Chapter 2 – The Sight
A/n: Again, I don't own anything. And after reading this Chapter, if you have any suggestions you have, like what you would like to see happen to the characters or what you think should be changed, please review and offer up your thoughts. They are all greatly appreciated, so read, review and enjoy!
Firefly is the name of an actual bar in Los Angeles. So obviously I don't own the rights to that either, but in this story, Tony is a bartender at Firefly, so just a heads up
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August 2003
She should have seen it coming. She should have noticed that something was different about him and tried to do something about it. But no, she was too blinded by love to notice. She was just so happy that he was home she stopped asking questions.
But in the end, she blamed herself for not noticing it earlier. She should have said something about it. But what could she say? Hey Tony, would you mind getting off the couch to get yourself a job? And it wasn't like he didn't try. He did try. The day after he got back he immediately set to work on writing up a resume. But time after time during interviews he was asked why he was released from CTU. And well, apparently, traitors, even pardoned traitors to America weren't the type of people companies are looking to hire.
And of course, every interview ended the same way. Tony's spirit deflated, him coming home, angry with himself for not being able to help support Michelle. But even more so, angry that the government he had worked so hard for refused to help him. Instead, they labeled him a traitor, an outcast. Hell, he bet that ex-murderers got jobs quicker than he did.
Soon, he turned to drinking. Michelle thought nothing of it at first, telling herself, convincing herself that he was only drinking to relieve some of his stress. At first, he'd have a beer in the afternoon while watching the game, and then sip on another while he made dinner for the two of them. And then one during dinner to help "digestion" and a couple after dinner while watching a movie. On a good night, he was hammered silly by midnight. Either that or passed out completely. Of course, on most nights, Michelle came home late and she couldn't help but be disheartened by the sight of so many empty beer bottles.
She tried to convince herself that everything would return to normal. That soon, Tony would get a job and that everything would go back to normal. But as the weeks progressed, Tony regressed. He became more secluded, and even when she tried to snuggle up against him, she could feel him distancing himself from her. But that wasn't the worst part. What was worse was when Tony went out late into the night or early into the following morning, whichever way you put it.
She worried about him endlessly. She worried if he was drunk and if he was driving. She had little power to control him. With the shortage of staff at CTU, she had been forced to work overtime many nights. And coming home to an empty house was just a little to reminiscent of coming home when Tony had been in prison. She cried herself to sleep many nights. Wondering how they had ended up at such a place. And what was worse was when insomnia plagued her late into the night, the tears flew more freely and even when Tony came into bed, he wouldn't notice that she had been crying. A far cry from the old Tony. The old Tony would have immediately noticed her crying and comforted her, whispering sweet nothings in her ear all the while.
It was not a few months ago when Tony could have been crowned the most wonderful husband in the world. He would always make little comments about how beautiful she was. And he would kiss her eyes to wake her up in the morning. Now, he was hung over in the mornings. How she missed those times. She missed Tony. She missed her Tony. The Tony that would tickle her just to see her smile and then kiss her while he told her how gorgeous she looked.
He rarely talked to her. She knew that he was a quiet person who preferred silence over words, but not with her. He used to love talking to her…after he got over his initial shyness that is. He was the strong silent type. And when she had told him that when she first met him she thought he was shy, he had immediately defended himself, playfully saying that he preferred to call it "quiet confidence." He hadn't laughed with her in months. The only conversation they had been having lately consisted of him asking her if she had bought more beer.
Then finally, one Saturday morning, the phone rang. It was for Tony. He had finally gotten a job. A job as a bartender at a local bar not too far from where they lived. It was a far cry from the position he held at CTU, but still, it was a start. Michelle was thrilled out of her mind. And for the first time in a long while, Tony looked as if he was excited too. Of course, she wasn't sure if he was simply excited at the prospect of getting free beer or the fact that he was slowly getting back on his feet, but whatever his reason, Michelle was just relieved he had finally found a job.
They had celebrated that night by making love for the first time in weeks. This was another thing Michelle had noticed. In the beginning when they were married, Tony could barely keep his hands off her and vice versa. Kim and Kate had told her that they had never felt as much sexual tension as they had felt when they were around Tony and Michelle. Back in the day, he could send shivers throughout her body through the simplest of actions, such as huskily whispering her name.
But even as they made love, Michelle didn't feel the passion she felt on their wedding night. And that scared her. She always thought that regardless of the situation, Tony would always love her. For the first time in their relationship, she doubted whether or not he still loved her. But as soon as that thought entered her mind, she pushed it aside chiding herself for doubting his love. After all, he had risked his life, his career, everything in order to save her life.
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September 2003
Tony had been at his job for a few weeks now and well, being Tony, he was quite popular around the bar. He had made friends quickly and on an off night, he brought over all his new friends back home to have a couple of beers and watch the game. Of course, after a few beers and a few smokes, the guys were plastered. Swearing loudly at the TV while slurring about how they could have all done better in the big leagues than some of the hitters.
They also rambled incoherently about how many girls they had had in the past. One of the guys, Marco had even made a comment about how one of the waitresses, Kara had the hots for Tony. Tony laughed it off, telling them he had a wife, but being as drunk as he was, he couldn't help but try to remember what Kara looked like. He remembered, sort of, okay vaguely, what she looked like and as he contemplated about whether or not she was hot, another one of the guys, Rich announced to everyone that he'd bet Kara was a good lay. Not wanting to stand out, Tony joined in laughing.
Michelle on the other hand, had just had a terrible day. It was discovered that a mole had once again been working in CTU and selling classified information to suspected terrorists. Hammond had crapped in his pants about the possibility of another mole and literally sent a third of the work force home based on "suspicious activity." Of course that meant that Michelle and a few other loyal workers had to take on the bulk of the work.
And in addition to the nervousness regarding another mole at CTU, there also seemed to be a flu going around CTU. Edgar had been sent home earlier to prevent the cold he had from spreading. Michelle knew her immune system was weak at that moment, and she felt a little under the weather herself. She was exhausted, and all she wanted to do was to go home, take a nice, hot shower and sleep. She had been feeling extremely tired these past few days and she blamed it on her long days at CTU.
Upon arriving home, the last thing she expected was to have a small battalion of drunken men yelling in her home. As she entered the room, a few of the men catcalled at her and whistled, which caused Tony to look over. He told them to quiet it down and introduced her to his friends. Marco, Rich, Carl and Brett. Marco, Rich and Carl were too plastered to really notice too much about her. But Brett gave her a once-over that made her just a little edgy. He seemed to have this look in his eye, a look that she wasn't comfortable with. A look that Tony would have noticed had he been sober. And she could have sworn that as she saw him lick his lips a little as he looked her up and down.
She told Tony that she had just had a terrible day and that the boys were welcome to stay so long as they tried to keep it quiet. Michelle sighed upon entering their bedroom. She couldn't believe that Tony was yet again drunk. He used to welcome her home with a kiss. Now, he welcomed her home with an alcohol laden breath. Not exactly every girls' dream.
She took her shower and then plopped down on the bed, exhausted from the days' work. She fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow and when she woke up the next morning, Tony was passed out on the couch. She sighed as she looked at the mess in her living room. Empty beer bottles strewn about everywhere, chips spilt here and there, it was a mess. She slowly began to pick up the remnants of yesterday's semi-party. She also noticed there was a new message on their answering machine. She clicked on the proper buttons and she didn't recognize the voice. A voice of a woman no doubt, but from where she had no idea. It said:
"Hey Tony. It's me, Kara, just wanted to let you know that you're needed here tonight to work an extra shift. One of the other bartenders is sick with that flu that's been going around. And well, you're the only guy we could call. If you could give me a call back, that'd be great. Oh, and thanks for dinner a couple of nights ago!"
At first, Michelle just ignored it, realizing it was a call from someone at work. But the last part had intrigued her. Dinner? With a woman? That wasn't herself? He hadn't taken her out to dinner in ages and yet he was taking some girl out to dinner? She could feel her heart stop as she thought of the possibility…did he cheat on me? No. She viciously swept that thought away from her head. He wouldn't. Tony loves me. He would never cheat on me. Would he?
Michelle wanted to wake Tony up right there and then and demand an answer. And it seemed like she got her wish as Tony began to stir. He was still groggy from the past night's events and in her calmest voice, she treaded gently,
"Tony there was a girl, Kara, I think was her name that called and she wanted you to work an extra shift tonight because one of the bartenders is sick or something."
Tony grunted his understanding and mumbled a 'thank you' before rolling over to try to get back to sleep. Michelle looked at him and then mustering up her courage said, "She also mentioned thanks for dinner, and well I didn't know you guys had dinner, where'd you go?"
Tony turned around and looked at her while replying, "Oh yeah, we had dinner at the club where we work and well she offered to pay but I said I'd pay for it. She's a little short on cash as it, I mean she's a waitress and well tips haven't been great, so I just paid for her dinner."
Upon hearing this, Michelle let out the breath she had been holding. She was relieved that he had just offered to pay for her dinner at the club and that he didn't take her out or anything. She scolded herself for even having such thoughts about Tony. After all, he was her husband. He wouldn't cheat on her, he wouldn't betray her. Content with his answer, she went off to work.
Later that day, Tony too got ready to go to work. Although his job now could never compare to the job he held down at CTU, he couldn't help but be glad he had found a job. It was an easy enough job to like, the other bartenders had even called him a natural. The tips were good on most nights, the customers friendly, and of course the waitresses weren't exactly an eye sore. As he whipped up another Pearl Martini, Kara made her way over to Tony. With her body seductively leaning over the bar, making sure her cleavage was impossible to miss, she then calmly said,
"Hey Tony, I just wanted to thank you once more for coming in tonight. I mean, look at us, we've got four bartenders and we're still swamped with orders, so it's really appreciated."
Tony glanced up and well, being a red-blooded male he couldn't help but notice how she was so obviously pushing up her cleavage into his face and to the drunken forty year old man drooling as if he had entered heaven early. He immediately whipped his eyes back to her eye level and fumbled,
"Uh…yeah, no problem. I mean, I had nothing better to do tonight anyway, so might as well be earning a couple of extra bucks around here. And if you'll excuse me, that man is calling for his sixth scotch. I'll talk to you later."
Kara knew that she had an effect on Tony and frankly, she liked it. She liked the idea that she had control over men. From the minute Tony had been hired, she and a few of the other waitresses had taken an immediate liking to Tony. After all, what was not to like? He was dark, handsome, and very well built. The fact that Tony had a wife did not faze Kara at all. And frankly, when she liked something, she went for it and she was always up for a challenge. Regardless of the situation. After all, she always got what she wanted. And as she took one more glance at Tony, she saw in him a man that she knew would fulfill her every need. And she liked what she saw…
All of those years at CTU had paid off, as unbeknownst to Kara, Tony was more than aware of her advances towards him. He looked at her and he saw nothing. Sure she had an impressive cleavage, and she was pretty to look at, but when he looked into her eyes, he saw nothing. None of the passion that him and Michelle had shared. All he saw was a pretty girl running around carrying drinks. (Which I'm sure many people would have thought was the ideal girl for Tony…)
And Kara was different from Michelle in almost every way possible. For starters instead of having Michelle's gorgeous brown curls, Kara had straight blonde hair and replacing Michelle's mesmerizing brown eyes were clear bright blue ones. Michelle was petit, something Tony had immensely liked because that way it always gave him an excuse to hold her and keep her close to him. Kara on the other hand, was quite model looking. Long legs and she stood quite tall, only a little bit shorter than he was with her heels on.
Tony had also sensed that Kara wasn't the brightest bulb in the pack and one of the things that he loved about Michelle was her intelligence. He fell in love with her confidence and her intelligence, not her bust and rear size. Of course he loved those things about Michelle too, but he fell in love with something that would never change. After all, regardless of how beautiful a girl was at the moment, beauty dissipates with age. But intelligence and confidence, things like that last forever. And as he continued working, he couldn't help the small smile that had reached his face. Unfortunately, Kara too noticed this small smile, and mistakenly took it that her advances had been well received…
Meanwhile…
Carrie sat at her desk, furious that Michelle had been promoted to CTU base leader. How was it that she did nothing but got everything? And I mean she has a psycho brother! I bet that psycho gene runs in the family. Who in their right mind allows their brother to strangle his ex-girlfriend? And of course everyone had once again fawned over poor, innocent, precious little Michelle when she had gotten kidnapped. And Tony just had to be her knight in shining armor and run off after her. Now, he was gone from CTU. A thought that unbeknownst to anyone else, greatly saddened Carrie.
No one knew of her secret infatuation with Tony. Right from the moment she had met him, he inadvertently swept her off her feet. Of course, initially she had been attracted to his appearance, and why not? He was sexy. He had that whole brooding thing going on and that voice. It melted her heart every time he spoke to her. But as she got to know, she admired his passion for the job and his intelligence. She enjoyed the brief moments she was able to talk to him and always took a little more pleasure when she saw Michelle cautiously watching the two of them interact out of the corner of her eye. Sadly for her, those days were gone. Stupid Michelle had to go and ruin it. That b!tch. She didn't deserve Tony. She wasn't good enough for Tony. No one was good enough for Tony except herself.
Which was exactly why she was already in the process of planning a way to break them up. And who better to enlist in her plan than a person Tony had daily contact with…Tony and Michelle were CTU's golden couple up until Tony had been declared a traitor to this country. She knew that he must be vulnerable, and from the way Michelle looked these days, she kind of figured there wasn't much late night action going on. Carrie smiled to herself, as she thought to herself, 'I'm exactly what Tony needs. A woman who can please him and love him properly. After all, Michelle doesn't even look grateful for Tony's sacrifice. If I were his wife, I'd make sure he knew every day how much I loved him…'
She was soon snapped out of her dreams by none other than Michelle. Michelle had noticed Carrie had this smug smirk plastered onto her face for the past couple of minutes and had approached her tentatively. Michelle asked Carrie to finish the de-brief that Division needed completed within the hour, to which Carrie smugly replied, "No problem, princess." She had whispered the last word, but even then, Michelle could have sworn Carrie had just called her princess, which was slightly creepy. After leaving Carrie's workstation, Michelle set back to work on her own assignments. And as Michelle left, Carrie dialed a well known number now…after all, by now, Kara should have woken up…
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Coincidentally, that morning one of the staff members at CTU had brought a "Happy Birthday" cake for Chloe. An unusual occurrence for the members of CTU to be cheery and slightly more relaxed that normal. However, that cake seemed to bring ill fate, as some of the staff soon fell ill from food poisoning. Unfortunately, Michelle had been one of them. They had all been looked over once by the doctor. Hammond was still reeling from the discovery that Sarah had been a mole, so he was determined not to send any more of his staff home. However, for the better part of the morning, the food poisoning inflicted staff members spent most of their time inside of the rest rooms, so after lunch, Hammond had no choice but to send them home early.
Michelle had been one of the last staff members to be checked over by the CTU resident doctor. It seemed that she also seemed to be running a small fever and the doctor had wanted to make sure that she was alright. Michelle refused to be sent home, and in order to gain clearance from the doctor, he told her that he just needed to run a few tests to make sure that her body was in enough shape to return to work. The doctor wanted to be extra careful with Michelle, as word has just come in that Edgar had been rushed to the Emergency room from his illness. The doctors had diagnosed him with acute bronchitis in addition to severe exhaustion. He was to remain in intensive care for a few days before being released. And well, Michelle had worked in close proximity with Edgar and there was no telling whether or not she had also contracted a similar flu.
After what seemed like an eternity, her tests results came back and with that, the doctor gave her the verdict. Michelle was stunned. How could it be? But no. Not right now. They couldn't lose her right now. Dr. Hovaugh asked her if she just wanted some time alone to think about what he had just told her. And Michelle just stared blankly at him. How did this happen? The timing couldn't have occurred at a worse time. Just when CTU needed her the most she was going to be forced to leave them. And what about Tony? How would be take the news? What if he leaves me when I need him most? What are we going to do? And for the next little while, Michelle sat in the doctor's office, wondering how it had all happened.
After a long and agonizing thought process, Michelle decided to tell Tony. After all, he deserved to know. And with her newfound information, she purposely strode out the doors of CTU, citing illness to Hammond. As Michelle picked up her belongings to leave, Carrie made one more call and as Michelle left the building, Carrie couldn't help but smile. Everything was in place and soon, the precious princess would lose her title…
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(A/n: I had originally thought of stopping the Chapter here, but I felt that was sort of mean, so instead I'll continue and get to the point behind the title of this Chapter)
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Tony went off the work, frustrated. Frustrated that even though he had gone out and gotten himself a job, Michelle still didn't seem satisfied with all of his work. Nothing ever seemed to be enough for her. Maybe it was all just a waste of time for him to try. And he had to admit, he was also just a bit sexually frustrated. They hadn't made love in ages and he didn't know what was wrong with her. First, she told him to go and get a job, which he did, but now she seemed moodier than ever. She seemed to be distancing herself from him and he didn't understand why.
But when he was at work, everything was different. Kara flirted shamelessly with him, and even Jack had picked up on Kara's very suggestive behavior. Jack had come to visit him a few days ago, bringing along Kate for a couple of drinks. They had caught up on old times and as it turned out, Jack and Kate were really happy and their relationship was a very successful one. A far cry from the norm one would say. Normally, it was Tony with the luck with the ladies, and Jack, well, Jack didn't exactly have all the luck with the ladies. But now, as Tony saw how in love Jack and Kate were, he couldn't help but feel a little empty inside. Him and Michelle used to be like that. Key word, "used." Now, they were so distant. And he wasn't sure of what to do.
Tony had woken up early today, unable to sleep as he watched Michelle sleep. They used to sleep in each other's arms, now, they slept on opposite sides of the bed. He wasn't sure who was to blame for their growing apart. Of course, afternoon TV wasn't exactly prime picking, so he decided to head off to work a little early. Actually, quite early, as in 3pm early, especially when his shift didn't start until close to 7pm. As he arrived at Firefly, he was surprised to see that Kara was there too. He casually asked her, "Hey, what are you doing here so early?"
At first, Kara looked shocked at hearing another voice, but upon realizing it was Tony, she broke into a wide grin. This was even better than planned. Tony was here early, early enough for her to set the plan in motion. Kara, although she wouldn't be up for any Nobel prizes anytime soon, was not as stupid as everyone took her to be. She had noticed early on that Tony liked to play the knight in shining armor role. She had noticed this when he came to the rescue of some stupid drunken girl who was being pushed around by two guys twice her size. Of course, Tony had amicably told the guys to scram while ensuring that the girl had a cab to take her home. And Kara knew that she could use this all to her advantage.
Kara then replied with an obvious strain in her voice, "Just stuff at home and I kind of wanted to get away." Kara played the role of the wounded puppy dog perfectly, as sure enough, Tony was quick to ask, "What's wrong?"
Kara then went through to rehearse the very thoroughly fibbed out story that Carrie had told her to say. The story consisted of Kara's boyfriend becoming increasingly aggressive towards her and how he had cheated on her numerous times despite his claim that he loved her. She just didn't know what to do anymore. She had tried to do everything right in order to gain his love and approval. Kara was very pleased with her own performance as she looked up and saw Tony looking down at her concernedly, while hanging onto her every word. She then sniffed away some fake tears and through it she said, "Maybe I'm just not good enough for anyone. I mean I tried so hard and yet I still failed. Maybe I'm just not meant to be loved…"
As Kara trailed off, Tony immediately leapt into his white knight mode, telling her that she was a great person and that any man who couldn't appreciate her was a fool and didn't deserve her. For a moment when she looked into his eyes, she almost saw something, but as soon as that thought appeared, she pushed it out of her mind. She remembered her deal with Carrie. Carrie got Tony and Kara, well, Kara was well compensated for her troubles.
Of course afterwards, Tony offered to make her a drink to make her feel better, and she accepted. Of course Tony also made himself a drink and by then another bartender had come in so he refilled their drinks. Actually, only Tony's. Kara had been careful to only sip on her drink to make sure that everything went as planned. She knew that Tony was a heavy drinker and that once he began, well; it was hard to stop him. By 6:00pm, Tony had already had at least 3 beers and a Long Island Ice Tea's in addition to an insane number of shots. He was pretty well tipsy.
As Kara continued to sip on her virgin margarita, she couldn't help but be pleased with how easy Tony had been to manipulate. He was such a fool. A sweet guy nonetheless, but a complete fool. She looked at him while he was slurring on about how he wasn't getting any action at home and she knew that this was her cue to jump in. She innocently ventured, "What do you mean? I thought you and Michelle were…"
Tony interjected stupidly saying, "Michelle doesn't want to have sex. All she wants to do is work. She wakes up too early in the, what do you call it, morning! Morning! She wakes up too early in the morning and comes home late at night. Then she just sleeps. God, I haven't had sex for the longest time. I mean how does she expect me to deal with this? I was in prison for um…cripes I can't remember how long but a goddamn long time and now that I'm home, I'm not getting any more action than I was at prison!"
Kara then began to rub his arm affectionately whispering, "Well, you never know when you might just get lucky…"
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Michelle was well on her way to Firefly. She knew that Tony had a shift later that night and she had hoped to catch him before he started working so that she would be able to properly talk to him and discuss what they were going to do. She desperately hoped that he hadn't started drinking yet and that he was still sober. However, as she drove on, she couldn't help but feel anxious. How would Tony react to this? Would he leave? Who wants to be stuck with a woman with that much baggage? Especially since he was just getting back on his feet, he would once again have to stop his own life in order to compromise for hers. She felt guilty for doing this again.
She soon realized she had never been to Firefly. She knew the vicinity of the region, but she had no idea where it actually was. Of course she couldn't call Tony or else he would know something was up, so she called the person that knew Tony best next to her, Jack. Coincidentally, Jack was also on his way over to Firefly to watch the game that night and he gave her directions to Firefly. He told her that he was only a few minutes away from Firefly and when Michelle asked him not to tell Tony she was coming, Jack, being Jack, couldn't help but be a little suspicious. Of course when he asked Michelle about it, she just told him it was really important and Jack just left it at that. He promised that he would wait outside in his car until Michelle arrived to make sure that she got there safely. Michelle thanked him once more before wondering to herself about whether she had just passed Elm Street of Ventura Boulevard.
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Kara now had Tony wrapped around her pinky, as his inhibitions had been lowered by the alcohol in his body. She kept listening to him ramble off about how one moment he didn't know what the hell Michelle wanted and the next about how much he loved her. As time progressed, in other words, as Tony got even more drunk, Kara placed her hand on his leg, rubbing up and down his leg seductively. Tony was too drunk to notice most of this, and the only thing he noticed was when his drink was starting to empty.
As it approached the after work drinking hour, the bar became more crowded with people, and Kara suggested,
"You know what? It's really loud in here. Let's step out onto the balcony, and here, let me get you a refill on that…"
Tony grunted his agreement while Kara led him out onto the balcony. They continued talking about problems in both of their lives, and as their conversation progressed, Kara became increasingly suggestive careful to maintain some sort of physical contact with Tony the whole time he talked. He talked about how he missed Michelle and how he missed the times they used to share. The love that once existed, but had now been buried under deep layers of pain. Kara sympathetically said,
"I know how you feel. To love someone so much and not have them feel the same way about you…"
With that, she looked deep into his eyes, and kissed him.
And to her surprise and delight, Tony kissed back.
But in Tony's mind, he wasn't kissing Kara. His thoughts revolved solely around Michelle. And in his mind, that was who he was kissing. Michelle. His Chelle.
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After much effort, Michelle finally found Firefly. It was actually quite a nice bar. It had an impressive view of the ocean, and it wasn't as seedy as she had originally thought it was. And at the front of the bar was Jack, waving her over. She waved back appreciatively, glad that Jack had once again helped her.
After Tony went to prison, she and Jack had become friends almost immediately. He was like the older brother that she never had. Well, technically, she had Danny, but well, Danny wasn't always in the right state of mind and she never could talk to Danny without him raising his voice. Jack on the other hand, was very receptive whenever she told him of her problems whether they be missing Tony or simply missing the company of another person. Michelle had also gotten to know Kate really well and she couldn't help but be happy for both Jack and Kate that they had found each other.
As she parked her car, Jack came up to the driver's side and said, "Hey Michelle. Hope it wasn't too hard to find. But Tony should be inside and I've kept quiet because you wanted to surprise him right?"
"Yeah, thanks Jack…" replied Michelle
And just as Michelle replied, Jack's cell phone rang. He looked down, and said with a small smile on his face, "It's Kate. I'll take this, but just go in there and you have any problems finding him, just ask Kara, she's the blonde waitress that works with Tony…"
Michelle nodded her appreciation and made her way into the bar. When she got in, she looked around for Tony. She couldn't find him or the blonde waitress that Jack spoke of, so she asked the bartender on duty if he knew where Tony or Kara was. The bartender told them that they had gone out to the balcony a few minutes ago. Michelle told him thanks and proceeded to make her way out towards the balcony.
Michelle could feel little butterflies build up in her stomach as she made her way towards the balcony. She was nervous, but at the same time, she really wanted to see Tony.
But then, Michelle saw something.
Something that tore her heart into a million tiny pieces.
She saw Tony.
and another girl.
Kissing.
"No" she silently whispered to herself as the tears began to flow. "It can't be."
Tony, the man she loved above all others was in the arms of another woman. And he was kissing her. She turned and ran.
Ran as quickly as she possibly could.
Her heart was pounding, the pain in her chest almost unbearable as she tore through the doors of the bar.
By the time she had exited the bar, she had drawn more than a few glances her way. And then of course, as she exited the bar, there was Jack. And as soon as he saw her, he immediately told Kate that he'd call her back and approached her.
"Michelle? Michelle? Are you okay? What's wrong? Why are you crying? Did someone try to hurt you? Michelle? Come on Michelle, tell me."
By then, Michelle had reached her car, but the moment she heard Jack's voice, tears streamed even harder down her face. She soon collapsed onto her knees, tears ever falling.
Jack was beyond concerned by now as she had not spoken to him, but continued to cry endlessly. He then said to her,
"You know what? You stay right here, I'm going to go and get Tony for you, okay Michelle?"
Upon hearing his name, Michelle cringed, and immediately exclaimed, "NO!"
Jack looked shock at her opposition and questioned her once again.
"Michelle, what's wrong? Why don't you want me to go and get Tony?"
Michelle looked at him through tear-strained eyes and said, "It's time for me to say goodbye to you Jack…I'm leaving Los Angeles."
Jack looked at her, confused for a moment, and then asked,
"Is this what you came to tell Tony? That you were leaving? Then why don't you go back in and tell him? Did he not take it well? I mean if he doesn't want you to go that's understandable, but he loves you Michelle. Nothing will ever change that."
Michelle scoffed at his last remark and she said, "No, I didn't tell Tony. I wanted to, but I couldn't. And please Jack, don't ask me any more questions."
By now, Jack was beyond confused. She didn't tell Tony she was leaving? Why? As Michelle saw the different emotions go through Jack's face, she once again tried feebly to reassure him,
"Jack, it's nothing. Please do not worry about it."
Jack was beginning to get frustrated. This just didn't make sense. And he was determined to get to the bottom of this. And he demanded,
"Michelle, tell me what's going on."
Michelle struggled desperately to control her emotions. They were completely spinning out of control as that scene kept replaying in her mind. The normally composed and calm Michelle now found herself on the verge of a breakdown. She then pleaded with Jack,
"Jack, you are one of my best friends. But please, do not ask any more questions. Just please. I need to go now. I do Jack. I just need to get out of here. Please, keep Tony at the bar for at least another couple of hours. And please don't tell him I was here. Please Jack."
Jack saw the pleading look in her eyes, and although torn between his loyalties to Tony, he reluctantly agreed. He had never seen Michelle in so much pain. Her eyes expressed all of the pain she felt at the moment, and Jack couldn't help but be concerned for her well being.
"Promise me Jack. Please, promise me that you won't tell Tony anything I've just told you. And please, don't tell him I was here."
Jack solemnly replied, "I promise Michelle."
Michelle sighed with relief and said, "Thank you Jack. Thank you for everything." Before getting into her car and driving into the distance.
Jack stared at her car as she slowly drove out of his sight and couldn't help but wonder, what the hell happened in there?
And as Michelle drove down the roads, the tears that had threatened to flow while she talked to Jack flew freely once more.
A/n: Read and review! Your reviews are much appreciated!