Nice you liked this part too. I wouldn’t say Michael is that egoistic. He wanted to do the good thing by breaking up. But you’re right. He didn’t consider the consequences. But that’s just Michael, you know.
To mary mary: You’re right about that one. The question is, how much time will he need? And indeed, will Maria wait for him?
To xmag: Hope that one trigger will do the trick.
To nibbles2: Thank you! I hope I can keep up with that.
To tequathisy: I think that path is very old, bumpy and at some moments even rough.
Chapter eleven
Sometimes everything seems awkward and large
Imagine a Wednesday evening in March
Future and past, at the same time
I make use of the night, start drinking a lot
Although not ideal, for now it's all that I've got
Milow – You Don’t Know
Imagine a Wednesday evening in March
Future and past, at the same time
I make use of the night, start drinking a lot
Although not ideal, for now it's all that I've got
Milow – You Don’t Know
“You’re allowed to miss her, you know.”
Michael was startled by the voice. Somebody bent over him and he backed away instinctively.
He had been so lost in his thoughts that it took him a moment to remember where he was. Slowly he noticed the spot lights and the disco bar. The dancing people on the dance floor, the others conversing by the bar and suddenly he remembered that he was at a party with the guys. Although he hadn’t wanted to come at first, they had persuaded him to go anyway.
He looked at the shadow behind him. Long blond hair tickled him, brown eyes peered right in to his.
Isabel.
She wrapped her arms round his neck and laid her head on his shoulders. Softly he touched her hands.
“How long have you been watching me?” he muttered.
She shook her head in the direction of the dance floor where Maria was dancing. “Long enough to see she still holds a big part in your heart. Or at least your thoughts.”
“She’s not who I thought she was. She shut me off, just like that.” His gruff voice couldn’t hide the pain and disappointment.
“Who shut who off?” she pointed out. “Did you give her a chance? Did you give yourself a chance?”
A grim expression appeared on his face. “Isabel, I love you a lot but don’t interfere in something you know nothing about. Stay out of it!”
His bottled up anger gave her jim-jams. Especially because she knew his anger was unfounded. It made her doubly motivated to argue with him.
“I’ve got eyes and ears in my head. I know what I see. Plus, Maria told me everything. Her side of the story as well as yours. She’s much more objective than you are, you know. Don’t look at me like that, little bro. Somebody has to clean up your mess before you drown in them.”
“Damn it, Iz.” Michael’s face was stormy now.
Isabel knew that Michael was on the verge of exploding. But she decided to take the risk and let him have her uncensored thoughts.
“Hold your horses, Michael, we’re at a party. And I really don’t feel like arguing here. Not with you, not with anyone else. Not here. Not where everybody can watch. But I’ll tell you this and listen carefully and stick it in that daft head of yours, the last two months were a downright disaster. And not only for you but for everybody who lived in the same house as you. You were completely unpleasant, totally and insufferable annoying and arrogant. If you weren’t like a brother to me, I would’ve asked for a divorce long time ago.”
He grinned sourly at her humor. Isabel noticed she was getting through to him and restrained herself a little.
“We all love you but this has to stop, Michael. It just has to. It isn’t livable anymore. For anybody. Please, take a very good look around tonight. Look at her. At yourself. You have to do something. Really. ‘Cause it can’t go any further.”
She ended the conversation by giving him a kiss on the forehead and left him behind.
And while she walked back to her friends, Michael reflected on the things she said. Were those past months really that bad? A voice in his head whispered she hadn’t exaggerated. On the contrary. He had taken out his frustration at everything that had gone wrong on those that were the closest to him. And the Evans family had certainly had more than their share of his anger lately. He even wondered why they had put up with his moods for so long.
Isabel had planted some doubts in his mind. What if she was right? Had he misjudged Maria? Except that period where she had backed off, she had always remained herself. The nice, lovely, outgoing and wacky girl. Everybody’s friend. And she had stayed that way, even though he had treated her like shit.
And that one period when everything had started. Well, he wasn’t exactly blameless. Actually he had pretty much been the cause of everything. Had he misinterpreted the situation? Had he made the wrong decision?
His thoughts brewed while he stared at Maria without really seeing her. His view was hazy with memories. Moments from the past months played over in his mind rapidly.
Maria lying under him while she looked right into his eyes with fascination.
Maria laughing out loud during a funny moment.
Maria crying in the streets when he left her.
Maria with a hurt expression when he bluntly ignored her in the Crashdown.
“Hey, Michael, like a beer?”
For the second time that evening he was startled. Due to his dark thoughts he hadn’t heard his friends till now. From where he was standing, he could hear them talk and grin.
“Did you see the game between the Mavericks and Lakers?”
“Was that game yesterday? How did it go?”
Max and Kyle were discussing basketball while Alex, a real anti-sportsman, always kept interrupting them with the most ridiculous and absurd jokes.
“Do you guys know what you have to do when you see an elephant with a basketball?
Max and Kyle both shook their head.
“Get out of the way, as fast as you can.”
Alex’s insane remarks caused confusion at first before the guys cracked up and they all began trading jokes and witty remarks.
Michael looked in Maria's direction and then again to the three guys. The decision was made quickly.
In an effort to forget everything, although it was only for one evening, he threw himself completely in the good spirits of his friends. And in that same effort he embraced the temporary comfort of alcohol as well though he normally detested drunk people because he knew to well what they could do to everybody round them. He just had to remember Hank who had beaten the shit out of him on more than one occasion or look at the wheel chair he was sitting in right now. But that night, he just wanted to forget everything.
Later in the evening the four friends shifted themselves from the bar to the dance floor. The beer had flowed liberally and the spirits were high, verging on exuberant.
In the course of the evening the alcohol had washed away all inhibitations.
When the DJ turned the music to a slow song, everybody found each other on the dance floor. Not always choosing the usual couples. Alex grabbed Maria and whirled her eagerly through the room. On a given moment he literally mopped the floor with her.
Kyle found Liz and Max drove Michael around with Isabel as well as Tess on his lap. They all acted totally nuts.
And when the DJ changed to a heavy rock record, everybody went out of their minds. They head banged, jumped and danced outrageous. And even Michael, who normally wouldn’t enter a dance floor, let himself go under the influence of the alcohol he had drunk that evening.
One moment he accidentally hit Maria while maneuvering himself on the dance floor. She looked at him, smiling. Her eyes sparkled without any anger in them. Just like before.
It made him more reckless and rash. He felt like a child, testing the boundaries of the impossible,
For the next half hour Michael kept circling round Maria. Off and on he bumped in to her ‘accidentally’, a provoking smirk on his lips.
After a while it made her feel jumpy and testy. But she didn’t want to give him the pleasure of a reaction. But when he bumped into her for the umpteenth time, she couldn’t restrain herself any longer.
She opened her mouth to put him in his place but before she could yell at him, Michael surprised her completely. With his strong arms he pulled her on his lap and started dancing and rolling around to the hilarity of everyone present. And to finish it off he clicked his chair with both hands. With Maria still on his lap he balanced on his two wheels and did some tricks. A daring sneer on his face.
Utterly animated Maria laughed along with the rest while her hands clung to his shirt in an effort not to fall. An observent spectator could see that her laugh didn’t reach her eyes. They watched Michael in question and measured him closely.
Michael’s eyes twinkled devilishly. Eager and provoking at the same time. Maria immediately knew that he wouldn’t listen to reason tonight.
He waited till the end of the song to drive her outside the circle of people, away of the masses and their friends. Abruptly he changed from extreme joyfulness to a very bashful attitude. His eyes became rooted to the floor. As if he couldn’t explain what he didn’t understand himself.
But Maria didn’t spot that. Even before he had stopped, she tried to free herself. In her eager attempt to get away from him, Maria hurt herself on one of the handles of his chair. Instantly Michael grabbed her when she staggered. But she didn’t want him too so she quickly shook off his hands. And after slapping his shoulder, she left him behind. Without saying one single word.
Afterwards she kept glaring at him. She knew something was wrong. It wasn’t hard to figure that one out. The more she watched his extrovert gestures, his daring attitude and his ‘I’ve got nothing to loose’ look in his eyes, the more she became certain there was no doubt about it. She could see that in his own screwed up way Michael had tried to tell her something. But what?
She realized she wouldn’t find answers tonight. Not here in this bar. Not in the intoxicated condition he was in.
