Roswell Fanatics

Hello gentle readers. A lot of concern for Kyle's wellbeing I see. Well, as a lamptrimmer, I can pretty much guarantee that he'll live through the day. Now as to why he didn't kill officer Jackass (I'll use the nickname too), that will of course be explained later. Well, I'll cut the rest of the longwinded speech and leave you with the new part. Enjoy and let me know what you think. Yes mister lurker... you too.

Thanks to:
Sternbetrachter
Aura Guerin
touched by an alian
ShatteredDreamer
urpersonaloddball
Maxsgurl
RASaero611
Gretita
loviedovie
tequathisy
imnotlc
tabata

Part 11:

"So tell me Liz… are we both totally insane?", Maria asked as she and Liz both applied some makeup in front of Maria's bedroom mirror.

"Oh totally. I mean, I agreed to go out with someone who doesn't even know my name", Liz said, a little amazed at herself.

"Yeah, I can't believe you didn't tell him that", Maria said with a laugh

"Well, I was just a little surprised. It came so sudden", Liz said seriously

"Sudden? Liz Liz Liz….", Maria said, shaking her head in disbelief, "…you're so in denial. It's cute, really"

"Okay, maybe it wasn't all that sudden…", Liz started

"A blind man could have seen it coming", Maria interrupted

"I'm just not sure I did the right thing here. I'm still married, Maria", Liz said, as she sighed and sat herself down on the edge of Maria's bed. "But on the other hand, he said he just wanted to be my friend. That’s ok, right?"

"Jeez Liz, everybody has the right to be ignorant but you're just abusing it. When a guy says he wants to be your friend and then asks you out, there's three possibilities. One, he's hoping that he can get in your pants by pretending to be just a friend. Two, he's gay. Or three, he's married... no wait, scrape that last one… the married ones also want to get in your pants", Maria rambled.

"Believe me Maria, I'm well aware of how married men think", Liz said

"Sorry", Maria said softly

"So did you and Michael talk after the whole Tess-thing?", Liz asked, trying to change the subject by referring to Michael more or less blaming Liz and Maria for Tess' accident.

"Yeah, we uh… talked", Maria said with a smile

"Talked huh? You sure you don't mean kissed?", Liz asked innocently, which earned her a push from Maria.

"I wasn't… kissing him", Maria said unconvincingly

"You were just whispering in his mouth?", Liz asked with a smile

Instead of a second, much harder, push she expected to get, Liz saw a big smile form on Maria's face. "I felt like he was sucking the life out of my body… and the weird thing was that it felt really good", Maria said, "Does that make any sense?"

"No…", Liz admitted, "…but I have to admit it doesn't sound all that bad"

"You never had that with Brad? Not even when you two got together?", Maria asked

"No, and if you don't mind, I'd like to leave it at that. I'm having dinner with Max and the last thing I want is to have that lying, cheating husband of mine on my mind all evening", Liz said

"Fair enough... but he does look really cute in that pink apron", Maria said, smiling at the thought of Brad cleaning with a pink apron around his waist.

Maria was caught off guard when a pillow collided with her head, causing the lipstick she was using on her lips to smear all over her face. "What?", Maria asked with a confused voice

~~

"For heaven's sake Michael, sit down", Max practically begged Michael as he walked around in the living room, annoying the hell out of Max. Max, in turn, was doing his best to stay calm himselfbut Michael's attitude was not helping.

"Don't you feel it, Max?", Michael asked but he didn't stop walking for a second

"If you're referring to the fact that I've never felt this nervous before in my life, then yeah, I feel it… and you’re nervous behavious is not helping", Max said

"I still can't believe I'm this nervous. I've gone out with girls before. There's just something about her… something… I don't know", Michael stammered

"Yeah, she's definitely something special. I don't know what it is… I mean, she's beautiful but… it's more than that", Max said, lost in thought

"You better not be talking about Maria", Michael said as he finally halted and looked at Max.

"No, I'm talking about…. ", Max said when he realized he still didn't know the girl's name

Michael forgot his own nervousness for a second and smiled at Max’ puzzled expresison. "Max Evans, going out with a girl he asked out only a few hours after he operated one of her friends, and he doesn't even know her name… oh how the mighty have fallen", Michael mocked

"Look who's talking", Max said indignantly

"I know my date's name", Michael said triumphantly

"Oh really?", Max asked, "Then why don't you tell me her last name?"

It was silent for a few seconds as Michael's brain worked overtime. Damn, he actually didn't know that little piece of information. "Okay, so I may not know that, but at least I know her first name. When I come to her front door, I can say hi Maria, you look lovely whereas you can say hi Lady-Whose-Name-I-Don't-Know, you look lovely"

"Yeah fine, rub it in", Max replied with a sigh

"So what time is it?", Michael asked, beginning to pace around nervously again

"Exactly… two minutes after the last time you asked", Max replied

~~

A loud ring echoed through Isabel's house as Alex rang the doorbell. "It's open. Please come in", he heard Isabel shout inside the house, probably from upstairs. Alex opened the door and carefully stepped inside.

Alex looked around and was stunned by the amount of art that resided in the rather large house. He was a bit of an art geek himself, so he couldn't help but admire the paintings Isabel had on the walls. Looking more closely, he noticed that several paintings were signed by an artist named Ava. He then spotted one with Rembrandt's signature on it.

"That one is a replica", Isabel said as she walked down the stairs.

Alex looked her way and gaped in awe. Isabel had dressed herself in a beautiful red dress that made her look even more beautiful than Alex imagined.

"I see that you like my dress", Isabel said with a smile as she reached the bottom of the stairs and noticed Alex' open mouth.

Alex quickly realized what he was doing and quickly closed his mouth and tried to change the subject. "I was just admiring your artwork... I mean, your paintings. You got some nice ones… paintings, that is", Alex babbled.

Isabel smiled widely at Alex' babbling. He sure seemed cute when he was nervous, and she never saw anyone as nervous as this before. "You know much about art?", Isabel asked

"Not really. I know more about music… The man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils", Alex said in a distinguished voice

"Quoting Shakespeare… impressive", Isabel answered

Now it was Alex' turn to be impressed. She knew the quote. Clearly, there was more to Isabel than meets the eye… and that was already a lot. "Wow… I guess it’s my turn to be impressed", he just said before he forced himself to look at the paintings again. He felt he couldn't be caught gawking a second time. "So are all the paintings replicas?", Alex asked

"No, just the Rembrandt you just saw and the Van Gogh over there", Isabel said as she pointed to a wall on the other side of the room.

"And what about all the Ava paintings?", Alex asked, "I have to admit I haven't heard of him but his work is very good"

"Actually, it's not a he, it's a she. And she is actually a writer who likes to paint as a hobby", Isabel lectured. "So do you like what you see?", Isabel asked with a seductive smile, causing Alex to focus on her again.

"I think the appropriate response would be gulp", Alex said

"Well, how about we get going… unless you want to look at my art some more", Isabel asked

"I think I've seen all the art my heart can take", Alex said as he looked directly at Isabel. He then walked towards the front door and held it open for her. "Milady"

~~

When Liz opens the front door, she stared right into Max Evans' beautiful eyes. "Hi", he said shyly which didn't go at all with his confident posture and stylish Armani suit.

"Well, hi to you too", Liz replied with a smile

"You look… wow", Max said as he took in Liz' elegant dress. The dress left the arms bare and showed only the slightest hint of cleavage. The dress was about knee-length and it was black with a little bit of crimson in it. She looked simply divine in it.

"Shall we go?", Liz asked

"Wait. I have one question before we go…", Max said, not pulling his eyes away from the beautiful creature that stood in front of him for even a fraction of a second.

"Liz… Liz Parker", she said as if she could read his mind

Max just stood there for a second with a smile on his face. "Liz", he said softly.

"That's me", Liz said with a smile. As Max stepped aside and made a gentlemanly gesture for her to follow him

About ten minutes later, Liz and Max stepped into Max' favorite restaurant DeLuca's. As soon as they stepped in, Max and Liz saw Maria and Michael sitting at a table at the far right. maria and Michael saw Liz and Max too. The look Maria gave to Liz was clear. It was the don't you even think about joining us-look. Michael seemed to give Max the same kind of look. Liz smiled when she noticed how incredibly alike Michael and Maria looked at this moment.

"I think they might kill us if we come any closer", Liz said softly

"I guess you're right", Max said as he guided Liz' over to a table on the other side of the restaurant. "I hope you're a non-smoker because this place doesn't have a smoking section"

"No, I don't smoke and I don't think it's a bad thing that there's no smoking section. I mean, a smoking section in a restaurant is like a peeing section in a swimming pool; it's just gross", Liz answered.

Max smiled widely at that comment as he pulled a chair out for Liz to sit on. After Liz sat down, he walked around the small table and sat opposite to her. Almost immediately, a waiter appeared at their table. "Good evening sir… miss Parker", he said as he nodded to both of them, "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"I'll have a '63 Lafitte", Liz said.

"…I'll have the same", Max said, surprised at Liz' apparent knowledge of wines. The waiter wrote a few lines on his small notepad and walked back to the bar to get their drinks.

"You must come here a lot for the waiters to know your name", Max said

"It's not that. It's more the fact that I can have him fired", Liz said with a smile

"You know the owner or something?", Max asked confused

"Yeah, I do. In fact, I am one of the owners", Liz replied with a smile as Max gave her a surprised look. "What? You think every wife sits at home all day to wash her husband's dirty socks?", Liz asked

"No no, of course not… it's just, most restaurant owners tend to be a little… older", Max tried to explain.

"Well, I'm more of a silent partner anyway…", Liz said, "…Maria's the one who's actually in charge here", Liz said as the waiter returned with two glasses of the wine they ordered.

"Here, you go ma'am… sir", he said as he placed the drinks in front of Liz and Max. He then handed both Liz and Max a menu and walked off again.

"Well, you're certainly a woman of many talents. What else don't I know about you?", Max asked

"Oh, I wouldn't wanna scare you", Liz said with an evil grin

"Frighten me”, Max challenged

“Well, I have a black belt in karate... so consider yourself warned”, Liz said with a smile

“What? You? No way!”, Max couldn’t help but say

“Yes way!”, Liz countered, “Now you tell me something I don’t know”

“You can’t sneeze with your eyes closed”, Max replied dryly

“Okay… I really didn’t know that. Anything else?”, Liz asked, trying not to let it show that caught her a little off guard with that remark.

“Women blink twice as much as men”, Max replied again, only this time, a smile broke through his expression.

“… about you, funnyman”, Liz quickly added, “Tell me something that no one else knows”

“Well, I… you’re not gonna tell anyone, right?”, Max asked. “Alright…”, he said when Liz nodded in agreement, “One of my hobbies is to read those romantic novels”

“You mean the ones that men view as quote-unquote women’s novels?”, Liz asked with a smile

“If Michael ever found out, he’s gonna throw it in my face for the rest of the year and probably even longer”, Max said, trying to sound serious but failing miserably.

“Well, your secret’s safe with me, Max”, Liz said with a laugh

~~

Meanwhile, at the other side of the restaurant…

"Oh please, you can't seriously tell me that you actually believe all that feministic crap", Michael said, keeping his voice at a surprisingly calm level.

“Hey, just because I say and do things that make me different from a doormat doesn’t automatically make me a feminist”, Maria defended

“You think women are better than men. It doesn’t get more feministic than that”, Michael said

“Men act really strange, but I can give you a few pointers”, Maria suggested with a grin on her face

“You’re enjoying this way too much… but I’m curious. Enlighten me”, Michael said with a grin

“Alright Michael, first of all, you gotta realize that women are to be handled with care. We’re like a cellphone. We like you to hold us close and talk to us, but if you push the wrong button we’ll break the connection”, Maria started

Michael’s having a hard time not to burst in laughter but he manages to restrain himself. “Alright, I understand… women like to talk and they’re easily offended”, Michael repeated in summary.

“That’s… that’s not what I said. Can’t you go two minutes without twisting my words?”, Maria said in shock

“Can’t you go two minutes without giving me the men are pigs routine. It’s not exactly the stuff dream dates are made of”, Michael responded

“Hey, I’m just saying it as it is”, Maria said

“Well, if all men are such pigs… why did you agree to go out with me?”, Michael asked, a grin spreading over his face as Maria failed to come up with an answer. He then turned serious again, "Let me rephrase that... do you want me to leave?"

"No... I'm sorry", Maria responded in a soft tone

"Let's start over again okay... why don't you tell me what you do for a living", Michael asked, flashing Maria a warm smile and waiting for her to tell about herself.

TBC
DATES CONTINUE IN THE NEXT PART

Hi all. Like my AN stated, only a small part this time. I doubt there will be updates before september first, but you’ll never know. I’ll try to make it up after that. A lot of people have asked about Michael and Maria’s kiss… yes, it was pretty evil of me to say that they kissed but not write that actual scene. Maybe I’ll write a flashback later; you’ll never know. Anyway, enjoy and tell me what you think of it; I live for feedback

D2Tymes wrote:What’s the story on Maria and Isabelle besides bad dates?

Have any of the others been married beside Liz?

Is Liz the only silent partner in the restaurant?

Liz is the only one who has been married and is the only silent partner in the restaurant. As for Maria and Isabel's rage... that will be explained in time but for now, let's just say their reasons to hate men are completely different .

Maxsgurl wrote:Just a side note...I think you got the data wrong...its impossible to sneeze with your eyes open...its a natural reaction to close them.

Damn, you're right. See I knew that and still I write it wrong. I blame it on the English language

RTds9fan wrote:Oh and about Michael's Mad Cow disease joke? I had to go get a rag to clean the coke off my monitar after I spit it out in laughter

Maybe I should put a warning in the header: Do not drink anything while reading this fic. It may be hazardous for your monitor....

Part 12:

As he slowly opened his eyes, the bright lights in the room hurt his eyes. There was also a slight feeling of nausea and a dull pain in his stomach. It took a few seconds to realize where he was and what happened. "Nghh", Kyle groaned when he remembered exactly what happened. Jackson engaged him with a knife and Kyle did nothing to stop him. Jackson told him that he was too weak to use his gun and as it seemed now, he had been right.

"Are you feeling alright?", a voice echoed in his head. A beautiful voice, like and angel's; a voice he'd always recognize. Disoriented, he tried to take in his surroundings. He lied in a standard hospital bed in a large ward with only one other patient in the room who sat up straight in her bed, her laptop in her lap; Tess. Jackson had been right about another thing too; Kyle had been very much interested in Tess since the first time they met, but since she was already with Jackson, he never acted on it.

"As well as can be expected", Kyle said, when he finally realized Tess was waiting for an answer

"You scared the living shit out of me Kyle. What happened?", Tess asked in a concerned voice and all Kyle could think about was the fact that she sounded genuinely concerned for him. Don't kid yourself, Valenti, he silently scolded himself, She's just being polite

"Nothing I really care to talk about", Kyle said softly

"Did Peter do this to you?", he heard Tess ask. She tried to sound calm but Kyle could hear she was upset nonetheless.

"Yes", he whispered as if it would sound better if he didn't say it out loud, "I… I… I don't wanna talk about it", Kyle sadly said. How could he tell her that he had the chance to end everything but he was too weak to actually do it. If there was one thing Kyle hated, it was being viewed as weak.

"Okay… if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I'm glad you're doing well", Tess said in a friendly voice and turned her attention back to her laptop. She wanted to strike up a conversation with Kyle but every topic she could think of would ultimately come down to Peter Jackson again. God, she hated him even more than she ever thought she was capable of and the knowledge that he had been her boyfriend for almost two and a half months sent shivers through her spine.

Kyle was equally frustrated. Lying in a room right next to the girl he had been fantasizing about for months almost made him feel like he was lucky despite him almost being killed and all. He decided to tell her the truth anyway because, he figured, she would find out what happened anyway. "He came to my house…", Kyle started and he saw that Tess' attention was on him again. "… he had a knife so I pointed my gun at him and told him to drop the knife… but he didn't do that; he attacked me and I couldn't shoot him… I just couldn't", Kyle said softly

"I really respect that about you, Kyle", Tess said, her expression indicating that she was dead serious

"What?", Kyle asked her in a confused voice

~~

"What? You can't be friggin serious?", Alex said loudly and then quickly shut up as he realized several people were staring at him.

"Yes, I'm serious", Isabel answered, "But understand this one thing Alex… if Maria ever finds out that I told you this, she is going to kill me… but not before I kill you. Understand?", Isabel said. "I don't even understand why I told you. I'm serious Alex, please keep your mouth shut to her about this", Isabel added to make sure Alex understood that Isabel was very serious about this.

"It's not exactly something I expected from someone like Maria, especially with all the death-to-all-men comments she keeps throwing around", Alex said softly

"I guess she's just frustrated", Isabel said. "Now can we please talk about something else? What are your hobbies, besides art and music?", she asked

"Well, in my free time, I like to go fishing every now and then", Alex said

"Really? I've never been very fond of fishing. The line between fishing and standing on the shore like a moron is just too thin for me", Isabel replied with a smile

"So what about you? Any hobbies besides art and making adult videos of your friend's husband?", Alex said, soft enough so no one else in the restaurant heard it.

"No, not really... does that make me boring?", Isabel asked

"Of all the words I can think of to describe you, boring is definitely not one of them", Alex said, "But I have a better question... what's with all the we-hate-men stuff going around? I mean, the first night I was actually afraid that I would wake up with my balls cut off or something"

"Well, we all had a lot of bad experiences", Isabel tried to explain but she didn't know exactly how to say it

"Hey..”, Alex said, holding his hand in a stop-position, “I've had bad experiences too... in college, the girl I had a crush on literally laughed in my face when I asked her out, but I'm not on a holy crusade to rid the world of all women", Alex replied

"Aaaw, she laughed at you?", Isabel sadly replied

"In front of half the school", Alex added, making Isabel put her hand before her mouth to cover the small smile that was forming on her face. Alex' expression was just so priceless that she couldn't help herself.

“Are you laughing at me?”, Alex asked in a half-amuzed voice

~~

"You?!", Michael shouted in disbelief. Almost immediately, he realized that for the second time this evening, several heads were turning his way so he quickly lowered his voice. "You?!", he whispered, still sounding surprised.

"Me", Maria just said calmly.

Michael grinned at Maria. "You're fuckin with me, right?", he asked while smiling

"Not at the moment I’m not", Maria said

"Alright, let me get this clear… you own this restaurant?,", Michael asked again.

"You know Michael, at this particular moment I'm seeing a big similarity between you and a dolphin", Maria spat out. She didn't know exactly why, but she was starting to get upset. Why didn't he he find it so hard to believe? Did he think so low of her that she wouldn't be able to be succesfull?

"Me and a dolphin?", Michael asked not sensing the fact that Maria was starting to get pissed off.

"Yes, it's rumoured that you're intelligent but there's just no proof to support it", Maria said

"Funny...", Michael said dryly

"No, funny would be me asking: how many men you need to screw a lightbulb", Maria replied just as dry

"Which would be…?”, Michael asked

“One. Men can screw anything”, Maria said with a smile, already forgetting about the fact that she was getting upset.

“So how long were you waiting to say that?”, Michael asked, obviously close to laughing

“About ten minutes”, Maria admitted

“Wow. Gotta admire your restraint”, Michael laughed, “So… can you take it as well as you dish it out?”, Michael asked with a smirk

“What do you mean?”, Maria asked innocently

TBC

Hi all, did you miss me? The work thing finally calmed down a bit and I had the whole weekend to read and write fic. Now, I probably could have made this chapter bigger but I’m one of those stupid writers who starts a new fic when they’re already in over their head, but what can I say… I got inspired. After you read this, try that one too. It’s called Breath Of The Dying and it’s at the XO board. It’s my first XO fic ever. Well, have fun reading this part and let me know what you think of it.

RTds9fan wrote: How did she find out Kyle was hurt? Maybe there is a story there?

Well, Kyle and Tess are both Max' patients. It makes sense that they share the same room.

tequathisy wrote:What on earth did Maria do that Alex finds so hard to believe? Is she married as well or something? It's got to have something to do with men.

Maria's secret will be revealed in time, but I can say that she's not married. And yes, it has something to do with men. That's all I'm gonna say about that. I will explain the kissing part later

Part 13:

"How can you say that you respect that?", Kyle asked, more sarcastic than anything else. He looked at it from every possible angle, but in the end he always came to the same conclusion; he wasn't strong enough to pull the trigger and Jackson knew it.

"How I can say that?", Tess asked incredulously. He was one of the rare kind of guys who actually had feelings; the kind that had a problem with killing people and beating people up. How could he not understand that?

"Look Tess… I am a police officer", Kyle said loudly, straining his voice but he didn't care, "My job is to protect people. For god's sake look at me. I can't even protect myself", Kyle continued.

"Kyle, can you stop thinking like a caveman for a second? Are you saying that you would feel better now if you actually had killed him?", Tess asked as she looked at him intently, hoping for a ‘no’.

Kyle silently repeated the question to himself: Would he feel better if he had killed him? No… No matter how much of a son of a bitch Jackson was… no offence to his mother intended… he couldn't live with killing him. "No…", Kyle softly said when he realized Tess was still waiting for an answer.

"I'm glad… so what's gonna happen now?", Tess asked

Kyle knew exactly what she meant. What should they do about Jackson now? "I'm going to press charges… and I think you should do the same. What he did was attempted murder; he will go to jail for a long time", Kyle said in a stern voice

"Good", Tess sighed, not sounding very relieved.

At that time, the phone next to Tess' bed started ringing. Tess let it ring a few times before picking it up. Call it a social habit. "Hello, Tess here", she said timidly with a small smile on her face. The second her smile feel from her face, Kyle knew who she was talking too.

"Hey babe", a very familiar voice sounded on the other line. For some reason, Tess felt like crying more than anything but she stayed strong.

"Peter…", Tess said cautiously

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened… and I wanted to know if you were alright", Jackson said in a compassionate voice.

"I'm miserable without you Peter…”, Tess said in a sad voice before changing her tone to an icy one. “…It's almost like you're here with me", Tess spat out, a little amazed at herself. She had never been able to tell him off like she just did. It was probably because he was on the phone, she figured. If he had been standing in front of her, she wouldn't be so brave… she was sure of that.

"Look, I understand that you're upset, baby…", Jackson started

"I'm not upset! I am downright furious!", Tess shouted through the phone, silently grateful that Kyle was the only other patient in the room. "You tried to kill me, you fucking jerk!"

"Kill you? Come on babe…", Jackson tried

"I am not your babe. You're going to rot away in jail", Tess said

"It's not like you can prove anything. Don't worry about it babe, I already took care of that dork Valenti. He won't bother us anymore", Jackson said

"I can't believe I ever cared about you", Tess said, having more and more trouble to keep from crying.

"Well, you did", Jackson said flatly

"You know, sometimes I think I'd be better off dead… oh wait, not me, you!", Tess managed to spit out

"I'll call back when you're in a little less PMS-like mood. Love ya babe", Jackson said before he abruptly hung up, leaving Tess furious and yet sad and afraid at the same time.

"I gather that was our 'friend' Jackson. To tell you the truth, you don’t seem all that surprised that he called", Kyle said

“It’s what he does. A few days later, he always calls and he always apologizes and then pretends like nothing is wrong”, Tess explained

“And you fall for that?”, Kyle asked in a far more accusing voice than he meant, before a more interesting question popped in his head, “Are you saying that this has happened before?”, he quickly asked

“… Yes. It was never this bad though. Usually it’s just a black eye or a bruised arm or something”, Tess said like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Don’t you have any pride?”, Kyle said and of course, he immediately regretted it and mentally slapped himself in the face for being such an idiot. The cold look Tess gave him was proof enough that this was not the wisest thing he could have said.

“Screw you, Kyle", Tess replied coldly. She regretted her words as soon as she said them as well but she couldn't very well turn back time and take them back. Besides, even though she regretted being this harsh with him, she in no way appreciated his last comment.

"Sorry", Kyle muttered, so soft that Tess couldn't hear it

~~

"So, I uh… really enjoyed this evening", Max stammered as Liz sat next to him in his car which was parked in front of her house. He enjoyed this time with her more than she could possibly realize. God, I sounded like a fourteen year old schoolboy, Max thought. He couldn't deny to himself that he had it bad for the petite brunette next to him but it's not like he had acted like this with any of his former girlfriends. He had always been the strong, calm person who radiated confidence. What was wrong with him?

"Yeah, me too", Liz said in a friendly, but not at all nervous, way, which made Max a little nervous. When he thought about it, he realized that she had been great company and all, but she never made any indication that she wanted anything more from him. Maybe she's just being cautious, Max told himself… or maybe she's just not interested in you that way, another voice popped in his head.

"Well Max, we should really do this again sometimes", Liz said brightly. She had the best time with Max tonight. He had been caring and nice and seemed to really listen when she said something. He even passed the ten-questions-test; the guy has to ask the girl a personal question before the girl has asked the guy ten. He was just perfect, and as much as she was trying to delude herself that they were just friends, she realized that they both knew better... but somehow, it still didn't feel right.

Liz wanted to say goodbye to Max but then her eye fell on something she didn't notice before; the red Jetta parked in the driveway; a car she recognized all too well.

"What's wrong?", Max asked in a concerned voice as he noticed Liz' sad look towards the red Jetta on the driveway.

Liz recovered quickly. "I think my fuckhead husband is having a little one on one time with the cook", Liz said with an angry voice before she calmed down and spotted Max' hurt look. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't…", Liz started but she was immediately cut off

"It's not you. I recognize that car… it belongs to my ex-girlfriend Vivian", Max said softly

Liz looked at Max for a few seconds. He was definitely not kidding, she realized. "You wanna come in?", Liz asked, knowing fully well that he wouldn't but decided to ask anyway

"I think I'll pass", he said as Liz stepped out of the car and gave Max a smile before heading to the door and hearing Max drive away. After that, the smile on her face quickly turned to an angry expression again as she opened the front door.

As she closed the door behind her, she could hear moaning coming from upstairs. "Are you fucking kidding me?", she whispered to himself. She didn't think any more and walked upstairs to the bedroom where the sounds were coming from. Stopping in front of the door, she halted for a few seconds, swallowing hard at the moans and grunts coming from inside. Finally, Liz took a deep breath and opened the bedroom door. And there they were, both of them so close to climaxing that they wouldn't have noticed Liz if she had come in accompanied by a marching band.

"Bradley!!", she shouted, intending to scare the living shit out of both of them, especially the redheaded slut he was screwing. Her scream had the desired effect; Vivian, who was riding him at the moment, practically jumped off Brad, losing her balance and falling on the floor. Just as quickly, she got up and gave Liz a frightened look.

“You know, this is not what it looks like”, Vivian said nervously

“I’m sure it isn’t. Now get out”, Liz said, using all her mental powers to keep herself from crying, screaming or starting a smack down. Vivian seemed to think it was a good idea to leave. She quickly grabbed her clothes and left the room in just a matter of seconds.

“Enjoying yourself?”, Liz managed to say through gritted teeth.

“Okay, I understand that you’re upset…”, Brad said with an even voice

“Oh really, because I was beginning to think you didn’t notice”, Liz spat out

“Hey, don’t make me the bad guy in this. You’re the one who wants a divorce here”, Brad said with a cold voice

“I just thought…”, Liz said softly

“Yeah, and that was your first mistake, Liz. You cast me aside, tape me having sex with another woman, blackmail me into being your little slave and you expect me to give a damn about your feelings? You can’t really be that dense”, Brad said in a cold voice

“You’re making it sound like you’re the innocent victim here. You’re the one who’s been screwing everything with a skirt behind my back” Liz shouted

“It’s just sex Liz… why the fuck do you have to make such a big deal out of it? You can call sex without love an empty experience, but as far as empty experiences go, it’s one of the best”, Brad asked in a serious voice

At that point, Liz couldn’t control herself any more. Swinging her fist from behind her back, she hit Brad in the face as hard as she could, causing him to fall to the floor. He immediately got up again and rubbed his jaw in pain. Liz could see the struggle in his eyes; a part of Brad wanted to leap forward and return the favor and another part was desperately trying to fight that impulse.

“I knew you wouldn’t understand”, Brad said softly

“No Brad… I think you’re the one who doesn’t understand”, Liz said before turning towards the door. “I’ll see you in court”, she said as she slammed the door behind her.

“Yes you will”, Brad said softly, knowing she couldn’t hear him. “But it’ll go a little different that you had planned”

~~

“Milady”, Alex said as he opened the passenger door of his car and offered his hand in a gentlemanly way to help Isabel get out. Isabel graciously took his hand and allowed him to help her out of the car and escorted her to her front door.

“I had a really great time tonight, Isabel”, Alex said as he looked in her eyes. He wanted so desperately to kiss her, but he didn’t want to ruin everything. It had taken a lot of effort for Isabel to be comfortable around him and he knew a stupid act could erase it all.

“Well… the night doesn’t have to be over. You want to get inside and have a cup of coffee with me?”, Isabel asked nervously. It was a side of her that very few people got to see. Isabel usually acted like a confident woman. It didn’t happen a lot that she sounded at all nervous and even when she did, it was mostly in front of her most trusted friends; never in front of a guy she had only known a few days. But now, she was nervous. What if he said no?

“I’d love to, Isabel”, Alex said with a relieved smile, grateful that the night wasn’t over yet.

“Good… great”, Isabel said in an equally relieved voice as she opened her front door. At that point, she thought nothing; absolutely nothing could ever ruin this night.

But then… something did.

As she opened the door, she looked inside in absolute horror. It looked like a hurricane and an earthquake hit the house at the same time. Everything in sight looked broken, her artwork as well as her furniture had been thrown across the apartment and the smell of molten plastic intoxicated the apartment.

Isabel took a few steps to one of the paintings that were thrown on the floor. Isabel picked it up and looked at as she held it in front of her. It was a painting of a middle-aged blonde man, but it was ripped beyond repair in several places. At the bottom, it said Remember me always - Daniel Evans 1954-2003.

Isabel dropped the painting from her hand an expected to collapse on the floor; that’s how weak she suddenly felt. She was eternally grateful when she suddenly felt two strong arms holding her steady. Isabel forgot her pride and pretty much everything as she cried her heart out on his shoulder as he held her tight.

TBC

This part is a little shorter again. Sorry everyone, but I have several other fics that are in dire need of am update. I’ll try to post the next part sometime this week though.

Darknhauntinglove wrote:One question though, is Is and Max siblings in this? I'm kinda confused!

No. Max and Isabel are not related in any way.

killjoy wrote:Love this story but too bad Kyle has come down with a bad case of Foot In Mouth Disease

Well, there's gonna be something else in his mouth at the end of this part

Part 14:

“Isabel… who is that in the painting?”, Alex finally decided to ask. Isabel had been silently crying on his shoulder for several minutes and now, it had been a couple of minutes since she stopped crying and just rested her head on his chest. Isabel hadn’t said a word since she and Alex stepped into her appartment and saw the warzone inside. He didn’t want to upset her more than she already was, but he just had to know.

“He… he was my father. And that painting was all I had of him”, Isabel said before starting to sob slightly again. Alex couldn’t help but be surprised at how emotional Isabel could be. He pictured her as someone who would never show her emotions as openly like this, and definitely not to him, but he didn’t mind the least.

And then he suddenly felt angry; very angry. It was a new feeling for him. Sure there’d been times when he was pissed off or just generally not in the mood for anything, but never had he been really angry; not like this. Well, now he was angry… hell, he was furious. If he ever found out who did this to Isabel; who made her cry her heart out, he would make sure that the person responsible would regret it. He didn't want to feel this angry; he wanted to be here for Isabel and concentrate on making her feel a little better, but he couldn't help it. He never felt this angry in his life.

"Do you have any idea who did this Isabel? Is there anyone who might want to hurt you?", Alex said, trying to keep his voice as calm as humanly possible.

"No… I… I may not be the nicest person to everyone but… who would do this to me?", Isabel sobbed. "Maybe it's just a robbery", Isabel added

"Doubtfull. Robbers tend to take stuff with them. They usually don't trash the house and leave the expensive artwork on the floor", Alex mumbled, "But don't worry, I'll find out who's responsible for this"

~~

"Okay… what just happened?", Maria softly asked to herself out loud as she stood on her driveway, watching Michael's car disappear out of sight. She figured her date with Michael went pretty well. He didn't seem to mind the sarcastic jokes she made and they had fun. Then, when the date was over and he dropped her off here, he just said: I had a really good time tonight. We should do this again sometimes. And then he smiled at her and just drove off.

It's not like she was itching to jump his bones or something… well, maybe just a little… but he didn't even try anything. Maybe she shouldn't worry too much about it, but she couldn't help feeling like she just got brushed off… again.

"That's great… that's just great", Maria said loudly

"What's just great?", a male voice sounded from nextdoor. Maria turned towards the man, who was standing on his front porch.

"Hello Victor", Maria said with a small, but sincere smile, "… and I was referring to the fact that men are weird"

"Oh come on Ria, what do I have to do to get you to stop fighting it and run away with me?", Victor said with a smile

"Sorry girlfriend… but surprisingly, I'm not all that interested in having a gay boyfriend", Maria said mockingly

Victor placed his hand over his heart and gave Maria an, obviously fake, offended look. "I'm crushed… so who was the cutie who dropped you off?", Victor asked, the fact that he's gay being more than just a little obvious.

"Victor! What would Samuel say about that?", Maria asked in a surprised voice, after all, Victor and his boyfriend Samuel had been dating for a little over five months.

"Samuel would agree with me…", Victor said

"…He’d be pissed and you wouldn't get any for a whole week", Maria said with an expression that made it very clear to Victor what Maria was talking about

Victor took a long intake of breath "… he wouldn't", Victor said, wide-eyed.

Maria smiled at Victor's expression. The average male thinks about sex about twohundred times a day. Victor and Samuel rose far above that average. "Oh yes he would… but don’t worry, your secret's safe with me", Maria said with a smile

"Thanks… but back to the original question; who was that?", Victor tried again

"That was one of the most peculiar guys I ever met", Maria said with a sigh.

"Peculiar?", Victor asked, tilting his head to one side, shooting Maria a wide smile

"Yeah, he’s just…”, Maria said, trying to find the right word

“Peculiar?”, Victor guessed, trying to keep himself from laughing

Maria shot him an icy look. “Funny... Did you ever meet someone who can be really funny and sweet and severely piss you off three seconds later?”, Maria asked

“Yes. You…”, Victor answered, “…so are you saying that this guy who just drove off can make you laugh and piss you off at the same time?”

“Yeah!”, Maria said loudly

“Aaaww girl… I’m so happy for you”, Victor said as he walked over to Maria and gave her a big hug

“I think he just blew me off”, Maria said, her look saddening a little

“It didn’t look that bad from where I was standing”, Victor commented

“Well, it did to me… and I've had a lot of practice in recognizing the signs", Maria sighed as she walked to her front door, Victor walking right behind her

"You're reading far too much into this, love. Maybe he's just a little shy", Victor stated

"Michael? Shy? That's not exactly a word I would use to describe him", Maria answered

Maria opened the door and took a step inside before realizing that something was wrong. Like Isabel's appartment, Maria's house was a complete mess. "Look, I don't mean to sound all gay here… but don't you ever clean?", Victor said, not yet realizing that this was not how Maria left it when she left.

Maria quickly walked towards a large desk in one of the ajacent room and traced her hand along the bottom of it. All the while, Victor remained in the doorway, staring at the interior of Maria's house which he thought would be spotless. "Jezus Christ, it’s gone!", Maria shouted.

"What’s gone?", Victor asked

~~

"Come on Tess, don't be like that. I already said I was sorry at least ten times", Kyle said as he looked at Tess who was vigorously typing on her laptop.

"You have no idea what it's like", Tess hissed back at him before calming down and softening her voice, "He may be a total bastard at times, but he can also be really nice…"

"Tess, you deserve someone who is always really nice; someone who doesn't beat you around whenever he's not feeling too friendly; someone who respects you…", Kyle said sternly before being interrupted by Tess.

"Maybe in a perfect world I do… but it's not like men are lining up to be with me", Tess said softly

Kyle wanted so badly to say what was on his mind right now. He wanted to say that he had wanted her for a long time and that he daily cursed Jackson's unholy name for getting to her first. "…Tess… I uh…", Kyle stammered.

"Look, I'm sorry Kyle", Tess interrupted him. "That sounded way too self-pitying"

"Tess, the only reason men aren't lined up to be with you is because you already have a boyfriend. And the kind of guy you deserve would never come on to you as long as you're with someone else. I know I didn't… wouldn't!", Kyle said, immediately wondering why he corrected himself. Didn't he want Tess to know that he wanted her so badly it almost hurt? What was wrong with him? …Ouch, don’t go there!

“That’s really… sweet of you to say, Kyle”, Tess replied, “I just don’t believe it”

“It’s the truth Tess. It’s a mystery to me why you think so little of yourself. You’re always nice to everyone, you’re one of the smartest people I know and you have the face of an angel…”, Kyle said before he mentally willed himself to shut up. Okay, he said it. No turning back now.

Tess stared at him for a few seconds. Putting her laptop aside, she stood up next to her bed, using the side of the bed to keep her balance and looking straight at Kyle. “Kyle… what did you mean by that?”, she asked

“Exactly what I said…”, Kyle said, “…you’re a lot more than you give yourself credit for”

Tess looked at him intently, his expression confirming what she suspected. “Kyle, you’re one of the very rare good guys… you could do so much better than me”

Kyle thought for a few seconds. “That’s really sweet of you to say Tess…”, he said as a smile formed on his face, “I just don’t believe it”

Tess looked straight at him. He had such a warm smile. She wondered why she never noticed it. Gathering her strength, literally, she walked across the room to Kyle’s bed and sat on the side of his bed. When his eyes locked with hers, he could see her eyes watering.

“I can’t be hurt again Kyle… I just…”, Tess said but Kyle cut her off

“I would never hurt you Tess”, Kyle whispered

Tess smiled at him and for some reason, she could tell by the look on his face that he would never hurt her. “I know you won’t”, she said before leaning down. Gently, she placed her lips on Kyle’s and tenderly kissed him. For a few seconds, her lips seemed to lead a life of their own. The kiss intensified and next thing she knew, she was passionately kissing the boy who had said all those beautiful things.

When the kiss broke a few seconds later, Kyle looked at Tess with a smile on his face. “I didn’t just dream that, did I?”, he whispered

“Not unless we both had the same dream”, Tess answered

“If this is what happens after, maybe I should get stabbed more often”, Kyle said as he leaned forward and placed another gentle kiss on Tess’ lips.

She did not object…

TBC

Hi everyone. Took me a little longer this time, but I hope you'll like it anyway. It's not that long though, but I know you'll forgive me… right? There will be a first glimpse of the mystery that is Michael. Enjoy and don't forget to tell me what you think. I'd also love to know what all you lurkers think, so all lurkers, leave your specially designed, protective lurk-bubble for a minute and let me know.

Part 15

"Somebody pick up… pick up!", Maria shouted in her cell phone as she nervously paced back and forth through the room.

"Calm down woman!", Victor shouted through the room

"Don't tell me to calm down! I didn't see your place transformed into the local junkyard", Maria shouted back at Victor with a venomous voice.

"Oh, thank God you answered", Maria said into the phone, "Liz, there was a break-in… and they took the tape", Maria cautiously said

"Liz? I thought you were calling the police!", Victor said loudly

"Shhhh!", Maria hissed from the other side of the room

"Okay Liz, calm down… Liz!… Liz?", Maria said before she heard the dial tone

"Your friend okay?", Victor asked with concern

"Well, she either passed out or she's gonna go commando on her husband… and to tell you the truth, Liz has never been one to pass out", Maria said

"What?! She thinks her husband did this?", Victor asked disbelievingly

Maria took a long look at Victor, finally deciding to avoid the whole discussion. "Okay, good night Victor", Maria said as she walked towards Victor and gently pushed him outside. "Thanks for your concern. I'll talk to you later", she quickly said with a friendly voice before closing the door between them, leaving Victor outside with a baffled expression on his face.

"Alright… what just happened?", he asked to himself aloud.

~~

"And the night started so well…", Max said to himself as he walked through the small park two blocks away from his apartment. He usually didn't like this kind of pointless walking but, at this moment, he didn't feel like doing much else. His night with Liz went really great until they got home. He understood about Liz' cautious attitude; she was still married and he said he wanted to be her friend. He understood that.

What he didn't understand is that of all the people, she had to be the wife of the same fuckhead who had been screwing his former girlfriend, apparently behind both his and Liz’ backs. He still wanted to be with Liz but the mere thought of the whole situation just weirded him out.

When he reached a small bench in front of a large statue, Max decided to sit down for a few minutes. “Max?”, a soft voice sounded. It was nearby, but he was too lost in thoughts to immediately register who the voice belonged to. He looked to his right and saw that he was sitting next to a blonde woman on the bench. Strange… he never even saw her when he sat down.

“Courtney?“, Max asked, finally recognizing Michael’s ex-girlfriend.

“Ah, so you can see me. You almost sat on top of me there, Evans”, she said with a friendly voice.

“Sorry… call it temporary blindness”, Max said with a small smile

“It’s okay… so… how’s Michael?”, Courtney said, trying to sound casual, but her nervous voice betrayed her.

“Well… he’s… he’s dealing”, Max said, deciding not to bring up the fact that he went out on a date with someone else this evening. Even though she broke up with him, it would still hurt her if she knew.

“I’m glad he’s doing alright… Can I ask you a question, Max?”, Courtney asked

“Sure”, Max said in a friendly voice. This was just what he needed; a conversation to get his mind off the whole Liz/Brad/Vivian-extravaganza.

“Do you know why Michael broke up with me?”, she asked and then continued when Max gave her a confused look, “If you don’t want to tell me, I understand… but I just… I need want to know”

“Okay, if confusion is the first step to knowledge… I must be a friggin genius. Didn’t you break up with him?”, Max asked

“Me? Why would I break up with him?”, Courtney said indignantly

“I don’t know. What happened?”, he asked, wanting to know more now.

“Well, everything was fine one day and the next day, he suddenly said he wanted to break up; just like that, with no explanation whatsoever”, Courtney softly said with a sad look on her face.

Max believed her; Courtney had never been a very good liar. “So he didn’t make any sexist jokes?”, Max asked

“Sexist… Michael? Please! He’s so in touch with his feminine side that I started wondering if I was dating a woman”, Courtney said loudly

“I suppose he had to you prove you wrong every night in bed, huh?”, Max said with a wide smile on his face

“Well… not exactly. We never really… you know”, Courtney admitted

"I'm drowning in a sea of confusion here", Max said, his words accompanied by the most stupefied look imaginable

"Well, enough about my pathetic life… how are you and Viv doing? You two make such a great couple", Courtney casually asked

"We broke up", Max said flatly, causing Courtney to cough uncontrollably for a few seconds.

"Say what?!", she asked loudly; still coughing softly

"Me… Vivian… not together anymore", Max spelled out

"You found out about her and Brad, didn't you?", Courtney said softly

Max' eyes grew wide. "You knew about that?!", he shouted loudly

"Yeah. I told her that she was being crazy and that you would find out sooner or later… guess I was right. Sometimes I hate being so smart", Courtney shrugged, making Max smile a little.

"Are we both the saddest people in the world?", Max asked with a small smile

"Most certainly not!", Courtney said upbeat before lowering her gaze, "Yeah… probably"

~~

"Ok Liz… breathe. Slow and steady breaths", Liz repeated to herself as she paced around the office above restaurant DeLuca's. "Yes Liz, stay calm… you're only going to loose everything you have", she said to herself. "…I'm talking to myself again… not a good sign"

She finally calmed down long enough for her to sit down and ponder the situation. If the tape really was gone, she had no proof that Brad had cheated on her and he would leave her without a dime. Her main concern was not about being kicked out of the house or something; she knew that her friends would all welcome her in. No, the main reason of her concern was the fact that she was the official owner of DeLuca's and if Brad got full control of the money, he would be in control of DeLuca's. And Liz didn't have a doubt in her mind that Brad would shut the place down faster than one of his orgasms.

"Goddammit!", Liz shouted out. How could she let it get this far? She should have known Brad wouldn't fall into submission that easily. This evening, he just taunted her; screwing that redheaded bitch under her nose so he could rub it in her face when she realized the tape was taken. What could she do?

"I have to talk to Alex", she said aloud, suddenly wondering again why she was talking to herself out loud.

~~

"Hello, this is Alex", Alex answered on his cell phone. He peered through the apartment and saw that Isabel was busy looking around the apartment, taking inventory of what was broken and what could be salvaged.

"Oh, thank God you're there", Liz shouted on the other side

"Liz, calm down. What h…", Alex started but Liz didn't let him finish his sentence.

"Maria's place has been trashed and…", Liz said

"What?!! Maria's place too? I'm at Isabel's apartment and it looks worse than your dorm room when you were in college", Alex said, dead serious

"Alex, listen! Maria said that the tape was missing", Liz said

"The tape?", Alex asked, not catching on yet

"The fucking reason you're in town in the first place! You know… the tape!", Liz yelled and Alex needed to hold the phone away from his ear to prevent permanent hearing damage.

"You mean the one with your husband?", Alex asked

"Yes!", Liz shouted

"Don't worry about that, Liz. It'll be alright", Alex said comforting

"Alright?!… Alright?!", Liz rambled, "Tell me Alex… how is this alright? Without that tape, I won't get a dime and Maria and me are gonna loose everything we worked for. Do you have any…"

"For God's sake Liz, shut up!", Alex shouted back into the phone and it was Liz' turn to be shocked. Taken aback, she stopped mid-sentence. Alex immediately lowered his voice but remained stern. "Isabel has just been crying for over twenty minutes because the painting of her father has been destroyed, which was the only thing she has of him… and all you're worried about is whether you're getting any money from your husband?", Alex said, his voice raising during the sentence

"She… she cried?", Liz whispered in a surprised voice, "Look Alex, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound all Pam Troy here…", Liz said softly

"No, I'm sorry too Liz. I'm just so angry", Alex said

"I understand Alex. And if it's any consolation, I could ask Tess if there's anything she can do about the painting", Liz offered

"Tess? What could she do about it?", Alex asked, confused

"Well, she's the painter. Didn't you know?", Liz asked

"No… but I'm sure Isabel would be happy if Tess could do something", Alex admitted, "…and I believe I can help you too Liz"

"You made a copy of the tape?", Liz asked jokingly

"Of course I made a copy", Alex answered dead-serious, "Your husband is a millionaire. Did you honestly think he was gonna do nothing?"

Liz took a second to take it all in. He made a copy… she was saved! "Alex, you're the best", Liz shouted in joy

"It's good that you realize that", Alex said with a smile, "…but I have one request, Liz"

"Anything", Liz answered

"Don't say a word to him about the copy. I'll completely humiliate him tomorrow with the tape", Alex said. He was still angry and if Liz' good-for-nothing husband is why Isabel was now a wreck, he would do anything to make that prick's life a living hell.

"Done", Liz said flatly and with a wide smile forming on her face. Things were looking better already.

TBC

Hi everyone. I’d like to start by saying a quick thanks for all the people who already nominated this fic. I honestly didn’t expect it so it’s a nice surprise. I mean, it’s not like I have any delusions that I actually have a chance of winning but it’s nice to see my work is appreciated. Okay, enjoy the next part and don’t forget to reply.

tequathisy wrote:Ok, Michael has a twin brother who pretends to be Dr. Michael to get women in bed. Except, no, that doesn't make sense because he doesn't actually bed them. I know, he's impotent and acts like a chauvinstic pig as a front so that women won't want to sleep with him and find out the truth. Am I anywhere close?

Courtney seemed really nice and not at all like the w*tch that Michael likes to portray women as. So why did he break up with her? I thought you were going to give us an insight into Michael's brain but instead I'm even more confused than ever

Didn't I already state that confusion is the first step to knowledge? Don't worry, it'll be explained soon.

2004 wrote:Brad what a slimeball. It must be the name. Brad Pitt anyone?

I was actually thinking of Brad Pitt when I came up with this character.

Part 16

“Okay dude, relax. Just be cool”, Michael said to himself. Things had gone really well with Maria tonight until he dropped her off. Why couldn’t he have been a gentlemen and walk her to her door, give her a kiss and watch her disappear inside before leaving? When he drove off, he saw Maria’s heartbroken expression in the rear-view mirror and it just killed him. A few minutes later, he still couldn’t think of anything besides that hurt look and, using a sharp U-turn, he turned around, heading back towards Maria’s place.

He arrived there ten minutes ago and he had sat in the front seat of his car across the street for those ten minutes wondering what the hell he was gonna say. A loud knock on the window disrupted his thoughts and jerking up, he hit his head against the car roof. When he looked outside, he saw Victor standing next to him.

“For God’s sake, just go inside” , Victor encouraged, “Women like men who take charge… or so I’ve heard”

“Who the fuck are you?”, Michael asked, startled enough to forget his manners

“I am Victor and what’s your name, cutie?”, Victor asked, mentally slapping himself for saying that last part, but the words were out before he knew it.

Michael decided to ignore that question. “Alright… so what are you talking about?”, Michael asked

“Well, you did come back to apologize to Maria for your rather rude behaviour awhile ago… right?”, Victor pushed

“…Is she the town gossip or are you?”, Michael countered

“I like to think me and Rie would make a good gossip team. We could go to championships together and…”, Victor said dreamily

“I hate to interrupt a Kleenex moment, but what do you want?”, Michael asked

“Why are you sitting here in your car, calling yourself dude and trying to slow your breathing while Maria is inside, probably crying or stuffing herself with chocolate?… And that stuff goes straight to her hips, you know”, Victor said

“I… I don’t even know if she wants to see me”, Michael softly said

“Ah, a glimpse of the little boy inside”, Victor said, holding his hands over his heart, “…it’s endearing really. Don’t be such a baby and just ring the doorbell. I’m sure she wants nothing more than to see you”

“Maybe you’re right. I mean, what’s the worst thing that could happen?”, Michael said

“Well, she could get angry and break your kneecaps… but I’m pretty sure she won’t do that again”, Victor said

“What?!”, Michael shouted

“Just kidding! I’m beginning to like you… dude”, Victor said, putting extra emphasis on the word dude, to stress the fact that he still didn’t know Michael’s name.

“Okay, I’m just gonna go… before you make me cower away in fear”, Michael said as he stepped out of the car.

“I thought that was what you were doing now... Well, anyway, remember the most important thing…”, Victor said

“What?”, Michael asked

“Start with an apology… and make it a good one because she may slam the door in your face if it’s not”, Victor said following Michael to Maria’s house

“I thought you said she was gonna be happy to see me regardless of what I said?”, Michael asked in a strangely scared voice

“I lied”, Victor admitted. “Now go! go! go!”, he shouted as gave Michael a push towards Maria’s house before disappearing out of sight.

“Strange dude”, Michael said softly

“I heard that!”, Victor shouted from ten feet away

~~

“Okay… eighth question; how many cubic metres of sand are in hole of three by three by three metres?”, Tess asked, reading from her laptop screen

“Uh, twenty-seven?”, Kyle asked

“Ninth question; you’re in a race and you pass the number three. What is your position now?”, Tess asked again

“Second position… right?”, Kyle asked, sounding unsure

“Hey, I just input the answers”, Tess said with a smile, ”Just one more question left; A mother and a father have three sons and every son has exactly one sister. How many people are in the family?”, Tess asked

“Eight”, Kyle said, a little surer than with the last one. Tess input the last answer and asked for the intelligence report that the site would generate. After the report was generated, she took a quick glance and started to giggle softly.

“Come on, read it!”, Kyle pleaded

“I… I don’t want to”, Tess tried to say through giggles

“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad”, Kyle said

Tess scraped her throat before reading what it said on the screen. “Congratulations loser. Somehow you managed to give a wrong answer to all the questions. Are you deficient in some way, because that would explain a lot. Next time, try to block all your instincts and maybe you’ll do better. As for employment, I would suggest something that doesn’t require much thinking. Maybe you should consider…”, Tess said, bursting into laughter mid-sentence, “Maybe you should consider law-enforcement”, Tess said before laughing even harder, holding her stomach in pain.

“You deserved that, you mean woman”, Kyle said in a pouting voice. The test result wasn’t what was on his mind though. The only thought that ran through his mind was, I made her laugh. He was proud of himself for that.

“Sorry”, Tess said when she was finally finished laughing

“It’s okay… I die of shame on a regular basis”, Kyle said in a tone that made it clear to Tess that he really didn’t mind.

Tess smiled again. “I think that’s enough excitement for tonight”, she said as she closed off the laptop

“Yeah, I could get some sleep”, Kyle said

“Yeah, me too. We’ll continue embarrassing you tomorrow. Goodnight Kyle”, Tess said as she turned the lamp next to her bed off.

“Good night”, Kyle said as he did the same, the only light in the room now coming from the small window in the door to the hallway.

After about half a minute of silence, Kyle finally said one last thing. “You know I gave the wrong answers on purpose, right… right?”

With a smile on their faces, the both of them fell asleep quickly.

~~

The doorbell rang loudly and Maria held her hands over her ears in protection. “Damn, I really need to readjust the volume of that thing”, she muttered under her breath as she walked towards the door. As she opened the door, she was surprised, to say the least, to see Michael standing there.

“Uh… hi”, he said softly

Maria’s look immediately hardened. “Hi”, she said flatly

“Look, I know I acted a little…”, Michael started

“Like a guy!”, Maria said loudly, quickly recovering from the shock

“Hey, I am a guy… but I’m really sorry about the way I left”, Michael said softly, “I saw the look on your face when I drove away… and I don’t ever want to make you feel like that”

Maria’s expression softened and she looked straight in Michael’s eyes. “Why were you in such a hurry Michael? We had fun tonight… at least I did… and then we arrive at my place and all of a sudden you’re acting like you’re late for your next date. What was that about?”

“I guess I was just nervous and I didn’t want to embarrass myself”, Michael said softly

“Great job you did with that”, Maria said, going back into sarcasm-mode

“Yeah well, you bring it out in me”, Michael said with a small smile

“I just need to know, Michael… do you really like me or is this some sad attempt to make me feel a little better before you dump me?”, Maria asked

“I like you Maria… and I would like nothing more than to have another date with you”, Michael said

“Sorry Mickey-0G… you’re gonna have to earn that one”, Maria said with a smirk on her face before closing the door in his face

“Like how?”, he shouted though the door

“I’m sure you’re capable of coming up with something good”, Maria said, the smile on her face growing wider and wider.

On the other side of the door, Michael walked away, confused and a little embarrassed. “So… what’d she say?”, a voice asked as he was about to enter his car.

Michael turned around to see Victor standing there. “She said I had to earn the next date. How on God’s green Earth am I gonna do that?”, Michael said, sounding completely lost

“You could write a love poem”, Victor suggested

“Yeah thanks, but I was thinking about something that doesn’t make her think I’m gay”, Michael retorted

“Hey!”, Victor said, sounding half-offended, “What’s wrong about being gay?”

“Okay, I’m so not having this conversation”, Michael said

“Oooh, you could bring a Mariachi band and serenade her”, Victor said, his eyes twinkling

“I think you’ve seen one too many movies. Besides, that sounds more like something Max would do”, Michael replied before getting in the car, “But I’ll come up with something”

“You better. I’ve seen Rie unhappy way too many times”, Victor said

Michael pulled the window down when he heard that. “I won’t hurt her”, he said before driving away

“Such a cutie…”, Victor muttered to himself as he watched Michael drive away

~~

The next morning, Michael arrived at work at seven thirty. Even though his first patient wouldn’t come in until eight thirty, Michael always arrived early. He quickly walked to the locker-room to change into his doctor’s outfit and he was not surprised to see Max doing the same. He always arrived early too.

“Hey”, Max said as Michael opened his locker

“Hey… so how’d the date go?”, Michael asked

“She’s beautiful, she’s nice… and she’s Tommy’s wife”, Max answered

Michael coughed a few times. “You mean…”, Michael asked. Max nodded to confirm Michael’s suspicions, ”Dude, that’s fucked up. How could you not know?”

“Well, she calls him Brad… as in Bradley Thomas…and the fact that it’s fucked up actually crossed my mind before”, Max answered, a little agitated, “So how’d your date go?”

“It was nice. Maria told me I had to earn the next date though… She’s way to high-maintenance for her own good, you know”, Michael defended

“Yeah… you know I also ran into Courtney last night”, Max said cautiously, carefully eyeing Michael to see his reaction.

“So how was she?”, Michael asked, trying to sound casual.

“Confused. But not nearly as confused as I am”, Max said with a questioning look

“It’s none of your business, Max”, Michael said flatly

“No, you’re right; it’s not”, Max admitted, “And if you had just told me that when I asked you, I would have accepted it… but you lied to my face, Michael”

“I’m sorry, okay! It just… it didn’t feel right and I didn’t want you to make a big issue out of it”, Michael said softly, resting his elbows on the table and rested his head in the palms of his hands.

“Come on Michael! You were with her for six months and you broke up with her because all of a sudden, it just didn’t feel right? What happened?”, Max pushed.

“Jesus Christ, Max. Can’t you just drop it?”, Michael shouted

“Courtney is a nice girl Michael”, Max said, “I’m not saying that you should take her back or anything. When it’s not there, it’s not there; I understand that… but you owe her at least some kind of explanation. And frankly… I think you owe me an explanation too”

“Look, I just don’t wanna talk about this. It’s really embarrassing”, Michael pleaded

“At this point, you look like an insecure prick who likes to toy with women… not my words”, Max quickly added with his hands up when Michael shot him a glare. “I don’t think you can sink much lower than that, Michael”

“Okay… maybe I am insecure. Maybe I am a prick. But I don’t like to toy with women”, Michael said loudly, his voice echoing through the empty locker-room, “I always start with the full intention to make it work. It just never does. I can’t help it, alright!”

“I hear you Michael”, Max said in a compassionate voice, “But why didn’t you just tell me?”

“I figured you were gonna tell me what an idiot I was and just make fun of me”, Michael said softly

“Oh, you’re damn right I’m gonna make fun of you”, Max said with a small smile, “There’s just one thing I really have to know”

“What?”, Michael asked

“Did you ever really use the PMS-joke?”, Max asked, grinning widely

“No”, Michael sighed, realizing that all resistance would have been useless.

“Oh… well did you at least made the joke up yourself?”, Max asked with a smile

“Yeah…”, Michael answered, shooting a small smile back, “…so what do you think I should do now?”

“You want my honest opinion?”, Max asked

“Yeah, I really do”, Michael said

“Okay, I think you should talk to Courtney and maybe it’s not a bad idea if you made an appointment with Samantha”, Max said

“A shrink?! You want me to see a shrink?”, Michael asked loudly

“You have issues. You break up with girls without a direct reason. I’m not saying it’s wrong but I don’t think it’s be such a bad idea if you talked to a professional about it. Samantha is the best psychologist we have; she may be able to help”, Max explained

Michael looked at Max for a few seconds, the idea of going to a shrink rolling through his head. He didn’t like it; it made him dizzy. “I’ll think about it”, Michael just said

TBC

Hi everyone. I’ve read several responses where you say you’re confused about Michael and his reasons for dumping Courtney (or lack thereof). At this point, it would appear that Michael broke up with Courtney because it just didn’t feel right anymore. Whether or not that is a good reason to break up is something that could be argued about, but it was good enough a reason for Michael. Well, enjoy this part

2004 wrote:Great minds think alike! Too bad Jen found out the hard way about the real life Brad. Seems like there's more to the story of pretend Brad.

Good update and way tooooooo short! Next one's going to a LOT longer, right? Hurry back with more, more, more!

I read a story a while back where Brad Pitt was this rude, drunk prick and now that's how I picture him. I can't help myself anymore; I'll never look at Brad Pitt the same way again. And yes, this update is a bit longer.

Part 17

Something had awoken him from his sleep. Sleep was good… this throbbing feeling in his head was bad. With an inaudible moan, Kyle Valenti opened his eyes. There, just a few feet next to him, in the exact direction he was facing, sat Tess Harding in her bed with her laptop on her lap and tapping away on the laptop's keyboard.

"You know, I prefer to be woken with a kiss, a cup of coffee and a good morning honey ", Kyle said with a small smile, not making any attempt to sit up. He could already feel the headache ebbing away.

"Sorry", Tess said guiltily. “Good…morning honey?”, Tess cautiously said

Kyle smiled at that. "You know, something tells me you're not playing Doom on that laptop", Kyle said

"Huh?", Tess asked, not having the slightest clue what Kyle just meant

"What's with the aggressive typing?", Kyle clarified his question

"Oh, nothing… I always type like this. I don't know why", Tess answered

Kyle attempted to sit up and immediately felt the headache returning… and this time, he brought his friends nausea and dizziness with him. “Wasn’t your bed on the other side of the room?”, Kyle asked, not being able to suppress a frown because of his headache.

“Yeah, I asked one of the nurses to move me. I didn’t feel like shouting across the room the whole time”, Tess said before she looked at Kyle’s expression. "Are you feeling alright?", she asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine", Kyle said, smiling at Tess and putting up a brave face, trying to will away the sharp pain in his head and the dull pain where he was stabbed.

"You know it's okay if you want to sleep. I promise I'll behave", Tess said with a naughty smile

"I'm not really tired", Kyle said softly

" That's kinda like the face I made when I'm tried to convince Bradhole that I was okay… five seconds before I passed out", Tess said in a knowing way

Kyle resumed his previous position. "Yeah, maybe I'll just close my eyes for a se….". And he was out.

Tess smiled at the sight of Kyle sleeping. "Boys!", she whispered with a sigh before returning her attention to her laptop. Tess started typing again.

He seemed to have some sort of power over me. The mere thought of him made my heart skip a beat and when he looked into my eyes, I felt my knees weaken. With his strong hands, he grabbed my waist and pulled me close to him. I could see the desire in his eyes as he leaned closer and closer…, Tess typed before one of the nurses entered the room. She had long brown hair, a body all men would gladly kill for and a skin so pale she looked almost serene. She was also one of the nurses who helped Tess to move the bed across the room and had spent almost half an hour chatting with Tess after that.

"Hi Tess. So how are you feeling?", the nurse whispered cheerfully, trying not to wake up Kyle, something Tess was definitely grateful for.

"Oh, hi Michelle. Pretty good… actually very good", Tess said with a smile which faded when Michelle took a small syringe out of one of her pockets. "You know, that is really not necessary. I feel great, really!", Tess said, holding her hands up in defense as she eyed the needle with a frightened expression.

"Oh come on Tess, be a big girl and hold out your arm", Michelle said in a friendly voice

Tess stared at Michelle defiantly and didn't move. Michelle shot a wicked smiled at Tess. "Either you hold out your arm or I am going to wake up mr Valenti and you can explain to him why you're being such a baby”, she said. Tess’ eyes and mouth went wide in shock and she shot Michelle an extremely shocked expression. When Michelle saw that expression, she had to hold back her laughter.

"You're evil", Tess pouted and held out her arm, closing her eyes for the inevitable.

"Aw princess. Don't say that", Michelle said as she injected Tess with the medicine. "Alright, you big baby… it's done", she said comforting.

"Hey! Don't call me a big baby", Tess said indignantly

"You're right…", Michelle said with a smile, "…you're not that big. Anyway, dr Evans said he'd check up on you around three o'clock"

"Around visiting hours? Why am I not surprised?", Tess said with a wide smile, "He so has the hots for one of my friends. The first time he saw her, he was so distracted he walked against the doorpost"

"Ouch", the nurse answered. "Well, I wish I could stay here and get the full story, but I have a lot more big babies I have to inject", she said with a smile

"Funny", Tess said with a fake smile

"I'm a funny gal", Michelle answered before she walked out of the room

~~

It was bright and sunny outside, which perfectly reflected Alex Whitman's sunny mood. He had to push back the urge to start whistling. Almost tripping over a small piece of rock, Alex neared Isabel's front door only to realize it was already half-open.

" Iz?", Alex said loudly as he peeked inside and when he did, his mouth almost fell open with amazement. The entire apartment was completely spotless and not a single sign indicated that the place had been trashed just hours ago, except for the fact that the apartment was half empty.

When Alex looked into the living room, his heart skipped a beat. There, one the floor, lied Isabel, not moving at all. After nearly having a heart-attack, Alex quickly ran towards the living room. “Iz!”, he shouted

“What?”, Isabel asked groggily as she slowly opened her eyes

“Thank god!”, Alex said, “What’s wrong?”

"Aw, you were worried about me?", Isabel said equally groggily

"Are you drunk?", Alex asked cautiously

"Noooo", Isabel said with a weird smile, waving the notion away with her hand. As she got up, she immediately lost her balance and fell down on the couch, "Yes, quite a bit actually"

"You know, getting drunk is not the answer here", Alex said, surprised at Isabel's behaviour. He never pictured her as the kind of person who would do this to herself… not even at a time like this.

"No matter what the question is, booze is the answer. Besides, what would you know?", Isabel said in a drunk voice, "Did someone destroy your life?"

"Nobody destroyed your life Isabel. It was just some stuff that you lost. I know that some of it meant a lot to you but it's still just stuff", Alex tried to cheer up Isabel. But if you ever tried to cheer up a drunk person you know that it's damn near impossible to do so.

"That was everything I had, Alex… God, sometimes you can be such a guy!", Isabel said indignantly

"Are we having another death-to-all-men talk? Oh goody… I haven't had one of those in hours", Alex said sarcastically

"Guess what gender is responsible for this whole situation?", Isabel spat out

"You are!", Alex said loudly. He was losing his patience; quickly. "You decided that you just had to videotape a rich and powerful man to get his money. You decided to throw it in his face and blackmail him and now you're sitting here, whining that he didn't play by your rules?", Alex said. Not caring that he would say something he was gonna regret..

"What on Earth makes you think Liz' husband is involved?", Isabel asked

"Because someone also broke in at Maria's and took the tape", Alex said loudly

"And you decided not to tell me because….?", Isabel said

"Because I was afraid that you were gonna do something stupid… even more stupid than getting drunk", Alex said

Isabel looked at him for a second and at that moment Alex knew he really went too far. "Get out", Isabel said softly

"You know, I don't understand you. I love you, but I don't fucking understand you", Alex sighed

"Alex, you don't even know me. Trust me, if you knew half the things I have done, you wouldn't want to be near me", Isabel softly said

"You're wrong. There's nothing you can say about yourself that would make me turn away from you. You have it all; you have great friends, a job that most women dream about, all men in a five mile radius start to drool when they see you…", Alex said with a small smile, "…and if you want, you have me"

Isabel gave Alex a smile that only a drunk person can give. "You're just saying that because you love me", she said, "But don't you have anything better to do than stand just there with that fucking ugly shirt and lecture me about how great I have it?"

"You know, I'm just gonna go. Call me when you're sober", Alex said in a flat tone and turned around and left. The sound of the door closing made Isabel wince and a sad expression filled her face.

~~

"Okay, that really doesn't sound like Isabel", Liz commented with a smile as though she thought Alex was making a joke. The three of them were sitting on the couches in Maria’s place; Maria and Liz next to each other on the same couch and Alex on the one on the other side of the coffee table. All three of them were casually sipping their drinks.

"I've never seen Isabel drink anything stronger than a coke", Maria agreed

"Okay, I'm calling Tess", Liz said as she reached for her cell phone

"Whoa, hold on. I told you because I'm worried about her. There's no need to tell the whole town", Alex objected

"Then you shouldn’t have told our ruling gossip-champion Maria...”, Liz started

“Hey!”, Maria said indignantly

“Who spread the rumour that I was pregnant, that time I told you I was three days over time?”, Liz asked

“Well, me. But t….”, Maria said before Liz interrupted her

“And who ruined Tess’ surprise party because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut?”, Liz queried

“Well, she kept prodding and prodding…. there’s only so much temptation I can take”, Maria defended

“And who do you have for Secret Santa this year?”, Liz quickly asked

“Tess…”, Maria said without thinking, “Hey, you tricked me!”

Liz turned to Alex. “Need I say more?”

“No, you made your point.”, Alex said

“Come on guys, you know I wouldn’t tell anyone about this… and Tess knows how to keep her mouth shut too, believe me”, Maria tried to comfort Alex

“I just hope she’ll be alright”, Alex softly said

“I’m sure she’ll be fine. It’s just some items she lost, not the ability to walk or something. She just needs some sleep and a good fuck and she’ll be up and singing the hallelujah-song again in no time”, Maria said bluntly. Alex, who had just taken another sip of his orange juice, sprayed that sip all over the coffee table when he heard that last comment.

“Hey, watch it!”, Maria yelled, but Alex was already laughing

“What? What’s so funny?”, Liz asked

“Nothing… nothing”, Alex said, but he could feel his eyes watering and a grin being forced on his face

“That’s…… wait a minute. What did Iz tell you?”, Maria asked, a suspicious frown on her face

“Nothing. Really, she didn’t tell me anything”, Alex said but Maria’s suspicious gaze did not disappear.

“She told you, didn’t she?”, Maria said, looking straight at Alex

“No, she didn’t”, Alex denied

“Yes she did, I can see it. Your eyes are watering, your hands are sweating and you can’t wipe that damn grin from your face”, Maria said sternly, “She told you!”

“Our own personal lie detector, ladies and gentlemen”, Liz explained

“Oh when I’m through with her she’s gonna wish she could trade places with Tess”, Maria said

~~

A few hours later, Isabel is still lying on the couch. When the phone rings, Isabel grabs her forehead in pain. Fortunately, the phone is in reach and without moving or opening her eyes, she stretches her hand and takes the phone off the hook.

“What?”, Isabel asked.

“Isabel?”, Tess asked on the other line

“Oh shit. Why do I get the feeling I’m not gonna like this talk?”, Isabel asked sarcastically. When she tried to open her eyes, the light hurt her eyes and she had to shield her eyes with her other hand to stop the sharp pain her head.

“Maybe you’re psychic”, Tess said sarcastically, “What the hell were you thinking Isabel? You promised me… you promised you would never do that to yourself again”

“Jesus Christ Tess, can’t this wait? I feel like someone just hit me on the head with a sledgehammer”, Isabel whined

“No. You need to….”, Tess started to lecture and Isabel held the phone away from her ear and frowned. She didn’t even hear Maria come in who grabbed the phone out of Isabel’s hand. She listened for a second to hear it was Tess.

“Tess… she’ll call you back”, Maria said before disconnecting Tess mid-sentence

“Thank y…”, Isabel started before Maria slapped her in the face which effectively shut her up. Her eyes opened wide and for a few moments, her headache was gone. She looked at Maria with confusion and disbelief.

“How could you?”, Maria asked, pain evident in her voice

It didn’t take Isabel long to figure out that Maria was not talking about her getting drunk. “I’m sorry”, she said softly

“Sorry? Do you have any idea how humiliating this is?”, Maria asked in the same hurt tone

“It’s not something to be ashamed of, you know”, Isabel tried to save

“You call seventy-one screwed up first dates in a row nothing to be ashamed of?... I should never have told you!”, Maria shouted before she calmed down a bit and sat down on the couch opposite to Isabel. “I don’t find being a twenty-four year old virgin exactly something to be proud of”

“I’m sorry. The subject just came up and I was just being honest with him”, Isabel said softly

“And in those magical moments of honesty, did you happen to be honest about yourself? Does Alex know what you used to do for a living? Does he know about Jesse Ramirez? Does he know you were in jail for two months while you were in college?”, Maria asked, noticing Isabel’s downcast face “…No, I didn’t think so”, she concluded

“I’m just afraid that if I tell him… I don’t think he’ll understand”, Isabel said softly

Maria’s expression suddenly softened. “And that’s the reason you got yourself drunk… isn’t it?”, Maria asked

“You know, when my apartment was trashed and the painting of my father was ruined, I cried my eyes out, and Alex was there for me. He didn’t try to take advantage, he didn’t give me the feeling he wanted to be somewhere else…… But when he finds out, he will leave. I just know it”, Isabel said

“You don’t know that”, Maria tried to reason

“The last four guys I told all left within the hour and I never saw them again. It was like watching a magician: now you see him, now you don’t”, Isabel admitted

“Isabel, why are you doing this to yourself? Just tell him and if he doesn’t still want you, he’s not worth it”, Maria said

“You know, when you make it sound like that…”, Isabel started

“Yes yes, I know…”, Maria interrupted, “…the pretty virgin spoke wisdom”

“Don’t make me throw up. I just cleaned the place”, Isabel said, a small smile on her face

“Okay, we’re leaving for the hospital in an hour. Be ready”, Maria said, making it clear she wouldn’t accept a no on this. Isabel reluctantly stood up to fix herself a cup of coffee and was shocked to feel Maria’s hand collide with her cheek. A fraction of a second later, she felt her cheek burn again. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you telling Alex about me”, she added, pointing her finger at Isabel before walking out of the apartment.

Isabel waited until Maria was out of the apartment. “The virgin spoke”, she said with a smile

~~

About an hour and fifteen minutes later, Liz, Maria, Isabel and Alex arrived at the hospital. As soon as they reached the second floor where Tess was staying, they saw Max and Michael moving towards them from the other side of the hallway.

“We they like, waiting there for us to come?”, Maria softly asked

“Okay, the two of you go and make out for a few minutes”, Isabel said with a sweeping gesture, “I need to talk to Alex for a few seconds”

“I don’t think that’s…”, Liz started but Isabel cut her off.

“Go!”, Isabel said forcefully

“You know, I liked you better with a hangover”, Maria grumbled as she and Liz walked towards Max and Michael. Meanwhile, Isabel led Alex into an empty room.

“Can we talk?”, Max and Michael asked simultaneously.

Liz and Maria looked at each other for a second. “I think we dated Laurel and Hardy”, Liz stated.

“Funny”, Michael said to Liz before turning to Maria. “I really need to talk to you”, he said before gently dragging her away leaving Liz and Max in the center of the hallway. Max then led Liz to a private room where they could talk .

“How come there’s so many empty rooms here?”, Liz asked Max

“Too much rooms, not enough doctors. It’s like the exact opposite of a sitcom”, Max shrugged before sitting himself down on one of the freshly made beds. Liz sat down next to him.

“So what did you want to talk about?”, Liz asked, trying to let Max do the talking

“I think that’s obvious… I can’t stop thinking about you, Liz”, Max said as he stared into her eyes. “I don’t know what you did to me, but it hurts when you’re not with me”

“Please Max, don’t do this”, Liz whispered

“I have to”, Max said with a desperate expression on his face, “I can’t stop thinking about you. I know you’re still married but I just can’t go on without knowing that you feel the same way”

Liz hesitated for a few seconds. “I do. I never met someone with whom I felt so comfortable and yet so excited at the same time. I… I’ve missed you from the moment you drove away last night”, she admitted.

Max looked into her eyes and slowly moved closer to her. “Max, don’t”, Liz whispered softly and unconvincingly.

“You can’t say something like that and expect me not to kiss you”, Max said softly as his lips touched Liz’. Despite her initial protests, Liz slowly started to kiss him back. She could feel her heart pounding and she felt like she didn’t have any control over her body.

After a long gentle kiss, Max finally broke the kiss and moved backward a few inches. It took a good second for Liz to realize this and open her eyes.

Max gently lifted Liz’ chin and looked in her eyes. “I’m not trying to push you to go faster than you want, I’m not proposing to you and I’m not planning six different scenarios to seduce you and get you into bed… all I want is to be near you, to talk to you, to feel your lips on mine”, Max said, “Liz, I have something to ask you and I don’t know how to say it so I’m just gonna say it… tomorrow evening, my cousin Laurie is getting married… and I would like it if you accompanied me”

“Max, I don’t think that’s such a g…”, Liz started

“Just as friends Liz. Come on, you can’t let me go to that nest of vultures without backup”, Max begged

“But… what would I wear?”, Liz asked

“Clothes Liz… anything would be fine as long as you don’t wear a long white dress with a veil”, Max said

“I just know I’m gonna regret this”, Liz softly said

“So you’ll come?”, Max asked hopefully

“I’ll come”, Liz gave in

Max stood up beaming happily. “You’re not gonna regret this, Liz”, he said as he walked backwards to the door, never letting his eyes off hers. “I’m gonna call them and let them know I’m bringing a friend”, Max added, ready to leave the room.

“Max, door…!”, Liz shouted as Max hit his head against the doorpost exactly like he did a few days ago. “-post”, Liz said softly, grinning inwardly. Max didn’t seem to care much and with as much pride as he could, he left the room.

TBC

I'm having some trouble with one of the scenes so it's taking a lot longer than I like. So I decided to go ahead and post the first two scenes.
It's short, but at least it's something.

Part 18

Isabel closed the door behind her when she and Alex stepped into one of the empty. As she still faced the door, she hung her head a little. "Alex, I'm sorry", she whispered before turning around to face him.

"That's okay, Iz… I've had my share of drunk time and I said my share of stupid things while being drunk… just ask Liz", he said with a small smile, "… On second thought, don't ask Liz"

"I need to tell you some things about me, Alex", Isabel said hesitantly, "… and I know you're not gonna like it"

"If you say it like that, I probably won't. But that doesn't matter. I may not know everything about you but I don't think there's anything you can say that's as bad as you think", Alex assured her

"Okay…", Isabel started, "…You know how some people have money problems in college?"

Alex nodded knowingly "Sure", he said

"Well, I had a certain job when I was in college… please don't freak out, okay?… I uh… I was a stripper", Isabel nervously said

" Like, someone who takes her clothes off in public?", Alex stammered. He wanted to be supportive and just tell her that everything was okay, but he was just too stunned. It wasn’t like he was appalled or anything but he never expected Isabel to say this. He didn’t know what he expected but he sure as hell didn’t expect this.

“Yes”, Isabel said softly

“Come on Isabel; that’s not so bad. It’s not like you were a prostitute or something”, Alex tried to comfort. The sad look on Isabel’s face told him there was more to come though.

“One night, one of the regulars, he… offered me a lot of money if I…”, Isabel started

“…had sex with him”, Alex finished her sentence and Isabel nodded. “And did you?”, Alex asked.

“I was going to”, Isabel admitted, “I desperately needed the money and the guy was good-looking enough, so I agreed. We went into one of the back rooms… but I couldn’t do it and I told him to stop”

“He didn’t stop, did he?”, Alex said in a shaken voice

“No”, Isabel cried, “I begged him to stop but he started ripping my clothes off… so I hit him, and I hit him a few more times until he was writhing on the floor. I quickly ran away then”

“So, did he go to jail?”, Alex asked. He saw that Isabel was upset but he really needed to know everything.

“No… I went to jail”, Isabel said softly, “He charged me for physical abuse and he won”

“That’s not possible”, Alex quickly said

“It is when you’re senator Ramirez’ son”, Isabel said softly.

Isabel looked at Alex for a few seconds. He looked upset; maybe even angry. “Alex, please say something”, she said softly

“Isabel, you don’t have anything to be ashamed of here. He tried to rape you and you fought back; it's as simple as that. And maybe I don’t approve of the job you had but we all do stupid things when we’re young”, he said, “When I was eighteen, I hacked into the FBI main computer and I got caught”

“Yes, that really is stupid”, Isabel said, shooting Alex a small smile

"Yeah, but that was last century. Don’t worry about it. It’s ancient history", Alex reassured her

"So you're not upset?", Isabel asked with a spark of hope

"No… but I have to say I'm mighty curious about the show you put on in your college days", he said with a wide smile

"Well, if you're lucky… I might show it to you", Isabel said seductively as she took two steps in Alex' direction and kissed him passionately. After what seemed like forever, they broke the kiss and looked at each other with lust in their eyes they both snapped out of it.

"Tonight", they said in unison and they reluctantly left the room.

~~

"You know, you never told me what you did for a living?", Kyle asked as he lied in his hospital bed, staring at the ceiling. Besides him, Tess was staring intently at her laptop without touching the keypad.

"No… I guess I didn't", Tess said with a smile

"Let me guess… you're an overworked IT-specialist?", he said, glancing over at the poorly treated laptop.

"Nope", Tess said

"Hmmm… you're a writer who just got over her writer's block?", Kyle tried again.

"Hey, I do not have any writer's block!", Tess indignantly burst out before calming down. "Wow, it only took you two guesses", she complimented.

"So what is it that you write?", Kyle asked.

"Mostly romantic novels", Tess said and she couldn't help but think of her ex-boyfriend Peter and the fact that in all the time they were together, he never asked anything about her work. He had known that she was a writer but that was it. And here was someone she barely knew until yesterday who seemed to be genuinely interested in her work.

"My favorite. Can I read what you're writing now?", Kyle asked

"No!", Tess shouted quickly, "The first version is not for anyone to read. It's too personal", Tess said nervously

"That's not good enough, Love. Come on, give me the laptop", Kyle pleaded and to his surprise, Tess punched a few keys and handed it to him. Kyle grinned; he couldn't believe that Tess actually handed it over… until he saw the login screen with an empty password field.

"So what's the password?", he asked

Tess smiled widely. "Now, I wouldn't want to make it easy on you, now would I? Don't even bother guessing, it's too difficult", Tess grinned

"Hmmm, so you think you're being clever", Kyle softly said before trying out a few things. He typed, 'Kyle', 'Valenti' and 'Kyle Valenti'. He secretly hoped that Tess choose him as his password.

Tess couldn't see what he typed but when she saw his expression, so she knew exactly what to say. "No Kyle, it's not your name", she smiled. She knew those would be the first words he would try.

Kyle tried some more words: 'hospital', 'Liz', 'Maria', 'Isabel', 'we hate men'. When it all failed he looked up to see Tess smirking. "I told you Kyle, it's too difficult", she said with a smile.

Kyle looked at Tess' expression closely. Behind that smile, he could see the slightest glimpse of nervousness. It had to be something he could guess. He looked again and saw Tess smiling so widely that he knew he was missing something. But she was sure he wouldn't guess, unless…. A smile formed on his face as he punched in his next try. He smiled widely and he could see Tess' smile fade to amazement as he turned around the laptop to show her that he was in. "You shouldn't have repeated that last statement", he said with a smirk

Tess shifted uncomfortably. "Okay Kyle, give me back the laptop", Tess said nervously

"Could there be something in here you don't want me to see?", Kyle teased

Tess knew that he was just playing with her, but somehow, that knowledge didn't help. "Kyle, remember that I can walk and you can't. Don't make me hurt you", she said with squinted eyes.

"Nice try, Tess", he said with a smile as he turned towards the laptop. Tess practically flew out of her bed and towards Kyle, making a grab for the laptop.

"Give it back!", Tess shouted as she tried to pry the laptop out of his hands. Kyle didn't try very hand and Tess managed to retrieve the laptop very soon.

"You know, you're cute when you're pissed", Kyle said with a smile as he pulled her towards him. Tess was surprised that he was still this strong, even though he was injured. She didn't plan on fighting him on it though and lowered her head to kiss him. She didn't know how long her lips were locked with his; it felt too good for her to care about it. It wasn't until she heard another voice that she finally snapped out of it.

"Can't you guys get a room?", Tess heard a male voice ask and immediately, she jerked back and looked towards where the voice came from and saw a tall, not bad-looking guy who definitely knew how to dress himself.

"This is our room. Malamud, what are you doing here?", Kyle asked, still a bit shaken up

"Well, there's this really hot seventy year old woman three doors ahead… What does it look like I'm doing here?", he said before he gave Tess a strange look. "Ain't you Jackson's girlfriend?", he asked, confused

"Not anymore, she's not", Kyle answered for her

"Wow… well congratulations Valenti. I didn't think you had it in you… I was already beginning to wonder if maybe you were gay", he bluntly said before he turned towards Tess, "I don't think we met in person… I'm Marcus Malamud"

"Hi Marcus, I'm Tess Harding", Tess said with a smile. For some reason, she liked him already.

"Harding? As in, Tess Harding, the writer? As in, the author of Midnight Sundown, First Kiss, Twice In A Lifetime, Tainted Love…", Malamud rambled before Tess finally managed to interrupt.

"Yes, that would be me", Tess beamed. It didn't happen often that someone recognized her name, so to meet someone who actually heard about her was really something special to her. He even managed to name four of her books. She was positively gleaming with pride at the moment.

"You really read all those books Malamud?", Kyle asked Malamud with a sly smile.

"Yes I did… and you better keep that little fact to yourself, Valenti", he said casually, "Now, I want an explanation. The commissioner came into my office today… and by office I mean cubicle… and by cubicle, I mean that little excuse for a desk with a computer running Windows 3.11…", he mumbled

"Get to the point, Marcus", Tess interrupted and Kyle glared at her thankfully

"Okay… anyway, he said something about Jackson attacking you. I was confused… but now that I see the two of you together, things are suddenly making a whole lot more sense", Malamud said, looking intently at both Kyle and Tess.

"Well, it just so happens that there was nothing between us until last night…", Kyle started

"Yeah right! Who the hell are you kidding?", Jackson laughed

Kyle looked at Tess as if to ask her what he should say. "Well, I suppose it's gonna become public knowledge pretty soon anyway…", Tess said to Kyle

"I caught Jackson almost beating her to death", Kyle said, "… and when I confronted him later, he stabbed me"

"Stop shittin' me, Valenti… this is Jackson we're talking about. He wouldn't do that", Malamud said, a fake smile on his face

Kyle gave him a cold glare and Tess looked away which told Malamud what he needed to know; they were not joking in any way. "Jezus Christ!", Malamud exclaimed loudly

"He's going to be charged with attempted murder… twice!", Kyle said through gritted teeth.

TBC

Thanks for the FB everyone. I've finally managed to get past the hard part by simply leaving it out. I was gonna place a flashback in the first scene (I'm sure you'll get where) but I just couldn't write something I liked there. So in the interest of moving on, I cut it out.
Anyway, here's the next part. Have fun and don't forget to, as always, tell me what you think of it.

Part 19

"So… how long have the two of you been waiting for us?", Maria queried with a small smile on her face

"About half an hour. Maxwell wanted to talk to what's-her-name as soon as possible", Michael said

"Calling my best friend what's-her-name doesn't exactly grant you any mr Right-points", Maria said dryly

"Mr Right-points?", Michael asked, raising his eyebrows

"Uh-huh", Maria confirmed, "It's a system"

"I see", Michael said, trying hard not to grin too much. "So, how many mr Right-points do I have?", he asked, flashing a cute smile.

"Minus six", Maria said, trying to look as serious as possible. "…but then again, I never really believed in that system as much as Iz"

"How can I have minus six points?", Michael shouted indignantly

Maria leaned in a little. "Do you really wanna know?", she asked

"When you put it like that… no, not really", Michael said with a smile. A smile that suddenly widened.

“What? What’s so funny”, Maria asked

“Nothing. I was just thinking about the last time I dragged you into this room”, he said with a smirk on his face.

“Please Michael, I’m trying to repress”, Maria said in a half-joking voice.

"Oh give me a break! Don't tell me you didn't love it", he said, half insulted, half excited

"Don't flatter yourself, Guerin. You kissed me before I had a chance to react… you know, that's assault, buddy", she said indignantly

"I'm not flattering myself. Believe me, talking to you isn't exactly food for my ego", he said dryly

"Your ego needed to be put on a diet anyway", Maria quipped

Without warning, Michael jumped forward and pushed his lips on Maria's. She didn't object and wrapped her arms around his neck to hold them in place. After what seemed like hours, Michael broke the kiss and watched a dazed Maria with a smug smile on his face. "I suppose you're gonna pretend like you didn't like that too?", he said smugly

"Well… I didn't… dislike it…", she said breathlessly

"That's good to hear ", he replied, flashing her a smile

Maria quickly recovered. "So tell me… how are you gonna apologize for your asinine behaviour last night?", Maria suddenly asked

"Well… I was thinking I could cook you dinner", Michael suggested, his confident attitude suddenly gone

"Oh, and what restaurant will you be ordering in from?", Maria asked with a smile

"Hey, don't scoff… I can cook!", Michael said indignantly

"If you say so", Maria said disbelievingly

"You just wait and see ", Michael said

"Just so you know, when it comes to food, I'm not easy to please", Maria warned

"That doesn't just apply to food", Michael noted

"Are you always this annoying?", Maria asked

"Yes", he simply said

The two of them just stood there for a few seconds, just staring at each other before they both simultaneously jumped towards each other and started kissing again.

~~

"Thank God, I thought he'd never leave", Kyle said as he softly kissed Tess. Just a few seconds earlier, Malamud had left, probably in search of Jackson.

"I know what you mean", Tess agreed, "He's nice though. I like him"

"You're just saying that because he read all your books and he asked for your autograph", Kyle mocked

"You're just jealous", she said with a smile

"Me? Jealous? Never", Kyle said with that smile that made Tess melt.

"Good", Tess said softly as she leant forward to kiss him again but they were interrupted when someone arrived in the room.

"Am I interrupting something?", Max asked

"Yes!", Kyle and Tess replied in unison

"Well too bad. This is a hospital, not a motel", he shrugged and walked towards Kyle and Tess

"Can you make it quick?", Tess said, making it quite clear that she wanted him gone as soon as possible

"You know, I seem to remember your bed being on the other side of the room", Max noted and with a stern look, subtly threatening to move it back and tell the nurses to keep it that way

Tess gave Max an impish smile. "Good morning dr Evans, it's so nice to see you", she said, overly enthusiastic, "Please take your time"

"I thought so", Max laughed before turning to Kyle

"Kyle Valenti. Do I dare ask how you're feeling?", he asked, cocking his eyebrow

"I feel good… no, I feel great", he said

"You get out of that bed and you're in major trouble, Kyle Valenti!", Tess said sternly

"I didn't… I didn't…", Kyle stammered, not knowing how to react to Tess sudden outburst. "Don't worry. I'll stay in bed", he finally relented, figuring that was all she wanted to hear

"That's good", Max commented before turning to Tess, "So how are you feeling? Any dizziness? Nausea?"

"No, just a little tired", Tess said

"Maybe walking to the bathroom across the hallway, in the middle of the night, all by yourself, was not all that wise after all", Max flatly commented

"You did what?", Kyle exclaimed but Tess ignored him

Tess flashed Max a small smile, "You knew about that?"

"Uh-huh. And I have to say… that was really stupid. Next time, you call a nurse", Max ordered

"I can walk to the bathroom!", Tess said indignantly, "I'm hurt… I'm not a fucking invalid!"

"Tess… please", Kyle pleaded softly

“No Kyle… do you have any idea how incredibly humiliating it is to have to call a nurse because you have to go to the bathroom?”, Tess asked Kyle

“Yes, I do!”, Kyle said loudly, “…but I don’t want to make things worse so I do it anyway. Tess, please promise me you’re gonna stay in bed. I don't wanna loose you”

Tess and Kyle looked at each other for a few seconds and seemed to be continuing the conversation without saying a word. Max looked at the two with confusion but he knew better than to interfere now.

"Fine", Tess finally relented

"Good. I'm sure your friends will be glad to hear that", Max said

"Speaking of my friends…", Tess said, seeing an opportunity to take the offensive, "…how did your date with Liz go?"

"Sorry Tess, I don't kiss and tell", Max backed off

"You kissed her?!", Tess shrieked.

"That was a figure of speech", Max clarified

"Oh…", Tess said softly. "…oh well, I'll just get the story from Liz. It's juicier that way anyway", she shrugged, a wide smile forming on her face.

~~

"Okay, I think I just did something stupid", Liz said as she sat down in the waiting room next to Isabel and Maria.

"You had a fight with Max?", Maria gasped

"No, I agreed to go accompany him to his cousin's wedding", Liz corrected

"So? Why's that so bad?", Isabel queried, a smile on her face

"He's so gonna get the wrong idea here", Liz sighed

"Oh, who are you kidding?", Isabel exclaimed happily

Liz was silent for a second and then turned to Maria. "Is she high?", Liz whispered

"Yeah", Maria answered as Isabel gave her a playful push, "High on Whitman"

"See, I told you he would understand… I mean, you did tell him, right?”, Liz asked

“Yes, I told him. He didn’t care”, Isabel said dreamily, “He said he did a lot of stupid things too so he could relate”

“Let me guess…”, Liz said with a smile, “… he gave you the story about the time he hacked into the FBI computer again?”

“Yes!”, Isabel exclaimed

“Yeah, he told me that story at least a dozen times…”, Liz said with a small smile, “… and I’m bound to hear it again this afternoon when we go to court”

“So what’s gonna happen exactly this afternoon?”, Maria asked, setting a more serious tone

“Well, if everything goes according to plan, Brad will agree to a fifty-fifty split and everything will be taken care of within the hour”, Liz said with a sigh

“Whoa, whoa! Fifty-fifty?”, Maria said, slightly outraged, “What about my apartment? What about Iz’ apartment? What about the fact that he screwed countless women right under your nose… figuratively speaking of course, ‘cause that would be gross… not that…”

“Maria, you’re doing it again”, Isabel intervened

“Sorry”, Maria said, “Liz, he needs to suffer a whole lot more than that”

“I know….I know”, Liz said softly, “…but the more I think about it, the more I just want it over with”

“Are you sure that doesn’t have anything to do with a certain doctor we both know?”, Isabel said, still bearing a wide smile

“You know, I don’t like this overly happy Isabel”, Maria mocked.

“Well, get used to her”, Isabel said with a smile.

Looking at the clock, she noticed that it was finally eleven o’clock, so visiting hours had finally begun. When Alex came out of the bathroom, all three the girls got up and the four of them walked towards Tess’ hospital room.

“So how many Mr Right points does Michael have?”, Isabel whispered to Maria

Maria smiled at her. “Eighty-six. But he doesn’t need to know that”, Maria laughed

When they arrived at Tess room, they stood like frozen in the doorway. There was Tess, kissing a guy who was definitely not someone they knew well… yet he did look incredibly familiar.

“Somehow, I don’t think she’s gonna be happy to see us”, Maria whispered

“Isn’t that the guy who saved her from her psycho ex?”, Liz whispered

”Yeah, what’s he doing here?”, Maria answered, also in a whisper

“I think he’s practicing more mouth-to-mouth”, Liz whispered

“Are we gonna stand here all morning?”, Alex softly queried

All three girls looked at each other and collectively shrugged before they silently walked in. “You know, I’ve read that kissing for more than thirty seconds can cause permanent brain damage”, Maria suddenly said loudly, expecting Tess to jump up in surprise.

But that didn’t happen. “Don’t believe everything you read”, Tess smirked

“Okay, explanation time”, Liz said as she took a seat on one of the nearby chairs.

“I got stabbed…”, Kyle said

“… by Peter…”, Tess added

“…Yeah, but dr Evans patched me up so I’ll be fine”, Kyle finished

“He did?”, Liz asked, “He didn’t mention any of that to me”

“It’s that pesky doctor/patient confidentiality thing”, Alex noted

“Thank you, Perry Mason”, Liz said sarcastically

“Being sarcastic with your lawyer on court day… never a good idea”, Alex said with a faked stern look.

“Okay, can we focus here?”, Maria intervened before turning to Kyle, “So did they arrest that son of a bitch?”

“They will when they find him”, Kyle said

“And they will find him”, Tess added

“Okay, can we skip ahead to the part where you two started kissing?”, Isabel asked excitedly

Tess looked at Isabel and raised her eyebrows before turning to Maria. “Is she still drunk?”

Isabel jerked her head towards Maria. “Don’t!... say it”, she said loudly, knowing the words ‘drunk on Whitman’ were on Maria’s lips. And with Alex standing right next to her, that would have been a little awkward. She then turned her attention back to Tess. “No, I’m not drunk. I’m just cheerful. Can’t I be cheerful?”, Isabel said

“It’s not fair”, Tess pouted, “When I get drunk, I loose the capacity to be cheerful for at least a day”

“Well, you sober up quickly when one of your best friends starts slapping you in the face”, Isabel said sarcastically

“Maria!”, Tess squealed

“Why do you automatically assume it was me?”, Maria said indignantly, before sighing, “On second thought, don’t answer that. Let’s just say a drunk Isabel can’t keep her mouth shut”

“Well, it could have been worse”, Isabel said with a smile, “I could have called Michael and let him know”

“If you had done that, you would be lying in the bed next to Tess right now”, Maria threatened

It was silent for a few seconds before Kyle spoke up. “What the hell are you all talking about?”

~~

“Roswell General hospital, this is Miriam. How may I help you”, a cheerful female desk clerk spoke into the phone

“Good morning, my name is Jack Peters”, a familiar voice sounded on the other end, “I would like to visit someone. Do you have standard visiting hours?”

“Well, yes mr Peters… visiting hours are from eleven to twelve, from three to four and from seven to eight”, Miriam answered

“Well thank you Miriam”, the voice on the other end said, “Now, I’m not exactly sure what room she is in…”

“Well, I can look that up for you mr Peters. What is her name?”, Miriam replied

“Tess Harding”, was the answer

Miriam punched a few keys on keyboard in front of her and looked at the screen. “Room 137, sir”, she read from the screen

“Is it a private room?... I wouldn’t want to crowd her”, he asked

“No sir, there’s one other person there”, Miriam said, “But I met her roommate, mr Valenti, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind”

On the other end of the phone, Peter Jackson almost choked. “Valenti?! You mean Kyle Valenti?”, he exclaimed

“Yes sir”, Miriam answered

“Well thank you Miriam. You’ve been a great help”, Jackson said, gritting his teeth

“You’re welcome sir. Have a nice day”, she answered dutifully

“The same to you”, Jackson said politely before hanging up. Three seconds later, he lifted the whole phone set and threw it against the wall, parts flying all around. “He survived… goddammit, he survived”, Jackson muttered

Another update, but a short one. I hope the next one will be a bit bigger, but no promises . Don't forget to tell me what you think of it.

Part 20

"All rise!", a loud voice echoed through the room. Liz was petrified; if anything went wrong… she didn't even dare think what would happen then. Alex gave Liz a slight tap against her shoulder, motioning Liz to stand up for the judge who entered the room, something she did promptly.

"Case number 86565; Jones versus Jones. Honorable judge Diane Evans presiding", the same voice echoed. Liz looked towards the entrance and watched as the judge walked towards her seat.

"Please be seated", the judge said as Liz and Alex sat down. About ten feet away, Brad did the same thing.

"I understand mr Jones has chosen to represent himself?", the judge asked

"I have your honor", Brad answered

"Very well", the judge said, diverting her look to Alex. "Alex Whitman. I will be representing mrs Jones", he quickly responded

"I understand that mr and mrs Jones wish to file for divorce", the judge said

"Yes your honor", Alex said, "Mrs Jones has filed for the divorce and asks for an equal sharing of the couple's possessions", Alex said

"Well, I understand mrs Jones has signed a prenuptual agreement that prohibits her from making any claim to mr Jones' possessions in case of a divorce", the judge said knowingly

"Mrs Jones has indeed signed that agreement", Alex admitted

“Then why would mrs Jones have the right to an equal share?”, the judge asked, straight to the point

“Because he’s fucking all the women in our neighbourhood!”, Liz said loudly

“Liz, you’re not helping”, Alex mumbled

“Sorry”, Liz whispered and kept quiet

"What she was trying to say was that mrs Jones has found out that mr Jones cheated on her during the marriage, which would make the document unbinding"

"I object, your honor", Brad said loudly, "I did no such thing"

"Mr Whitman, I'm going to get straight to the point… do you have any proof?", the judge asked

"You're goddamn right I do. I taped the fucker!", Liz shouted loudly

"Liz!", Alex hissed, motioning her to be quiet, “For God’s sake, be quiet”

"Sorry", Liz mumbled again

"I apologize, your honor", Alex said with a small smile, "Mrs Jones has aquired a videotape of her husband having sexual intercourse with another woman"

"Mr Jones?", the judge asked warningly

"A lie, your honor", he answered

"Your honor, with your permission I would like to show the tape in question", Alex said, a wide grin appearing on his face. He then grabbed a tape from his jacket and walked towards a large TV-video set that stood on a rollable installation in the corner of the courtroom. He rolled it towards the judge.

"You didn't honestly think you got them all, did you?", Alex said to Brad

"Wait! Wait!", Brad shouted before Alex could play the tape

"Mr Jones", the judge said warningly, "I am going to ask you one more time… did you or did you not have sexual intercourse with someone other than Liz Jones-Parker during this marriage?"

Brad thought for a few seconds. They had him… why deny it now? "Yes, your honor. I have", he said, his head bowed.

"And is there anything you would like to add to your defense, mr Jones?", the judge asked

“I can’t honestly say I’m really sorry, your honor. Liz Parker married me for my finances only. I was a fool not to see it before we married… So whether she gets her money or not, I only hope that after today, I’ll never see that leech again”, he said with a dead-serious look

“I see”, the judge said, “And do you have something to add, mr Whitman?”

“No, your honor”, Alex answered

“In that case, the wedding is cancelled, effective immediately and mrs Parker has the right to fifty percent of the couple’s property”, the judge said, causing Liz to sigh in relief.

“What about the tape, your honor?”, Brad asked

“Well, it was filmed by mrs Parker in her own house. I don’t see what I can do about it”, the judge said, “Case dismissed!”. The judge then walked out of the room again.

“Liz, can I please have that tape? You already got everything what you wanted”, Brad said to Liz and Alex.

Liz didn’t answer; she just looked at Brad, obviously angry at his earlier words. “I can’t do that”, Alex said, walking to the VCR and taking the tape out, “You see, Isabel would kick my ass if I didn’t return her favorite movie”

“What?!”, Liz shouted, “Are you telling me that is not the tape? Then where is the tape?”

“There is no tape, Liz!”, Alex said in a calm but firm tone

Brad stood up, defeated. “You can have the house. I’m leaving. Goodbye, Liz”, he said before walking towards the exit

“Brad, wait!”, Liz said, making Brad halt his movement, his back still turned towards her, “Regardless what you may think, I did love you… But you changed during our marriage, I guess I did too… and instead of talking about it or seeking help, you choose to just screw other women. How can you make it sound like I’m the villain here?”

“Liz, when was the last time we had sex?”, Brad asked

“I… I don’t know exactly”, Liz admitted

“I do… we were married ten months ago. That means that we haven’t had sex in nine and a half months”, Brad said, “You got tired of me the moment we got married”

“I told you it hurts when I have sex… I thought you understood”, Liz said

“This is something I don’t need to hear”, Alex said before quickly leaving the room

“Yeah, I understand alright”, Brad said sarcastically, “Now let’s both just move on”

“Goodbye Brad”, Liz said.

Brad walked to the exit and without a second glance, he left the courtroom and walked out of Liz’ life… or so she hoped.

~~

Tess saw it again. She lived through it again in her dreams.

“Come on babe. We still have time for a quicky”, he had said.

Completely tactless and oblivious to his future actions, she had cringed her face in disgust. “Not today, Peter. I’m tired”, Tess had said, not knowing that this would set him off immediately.

“What is your fucking problem, bitch?!”, he had shouted, “You’ve been fucking tired for months. See a doctor!”, he had said, the sarcasm dripping from his voice

“Sorry”, Tess had muttered

“Don’t give me sorry. I want something very different than an apology from you”, he had said with a wide smile, grabbing Tess at the waist and pulling her towards him.

“Peter, what the hell is wrong with you? I said no!”, Tess had said, struggling herself out of his grasp.

Even with his previous track record, she never thought he would really harm her. She was wrong. Something clicked inside his head… metaphorically speaking, of course… and he lunged forward, aiming his fist towards her face. He didn’t miss and she fell down on the floor, dazed by this hit.

“How the hell did I put up with you this long?”, he asked himself. He pulled his hand back, ready to strike again.

“No, please! Please don’t!”, Tess screamed

“Tess! Tess, are you alright?”, she heard Kyle’s voice say. She opened her eyes and saw where she was; in the hospital.

“It was just a dream, Tess”, he said

Tess could feel tears welling up. Now normally, she would just walk to the next room, cry her eyes out and then come back and act normal… but now she couldn’t, and she couldn’t ask him to leave either. She layed herself down on her side, facing away from him. She couldn’t let him see her like this. It was just in time; she could already feel the first tear sliding down her cheek.

“I’m fine Kyle, just go back to sleep”, she said with a shaken voice

“If you wanna talk about it, I’m right here… it’s not like I can go anywhere”, he said, trying to add a litte bit of humor to an obviously humorless situation.

He waited for almost two minutes and then resigned to the fact that she wasn’t gonna talk to him. “I must be the most pathetic girl on the planet right now”, she finally said, her trembling voice almost like a whisper

“Don’t be so hard on yourself”, Kyle said reassuringly

“You don’t understand, Kyle… Liz, Maria and Isabel, they warned me it would come to this. They always said that one day he would do more than just give me a black eye”, Tess whispered, “…but I didn’t listen. I didn’t wanna hear it. I just…”

“You wanted to believe that he would start treating you better. I understand that, Tess… and it certainly doesn’t make you pathetic. You know, pathetic would be pointing a gun at the man who assaulted the woman you love and allowing yourself to get stabbed”, Kyle said

Tess paused for a few seconds before turning her tear-stained face towards him. “The woman you… l..love?”, she asked

Kyle gave Tess a shy smile. “I really said that, huh?”, he said rhetorically

“You want to take it back?”, Tess asked

“No”, Kyle said softly

“But you hardly know me”, Tess objected

“Tess, it only takes one minute to love someone… and it takes a lifetime to forget that love”, he said, “I may only have known you for a few days but we’ve been through more together than a lot of people… and you have yet to dissapoint me in anything about you”

“Kyle, don’t make it sound like I’m perfect or something, because we both know…”, Tess said

“…Tess, if you were any more perfect, you would grow wings and start playing the harp”, he said with a wide grin

Tess smiled at him. “Well, I guess I am pretty good”, Tess said jokingly

A satisfied smile spead over Kyle’s face. “Now, do you have something to say?”, he asked, half joking and half serious. He vigorously hoped that she would say that she loved him too.

“Am I interrupting something?”, a voice sounded from the entrance of the room. Kyle slowly turned his head to see Alex standing in the doorway with a large bag in his hands.

“Only in the literal sense”, Kyle mumbled but it didn’t seem like either Tess or Alex heard it.

“No… of course not”, Tess said, trying to sound genuine, “But I thought you all weren’t coming until tonight”

“Oh, we are… but I wanted to speak to you alone for a minute”, Alex said. He opened the bag and took a medium sized painting out of it. “Liz told me that you painted this”, he said as he showed the ruined portait of Isabel’s father. “Is there anything you can do?”

“You know, you don’t need paintings to get Isabel to adore you”, she said knowingly

“It means a lot to her… this painting. I just want to make her happy”, Alex answered

“Alright…”, Tess said with a small smile, “…bring it over here. Let me have a look”. Alex brought the painting over to her and Tess took several minutes studying the extent of the damage. “It’s not gonna be easy… I can certainly imagine why Isabel would throw it away”

“What makes you think she threw it away?”, Alex asked, amazed that Tess figured it out

“Because she would have never let you walk out of her house with it”, Tess answered dryly.

Alex smiled at Tess’ perceptance. “But it is fixable?”, he asked.

“Maybe. Look, here’s what you should do. Can you grab my wallet from my locker. I think it’s in the back pocket of my jeans”, she said and paused a few seconds, “…and if you check out my jeans-size, I’m gonna slap you”, she added

Alex quickly found the wallet and handed it to Tess. Tess opened her wallet and took out a small business card and handed it to Alex. He took it and examined it carefully. It didn’t contain much information. A name: Nasedo… and a phone number.

“Alright, give this man a call. He’s amazingly weird but he’s a genius when it comes to paintings. It’s like he can fix paintings by waving his hand. If anyone can fix that painting, it’s him. Just tell him Ava sent you and he’ll help you”, Tess explained.

“Thanks”, Alex said

“Now onto more important issues… I can’t believe I’ve been talking to you for two minutes and I still don’t know what happened in court today”, Tess said.

“Well, Liz is officially Liz Parker again and she got half of the money… but when Brad said that she only married him for his money, I think it hurt her more than she will admit”, Alex said

“Well, let’s just hope we’ll never hear from him again”, Tess said

“One can only hope”, Alex agreed

TBC