“Hey Liz. Alex.” She smiled at us both.

“What are you doing here? Do you want me to get Sarah to take your order?” I asked.

“No, I actually wanted to see you.” Her eyes drifted to the ‘Employees Only’ marked door.

“Okay. We’re just going to, uh, yeah.” I stuttered.

Alex waved us away, then started talking with the girl next to him.

She waited till we were alone in the stock room before saying anything.

“I’m not here to try and talk you out of this. I just wanted to say that I think it’s a good idea.” It sounded like she had been up all night practicing this.

There were dark smudges under her eyes, and I realized that she had been up all night practicing this.

“I’m not trying to sound conceited or anything. I just, um, I just think that with everything that’s going on right now...” She stopped and put her face in her hands.

She was breathing heavily, and then it occurred to me that she was not only breathing heavily, she was crying. I wrapped my arms around her tightly. It seemed like all I was doing lately was hugging people. But Isabel. That blew me away. She was usually strong, and always cautious of getting too close to Maria or me. Her arms tightened around me.

“Isabel, you don’t have to say it. I know what you’re thinking.” I said, gently.

“He loves you. He does,” She whispered into my ear.

We stayed like that for a few more moments. Finally Isabel pulled away, and wiped her nose with a tissue she had taken out of her pocket. She took a few deep breathes.

“Liz, I know that you and I haven’t exactly been best friends. But I know how much Max loves you, and I know that something happened between the both of you. It’s none of my business, but whatever it is, I know it’s serious. Max, he’s changed, he isn’t the same. I think that with you moving, maybe he’ll go back. I don’t know if he’ll ever go back to being the way he was, but, maybe...”

“I know what you mean, and you don’t have to say it. It’s been a rough 6 months for all of us. I made this choice because I think that when I’m not here, Max will be able to...uh, put more focus on what’s happening with you and Michael and Tess.” I looked down after saying Tess’ name.

“Thank you.” She smiled at me.

“For what?” I asked, confused.

“For everything. For saving our lives, more than once. For helping us to trust other people. For giving Maria to Michael. For giving Alex to me. And for loving Max. For loving him in a way he never thought he could be loved.” Her voice had warmth in it.