Janetfl: It's so nice to be appreciated...
Alysluv: sure you can:
Natalie36: GOOD!!! Only 47 more to go.
Carolina_moon: Welcome to my story
Destinyc: watch tomorrow...more fun, little bit of angst; not too much though
Garcia88: I'll hurry!!!
Kate: You are so wise!!!
*~*~*
Chapter: 11When Liz woke up it was 3:30 in the afternoon. She couldn’t believe that she had slept that long. My God…the day is half over she thought to herself. She managed to roll over and hug her pillow for just another minute when she heard her door move open a little…she opened one eye and looked at the visitor standing there and smiled and said come on in as she sat up clutching her pillow to her chest.
“You going to sleep all day sleepy head?” Max asked as he walked across the room and sat on the edge of the bed.
“No, not really. I hadn’t planned on sleeping this long at all, but once I fell asleep I guess I stayed asleep. Feels good though.”
Max gave her a big smile and said “Good, you needed it. Now…what would you like to do for the rest of the day? We are all downstairs and are open to any suggestions.”
“Hey, I’m up for anything the rest of the group wants to do. Although I don’t think I want to do anything very physical. I haven’t worked out in almost a week and my body is starting to feel it.”
“My God Liz, why didn’t you say something, you know I have a fully equipped gym at the other end of the house that I use daily. You can work out with me. Do you want to go there now?”
“That would be great Max…just let me get some clothes on and I’ll meet you downstairs. Maybe everyone else would like to work out for awhile too…no?”
Max started laughing at her and then thought for a minute…Izzy looked like she might work out regularly and Alex sure looked pretty buff…as a matter of fact so did his mom and dad…”Hey, I’ll ask them…come on down when you’re ready okay?”
And on that note Liz crawled out of bed and started to make it up…when Max noticed she was going to make her bed he just shrugged his shoulders and headed to the other side and flipped the pillows onto the chair and proceeded to help her…she just looked at him and grinned…the big over-paid millionaire athlete making beds. Will wonders ever cease? Max gave her a grin, shrugged his shoulders and continued to help. They were finished in no time and Max headed on down the back stair case.
*~*~*~*
When Max came into the kitchen Isabelle was getting herself some water from the fridge, number 1, and she turned and asked Max if Liz had any ideas for entertainment. Max looked at her and grinned…”She wants to work out…”“Fantastic…why didn’t I think of that, I’ll go tell mom, dad and Alex to get into some comfortable clothes and meet us in the gym?”
Max looked at his sister like she was from another planet…who would have ever thought that she would want to work out? He shook his head and headed over to the pantry to retrieve a case of water…he wasn’t sure just how much water was left back there.
Soon Liz came down the back stairs and Max was waiting for her…”Do you need anything to eat or drink before we head on back…everyone is already back there waiting for us
Soon Isabelle returned and told Max that they would all meet them in the gym.
“And by everyone do you mean they are all up for this?”
“Yes they are…much to my surprise. As a matter of fact they were put out with themselves because they hadn’t thought of it. Put another feather in your cap Liz Parker, this is another first in the home of Max Evans. Family exercise.” And with that Max took Liz’s hand and they headed down the long hallway toward the work-out room (aka: the gym.)
*~*~*~*
When Liz walked into the gym she was flabbergasted…the entire room was lined with mirrors and one whole side of the room was set up with a ballet barre. Whoever this ice skater was he had to have been a millionaire in his own right to have afforded all of this. It doesn’t get more elaborate than this except in the movies. There was every kind of gym equipment imaginable. The first thing Liz did was head for the stair master. No one else was using it so she positioned herself, turned it on and started a steady rhythm to imaginary music. Max noticed the look in her eyes and pulled out a portable tape player with earphones and handed it to her. She gave him a smile, put the plugs in her ears and turned the player on. She gave him a shy smile and listened to the tunes of Alabama, Gary Allen and Dwight Yokum come through the ear phones. All of the music choices were set to the same beat so it wouldn’t interfere with the pace of the stair master. After listening to a few of the songs she looked over toward Max and smiled her appreciation. He remembered how much she enjoyed Country Music. She had always said it was so much easier to understand and each song told a story.
Soon everyone was talking and working away at their own comfort level and Max was doing his usual regimen. He really gave his body a work out and to say the rest of the room was impressed was an understatement. He had on a tank top and matching sweats and was really into this. The sweat was rolling down his back and his muscles rippled with each movement of his body. Liz was getting a little turned on at the sight of him and had to avert her attention before anybody noticed how she was staring at him. ‘God forgive me’ she thought to herself…I shouldn’t be thinking thoughts like this, I am still married and I will not degrade myself by having these thoughts. I will continue to conduct myself like a lady and treat my friend as just that. My friend, and ‘please, God, help me to do this’ she prayed silently to herself.
An hour after the workout started an alarm went off in the corner and Max stood up and gave everyone a big smile. Come on, we’re going swimming.
“Oh no Max, I don’t have a suit and I don’t want to go outside, not like this.” Liz begged.
“Ah but Liz, remember I told you I had an indoor pool…it’s right next door and through that room right there you will find many bathing suits just begging to be worn. Now get in there with Mom and Iz and find yourself something to put on. Dad, Alex and I will go into the room next to it and find something for us. Mom and Iz know where we’ll be when you come out. Now quit fretting and enjoy…there’s a Jacuzzi Liz…” He looked at her and grinned…
“Oh, okay…come on Diane…Iz, let’s get this show on the road.” And with that the ladies retired to the ladies dressing room and Liz was amazed. There was every kind of swim suit in just about every size you could imagine hanging on racks. She found a cute little white two piece number in her size and stepped behind a privacy screen and proceeded to change. Diane and Isabelle both grinned at her and started stripping. They didn’t see the need to hide themselves from each other but if Liz wanted privacy then she should have privacy. There were full length mirrors along the one side of the dressing room and a bench down the center for seating. Liz thought to herself that this had to have been one of the best places to train for any sport imaginable for a young person. How positively wonderful to be able to live a dream in a place like this. She was sure it was very hard work but it had to be pleasant as well to have lived in these surroundings.
She was soon finished daydreaming and stepped out into the dressing room and eyed herself in the mirrors. She really didn’t look too bad…she found a stray ribbon on one of the racks and grabbed her hair up into a high pony tail and tied it off…she was ready. She grabbed a towel from one of the shelves and headed out the door…Isabelle and Diane were standing there waiting for her and she apologized for taking so long.
“Liz, please don’t apologize, we just got out here also. Come on lets’ go relax and see what we can conjure up for tonight.” Isabelle said and Liz and Diane followed her to the pool next door. This was going to be fun…she just knew it.
When the ladies entered the pool area Liz had to stop and catch her breath. The room had glass walls on two sides as well as the ceiling. The water was possibly the bluest blue she had ever seen, although she knew it wasn’t the water at all and the entire area was marble. There were chairs and tables around the one end of the pool that lined one of the glass walls which gave the impression of being outside. Outside of those windows was a beautiful garden with a large hedge that provided privacy from the outside world yet giving a feeling of being outdoors. It was beautiful.
The men were already seated around the Jacuzzi but Liz just had to try the pool. She was on the swim team at the Y when she was younger and she really loved swimming. She dropped her towel (Max looked at her and gulped) and then she took a run and dove right in. She swam about ten laps before stepping out and then joined everyone else in the Jacuzzi. “Max, this is wonderful.” She sighed and Diane and Isabelle both started laughing. She looked at them puzzled and Diane was the first to speak…”Yes it is Liz…we are just surprised at how well you swim.”
“Oh, I love to swim. I belonged to the YWCA back in Roswell and I was on the swim team until…well…until Mom felt that when young ladies reached a certain age they should not be baring themselves…” Liz trailed off and let it drop.
Max looked at his dad and Philip just raised an eyebrow again and shook his head no…Max let it go. Max was beginning to understand his dad’s remarks about Nancy Parker. Things were starting to make sense to him now. Why didn’t he know all of this before? Maybe he was just too young to see and understand it all. Is that why she went to the prom from Maria’s house…did her mother not want her to go? This is just too weird Max thought.
Soon the discussion got around to the subject of dinner and Liz started to laugh.
Everyone looked at her and then Alex asked, “What’s so funny Liz?”
“Have you noticed that no matter what we are talking about we always wind up discussing food?” She giggled as she spoke.
Diane looked at her and said “You know, you’re right, but we really should decide…don’t you think?”
“Sure we should, I just thought it was funny. Why don’t we eat the leftovers from the bar-b-que before we have to throw all of that good food out? There’s enough chicken, potato salad, three bean salad and vege’s to have at least three more dinners, and the pantry is still full of pastries. What do you say…leftovers anyone?” Liz wasn’t trying to take over she just didn’t think that the rest of them knew just how much food Olivia had prepared before she left. They all agreed with Liz, leftovers sounded like a great idea and then Philip popped up with...
“Max, do you still have that trivial pursuit game?” and Diane and Isabelle both groaned…
“Yeah Dad, as a matter of fact I do…boys against the girls?”
“Sounds great!” Alex piped in and Diane and Isabelle groaned even louder.
Liz looked at the other two ladies and wondered what the problem was and asked as much…”We never win…that’s the problem…” Said Isabelle.
“Well there’s a first time for everything.” Liz retorted and stuck her tongue out at Alex and Max who in turn said in unison “You’re on Parker.” They all laughed as they stepped out of the Jacuzzi, grabbed their towels and headed back to the dressing rooms to change.
After they all took their showers they met in the kitchen again and started to pull out the leftover food from the bar-b-que and it was Liz’s turn to choose the eating place…she decided that they should just sit around the island…that way the clean up would be faster and they could get on with the game of trivial pursuit much faster. Again Diane and Isabelle groaned and the guys just laughed at them…Liz thought…’just you wait Max Evans…I am going to beat you even if I have to cheat,’ and then she blushed pink and started giggling.
“What’s got you so tickled Parker?” Max asked. Liz looked up at him innocently and thought…’I may have to go to confession after tonight’s game’…”Oh nothing, nothing at all Max.” And Max looked at her with a big question on his face. Nothing my ass he thought…she’s up to something and I don’t think we’re going to like it.
After they finished dinner Liz, Isabelle and Diane offered to clean up the kitchen and Max, Philip and Alex all headed to the library in search of the Trivial Pursuit game. Liz whispered to Diane and Isabelle to go get their cell phones and bring hers down with them…it was in her purse on the dresser in her room. They both looked at her with big eyes and wondered what the hell she had in mind but they did as she suggested. Liz kept cleaning up as the other two went on their mission to retrieve cell phones.
When they got back to the kitchen Liz had all of the food put away and all they had left was to load the dishwasher.
“Here’s the plan…we are going to set up a conference call on our cell phones and text each other the answers. When we know the answer just pull your hair behind your ear…even if there isn’t any to pull and check the text messages on your cell phone. If we aren’t positively sure of the answer don’t text…we’ll just take our chances at a guess, but if we are sure text it in. Okay?”
“Liz, you are positively the most devious person I have ever met…what on earth made you think of this?” Diane asked.
“It was that pompous son of yours and his superior attitude that got me to the point of cheating. I’ll go to confession next week but I am contemplating sinning tonight.” Liz huffed out.
Both Diane and Isabelle roared at her antics. My God was she fun to be around…this was going to be the downfall of those three pompous asses in the library tonight…good for Liz.
About that time Max came in to tell them the game was set up and to be prepared to eat dust. Liz just smirked at him and said “We’ll see who eats whose dust big boy.” And again Max got a weird feeling about this game. Diane and Isabelle both piped up and said “Bring it on Max…” And it was at this time that Max knew something was seriously wrong here.
*~*~*~*
About three hours later the men were still trying to catch up with the women and the women were ready to give them the game. They were all tired and Max had a big day tomorrow…
“Give it up Max…you lost, now let’s go to bed.” His mother practically begged him…
“No, not until we redeem ourselves.” Max retorted.
“Aw...Is the big boy upset because he didn’t win the game?” Liz chanted…
Max just glared at her…”What did you do you little minx? You know you did something sneaky and I want to know what it was.”
“Max, are you accusing me of being underhanded…me of all people…you should be ashamed of yourself.” Liz could hardly keep a straight face…she was texting behind her back ‘naner, naner, naner’ while they were arguing and pretty soon Max’s cell phone started buzzing in his pocket. He whipped it out and saw a message from Liz and when he read it he just looked at her and then started to chase her around the table.
Philip and Alex both wondered what in the hell was going on and then Diane and Isabelle both held up their cell phones for the men to see. They couldn’t believe that their wives could be so underhanded to cheat at a board game. Isabelle saw the look on her dad and Alex’s faces and she just burst into laughter…no one would ever believe that Liz Parker could dream up something like this. Oh, this was more fun than winning fair and square.
Finally Max out maneuvered Liz and he had her pinned to the floor and was tickling her unmercifully. “Promise me you will never cheat again? Promise…” Liz crossed her fingers behind Max’s back for everyone to see and yelled “I promise…”
“Good, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
“Oh Max, but I’m not the least bit sorry…you deserved it. You had ‘that holier than thou attitude’.”
“I never had a holier than thou attitude. Tell her Mom…did I ever act like that?”
“She’s got you there Max…now let’s go to bed.” And with that the group headed upstairs. Max hung back to make his rounds and then started to laugh…she really got him good. He loved it. The entire day was just wonderful.
*~*~*~*
