Natalie knocked again a second time on Michael's door when she decided to start calling out to him.
"Michael. Michael, it's Nat, open up I know you're in there" Natalie screamed thru the door of Michael's apartment at the angel square hotel. Michael still didn't answer and Natalie was about to give up when she glanced down the hall and saw his room, well what use to be his room, John's that was, it use to be their room, she considered it home at one happy point in her life. She banged a little louder this time and Michael finally opened the door, he was half asleep.
"Natalie what the hell do you want? I was sleeping" Michael told her as Natalie didn't wait to be asked in, she walked right passed him into his room.
"Michael, it's almost 9 am why are you still asleep?" Natalie asked him as she took a seat on his couch
" I worked the night shift. Just got home a few hours ago" Michael answered as he sat next to her on the couch
"I'm really sorry that I woke you Michael but I really need your help and it's important." Natalie said taking one of his throw pillows from the couch and holding close to her body
"Shoot, what is it since I'm awake now" Michael asked as he noticed she got a little nervous
"I need you to tell me where your brother is?" Nat said as she watched Michael stand up from the couch and walk away a few feet.
"I..I don't know Nat, I really shouldn't, he asked me not to." Michael said as Natalie also stood and approached him.
"Michael you could tell me or I could just hire a PI to find him, I'd rather you'd tell me I'm kinda under a time restraint here. Please, pretty please, I won't tell him you told me, I promise" Natalie told Michael and she batted her eyelashes, she knew he was a sucker for that.
"Fine, but you have to know last I spoke to him he wasn't the same, so don't get your hopes up for anything"
"Michael, I gave up hope when it came to John a long time ago, I just need to talk to him about a few things before I get.. Before I get" Natalie tried to get the words out about her getting married but for some reason she couldn't, she wasn't sure if she couldn't because Michael was John's brother or if she just didn't want to tell anyone.
"What Natalie, before you get what?" Michael said picking up on the fact that there was something else going on here.
"Well, I..I haven't told anyone yet but..but Nick asked me to marry him and we'll be getting married in two weeks. But before I get married I just need to know a few things from john before I can let him go completely and open my whole heart up to nick" Natalie said and she turned away from Michael, as if she couldn't look into his eye's and say she was marrying someone other than his brother.
"Nat, that's great, I mean it's wonderful but if you think by finding John he's gonna all of a sudden change and fight to win you back you're wrong, He really has changed Natalie and not in a positive way." Michael told her trying to get her to realize that John had gone down hill since losing his job in Llanview, since losing her. Michael had spoken with John every few weeks for the past six Months. Michael would call to check up on him and John was either drunken or sleeping off the drunken state from the night before. Michael had been worried about John so he went to see him a few weeks ago and they had, had a fight, Michael brought up Nat's name and obviously John wasn't drunken enough yet so they ended up in a fight. Michael had told John that night about Natalie and Nick Casanoff in hopes of John doing something about it, something like coming back to Llanview and sweeping her off her feet, but John again did nothing, as if it didn't matter, as if she didn't matter to him anymore. Michael knew the truth even if John couldn't face it. Michael knew his brother would always love her and he would never get over her but John didn't want to hear it, so it ended, their visit, and it ended badly, they got in their first fist fight since they were kids and Michael left. They hadn't spoke since then. Michael thought about how mad John would be if he told Natalie where to find him, what the hell he told himself, he's already mad at me. Michael came out of his thoughts when he heard her clear her throat.
"I'm sorry, I got caught up in something in my Head" Michael told her apologizing for listening to the voices in his head.
"It's alright, John use to do that a lot too." Natalie said as she let a small smile pass her lips remembering how john would go off into his own little world sometimes.
"Natalie, he really has changed, I really don't think this is a good Idea, I don't think it's going to help, I think It may just make things worse for you" Michael said wanting to spare her the sight of a drunken arrogant John.
"Just tell me Michael, I'm a big girl, I can handle it" Natalie said and Michael told him that John was back in AC and that he usually hung out at a bar called O'Malley's, which Natalie knew exactly where it was. Natalie thanked Michael and started to leave the Hotel when her cell phone rang.
"Hello" she said into her phone
"Hey Sexy, I heard you'll be off the market soon, is that true?" Nick said all flirty into the phone talking to Nat.
"Yeah, the old man's gonna make a honest woman out of me." Natalie said with a grin as she walked to her car.
"I know you're off today why don't you meet me for lunch? Nick asked
"I can't. Actually I might not make dinner either I need to see an old friend and tell them about our good news, I'll call ya when I know when I'll be home" Natalie said and she ended her call with Nick, she drove her car to the train station. She took the train to the AC station and she got a rental car and headed towards the bar, she knew it was early but she decided to go anyways and wait for him.
John was sitting at the bar again like everyday for the past six months. it was only three in the afternoon and he was on his way to one hell of a hang over. He had gotten there around lunch time and started drinking then, drinking like everyday, drinking to wash away his sorrows. As he sat he heard a noise, turned and he caught a look at the pool table in the corner of the bar and he couldn't help but think, think about her, the person he had thought about and loved for the past three years, Natalie. Everyday he sat with his back to the pool table for that reason, the reason that he just didn't want his mind to go there, to that place, those memories, he wanted to forget, forget it all. Today was no different of a day than every day in the past six months. He drank till he could barely walk and then he'd pick up some girl and maybe he'd be lucky enough to still be able to get it up with all the alcohol in him. Sometimes it wasn't even easy to forget, to forget her, sometimes he wasn't drunken enough and he would take a girl home and pretend she was Natalie and that they were Making Love, instead of the unattached sex he was having with a stranger. John was yet again drowning in his sorrows when he had to hit the head and he got up.
Natalie walked into the bar and she didn't see him, she looked around and saw a pool table in the corner, actually she knew this pool table, she had played pool on it when she was younger, actually hustled some money off some drunken gamblers. The table was red cloth not green which Natalie liked and it was full sized, some bars had a smaller version because of space but this one was full size. She decided she'd play as she waited for him, she took a pool stick off the wall and racked the balls, playing pool would help, it would definitely help calm the butterflies that were forming in her stomach at the thought of seeing him, seeing him again.
John returned from the bathroom and he heard the breaking of the pool balls. It was a hard crisp, exact break and he turned to see who was playing when he saw her, his Natalie. He blinked a few times to make sure it wasn't a drunken illusion and he saw it was really her. She was here, had she come here to find him? He wasn't sure what to do so he slowly walked over towards her. She never looked up from her game, as she didn't need to see him, she knew he was there. She felt his presence.
"How are you?' she asked making her shot
"All right and yourself?" he answered her as he watched her move around the pool table; he loved the way she moved, especially around the table.
"What are you doing here? John asked as he continued to watch her play
"I think it's time we talk" Natalie said looking up from her shot to catch his eye's on hers
"What is it you think we need to talk about?" John asked as he took a stick off the wall and started to play pool with her.
"I need you to tell me some things, I..I need to know why you gave up on me, why you didn't even try" Natalie asked him as he missed the shot he was going to take.
"I don't wanna talk about this, there's nothing to talk about, we weren't meant to be. I wasn't meant to be happy, it's not in me, I'm not that type of person" john said avoiding her actual questions
"Shut Up John! This isn't about you and your damn demons, it's about me, not everything revolves around you and those damn things you carry around in your soul. I need to ask you something and then maybe we can figure out where we went wrong" Natalie said as she stood without taking a shot.
" Why is it so important? Important to know where we went wrong? You've got somebody else don't you? The young wise hot shot Detective, what was his name again.. Larry, no Moe, no curly" John said as he stood staring into her eye's. he was trying to be strong but being so close to her was driving him crazy, he wanted to just grab her and kiss her hard and long but he couldn't she wasn't his, she never really was and she never would be.
"Very funny John, I see you're not to drunken to make jokes" Natalie said moving a little closer to him.
"Yeah, well you haven't seen anything yet. You never answered my questions why?" John asked her as they stood face to face staring at each other daring with their eyes, daring the other to back down and look away.
"Because..Because. I don't wanna make a mistake, I mean if there's any way that we might still b---" Natalie said but was cut off when a leggy blonde bimbo walked over to them.
"Hey Johnny I'm sorry I'm late, who's this?" the blonde said a little annoyed at seeing John with Natalie
"An old friend, can you give us a minute" John said as he looked away from Natalie towards the blonde and then put his focus back on Natalie who had a mixture of jealously and disgust on her face.
" An old friend huh? You've got five and then I'm outta here, find me someone else looking for a little fun," the blonde said looking at Natalie as she walked over to the bar.
"Natalie I---" John started to say but Natalie quickly cut him off.
"No, you know what John I got just what I was looking for from you, I don't need any answers from you, I had them all along," she said as she tried to put the stick back on the rack on the wall and he grabbed the top of it with his hand to stop her
"Natalie, don't" John said holding the stick firmly and looking into her disgusted eye's
"Let go, let go now John your blonde is waiting" she said as he let go of the stick and allowed her to put it up on the rack, he watched her put it on the rack and he saw the glisten of her engagement ring.
He grabbed her hand roughly and looked at the ring
"Nice rock must have put the Jr. detective back a few." Natalie snatched her hand from his grip,
"It is nice isn't it? And his name is Nick" she said and she left the bar