Chapter One
It had been a little over a month since Michael had last had a good night’s sleep. He could pinpoint the exact moment sleep began to elude him; the night of his and Maria’s worst fight. Truth be told, he couldn’t remember what the fight had actually been about, only that it had been brewing for a few days and it had just taken the wrong thing said at the wrong time for the explosion to finally occur. They hadn’t spoken since and had taken great pains to avoid each other.
Michael stared at the TV, the bright colours on the screen illuminating the dark living room. Where he used to enjoy watching it, now it merely served as a tool providing background noise to break the unbearable silence which filled his apartment.
His eyes darted around the room, eventually landing on the telephone situated on the table in front of him and his fingers itched to pick it up. Each time he’d felt the urge, he had managed to quash the feeling but there had been a couple of occasions when he’d given in to temptation and dialled her number. He knew from the sad tone of her voice that the break-up was affecting her just as badly as it was affecting him and he desperately wanted to say something, but the words caught in his throat and he quickly disconnected. The fear he felt at her possibly telling him she wanted nothing more to do with him was eating away at him and he knew that hearing those words would be totally devastating.
Their break up was affecting him more than he had ever thought it would. There was no doubt in his mind about the depth of his feelings for Maria, he was as head over heels in love with her as he had been from the moment they had met, but for some strange reason he hadn’t thought about how he would feel should the relationship end. All he knew was that he couldn’t have ever imagined it hurting this bad.
Michael had plodded along in the days and weeks following the fight but when his boss had called him into his office to ask him if he was okay, he realised that he wasn’t coping at all and so he decided to use up some vacation time he had owing to him. Now, instead of getting up each morning to go to work, he just spent each day brooding around his apartment.
Leaning forward, he grabbed the bottle of Jack Daniels off the table and took a swig from it, his face screwing up as the liquid burned a path down his throat. He had never been a big drinker but since that night he’d found himself trying to numb the pain he felt in his chest and the strong alcohol seemed to be helping. That and aiding him get an hour or two of untroubled sleep. Whenever he closed his eyes when he hadn’t had a drink, all he saw was Maria’s tear-stained face and the tightness in his chest resumed. He hated seeing her cry and even more, he hated being the reason for her tears.
They hadn’t officially been living together but most nights she slept over at his place. However, from the moment they had fought he hadn’t been able to bring himself to sleep in the bed they shared. The only time he went into his bedroom was to get fresh clothes out of his closet and lately he wasn’t even doing that. It had been a couple of days since he had had a shower or a shave. He just didn’t seem motivated to do anything other than just sit on his couch and stare into space.
* * * * *
“We’ve got to do something, Max.” Isabel said to her brother. “He’s still not answering the door or his phone.”
Max shook his head. “Maybe he’s gone away for a few days. I mean, we know that he’s taken some time off work.”
“He hasn’t gone away. I went by there again last night after work and I could hear the TV blaring. I was practically pounding on his door but he wouldn’t answer. It’s really worrying me.”
Rubbing a hand over his face, he nodded at her. “I know, it’s worrying me too. He hasn’t been opening the door to me either.” He took a deep breath before saying, “Do you, uh, think that Maria would be willing to go and see him?”
Isabel sighed. “I don’t know. This latest fight seems to be worse than all the others they’ve had and I don’t know if she would be willing to be the one to make the first move.”
“You could go and see her.”
“Why does it have to be me? She’s your friend too.”
It was Max’s turn to sigh. “Yeah, but you’re a woman. She might find it easier to talk to you about whatever happened between her and Michael.”
“Okay, fine. But if I’m going to do that, then you can go to Michael’s and see if he’ll let you in this time.”
“Uh, you know what? I’ll go and talk to Maria.”
“Oh no you don’t. Look, maybe he’ll be more willing to talk to you.”
“Yeah right. You don’t believe that for a second, do you?”
Isabel couldn’t help smiling. “Nope. But you could try.”
Looking into his sister’s eyes, Max saw the hopeful look in them and he slowly nodded. “Yeah, I can try.”
* * * * *
When Maria finally opened the door, Isabel couldn’t stop the gasp that had risen in her throat from escaping. The blonde looked even smaller than she usually did and there were dark circles under her eyes. She was dressed in a baggy pair of grey sweats and a Metallica T-shirt that was obviously Michael’s. Isabel took that as a positive sign.
“Hi Maria, can I come in?”
“I, uh, I’m a bit busy now and...”
“Please? I need to talk to you. It’s about Michael.”
Maria’s eyes which had been looking at the floor quickly shot up to look at Isabel’s face when Michael’s name was mentioned. “What about him? Is he okay?”
“That’s just it, we don’t know. He’s holed himself up in his apartment and he won’t answer the door to anyone.”
Seeing the desperation in her friend’s eyes, she took a step back and opened the door wider allowing her to enter. “I...I’m sorry for the mess but things have been...” she trailed off.
“It’s okay. How are you?”
Taking a deep breath, Maria tried to pull herself together. “I’m fine, busy but fine.”
“Right. I...erm...I’ve called a few times and left messages but I haven’t heard anything from you.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that but like I said I’ve been really busy. Take a seat and I’ll go and make some tea.”
“No, don’t do that. Just come and sit with me.”
Maria stood there for a moment contemplating what to do before she went over and took a seat beside Isabel on the couch. “So, you haven’t seen him then?”
Isabel shook her head. “No. I’ve been over to his place several times but he won’t answer the door and he hasn’t replied to any of the messages I’ve left on his machine. I called his work the other day and they told me he’s taken some time off. He’s not due back there for another week.”
“Maybe he’s gone away,” she suggested although she knew it was unlikely.
“No, he hasn’t. I went over there last night and his TV was blaring, as it has been every time I’ve called round. I’m surprised his neighbours haven’t complained about the noise.”
“Oh. Well, I’m sure he’s okay.” She said in a quiet voice.
“Michael’s not okay, Maria, and neither are you. Look at you, you look awful.”
“Gee, thanks Isabel,” she said sarcastically before adding, “I-I can’t talk about this...not now. I’m sure he’s okay and just wants some space, like I do.”
“I haven’t seen him in over a week and I’m worried about him. And I’m worried about you too.”
“I’m fine.”
“You are not fine,” Isabel told her in a loud exasperated voice. “I came over here hoping I could persuade you to go and see him, find out for certain that he’s okay but you’re obviously not prepared to do that so I might as well go. You know where I am if you want to talk about anything.” Getting up from her seat, the blonde gave Maria a final look before walking towards the front door.
“Isabel wait. I-I’m sorry. I know you care about us and I’m grateful but we are adults.”
“Well, neither of you are acting like adults by hiding away in your apartments. Have the two of you actually broken up or are you just fighting?” She asked as she turned to lean her back against the wall so she was facing her friend.
Maria’s eyes dropped to the floor before she responded. “I, um, I don’t know.”
Isabel stared at her friend incredulously. “You’re kidding me! How can you not know? What the hell was your fight about this time?”
For some weird reason, Maria couldn’t help chuckling at the realisation of what she was about to say. “I don’t know. What the hell am I doing, Isabel? I’m sitting here all angry and upset and I don’t know what the damn reason is. All I know is that things had been weird between us for a few days and then one of us said something and kaboom. The shit hit the fan and we just started yelling at each other.”
“And you don’t know why?” Isabel shook her head in disbelief at what she had just been told. “You two are seriously warped, you know that.”
“Yep, it sure looks that way,” she said before getting serious. “Um, I know you said you haven’t seen him for a week but how was he the last time you saw him?”
Isabel sobered up at hearing her friend’s question. “Not good. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days and I know this probably sounds strange but he looked thinner somehow. Like he hadn’t been eating.”
“Did he say anything to you about what happened between us?”
“No. When I asked him he refused to talk about it.”
“You really think he’ll let me in?” Maria asked nervously. The thought that he might refuse to open the door, or even worse shut it in her face, made her stomach turn.
“I know he’ll let you in, Maria. He’s a mess without you.”
Maria nodded in understanding. She was a mess without him too. “I guess I’d better get over there, then.”
Isabel smiled. “Thank you. Would you like me to come with you?”
“No, that’s okay.” Standing up, she went over to the tall blonde and hugged her. “Thanks for coming over. I really needed that kick up the ass.”
“You’re very welcome,” she said laughing. “Will you let me know how it goes?”
“Sure, I’ll give you a call tomorrow. I’d better get ready.”
“Okay. Good luck.”
“Thanks Iz, I’ve got a feeling I’m gonna need it.”
* * * * *
Max and Isabel were having some dinner at the Crashdown after their respective visits to Michael and Maria.
“So, she’s going to see him tonight?” He asked after taking a drink of his soda.
“Uh huh. She’s probably on her way there now,” she told him. “What did Michael say when you saw him?”
“Nothing ‘cos he didn’t open the door to me. He was definitely in there because I could hear the damn TV turned up again. Before I left I shouted out to him that Maria was going to be paying him a visit so he might want to take a shower.”
“Wha-what are you talking about? And how did you know that I’d get her to agree?”
“C’mon Iz, you know how he gets after one of their fights. He doesn’t shower, he doesn’t clean, he doesn’t...”
“Okay, okay, I get it. Well, let’s hope he’s at least taken a shower before she arrives. We don’t want him frightening her away with any nasty smells.”
“Hey, some of us are trying to eat here.”
“Sorry,” Isabel said laughing as her brother dropped his unfinished burger onto his plate. “Seriously though, how did you know she’d agree to go and see him?”
Trying to think of a good answer, he finally settled upon one. “I had faith in my big sister.”
“Uh huh,” she replied, throwing one of her fries at him before starting to laugh again.