Mirae01-x2 -He is a very sweet and hot Max—just the way I like him!
Alien_Friend-Slowly but surely…
Jan-I’m afraid your fears are going to be validated very soon…
Keepsmiling7-Yep-the parents are going to put a kink in the works very shortly…
Eve-Don’t we all…
Yaya-x2-I’m all about the shower!
Zaneri-Thanks so much!
Ellie-x2-They barely escaped…this time at least!
Alien614-Thanks…I’m here…not exactly soon, but here!
Hey guys-Thanks for your patience! The fricking plot bunnies and their nibbly little teeth...Gah! Anyway...Carrie was also asking for an update of My Brother's Keeper over in the crossover section. I told her I just had to have Spike teach Buffy certain..."skills"...shall we say
and then I'll get that chapter posted. Max and Liz will come back into the story very soon thereafter. I'm also going to post a Torchwood Jack/Gwen/John piece in the other fanfic section...with lots of fun John Hart snarkiness to get it started. If you are also on live journal, I am posting there as destyshell.Of course, the annual freshman hordes have descended
. I'm going to try to get caught up with reading some fics, too. Enjoy!ch 21
Max left Liz’s room late that night, hoping she would sleep well until morning. After showering and finishing up a calc problem leftover from fifth period, Max turned off his bedside lamp, laying there, listening to the whir of the air conditioner and the distant sounds of traffic, but the solace of sleep escaped the amber-eyed young man until he heard the snick of the front door…the muffled voices of his mother and Jeff Parker…a moment of lengthy quiet when Max assumed the pair must be kissing…followed by the slow drag of the door opening once again and the rumble of Jeff Parker’s truck as it backed down the Evans’ driveway. The young man followed the sound of his mother’s footsteps as she tried to quietly make her way to the master bedroom.
The alarm clock glowed 1:37 by the time Max finally gave into sleep.
ooooooo
Most of the school week went by in a steady hum of work and activity—with both Max and Liz scheduled for work three afternoons in a row, the pair stealing moments in the eraser room at school and the UFO Museum’s break room when Liz brought him dinner.
Max’s time at home was generally limited to sleeping and showering, but one afternoon, needing to run home before his shift to grab a clean shirt, Max found his mother slamming the mailbox door in frustration, cursing the absence of some piece of mail she’d been expecting. When Max approached Diane at the end of the driveway, her expression was once again her typical mask of cheerfulness.
“Everything ok?” Max’s brow furrowed as he surveyed his mother.
Diane seemed a bit flustered that her small outburst had been witnessed by her son, from whom she’d been trying to downplay her financial woes. She’d been looking for the quarterly dividend check to arrive on Monday, but had been disappointed each time she returned from the mailbox with only more bills in hand. She knew that Max would try to take too much of the responsibility on himself if she revealed her dilemma, so she attempted to cover for her frustrated actions.
“Fine, sweetheart…that old mailbox is just getting a little rusty. I have to shut it hard to keep it from popping open again.” Diane mimed her actions at the curbside box with a humorously determined scowl on her face. In an attempt to change the subject, Diane inquired--
“I think Jeff is making Meteor Meatloaf tonight with Devils Tower Mashed Potatoes…you want me to have Liz bring you an order?”
“Little green men on the side?” Max hinted.
Diane had to laugh at the request, “Yes, dear…I think I can find some green beans for you,” Diane smiled her genuinely warm smile, kissing Max on the cheek as she ran in the house for her forgotten checkbook and stamps.
Max smiled back at his retreating mother until she disappeared behind the door, his expression once again etched with concern as he opened and closed the mailbox with ease, finding no evidence of his mother’s complaint….
oooooo
Friday found Jeff and Diane with a light morning at the Crashdown—most of the juniors and seniors had boarded buses early that morning for their trip to Alamogordo and wouldn’t be back until late that evening.
After finishing up with the remaining breakfast rush of early locals and mid-morning tourists, Diane was satisfied that Agnes could handle the remaining diners for a few moments and could come out back to fetch her if anyone ordered the cappuccino as Diane was unwilling to allow the aging waitress to try her hand at the complex, Italian machinery.
Diane nodded to Jeff, indicating that she was stepping outside for a minute. He smiled genially, handing over the grill to Jose’ as he went to the freezer for a case of fries. When he emerged from the icy walk-in, his attention was immediately directed to Diane’s distressed voice emanating from the alleyway.
ooooo
“I would’ve been better off if I kept my money under my mattress, Don!” Diane spat out, speaking to her broker on her cell phone.
Though Diane had been trying to have the conversation concerning her missing dividend check in private, Jeff felt like he needed to check on his…well…his girlfriend, for lack of a better word.
“Defer my fees till next quarter?” Diane questioned incredulously. “You really think I should have to pay you for losing money?” her usually soft voice went up another decibel as she scoffed.
“Yes, Don, I know about the economic downturn,” Diane replied, her voice thick with sarcasm.
Diane’s face grew furiously red as the smarmy broker tried to placate his client. Cutting off his patronizing remarks, Diane spoke more harshly than Jeff had ever heard her before.
“Don’t you dare bring Philip into this. I don’t particularly care that you played golf together for fifteen years—I care about paying my mortgage this month!” the petite blonde shouted against the brick walls, Jeff maintaining a reasonable distance until she calmed down.
“*I* am your client, and I am not looking to back risky start-ups—I just need to make sure my son and I have a place to live.”
After gritting her teeth at the response she was given, Diane sniffed and said with determination, “Have a copy of my portfolio ready for me in an hour,” she said with finality as she slammed her phone shut, trying to stint the tears welling in her eyes.
When Jeff moved toward her, Diane half-heartedly waved him away and turned so he would not see the falling tears streaming down her cheeks, but the blue-eyed man would not be deterred, wrapping his arms around Diane, placing small soothing kisses at her temple as his chest cradled her back.
“Shh…sweetheart…it’ll be ok…,” Jeff soothed, trying to calm Diane’s frayed nerves.
Diane just shook her head and sniffled, though she did not pull away from Jeff’s embrace.
“I had to send Isabel’s tuition, so Berkley wouldn’t drop her from their rolls,” Diane explained, turning her head so it rested against Jeff’s strong arm. “I held off sending the mortgage, planning to use the dividend check for that,” she explained unnecessarily, as Jeff had gleaned that much from her end of the conversation.
“We’ll figure out something…,” Jeff reassured, though Diane shook her head in refusal.
“I didn’t mean to bother you with all this…,” Diane swiped at her cheeks, trying to regain her composure as she sought her brave face once more. “You don’t need to worry about it….”
“Dammit, Diane…when the woman I love is in trouble, I *will* worry about it!”
Diane turned in Jeff’s arms, blinking as she tried to process his words. “What…?”
Jeff smiled shyly before fessing up to his admission, “I wasn’t exactly planning on telling you in the alley,” he defended good-naturedly. “But it doesn’t make it any less true,” he smiled.
Diane’s tears began to dry and she smiled back at concerned eyes studying her.
Jeff was encouraged at Diane’s acceptance of his sentiment. While he didn’t want to overwhelm her with the range of possible solutions that were currently racing through his head, Jeff wanted to wait and discuss them until a little later when Diane wasn’t so distraught.
“How about we get out of town tonight…head up to the mountains…relax…?” Jeff proposed, hoping Diane wouldn’t think he had any presumptuous expectations for the evening.
“Oh, Jeff,…I couldn’t…I’d be so expensive…,” Diane fretted, though a night away did sound like a lovely thought.
“Wouldn’t cost us anything…,” Jeff assured. “Friend of mine asked me to check on his cabin while he went back east…hadn’t been up there, yet. So, see…,” Jeff smiled as he swiped at Diane’s cheeks with his thumbs, “you’d be doing me a favor if you came with me….”
Diane bit her lip when she thought of what else a night away from home might entail. Jeff read her expression and hurriedly tried to dismiss her concern.
“No pressure,” he quickly amended, “I can be a perfect gentleman…,” he defended, reassured at the tinge of pink that colored Diane’s cheeks. Her mind ran through the requisite list of worries.
“What about the kids?”
“We’ll leave them a note. They could stay with their friends…or, hell, Diane, they’re old enough to stay by themselves,” Jeff shrugged.
Diane thought for a moment, finally deciding that getting out of town for the night wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
Jeff could see Diane beginning to relent, so he added, “Why don’t you run to the house and pack a bag after you go to the broker’s office. We’ll finish the lunch rush and then leave Jose’ and Agnes to keep things running till the restaurant slows down. The buses won’t be back in time for dinner anyway…so they won’t have a bunch of rowdy teenagers to contend with,” Jeff tempted with a disarming smile.
“Ok,” Diane consented with a nod, knowing that staying in town wasn’t going to bring her any closer to solving her current financial crisis, and snuggling up in front of a fireplace with Jeff at least might make her feel a bit better. Diane swiped her fingers under her wet lashes to clear any stray makeup that had run and smoothed down her wind-blown hair.
Taking a deep breath as she prepared to face off with her negligent stock broker, Diane straightened her shoulders and inquired, “How do I look?”
“Beautiful as always,” Jeff responded sincerely, offering Diane a tender kiss. “Do you want me to go with you?” he offered.
“No, I need to deal with that little weasel on my own,” Diane replied firmly, bringing a smile to Jeff’s lips.
He couldn’t help but chuckle at her fierce demeanor, “Well, you call me if that bastard is mean to you…I’ll come kick his ass,” Jeff shot up a determined brow.
“But, Jeff, honey…then you’d have to wait till I could bail you out of jail, and I don’t think that’s what you had in mind for our Friday night,” Diane replied in all seriousness that quirked into a smile and a laugh when she couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“Ok…I’ll get things wrapped up here, and I’ll see when you get back,” Jeff wrapped his arms tightly around Diane, bringing her close for a prolonged kiss.
Diane smiled as she turned to go, but then looked back for a moment before disappearing through the Crashdown’s back door.
“Oh, and, Jeff…”
“Yes, sweetheart?” Jeff looked back inquiringly.
Diane held open the door as she paused, then smiled broadly, “I love you, too….”
