You Don't Know Me

EPILOGUE

Marcus entered the apartment to a round of warm greetings. “It’s freezing out there. Isn’t May supposed to be a warm month?” he asked, pulling off his ski cap while trying to keep a hold on the large gift in his hands, swathed in Shrek wrapping paper. “So where’s the birthday girl?”

“Uncle Marcus!” a light-haired three-year-old ran through the maze of bodies towards him. “For me?” she asked, her wide dark eyes filled with excitement as she looked at the present in his hands.

“Yes, this is for you, Evelyn, but only if I get a hug first,” Marcus grinned at the beautiful little girl as he dropped down to one knee. She threw herself into his arms quickly and just as quickly pulled back and grabbed the gift, running into the next room with it.

“Sorry, she hasn’t really gotten that ‘thank you’ thing down pat yet,” Peter approached Marcus, putting out his hand in greeting. “Thanks so much for coming out here, Marcus. It really means a lot to us.”

Smiling at him, Marcus could barely believe this was Peter. Long gone was the spiky hair and brooding eyes surrounded by eyeliner. In the last three years, Peter had cut his hair into a soft but stylish cut and lost the babyish look to his features. He had to look professional for his job working for his uncle in his real estate firm. But he looked strong and happy, proud of having gotten where he was.

Looking around the room, Marcus couldn’t help but smile to himself. The apartment was small but cozy, covered in toys and children’s games. He waved across the room to Maura who was trying to take Marcus’s gift from Evelyn’s hands and put it in the pile in the corner with the rest of her birthday presents. Maura, too, looked so different than when Marcus had first met her. She had stopped dying her hair, so it was now the same fair color as her daughter’s, although it still hung long down her back.

“Hey guys,” Marcus approached the small group that had gathered in the living area. Seamus and Janette were standing together holding hands, and Brigitte was sitting on the couch looking worn out. “Where’s Troy?” Marcus glanced around the room with confusion.

Before Brigitte could answer, Seamus intervened. “It seems that our friend here, in the middle of the coldest May in recent history, had a sudden and undeniable craving for mint chocolate chip ice cream, and sent her poor bugger of a husband out to get it, forcing him to leave in the middle of a party to concede to her whims.”

“You know what,” Brigitte gave Seamus a dirty look. “You try being seven months pregnant and see how you like it. I’d gladly trade with Troy right now, out in the cold and everything, if he would carry around a watermelon in his belly for the next two months, and then try pushing it out of an orifice the size of golf ball.”

“Way too graphic, Brigitte,” Marcus wrinkled his nose and laughed. “So, do you know if Tony and Sean are coming?”

Marcus clearly saw Brigitte shared a look with Seamus and Janette before answering the question. “They’ll be here soon,” she said, looking a little concerned. “They had to pick someone up from the railroad station first.”

Before he even got to open his mouth in question, the door to the apartment flew open. “Okay, we’re here, so the party can officially begin,” Marcus heard Sean call out in a happy voice. As he turned around to greet them, though, he lost his breath. Standing there in the doorway, looking straight at him with an expression he couldn’t decipher, was Michelle. “And look who we brought with us!” Tony added.

“Hi, everyone,” Michelle gave a small shy wave towards the room, though her eyes only left Marcus for a fraction of a second. “Hi, Marcus.”

As much as he wanted for them to, words just seemed to refuse to form in Marcus’s throat. Finally, he forced himself to snap out of it. “Hi, Michelle,” was still all he could get out, though.

Before any more awkwardness could commence, Troy came up behind the group with a gallon of ice cream in his hands. “You are so lucky I love you, Brigitte. I had to go to three stores to get the brand you wanted,” he said as he entered. “Michelle!” he smiled widely and threw his arms around her. “God, you look beautiful. Oh, Marcus, hey. You, um, look beautiful, too.”

This was enough to break the tension, and everyone in the room started laughing. As Michelle wandered around saying hello to the people she hadn’t seen in over three years, she made sure to keep Marcus in her peripheral vision at all times. He seemed to be doing the same thing with her.

After eating pizza and cake, and opening her presents, Evelyn was completely overexcited. She soon passed out on the couch, content and exhausted. In the kitchen, Marcus and Michelle finally found each other for a minute alone. “Hi again,” Marcus greeted Michelle as she was pouring herself a soda.

“Hi,” Michelle’s voice was soft. She looked at Marcus and couldn’t help but notice that he hadn’t changed much since the last time she had seen him. He still had the same gorgeous features, the same tone body, and the same sexy tousled hair. Despite this, though, she could see that his face had aged some, for lack of a better word, although he had no lines yet. He just looked more like a ‘handsome man’ than the ‘adorable guy’ she had met four years earlier. “You look… great,” she told him quietly.

“Thanks,” Marcus replied awkwardly. “You do, too. I mean, you look so… professional.” Studying her, Marcus took in Michelle’s appearance. Her hair still flowed past her shoulders, but the sides were neatly clipped back into a barrette. She wore a business suit in a flattering shade of gray that brought out her eyes. And her face had changed – not much, but enough to give her the look of someone of maturity, someone who belonged in a position of authority.

“I just got off work,” Michelle blushed as she motioned towards her suit. “I didn’t have time to change before I caught the train from Penn Station.”

“Where are you working?” Marcus asked, feeling a little relieved to have something to talk about.

“In the City, for a publishing company,” Michelle told him. “I’m a junior editor. I only started a few weeks ago; I moved back from California for the job. It was one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions, but this was just too good a position to pass up, even if it meant moving back across the country and starting over again.”

“So you’re living here now?” Marcus asked with shock. “I mean, that’s great, about the job and everything, but… well, nobody told me you were moving back. I’m assuming Tony and Sean and Brigitte and Troy all knew about this before now?”

A shy look passed over Michelle’s face at his response, and she nodded. “I knew you were going to be here today, so I asked everyone to keep things quiet,” she told him. “I thought it might just be better for us to see each other face to face… Anyway, I’m living in the City, in SoHo. It would be too much of a commute to live on the Island. Enough about me, though. How are you? What are you doing nowadays?”

“I’m living in the City too, in the Village,” Marcus told her. “I’m working on my Masters in psychology at NYU and working at a center for adolescents with addiction problems. I’m going to be a substance abuse counselor, I hope.”

“That’s incredible,” Michelle looked thoroughly impressed and more than a little proud. “Congratulations, Marcus. I always knew you would go far.”

“Thanks,” Marcus replied. “I wasn’t always so sure, but I guess I made it because of how supportive all the people in my life were, even when I was at my worst…” He saw Michelle look down at the floor as he said this, and decided that they had covered enough ground for now. “You know, we should probably get back in there with everyone. They’re all going to be dying to hear what you have been up to since you left.”

Michelle nodded. “We’ll talk more later,” she told him. “But it is great to see you again.”

“It’s great to see you again, too,” Marcus agreed. With that, Michelle looked down with a smile and wandered out into the party again to mingle, with Marcus following behind her with a contented grin on his face.

The evening was a success, with everyone feeling relaxed. It was so much like old times, it was easy to forget how much had changed over the years. Around eleven o’clock, everyone began gathering their belongings. “I hate to be demanding,” Michelle turned to Tony. “But the last train into the City leaves in twenty minutes, so we should get going if you’re going to drop me off in time.”

Marcus was slipping into his jacket when he overheard Michelle. “You know, I could drive you in,” he told her as he pulled on his hat. “I’m going back to the City anyway, so it wouldn’t be any inconvenience. I can just drop you off on my way home.”

“Are you sure?” Michelle asked nervously.

“Absolutely,” Marcus grinned. “It would be good to have some more time to catch up anyway.” He glanced over towards Brigitte and saw her smirking at him. He rolled his eyes at her and turned back to Michelle. “What do you say? Should we get on our way?”

“Okay then,” Michelle smiled. They both went around the room to give hugs to everyone and say goodnight. Then Michelle followed Marcus down to the parking lot and to his car. “This is barely better than your old car,” she said with a grin as she climbed into the passenger seat.

“Thanks,” Marcus gave her a wry smile. “It just seems dumb to have a nice car in the City, considering theft, break-ins and accidents. But I appreciate your openness to insult the car that’s going to take you home.”

Laughing, Michelle and Marcus fell into a comfortable silence as they pulled out of the parking lot. Within minutes, they were on the Long Island Expressway and rolling along comfortably. “There’s a CD case on the floor, if you want to pick something,” Marcus told Michelle. Flipping through the case, Michelle pulled out a CD and put it into the car stereo. As the first notes began to escape the speakers, Marcus looked over. “When did you start listening to this band?” he asked with a grin.

“I don’t know,” Michelle smiled back. “I guess I just picked up on them somewhere along the way. You know how that can happen, right? You spend time with people, and they introduce you to new things.”

“I do know,” Marcus nodded, glancing from the road every now and then to catch a glimpse of Michelle. “So,” he began nervously, clearing his throat and trying to build the courage to ask what he wanted to ask. “Did you, um… did you move out here alone, or do you have a, um, a boyfriend that came with you?”

With a little grin pulling at the corners of her mouth, Michelle shook her head. “I came alone,” she told him. “I was seeing someone for a while out in California, but it didn’t work out. He was really nice, but… I guess I just didn’t feel as much for him as he did for me. Anyway, how about you? Are you seeing anyone in particular right now?”

“I date sometimes,” Marcus shrugged. “But nothing serious.”

Nodding, Michelle began chewing on her lip, looking like she was trying to figure out how to word what she said next. “Listen, I want to ask you something,” she said. “And I don’t mean to open old wounds, but I’ll hate myself if I don’t take this opportunity and just ask.”

Glancing over again, Marcus nodded. “Go ahead,” he said, his voice nervous.

“Well,” Michelle stared down at her hands as she began. “There was a lot of stuff going on with everyone when we broke up, but I never really understood… I never got exactly why you broke up with me. I mean, I know you were flipped out about having fallen off the wagon, but that just seems like something we could have gotten past. Did I…” Her voice began to shake, so she paused to gather herself. “Did I do something to make you not want to be with me anymore?”

A wave of guilt washed over Marcus as he saw Michelle out of the corner of his eye. She had looked up to study his face, and he could see that her eyes were glassed over. “No,” Marcus said in a definite voice. “You didn’t do anything, Michelle, I swear. I just… It’s hard to explain. I just felt like I was falling down this hole back then, and I had felt that way before, back when I was younger. I was afraid I was going to turn back into the asshole I had been, and it just felt better to let you go then and not take you down with me.”

“I guess I can see that,” Michelle said, her voice sad. “Still, it would have helped me if you had at least tried to explain it to me at the time. I spent a long time wondering what it was that I had done to make you stop wanting to be with me…”

“I’m really sorry,” Marcus replied sincerely. “And you’re right. I was a weak to not tell you the truth. I guess I was just having a hard time dealing with it myself at the time.” Pausing, Marcus looked over again. “So is it okay if I ask a question now?”

Michelle looked surprised to hear that Marcus had a question for her, since she felt like she had been an open book to him at the end of their relationship. “Sure,” she told him. “Go ahead.”

“Well,” Marcus squeezed the steering wheel tightly. “The last time we saw each other, at the wedding… I was going to say something to you, and you cut me off to tell me about Stanford. Did you just need to spit it out right then, or were you afraid I was going to say something you didn’t want to hear?”

Feeling her cheeks fill with color, Michelle knew exactly the moment Marcus was talking about. “Well, I don’t know if this was me being stuck-up or incredibly down on myself,” she explained. “But I just couldn’t give you an opportunity to possibly say anything about us getting back together. It had taken me months to really get over you, or at least get over you enough to move forward. I had gotten myself psyched to go to Stanford, to go to California, to start this new exciting life. And I knew that if you wanted to be with me then, I would have given it all up to be with you. But deep down, I couldn’t let that happen, so that’s why I cut you off – just in case that was what you were going to say. Does that make sense?”

“It does,” Marcus nodded. He paused again, remembering that moment. “And by the way… you were right to cut me off.”

Smiling a little to herself at this revelation, Michelle looked out the window. New York City was beautiful at night, with the buildings all lit up. It was a little intimidating, living there after spending the last three years in the college town that surrounded Stanford, but Michelle was proud of herself for taking the chance.

“So where I am going?” Marcus interrupted Michelle’s thoughts.

“Oh, take Canal to Broadway, and then I’ll point the way,” Michelle replied, looking over at Marcus in the driver’s seat. “Listen, I just want to say I’m glad I got to see you again tonight. It makes me happy to know that you’re doing well, and I have to admit, I feel a lot more at peace with our relationship, as it was, now that I know why you broke up with me.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Marcus said, glancing over again. “And I truly am sorry for the way I treated you, but I’m thrilled to see it didn’t stop you from being so strong and successful.” Biting his lip, Marcus checked his rearview mirror as he spoke. “Michelle, do you think… I mean, I know we knew each other a million years ago, or so it seems, but do you think we could try being friends? Now, I mean.”

Swallowing hard, Michelle smiled at Marcus’s profile. His jaw was tight, as she remembered it being whenever he was nervous. “I think I’d like that,” she told him. “Being friends, I mean. I guess we really have to get reacquainted anyway. After all, I think we’re both pretty different now from the people we were back then. But I’d like to try to get to know you as you are now.”

“I’m really glad to hear that,” Marcus replied with a grin. “And I’d like to get to know you again, too. So… friends?”

Michelle reached over and placed her hand on top of Marcus’s, which was resting on the gearshift, and squeezed it lightly. “Friends,” she replied.

-----

WELL, I HOPE THIS CHAPTER ANSWERED ANY LINGERING QUESTIONS READERS HAD. I KNOW THIS STORY HAD IT’S GOOD PARTS AND BAD PARTS, AND I JUST WANT TO THANK EVERYONE WHO SAW IT TO THE END.

TO EVERYONE THAT REVIEWED, THANK YOU. IT MADE PUSHING ON WORTH IT FOR ME TO READ REVIEWS. TO CARIAD AND BREE, I HOPE THIS SORT OF AMBIGUOUS ENDING WAS HOPEFUL ENOUGH FOR YOU. TO MICHELLE, THANKS FOR THE REVIEW. I TRY MY HARDEST TO MENTION VM WHENEVER POSSIBLE (“COULD YOU PASS ME THE BUTTER? OH, AND WATCH VERONICA MARS WEDNESDAYS THIS FALL AT NINE!”). TO ADAEE AND CARIAD, THANKS AGAIN FOR THE INSIGHTFUL REVIEWS.

REMEMBER TO TIP YOUR SERVERS. GOODNIGHT!