A missing link  By: Linda

Getting ready

Max Evans stood in front of he mirror and sighed. He couldn't understand how hard it was to tie a tie. Maybe it was because he never used to do it himself. His wife, since 2 years back, Liz Parker always helped him with stuff like that. She had become a doctor at the new-opened hospital in Roswell and Max had studied at Harvard to be a laywer, which he accomplished.

"Having trouble?" a familiar voice suddenly said from behind him.

He looked up in the mirror again and this time he saw his beautiful wife standing beside him.

"Well…Yes," he admitted with a smile.

Liz started working on his tie and soon it was in perfect place.

"What would you do without me huh?" Liz asked jokingly. She took a step back and looked him over. "You look as handsome as ever," she said.

"As handsome as I did 5 years ago?" he asked. They were dressing up to go to their reunion at West Roswell high. Max thought it was a little too early after five years to have a reunion but Liz had insisted they'd go.

"Definitely," his wife answered him. "Although you look a little more wiser and clever," she added.

"Okay, enough with the flattering," Max said. "You look gorgeous too."

"Me? I haven't even gotten dressed yet," Liz said and turned towards the exit.

"What? You're not finished yet? We have to be at the party in 15 minutes," Max said and started panicking.

"Well relax honey," Liz said and went to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "Your punctuality surely hasn't changed since high school. Always on time, that's my man."

"Yeah yeah, go get dressed now. And hurry…!"

Tess Harding heard the doorbell ring and she took one last look in the mirror before she went to open.

Outside stood the handsome Kyle Valenti, whom she hadn't seen in almost five years.

"Wow, you look amazing," Kyle said and pulled her into a hug.

It felt really great to be in his strong, comforting arms again, Tess thought.

She hadn't realized how much she'd missed him.

"You don't look so bad yourself," she commented when they pulled away from each other. "It's so great to see you again. I can't believe it has been almost five years."

"I know," Kyle agreed. "I'm sorry I haven't come to visit, it's just that I've been busy with football and stuff."

Tess smiled at him. She knew that he had taken the accident five years ago hard and that he didn't need to come back to just be reminded.

"I know you've been busy you big star," she said. "I've been following your career on TV and in the newspaper. You're a big star back here you know. Well you're a star in the whole world, but mostly here in Roswell."

"Well, what can I say. If you've got the gift, you've got the gift," he joked.

"Okay Buddha-boy, we'd better head of before you get too big-headed," Tess laughed. "You're still a Buddha's man right?" She took Kyle by the arm and they walked towards his car.

"Of course," Kyle answered seriously. "I would never turn my back on Buddha…"

Alex Whitman started the engine and soon the car was heading towards West Roswell high. Next to him was his fiancée Isabel Evans who looked stunning in her simple, but elegant, long black dress.

Alex couldn't believe how lucky he had been to get together with someone as beautiful as Isabel. In high school she had only been a dream, although they were great friends. He had found out her secret and that brought them close together in a special way. After that they kind of lost contact, but when they'd met again accidentally in New York a year ago, the feelings blossomed up again.

"Alex keep your eyes on the road will you?" Isabel's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Oh sorry," Alex said and concentrated more on the driving.

"What were you thinking about anyway?" Isabel asked. "You looked like you were miles away."

"Well I was actually just thinking about how lucky I am to have found you," Alex answered and took a quick glance at his girlfriend.

"How lucky we are," Isabel said. She put her hand on Alex's leg and continued. "If we hadn't bumped into each other that day we might not have met until today."

"I probably wouldn't have come to this thing if I hadn't had you to show off," Alex joked. "I mean it's kind of cool to be able to say that I'm engaged to high school's most beautiful girl."

"And me to the nicest and most caring guy in high school," Isabel said.

"So I guess we're both pretty lucky huh?" Alex said. "In difference to some other people who's coming tonight."

"Yeah, don't forget that we are going to pick up Michael on our way," Isabel said and the happy spirit from before toned down to zero. "I said we'd keep him company tonight."

"Yeah, this brings up a whole lot of memories," Alex said. "For all of us. I've been thinking about her more than usual lately."

"I know," Isabel agreed. "This reunion really makes me think of old times with the gang. The whole gang. Before the accident."

"But we have to try and have a good time tonight anyway. Okay?" Alex said and turned onto the street where Michael lived.

"Okay," Isabel said and sadly looked out the car window…

Michael Guerin sat in the couch waiting for Isabel and Alex to come pick him up.

He didn't know why he'd let Isabel talk him into going to this stupid reunion anyway. It would only make him think about Maria even more than he already did. And he didn't need to see how successful everyone had become when he was nothing but a no-good artist.

He had started to paint more and more after the accident and it became his passion. Although he never showed his work to anyone, so he couldn't make a living out of it.

He worked extra at a daycare-center. He loved to be around children. They were so honest and direct. Not like adults.

In high school he never would have pictured himself working with that, but after the way things developed he realized that it fit him perfectly.

He had stayed in Roswell when his friends had gone of to different colleges, because he needed to be close to her. And Roswell was where she'd lived and that's where her spirit was left.

Tess hadn't went to college either cause she got a job right after high school. She was offered to take over the Crashdown when the Parkers moved to Europe.

She had accepted the offer because she was tired of school and Michael was glad for that. The two of them had gotten to know each other better when they were both left in Roswell.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and Michael slowly went to open it.

He knew that this night would bring out all of the happy memories he had of Maria and he didn't look forward to missing her so much that his heart ached…

TBC…   Please tell me what you think. Should I continue?