Living Without
Part Three
"What is not going to work, Daniel?"
Danny looked up at the ceiling, his hands resting on his hips as he exhaled air that felt as if it had been held in for a while. Calming himself to a certain degree, he lowered his head and knowingly hid his chain under his shirt before turning around to face his mother.
"Mama!" he exclaimed with false surprise. "You're home. Hey!" he greeted as he went over to her. He gave her a hug and a kiss on top on her forehead. "How was your trip?"
Carmen stared up at her son suspiciously when he pulled away from their embrace, and she watched him as he moved further into the room.
Danny leaned against his desk, avoiding his mother's gaze by pretending to be interested in the papers that he hadn't managed to knock to the floor.
"How was your trip?" he asked again. "Don't tell me it was horrible," he said, finally looking over at Carmen to find that she was still intensively staring at him. "What?"
"Danny, what is going on? What did I just walk in on?" Carmen questioned. "What is not going to work?"
"Mama..." Danny said wearily as he straightened up from the desk and circled around it to sit down.
"I want to know, Danny! You're obviously angry about something-"
"It's nothing."
Carmen looked around her at the scattered papers that were all laying over the floor and then returned her eyes to her son. "Nothing?"
"It's just...Mario and some things concerning SanCorp. It's really nothing you need to worry about," Danny replied.
"What kind of THINGS?"
"I said not to worry about it, Mama. I've got it under control."
"Yes, I can see that," she remarked as she looked down at the sheets of paper again and then bent down to pick up a few. "Danny?? This is not the Rodriguez deal that you've got all the place, is it?? Is it?"
Danny was just about to answer her when his cell phone rang.
"Yeah," he spoke with his eyes focused on a fuming Carmen.
"You asked me to let you know if the bird flew south..."
"Uh," Danny started as he got to his feet and went to stand by the fireplace. "I meant to call you about that. I don't want you doing it anymore. I want you to forget about it."
"So that means you wouldn't want to know what I have to say-"
"No, I don't."
"Even if I were to say that that Southern bird just flew into town with your long lost better half?"
Danny drew in a sharp breath and his heart raced at this revelation. "Let me call you back," he forced the words out of his mouth and he turned off his phone.
"More bad news from Mario?" Carmen asked, noting the tone he used to end the call and the tension that was now evident in his frame.
"Um...yeah," Danny replied absent-mindedly, turning around with a confused look on his face. "Just something I have to take care of," he said and then paused to look directly at Carmen. "Weren't you going somewhere with Alejandra?" he asked, now trying to get rid of her.
"Yes, we're going to pick up a few more items for the wedding," Carmen replied with a smug expression.
Rely on Carmen to bring up the subject of marriage whenever Danny didn't want to hear or think about it. Not that there was ever a time Danny found it appropriate to think about getting hitched to a woman his mother would be more than willing to marry herself.
"You should see how beautiful the gown is, Danny! Seņora Rosalinda made sure it was just perfect! It's the only one of its kind!"
"Rosalinda? You got the gown made in Spain??" Danny asked incredulously.
"Of course, I did. You act like you didn't know. Didn't Alejandra tell you?"
Even if she did, Danny probably wasn't even listening.
"She and I thought the idea was brilliant," Carmen continued. "You wouldn't want your bride looking anything but the best now, would you, Danny? Danny?"
"Huh? Uhh...oh! Yes, of course not, Mama," he replied, his mind not at all on what his mother was saying. "Look, ahh...why don't you get going with Alejandra while I try to fix things with Mario?"
"Are you going to be okay with that? You know I can send Ben in to come and hel..."
"No!" Danny was quick to say. "I'll be fine, Mama. Go have fun."
After exchanging a few more words, Carmen was out of Danny's hair, and as soon as he closed the door behind her, he dashed over to his desk and picked up his phone.
"Here in Springfield? Are you sure?"
"I followed her to be certain," the voice on the other end spoke. "And she entered this house on 10875 Sycamore Lane. Recognize the address?"
Sitting in his leather with an elbow resting on his desk, Danny ran a hand through his already disheveled hair.
"It's her brother's house," he replied calmly.
"So what are you going to do, man? You know if she leaves, it's going to be hard to track her down again. I'm sure that you know that after years of trying to find her."
"I'll get back to you on that, Juan. Thanks," Danny concluded and casually sat the phone down.
He sat back in his chair and twisted from left to right, trying to figure out what he was feeling. Michelle was back. She was in Springfield. Why in the world would she come back here?
Danny got up from his seat, grabbing his leather jacket as he dashed out of the office.
***
Later that evening:
Michelle crept through the dark hallway of the house and hearing voices coming from the family room, she was careful not to make the floors creak with her steps. She safely made her way into the kitchen, quietly closing the door behind herself. She then turned around to raid the refrigerator when she ran into...
"Abby!!" Michelle exclaimed as she held her chest and breathed as if she had been running for hours. "Geez!! You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"You hiding from Rick?" Abby asked. "He's in the other room with the boys."
Michelle stared her sister-in-law for a moment before strolling past her to get to the fridge. Abby watched her as she got what she wanted and then came to sit at the table with her.
With the food she was craving for in front of her, Michelle just sat and poked at it, not one piece coming within the vicinity of her mouth.
"Want to talk about it?" Abby asked quietly.
"I'm tired of talking," Michelle replied nastily and then she apologized. "I'm sorry."
Abby reached across the table and took her hand, and Michelle looked up at her and Abby smiled sympathetically. "You want to see them, don't you?"
Michelle nodded, lowering her head briefly and then raising it back up again. "I don't just want to see them, Abby. I want them. They're mine. I'm their mother."
"I know," Abby said, getting teary eyed when she saw the pain in Michelle's eyes.
"How can I sit and pretend like they don't exist? Like I don't care? I just gave up without a fight..."
"We all know you care, Michelle. There isn't a doubt in our minds," Abby told her. "And you didn't just give up! You didn't have much of a choice but to back off. Especially with all the threats they were throwing at you."
Michelle sipped on the juice she had poured for herself and then returned the glass to the table. She then picked up her fork and finally got something in her mouth.
"I bet Carmen was very ecstatic. Just CELEBRATING her victory," Michelle repeatedly stabbed at her meat. "She finally got me out of her son's life and I'm sure she threw a party for that. Why the hell should I care for anyway? Personally, I couldn't be more pleased that I am away from her and her trigger happy family."
"I'm glad you're away from her, too."
Michelle and Abby looked up to see who it was.
"Drew!!" Michelle exclaimed gleefully as she jumped out of her chair and hugged her long time friend. "How are you?! Long time!"
"You're telling me?"
"I'll be right back," Abby said to the two and she exited the kitchen.
"Come on! Sit down, sit down!" Michelle ordered as she pulled a chair out for her. "I heard you and Jesse finally tied the knot."
Drew showed off the rock she was wearing, wiggling her fingers about excitedly. "Isn't it gorgeous?! Of course, it's NOTHING compared to the one Danny gave you....sorry."
"Hey, it's okay."
"I shouldn't have..."
"Really, Drew! It's fine," Michelle said, patting her hand. "So how was your ceremony? I'm so sorry I couldn't make it."
"We knew you couldn't," Drew replied. "But we wanted to invite you anyway to let you know that we WANTED you to be there, you know? Because you are very special to both Jesse and I," she said with a hand to her chest.
"And you two are very special to me."
"And if you want to know EVERYTHING there is about the ceremony, you've just got to watch all the different tapes that they made! I mean, seriously! They shot everything from different angles! There's this one where you get to see all the guests, and can you believe some were actually dozing off?? And then there was the selected few who were just sitting there picking their noses."
"Nasty!" Michelle laughed. "Oh, Drew, you haven't changed a bit."
"I wish I could say the same for you, girl," Drew remarked in a somber tone. "Rick told us that you weren't exactly feeling up to celebrating earlier."
"Yeah, I wasn't in the mood."
"Danielle on your mind?"
Michelle stared at Drew a moment and then gave her a sad smile. "How did you know?"
"I'm her Godmother, dammit!" Drew exclaimed. "And her birthday's coming up," she said in a lower voice. "I can't say that I know how you are feeling, but I know it's not good. What that Santos family did to you, Michelle, is unforgivable. They put you through hell."
"That they did," Michelle breathed as she stood up from her seat. "You want anything to drink?"
"Sure. What've you got?"
"Cola, Lemon-Lime, Orange. Cranberry juice, Prune juice-"
"Ugh!" Drew made a face at the latter and shook her body in disgust. "Skip the old people drink and give me a Cola."
"Where's Jesse?"
"He had to work," Drew replied. "He wanted to come see you again tonight, but he'll come before you leave. Thank you," she said as she took the can from Michelle.
"He's still with the Gallery?"
"Not only is he still with the Gallery, he's Assistant Director."
"Impressive," Michelle said as she opened her can of Lemon-Lime.
Drew sipped her Cola and returned her can to the table. "You think about them a lot?"
"Every second."
"Do you know where they are?"
"I haven't a clue," Michelle replied. "The last time I heard they were still in Spain?"
"Spain??" Drew asked, this being news to her. "Uhhh...where'd you hear that from?"
"Aren't they in...no, don't tell me."
"They've been in Springfield, Michelle. From what Bill's told me, they returned from Spain like a few months after you disappeared from this place," Drew informed her. "Unless they went back recently."
"What?" Michelle felt light-headed. "Th-they've BEEN HERE?!?" she asked, beginning to get angry.
"Yes," Drew simply said. "You honestly didn't know? Now where the hell would you get such a story about them still being in Spain?"
"I see that you've finally made it out of your room," Rick said as he walked into the kitchen. "Hello, Drew."
"Hey," she greeted as she picked up her can to sip from it again.
Michelle watched Rick as he poured cookies in a plate and as he went around the kitchen for other items. When he was heading out of the room, he glanced over at her and said, "We need to talk."
"Oh, yeah. We need to talk," Michelle replied as her brother pushed his way out of the swinging door.
"Okay, Michelle," Drew said, slamming her empty soda can onto the table and sliding her chair closer. "What was that about? What's going on?"
"That's what I'd like to know."
***
"Nothing can go wrong," Dietz stood in the shadows as he spoke into his cell phone. "She must be eliminated as was promised. She knew the consequences. That's why she left and wasn't to come back. She has violated the agreement and must be dealt with. That's right. 10875 Sycamore Lane. We have to take care of her before she ruins everything," he was saying when he saw Danny come out and he pulled further into the shadows.
Danny rushed towards his car, entered, and was off.
"I wonder why he's in such a hurry," Dietz said to himself, stepping into the light. "I'll hit you back," he told the person he was talking to and then hung up. "Danny, Danny. Where are we going?"
