Are You Happy Now? - Part 1 (COMPLETED)

Chapter 16 - Part 2: "Let Me Introduce Myself"

I'm not blind you see

And you're not fooling me

You've stepped into my territory

Let me introduce myself

Your reality

Your morality

His fantasy

     -"Let Me Introduce Myself" (Marion Raven)

---

May 30, 2004

Since hearing about Michelle's marriage, Isaac was eager to call Michelle. He felt slighted that she hadn't already told him. He knew, thanks to Entertainment Tonight, that her and Teddy had eloped in Mexico, so he wasn't offended that he wasn't invited, but he did feel hurt that she hadn't shared the good news with him. Even though Isaac hadn't seen Michelle for what felt like ages to him, he still considered her one of his best friends. He had formed a bond with her that was unshakeable and that friendship would continue for many years, but he didn't know that yet. At this point, in 2004, Isaac was struggling with how to maintain his friendship with Michelle while also respecting her need to avoid his brother. This was not an easy task. So he settled for calling her often and he hoped, with time, her anger towards his brother would fade, and they could all hang out like in the old days.

In late May 2004, Hanson were on tour, currently in Long Island, N.Y. Isaac and his brothers did their usual soundcheck, then headed their separate ways, as usual, to prepare and have some space before meeting once again to play the promo show. They had been hard at work, traveling to promote Underneath, but were struggling to get radio play, which was a stress weighing on all of them. They'd been bickering and Isaac was grateful to get away from his brothers for a few minutes.

He stepped outside into the warm, sunny spring breeze and dialed her familiar number.

"Hey Ike!" Michelle answered happily. "How are you, buddy?"

"I'm good. Yourself?"

"Good. What's up?"

"Oh, just calling to say hi, killing some time before the show, ya know."

"Ah. You guys are still on tour, right?" Michelle asked.

"Yep. We're in New York now. Another promo show...in July we start the official "Underneath" tour. We're basically planning on playing the same songs, but electric."

"That'll be cool," Michelle mused. "I mean, acoustic is fun but you can only do so much with it, you know?"

Isaac nodded. "Yeah, agreed. Plus I'm pretty stoked I got a new guitar to play around with."

"Nice. What kind?"

"A Gibson custom. Had it made in Tulsa by a bud of mine. It's really cool. I'll send ya a pic on my fancy new phone."

Michelle laughed. "New phone and new guitar! Someone's moving up in the world," she joked.

"I like to think so."

Michelle smiled and paused a moment before replying.

"Hey, Ike, uh I have some news. I, uh got married."

"I know," Isaac said simply.

Michelle raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"You do? How?"

"We saw it on ET last week. I was thinking you'd call and tell me, but you never did so...here I am calling you to congratulate you."

Michelle mentally cursed herself. She could hear the hurt in Isaac's voice, and knew she should have told him sooner.