Liz noticed what Maria was staring at. “You really miss him, don’t you?” Liz asked as she sat next to Maria.

“Who?” Maria asked pretending not to know what Liz was talking about, but still staring at the same place.

“Michael.”

Maria finally looked at Liz. “Oh, yeah, I really miss serving raw or burned food all the time,” looking back at the kitchen, she said, “Your father must have been so happy when he quit.”

“No, of course…well, uhm…yeah, he was. But that’s not what I was talking about,” Liz said with a slight smile.

Maria looked at Liz again. “I don’t know,” she said, “I just…I just really wish he stopped being such a jerk.”

“Just give him some time.”

“Time? How much more time?”

“I don’t know," Liz said, “I wish I did. I wish I could tell you that he’ll finally realize that’s he’s being an idiot and come crawling back begging you to take him back, but…”

“But you can’t, “ Maria said not as a question, but as a statement.

“Hi,” Max said as he walked up to them.

“Oh, hey,” Liz said as she turned around and smiled at him.

“Hey,” Max said to Maria after Liz gave him a quick kiss.

“Yeah,” was all Maria said as she got up and went to the back room.

“Was it me?” Max asked Liz with a confused expression on his face.

“No,” Liz said as she looked up at him.

“Oh,” He said understanding what it was all about.

“Wait, I thought you were supposed to be working tonight,” Liz asked changing the subject.

“Yeah, but Milton got a flu or something, so he decided to close early.”

“Oh, cool.”

“Yeah, so I was thinking…” he started with a smile on his face.

“Yeah…” Liz asked as she too smiled at him.

“I was thinking that if I help you close we could catch a movie or something,” Max said as he put his hands around Liz’s waist.

“Or something?”

“Yeah,” he said with his smile getting wider.

“I would love to, but I just have a lot of stuff to do, ‘cause my dad’s not here,” Liz said as she pulled away from him and started cleaning up.

“Ok, well, I can go rent us a movie, how does that sound?” Max said as he started turning the chairs upside down on tables.

Liz stopped to look at what he was doing. “You know, you seem to be working here more than I am,” she said jokingly.

“Well, maybe your father should hire me. I already know how to do everything.”

“Yeah, right. My father paying my boyfriend to spend more time with me. Yeah…I can really see that happening.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Max said as he walked up to her and put his arms around her once again, “Besides, I’d probably get fired for sexually harassing a waitress,” he said as he started kissing her.

“Yeah, probably,” was all Liz could say before they began one of their make out sessions.

*****************************************************

Maria’s House- same night

“Maria!” Amy DeLuca called out of the living room.

“What?” Maria said as she walked in. She saw her mother all dressed up for her date, “Wow! Who’s the lucky guy? Oh, let me guess…”

“Just shut up and help me here,” Amy said smiling at her as she turned around to show Maria she needed her to zip the dress up.

“So, where are you going?” Maria asked.

“I don’t know. Jim wouldn’t say.”

“Mom, you need a safety pin here.”

“Oh, I think I have one in my dresser. Could you check?”

“Sure, why not, even my mother has a man,” Maria said under her nose as she went to her mother’s bedroom.

She went through each drawer and still didn’t find anything.

“Mom! I can’t find…” she trailed off as she saw a stack of letters rubber banded together. She took them out and as she read the return address on the top one, her heart started beating really fast.

“It should be in the top drawer,” Amy said as she came into the room, but when she saw what Maria was holding, she stopped. For a moment they looked at each other. As Maria got up from the floor, she finally asked, “What are these?” she pointed to the letters.

“Maria, it’s not what you think,” Amy said.

“Really? How do you know what I think?”

“Maria.”

“God, how long? How long have you had these, mom?” When Amy didn’t say anything, she continued, “Ever since he left?”

“Maria, please, let me explain,” Amy pleaded.

“Explain what?! That you had the letters from my father?! For all these years you hid them from me?! Or that all this time you let me think that he didn’t want me?! That he didn’t care about me! Is that what you want to explain?! How could you?! How could you do this to me, mom?!” Maria yelled as tears started rolling down her face.

“He left us, Maria, he left us.”

“No, mom! He left YOU…” with that Maria ran out of the room and then house.

********************************************************************

Liz’s House- same night

Max and Liz are pretending to watch a movie in the living room.

“No, no, see, it was him, see?” Liz was trying to prove something to Max, who didn’t really care about the movie that much. They were both laughing as the phone rang.

“Hello,” Liz said as she picked up the phone still smiling, “Oh, hi…no, she’s not.” Max saw Liz’s expression change from smiling to very worried. And he got worried too. “Yeah, sure, I will,” he heard Liz say.

As Liz hung up the phone and looked at him he knew: something was wrong.

*****************************************************************

“Are you sure about this?” Max asked as they got out of his jeep.

“Yeah, she always comes here when she’s upset.”

Max looked around. It was some sort of a forest preserve park. He’s never been here before.

“One time when we were like eight we decided to run away from home and this is where we came.”

“You? Running away?” he asked amused.

“Yeah, I think I was upset about not getting the doll I wanted for Christmas or something.” They both laughed.

“So, what happened?” He asked obviously fascinated to find out that there were still things he didn’t know about Liz.

“Nothing. We got really cold and hungry and decided to go home. I think nobody even noticed we were gone,” Liz said as she looked around looking for Maria. “Oh, thank God,” she said when she saw Maria’s car and then Maria sitting under a tree not far from it.

Max stayed behind as Liz went to talk to Maria.

“Hey, little piggy, watcha doing?” Liz asked as she sat next to Maria on the ground.

Maria smiled lightly. Liz haven’t called her that in a very long time.

“How did you know I was here?” she asked as she wiped away the tears.

“Your mom called and I figured you’d be here…So, what happened? Did you have a fight?”

“I found these in her dresser,” Maria said as she gave the stack of letters to Liz.

“What are these?” Liz asked as she read the name on the envelope, “It’s not from…”

“My father,” Maria finished as Liz looked at her.

“She hid them from me,” Maria continued as she started crying again.

Liz hugged her.

“He wanted me, Liz. He wanted me,” Maria said as she sobbed on Liz’s shoulder.

**********************************************************************

Liz’s House(kitchen)- Next Morning

“Yeah, she’s ok…yeah…no problem,” Maria heard Liz saying to somebody on the phone.

“Who was that?” Maria asked as she walked in after hearing Liz hanging up the phone.

“Your mom.”

“Oh, what did she want?” Maria asked angrily.

“She wanted to talk to you.” When Maria didn’t say anything Liz continued, “I really think you should give her a chance to explain.”

“No,” Maria said as she started to leave the kitchen.

“Maria, come on. She’s your mother. She must have had a reason to do what she did.”

“Who’s side are you on?” Maria asked loud.

“Yours, of course. But I just think…”

“No, Liz, there’s no but.”

“So, what, I just have to agree with you on everything?”

“Not everything. THIS.”

“Maria, be rational.”

“No, Liz. All your life your father was with you…in your life. All your life you’ve known that you father loved you. I didn’t have that…because of her. So, don’t tell me to be rational, Ok?”

“Maria, come on.”

“No, you know what? I’m just gonna go to someone who understands,” Maria said as she picked up her jacket, “Because you obviously don’t.” And with that she started to leave.

“Maria! Maria!” Liz called after her, but Maria didn’t answer.

***********************************************************************

Michael was tired. He’s been working full time and going to school. He was exhausted. All he wanted to see at this point was a pillow and a blanket as he walked up the stairs to his apartment.

When he came closer he saw Maria sitting by his door. He could see that she was crying. As Maria saw him, she got up and wiped away the tears.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey,” was all he said, as they looked at each other.

********************************************************************

“Yeah, she’s here,” Max said as he closed the door of the jeep.

Liz was waiting in the jeep while Max went to check if Maria was at Michael’s.

“Thank God,” Liz said as she let out a sigh of relief, even though she still looked very worried and upset.

“Liz, she’s gonna be Ok,” Max said gently trying to make her feel better.

“I don’t know, Max. I’ve never seen her like that…ever…I just hope she doesn’t do anything…stupid.”

Max thought for a moment, understanding how Liz felt, remembering how he felt when Michael wanted to leave.

“You have to let her do it…let her make that decision…” Liz looked at him, “No matter how hard it is,” he said as he pulled her into a hug. “She’ll be Ok,” Max whispered as he held her tighter.

**********************************************************************

Michael’s Apartment- 2 days later

“Michael, we need milk,” Maria said as her head poked above the refrigerator door.

“What?” he asked as he came out of the bathroom.

“I said, we need milk,” she said again as she closed the fridge, “and apples…oh, and soap too.”

“There’s soap in the sink,” Michael said trying not to sound irritated, which he was.

“Michael, that little cube is not called soap.”

“Fine, I’ll get some, Ok?” he said, not wanting to start an argument.

“Fine,” she answered not understanding what the big deal was.

“I gotta go,” Michael said as he grabbed his jacked and walked out.

*****************************************************************

Max’s house- later that day

Liz and Max were doing calculus homework in Max’s room.

“No, look, this is where you’re wrong,” Liz was trying to prove to him that she was right. They both did the problem three times and every time they got different answers.

“No, this is how they do it in the book...look,” he said as he pointed to the book.

“Well, it’s wrong.”

“Wrong? The book’s wrong,” he said as he started to laugh.

“Yeah,” she said as she also started laughing.

They were still laughing when they heard a knock on the window. As Max pulled the curtains, they saw Michael.

“Hey,” Michael said as he crawled through the window.

“You know, you could use the door like everybody else, you know,” Max said to him.

“How’s Maria?” Liz asked.

“Oh, she’s…uhm…she’s Ok…yeah, she’s good…she’s driving me nuts, but she’s Ok.”

“What’s wrong?” Liz asked concerned.

“Well, let’s see. She’s cleaned my apartment five times in the past two days. She actually defrosted the fridge this morning. Oh, and she’s organized my stocks…by color.” Michael looked like he was going to burst into tears in the next minute.

Liz and Max barely kept from laughing as they looked at each other and then back at Michael. Liz bit her lips so she wouldn’t laugh. Michael noticed that.

“It’s not funny,” he said getting more and more upset.

“You’re right, it’s not.” Liz said trying to be serious.

“Yes, it is,” Max said as he couldn’t hold it anymore and as Liz looked at him again, they both burst into laughter.

“Well, I’m glad this is so amusing to you,” Michael said sounding hurt, “I’ll see how crazy you’d drive each other if you lived together.”

When they still didn’t stop laughing, Michael continued pleadingly, “Liz, please, you gotta help me.”

“How?” she asked finally getting serious.

“Look, I really wanna help her, because she was there for me, but…get her to stay with you. At least for a few days.”

“Michael, I would love to help you and I would love to have Maria stay with me, but…she’s not talking to me. She didn’t even come to work for the past two days.”

“Well, I guess I better go…buy soap.”

Liz and Max were still laughing after Michael left.

“Well, we gotta finish this assignment before your parents get home,” Liz said trying to get serious again.

As they both started working on the problem again, Max suddenly asked, “Liz, do you think that Michael’s right?”

As she looked up at him not understanding what he was talking about, he continued, “You know, about us driving each other nuts if we lived together?” he explained.

Liz smiled lightly and then said, “No, I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, me neither,” he said as he put his hand over hers.

*******************************************************************

Michael’s apartment- Next Morning

Knock on the door.

“I’ll get it,” Maria said as she walked towards the door.

“Hi, Maria,” Amy DeLuca said as Maria opened the door.

“What are you doing here?” Maria asked harshly.

“I called her,” Michael said behind her. “Come on in,” he said to Amy.

“You what?” Maria asked. “I thought you understood,” she said accusingly to him. She felt really betrayed right now.

“I do,” he answered honestly, “That’s why I think you two should talk.”

“Michael, if you wanted me out here you should have just said so.”

“Maria! I…” he started but then calmed himself down, “I’m late for work, so…bye,” he said as he hurried out the door.

As Michael left, Maria and Amy stood in silence for a while.

“Maria, please, lets just talk about it,” Amy finally said.

“Fine, talk,” Maria said harshly as she sat next to the kitchen counter.

“Look. I know I made a mistake. I’m not denying that. But everybody makes mistakes. And everybody deserves a second chance.”

“Not everybody.”

“Look,” Amy said as she walked closer to Maria, “I know that I hurt you and it’s killing me. But I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. I didn’t do it to hurt anybody.”

“Really, then why did you?”

“Because I was afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

“Losing you,” Amy said.

“Why would you think…why would you loose me?” Maria couldn’t understand what would make her mother think that.

“You were right…He did leave me. And I was afraid that you’d leave me too. That you’d want to be with him instead of me.”

Maria wanted to say something but couldn’t find the right words, so she just looked at her mother.

“Well, I know that this one mistake I made can be fixed.” Amy said as she took out a piece of paper out of her purse. “Here, this is his address and phone number,” she said as she unfolded the paper and put it on the counter. “I’m sure he’d be happy to hear from you.”

Maria just sat there stunned. This was it. This is what she dreamed about…finding her father.

“I love you,” Amy said to her ver quite as she left.

Maria didn’t move. She just stared at the piece of paper in front of her. This is what she wanted. Then why wasn’t she happy?

************************************************************************

Later that night

“Hey, I got the soap that you wanted.” Michael said as he walked in.

Maria didn’t even look at him. She was sitting on the couch staring at the same piece of paper.

Thinking that she was still upset with him about this morning, he tried to explain, “Look, I know it was none of my business, but I just thought…”

“When you decided to leave Roswell last year, what stopped you?” she interrupted him with a question looking straight at him.

Michael sat in the chair across from her thinking. “I guess I just realized that everybody I really needed in my life was already in it…Max, Isabel…” he looked at her, “Everybody…”

Maria looked down at the paper again.

“What’s that?” Michael asked noticing it for the first time.

“My father,” she answered without looking at him.

After a few minutes of sitting in silence Maria got up from the couch.

“Where are you going?” Michael asked. Maria turned around and gave him a smile and then said, “It’s time to go home.”

*************************************************************

Liz’s balcony- Later that night

Liz was deep in her thought when she heard a familiar voice.

“Hey.”

As she turned around she saw Max climbing up the ladder.

“Hi,” she said trying to smile, but he already knew that something wasn’t right.

“Liz, is something wrong?” he asked as he sat next to her, “Maria?”

“No, uhm…she’s fine. I just talked to her actually. Yeah, she’s gonna be Ok.”

“What then?”

“Nothing,” she looked at him and knew that he wasn’t convinced, “Really, it’s nothing.”

But he still didn’t believe her and she knew that.

“Well, it’s just…I was just thinking...” she continued, “about how much Maria’s mom must have been hurting…” Liz looked down, “when Maria’s father…left.”

When Liz finished, Max looked down too. He knew this was bothering her. It was bothering him too. Ever since they got back together there’s been this nagging voice in the back of his mind asking him, “What will happen if you have to leave?”

“Liz,” he said as they looked up at each other, “I …I don’t know what’s gonna happen tomorrow, or the day after, or twenty years from now. I have no guarantees…” Liz nodded because she understood. It wasn’t his fault. “But I can guarantee you one thing,” Max continued, “No matter what happens, I promise you, I will do everything possible and then the impossible for us to be together. I know it’s not enough, but…”

“No,” Liz interrupted, “It’s more than enough,” she smiled at him. “It’s perfect.”

********************************************************************

Maria’s house- same night

Maria was sitting on her bed with her father’s address in front of her. She couldn’t understand what she was feeling. All her life she wanted to find him. But now she just couldn’t bring herself to pick up the phone and call him.

“Hey, the ice-cream is melting and the movie is waiting,” Amy said as her head poped through the doorway.

“I’ll be right there,” Maria said.

As Amy left, Maria looked at that little piece of paper again and then she finally knew what she had to do. What she wanted to do. She picked up that piece of paper and crumbled it as she got up from the bed. And as she walked out of the room for the girls’ night with her mother, she threw it in the trash. Ones this was what she wanted: her father. But now everyone she needed and wanted in her life was already in it.