CHAPTER THREE

WINE AND CONVERSATION

"So.. this is my place.. Wanna come in for a drink or something?" Lana asked as she turned the key in the lock of her small studio apartment two floors above the one Michael himself actually lived in. She turned on a light and slid her feet out of the shoes she wore, turned on the radio, Florida Georgia Line filled the room quietly and she walked into her kitchen, leaving him to roam around the living area, look at the pictures on her shelves, the books lying around, the decorations, all a way to sort of get to know her a little better without having to ask any obvious and awkward questions, even though he was dying to do that very thing. She called out from the kitchen "Moscato or Chianti?"

"Whatever you pour is okay." Michael said as he looked at a picture, it had to be an older one, a family photo at that. He noticed that nobody in the photograph actually seemed happy to be having their picture taken as a family. His mind went back to something he'd witnessed when they'd been younger, on an afternoon when her father showed up at school to pick her up and he was obviously beyond the normal level of drunken jerk.

She walked into the room and tapped his shoulder, held out a wine glass. "It's not that fancy crap." she stated as she took a long sip from her own wine glass and looked up at him, asked him simply, "What made you show up at the club earlier? I mean was it like an accident that you showed up or..." while biting one of her distractingly full lips and holding his gaze intently. He faltered a moment, not really sure how he should even begin to go about answering what she asked and finally he said with a shrug, "Just wanted to grab a drink on my way back here. I saw you go in and thought I'd check it out." while smiling at her. It was the truth, not the whole truth, but almost the whole truth, so he didn't feel bad about saying it.

'Tell her why, Michael, go on..' his conscience urged but he ignored it and sipped the wine, said offhandedly, "This is actually better than the expensive crap." as he looked at her and asked casually, a curious look in his eyes as he did so, "What made you work there?"

"I like to live dangerously." Lana joked as she answered in a more serious tone, "They get better tips than most places. Most nights I'm easily clearing at least 300 bucks. Being a college girl and knowing that you have high student loans, Michael, will really put a fire under your ass to make the money.. What about you? I mean what made you pick being a suit? I gotta say, I always sorta pictured you working with your hands." as she sipped wine and held his gaze. She was looking at him intently as if she wanted to listen to him, as if she really wanted to know more about him.

Nobody had, not in a long time.

It felt good to have that. And he wanted to know more about her, so sipping his wine, he shrugged and said casually, "It just sort of happened, only recently, actually.. I'm a manager at Pozzulos too, I work with my dad." as she nodded and said quietly, "Yeah, I've seen you there. Occasionally I go by and grab a pizza or something, I mean your dad's restaurant is pretty much the only damn place in town that actually makes the stuff right. What do you mean it only just happened though?"

"The board voted." Michael said as he gulped down more wine and looked at her as she moved around her small and warmly decorated, homely apartment. She called out from the next room "Just getting comfortable." as he tried not to picture her getting comfortable. Or the dance shed' done in the rehearsals for the Nurses Ball either.

He coughed as she walked back out into the main room in pajama bottoms and a modest lace trimmed camisole, a bandanna tied into her hair to keep some of it out of her eyes. "I like your hair.. You let it grow out."

"Yeah. I like it better this way. I don't think I'll ever cut it again. So, Michael, how's life been since Madison Prep? Mine's been an adventure, that's for sure." she said as she flipped the song from an Adele song to a song called Some Nights. Laughing, she turned to face him and said "I can't believe we ran into one another like this. I'd actually been wondering if you were still kicking around Port Charles."

He chuckled and sipping what was left of his wine he sat down next to her when she sat on the couch and sighing, he looked at his hands and admitted "My life's sort of a series of ups and downs. For every good thing that happens, the bad things follow. But it's been okay, I guess.. I mean I'm not doing what I thought I'd do when I graduated, Pentonville kind of messed some of it up."

She nodded thoughtfully and said aloud "It don't have to, Mike." as she looked at him, sipped the last of her wine and moved a little closer before finishing, "And life's like that, I mean there's good and bad.. Sometimes it's not about waiting for the storm to pass.. It's about learning to dance in the rain. I kinda figured that one out the hard way."

He nodded and said quietly, "Good thought to have." as he looked at her and smiled, shrugged and pointed out "I have to be boring you to death." as she shook her head vigourously. "No, not at all.. I hardly ever get anybody to actually talk to, I mean.. I'm busy most of the time. When I'm not I'm sleeping. This is nice."

"It is." he answered as he leaned in and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. She bit her lower lip and then said quietly, "Thanks." as she looked at her hands for a moment and then at him. He was staring at her as if he wanted to say something, but instead, he lookd at the clock and said casually, "I should really get going. You're probably drop dead tired."

"A little. Don't be a stranger, huh?"

"I don't plan on it." he said as he walked out of her apartment door wondering if she felt anything that he had just now. They were just sort of connecting and truth be told, he wasn't sure if he wanted to stop it.

But he did wonder if she'd forgotten all those things she'd written back then. Or if she still remembered and maybe, just maybe, still felt them. Maybe if he tried, this could work out for him and he'd finally get a chance to connect with an old crush.