Chapter Eleven

The Evans House

Later that night... around eight o'clock

Liz was sitting at the kitchen table with Maria, Chloe and Kay drinking some hot tea. Maria and Chloe were engaged in a conversation about the Blacks and the Bradys. And Kay was just sitting there listening to the conversation.

"You know I haven't seen Brady and Mimi, in a long time. How are they doing? I can't remember the last time I saw them and their son." Maria said as she sipped from her cup of tea.

"Oh well, you know Brady. They are fine, as far as I know. But, I only talked to Mimi yesterday. When she called for my mother. She told me that she was doing okay and so are Brady and Conrad. But, other than that I really haven't had time to talk to her. She has been so busy with the paper." Chloe responded.

"Oh yeah, that's right I forgot that she worked for the paper. I don't think that she has anything to worry about though. She is the best at what she does. Anyway, now that I think of it I haven't seen Belle, in quite a while either. Well, not since she was three months pregnant. I bet she still looks beautiful seven -months pregnant as she did before she got pregnant, doesn't she?"

"You know she does, she's one of those people who no matter what always look good." Chloe answered.

"Well, then she is probably like my sister-in-law, Isabelle. She looked good when she was pregnant. And even after she had her twins, she still looked graceful. I mean she dropped all the weight like that," Liz snapped her fingers to accentuate her point.

"In defense, of Isabelle, I will say that the reason she lost all the weight so fast was because she had twins and she had to do twice the running around that comes with the children. Trust me on this I know. If you think one-child runs you ragged, you should see when you have two. It is hard work. But, enough about, the trials and tribulations of motherhood. I just had a great idea, why don't you invite Belle and Mimi down for the weekend. I would just love to see them." Maria said happily smiling at her idea.

"Do you really think that I should? I mean I'm not exactly in the best spirits right now. And I don't want to bring anyone else down." Chloe said.

"Chloe, you're not bringing us down. We're all fine. I think you should go ahead and call them. It will be fun." Kay told her speaking for the first time.

"Okay, if you guys think I should than I will. I'll call them later. But, for right now, I think I'm going to go laid down for a while." Chloe responded as she walked her mug over to the sink, placed it inside and then left the kitchen to go up stairs.

"You know, I ----," whatever Kay was going to say was cut off by the opening of the kitchen door. And in walked Michael and Max.

"Hey," Max said as she shut the door.

"Hi," Liz said to him as she looked at her husband.

"Look, I was wondering if I could talk to you?" Max asked.

"Max, I really don't," Maria interrupted her.

"Look, Liz, Kay and I will be in the living room. You go ahead and talk to Max. Michael, why don't you go up and say goodnight to your children." Maria suggested as she attempted to clear the kitchen for the husband and wife to talk.

And within minutes, the kitchen was cleared leaving only Max and Liz standing in the kitchen.

Liz and Max stood on the kitchen together looking everywhere but at each other. It was as if the akwardness that had once been predominant in their relationship in high school was back again in full force.

Liz broke the silence. "Well, since Maria conveniently evacuated the kitchen for you, why don't you just say what you have to say so that I can go to bed. And you can go back to Miguel's house."

"Okay, earlier today, I got the feeling that you were mad at me. And obviously, I was right, you are mad at me. But, what I don't know is why you're mad at me?" Max said as he came and sat on the other side of the table, facing her directly.

"Of course, I am mad at you. I don't know how you could possibly think that I wouldn't be."

"Liz, I maybe an alien but, I am not a mind reader. If you're mad at me for some reason, I need you to tell me what I did so that I can fix it. Now, I'm not sure, but I'll take a stab in the dark. Does the reason that you are mad at me have anything to do with this Chloe, Philip, Kay, and Miguel situation?" He asked her.

"Yes, you're right. I am mad at you."

"Okay, but how can you be mad at me for that, I wasn't even in the kitchen when the fight happened."

"If you would let me finish, you'd know that I am mad at you for what happened earlier today. I had the girls ready and willing to talk to their husbands. Chloe and Philip could be at their home in Salem right now instead of here and Kay's house. I had calmed them down. But, what happens, the men come into the kitchen as if they don't have the smarts God gave them. They not only upset their wives, but they made them cry. And that is why I'm mad at you."

"Whoa, Liz, I don't see how you can blame this on me. I think that you need to come down a little bit, first of all. Now, I apologized for why I..." he paused as if looking for the right word. "For why I acted like an idiot while I was here. But, can't believe that you are mad at me because of Miguel and Philip's behavior. I mean I did tell Philip that he should calm down with the whole pregnancy thing. I also told him that he should at least hear her out. And I told Miguel that Kay might have believed that she had a good reason to lie to him. But, I recommended that he listen to her reasons too. However, ridiculous or important they maybe." Max said immediately knowing from the look on her face that he said the wrong thing.

Liz looked up at her husband with a look of reconigition. "Oh my God. I don't know why I didn't see this before. How could I have been so stupid to think that you would truly forgive me." She started to rise from her seat.

"What are you talking about?" Max asked, his gruff voice somewhat angered changing to a questioning one. Even though, he already knew what she was thinking.

"You weren't thinking about them at all when you gave them that advice. You were thinking about us weren't you? You were thinking about when you caught me in bed with Kyle. You have never forgiven me for keeping the truth from you for so long. Max, you told me that you weren't mad at me anymore." Liz looked down avoiding Max's gaze as he to stood up.

"Liz honey, this has nothing to do with us. What's going on between Chloe and Philip and Kay and Miguel is different. Besides, I wasn't even thinking of us. I tried to help them. That's all I did."

"No Max, don't lie to me." She looked up making eye contact. "I know that when you were trying to help them, you were thinking of me. I did what I did to protect you. I don't know how many times I can tell you that, I did what I thought was best at that time. And I am not going to apologize to you about it anymore. Why can't you just move past this? You swore to me when we got back together we were going to start over. But, I guess I was wrong because you can't forget anything." Liz said as she started to become more annoyed. "You said it didn't matter. You said you could forget what happened. But, you didn't mean any of it. I can't believe that you did this to me." She attempted to walk past him and he pulled her to him.

"You can't believe what? You can't believe that just couldn't forgive you for lying to me. Breaking my heart into pieces by allowing me to think that you slept with Kyle. My God, Liz you didn't even tell me the truth when I begged you for it." Liz interrupted him.

"I told you that I couldn't tell anyone the truth because I was scared of what would happen to you if I did."

"You couldn't have been that scared because you told Maria before you told me. Let's just be honest here for a second. The real reason you never told me has always been the same. You did not have any faith in me to make the right decision."

"That isn't true and you know it. I couldn't let you get hurt. I couldn't just stand by and allow something bad to happen to you."

"You know Liz you once told me that I'm not God. Well, you're not either. You had no right making my decision for me. Maybe you should have had some faith in me. Because, it seems obvious that to me that you never trusted my judgment to protect not only my people but, you too." Max said in response to her.

"So you think that's the reason I agreed to help the other Max. And in the process, I not only broke my heart but yours too?" She asked.

"Yes, that exactly what I think. I also think that you let your judgment be swayed into not believing me or having faith in my ability to ensure that no harm comes to us."

"Okay, you know what Maxwell Evans, no matter how I explain the way things were, you will never forgive me. And I am tired of apologizing to you. I did what I had to do and I'd do it again. I have had it. So I'll tell you what. Why don't you get out of my house. Don't come anywhere near me." She jerked her arm away from him and moved to the stairs. "Get out of my house and don't you dare darken my door until you realize why I did what I did." She said to him before she ran up stairs nearly knocking Michael down in the process.

"That was real smooth, Maxwell. Now Liz is mad and I have to go baby-sit you instead of being with my wife tonight. Really, that was absolutely fabulous. I don't even think Philip, Miguel or I could have fucked up that bad." Michael said as he entered in the kitchen.

Liz ran into her bedroom where she started to cry. As she lay down on her bed she felt someone walk into the room. "Maria, I don't want to talk about it."

"It's not Maria. But, I'll go if you want me to." Chloe said from the doorway.

Liz sat up on her bed. "No, you don't have to leave. I'm sorry. I just didn't want to talk about what happened. And Maria has that way that make you talk about things." She wiped her tears away as Chloe walked closer into the room.

"Are you going to be okay? I mean I don't want to get into your business. But, I was laying down when I heard you come into the room. I just wanted to check and see if you were okay. But, I think that you might want to be alone. So I'll just leave." Chloe began to walk back towards the door. But, in the process of getting there, she stopped and turned back to face Liz.

"I'll be fine. You don't have to leave." Liz said as she started to get up into a sitting position.

"No, its okay, I'll leave. But, I just wanted to tell you that whatever happened between you and Max, it will be all right."

"Why do you say that?" Liz asked.

Chloe walked back into the room and sat down on the bed. "Well, it just that I've watched you together. I think that you two have one of the most beautiful relationships I've ever seen. You two love each other a great deal and that's evident with ever look that you share. It's like love radiates off of you. That's something that I feel only a few people have. Anyway, I just meant that whatever problem you had was going to be over shortly."

"Well thank you for saying that Chloe but, I think that this problem won't be solved that easily." Liz looked past Chloe and saw Maria standing in the doorway. "Maria, you can't fix things now. Max said something unforgivable and I ... you can't change anything that he said. So you can go tell him that."

"Actually Liz I'm not here for Max. And in any case I don't think he deserves my help. I came here to check on you." Maria walked into the room and stood by the doorway.

"Well, I think that you two are going to want to talk. So I'll leave you here. I'll be in my room." Chloe left the room in a hurry.

"You should go check on her. I don't think that she's okay. " Liz told Maria frowning as she saw Chloe run out of the room.

"I will in a second. But, I want to talk to you first. So what did he say to you?" Maria asked coming to sit on the bed.

"It's not important. Just go check on Chloe." Maria gave her a determined look. "Okay if you must know he told me that I have never had any faith in him. And that I let someone make me break our hearts."

"So I'll assume this is about that Future Max thing."

"Yes, how did you know?"

"It's simple really, men only ever get mad about something like that when it concerns another man. In any case why, doesn't he understand that he asked you to do that? Besides, it not like he is the only one who got hurt." Liz started to cry again. "What is it what's wrong?"

"I never told anyone this so you can't say anything. But, you now that song 'I Shall Believe,' by Sheryl Crow. It reminds me of one the most painful time in my life." Maria nodded sitting down on the bed. " I have always loved that song."

"Yeah, I know, I always wondered why you didn't have it play at your wedding."

"The reason that I love it is because the Future Max told me it was our song. So after I...you know with Kyle, we were talking on my balcony. Well, he was talking telling me that would make me feel better. He even told me that Kyle was turning into a great guy and I might have a chance with him in the future." Liz stared into space as if she were reliving the moment. "I told him that that for me there would never be anyone else, 'I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life because any other guy will be second best to you. You are the love of my life.' So after a few minutes, I asked him for my wedding dance since, I thought that I would never get to have it."

"I don't understand why it was so painful."

"I wasn't finished. This devastated me completely. But, after I asked him to dance we stood up and danced together right on my balcony. You know, I remember it as if it were a movie that I can replay over and over again in my life. I can still hear the song playing in my mind. It's almost as if it were playing while we danced. We had been dancing for what seemed like forever, when he twirled me around. I was so full of happiness at the time that I didn't even notice."

"Notice what?'

"When I stopped twirling, Max, the Future Max was gone. He disappeared," tears slid down her cheek. "For the second time that in my life, I lost Max. That feeling is one of the worst in the world." She wiped her cheeks and Maria hugged her, letting Liz cry on her shoulder.

"It will be okay Liz. You didn't lose Max again. You guys just had a fight. Look, I'm going to go check on Chloe. And make sure that everything is okay with her. But, I promise you that everything will work out." She said before walking out of the room and closing the door.

Maria walked down the hall to Chloe's room. She walked into the room and saw her asleep on the bed. As she walked closer to the bedroom, she cut off the lamp and pulled the covers over the sleeping woman. As she started to pull the covers over her saw Chloe's hands holding something to her chest. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to get any sleep if she was hold something, She slowing took the picture frame from Chloe's hands.

As she went to place it on the bedside table she looked at the picture, it was one of Chloe and Philip together at their wedding. She put on the bedside table and walked out of the room closing the door behind her. She started her walk to the kitchen when she noticed him standing by the door, she signaled for him to follow her into the kitchen. She walked into the kitchen and went to stand across the room. "So you heard everything didn't you?"

"Yeah, I heard," Michael asked as he walked towards her. "Do you think that they are both going to be alright?"

"I don't about Liz. But, I think that Chloe will be okay after a little while. Once, she stops blaming herself. As for Liz she should be okay," she walked towards her husband, meeting him halfway.

"Are you going to be okay?" He asked as he framed her body in his arms.

"Of course, I'll be okay. Why wouldn't I be?" She said as her arms slid around his waist and hugged him to her.

"You know, because, of earlier." He brought his face down so that his mouth was almost touching hers.

"I'm fine. I wasn't really mad at you. I can't believe you thought I was mad."

"Well, if you weren't you did a pretty good impression of being mad," he paused to brush his lips against hers. "At me," he gently kissed her lips.

"Well you should always know that when I'm really mad at you will know. Besides, that was a playful madness. You know kind of like foreplay," she kissed him back.

"Foreplay?"

"Yeah, foreplay. Now scoot. We have a lot to do. You need to get Max out of here. And I need to get back to Liz." She kissed her husband one more time before she pulled away from him only to have him pull her back to him.

"Wait a minute. What about the other guys?"

"We will solve that problem tomorrow. You just need to make sure that the men have some damn good apologies prepared. Because, those two ladies need their husbands."

"Okay, how about I come by early tomorrow I come and get the twins and Gabriel and bring to Miguel's house. That way you can come pick them up and bring Chloe and Kay with you."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely positive. I haven't spent a day with them in a while, I've missed them. Besides, it will give me time to make sure the idiots have good apologies tomorrow."

"Okay, then I except your offer. But what about Max? I'm not sure Liz will be ready to see him. I mean---," she was cut off by his mouth.

"If she's not ready leave her here. Then that way you can talk to him. I'll worry about everything. Let me take of things."

"You know me so well. But, I need to go and so do you. I will have the kids ready tomorrow. Bye, I love you." She kissed on the lips quickly and pulled out of his arms.

"Ditto." He walked out of the room and left the house.