here soon. Tell me, who did you choose as the replacement bridesmaid?”, Liz asked, trying to get Maria’s mind off the crisis. She wasn’t even sure that Max would make it back on time. Santa Fe was a six-hour drive and he had ten hours to make it back and forth. The math was simple.
“Well, I kinda asked Tess”, Maria said cautiously
Liz smiled at that “And to think she always used to annoy you”, Liz said
“She still annoys me but I’m a big enough person to look past that and see…”, Maria said.
“…A bridesmaid you desperately need?”, Liz asked with a smile when she saw the look on Maria’s face
“Well, she may annoy me but she’s still one of my friends”, Maria said
“A friend who’s seeing to it that the food for the wedding is made”, Liz said with a smile
“I know. Kyle called an hour ago to say that everything would be done on time”, Maria said
“Great… so why are you so worried about the food?”, Liz asked.
“Come on Liz, it is Tess we’re talking about”, Maria defended herself
“Well, if there’s anyone I trust with my food, it’s Tess”, Liz said, “She really found her calling”
“Didn’t you call her the cooking Nazi?”, Maria asked
“Yeah, great cook… but not a people person when she’s cooking”, Liz admitted.
“So you’re sure that it’ll be okay?”, Maria asked cautiously
“Absolutely”, Liz assured her.
A knock on the door ended the argument there. “Come in”, Maria said
Liz and Maria were both visibly relieved to see Max standing there with a beautiful white wedding dress in his arms. “Someone order a dress?”, he said
Maria practically ran towards Max and gently took the dress from his hands. “Thank you so much Max”, she said and laid the dress on a table on the other side of the room.
“So how’d get there so fast?”, Liz whispered to Max
“I called a buddy at the state police and asked for a favor. I spent the last hours with a Schumacher-wannabe racing at a speed of over 120mph very often. You owe me”, Max said and smiled.
“Well, you can collect your reward tonight”, Liz said with a smirk on her face and gave Max a teasing kiss on the mouth.
At that time, Isabel appeared in the doorway, sweating but with a smile on her face. She held up both thumbs to Liz which Liz took as a sign that the cake-situation was solved and then turned her attention to Max. “Max, I just talked to Michael and he wants to see you”, she said
“Don’t tell me it involves another ride to Santa Fe”, Max said
“Max, this is my knowledge of the subject… Talk. To. Michael”, Isabel said.
At the sight of Isabel’s annoyed stare, Max hurriedly exited the room. He too knew how a pregnant Isabel could get and figured he needed to not be here now. As he stepped out of the doorway, he almost crashed into Tess. Max flashed Tess a smile before leaving.
“That was weird”, Tess said to Liz, Isabel and Maria, “All right ladies, trouble averted, the food is ready”
~~
“Hey Max”, Michael said as Max stepped into his room.
“Hey Michael, Izzy told me you wanted to see me”, Max said
“Yeah… sit down Max”, Michael said. Max grabbed a chair and sat down opposite to Michael. “We’ve been through a whole lot of shit the past years. We both said a lot of things we didn’t mean…. what I’m trying to say is that I….”, Michael stammered and he sighed deeply, not knowing how to start. “I have a really good friend; Eddie and I asked him to be my best man, but he’s in the hospital now and the thing is… I kinda don’t have that many guy-friends, so feel free to laugh in my face or something but I was wondering if you…. If you would take his place.”
Wow, Max thought, he must have swallowed his pride a lot for this. “I’d be happy to, Michael”, Max said.
Michael looked visibly relieved “Thanks”
Max looked at Michael for a second. “So, you need any words of wisdom on marriage from your best man?”, Max asked.
“Yeah, I think I’ll pass”, Michael said
“Fair enough”, Max said with a smile.
~~
A few minutes later, Max saw Kyle sitting on a chair, looking exhausted. “Hey Kyle”, Max said, sitting down next to him.
“Hey Max”, Kyle said, “How was your day?”
“Eight hours of praying for my life in a fast moving car…. You?”, Max asked.
“Seven hours helping the cooking Nazi”, Kyle said
“Okay, yours is worse”, Max said
“Yeah”, Kyle sighed, “I really love her, but sometimes she’s an awful lot to take”
“I know how you feel”, Max said
“Yeah right”, Kyle said. Like Liz would ever be as difficulty as Tess.
“I actually meant my sister”, Max clarified, “So, can I ask you for some advice?”
“It’s been awhile since you needed it. It doesn’t have anything to do with cooking, right?”, Kyle asked.
Max smiled. “No… seeing Michael and Maria get married… it kinda made me think of getting married again myself”, Max said
“And you’re worried that she’s gonna say no?”, Kyle said. “I know what you mean buddy”, he added before taking a small box from his pocket. He opened it to show a beautiful ring inside the box before closing the box again and putting the box in his pocket again. “I’ve had this ring with me for days, trying to find the courage to ask her”
Max smiled at Kyle and took a similar box from his pocket. “I’ve been busy gathering courage too… for over a week now”, Max said.
“Come on Kyle, she’s gonna say yes, I’m sure of it”, Max assured him.
“Well, I think Liz is gonna say yes too if you asked her”, Kyle return the favor.
~~
After all of the recent challenges, the wedding really did seem perfect now. Maria asked that her mother would give her away, which didn’t seem so weird considering that Maria was raised by her mother since her dad had abandoned her at age four. Maria’s mother Amy had always been fond of Michael and gladly agreed.
Michael and Maria got married after that and for the entire duration of the evening, nothing would have been able to wipe the smile from both Michael’s as Maria’s face. This could in fact have been the happiest day in their lives.
After the party afterwards, Michael and Maria exited the church, waving back happily as their stepped in the limousine that would take them to the airport, from where they would start their honeymoon. As Max saw how happy they were, he knew for sure now that he wanted marry Liz again. He looked at Kyle who, by the way he was looking at Tess, was thinking the same thing.
~~
That evening, Liz and Max came home. The both of them sat down on the couch, Liz’ cheek resting on Max chest. Max built up his courage for a minute before talking.
“Liz”, Max said, “There is something, I’ve been wanting to tell you”
Liz lifted her head from Max’ chest and looked at him. “But I don’t know how to say it, so I’ve written down how I feel”, Max said and he handed Liz a piece of beautifully handwritten paper with a poem on it. Liz looked at the paper and began reading.
I'm so glad things are better and we're happy again,
And things are starting to be like they were back then.
We have so many memories that I will never forget,
This point in my life I feel as if I have my heart set.
I don't want anyone else, I just want to be with you,
You're perfect for me, just like a dream come true.
You're everything I've ever wanted and I couldn't let you go,
I love you more than life itself, more than you will ever know.
I'm sorry for all the bad I've ever put you through,
And I'd do whatever it takes to try and make it up to you.
You've put so much time, so much effort into us,
Even when I didn't deserve it, you've given me your trust.
I want to be with you until the day I die,
I see a happy future when I look into your eyes.
I just want to thank you for everything you've done,
I've never in my life with a girl had so much fun.
I've never felt so comfortable not even with my friends,
You accept me for who I am and I hope that never ends.
Everything about you I love so much I can't explain
I love your body, your spirit, your soul and your beautiful, beautiful brain
Elizabeth Parker, will you marry me?
When Liz looked up from the paper at Max, he slid off the couch and sat on one knee before the woman he loved so much. “Liz, I love you more than anything in this world. Will you marry me?”, Max asked.
Liz’ eyes twinkled and her smile got wider and wider….
~~THE END~~
Sometimes people do things that we just don’t understand and we are hurt by their actions
--FamersAmers
Even a person who passes on is remembered in one way or another.
--g7silvers
It's really difficult to be best friend
--begonia9508
~~
For minutes, they held each other close. For so long, they had been apart, and now they were finally back together. After everything that happened, love really did conquer all.
“Liz…”, Max said softly to Liz, “I… there is something that I want you to have”. He then guided Liz over to his bedroom where he stepped towards one of the shelves on the wall and picked up a small jewelry box. He hesitated for a second but then held the box in front of Liz. Liz took the box and slowly opened it. Her eyes watered with what she saw.
“Max? Your…. your wedding ring?”, Liz said dumbfounded. She expected Max to have gotten rid of it because it reminded him too much of her.
“Yes, I know I wanted to start over… but I couldn’t bear to let it go. I just couldn’t go on without at least the memory of your smile, your loving touch and all the times you made me feel like… whole”, he admitted, “I want you to have it, Liz”
Liz took the ring out of the box and placed it in her hand. She then looked down at her hand and stared at the golden ring. “I… I can’t… It’s your ring”, Liz pleads.
“Liz… for years, I looked at that ring and I felt sad because you weren’t with me anymore”, Max said, “But that’s different now, and I don’t want to be reminded of how I felt the past years”
Liz looked at the ring again. To Max, this ring was about pain and suffering. To Max, it represented all those years of missing her. She held her hand with the ring in front of Max’ chest and closed her hand. She then patted her fist with her other hand and then opened her fist again. Her hand was empty.
“How did y….”, Max said before he was interrupted.
“I’m prepared to let the past be the past Max… I think you should do the same”, Liz said
Max looked at Liz with love in his eyes. Very slowly, he leaned in and kissed Liz slowly but with much passion. Behind her back, Liz opened her other hand to reveal the missing ring.
~~
Seven months later --- Maria’s wedding day, ten o’clock a.m.
“Okay, I feel like I’m gonna explode”, Maria said in a panicking voice. “My hands are shaking, my legs are shaking… I can feel my head swelling”
“Maria, calm down… breathe”, Liz said. She knelt down before Maria, who was sitting down on an ugly brownish sofa, so she was face to face with her. Liz breathed in and out, looking Maria in the eyes and motioning her to follow her breathing. After a few breaths, Maria started to follow Liz breathing. “There, just breathe in and out”
“Okay, I’m calm….”, Maria said calmly before erupting again. “I’m not calm. This whole wedding is going to be a disaster. The best man and one of my bridesmaids are in the hospital, the caterer just bailed on me and don’t even get me started about the fact that my wedding dress is still in Santa Fe. My wedding is in ten hours!”
“Maria, don’t forget to keep breathing… now I’m sure we can fix all that. I’ll tell Michael to find another best man and you just gotta find a new bridesmaid. That’s not so difficult, is it?”, Liz said in a comforting tone.
“N..no, I guess not”, Maria said with a trembling voice
“And I’ll ask Max to pick up the dress in Chicago”, Liz said
“Okay… but what about the caterer. There’s no way I’m gonna find another caterer within a day”, Maria said in a panicking voice.
“I might know a solution for that”, Liz said
~~
“What? Are you kidding? In one day? I’ve only been in the business for a few months Liz and it’s not like I have an entire crew to help me cook”, Tess said in a panicking voice
“Come on, it’s for Maria. Her caterer bailed on her and she really really needs you”, Liz said in a pouting voice. “Can’t you find someone to help you?”
Tess suddenly smiled widely. “Yeah… I think I know someone who can help”, Tess said
~~
“No, no way. It ain’t happening. I refuse”, Ava said loudly. She was sitting on the couch while Tess was standing in front of her, towering over her.
Tess sat down next to Ava and put her arm around her. “Listen sis, you’ve been camped out in my guestroom for over a month now doing god-knows-what with your time… either you help me out, or you pack your bags”, Tess said in a fake nice tone and a big fake smile on her face..
Ava shoot Tess a forced smile. “Well, I don’t suppose you’re leaving me much choice…”, Ava said cautiously
“I knew you’d see it my way, now come on, we have work to do”, Tess said, standing up and dragging Ava behind her.
~~
“Max…. honey?”, Liz said playfully
“Uh-oh, when you say that, that usually means you need something”, Max said
“I’d resent that if it wasn’t true. Maria’s dress is still in Santa Fe. Could you be a dear and pick it up?”, Liz asked, smiling seductively
“That’s not fair”, Max said, giving Liz an embarrassed smile
“Oh come on, please?”, Liz said, giving Max a really sad look
Max smiled at Liz. “Well alright”, Max said
“Great”, Liz said as she put her cars keys in Max’ hands. You better get going, we need the dress her within nine hours so you’d better hurry. And remember, if the dress is damaged in any way, I won’t be able to protect you from the wrath of Maria”, Liz added quickly. She then quickly exited the apartment, leaving Max baffled.
“Okay, what just happened?”, Max asked himself aloud.
~~
Later that day, at Tess place, Tess, Ava and Kyle were hard at work preparing the food for Maria’s wedding when Liz stepped in, coming to see how everything was going.
“Hey Tess, everything on schedule?”, Liz asked
“Hey Liz… yeah, we’re gonna make it; me and my happy volunteers”, Tess laughed as she saw Ava try to dice a piece of melon and Kyle busy taking some things out of the oven.
“Hey, I got suckered in this deal”, Ava said loudly
“Yeah, me too”, Kyle said, “I’m so not meant to be in the kitchen”
“Says who?”, Liz asked
“Says all the ruined food I had to throw away so far”, Tess intervened
“Hey, Buddha says it’s the woman’s job to cook”, Kyle said
“He so did not”, Tess said
“Well, he should have said it”, Kyle defended, “You know, I’d do a better job suing the caterer who bailed on us”, Kyle tried to wiggle himself out of the situation he was in.
“Let’s just concentrate on getting the food done on time. Maria’s already close to hyperventilating, let’s not make it worse”, Liz said
“Ain’t a weddin day supposed to be a happy day?”, Ava asked
“Not if you’re a perfectionist like Maria. She wants everything to be perfect tonight”, Liz explained.
“How about some actual help here?”, Kyle asked Liz.
“I’d love to but I have another crisis to attend to that I want fixed before Maria finds out”, Liz said. “Okay, great that you all wanna help. See you all tomorrow”, Liz added before quickly exiting the apartment
“That was weird”, Tess said before noticing that both Kyle and Ava weren’t doing anything. “Come on, the food isn’t gonna prepare itself!”, Tess shouted, “Go, go, go!”
~~
“Okay, tell me exactly what happened?”, Liz asked a young woman from the local bakery.
“Well, the cake was standing in the back when someone bumped into it and it fell on the floor”, the woman explained.
“Okay… then quickly make a new one”, Liz said, “My best friend is getting married tonight so the cake has to be ready by seven p.m.”
“Sorry, but that’s just not possible”,
“What the hell is the hold-up Liz?”, Isabel asked in an annoyed and bored voice as she stepped in the store. She was obviously in the last stage of her pregnancy.
“Sorry Isabel, but they ruined the cake and they can’t make a new one in time”, Liz explained.
“Listen here little miss Donut or whatever… you better make sure we have that cake or I’m gonna get cranky”, Isabel said in a threatening voice. Liz mouthed hormones to the woman.
“Maybe I can arrange something. I’ll see what I can do”, the woman said.
“Well you better. I’m coming to pick it up at six-thirty and it better be here”, Isabel said to the woman who quickly fled to the back, “Now come on Liz, I have to pee and that caramel stench here is making me nauseous”. Liz decided to let it all pass, over the past months, she had come to realize that all the stories about pregnant women were true when it came to Isabel. So without arguing, Liz exited the bakery, feeling a little sorry for the woman who was obviously scared to death of Isabel. Well, maybe it would help to get that cake, she figured.
~~
At seven o’clock p.m, Maria and Liz were in Maria’s changing room at the hotel where the wedding would be held. Maria was sitting on a chair there, looking panicked again.
“Where the hell is my dress, and where is the wedding cake… and the rest of the food?”, Maria asked.
“Don’t worry Maria. It’ll all be here soon. Tell me, who did you choose as the replacement bridesmaid?”, Liz asked, trying to get Maria’s mind off the crisis. She wasn’t even sure that Max would make it back on time. Santa Fe was a six-hour drive and he had ten hours to make it back and forth. The math was simple.
“Well, I kinda asked Tess”, Maria said cautiously
Liz smiled at that “And to think she always used to annoy you”, Liz said
“She still annoys me but I’m a big enough person to look past that and see…”, Maria said.
“…A bridesmaid you desperately need?”, Liz asked with a smile when she saw the look on Maria’s face
“Well, she may annoy me but she’s still one of my friends”, Maria said
“A friend who’s seeing to it that the food for the wedding is made”, Liz said with a smile
“I know. Kyle called an hour ago to say that everything would be done on time”, Maria said
“Great… so why are you so worried about the food?”, Liz asked.
“Come on Liz, it is Tess we’re talking about”, Maria defended herself
“Well, if there’s anyone I trust with my food, it’s Tess”, Liz said, “She really found her calling”
“Didn’t you call her the cooking Nazi?”, Maria asked
“Yeah, great cook… but not a people person when she’s cooking”, Liz admitted.
“So you’re sure that it’ll be okay?”, Maria asked cautiously
“Absolutely”, Liz assured her.
A knock on the door ended the argument there. “Come in”, Maria said
Liz and Maria were both visibly relieved to see Max standing there with a beautiful white wedding dress in his arms. “Someone order a dress?”, he said
Maria practically ran towards Max and gently took the dress from his hands. “Thank you so much Max”, she said and laid the dress on a table on the other side of the room.
“So how’d get there so fast?”, Liz whispered to Max
“I called a buddy at the state police and asked for a favor. I spent the last hours with a Schumacher-wannabe racing at a speed of over 120mph very often. You owe me”, Max said and smiled.
“Well, you can collect your reward tonight”, Liz said with a smirk on her face and gave Max a teasing kiss on the mouth.
At that time, Isabel appeared in the doorway, sweating but with a smile on her face. She held up both thumbs to Liz which Liz took as a sign that the cake-situation was solved and then turned her attention to Max. “Max, I just talked to Michael and he wants to see you”, she said
“Don’t tell me it involves another ride to Santa Fe”, Max said
“Max, this is my knowledge of the subject… Talk. To. Michael”, Isabel said.
At the sight of Isabel’s annoyed stare, Max hurriedly exited the room. He too knew how a pregnant Isabel could get and figured he needed to not be here now. As he stepped out of the doorway, he almost crashed into Tess. Max flashed Tess a smile before leaving.
“That was weird”, Tess said to Liz, Isabel and Maria, “All right ladies, trouble averted, the food is ready”
~~
“Hey Max”, Michael said as Max stepped into his room.
“Hey Michael, Izzy told me you wanted to see me”, Max said
“Yeah… sit down Max”, Michael said. Max grabbed a chair and sat down opposite to Michael. “We’ve been through a whole lot of shit the past years. We both said a lot of things we didn’t mean…. what I’m trying to say is that I….”, Michael stammered and he sighed deeply, not knowing how to start. “I have a really good friend; Eddie and I asked him to be my best man, but he’s in the hospital now and the thing is… I kinda don’t have that many guy-friends, so feel free to laugh in my face or something but I was wondering if you…. If you would take his place.”
Wow, Max thought, he must have swallowed his pride a lot for this. “I’d be happy to, Michael”, Max said.
Michael looked visibly relieved “Thanks”
Max looked at Michael for a second. “So, you need any words of wisdom on marriage from your best man?”, Max asked.
“Yeah, I think I’ll pass”, Michael said
“Fair enough”, Max said with a smile.
~~
A few minutes later, Max saw Kyle sitting on a chair, looking exhausted. “Hey Kyle”, Max said, sitting down next to him.
“Hey Max”, Kyle said, “How was your day?”
“Eight hours of praying for my life in a fast moving car…. You?”, Max asked.
“Seven hours helping the cooking Nazi”, Kyle said
“Okay, yours is worse”, Max said
“Yeah”, Kyle sighed, “I really love her, but sometimes she’s an awful lot to take”
“I know how you feel”, Max said
“Yeah right”, Kyle said. Like Liz would ever be as difficulty as Tess.
“I actually meant my sister”, Max clarified, “So, can I ask you for some advice?”
“It’s been awhile since you needed it. It doesn’t have anything to do with cooking, right?”, Kyle asked.
Max smiled. “No… seeing Michael and Maria get married… it kinda made me think of getting married again myself”, Max said
“And you’re worried that she’s gonna say no?”, Kyle said. “I know what you mean buddy”, he added before taking a small box from his pocket. He opened it to show a beautiful ring inside the box before closing the box again and putting the box in his pocket again. “I’ve had this ring with me for days, trying to find the courage to ask her”
Max smiled at Kyle and took a similar box from his pocket. “I’ve been busy gathering courage too… for over a week now”, Max said.
“Come on Kyle, she’s gonna say yes, I’m sure of it”, Max assured him.
“Well, I think Liz is gonna say yes too if you asked her”, Kyle return the favor.
~~
After all of the recent challenges, the wedding really did seem perfect now. Maria asked that her mother would give her away, which didn’t seem so weird considering that Maria was raised by her mother since her dad had abandoned her at age four. Maria’s mother Amy had always been fond of Michael and gladly agreed.
Michael and Maria got married after that and for the entire duration of the evening, nothing would have been able to wipe the smile from both Michael’s as Maria’s face. This could in fact have been the happiest day in their lives.
After the party afterwards, Michael and Maria exited the church, waving back happily as their stepped in the limousine that would take them to the airport, from where they would start their honeymoon. As Max saw how happy they were, he knew for sure now that he wanted marry Liz again. He looked at Kyle who, by the way he was looking at Tess, was thinking the same thing.
~~
That evening, Liz and Max came home. The both of them sat down on the couch, Liz’ cheek resting on Max chest. Max built up his courage for a minute before talking.
“Liz”, Max said, “There is something, I’ve been wanting to tell you”
Liz lifted her head from Max’ chest and looked at him. “But I don’t know how to say it, so I’ve written down how I feel”, Max said and he handed Liz a piece of beautifully handwritten paper with a poem on it. Liz looked at the paper and began reading.
I'm so glad things are better and we're happy again,
And things are starting to be like they were back then.
We have so many memories that I will never forget,
This point in my life I feel as if I have my heart set.
I don't want anyone else, I just want to be with you,
You're perfect for me, just like a dream come true.
You're everything I've ever wanted and I couldn't let you go,
I love you more than life itself, more than you will ever know.
I'm sorry for all the bad I've ever put you through,
And I'd do whatever it takes to try and make it up to you.
You've put so much time, so much effort into us,
Even when I didn't deserve it, you've given me your trust.
I want to be with you until the day I die,
I see a happy future when I look into your eyes.
I just want to thank you for everything you've done,
I've never in my life with a girl had so much fun.
I've never felt so comfortable not even with my friends,
You accept me for who I am and I hope that never ends.
Everything about you I love so much I can't explain
I love your body, your spirit, your soul and your beautiful, beautiful brain
Elizabeth Parker, will you marry me?
When Liz looked up from the paper at Max, he slid off the couch and sat on one knee before the woman he loved so much. “Liz, I love you more than anything in this world. Will you marry me?”, Max asked.
Liz’ eyes twinkled and her smile got wider and wider….
~~THE END~~