Chapter 22


Maria inserted the key into the lock, pushing the bag of groceries to her other arm, trying to balance it whilst opening the door.
"Maria?"
One of the bags fell to the floor when Maria jumped with a shriek. The familiar contours of her boyfriend materialized out of the shadows. He looked at the bag on the floor, abashed, with sorrow written all over his face. "Uhm…sorry."
"God Michael! Are you trying to kill me?!"
Before Michael could respond, Maria took a deep frustrated breath. "Well, don't just stand there. Pick up the bag."
"Right, right," Michael said, crouching to pick up the bag.
Maria stopped and looked at his hunched figure and frowned. "What are you doing sitting here in the dark?"
Michael straightened up with the brown paper bag in his arms. Maria's irritation quickly changed into suspicion when certain aspects of Michael's behavior hit her. "Why are you like this?"
Michael frowned. "Like what?"
"All kind and stuff. Since when do you do something I tell you to do, like, immediately, without any argument?"
Michael stared at her like she had just announced that she was the master of the universe. "I'm a nice guy."
"Not like this," Maria said, unyielding.

"What are you saying, Maria?" Michael asked defensively, his voice bearing a hint of irritation.
Maria snatched the paper bag out of his arms and quickly walked into the kitchen, switching on the lamps as she entered. The canned goods in the bag slammed against the counter when she forcefully put down the groceries. She spun around, fire in her eyes.
"What is it, Michael?"
"Nothing," Michael answered. He was trying really hard to stubbornly hold her gaze when he answered, but his eyes had a will of their own. Maria didn't miss the betraying drifting of his eyes.
"What did you do?"
Michael's anger flared to life. "Why do you assume that I've done something?!"
Maria's eye-brows rose challenging. "Then tell me why we're arguing right now?"
"You started it!" Michael exclaimed.
"Oh no. It was you who scared me half to death by sitting in the dark in my apartment instead of being at work, where you're supposed to be right now. Something has happened, Michael. Don't you dare lie to me!"

Michael stared at her hard, trying to come up with something to retaliate with. But the truth was that he was here for a reason and something had happened.
Maria witnessed the guilt flash in his eyes and she felt how her stomach twisted. Suddenly the irritation was gone, quickly replaced by fear. "God, Michael. What did you do?"
Michael looked at her for a long time, before slowly lowering himself on one of the wooden bar stools.
"I think I've done something really…disastrous."
Maria paled and let the weight of her body fell back against the counter. She had a bad feeling about this. She could already sense what this was about.
"It's about Liz," she stated.
He looked up at her and nodded mutely.
"You told Max," Maria whispered.
"No," Michael answered truthfully.
Maria relaxed. Maybe it wasn't as bad as she feared. But Michael didn't her get too comfortable with the feeling of relief.
"I told Isabel."

"You what?" Maria whispered, too shocked to be able to find her voice.
"I had to tell somebo-"
Maria straightened up, her eyes burning. "You told Isabel?"
"I wanted her to know. Max is her brother after all-"
Maria forcefully shook her head. "How could you?! I told you that in confidence."
Michael was automatically pushed back into defensive behavior. "You never said that you told me that in con-"
"I shouldn't have to tell you, Michael! You should know! You knew that Liz hadn't told Max about her heart condition yet, so what gives you the right to spread the word to everyone around Max before he finds out-"
"I have not spread it to everyone else-"
"You told Isabel," Maria said coldly.
"She's his sister. She has the right to know:"
Maria's eyes narrowed. "The right? No, Michael. This is certainly not about what is fair and not. What did you tell Isabel?"
"That Liz had a heart condition."
"And what did she say?"

Michael's eyes dropped, but not before Maria could see the guilt haunting them.
"Michael, what did she say?"
With his eyes glued to his knees, he answered, "That we should prevent Liz from ever seeing Max again."
Maria's chin dropped in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me! She said that?"
Michael looked up at her defiantly. "Max has been through hell, okay? She's really worried that he's going to worry about Liz too much if he finds out. It's better if he doesn't have to be subjected to that problem."
"Subjected to..:" Maria gasped, offended, "Problem? Liz is a problem?"
Michael sighed. "I thought so too at the beginning, but when Isabel was voicing my thoughts, it just sounded wrong."
Maria snorted. "Well, I'm relieved that you aren't as whacky as she is."
"Don't beat down on her," Michael warned.
"She is trying to keep my best friend-" Maria swallowed back tears of anger, "from ever feeling happiness. She is practically saying that Liz doesn't deserve to fall in love and have a normal life, just because the heart she was born with wasn't as good as others." Maria's fists clenched at her sides and she whispered through clenched teeth, "I actually liked her. But now… She's a manipulative bitc-"
Michael shot up from his chair, grabbing her arm, "Hey! Stop that!"
Maria's teary eyes stared into his, her eyes hard and her voice trembling with hurt when she spoke, "It's because of people like her that Liz isn't happy. Selfish people who-"
"That's not fair," Michael said quietly. "You have to try to look at it from her perspective."
"Oh really?" Maria said sarcastically. "So this is about her?"

"Sit down, Maria," Michael said.
Maria looked at him challenging. "Why should I?"
Michael didn't answer, but looked at her steadily. After a staring contest that lasted a couple of seconds, Maria sat down with a resigned sigh.
"Thank you," Michael said. "I need to tell you something, and then you might get a better understanding of why Isabel's reacting like she is."
Maria just bit her lips together and mutely stared at some point at the wall behind Michael's head.
"Max was married. He married five years ago. They had a son, and both his wife and son died in a car accident two years ago."
"I know," Maria said, her voice trembling. Even though she was colorfully angry with Michael and Isabel right now, she couldn't stop the sympathy of what Max had been through to seep into her intended rejecting voice.
Michael's eyes widened in surprise. "You know?"
"Liz told me," Maria answered simply.
"Where did she get that information?"
"From Max," Maria answered matter-of-factly.
"No…no… that can't be it," Michael shook his head in denial.
Maria shifted her gaze to look at him, raising a questioning eyebrow. "No?"
"Max wouldn't say that to someone that he just met. He is like Fort Knox. He doesn't let anyone know his secrets. He hasn't let anyone new in since the accident."

"Doesn't that tell you something?"
Michael met her eyes as she looked at him like she knew something he didn't.
"Yes, it tells me that Isabel's right. Max is breaking down. He isn't caring about wh-"
"What?" Maria shot up from the stool. "Isabel is as far from right as you can get! Don't you see it? Are you completely blind? You are so caught up in keeping Max 'safe' as you call it, that you're really fueling his insecurities and not encouraging him to live."
"You don't know what you're talking about," Michael fumed.
"Can it not be that Max told Liz because he cares about her? Because he wants something substantial with her? Something that lasts longer than just a few hours? A friendship, a partner, a lover, anything?"
"I'm not saying that Isabel's right-"
"Oh really? 'Cause it really sounds that way to me."
"Max wouldn't be able to handle it if something happened to Liz-"
"Maybe if you trusted in him to handle it and to make his own decisions about whether he wants to continue seeing Liz or not, it would be easier for him. As long as you, his closest friends, doubt his ability to recover and only want him to choose the safe choices in life, he isn't going to truly live any way. You could set him up with a 'safe' candidate. Someone who's been healthy all her life. Who only eats really nutritional stuff and always drives below the speed limit. But do you really think that this ensures that she won't step out onto the street one day and get hit by a car? And most importantly, does it really ensure that he will live happily ever after? Or should he take a chance and follow his heart? Maybe he will worry more because of Liz's heart, but at least he will feel alive."
"Then why hasn't Liz told Max yet?"
"Because she's scared. She's scared that he's going to push her away because of the same reasons that Isabel wants to push her away. She wants to be accepted for who she is, not who she was."

"But you have to see it from Isabel's point of view. She's afraid that this will kill Max-"
"This isn't about Isabel. It's not Isabel's life. Max is still her little brother, but he isn't four anymore. She can't be there and hold his hand every time he scrapes his knees. She should've let go a long time ago." Maria sighed. "She's suffocating him."
"You don't even know her," Michael objected.
"No, I don't," Maria said. "I can only draw conclusions from the little interaction between Max and her that I've seen during the Friday dinners, but it's loud and clear to me. Max isn't happy. And it's not because he is still grieving his wife. It's because he hasn't been given a reason yet to move on. Liz is that reason."

Michael just stared at her. "Who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend?"
"Huh?"
"I'm always really careful when picking my girls. Blondes, long beautiful legs, and not much of a brain. I thought that I had made a wise choice, but now I'm wondering."
Maria smiled despite herself. "Oh, I can assure you, Michael. I'm a natural blonde," she teased.
Michael stepped up to her and wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm mad at you for betraying my trust," Maria said against his ear.
"I know," Michael murmured, feeling like a weight had been lifted from his heart. How had he been blessed with this woman? "How can I make it up to you?"
Maria pulled out of his arms and looked at him seriously. "I want you to call Liz and tell her what you did and apologize." If it's not already too late…
"Yes, mom," Michael saluted, which earned him a swat over the chest. This only made his grin even wider.
"Don't think you'll get away that easily. Do you know my favorite food?"
Michael groaned. "Don't make me cook!"
"It's payback time," Maria winked.
Michael moved towards the groceries bags with heavy legs.
"And after dinner I expect dessert-"
Michael groaned in protest.
"-in the bedroom," Maria filled in.
Michael's hands stopped mid-air and he stared at her, desire swiftly flashing into his eyes. "Seriously?" he asked hopefully.
"If you are good," Maria answered.
Let's just say that Michael had never cook that quickly before in his life.


TBC...