Oragnisations
Earlier on that day...
A sharp beeping sound ripped Max from his dreamless slumber.
With his eyes still closed, he shot his hand out and grasped the source of the sound. "Ungghh!" He groaned, while trying to prise his eyes open.
Blinking at the sudden reappearance of sunlight, he slowly realised (before he could smash the annoying shrill thing in his hand) that his beeper had woken him up.
Fumbling with the buttons, he found the smallest one that stops the godawful noise and rolled out of bed to look at it; the numbers 9 1 1 kept flashing up at him which meant it was Isabel. He had given her his beeper number as a way for her to contact him incase of an emergency. He wasn't around there anymore to help them from whatever new alien crisis had developed, he was too busy searching for Michael. Or really just running away yourself. Max shook his head as if trying to ward off his own thoughts, staggered to the phone in his boxers and dialled the number he knew instinctively off by heart.
"Hello! Whitman residence. This is Isabel speaking!" Max rubbed his temple as her perky 'official' voice flooded through the phone. He had to admit, that was the worst thing to deal with, a perky Isabel while he was still half-asleep.
"Shh Isabel, not so loud. Now what's wrong?"
"Max! Oh great, I just beeped you!"
Max could hear dishes being washed and Tammy in the background singing to herself. He smiled, would be nice to see Tammy again soon, she grows so fast.
"Yeah I got it. Now spill before I go back to bed."
"Dinner tonight. Kind of formal, everyone's going to be there. There's a sort of special surprise as well."
"Dinner? You used the 911 emergency signal for a dinner? You're not pregnant again are you? I already beat Alex up once for that." Max joked weakly.
Isabel laughed, albeit a little nervously. "Look, just come to dinner, everyone misses you anyway. Believe me this is special. We all have to be here for this and we can all catch up too, you can tell me about where you've been for the last two months. Where are you now anyway?"
Max looked around. "Santa Fe, so actually not too far for once. I'll come to dinner, besides there are a few things we have to discuss."
"Okay, great! I'll see you about 6pm then?" He could hear the beaming smile that was no doubt spread across Isabels face, she loved organising things, especially when he actually bothered to take part in them.
"Yeah, sure." He tiredly answered. He glanced at his watch, it was only 10am now. "See you then Izzy."
He replaced the reciever in it's cradle and threw himself back onto the bed. 6pm was a whole day away, he could go back to oblivion for at least a little while longer.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A small blonde woman was carefully waddling through the local supermarket at 11am, trying to decide just what colour food would make her look less of beached whale.
The pros and cons of the purple coloured packets were being carefully considered when she suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Isabel! How great to see you!" The woman exclaimed and dumped the purple packets into the trolley to give her old friend a hug.
"Tess! I was just looking for you. Where are the twins?" Isabel peered around. "The store is intact, so they must be somewhere else right?"
Tess laughed, her blue eyes sparkling like the ocean during summer time. "Yes, their daddy took them out from under my feet today - poor guy. I bet they've totally wrecked his office by now. Ah well..." She shrugged. Not looking completely sympathetic at the thought.
"Wow...twin 6 year old boys. And now you're what, 7 months pregnant? I don't know how you do it Tess, I would go completely mad." Isabel remarked, thinking of the amount of trouble just little Tammy could cause. Let alone twin boys.
Tess ran a hand through her curly blonde hair and smiled a little. "Yeah I know, I do debate going mad. Though Kyle is a great father, he loves that we're having more kids around the place. What about you? Have you told anyone yet about you having another one? Except for me, Alex and Maria?"
Isabel shook her head. "You mean have I told Max and my parents? No. But I will tonight. That's why I was looking for you, I'm having a semi-formal dinner thing, everyone will be coming. So make sure you bring Kyle and the boys."
"Yeah okay, sounds great, can't wait to see Max's face a second time round. Think Alex will outrun him this time? It'll be nice to have another get together, has been a while since we did one of those. I think the last time was...Alex's birthday...2 months ago?" Tess looked at Isabel with a twinkle in her eyes and Isabel chuckled loudly at the memory.
"Well I always said I'd get him back for the time he stripped at my 18th, infront of my mother no less! Anyway, sorry Tess but I have to run, I'm supposed to go see Maria in a minute. I'll see you tonight!"
"Yeah, see you tonight." Tess smiled and gave her friend another hug.
"Oh Tess, by the way, you look beautiful and glowing, no matter what colour the food is." Isabel winked at her as Tess giggled, a little embarassed, and hurried out of the store.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Isabel loved this feeling. The busy feeling. The feeling that she knew exactly what her purpose was today and that purpose was to see everyone come to this very important dinner. A dinner which would open a new chapter in all of their lives, for good or for bad.
She knew it wouldn't be pretty and it probably wouldn't be fun, there was pain and there was hurt and even though Michael had said he's seen Maria - no-one ever knew just how her disposition would be from one day to the next. A few times Maria has called up and cancelled babysitting Tammy, knowing that it was a bad day for her. Isabel had been there for her after she came home from the hospital and the 6 months afterwards. She had seen those bad nights where Maria would cry and shake and scream, where her moods would drop down so dangerously low that it frightened her to see Maria that way. One night, when Isabel had turned her back for short moment, Maria suddenly and without no warning, smashed her hand through a windowpane. When Isabel had questioned why she would do something like that, Maria had only dully answered, "I did it to just feel something other than this coldness inside."
During those first few difficult months back Isabel had barely left her side. Looking after Maria now was a way of trying to amend the hurt she had caused those years before. Michael had left and instead of reaching out to the one other girl who could only understand the devastation she was feeling - she had turned against her instead. She had screamed at Maria. Taunted her. Refused to be in the same room as her. For that first year, every bit of pain and anger she felt about Michael leaving and then her brother Max leaving so soon afterwards, was quietly and sometimes not so quietly blamed on Maria. Even though Maria has assured Isabel that she neededn't feel so guilty, that she didn't make Maria do the things she had done, Isabel felt responsible for every ounce of it. If she hadn't have kept pushing Maria away from the group, Maria would have had someone to lean on and connect with, and wouldn't have felt the need to seek comfort from anything else.
On automatic, Isabel's feet had walked her safely to the door of the former DeLuca residence and she rang the doorbell, hoping that the reappearence of Michael hadn't shaken Maria up too badly. Maria had been doing so much better the last month or so, her down days had been alot less frequent.
The door opened and out peered a freshly faced Maria. Isabel looked at her carefully, trying to assess whether there were any tell-tale signs of crying. There were none to be seen. "Isabel?" Maria questioned, after a moment of silence. "What's up?"
"Hey Maria," Isabel smiled, nervously plucking at a wisp of her blonde hair that had fallen out of it's clip. No matter how close they had become over the last 6 months, Isabel still felt nervous talking to her, as if waiting for Maria to suddenly remember all of the horrible things Isabel had said. "I was just wondering if you wanted to come out and have a bit of lunch with me, I've been quite busy today and I thought we could talk."
"Oh yeah sure! Hang on, let me just get into something a little less house-mopey and a little more lunch-eaty. Come in if you want, Jim and Amy aren't here - I think they've got a work...thing." Maria hopped back to let Isabel in and then ran upstairs to change.
Isabel was a little amazed, it was if the old Maria was back with her. Sure, Maria had been getting better recently and had more good days than bad, but there didn't seem to be any trace of hollow cheer that she had seen Maria force into her face every day she was in company. Don't get your hopes up, Isabel cautioned herself. Maybe she's fine within the first few minutes you've said hello. Maybe she's fine for the next few hours. But this doesn't mean you'll get the old Maria back. The old Maria is gone. You know how she is, this pleasantness could just simply be a shocked reflex action from seeing Michael again. That will wear off. When things have to be discussed, when Maria has to expose herself and her past to him...that may be when things go drastically wrong.
Maria came back downstairs in a simple pair of blue jeans and a green sleeveless top that Isabel had bought her last month, at the time Maria didn't have any money and when Isabel saw how great she looked in it, she just had to buy it for her. It made her eyes larger, greener and startingly more intense, and it seemed to give the impression that Maria was really a cat in disguise, a predator, just waiting for the moment to dig her claws into you. Giving Isabel a flashing smile, she ran a hand through her hair and asked if they were ready to go. They were.
Deciding to sit on one of the tables outside of a small coffee shop, Maria and Isabel both ordered a chicken salad and a mocha.
"So Isabel, " Maria started. Staring heard at the napkin infront of her, she had no idea how to broach the subject of Michael being back and no idea how Isabel would take the news that Michael had come to see her first. Taking a deep breath, she hurried on, "I did have to talk to you actually. Now I don't know how you're going to react but - "
"Michael's home." Isabel finished for her with a smile on her face.
"You know!" Maria was incredulous, her eyes opened wide and round like saucers and for a brief moment she looked as if she was the carefree Maria of sixteen again, a girl who dreamt of being a singer, of seeing the world. Not a haunted, broken twenty-three year old who has suffered from abuse, drug addictions, beatings, anorexia and complete emotional derailment for several years. "But, he arrived at 3am, how do you know already? It's only noon now!"
Isabel laughed and took a sip of her mocha. "Well...it's a funny story actually, last night we were all asleep when we suddenly heard a crash outside of our house. I ran down to see what had happened and there was a car parked not so neatly into my bumper. I went over to see who it was and shock of a lifetime, it was Michael!"
"He crashed into your car? Well...that's certainly a way for Michael to make his presence known." Laughed Maria.
"Yeah. I practically dragged him inside, made sure he wasn't bleeding or anything and then cried all over him, with a little dash of yelling as well. Though, brother or not, he'll still be paying me for those damages. Before we had a chance to properly talk though, Tammy came downstairs."
"Did she? What did Michael say?" Maria was practically leaning off her seat, she had never seen Michael around a child and had always wondered how he'd be/
"Well he'd already seen from the photos that we have a child, and that we're married, so I think he was at least okay about that. He seems so different from the old Michael...not restless or emotionally impulsive, like he's finally content with whatever it is he's doing. Like he's grown up. He got along with Tammy wonderfully, which of course made me cry again, especially when he said to her that he's staying for good."
"He said that? For good? Wow...well that's something. I wonder what everyone else will think though. What else did you talk about?"
Isabel shifted a little uncomfortably. "He told me he'd spoken to you. He seemed pretty upset about it all. I didn't tell him anything other than you'd been through a lot and it was your choice to tell him whatever you wanted to. Though, he really wants to know what's going on, he obviously cares a lot for you still."
Isabel detected a slight trembling in Maria's hands as she lowered her eyes and scrambled in her bag for a ciggarette."Yeah...last night was pretty intense. Shouting, crying, you name it. I wasn't going to tell him, but after he saw my wedding ring it just all came out. I'm not going to tell him who my husband was though, he'd kill him. I wouldn't ever think Michael was capable of cold-blooded murder but when I told Michael why me and...him were seperated, the basics about being in the hospital for a week, he exploded everything in sight and I've never seen such rage in his eyes." Maria lit her cigarette and saw it shake between her fingers quite rapidly. She lowered her voice and suppressed horror crept into her tone. "He said he'd liquifey him from the inside."
"Good." Isabel said quite plainly. "I'm glad. If I saw him again Maria I'd probably do the same thing myself. I know I shouldn't say that becuase I'm your friend and I know everything you've told me - how it wasn't completely Raths fault, how wonderful he was in the beginning but you weren't the problem 'Ria...it was his own ego that was his undoing. No matter how much you try to justify what he did, you can't justify it. Not really."
Maria nodded but didn't reply, Isabel watched as Maria seemed caught up in ghosts of her past. She could almost see the images flicker in her eyes as she looked back on god-knows-what. Isabel still didn't know the whole story, not even after 6 months of daily bonding. But Isabel wouldn't push Maria into telling, she already knows more than most and she's satisfied in that, at least. It means Maria trusted her and if Maria really wanted to or needed to, she knew she would tell her anything more.
"So what are your feelings on Michael being back?" Isabel asked, dying of curiosity.
"Um well it's a shock, I don't really know to be honest. I think I'm still in shock phase. But so far it seems okay with me, I'll try and get to re-know him as he's aleady told me he's changed. When are everyone else going to find out that he's here?"
"Oh yes, that's it. I've arranged a semi-formal dinner, everyone is invited, well I don't think I'll bring The Others in just yet. Michael is going to have to absorb a lot already, without confusing him with the rest of what's going on. Besides, it might make things a little less complicated for everyone else as they will have a shock too seeing Michael there. I've led Tess to believe that it's just the pregnancy that I'm announcing, as I want it to be a surprise. It's best take it all in one go I think, that have to repeat ourselves." Isabel fluttered her hands and chewed on her hair as she spoke, as if she were just trying to explain it to herself. Maria could tell Isabel was on at least 8 or 9 of the stressed richter scale - so stressed that you've convinced yourself you aren't, just to keep ahold on that small shred of sanity that will help you get you through it.
"Sounds like a good Idea." Maria said, with as much enthusiam as she could. "Better than any other idea anyway. I'm sure things eventually will be okay, just remember to breathe and say fuck it, people will react the way people will react. You can't control that." Maria smiled and watched as some of the tension left Isabel's face - she usually helped put things into perspective for her. Suddenly a thought occured..."Iz, where is Michael staying?"
"At mine, he was going to go to a motel but I wouldn't let him. I think he said something today after breakfast about going to see his old apartment sometime in the afternoon - as first he had a lot of calls to make. I think it's to do with where he used to live. Though I still haven't found out what he's been up to for the last 8 years, he tends to change the subject."
"His apartment!" Maria's eyes were once more very wide and round, only this time she was actually hyperventilating. "Iz, I gotta go. I have to go to his apartment before he does, clean up a little bit. You remember what a mess I made there."
"Yeah I remember, do you want me to come? I'm supposed to find - "
Maria cut her off. "No it's okay, I can do it. Probably for the best that me and Michael have a little alone time anyway if he does go, get to talk a little more perhaps. Good luck with telling everyone, I'll see you tonight. What time?"
"6pm. See you tonight. Be careful." They hugged and Maria sprinted off towards her mother's car while Isabel finished her mocha and decided to call her parents about tonight.
tbc...
Again another filler for now, but I had to do one just to get back into the swing of writing, it's been a long time for me as I've had a lot of family problems over the last year or so. I'm sorry I've made you wait so long again for another part but I'm already writing the second part now (the proper part), so hopefully it'll be up tomorrow evening.
Thankyou so much:
Veronica, Hayley, Astra, Magali, Keriah, AgathaN and Twighlight and Isis for such wonderful feedback and support, you guys are the reason I haven't completely given up on myself writing this.