"So Gus what are the chances of you letting me miss the next meeting?" Michael was talking to Gus, a middle-aged bald man, in the basement of the Roswell YMCA.
"Michael you know the deal, missing a meeting is grounds for me to call your parol officer."
"I know man but my girlfriends getting out of rehab tomorrow and you know the deal. I kind of need to be there."
Gus stood there a minute thinking. He was about to say no but he caved.
"All right this one time..."
"Thanks Gus I owe you." Michael started to walk away.
"... but you have to do 5 extra hours."
Michael groaned. There was nothing he hated more than charity work. No one had ever given him charity when he needed it.
He walked up the steps and out into the extremely cold weather that had suddenly taken over the city of Roswell, New Mexico. There hadn't been a colder year since 1972 but Michael somehow liked it. The holidays meant more people on the streets and he liked their presence, even if most of them annoyed him to death. He'd spent a lot of time alone in the past few months.
Although Maria had forgiven him the police hadn't. Since no one pressed charges the police gave him a deal. As long as he went to AA and did community service he'd get off without prison time. This was all right with Michael except that AA was horrible. It wasn't even the real Alcoholics Anonymous instead they called it Alcohol Abusers. In his opinion it was a Richard Simmons meets Dr. Laura club where he was the only guy who didn't have a boyfriend in prison named Joe.
When he wasn't at an AA meeting or cleaning up garbage on the highway he was with Maria at the rehab center. After she had woken up she had a long way to recovery. Luckily she had no permanent damage but her body was so weak. Michael thought back at the day they had talked about the accident...
"Maria I need to tell you something."
"It's all right Michael, I already know." Maria looked deeply into Michael's eyes letting him know everything would work out.
Part of him knew it would never really be the same. He had hurt her in a way that he could never take back. He had been haunted with dreams of that one night that had changed everything. Not only did he never want to drink again but he had sworn to her that he would do everything in his power to protect her.
[I have no idea where to go from here. If someone has an idea or wants to finish it I would be really grateful]
"Michael you know the deal, missing a meeting is grounds for me to call your parol officer."
"I know man but my girlfriends getting out of rehab tomorrow and you know the deal. I kind of need to be there."
Gus stood there a minute thinking. He was about to say no but he caved.
"All right this one time..."
"Thanks Gus I owe you." Michael started to walk away.
"... but you have to do 5 extra hours."
Michael groaned. There was nothing he hated more than charity work. No one had ever given him charity when he needed it.
He walked up the steps and out into the extremely cold weather that had suddenly taken over the city of Roswell, New Mexico. There hadn't been a colder year since 1972 but Michael somehow liked it. The holidays meant more people on the streets and he liked their presence, even if most of them annoyed him to death. He'd spent a lot of time alone in the past few months.
Although Maria had forgiven him the police hadn't. Since no one pressed charges the police gave him a deal. As long as he went to AA and did community service he'd get off without prison time. This was all right with Michael except that AA was horrible. It wasn't even the real Alcoholics Anonymous instead they called it Alcohol Abusers. In his opinion it was a Richard Simmons meets Dr. Laura club where he was the only guy who didn't have a boyfriend in prison named Joe.
When he wasn't at an AA meeting or cleaning up garbage on the highway he was with Maria at the rehab center. After she had woken up she had a long way to recovery. Luckily she had no permanent damage but her body was so weak. Michael thought back at the day they had talked about the accident...
"Maria I need to tell you something."
"It's all right Michael, I already know." Maria looked deeply into Michael's eyes letting him know everything would work out.
Part of him knew it would never really be the same. He had hurt her in a way that he could never take back. He had been haunted with dreams of that one night that had changed everything. Not only did he never want to drink again but he had sworn to her that he would do everything in his power to protect her.
[I have no idea where to go from here. If someone has an idea or wants to finish it I would be really grateful]
