Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 8:51 pm
Sorry it took so long to get this part out. I've had it done for a while but i'm just blah right now about this fic. I want to finish it but i'm just ehh about it. LOL Thank you to all that have left FB.
~*~Chapter 11~*~
~~Max~~
I pull up to my parents house and walk into the study where my father is.
“Max I’m glad you could make it.” He fixes me a drink and we take a seat on the leather sofa.
“Your sister came over here about a week ago and asked me if there was anyway I could check someone out for her. I was wondering if you knew who she could be talking about?”
“No. She hasn’t said anything to me about it.” I’m just as surprised.
“Well I guess we will never know because she called me a few days later and told me that she took care of it. I don’t know it just doesn’t seem like Isabella to ask me to do something like that. I just wonder who it is.” I know that my father is concerned and so am I.
“I’ll see if she says anything to me.”
“Has she been around anyone new? I don’t think it would be any of her clients this sounded more serious then the usual background check. It seemed like she wanted me to use my contacts or something.” I’m beginning to get really stressed out.
“I don’t know she hasn’t been around I don’t know except for Alex.”
“Alex?” My father asks. He really don’t know much about him and neither do it.
“Yeah he’s some sort of business man from New York. Bella has been seeing him for a while now.” I wonder why she hasn’t brought them around our parents.
“Well she hasn’t’ has us meet him yet. Do you think it’s him?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think she would ask you to check up on her boyfriend though. She knows what she’s doing.”
“Yes I guess you are right. Just try and talk to her you she has always confided in you.” I finish off my drink and say goodbye before walking out to my car.
I have to talk to Bella about this but I have to be smart in the way I approach her. I want to get her to open up to me not shut me out.
~~Bella~~
Alex is staying over tonight, something that he’s never done. I don’t know why it took me so long to sleep with him and now I can’t get enough. He’s still and enigma but I’m hoping to slowly break him out of his shell.
I want to ask him to meet my parents and hope that he agrees.
“You look beautiful.” Alex says when I open the door.
“I do not.” I’m wearing a light blue pheasant skirt with a white thank top.
“You always look great.” He seals our lips and kicks the door closed with his foot.
“I missed you.” He says when we finally break for air.
“Me too.” We sit on the sofa wrapped up in each other.
“Alex I wanted to ask you to have dinner with me at my parents house next week.” I hope he agrees.
“Wow meeting the parents. This is serious.” He jokes.
“You’ll come then?”
“Of course I will.” I pull him in for a hug and we begin a heavy make out session again.
Just as we are about to go to bed his cell phone rings and he goes out to take the call. I can’t hear what he’s saying but I can tell that it’s a serious conversation. Patiently I wait for him to get off and come back inside.
“Everything ok?” I ask when he comes back in.
“Yeah just work you know.” He sits next to me and I can tell that something is on his mind.
“Anything I can do to help?” I ask.
“As a matter of fact there is. Come here.” He pulls me onto his lap and smothers me with kisses.
~~Max~~
I get home and I’m exhausted and starving. I walk in the house and see Liz watching television on the couch.
“Hey everything ok?” She turns the Television off and walks over to greet me.
“Yeah my dad just has to ask me something. It’s no big deal. Did you eat already?” I set my briefcase down and ask.
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure when you would be home so I went ahead and ate. I saved you some food though it’s in the oven.
“Thanks. I’m going to change I’ll be right out.” I walk to the bedroom and change into something more comfortable.
“So how was your day?” I snuggle up with her on the couch.
“Ok. I called Maria today.”
“That’s good.” She looks upset and I know that she misses her.
“Yeah. I miss her.”
“I know baby. Maybe we can plan something for you to go visit her or something.” I suggest and get up to get some food. I’m still starving.
“I wish I could but I just took time off and things are really busy now. I don’t want to leave Isabel to deal with everything.”
“I’m sure she would understand honey.” I warm up my plate in the microwave and grab a beer.
“I don’t know. We’ll see I guess.”
~~Liz~~
Isabel is in Venice for a few days and I’m swamped. I don’t know how she did this alone but I guess now that I’m here she can expand more. It’s 6:00 and decide to head home for the day. Tomorrow Max and I have an appointment with a fertility specialist. I want to approach this aggressively so we decided to go with this doctor. I gather my things and shut the lights off.
When I get home Max isn’t here and I’m surprised. He’s always home by this time or he would have called. I check for a note but don’t see one so I call his cell.
“Hey babe where are you?” I ask when he picks up.
“I’m on my way home right now. I should be there in a minute.” He says and I can tell he’s in the car.
“Ok.” I hang up and wonder where he was. I change into a pair of shorts and a tank top when I hear the door open.
“Hey.” He drops his briefcase and wraps his arms around my waist.
“Hey, your home late.” I say after I place a kiss on his lips.
“Yeah I had an errand to run.” He shrugs. He’s being secretive but I’m not going to jump to conclusions.
~~Max~~
I can’t keep up all these lies. They aren’t really lies but I’m not coming clean about a lot of things. I need to talk to Liz and get all of this off my mind. I walk out and see Liz curled up on the sofa watching a movie.
“Come sit with me.” She pulls the blanket off of her and makes room for me.
“What’s wrong?” She asks as I stroke her hair.
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do. What’s going on?” She turns to face me and I hate to upset her.
“I have to tell you something.” I see a worried look on her face and feel like shit.
“Ok.” She says waiting for me to continue.
“Do you remember Tessa?” Of course she does. What kind of question is that.
“Yeah.”
“Well I ran into her a while back.”
“And?” She asks and I need to get to the point.
“We sort of had lunch. She’s pregnant now.” She looks betrayed not that I blame her.
“Why are you telling me this Max?”
“Well I wanted you to know…in case you saw her or something.” I’m such a coward. How do I get myself into these situations?
“There is more to it then that Max. Just tell me please.” She scoots to the other end of the sofa not that I blame her.
“Bella found out that it’s Jackson’s baby.” I hate saying that monsters name in front of her. I know that it brings back memories that she would rather not think about.
“Bella knew that you were seeing her?” I didn’t expect that to come out but I can understand her being hurt by that too.
“Y-yes. She umm….confronted me about it.”
“This is nice. Thank you Max, thank you for making me feel like shit once again! God who are you? Your not the man that I married and you certainly aren’t the man I fell in love with. I don’t’ know who the hell you are but I want you to go away! Get out of my face!” She pushes me and storms off to our bedroom.
When did I become such a fuck up? How could I do this? I don’t know what I’m going to do but I’m fucking up right now. I’m fucking up royally.
“Shit!” I run my hands thought my hair and get up to get a cigarette. I’ve tried to stop since we started the fertility treatments but I need one right now.
~~Liz~~
“Hello.”
“Bella I need to talk to you.” I tell her since I hear noise in the background.
“What’s up?” She asks me and I guess she moved to another room.
“Do you hate me?” I ask her.
“What? What’s going on? What are you talking about Liz?”
“How could you not tell me about Tessa? Max just told me and he told me that you knew. You knew Bella! How long did you know?” I need to know how long I was in the dark about this.
“Liz I’m sorry. I told him to tell you right away. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you.”
“God I feel like such an idiot right now!” I want to scream I’m so pissed.
“Liz I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say.”
“I need to get away. I have to go Bella.” I hang up the phone and decide that I’m going to visit Maria. I can’t be here right now. I call Maria not bothering to look at the time. I need to talk to someone.
“Hello.” Michael answers the phone and I try to hide my emotions.
“Michael hey how are you?”
“Liz? Wow this is a surprise. I’m great. What’s up?” He asks.
“Oh nothing much. Is Maria around I need to ask her something really quick.” He tells me to hold on and hands her the phone.
“Hey what’s up?”
“Nothing. Umm I’m going to be heading up there soon. Can you get a few days off work?” I ask praying that she says yes.
“Of course I can. I’m working from home now so it’s not a big deal. When are you coming?”
“Soon. Maybe tomorrow. I’ll call you and give you the details though.”
“Alright let me know.” I hang up and get online to book my ticket. This is bullshit I can’t stand to be around Max right now and yes I’m running away but I don’t give a shit.
I book my ticket for tomorrow afternoon and it’s way over priced but I don’t care I need to get out of here. I decide to pack tonight so I can just take my bags in the morning and not have to come back home.
“Where are you going?” Max comes in as I’m packing and asks.
“New York.” I say without even looking at him.
“What?”
“You heard me I’m going to NEW YORK!” I brush past him and get my underwear.
“Ok did I miss something here?” He asks sitting down on the edge of the bed.
“Not really anything to miss Max. I’m going to New York since I can’t stand the sight of you and I can’t go to Bella’s.”
“Why can’t you go to Bella’s?” He asks watching my every move.
“I just don’t feel like it.” I shrug and go to the closet to get some clothes. I purposely take more then I’ll need just to get him thinking.
“Why are you doing this?” He asks when I come out of the closet with about 8 pairs of pants.
“If you don’t know then we have a huge problem.”
“Liz what do you want me to say?” He grabs my hand to get me to stay.
“I don’t want you to say anything. Just leave me alone.” I pull my hand out of his grasp and he stand up and walks out of the room.
Later that night he comes to bed and tries to wrap his arms around me but I move away from him. I’m not ready to just forgive him that easily I always do.
~*~*~Max~*~*~
I didn’t get much sleep and when I wake up Liz isn’t in bed. I brush my teeth and go get some coffee when I see a note from her on the table.
See you in a few days.
Liz.
I guess she made her point. She’s pissed, not that I blame her but running away isn’t the way to solve things. I get dressed and go to work hopefully she doesn’t stay away for too long so we can talk about this.
“Mr. Evans your sister is on line 2.” I know she would call eventually.
“Hello.”
“Well well Max how are you going to get yourself out of this one.” She says.
“I don’t know Bella. I told you that I didn’t want to tell Liz about Tessa and when I do look where it got me.”
“Oh no. Do not try to pin this on me. Trust me if she would have seen you with her it would have been worse. Much worse.” I know she’s right but it still sucks.
“Scopata! come l'inferno posso riparare questo?” I slam my fist into the desk.
“I don’t know how your going to fix it but you better think of something soon. She’s visiting Maria and Michael by the way so she’s ok.” She tells me and I’m glad that she’s going to see Michael. She hasn’t seen him in a while.
“Alright I got to go. I’ll talk to you later.” I hang up and sit back in my chair wondering what the hell could go wrong next. My wife is on her way to being across the world from me completely pissed and me and I’m stuck here wondering what she’s thinking. I just hope she comes back soon I’m already going crazy.
~*~*Liz~*~*
I spent most of the flight going over the events of my life over the past few years. I’m trying to pinpoint the exact moment we went wrong. The exact moment things turned to shit and I can’t. I don’t know if it’s me or if it’s him but one of us or maybe both took a wrong turn somewhere. This is my second marriage and while the first one was an utter disaster I wanted this one to work. Now I’m not so sure that it will. I don’t even know if things will ever be the same. While Max hasn’t cheated on me that I know of yet I don’t know if I can trust him anymore. He ends up in these situations and I just don’t know if it will ever end.
The pilot comes on and tells us we are about to land so I buckle up my seatbelt and wait. When I get off the plane I go to baggage claim and gather my bags. I called Maria and told her when my flight got in so she should be here shortly to pick me up.
Being back in New York feels strange to me. I have mixed feelings. I always thought of New York as home but now it doesn’t feel that way, I feel like a visitor. Home is where Max is and he’s not here. Finally I see my bags and quickly grab them before walking outside to the cold air and waiting for Maria to pull up.
“I’m soo sorry girl. Traffic was insane.” 10 minutes later Maria pulls up like a bat out of hell.
“It’s ok.” I laugh and throw my bags in the trunk.
“You look great. How are you?” She asks when we get in the car.
“I’m alright. You look good too.” Her hair is longer now.
“Michael would have come too but he got stuck in the city doing something. He should be home when we get there.” I forget that they don’t live in the city anymore.
“So how’s life in Italy?” She asks me. I still haven’t told her about Max and I and don’t want to right now.
“It’s great. I love it there.” I try to fake a smile.
“Well then what the hell are you doing here? I mean not that I’m not happy to see you.”
“It’s complicated. I’ll tell you later.” I look out the window as we drive to the house.
“Here we are.” We pull up to a cottage style house.
“This is really nice Maria.” We grab my bags out of the trunk and walk up to the door. I walk inside and the house looks nothing like I would imagine. It looks very much like a city style apartment. It’s very open with modern furniture.
“I know you didn’t expect it to look like this. Everyone says that but Michael and I missed the loft style so we gutted out the house and came up with this.”
“I love it. It’s great.”
“It’s no Italian villa but we like it.” She shows me to my room and helps me unpack.
“How long are you staying?” She asks when she sees all the clothes I have.
“Not long. It’s a long story.” I say hanging up my clothes.
“Hey I’m home.” We hear Michael call and I run out to greet him.
“Michael!” I run into his arms and hug him tightly.
“Hey I missed you.” He wraps his arms around me and I try to hold back my tears. I missed him more then I thought.
“Me too. So what are you doing here?” He asks and we take a seat on the sofa.
“Can’t I come visit my brother?” I laugh.
“Yeah. We’re happy to have you.” He places a kiss on my head and I suddenly miss Max. He used to do that all the time.
“You hungry?” He asks me.
“A little.”
“Alright how about I make my famous pasta for you then? I mean I’m sure you’ve had the best living in Italy but you used to love mine.” He jokes.
“That would be great.” He goes to the kitchen and Maria gives me a tour of the house.
“That smells great.” We end up in the kitchen and Michael has the sauce simmering.
“Thanks. So what’s new in Italy?” He asks and pours us some wine.
“Nothing much. I’m still working with Isabel and Max is still at the museum.” I try to sound happy but I’m really missing home right now.
“That’s good.” He goes back to the stove leaving Maria looking at me like she knows something is up.
“We need to talk.” She whispers and I know I can’t avoid it.
After dinner Maria does the dishes and Michael and I sit in the back patio. It’s cold out but they have an outdoor fireplace that works really well.
“So are you going to tell me why you’re really here?” He asks.
“What do you mean?” I take a sip of my hot chocolate.
“Well for starters you just show up, not that I care but it’s not like you. Secondly you haven’t called Max since you’ve been here. So are you going to share?” When the hell did he become so observant?
“Not right now Michael. I will, but not now.” I hope he accepts that.
“Alright but I’m here if you need me.” I smile and gaze up at the stars. Maria comes out a little while later and the three of us sit and talk about the past for a while. I still feel jet lagged and go to bed early. As I get changed for bed I think about Max. I feel badly for not calling him and decide to at least check in with him.
“Pronto.” I called his cell to make sure I got him.
“It’s me. I’m at Michael and Maria’s. I just wanted to let you know that I’m ok.” I say coldly.
“Liz I…”
“Max I don’t want to talk I just wanted to tell you I’m ok incase you cared.” I know he does.
“Liz you know I do. I love you.”
“I got to go.” I hang up before he can say anything else and the tears start to fall. I miss him so much already. Hearing his voice and knowing that he’s so far away kills me but I need this time. Tomorrow I have to face Maria and her thousand questions since Michael has a meeting.
~*~Chapter 11~*~
~~Max~~
I pull up to my parents house and walk into the study where my father is.
“Max I’m glad you could make it.” He fixes me a drink and we take a seat on the leather sofa.
“Your sister came over here about a week ago and asked me if there was anyway I could check someone out for her. I was wondering if you knew who she could be talking about?”
“No. She hasn’t said anything to me about it.” I’m just as surprised.
“Well I guess we will never know because she called me a few days later and told me that she took care of it. I don’t know it just doesn’t seem like Isabella to ask me to do something like that. I just wonder who it is.” I know that my father is concerned and so am I.
“I’ll see if she says anything to me.”
“Has she been around anyone new? I don’t think it would be any of her clients this sounded more serious then the usual background check. It seemed like she wanted me to use my contacts or something.” I’m beginning to get really stressed out.
“I don’t know she hasn’t been around I don’t know except for Alex.”
“Alex?” My father asks. He really don’t know much about him and neither do it.
“Yeah he’s some sort of business man from New York. Bella has been seeing him for a while now.” I wonder why she hasn’t brought them around our parents.
“Well she hasn’t’ has us meet him yet. Do you think it’s him?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think she would ask you to check up on her boyfriend though. She knows what she’s doing.”
“Yes I guess you are right. Just try and talk to her you she has always confided in you.” I finish off my drink and say goodbye before walking out to my car.
I have to talk to Bella about this but I have to be smart in the way I approach her. I want to get her to open up to me not shut me out.
~~Bella~~
Alex is staying over tonight, something that he’s never done. I don’t know why it took me so long to sleep with him and now I can’t get enough. He’s still and enigma but I’m hoping to slowly break him out of his shell.
I want to ask him to meet my parents and hope that he agrees.
“You look beautiful.” Alex says when I open the door.
“I do not.” I’m wearing a light blue pheasant skirt with a white thank top.
“You always look great.” He seals our lips and kicks the door closed with his foot.
“I missed you.” He says when we finally break for air.
“Me too.” We sit on the sofa wrapped up in each other.
“Alex I wanted to ask you to have dinner with me at my parents house next week.” I hope he agrees.
“Wow meeting the parents. This is serious.” He jokes.
“You’ll come then?”
“Of course I will.” I pull him in for a hug and we begin a heavy make out session again.
Just as we are about to go to bed his cell phone rings and he goes out to take the call. I can’t hear what he’s saying but I can tell that it’s a serious conversation. Patiently I wait for him to get off and come back inside.
“Everything ok?” I ask when he comes back in.
“Yeah just work you know.” He sits next to me and I can tell that something is on his mind.
“Anything I can do to help?” I ask.
“As a matter of fact there is. Come here.” He pulls me onto his lap and smothers me with kisses.
~~Max~~
I get home and I’m exhausted and starving. I walk in the house and see Liz watching television on the couch.
“Hey everything ok?” She turns the Television off and walks over to greet me.
“Yeah my dad just has to ask me something. It’s no big deal. Did you eat already?” I set my briefcase down and ask.
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure when you would be home so I went ahead and ate. I saved you some food though it’s in the oven.
“Thanks. I’m going to change I’ll be right out.” I walk to the bedroom and change into something more comfortable.
“So how was your day?” I snuggle up with her on the couch.
“Ok. I called Maria today.”
“That’s good.” She looks upset and I know that she misses her.
“Yeah. I miss her.”
“I know baby. Maybe we can plan something for you to go visit her or something.” I suggest and get up to get some food. I’m still starving.
“I wish I could but I just took time off and things are really busy now. I don’t want to leave Isabel to deal with everything.”
“I’m sure she would understand honey.” I warm up my plate in the microwave and grab a beer.
“I don’t know. We’ll see I guess.”
~~Liz~~
Isabel is in Venice for a few days and I’m swamped. I don’t know how she did this alone but I guess now that I’m here she can expand more. It’s 6:00 and decide to head home for the day. Tomorrow Max and I have an appointment with a fertility specialist. I want to approach this aggressively so we decided to go with this doctor. I gather my things and shut the lights off.
When I get home Max isn’t here and I’m surprised. He’s always home by this time or he would have called. I check for a note but don’t see one so I call his cell.
“Hey babe where are you?” I ask when he picks up.
“I’m on my way home right now. I should be there in a minute.” He says and I can tell he’s in the car.
“Ok.” I hang up and wonder where he was. I change into a pair of shorts and a tank top when I hear the door open.
“Hey.” He drops his briefcase and wraps his arms around my waist.
“Hey, your home late.” I say after I place a kiss on his lips.
“Yeah I had an errand to run.” He shrugs. He’s being secretive but I’m not going to jump to conclusions.
~~Max~~
I can’t keep up all these lies. They aren’t really lies but I’m not coming clean about a lot of things. I need to talk to Liz and get all of this off my mind. I walk out and see Liz curled up on the sofa watching a movie.
“Come sit with me.” She pulls the blanket off of her and makes room for me.
“What’s wrong?” She asks as I stroke her hair.
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do. What’s going on?” She turns to face me and I hate to upset her.
“I have to tell you something.” I see a worried look on her face and feel like shit.
“Ok.” She says waiting for me to continue.
“Do you remember Tessa?” Of course she does. What kind of question is that.
“Yeah.”
“Well I ran into her a while back.”
“And?” She asks and I need to get to the point.
“We sort of had lunch. She’s pregnant now.” She looks betrayed not that I blame her.
“Why are you telling me this Max?”
“Well I wanted you to know…in case you saw her or something.” I’m such a coward. How do I get myself into these situations?
“There is more to it then that Max. Just tell me please.” She scoots to the other end of the sofa not that I blame her.
“Bella found out that it’s Jackson’s baby.” I hate saying that monsters name in front of her. I know that it brings back memories that she would rather not think about.
“Bella knew that you were seeing her?” I didn’t expect that to come out but I can understand her being hurt by that too.
“Y-yes. She umm….confronted me about it.”
“This is nice. Thank you Max, thank you for making me feel like shit once again! God who are you? Your not the man that I married and you certainly aren’t the man I fell in love with. I don’t’ know who the hell you are but I want you to go away! Get out of my face!” She pushes me and storms off to our bedroom.
When did I become such a fuck up? How could I do this? I don’t know what I’m going to do but I’m fucking up right now. I’m fucking up royally.
“Shit!” I run my hands thought my hair and get up to get a cigarette. I’ve tried to stop since we started the fertility treatments but I need one right now.
~~Liz~~
“Hello.”
“Bella I need to talk to you.” I tell her since I hear noise in the background.
“What’s up?” She asks me and I guess she moved to another room.
“Do you hate me?” I ask her.
“What? What’s going on? What are you talking about Liz?”
“How could you not tell me about Tessa? Max just told me and he told me that you knew. You knew Bella! How long did you know?” I need to know how long I was in the dark about this.
“Liz I’m sorry. I told him to tell you right away. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you.”
“God I feel like such an idiot right now!” I want to scream I’m so pissed.
“Liz I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say.”
“I need to get away. I have to go Bella.” I hang up the phone and decide that I’m going to visit Maria. I can’t be here right now. I call Maria not bothering to look at the time. I need to talk to someone.
“Hello.” Michael answers the phone and I try to hide my emotions.
“Michael hey how are you?”
“Liz? Wow this is a surprise. I’m great. What’s up?” He asks.
“Oh nothing much. Is Maria around I need to ask her something really quick.” He tells me to hold on and hands her the phone.
“Hey what’s up?”
“Nothing. Umm I’m going to be heading up there soon. Can you get a few days off work?” I ask praying that she says yes.
“Of course I can. I’m working from home now so it’s not a big deal. When are you coming?”
“Soon. Maybe tomorrow. I’ll call you and give you the details though.”
“Alright let me know.” I hang up and get online to book my ticket. This is bullshit I can’t stand to be around Max right now and yes I’m running away but I don’t give a shit.
I book my ticket for tomorrow afternoon and it’s way over priced but I don’t care I need to get out of here. I decide to pack tonight so I can just take my bags in the morning and not have to come back home.
“Where are you going?” Max comes in as I’m packing and asks.
“New York.” I say without even looking at him.
“What?”
“You heard me I’m going to NEW YORK!” I brush past him and get my underwear.
“Ok did I miss something here?” He asks sitting down on the edge of the bed.
“Not really anything to miss Max. I’m going to New York since I can’t stand the sight of you and I can’t go to Bella’s.”
“Why can’t you go to Bella’s?” He asks watching my every move.
“I just don’t feel like it.” I shrug and go to the closet to get some clothes. I purposely take more then I’ll need just to get him thinking.
“Why are you doing this?” He asks when I come out of the closet with about 8 pairs of pants.
“If you don’t know then we have a huge problem.”
“Liz what do you want me to say?” He grabs my hand to get me to stay.
“I don’t want you to say anything. Just leave me alone.” I pull my hand out of his grasp and he stand up and walks out of the room.
Later that night he comes to bed and tries to wrap his arms around me but I move away from him. I’m not ready to just forgive him that easily I always do.
~*~*~Max~*~*~
I didn’t get much sleep and when I wake up Liz isn’t in bed. I brush my teeth and go get some coffee when I see a note from her on the table.
See you in a few days.
Liz.
I guess she made her point. She’s pissed, not that I blame her but running away isn’t the way to solve things. I get dressed and go to work hopefully she doesn’t stay away for too long so we can talk about this.
“Mr. Evans your sister is on line 2.” I know she would call eventually.
“Hello.”
“Well well Max how are you going to get yourself out of this one.” She says.
“I don’t know Bella. I told you that I didn’t want to tell Liz about Tessa and when I do look where it got me.”
“Oh no. Do not try to pin this on me. Trust me if she would have seen you with her it would have been worse. Much worse.” I know she’s right but it still sucks.
“Scopata! come l'inferno posso riparare questo?” I slam my fist into the desk.
“I don’t know how your going to fix it but you better think of something soon. She’s visiting Maria and Michael by the way so she’s ok.” She tells me and I’m glad that she’s going to see Michael. She hasn’t seen him in a while.
“Alright I got to go. I’ll talk to you later.” I hang up and sit back in my chair wondering what the hell could go wrong next. My wife is on her way to being across the world from me completely pissed and me and I’m stuck here wondering what she’s thinking. I just hope she comes back soon I’m already going crazy.
~*~*Liz~*~*
I spent most of the flight going over the events of my life over the past few years. I’m trying to pinpoint the exact moment we went wrong. The exact moment things turned to shit and I can’t. I don’t know if it’s me or if it’s him but one of us or maybe both took a wrong turn somewhere. This is my second marriage and while the first one was an utter disaster I wanted this one to work. Now I’m not so sure that it will. I don’t even know if things will ever be the same. While Max hasn’t cheated on me that I know of yet I don’t know if I can trust him anymore. He ends up in these situations and I just don’t know if it will ever end.
The pilot comes on and tells us we are about to land so I buckle up my seatbelt and wait. When I get off the plane I go to baggage claim and gather my bags. I called Maria and told her when my flight got in so she should be here shortly to pick me up.
Being back in New York feels strange to me. I have mixed feelings. I always thought of New York as home but now it doesn’t feel that way, I feel like a visitor. Home is where Max is and he’s not here. Finally I see my bags and quickly grab them before walking outside to the cold air and waiting for Maria to pull up.
“I’m soo sorry girl. Traffic was insane.” 10 minutes later Maria pulls up like a bat out of hell.
“It’s ok.” I laugh and throw my bags in the trunk.
“You look great. How are you?” She asks when we get in the car.
“I’m alright. You look good too.” Her hair is longer now.
“Michael would have come too but he got stuck in the city doing something. He should be home when we get there.” I forget that they don’t live in the city anymore.
“So how’s life in Italy?” She asks me. I still haven’t told her about Max and I and don’t want to right now.
“It’s great. I love it there.” I try to fake a smile.
“Well then what the hell are you doing here? I mean not that I’m not happy to see you.”
“It’s complicated. I’ll tell you later.” I look out the window as we drive to the house.
“Here we are.” We pull up to a cottage style house.
“This is really nice Maria.” We grab my bags out of the trunk and walk up to the door. I walk inside and the house looks nothing like I would imagine. It looks very much like a city style apartment. It’s very open with modern furniture.
“I know you didn’t expect it to look like this. Everyone says that but Michael and I missed the loft style so we gutted out the house and came up with this.”
“I love it. It’s great.”
“It’s no Italian villa but we like it.” She shows me to my room and helps me unpack.
“How long are you staying?” She asks when she sees all the clothes I have.
“Not long. It’s a long story.” I say hanging up my clothes.
“Hey I’m home.” We hear Michael call and I run out to greet him.
“Michael!” I run into his arms and hug him tightly.
“Hey I missed you.” He wraps his arms around me and I try to hold back my tears. I missed him more then I thought.
“Me too. So what are you doing here?” He asks and we take a seat on the sofa.
“Can’t I come visit my brother?” I laugh.
“Yeah. We’re happy to have you.” He places a kiss on my head and I suddenly miss Max. He used to do that all the time.
“You hungry?” He asks me.
“A little.”
“Alright how about I make my famous pasta for you then? I mean I’m sure you’ve had the best living in Italy but you used to love mine.” He jokes.
“That would be great.” He goes to the kitchen and Maria gives me a tour of the house.
“That smells great.” We end up in the kitchen and Michael has the sauce simmering.
“Thanks. So what’s new in Italy?” He asks and pours us some wine.
“Nothing much. I’m still working with Isabel and Max is still at the museum.” I try to sound happy but I’m really missing home right now.
“That’s good.” He goes back to the stove leaving Maria looking at me like she knows something is up.
“We need to talk.” She whispers and I know I can’t avoid it.
After dinner Maria does the dishes and Michael and I sit in the back patio. It’s cold out but they have an outdoor fireplace that works really well.
“So are you going to tell me why you’re really here?” He asks.
“What do you mean?” I take a sip of my hot chocolate.
“Well for starters you just show up, not that I care but it’s not like you. Secondly you haven’t called Max since you’ve been here. So are you going to share?” When the hell did he become so observant?
“Not right now Michael. I will, but not now.” I hope he accepts that.
“Alright but I’m here if you need me.” I smile and gaze up at the stars. Maria comes out a little while later and the three of us sit and talk about the past for a while. I still feel jet lagged and go to bed early. As I get changed for bed I think about Max. I feel badly for not calling him and decide to at least check in with him.
“Pronto.” I called his cell to make sure I got him.
“It’s me. I’m at Michael and Maria’s. I just wanted to let you know that I’m ok.” I say coldly.
“Liz I…”
“Max I don’t want to talk I just wanted to tell you I’m ok incase you cared.” I know he does.
“Liz you know I do. I love you.”
“I got to go.” I hang up before he can say anything else and the tears start to fall. I miss him so much already. Hearing his voice and knowing that he’s so far away kills me but I need this time. Tomorrow I have to face Maria and her thousand questions since Michael has a meeting.