Love and Beasts

Chapter 69

"... He's not picking up." Izabela put down her phone and sighed in annoyance. After the dinner at his family's, Michael seemed to avoid her. They didn't talk or interact as much as they did before, which was worrisome. He even recently stopped coming over to her work and that was very surprising. "I just hope he's fine. Maybe I should call Audrey?" She decided to put thought into action and soon found herself calling the younger Garcia. While she had difficulty with the man, Audrey and Alice finally got back together. For now they've decided to not hold a wedding, since they decided to start fresh again.

"Izabela?" "Hey Audrey. How are you and Alice?" "Great thanks. Sorry for not picking up sooner, but I had a problem with my arm." "What? Did something bad happen?" And she could hear the sheepish laugh on the other side. "Not at all. It just that it got numb thanks to Ali's heavy head on it through the whole night." The next thing Iza heard was Alice's voice, throwing tantrum about how Audrey explained her condition. "... Now she reminds me of a Pomeranian even more." Audrey chuckled, earning another train of insults aimed at her. "Glad to hear you two are good again." Izabela said, honestly thinking that way.

"Yeah. The therapist you have recommended has really helped. Alice is making progress, but she still needs time. So, what brings my future sister-in-law to call me so early in the morning?" "Audrey?" "Yeah?" "It's past noon, also Monday." "... FUCK!" She heard on the other side of the phone which shocked her slightly. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?!" "Because you keep making fun of me for being your furless Chihuahua!" "Alice for god's sake, I can lose my job! Have you lost your mind?!" "Your fault for pissing me off on one of my days!" "How was I supposed to know that!?" "Don't know, maybe read between the lines?!"

As they bickered back and forth Izabela just stood there, with the phone in her hand, distanced enough from her ear to not damage her hearing. "I can tell she's definitely back to her old self after some moping down." "Yeah, she is. Oh, I forgot! What is it that you're calling me?" "It's about Michael. You see, a few days ago we went to your parents' house to meet them. An argument started between your brothers and after that Michael seemed to be different." "As in what different?" "Well, he recently started to avoid my calls and that night he also wasn't in his best mood. I think it's because your younger brother said something about Mr Garcia not being Michael's real father-" And before she could finish she heard a loud sound, like slamming a fist against something, from Audrey's side.

"That little bitch did WHAT!?" "Please don't shout at me. People are staring at me." "Ohh, sorry. But he really said that?" "I'm not making things up. After he mentioned that, they would get into a fight if not for your dad." "Hah, shit. You know, he definitely finished his work and is at home." "-... How did you-?" "I asked him if he wants to hang out with me and some of our friends, but he declined saying he wants to stay at his place. He did sound a bit out of place, but nobody told me about the dinner thing. And don't worry, it's that little asshole's fault for Mike's current condition." "Oh." Iza said, still feeling uneasy about all of this. "Is there anyway I can help him with?"

"Well" Audrey then seemed to shuffle through something while talking to her. "Michael loves sweets. Especially mom's but he doesn't mind other sweet shops' as long as they're good. And I think that maybe you should go there and spend some time with him?" "What if he doesn't want me there?" "Then don't listen to him. Whenever he's down, he says he doesn't want anyone near him but in reality, he always wants for someone to he next to him. And since you guys are mates I'm sure you will have some good influence on him, as bond sometimes works as a free emotional support from your significant other." "Alright, thanks."

...

Right now Izabela was standing in front of the flat block where Michael lives. Except for a cheesecake, she also got a bag of apples, as she somehow craved them a lot. "Come to think of it, I don't seem to feel disgust to any foods I used to eat before." She thought, as the memory of Rebecca hating even a single smell of lasagna, sloppy joes and other things she loved before pregnant. "Nevermind, gotta take care of him." She thought to herself, smiling at the thought and walking towards the building. But as she walked towards the entry, she didn't notice kids on the playground, running around and having a snowball war. One of them accidentally bumped into her, causing her to drop the cake. And another kid didn't manage to stop on time and stepped on the cake, nearly falling down.