~Chapter 2~

Twenty-three year old Max Evans silently cursed his sister, Isabel, for dragging him here. Then he cursed himself for allowing her to. As he watched several fashion-clad women running and bumping into each other while they scurried down the hall to make it to their next showing, Max shook his head slightly. What had Iz been thinking anyway?

Max's thoughts paused long enough for him to notice the curious, interested gazes of more than just a few of Isabel's fabulous friends and fellow models as they flitted here and there preparing for their big moment in the spotlight. Max sighed and forced himself not to roll his eyes at their obvious ogling and cast his eyes upward when he leaned his head back against the couch he'd been sitting on for the last forty five minutes. Who was he kidding? He knew exactly what Isabel had been thinking. Drag my lonely, sad, unfortunate brother to a fashion show with me and maybe he'll hook up with one of my gorgeous model friends and forget all about the love of his life…

Max smiled wryly as a white-gowned model accidentally tripped while she struggled with the heavily beaded, filmy veil that kept flying into her face obstructing her view. An instant image of his beautiful dreamgirl, Liz Parker, covered from head to toe in while tulle and beads flashed into Max's mind. "Wrong fashion show, Izzy." Max said aloud as he once more glanced around the room full of wedding dresses and bouquets. "Definitely the wrong show…"

"Did you say something?" Isabel asked as she sauntered up to Max and nudged him slightly so that he'd move and give her room to sit.

Max obliged her silent request before cocking an eyebrow at her. "Yeah, I did. I said I know what you're up to."

Isabel's beautiful face pinched slightly in mock confusion. "What ever could you be talking about?"

Max shook his head in annoyance as he hand waved over the room. "This. All of this. It's not going to change anything…"

Isabel let out a loud sigh, knowing her not-so-hidden plan had been discovered. "Max, come on. Just give it a try. You need some close encounters--of the human kind--no, make that the female human kind…in your life, Max."

Max rolled his eyes at Isabel's joke. "That was almost as lame as what you're trying to pull here."

"What?" Isabel asked with an offended air as she glanced around her. "I thought you'd enjoy getting away from New York for a while. Take in the sights of Boston. Get away from that daily grind you subject yourself to. You know…expand your horizons a little."

Max shook his head. "You mean expand my dating prospects, don't you?"

"Would that be so bad?" Isabel sighed again as she straightened the skirt of her evening dress and began to preen herself by checking her lipstick in a hand-held compact. "I mean, is it really such a crime to help my dodo-brained brother finally move on with his life? What's so awful about that? It's been over 6 years since you've dated anyone seriously, Max. Or even anyone at all. Mom and Dad are starting to worry about you. And frankly, so am I…"

"Isabel…" Max began in a warning voice.

Isabel slapped her compact closed and turned toward Max. "No, Max, listen to me. I know that this…" she waved her hand over the crowd of beautiful women in front of them. "…may not be the best place to find…"

"What?" Max's voice took on an edge as his eyes suddenly flashed with anger. "To find what, Iz? The love of my life?"

Isabel swallowed and looked down taken back by the sudden irritation and pain in his voice. "Of course not, Max. I know you'll never…I know you'll never love anyone the way you love Liz."

Looking back into his eyes, Isabel steeled herself for a possible confrontation. Since this subject had been canvassed before, she had plenty of practice at handling confrontations with Max. So she continued. "But you made the decision a long time ago to let her go. Isn't it time you start acting like it? Live a little, Max. Have some fun. Find whatever happiness you can without her. That's really all I want for you." Shrugging her shoulders she glanced up and caught the eye of a friend of hers. She smiled and nodded in her friend's direction causing Max's eyes to follow the path of her nod. "Who knows? Maybe this weekend can be the start…"

Max swallowed hard when he saw the beautiful brunette make eye contact with him and smile. For the first time in a long time, Max allowed Isabel's words to sink in…and smiled tentatively in return.

"Bella? Where is she? Has anyone seen Bella?" A frantic dresser scurried through the chaos stretching out Isabel's professional name. "BEEELLLLAAAA!"

"Hey." Michael greeted Max and Isabel before nodding in the direction of the dresser. "Looks like your public is waiting, Iz."

"Great. And just when I was getting a chance to talk some sense into my lunatic brother." Having seen the exchange between Max and her friend, Isabel sighed as she stood up and waved to her dresser letting her know her location. Casting a glance in Michael's direction, her gaze turned critical. "You know the idea of you being a model at this show wasn't for you to model your own personal style, Michael."

"BELLA!" Isabel's dresser yelled to the top of her lungs as she rushed up to her and grabbed her arm. "You're on in 3 minutes and we still have so much to do!"

Michael stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets and shrugged with a smirk. "Yeah? Well, too bad you don't have the time to coach me on the ills of actually having a style."

Isabel had the chance to sigh and roll her eyes before being drug away by her ever-anxious, overly-careful assistant. "Catch you guys back here after the show. Oh, and Michael…please go change before you walk out on stage…" Waving her hand quickly to Max and Michael, Isabel called back over her shoulder before disappearing into the wall of white that had begun to form in the hallway.

"Into the Miami Vice look, are we?" Max asked with a slight grin as he gazed up at Michael to take in his full appearance after a moment of silence.

Michael looked down at his attire and shrugged. "Hey. It worked for Crockett and Tubbs."

"Yeah, but they didn't wear green camouflaged t-shirts with gray tuxedo jackets and faded blue jeans." Max answered back with a chuckle.

Michael opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the shrill ring of a phone. Max's eyebrows raised in surprise when Michael dug into his jeans pocket to retrieve a small black cell phone. "Yeah?"

"Hi there, sexy." Maria's breathy voice came to him and was rewarded with a flicker of a smile she couldn't see.

"Hey." Aware that Max was watching him intently, Michael quickly masked the expression on his face and responded shortly trying to rein in his enthusiasm at just hearing her voice. Since they'd found each other again three months before, Michael had learned no matter what the problems or how bad of a day he was having, just hearing that voice always seemed to make things better for him.

Maria fiened hurt when she heard the curtness of Michael's tone. "'Hey?' After what I wore for you last night all you have to say to me is 'hey'?"

Michael's face began to turn slightly red as he glanced down at Max then turned and took a few steps away so he could speak a little more freely without Max overhearing every word. "You know that's not it. Things are a bit…"

"…crowded?" Maria finished for him knowing Max must be within earshot. Without waiting for his affirmation, Maria clued him in on her situation. "Here too. Look, I'm just calling to let you know we're set. You can start things on your end."

Michael took a deep breath before asking in a somewhat shaky voice. "Are you sure about this? I mean, we do have time to back out."

He could almost see the emphatic shake of her blonde head as she reaffirmed her decision to continue with the plan. "Uh-huh. For better or worse, Max Evans and Liz Parker are going to finally face what they've been running from for so long. Each other. And they're going to do it today…"