Collision 6
"She tied you down," Michael quipped as he prepared the surveillance equipment.
"The moment she turned eighteen," Max looked smitten. He could not fathom loving another.
Michael's mouth formed a smirk. "The beginning of the end," he teased.
His friend chuckled lightly. "We were living in little this house. It was falling apart when we found it. We were planting lilies in the garden when I asked her to marry me."
"She had traces of dirt on her cheeks... and stray locks teased her face."
Eight Years Earlier
He seemed to hold his breath as she pushed the wayward strands behind her ears.
Her eyes shined with wonderment the moment she realized what was hidden beneath the layer of soil.
She drew an amazed breath and stared at him in question.
He reached for the ring.
Her brown orbs shimmered with tears as she moved towards him.
She could only stare lovingly at him as he rubbed the dirt from the precious stone.
"Elizabeth," he began. "You're barely legal," he had teased. "But I love you the way a man loves a woman."
"You're eighteen," she said seriously. "I'm hardly jail-bait," she pouted.
"Honey, don't pout" he chided.
She'd had no choice but to smile for him at that moment. How was it possible to love someone so much?
"You take care of me the way a woman takes care of a man," he continued. "Falling for you is the best thing that could have ever happened to me."
"Are we quoting Vaughan Penn," It was her turn to tease.
He tickled her to the ground then. She giggled as he peppered her face with butterfly kisses. "Marry me," he finally whispered in her ear.
"The moment I'm legal," she whispered playfully.
"I didnt know she could mean more to me than she did in that moment. But kissing her, touching her... It became so much more once I knew she was mine forever."
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Isabel shielded her face from his view as she placed her bottom on the black leather office chair. Would he mistake her for her dupe? Did she even have one?
His mind seemed occupied, and his eyes appeared to look past her. His unfocused gaze made her wonder.
The peculiar thing was, she'd seen that look before.
Isabel tried to convince herself that that look adorned his face long before he encountered the brunette. But she knew better.
"She must have made quite the impression," she caught Alexander's eyes.
He looked her over, seemed to notice her for the first time. "I've witnessed that look before," she seemed to look deep within him.
"Is Liam..."
"Mine," Michael finished.
"What happened with Maria," Max Pondered.
Michael observed the front of the building through the digital lense of the video camera. "Spaghetti," he answered.
Max looked over at him.
"Who puts milk in their pasta sauce," he sighed.
"So you and Tess..."
"Share a son," Michael Interrupted. "That's all," he added as he adjusted the lens. He stared across the street. "She lets me screw her without all the complications."
He could tell Max was waiting for him to admit some deep connection. A never-ending bond with the mother of his child. "When I screw her," he started. "I don't feel any of those things you talk about. I just feel turned on," he stated without remorse.
"Elizabeth Is my brother's wife," Isabel thought to mention. She pulled out a collection of images.
Her brown eyes tried to catch his golden ones as he looked them over.
He did not appear stunned upon seeing the photograph. "He's our you," she thought to inform.
He rifled through the images. He seemed to search for something.
It was Elizabeth. Her lips were attached to his double.
Isabel watched his eyes blur with tears. This was insane; her brother and now his duplicate falling for the same woman. Only now it was too late.
She encouraged him to look further.
Xan traced the figure in the next photograph.
"Her name is Tess" Isabel corrected. "We came here for Ava, when Liz found you instead."
"You came for her?"
"We wanted to know why she and Tess look so much alike. The similarities were too much to ignore."
"It was crucial that you did not grow up knowing her."
Isabel scrunched up her face in confusion. "We were separated on purpose?"
"So that Xan would fall in love with her when he reached maturity."
"Were you not raised with your Ava?"
"That is where the problem lies. I came to love Ava. But I could not fall in love with her. Our relationship could never evolve beyond that. This happened with arrange marriages on our planet often. If two are to become one, there must be some mystery. It was believed that if Ava and Xan were raised together, they could not fall in love. Others argued that it would be much more difficult for strangers to fall in love."
"We were not raised together," Isabel confirmed. "Still Max did not fall in love with Tess."
"That is impossible," Alexander denied.
"What did you feel upon laying eyes on Elizabeth?" Isabel wondered intrigued.
His thoughts ran rapid. His gaze once again fell on Isabel. How was it possible that neither had fallen in love with Ava.
Isabel realized he would not answer. "He felt no connection to her," she hinted. "He felt no pull towards her. Not like with Elizabeth."
"They must have met too early," he insisted.
"We were sophomores in high school," Isabel rationalized. "Every one romanticizes relationships at that age. Every one insists they've fallen In love. Why wouldn't he take one look at Tess and fall in love. What would cause both you and my brother to be so unaffected by your Ava?"