Eyes Of Muniz

Chapter 34

Olivia ordered room service as soon as she arrived at the hotel. She had arrived in Italy two days ago. Somehow she was beginning to feel stupid for agreeing to come here with Ned. Was it true though, what Ned had said? Was Michael Connor Howard still in love with her? How she wished that was true. Ned wouldn't lie, he knew everything there was to know about Michael. Olivia closed her eye as she sat on the bed. Michael had loved her so much back then. She had been a fool, young and stupid. I had to do what I had to do. I needed the money. I loved Michael but not as much as I had loved Cedric. If only I had known he didn't love me the way I loved him. Such an ambitious jerk! I had everything with Mike, I almost married him. Now there's this girl who's after him and I am scared I don't stand a chance. What do I do?
Olivia was torn from her thoughts when she heard the knock on the door. Room service. She dragged herself into bed and called out for  room service to come in. She would eat after her nap.

Marisa had not responded to Michael's apology. He had gone to take a shower after that. Dinner came up and Sofia left it in the room. Marisa knew Michael was frustrated when she ignored him. She also knew she was wrong when she went to the stables. Michael had lashed out at her for that and she had seen that he had been rather worried than angry.
   She was waiting for him to come out from the shower. She was supposed to apologise he had done the same, which he rarely did.
   The bathroom door cracked open and Michael came out drying his hair. Marisa watched him change into his pyjamas and she wondered if he wanted to talk to her or not.
  "Sofia brought dinner" Marisa started. Michael looked at her and smirked.
   "So you want to talk now?"
" So I should not tell you about dinner?"
   "You want to talk now because you want to, right?" Michael asked her. He pushed the tray gently to her.
"No, I want to talk because I am sorry. I should have said sorry first" Marisa said positioning herself near the tray.
   "So why didn't you apologise ealier?" Michael asked her.
"I felt angry because you had not showed for the appointment and the way you talked to me after I fell made me feel humiliated" Marisa told him.
  "I ran late and I really wanted to be there on time. I only lashed out at you out there because I was worried" Michael said opening a bottle of red wine. He poured himself a glass and passed the jar of water to Marisa.
   "I'm sorry" Marisa said. She took the green salad and put some into her plate.
"I don't want you to hang out with Luca again" he said. Michael knew he sounded jealous. Well, that was because he was jealous.
   "Are you jealous?"
"I am not but that guy put you at risk today" Michael said sipping his wine.
  "He's our host here. I won't do anything dangerous when I spend time with him  but maybe just hanging out" Marisa said.
"Whatever you want" Michael didn't want to say anything further because he felt his anger stirring up.
  "I'll try to keep my distance. I know how it will look for you to the Alfinos" She said.
"Exactly" he replied. They ate in silence for some time.
   "Michael, why did you fire me when I was working for you back then?" Marisa asked him.
"I wanted time to myself" Michael replied. He would not confront himself for that event. He didn't even want his thoughts to mistakenly wonder and ask him the same question.
    "Because you had spent the night with me?"
"I did not say that" he defended.
   "That's how it looked. Why did you.." Marisa heard Michael cut her short.
"Can we just not talk about it? I told you I just wanted to be by myself. Can we talk about something else now?" He said trying to keep his voice calm.
    "I understand" she said grudgingly. They finished eating and Sofia came for the tray. Marisa went for a shower afterwards. She found Michael working on his laptop. They hadn't talked about anything since he had declined to talk about the reason he had fired her. Marisa walked to the dresser and combed he long hair.
  She was sliding into bed whe she heard her phone ring. She saw the caller ID and her heart started beating fast. Ned Evans. If I hang up, Michael will ask why I didn't take it. But does it matter. If I take it, what will he say?
   Marisa saw Michael staring at him.
"You going to answe that?" He asked and focused back on his laptop when he saw her nod. Marisa answered the call. Silence.
   "Hello" she said with a shaky voice.
"I heard you are carrying his child" Ned started.
    "Okay" Marisa replied. She felt the anger in his voice and it scared her.
"He is with you right now, isn't he? Why are you with him? If you want me to save you from him just tell me. You don't look happy" Marisa heard him say from the other end of the line.
     "How do you know how I look?" She asked her voice full of panic. He had spoken as if he was watching her. Was he watching her?
"I'll save you from this, Marisa. You know I love you and I will save you. We can run away together.."
    "I have to go now", Marisa said. She realized Michael was staring at her now.
"Don't hang up, please. I didn't mean to scream and hurt you when I saw you at Michael's house. Marisa you are living with a monster. He wants nothing to do with you!"
   Marisa hung up. What had just happened? Why was Ned speaking like that? He wanted to save her from Michael. Or he wanted her and wanted her to be scared of Michael so she could run to him and leave Michael. But how could she leave Michael when she was not even with him? Ned sounded insane. What if he is here in Italy? What if he is stalking me? Oh my God. What should I do?
   Marisa heard Michael calling her name. She struggled to tore herself from her thoughts.
"Ned. It was Ned" She heard herself say. Michael was sitting on the bed now.
    "Did he scare you? What did he say?" Michael asked calmly. He could see from Marisa's pale face that Ned had said something to her.
"He sounded insane. What if he is watching us?" Marisa jerked out of bed ignoring the pain on her right knee. She started checking if the windows were all securely shut.
   "Marisa, you need to calm down" Michael said to her.
"I can't, what if he is out there. He said he was going to save me from you and  he wants us to run away together" Marisa said closing the curtains. Michael went to her.
   "Marisa, stop" he said taking her hand. He was feeling both sad and angry for her. He cupped her cheeks with his hands.
"He won't do anything to you. I am here and I will protect you, okay?" He assured her. He meant it. Michael cared about Marisa he had accepted that. He didn't know if he her could give more.
   " Why do you appear so calm?" She asked him.
"I know Ned. He can be obsessive and this is not the first time it has happened. I am just worried he could turn out dangerous this time around" Michael said with honesty.
   "That makes me more scared" she admitted.
"I'll fix this, I will. Don't worry" he said. She smiled faintly. Michael wondered if she would let him make love to her again tonight. He wanted to.
   "I hope you do" she replied him.
"I hope you were closing those curtains so no would see us" Michael said. He smiled at Marisa and her confused expression broke into a smile of realisation of what he meant.
  Michael took that as a green light and kissed her. They were on the bed when she stopped him.
    "What?"
  "Careful, this nightwear is my favourite" she said. Michael gave a smile.
"Yes ma'am".