Tony climbed the stairs of Michelle's apartment building. He hadn't talked to her in a few months - since she handed in her resignation at CTU. She didn't explain why she left, and he didn't ask. After the kiss they had shared, he thought she felt something - but apparently he was mistaken. Maybe he had scared her off. He wasn't sure why, but after her promotion she had seemed different. Distant. He had been caught up in the responsibilities of being the Director of CTU, and had been fairly preoccupied. They just hadn't talked about things. Then she left, leaving him a note on his desk on her last day.
'Tony,
I'm sorry I couldn't be what you needed. Good luck.
Michelle'
He didn't understand what she meant, but hadn't pressed the matter. He brushed it off. 'There'll be plenty of time to talk about it later,' he reasoned. He hadn't tried to call her, he didn't ask her what was wrong. He had probably been a little insensitive, but it really didn't seem like that big a deal. He was spending all his time at work, and he thought Michelle understood.
Tony reached the door of her apartment. He knocked three times and took a deep breath.
Maybe she had expected him to take the initiative. After all, he had told her that he wasn't sorry. He told her that he meant it. And he had - every word. Maybe she thought he didn't feel the same way; maybe SHE didn't feel the same way. After a while he began to worry, and he tried to call.
"Just a minute!" a woman called through the door. Tony took a step back and leaned against the railing.
She hadn't answered her cell phone. He had left messages. 'Hey, Michelle, this is Tony Almedia at CTU. Look, I haven't been able to get ahold of you, and I just wondered how you were doing. Talk to you soon.' He had introduced himself formally, as was his custom. Maybe that had offended her. He had tracked down her home number - one of the perks of working at CTU - and started calling there. She still didn't respond. His perpetual exhaustion had made him a bit over sensitive, and he was beginning to feel terribly worried.
He looked up quickly as he heard the lock on the door click. Slowly, the door opened, revealing a smiling Michelle on the other side. "Hey baby, I was jus-" she paused, realizing who was there. Her eyes began to water, and she stood frozen in her tracks. "Tony," she whispered.
"Hey," he began, standing up and walking towards her. At noticing the confusion on her face, he tried to explain. "I've, uh, been trying to call, but..." He looked into her beautiful eyes. God, he had missed those eyes. "I needed to see you." he whispered.
Michelle sighed in frustration. "Look, Tony. You shut me out. You didn't call, we didn't talk, you..." she scoffed "You abandoned me. Excuse me if I'm not thrilled to see you." Tony felt as if she had just dropped his heart down the stairs and it shattered on the landing.
"Michelle... I'm sorry. You know what working at CTU is like..." he tried to explain, but she cut him off.
"Yeah, you sit at a desk, talking on the phone. It's just a shame you couldn't have just once dialed 3720 to my station to talk to me while I was there." Her tone was cynical, and it tore Tony apart. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You wanna know what? I cried myself to sleep for weeks, praying that you would come back to me. And then I moved on. I gave up, and I let you go."
"Michelle, I was confused, what was I suposed to do?" Tony burst out, a little louder than he meant to. "I never let you go. You left all on your own, and asked me not to ask why." Michelle's eyes filled with tears again. "I let you have your space. I honored your request. But not a day has gone by where I haven't wondered, 'What did I do wrong?' or 'Did she ever really care about me?'" She looked at the floor.
"I did." she stated in a hushed voice, nodding her head.
"Then why did you leave?" he asked her, reaching out and grabbing her hand. Her eyes were bleeding with sorrow, as she looked up at him.
"Tony, I'm seeing someone. We can't do this. It doesn't matter."
"It matters to me!" he growled angrily.
"Tony, please leave." she begged. "Please." Tony started to cry silently.
"Fine." he agreed. He turned around and headed for the top of the stairs, letting her hand go. "I loved you Michelle. I did." At that he headed down the stairs, not looking back. Michelle closed her eyes, a tear falling down her cheek. Slowly, she turned around, walked into her apartment, and closed the door.
