Part 28 – November 27, 2003
Max smiled over the phone. "So, was it horrible?"
"Yes, yes it was." Liz insisted. "From the turkey to the pumpkin pie. Dad kept on and on about how I needed to settle down and he didn't like me living in an apartment alone. Mom was arguing that being independent and single was a good thing. They argued like that all day." She sighed heavily. "How was your day?"
"Kal was his usual charming self for two hours and then he was gone. Tess is pouting in her room." His room was not comforting. "She doesn't understand why she can't go to Drew's today."
When she hesitated, he knew what she was trying to ask. "Did Zan show up?"
"No."
"Did you tell him I wasn't going to be in my apartment?" That definitely had his attention.
"I left him a voice mail. He's been really bitchy lately."
"Have not." The gruff voice sounded from the balcony.
Sitting up, Max could barely make out the hunched figure in the shadows outside the room. "Hold on, I think he's here." The pain in that face spoke volumes. "I'll call you back."
"Tell him to call me. I miss him."
"Will do." Zan didn't bother to get up. Max pushed the door open wider and tossed his phone on the bed. "You hungry?" He shrugged. "What's up?"
"Nothin'." Zan spat out and got to his feet at last. "I ain't got nothin'. When I ain't got food or money, I got my crew. I got ev'rythin' I eva wanted and I ain't got shit. Ava won't talk to me. I cain't just come down here no more. Liz always got some shit she gotta do. You sis is scared shitless of me and I ain't got friends no more. People I work wit… they ain't friends. They cardboard cut-outs of real people."
"You can come down whenever you want." Max shook his head.
"No, I cain't. I's busy all the time. I got school and shoots and meetings with editors. Marg got me talkin' to some guy that's gonna get me inta actin'."
"That's good, isn't it?"
"'Cept that I'm gonna turn into one a them." He sank onto the bed. "I gettin' hollow. I ain't got laid in three months. I wake up, I eat. I got to school. I go to shoots. I do homework. I eat. I sleep. I do the same thin' all over agin. English professor gits pissed cause I don't talk right. Marg is on me to bulk up some. Craig wudn't gon let me go this mornin'. He wanted to shoot straight through tonight."
"Come on." Max motioned for the door. "Let's get some food in you."
Max picked at a slice of pie while Zan managed to eat his fair share of the leftovers. A tension hung in the hair that prickled at Max's brain. The same thing he felt when he talked to Liz most times these days. Last week he had decided he didn't want to know but he knew. He did. Liz's not so casual questions about Zan. Zan's two second calls to see what was up, never leaving time to ask or to talk.
"I'm goin' crazy." Zan whispered over his pie. "I wanna vanish."
"Why?"
"I ain't got nobody."
"Liz has been asking about you."
"Right." Zan scoffed.
"I was just talking to her. She sounds worried about you."
"It's our shit. You ain't gotta worry bout it."
December 18, 2003
Max sipped his cranberry juice and let the soothing jazz settle over him. Tess and Drew were hanging off the balcony pointing and laughing at the people below him. Zan sat in a dark corner with more than a few shot glasses in front of him and a glass of water. He hadn't said a word when he showed up at the last minute except that he was looking for company and a good stiff drink.
There was nothing that would distract him tonight. There was a painfully shy singer/pianist on the stage hitting on some modern-classic jazz moments and that was the only thing concerning him tonight. Every once in a while he looked over at Zan, who had yet to take the shots sitting in front of him. The guy had been miserable for months but he wouldn't talk about why. Max wasn't about to push it.
--
Zan was fluttering by the time they got home. Max had made him sit up front with him while they drove Drew home. Two blocks from home, the flashing began. The tall glass of water hadn't been enough to offset the shots he had taken before they left. He ran the tap cold in the tub and shoved Zan in at the nearest opportunity. Once the shivering had stopped and he was sure Zan was sober, he sat on the toilet and looked over the cold, wet drunk. "What the hell is going on?"
"Nothin'." Zan shook his head and shut his eyes against the bright bathroom light. "Nothin' at all."
"You come down here and you bring us down and you won't talk about it but whatever it is…" Max shook his head. "It's eating you alive."
"Yeah, it is." Zan stared at his knees. "I'm gon sit here a while."
"Not too long. I still don't know if we can get pneumonia."
"Sure thin', chief."
Max checked in on Tess. It was all he was allowed to do anymore. No more stories, no more tucking in and absolutely no more kisses goodnight… but she still slept with a stuffed wolf. As grown up as she had become, she was still young and Max couldn't help but cling to that. He had been tired of playing brother and father and mother but now that he was limited to brother, he missed everything else. In less than a month he would be starting his sixth semester and he had buddies at school. He had girls he flirted with. There were people he knew but he didn't have a life.
Tess needed him less and less. Zan's depression was all-consuming. He talked to Isabel when she had a moment, Michael once in a blue moon, Liz when she wasn't homesick… of course Kal called to make sure everything had settled down but that was it. That was all of it and it was pretty pathetic.
TBC
Where Once Stood Kings (Mature, Max) (Complete)
Moderators: Itzstacie, Forum Moderators
Part 29 – December 31, 2003/January 1, 2004
Part 29 – December 31, 2003/January 1, 2004
Max made his way through middle-aged men and women with their champagne glasses, their friends and sometimes grown children to find Tess and Drew sipping cider while they nodded to someone they knew from their group. In the next room a few of the people he knew from school were looking over his portfolios, commenting on this and that. Upstairs, a group of Zan's friends were lying in throb of the music pulsing from the speakers. He seemed to be in a better mood and ignoring the couple in the corner. So far none of the groups had clashed but it was still a couple of hours until midnight.
Tess had been doing overtime in the kitchen and there was no way they were going to run out of food. The whole thing made him smile a little. Represented in this house, drinking all the same things, eating all the same things were people from many different walks of life. All he needed was a hooker and a transvestite of either sex to complete the living art in the house. It made him go hunt for his camera and some film.
He didn't need anything once he got on a roll. Then when Zan's friends wandered downstairs for food, the pictures turned into candid art. One of Zan's buddies had taken hold of a motherly woman and showed her how to move to the music. One of his girls had struck up a conversation with the book group leader and giving him some interesting new insights on the classics. It was beautiful. The photographers were examining tattoos and interesting jewelry as well has hand-knit sweater patterns.
When Isabel and Jesse showed up as they promised they would try, he was too busy reloading his camera. What caught his attention was Michael's teasing voice. Turning, he snapped off a series of pictures of the newcomers before extending his hand to the men and opening his arms to his sister. "Welcome to the zoo."
"Can I ask?" Isabel pointed to a woman of about 60 trying to keep up with a 20-something to a loud thumping rap song.
"No barriers in this house tonight." Max flashed her a smile. "People are calling friends of friends and strangers are showing up but nothing's getting out of control. It's kismet. I think one of Zan's buddies talked a former nun into getting a tattoo of Jesus on her ass."
"You're kidding." Jesse glanced around. "And to think… we almost didn't make it down here."
Max grabbed Zan when he saw him passing by. Zan tossed a nod at Jesse and Isabel, then froze when he saw Michael. Max looked to Isabel when Michael and Zan looked each other over before dismissing each other completely. "Catch you later, Max."
When he disappeared into the growing crowd in the parlor, Michael turned to Max. "I didn't know he was going to be here."
"He stays here on break." Max shook his head. "What was that all about?"
"Liz didn't tell you?" Michael scratched at his forehead until Max shook his head. "Then I'm not going to. Excuse me, where's the food?"
The three of them stared after him in shock. Isabel snapped out of it first. "I don't know what's going on. You mention Liz and he goes apeshit."
"You talked to him about…"
"You know I did." Isabel pulled Max into the dark music room. "His dreams match yours, not Jesse's visions or whatever. He's not seeing the home planet or coming to Earth. He's been fighting the war in his sleep… like you and Zan. I've been… reliving my part in it all in my dreams. This… what he's going through now… it's not that."
"How long?"
"Few months?"
"I don’t know either. Zan's been… depressed. We both have been but him more than me." Max sank onto the piano bench. "Now I know that Michael had something to do with it as well."
--
"10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2… Happy New Year!"
"Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind."
Max ducked out of the parlor and into the kitchen to give Tess a kiss on the cheek. She blushed and shoved him away. When he made it into the dining room, Isabel and Jesse were bringing in the New Year by themselves. Zan had his tongue down some girl's throat. Michael was in the hallway talking to a girl from one of Max's classes. The last person he expected to find seated at the dining table was Kal. "Happy New Year, Kid"
"What are you doing here?"
"Checking in." Kal lit up and examined his king for a moment. "Got a warning. These dreams and what not… not for nothing." He sucked in a breath and blew it out slowly. "Seems I made a mistake in giving your other a contract."
"How do you mean?" Max approached the table so he could lower his voice, though if anyone could hear above the music it would be a miracle.
"My way has always been publicity, throwing it in our enemies' face that I was doing whatever the hell I wanted." Kal motioned for Max to sit, which he did not. "Had you or your sister been of a canned-ham persuasion, your faces would be plastered all over Hollywood. Our friend, your framer, gave the enemy a sneak-peek at the final and Zan is in danger."
"What?"
"Luckily I had managed to keep your picture out of the papers last summer. He didn't have time to give out your location. Zan needs to stay here until I take care of a pint-sized problem."
"How do I know when the problem is taken care of?"
"When you wake up dead, you'll know it hasn't been. Otherwise, I will be back to cast your buddy in a campy first-timer project I'm backing."
"We're just supposed to sit here like ducks in a pond?" Max slammed his hands on the table, getting people's attention. All parties not related made their exits, all parties related not in the room entered. "Sure Zan, Tess and I will be here where you want us but what about Isabel and Michael and Ava? They have to fend for themselves. If they can find Zan, they can find the rest of us."
"I'm taking care of it." Kal got to his feet and smoothed his dinner jacket. "You stay put and I'll take care of it."
"Can you guarantee our safety?"
"There are no guarantees, kid."
"Promise that we'll have some warning." Max lowered his voice as everyone stepped closer. "A clue that things have gone wrong before they have a chance to get us by surprise."
"I'm going hunting." Kal headed for the door. "I'll give you a call in two days."
--
Everyone had left by three. Save for Zan, the New Yorkers had all gone home. Tess and Drew had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. Max and Zan were alone in the music room, the only room that wasn't completely unrecognizable as clean. Zan shook his head and kicked a cushion against the couch. "All cuz of me."
"No."
"Yeah."
"Would've happened to one of us." Max shrugged and slouched in his chair. "Where's your date?"
"Quickie in the bathroom, she went home."
Max snapped his head to his dupe. "What?"
"My bathroom, not yours."
"Okay." They stayed in the dark for a long time. "What was up with you and Michael?"
"Nothin'."
"That's bullshit if I ever smelt it."
"You know I like Liz, right?" Zan sat on the arm of the couch. "She's great. Like a sister…" He shrugged a little. "I went by one night… got more than I shoulda."
"How's that?"
"Mikey was there… I couldn't handle it. I flipped. I… cain't look at her the same."
"Because Michael was there."
"Cuza what she was doin' to him." He leaned over to pick up the cushion. "I cain't git it outta my head. I cain't talk to her or nothin' witout seein' it." When he looked over to Max, he knew he had made a mistake in finally telling him. "Mikey ain't tell you?"
"No." Max shook his head and got to his feet. "She didn't tell me either."
"Hey, bro… you cool? I mean, you ain't been seein' her right? Not for a long time?"
"I'm cool. Just tired. I'm gonna…" He pointed to the stairs and trudged up to fall face first on the bed. Happy New Year.
TBC
Max made his way through middle-aged men and women with their champagne glasses, their friends and sometimes grown children to find Tess and Drew sipping cider while they nodded to someone they knew from their group. In the next room a few of the people he knew from school were looking over his portfolios, commenting on this and that. Upstairs, a group of Zan's friends were lying in throb of the music pulsing from the speakers. He seemed to be in a better mood and ignoring the couple in the corner. So far none of the groups had clashed but it was still a couple of hours until midnight.
Tess had been doing overtime in the kitchen and there was no way they were going to run out of food. The whole thing made him smile a little. Represented in this house, drinking all the same things, eating all the same things were people from many different walks of life. All he needed was a hooker and a transvestite of either sex to complete the living art in the house. It made him go hunt for his camera and some film.
He didn't need anything once he got on a roll. Then when Zan's friends wandered downstairs for food, the pictures turned into candid art. One of Zan's buddies had taken hold of a motherly woman and showed her how to move to the music. One of his girls had struck up a conversation with the book group leader and giving him some interesting new insights on the classics. It was beautiful. The photographers were examining tattoos and interesting jewelry as well has hand-knit sweater patterns.
When Isabel and Jesse showed up as they promised they would try, he was too busy reloading his camera. What caught his attention was Michael's teasing voice. Turning, he snapped off a series of pictures of the newcomers before extending his hand to the men and opening his arms to his sister. "Welcome to the zoo."
"Can I ask?" Isabel pointed to a woman of about 60 trying to keep up with a 20-something to a loud thumping rap song.
"No barriers in this house tonight." Max flashed her a smile. "People are calling friends of friends and strangers are showing up but nothing's getting out of control. It's kismet. I think one of Zan's buddies talked a former nun into getting a tattoo of Jesus on her ass."
"You're kidding." Jesse glanced around. "And to think… we almost didn't make it down here."
Max grabbed Zan when he saw him passing by. Zan tossed a nod at Jesse and Isabel, then froze when he saw Michael. Max looked to Isabel when Michael and Zan looked each other over before dismissing each other completely. "Catch you later, Max."
When he disappeared into the growing crowd in the parlor, Michael turned to Max. "I didn't know he was going to be here."
"He stays here on break." Max shook his head. "What was that all about?"
"Liz didn't tell you?" Michael scratched at his forehead until Max shook his head. "Then I'm not going to. Excuse me, where's the food?"
The three of them stared after him in shock. Isabel snapped out of it first. "I don't know what's going on. You mention Liz and he goes apeshit."
"You talked to him about…"
"You know I did." Isabel pulled Max into the dark music room. "His dreams match yours, not Jesse's visions or whatever. He's not seeing the home planet or coming to Earth. He's been fighting the war in his sleep… like you and Zan. I've been… reliving my part in it all in my dreams. This… what he's going through now… it's not that."
"How long?"
"Few months?"
"I don’t know either. Zan's been… depressed. We both have been but him more than me." Max sank onto the piano bench. "Now I know that Michael had something to do with it as well."
--
"10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2… Happy New Year!"
"Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind."
Max ducked out of the parlor and into the kitchen to give Tess a kiss on the cheek. She blushed and shoved him away. When he made it into the dining room, Isabel and Jesse were bringing in the New Year by themselves. Zan had his tongue down some girl's throat. Michael was in the hallway talking to a girl from one of Max's classes. The last person he expected to find seated at the dining table was Kal. "Happy New Year, Kid"
"What are you doing here?"
"Checking in." Kal lit up and examined his king for a moment. "Got a warning. These dreams and what not… not for nothing." He sucked in a breath and blew it out slowly. "Seems I made a mistake in giving your other a contract."
"How do you mean?" Max approached the table so he could lower his voice, though if anyone could hear above the music it would be a miracle.
"My way has always been publicity, throwing it in our enemies' face that I was doing whatever the hell I wanted." Kal motioned for Max to sit, which he did not. "Had you or your sister been of a canned-ham persuasion, your faces would be plastered all over Hollywood. Our friend, your framer, gave the enemy a sneak-peek at the final and Zan is in danger."
"What?"
"Luckily I had managed to keep your picture out of the papers last summer. He didn't have time to give out your location. Zan needs to stay here until I take care of a pint-sized problem."
"How do I know when the problem is taken care of?"
"When you wake up dead, you'll know it hasn't been. Otherwise, I will be back to cast your buddy in a campy first-timer project I'm backing."
"We're just supposed to sit here like ducks in a pond?" Max slammed his hands on the table, getting people's attention. All parties not related made their exits, all parties related not in the room entered. "Sure Zan, Tess and I will be here where you want us but what about Isabel and Michael and Ava? They have to fend for themselves. If they can find Zan, they can find the rest of us."
"I'm taking care of it." Kal got to his feet and smoothed his dinner jacket. "You stay put and I'll take care of it."
"Can you guarantee our safety?"
"There are no guarantees, kid."
"Promise that we'll have some warning." Max lowered his voice as everyone stepped closer. "A clue that things have gone wrong before they have a chance to get us by surprise."
"I'm going hunting." Kal headed for the door. "I'll give you a call in two days."
--
Everyone had left by three. Save for Zan, the New Yorkers had all gone home. Tess and Drew had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. Max and Zan were alone in the music room, the only room that wasn't completely unrecognizable as clean. Zan shook his head and kicked a cushion against the couch. "All cuz of me."
"No."
"Yeah."
"Would've happened to one of us." Max shrugged and slouched in his chair. "Where's your date?"
"Quickie in the bathroom, she went home."
Max snapped his head to his dupe. "What?"
"My bathroom, not yours."
"Okay." They stayed in the dark for a long time. "What was up with you and Michael?"
"Nothin'."
"That's bullshit if I ever smelt it."
"You know I like Liz, right?" Zan sat on the arm of the couch. "She's great. Like a sister…" He shrugged a little. "I went by one night… got more than I shoulda."
"How's that?"
"Mikey was there… I couldn't handle it. I flipped. I… cain't look at her the same."
"Because Michael was there."
"Cuza what she was doin' to him." He leaned over to pick up the cushion. "I cain't git it outta my head. I cain't talk to her or nothin' witout seein' it." When he looked over to Max, he knew he had made a mistake in finally telling him. "Mikey ain't tell you?"
"No." Max shook his head and got to his feet. "She didn't tell me either."
"Hey, bro… you cool? I mean, you ain't been seein' her right? Not for a long time?"
"I'm cool. Just tired. I'm gonna…" He pointed to the stairs and trudged up to fall face first on the bed. Happy New Year.
TBC
Part 30 – January 2, 2004
Part 30 – January 2, 2004
Tess placed a plate of buttered rolls on the table and ran to check her eggs. It was early morning and Max had been awake for hours already. Zan had been on the phone for hours trying to track down Ava. Max doubted that either of them would be eating much. He must have dozed off because the next thing he knew, there was a plate of eggs, pancakes and bacon beneath his chin. Zan was a quarter way through his plate, still on the phone and the doorbell was ringing. Shutting his eyes, he let Tess answer the door.
"Who died?" A sharp gasp. "I'm sorry, did someone die?"
Both Max and Zan looked up to find Liz standing in the doorway. "Is this a bad time? I called yesterday and Tess said it would be okay… I should have asked for one of you… shouldn't I?"
"No." Max shook his head and offered her a seat. "You hungry?"
"Um… sure…"
"I'll get it." Tess disappeared into the kitchen and promptly returned with a plate of breakfast. "I knew you were coming."
"Thank you, Tess." Liz flashed her a smile and turned to Max. "What's going on?"
"Um… Zan has a bad feeling about his ex-girlfriend and he's trying to track her down." Max took a bite of his eggs but they could have been tree lichen for all he tasted them. "So. How was the other night? Many old people?"
"It was okay. Didn't have to puree more than five dinners. Seems everyone but a few had some new polydent on their teeth." Liz shrugged. "You?"
"Had a bunch of people over, mingling. The Ramirezes and Michael came by kinda late."
"Oh?" Liz froze, her eyes on her plate. "Did Michael and Zan… clash?"
"Only a little." Max nodded and lowered his voice slightly. "How are things with you and Michael?"
"Um…" She cut her pancakes into little squares.
"I've had two days to get used to the idea. It's okay. I'm just making conversation anyway."
"Is he going to talk to me? Or is he going to avoid me like he's been doing?"
"Zan? He's… he's adjusting. Whatever circumstances he found you in… he'd rather have not." Max suddenly found pancakes a good way to shut his mouth.
"It's not something we planned to happened, you know? Michael flew up to spend some time with me. His parents wanted him to come, they thought it'd liven him up. We had fun but he'd have these awful night terrors. One night…"
"Things happened." Max finished for her and reached for the juice bottle on the table.
"Yeah. What Zan walked in on… I didn't mean for him to see that. Was he… jealous? I can't figure out exactly what set him off and that's the only thing I could figure." Liz hissed.
"No. Not jealousy." Max glanced over at Zan on the other side of the room. "If you had a little sister and you walked in on her and her boyfriend, someone you know and wouldn't want her with, how would you feel?"
"What?" Liz blinked at him.
"It creeped him out. He doesn't see you as a sexual being." Max reached for the bacon on her plate. "He was a little disappointed, I guess. He really didn't say much." He shrugged and polished off his pancakes. This was a lot harder than he thought it would be… and that bothered him a little.
"Oh."
"Don't worry. Michael didn't hook up with anyone while he was here."
"Well, it's not like that between us anyway." It was Liz's turn to suddenly find the food very tasty.
Zan slammed the phone down on the table. He was very aggravated and frustrated with the whole Ava situation but he wasn't going to leave it be. He had overheard their conversation and looked Liz over with something off in his eyes. Max knew he should have stopped him but a sick part of him wanted Zan to blow up. That sick part wanted Zan to blurt out everything he wouldn't dare say himself. "Damn, girl. Not ev'rybody's gotta be in love wit you. I know 'xactly what goes down 'tween you and Mikey. That ain't love. It's a band-aid. I ain't in love wit you and maybe that's why I cain't let you fuck up your life like this. Maybe Mikey do love you. I don't know. I cin't read minds." He rose from his chair and grabbed a cigarette, turning away to light it before whirling back on them. "It ain't love when it shows up once in a blue moon and don't ask permission first. Takin' ain't lovin', learn it. Max might be the only fool crazy 'nuff to love you but he don't know you like I do. He bends over backward to make you feel special and you won't have it cuz you got the lawyer fool and the scientist fool and the Marine fool all takin' from you. He ain't know what you is before but he do now. He do now and it makes him sick. If you so damn smart, start usin' them brains."
They sat in frozen silence as he rushed out of the room. When the upstairs door slammed shut, the tear fell from Liz's eye. She was two seconds from running out the door but Max's voice stopped her. "I'm not perfect. I screw around all the time… and he's one to talk. He had a quickie with some girl in the bathroom and he probably hasn't called her yet." Max sipped his orange juice. "He didn't mean half of what he said."
"And the other half?"
"I wouldn't know."
"I should go."
"I think you should wait until he calms down and apologizes. He's stressed out. If you hadn't been here, he would have gone off on me." Max cleared his throat. "I don't know about you but I suddenly need a nap."
After a moment, Tess came out from under the table where no one had even seen her go. "What's wrong with him, Max?"
"He's sad." Max reassured her. "He can't find Ava and it doesn't make him feel too good. He'll be better soon." He had just risen to collect Zan's half eaten plate when the phone rang. "Hello?"
"Heard you boys was lookin' for me."
"This Ava?"
"Sharp dog. Where's my boy?"
"Hold on." Max handed the plate off to Tess. "See. It's Ava. Zan will be good as new, soon."
"Max, should I leave?" Liz got to her feet.
"If I were you… I wouldn't leave until Zan apologizes, really apologizes. You know how proud he is. If you leave without letting him… he won't be around for a long time…" Max took a heavy breath. "Even if he was out of line…"
"He wasn't." Liz averted her eyes. "Sorry."
"Go take a walk…" Max nodded to the door. "Maybe Ava can talk some sense into him."
"Yeah, I might." She nodded, reaching for her plate to put away.
Max nodded stiffly and jogged up the stairs. He knocked lightly on the door but Zan didn't answer. Forcing open the door, Max threw the phone at Zan's feet where he lay on the bed. "It's Ava."
"Can you tell Liz I ain't mean it? What all I said…" Zan wiped his hand over his face.
"You tell her, after you warn Ava."
TBC
Tess placed a plate of buttered rolls on the table and ran to check her eggs. It was early morning and Max had been awake for hours already. Zan had been on the phone for hours trying to track down Ava. Max doubted that either of them would be eating much. He must have dozed off because the next thing he knew, there was a plate of eggs, pancakes and bacon beneath his chin. Zan was a quarter way through his plate, still on the phone and the doorbell was ringing. Shutting his eyes, he let Tess answer the door.
"Who died?" A sharp gasp. "I'm sorry, did someone die?"
Both Max and Zan looked up to find Liz standing in the doorway. "Is this a bad time? I called yesterday and Tess said it would be okay… I should have asked for one of you… shouldn't I?"
"No." Max shook his head and offered her a seat. "You hungry?"
"Um… sure…"
"I'll get it." Tess disappeared into the kitchen and promptly returned with a plate of breakfast. "I knew you were coming."
"Thank you, Tess." Liz flashed her a smile and turned to Max. "What's going on?"
"Um… Zan has a bad feeling about his ex-girlfriend and he's trying to track her down." Max took a bite of his eggs but they could have been tree lichen for all he tasted them. "So. How was the other night? Many old people?"
"It was okay. Didn't have to puree more than five dinners. Seems everyone but a few had some new polydent on their teeth." Liz shrugged. "You?"
"Had a bunch of people over, mingling. The Ramirezes and Michael came by kinda late."
"Oh?" Liz froze, her eyes on her plate. "Did Michael and Zan… clash?"
"Only a little." Max nodded and lowered his voice slightly. "How are things with you and Michael?"
"Um…" She cut her pancakes into little squares.
"I've had two days to get used to the idea. It's okay. I'm just making conversation anyway."
"Is he going to talk to me? Or is he going to avoid me like he's been doing?"
"Zan? He's… he's adjusting. Whatever circumstances he found you in… he'd rather have not." Max suddenly found pancakes a good way to shut his mouth.
"It's not something we planned to happened, you know? Michael flew up to spend some time with me. His parents wanted him to come, they thought it'd liven him up. We had fun but he'd have these awful night terrors. One night…"
"Things happened." Max finished for her and reached for the juice bottle on the table.
"Yeah. What Zan walked in on… I didn't mean for him to see that. Was he… jealous? I can't figure out exactly what set him off and that's the only thing I could figure." Liz hissed.
"No. Not jealousy." Max glanced over at Zan on the other side of the room. "If you had a little sister and you walked in on her and her boyfriend, someone you know and wouldn't want her with, how would you feel?"
"What?" Liz blinked at him.
"It creeped him out. He doesn't see you as a sexual being." Max reached for the bacon on her plate. "He was a little disappointed, I guess. He really didn't say much." He shrugged and polished off his pancakes. This was a lot harder than he thought it would be… and that bothered him a little.
"Oh."
"Don't worry. Michael didn't hook up with anyone while he was here."
"Well, it's not like that between us anyway." It was Liz's turn to suddenly find the food very tasty.
Zan slammed the phone down on the table. He was very aggravated and frustrated with the whole Ava situation but he wasn't going to leave it be. He had overheard their conversation and looked Liz over with something off in his eyes. Max knew he should have stopped him but a sick part of him wanted Zan to blow up. That sick part wanted Zan to blurt out everything he wouldn't dare say himself. "Damn, girl. Not ev'rybody's gotta be in love wit you. I know 'xactly what goes down 'tween you and Mikey. That ain't love. It's a band-aid. I ain't in love wit you and maybe that's why I cain't let you fuck up your life like this. Maybe Mikey do love you. I don't know. I cin't read minds." He rose from his chair and grabbed a cigarette, turning away to light it before whirling back on them. "It ain't love when it shows up once in a blue moon and don't ask permission first. Takin' ain't lovin', learn it. Max might be the only fool crazy 'nuff to love you but he don't know you like I do. He bends over backward to make you feel special and you won't have it cuz you got the lawyer fool and the scientist fool and the Marine fool all takin' from you. He ain't know what you is before but he do now. He do now and it makes him sick. If you so damn smart, start usin' them brains."
They sat in frozen silence as he rushed out of the room. When the upstairs door slammed shut, the tear fell from Liz's eye. She was two seconds from running out the door but Max's voice stopped her. "I'm not perfect. I screw around all the time… and he's one to talk. He had a quickie with some girl in the bathroom and he probably hasn't called her yet." Max sipped his orange juice. "He didn't mean half of what he said."
"And the other half?"
"I wouldn't know."
"I should go."
"I think you should wait until he calms down and apologizes. He's stressed out. If you hadn't been here, he would have gone off on me." Max cleared his throat. "I don't know about you but I suddenly need a nap."
After a moment, Tess came out from under the table where no one had even seen her go. "What's wrong with him, Max?"
"He's sad." Max reassured her. "He can't find Ava and it doesn't make him feel too good. He'll be better soon." He had just risen to collect Zan's half eaten plate when the phone rang. "Hello?"
"Heard you boys was lookin' for me."
"This Ava?"
"Sharp dog. Where's my boy?"
"Hold on." Max handed the plate off to Tess. "See. It's Ava. Zan will be good as new, soon."
"Max, should I leave?" Liz got to her feet.
"If I were you… I wouldn't leave until Zan apologizes, really apologizes. You know how proud he is. If you leave without letting him… he won't be around for a long time…" Max took a heavy breath. "Even if he was out of line…"
"He wasn't." Liz averted her eyes. "Sorry."
"Go take a walk…" Max nodded to the door. "Maybe Ava can talk some sense into him."
"Yeah, I might." She nodded, reaching for her plate to put away.
Max nodded stiffly and jogged up the stairs. He knocked lightly on the door but Zan didn't answer. Forcing open the door, Max threw the phone at Zan's feet where he lay on the bed. "It's Ava."
"Can you tell Liz I ain't mean it? What all I said…" Zan wiped his hand over his face.
"You tell her, after you warn Ava."
TBC
Part 31 – January 3, 2004
Part 31 – January 3, 2004
When the phone rang that afternoon, Max dove over Liz to get it. It was a telemarketer. He was starting to get worried. His mind kept racing around all the angles the longer that Kal was out of touch. He couldn't just send Liz home now. She was waiting on Zan. She and Zan were close. That meant if they had been following him, they knew were Liz lived and they knew where they lived. Liz kept giving him strange looks but he was two seconds from lighting up next to Zan. Ava was going to hide somewhere she could be safe, it would be too dangerous to travel halfway across the country if they weren't going to be there.
"What in the world was all that about?" Liz furrowed her brow at him.
"I'm… waiting on an important phone call."
"Warn me before you leap over me next time?"
"Yeah." Max returned to his seat. "Sorry."
"I should go home." She sighed heavily and turned her body towards him. "I know we talked about this and I shouldn't but I feel like I owe you an explanation."
"You don't." Shrugged his shoulders and turned his eyes back to the TV. "We're not dating, haven't even been together in a good long while."
"The thing with Michael just happened. Comfort, distraction."
"You don't have to explain to me."
"It doesn't bother you?"
"Yes, it does but you don't have to do this. I don't want to know this."
"Oh." Her eyes dropped to her hands. "I don't understand Zan. He knew everything but something about Michael set him off."
Max had to think about that one. "Ask Zan."
"He never says."
So he took a stab at it. "Zan knew a guy that Michael reminds him of… a lot. I get the feeling that while this guy would go after a girl when Zan broke it off with her… Zan wouldn't do the same. It's dirty to him."
"He thinks I'm tainted now?"
"No. That… dirtiness… he's disappointed that you would with him." Max cleared his throat. "You don't have to tell me anything. I've… done my share of screwing around for whatever reason. I'm not going to give you a blow by blow account."
"What is Zan's problem really?" Liz shut her eyes when she looked up and saw him there.
"I's mad, not at you." Zan mumbled, head hanging in shame. "Didn't mean to cut you down like that."
--
Max listened to Liz and Tess playing on the piano and turned to Zan. "You get it all worked out?"
"I guess. I knew. I did but I didn't eva know." Zan shook his head and pulled on his cigarette. "I ain't no betta. If it wudn't for the way we's wired, I wouldn't be surprised if I had a kid out there for all the screwin' 'round I done."
"Kal hasn't called yet." Max changed the subject as quickly as he could.
"Give him til midnight. He ain't called by then. We go."
"We can't leave Liz."
"We cain't take her."
"If they know you, they know her."
"You sis?"
"She gave me the impression she wasn't going to change her life for this one and I agreed that she should be extra careful and continue to live the life she's got." Max shook his head and reached for Zan's cigarette. "I'm crawling in my skin."
"Know what you mean."
"Hey guys." Liz poked her head outside. She had a strange expression on her face. "My phone just rang but… it's for you, Max. It's your uncle. How does he have my number?"
--
Max opened the door for them all and ushered them inside. This was the one fallback place they had. Kal had dropped him the directions discreetly once and never mentioned it. Kal had never been up. "Three bedrooms, one bathroom and the best of everything."
Liz dropped the bag she had been carrying. Tess moved straight for the bathroom. Zan dropped a bag of food on the counter and started unpacking. Max shut the door and began checking the windows and the line of sight from each one. When he emerged from the last bedroom. "This one's for keeping watch. You can see the road from it. We'll use the other two."
"I'll take first leg." Zan nodded and grabbed a box of crackers. "Talk to your girl and get the fires started."
"That smart?"
"For her, not us." He jerked his head toward Liz before he disappeared into the room.
Liz kept quiet as Max stacked some logs in the fireplace. Tess returned from the bathroom, grabbed her bag, kissed Max's cheek and disappeared into one of the other rooms. It was when he started searching for matches that she could no longer keep quiet. "Max, what's going on?"
"This is hard to explain." Max patted all his pockets but he knew he didn't have any and they hadn't bought any.
"You rush me out of your house with a bag of borrowed clothes and we come out to the middle of nowhere to a cabin that no one knows about. I've been very trusting but I need some answers."
"We're different, Liz. All of us. Kal, Zan, Tess, Ava, Michael, Isabel… me… we're not like everyone else." He waved a hand over the logs and they burst into flame. Her gasp filled his ears. "I would never intentionally hurt you. I hope you know that."
"How did you do that?"
"It's something we can do." Grabbing a poker, he knelt to help spread the flame more evenly for a steady burn. "It's cold for you, come get warm." She moved hesitantly but sat beside him and held her hands to the flame. "I've seen inside you, Liz. I never meant to but it happened and I saw everything that you are. Every event that shaped you into the woman sitting beside me."
"Why don't I know the same stuff about you?"
"I never tried to share it back. You used to be such an open person."
"I still am."
"Are you? Sometimes I think I don't know you… but then… I don't know me." Max reached for her hands slowly as he sat near to the fire. "If you are still a very open person, try to be now. I've pulled you into something I never should have."
"What?" Liz peered at him. "Is your uncle in the mob?"
"See, you've already pushed what I did with the fire out of your mind."
"I haven't."
"But you didn't how I was different. You asked if we were entangled with the mob." Max plucked at her bracelet. After a moment, the tiny charms all turned into roses, then into rain drops and back into their natural form. "I can do that because of what I am."
"Who you are, not what."
"Both. I am technically a who, but more of a what." Max pulled her up to her feet and onto the musty couch nearby. "I want to tell you a story. You may not see us the same but I want you to know that we all care about you because of the loving person you are. Isabel, Michael and I all saw it in you. Zan and Tess did later because they trusted that I trusted you. Even Kal knows you are something different."
"Ava? I heard you mention her earlier."
"Maybe she will. Let me explain first. I'll still be the same person only… you'll know more about me, about us."
--
"So, why are we out here, then?" Liz whispered, she knew her hands were shaking but his holding on was the only thing keeping her from running out into the woods. "Why did we leave in such a hurry?"
"We have enemies. Kal lied to me. They… A traitor showed their leader a picture of what we would look like when we grew up. They saw Zan in a magazine. They tried to draw us out. The traitor is in federal custody now and will soon meet with an ill fate… but only the ones after us can be stopped. Kal's not sure he can get out alive. He called a day late but he called. No one knows about this place. I don't even think he's ever been here."
"Why did I need to come?"
"Zan hung out with you, made frequent trips… more so than to my place. They would know about you. We wanted you to be safe." Max stared into her eyes and smiled. "That girl I met in Roswell… sometimes I see her in your eyes."
"She's in here somewhere." Liz shrugged. "She's different, though. Transformed. She tried to change for you… it didn't work. She wanted to be like the other girls you knew."
"I didn't like those other girls so much."
"I realize that now. But…" She realized her hands stopped shaking. "Is there a title that I should address you by?"
"I was a king, sure… but in this life… I'd make a pretty pathetic one. I'm not a leader. I'm a watcher."
"You want to be a watcher. The day will come when you can't watch anymore."
"I don't deserve a friend like you."
"Don't say things like that. You aren't as pathetic as you think you are. You…" Her hands reached up to cup his face. "Are beautiful and it reflects in the way you see things. Your pictures can make me cry and laugh and hurt and fly all at the same time. That is anything but pathetic, Max. You have the ability to reach people, to bring them out of their shells and show them what they're worth."
"And you?"
"What about me?"
"You know how to make a guy feel special."
"A trick my gramma taught me. Love everyone, she said. Find out what makes them different from yourself. Strengths in one person could be weakness in other people and vice versa. A heart is always open, even if sometimes the mind is closed."
"She sounds like a smart woman."
"She was. She was brilliant." Liz kissed his lips lightly. "I have to process. I’m going to bed with Tess and I'll see you in the morning… but you have to tell me what the plan is because I am going to have faith that you know how to get this over and done with. I have classes, you have classes and I plan for us both to be graduates in the near future."
January 9, 2004
Max nudged Zan when he saw the cloud of dust on the road. After the first night, they had all taken to sleeping in the same room, the one with the view. "What kind of car is that?"
"Fancy." Zan nodded when he finally opened his eyes. "Kal?"
"Maybe."
TBC
When the phone rang that afternoon, Max dove over Liz to get it. It was a telemarketer. He was starting to get worried. His mind kept racing around all the angles the longer that Kal was out of touch. He couldn't just send Liz home now. She was waiting on Zan. She and Zan were close. That meant if they had been following him, they knew were Liz lived and they knew where they lived. Liz kept giving him strange looks but he was two seconds from lighting up next to Zan. Ava was going to hide somewhere she could be safe, it would be too dangerous to travel halfway across the country if they weren't going to be there.
"What in the world was all that about?" Liz furrowed her brow at him.
"I'm… waiting on an important phone call."
"Warn me before you leap over me next time?"
"Yeah." Max returned to his seat. "Sorry."
"I should go home." She sighed heavily and turned her body towards him. "I know we talked about this and I shouldn't but I feel like I owe you an explanation."
"You don't." Shrugged his shoulders and turned his eyes back to the TV. "We're not dating, haven't even been together in a good long while."
"The thing with Michael just happened. Comfort, distraction."
"You don't have to explain to me."
"It doesn't bother you?"
"Yes, it does but you don't have to do this. I don't want to know this."
"Oh." Her eyes dropped to her hands. "I don't understand Zan. He knew everything but something about Michael set him off."
Max had to think about that one. "Ask Zan."
"He never says."
So he took a stab at it. "Zan knew a guy that Michael reminds him of… a lot. I get the feeling that while this guy would go after a girl when Zan broke it off with her… Zan wouldn't do the same. It's dirty to him."
"He thinks I'm tainted now?"
"No. That… dirtiness… he's disappointed that you would with him." Max cleared his throat. "You don't have to tell me anything. I've… done my share of screwing around for whatever reason. I'm not going to give you a blow by blow account."
"What is Zan's problem really?" Liz shut her eyes when she looked up and saw him there.
"I's mad, not at you." Zan mumbled, head hanging in shame. "Didn't mean to cut you down like that."
--
Max listened to Liz and Tess playing on the piano and turned to Zan. "You get it all worked out?"
"I guess. I knew. I did but I didn't eva know." Zan shook his head and pulled on his cigarette. "I ain't no betta. If it wudn't for the way we's wired, I wouldn't be surprised if I had a kid out there for all the screwin' 'round I done."
"Kal hasn't called yet." Max changed the subject as quickly as he could.
"Give him til midnight. He ain't called by then. We go."
"We can't leave Liz."
"We cain't take her."
"If they know you, they know her."
"You sis?"
"She gave me the impression she wasn't going to change her life for this one and I agreed that she should be extra careful and continue to live the life she's got." Max shook his head and reached for Zan's cigarette. "I'm crawling in my skin."
"Know what you mean."
"Hey guys." Liz poked her head outside. She had a strange expression on her face. "My phone just rang but… it's for you, Max. It's your uncle. How does he have my number?"
--
Max opened the door for them all and ushered them inside. This was the one fallback place they had. Kal had dropped him the directions discreetly once and never mentioned it. Kal had never been up. "Three bedrooms, one bathroom and the best of everything."
Liz dropped the bag she had been carrying. Tess moved straight for the bathroom. Zan dropped a bag of food on the counter and started unpacking. Max shut the door and began checking the windows and the line of sight from each one. When he emerged from the last bedroom. "This one's for keeping watch. You can see the road from it. We'll use the other two."
"I'll take first leg." Zan nodded and grabbed a box of crackers. "Talk to your girl and get the fires started."
"That smart?"
"For her, not us." He jerked his head toward Liz before he disappeared into the room.
Liz kept quiet as Max stacked some logs in the fireplace. Tess returned from the bathroom, grabbed her bag, kissed Max's cheek and disappeared into one of the other rooms. It was when he started searching for matches that she could no longer keep quiet. "Max, what's going on?"
"This is hard to explain." Max patted all his pockets but he knew he didn't have any and they hadn't bought any.
"You rush me out of your house with a bag of borrowed clothes and we come out to the middle of nowhere to a cabin that no one knows about. I've been very trusting but I need some answers."
"We're different, Liz. All of us. Kal, Zan, Tess, Ava, Michael, Isabel… me… we're not like everyone else." He waved a hand over the logs and they burst into flame. Her gasp filled his ears. "I would never intentionally hurt you. I hope you know that."
"How did you do that?"
"It's something we can do." Grabbing a poker, he knelt to help spread the flame more evenly for a steady burn. "It's cold for you, come get warm." She moved hesitantly but sat beside him and held her hands to the flame. "I've seen inside you, Liz. I never meant to but it happened and I saw everything that you are. Every event that shaped you into the woman sitting beside me."
"Why don't I know the same stuff about you?"
"I never tried to share it back. You used to be such an open person."
"I still am."
"Are you? Sometimes I think I don't know you… but then… I don't know me." Max reached for her hands slowly as he sat near to the fire. "If you are still a very open person, try to be now. I've pulled you into something I never should have."
"What?" Liz peered at him. "Is your uncle in the mob?"
"See, you've already pushed what I did with the fire out of your mind."
"I haven't."
"But you didn't how I was different. You asked if we were entangled with the mob." Max plucked at her bracelet. After a moment, the tiny charms all turned into roses, then into rain drops and back into their natural form. "I can do that because of what I am."
"Who you are, not what."
"Both. I am technically a who, but more of a what." Max pulled her up to her feet and onto the musty couch nearby. "I want to tell you a story. You may not see us the same but I want you to know that we all care about you because of the loving person you are. Isabel, Michael and I all saw it in you. Zan and Tess did later because they trusted that I trusted you. Even Kal knows you are something different."
"Ava? I heard you mention her earlier."
"Maybe she will. Let me explain first. I'll still be the same person only… you'll know more about me, about us."
--
"So, why are we out here, then?" Liz whispered, she knew her hands were shaking but his holding on was the only thing keeping her from running out into the woods. "Why did we leave in such a hurry?"
"We have enemies. Kal lied to me. They… A traitor showed their leader a picture of what we would look like when we grew up. They saw Zan in a magazine. They tried to draw us out. The traitor is in federal custody now and will soon meet with an ill fate… but only the ones after us can be stopped. Kal's not sure he can get out alive. He called a day late but he called. No one knows about this place. I don't even think he's ever been here."
"Why did I need to come?"
"Zan hung out with you, made frequent trips… more so than to my place. They would know about you. We wanted you to be safe." Max stared into her eyes and smiled. "That girl I met in Roswell… sometimes I see her in your eyes."
"She's in here somewhere." Liz shrugged. "She's different, though. Transformed. She tried to change for you… it didn't work. She wanted to be like the other girls you knew."
"I didn't like those other girls so much."
"I realize that now. But…" She realized her hands stopped shaking. "Is there a title that I should address you by?"
"I was a king, sure… but in this life… I'd make a pretty pathetic one. I'm not a leader. I'm a watcher."
"You want to be a watcher. The day will come when you can't watch anymore."
"I don't deserve a friend like you."
"Don't say things like that. You aren't as pathetic as you think you are. You…" Her hands reached up to cup his face. "Are beautiful and it reflects in the way you see things. Your pictures can make me cry and laugh and hurt and fly all at the same time. That is anything but pathetic, Max. You have the ability to reach people, to bring them out of their shells and show them what they're worth."
"And you?"
"What about me?"
"You know how to make a guy feel special."
"A trick my gramma taught me. Love everyone, she said. Find out what makes them different from yourself. Strengths in one person could be weakness in other people and vice versa. A heart is always open, even if sometimes the mind is closed."
"She sounds like a smart woman."
"She was. She was brilliant." Liz kissed his lips lightly. "I have to process. I’m going to bed with Tess and I'll see you in the morning… but you have to tell me what the plan is because I am going to have faith that you know how to get this over and done with. I have classes, you have classes and I plan for us both to be graduates in the near future."
January 9, 2004
Max nudged Zan when he saw the cloud of dust on the road. After the first night, they had all taken to sleeping in the same room, the one with the view. "What kind of car is that?"
"Fancy." Zan nodded when he finally opened his eyes. "Kal?"
"Maybe."
TBC
Part 32 – January 15, 2004
Part 32 – January 15, 2004
Kal inspected the new house and obviously found it lacking. Max kept his mouth shut. Kal was going to insist on renovating before they moved in. This time it was an estate inside two gates, which of course gave much room for creeping over fences but getting through the community gate and then the house gate would definitely take some doing, even for an alien.
Max shoved his glasses up on his head and blinked in the dim light. "It's got a basement, right?"
"Don't worry, you'll have your precious dark room." Kal waved him off. "I'm having the walls sound-proofed as well."
"Am I to assume that once we move in Tess is no longer allowed to take the bus?"
"Tess is never to take the bus again." Kal shook his head. "I've hired a car company for both of you. There are also discreet men and women who will be following the whole lot of you. Lucky for you I've got some blockbusters coming out this summer to pay for it all."
"I don't need a driver."
"All these years treating you like some kid didn't work… let's see how treating you like a king works."
"I'm not a king."
"As much as I want to agree, I'll have to disagree. You're a king and I know I didn't get all those bastards."
January 16, 2004
Max and Tess sat with their various reading materials and their omelets when the two burly men entered the room. He wanted to ask but he decided he already knew why they were there. "Names?"
"Oliver and Frank, sir. We're the drivers." The largest of the two answered.
"Which one of you has the most experience in confrontation?"
"That'd be me." Oliver nodded.
"Okay, you're her driver." Max got up and retrieved a sheet of paper. Quickly he made a calendar. "Mondays she goes to the library for the story hour. Tuesdays are Book Club. Wednesdays she has her music lessons twice a day. Thursdays she goes shopping. Fridays are movie day but we go together anyway. Saturdays are variant on her plans with Drew, you'll meet him. Sundays she usually stays home but once in a while she visits a church. Now this is important. Every twenty-second she has to go to the store. She doesn't always remember and even I am one to forget to remind her. I'll make that your job. Tess will let you know when there's a change in plans but you do your best to make sure the trip is safe. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"Frank, I have classes everyday, varying times. Not today. I'm relaxing. Is there more to the team?"
"Alan has the Cambridge girl." Oliver nodded. "Steven and Miles will go wherever when called upon as per Mr. Langley's request."
"Good. That's good." Max returned to his seat to finish his breakfast. "We don't have a permanent house staff here but I do believe the new house will. "There are rooms upstairs for your temporary occupation. Make yourself at home."
January 18, 2004
Max reached for the phone as it rang but never took his eyes off his notebook. "CIA. How might I process your murder request?"
"Soon. Now. With a clean shot to the back of Professor Sellas's head."
"I hadn't heard from you in a while." He paused at the sound of Liz's voice. "How are things?"
"Good… I'm dealing… is it safe to talk on the phone?"
"Yeah. Kal had our places staked out before we came back. His people did a clean sweep. Was there something specific you wanted to talk about?"
"I just… I've been thinking about all you said that night and I do accept that you are the same person I've known all this time and now I know everything but…" She blew out a breath to gather her thoughts. "It's a lot to put on a child… why would they do that?"
"I don't know. I didn't get all the answers. I only know as much as Kal is willing to tell me. For all I know, there could be more to know." Max shut his books and leaned back in his chair. "Are you okay though? You're not worrying over this stuff are you?"
"I wasn't but… you said I was caught up in all this."
"You are but Kal has people looking out for you." After he heard her sharp intake of breath, he winced. He should have worded that differently. "You won't find them and they won't bother you unless absolutely necessary. It's just a precaution. There's really nothing to worry about."
"I guess I still need to get used to this."
"Completely understandable."
TBC
Kal inspected the new house and obviously found it lacking. Max kept his mouth shut. Kal was going to insist on renovating before they moved in. This time it was an estate inside two gates, which of course gave much room for creeping over fences but getting through the community gate and then the house gate would definitely take some doing, even for an alien.
Max shoved his glasses up on his head and blinked in the dim light. "It's got a basement, right?"
"Don't worry, you'll have your precious dark room." Kal waved him off. "I'm having the walls sound-proofed as well."
"Am I to assume that once we move in Tess is no longer allowed to take the bus?"
"Tess is never to take the bus again." Kal shook his head. "I've hired a car company for both of you. There are also discreet men and women who will be following the whole lot of you. Lucky for you I've got some blockbusters coming out this summer to pay for it all."
"I don't need a driver."
"All these years treating you like some kid didn't work… let's see how treating you like a king works."
"I'm not a king."
"As much as I want to agree, I'll have to disagree. You're a king and I know I didn't get all those bastards."
January 16, 2004
Max and Tess sat with their various reading materials and their omelets when the two burly men entered the room. He wanted to ask but he decided he already knew why they were there. "Names?"
"Oliver and Frank, sir. We're the drivers." The largest of the two answered.
"Which one of you has the most experience in confrontation?"
"That'd be me." Oliver nodded.
"Okay, you're her driver." Max got up and retrieved a sheet of paper. Quickly he made a calendar. "Mondays she goes to the library for the story hour. Tuesdays are Book Club. Wednesdays she has her music lessons twice a day. Thursdays she goes shopping. Fridays are movie day but we go together anyway. Saturdays are variant on her plans with Drew, you'll meet him. Sundays she usually stays home but once in a while she visits a church. Now this is important. Every twenty-second she has to go to the store. She doesn't always remember and even I am one to forget to remind her. I'll make that your job. Tess will let you know when there's a change in plans but you do your best to make sure the trip is safe. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"Frank, I have classes everyday, varying times. Not today. I'm relaxing. Is there more to the team?"
"Alan has the Cambridge girl." Oliver nodded. "Steven and Miles will go wherever when called upon as per Mr. Langley's request."
"Good. That's good." Max returned to his seat to finish his breakfast. "We don't have a permanent house staff here but I do believe the new house will. "There are rooms upstairs for your temporary occupation. Make yourself at home."
January 18, 2004
Max reached for the phone as it rang but never took his eyes off his notebook. "CIA. How might I process your murder request?"
"Soon. Now. With a clean shot to the back of Professor Sellas's head."
"I hadn't heard from you in a while." He paused at the sound of Liz's voice. "How are things?"
"Good… I'm dealing… is it safe to talk on the phone?"
"Yeah. Kal had our places staked out before we came back. His people did a clean sweep. Was there something specific you wanted to talk about?"
"I just… I've been thinking about all you said that night and I do accept that you are the same person I've known all this time and now I know everything but…" She blew out a breath to gather her thoughts. "It's a lot to put on a child… why would they do that?"
"I don't know. I didn't get all the answers. I only know as much as Kal is willing to tell me. For all I know, there could be more to know." Max shut his books and leaned back in his chair. "Are you okay though? You're not worrying over this stuff are you?"
"I wasn't but… you said I was caught up in all this."
"You are but Kal has people looking out for you." After he heard her sharp intake of breath, he winced. He should have worded that differently. "You won't find them and they won't bother you unless absolutely necessary. It's just a precaution. There's really nothing to worry about."
"I guess I still need to get used to this."
"Completely understandable."
TBC
Part 33 – March 15, 2004
Part 33 – March 15, 2004
Max splashed the sea water at Tess and she squealed with delight. He dove beneath the water and resurfaced behind her. She let loose another squeal when he tickled her. The sun felt good. This break was exactly what he needed. His hair be damned, he loved the ocean. Breaking for shore, Max dove as deep as he dared to touch the sand as he sped past. This vacation was just what he needed. Away from it all. Even Frank and Oliver had gotten a break. Steven and Miles were the ones on the beach keeping watch before their own vacation from New York.
This was actually just for a few days but what a wonderful three days Costa Rica would be. The rest of the week he was going to Cambridge to keep Liz company. Rising from the waves, he shook off excess water before the trek to his chair. Flopping down to dry off and reapply sunscreen, he noticed that Miles seemed as if he had something on his mind. Gesturing for the large man to sit, Max reached for his drink. "What's up?"
"Mr. Evans, I'm looking to get out of the business but… I've got a family to support…" Miles lowered his voice. "I know I'm not supposed to ask..."
"Can you type, Miles?" Max rubbed his heated flesh before looking the gray-eyed man dead on.
"A little."
"When we get back, take a couple of courses if your schedule allows it. Typing, computers, office type stuff. We'll upgrade your position with us, get you an assistant status. By next year, we'll have you geared to work in one of Mr. Langley's offices. Just don't let your bread-winning skills lapse. Langley will love that."
--
Max had just woken up from his nap when Tess was ushered into the room. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. He looked to Steven who shrugged a little and gestured for another room. "Tourists."
"What happened?"
"I was talking to a boy, Max. You said I could." Tess rushed forward. "Then he got mean and I didn't want to talk to him anymore but he wouldn't let me go."
"What?" Max's head snapped back to Steven.
"It's under control, Mr. Evans. It was unexpected and it was straightened out without police or even the manager." Steven paused a moment. "I would suggest though, that her… wardrobe be censored in the future."
"We'll see." Max turned back to his sister. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
March 18, 2004
Max snorted when he saw the tabloid at the gift shop in the airport. There was a picture of Kal and his own set of bodyguards. "Hollywood producer stalked? Murder attempt has movie mogul beefing up security." Anything for a little publicity. Paying for his coffee, he followed Miles out to the car that had been provided by Alan. The trip ended in front of Liz's apartment building, where both men followed him up but stayed outside the door when he entered. "Liz? You home?"
"Max!" Liz rushed out to the main room. "Hi! I wasn't expecting you for another hour."
"Wanna bring that tone down a few notches? My ears are still spinning from the engines. Really bad flight." He sat on the couch and stretched his arms over his head. "What have you been up to all week?"
"Nothing much… Michael's here." Liz fidgeted on her feet. "He surprised me, heh. Yeah."
"Oh, okay… did you want me to leave?"
"No! You promised we'd go to the gallery and I really want you to try this place me and my friends found. Come on, Max. Please stay." Liz rushed forward. "I… was just… making sure that Michael and I… are on the same page. I'm… I can't do that to myself anymore."
"You don't have to tell me." He sank down on the couch. "If you want me to take a walk."
"No… I'll be right back."
--
Max let Liz drag him through the gallery and out onto the street. That had been fun two hours of browsing paintings and sculptures, some they happened to catch on tour. Alan and Miles split, one to get the car and the other to keep watch out for their two charges. The four hit the eatery that Liz picked and the youngun's managed to get a booth in the back. Max let her order for the both of them and listened to her gush about her favorite pieces at the gallery. "I think I like impressionistic pieces. It's up to you to fill in the details. It reaches a much broader audience."
"Sure."
"What's that?" Liz smacked his arm.
"What's what?" Max shook his head in confusion.
"'Sure'… It's like, 'Sure, Liz, whatever you say. You don't have a clue what you're talking about.' You're an art elitist." Eyes narrowed and nose scrunched up, she waited for him to refute it.
"Okay. All I said was sure. I am not an art elitist. I mean, 'Sure, Liz, that's an astute assessment.' Art is relative and it's good that you feel that way but not everyone would agree with you. There are plenty of critics who don't like impressionistic pieces. I was just acknowledging your opinion." Max crossed his arms and stared back at her.
"Okay."
"You were picking a fight."
"Now, I wasn't. You sounded haughty. I was just calling you on it."
"You were picking a fight, Liz."
"I wasn't."
"My sphere of life is too small to omit everyone else's opinions of art. I'm still deciding how I feel about impressionistic art and so I didn't voice an opinion. When I have one, I'll let you know." He leaned forward in his chair and peered at her face. "Are we done fighting now?"
"We aren't fighting." She insisted as she stabbed at her salad.
"Does this have something to do with Michael and the look he gave me when he left?"
"No."
"No?"
"He thinks I've moved on to greener pastures or something like that but the truth is… comfort sex every third blue moon isn't enough and I told him. He doesn't want attachments and I told him I knew about the whole… outer… space thing and he got upset and I was trying to be calm about it but Michael is so unreasonable." She took a breath and stared out at the restaurant. "Michael lacks stability in his life. Not from the people around him but from himself. He can't decide who he is. Is he an alien war commander or is he the son of a law family? Is he the rich kid from Podunk or the wanderer from New York? His words, not mine… he worries me, Max. Your uncle has set up these bodyguards, who are great. Non-invasive, inconspicuous but very much protective… he ditched his. I'm learning to deal with the guy leaning outside my door when I walk out in the morning and who follows me up when I get up. I'm fine with it. I am. Michael can't abide it."
"I didn't figure he would." Max shrugged. "The war commander in him is offended, I know he is. The bodyguards say to him that he can't take care of himself. He probably can. I probably can. They're a precaution. It's the normal thing to do when you're a human and you might be stalked. Zan's been pissing his off. He sneaks up behind Miles… which is why Miles wants out."
"He told you that?" Liz sat up straight. "Miles, did?"
"No, but he wanted desperately to have the option to leave. I told him what I could." He shrugged again. "Fact is, once you work for Kal in such a position, you don't really get to leave… though, Kal might let him work some paraprofession if something opens up."
"I like Miles, he's sweet. I think he would have fallen in love with Isabel if he hadn't already been married."
"Well, she has that effect on people."
--
"Never had green skin?"
"No."
"Black eyes?"
"Never that I was aware of."
"Three foot tall?"
"When I was six… but that's not so unusual."
"Right… you didn't come to rule our planet."
"Like I could get around all the bureaucracy to get a movement started. If I wanted to do that, I think I'm in the wrong country. We should have gone to Africa to a small village and shown off a lot and have the natives believe we were gods. Though, with all the military installations, we wouldn't have lasted very long."
"You're not funny."
"I know."
Liz adjusted the pillow she had folded under her neck and turned to face him. "So, you're a normal guy?"
"Abnormal. Normal would be a small percentage and that doesn't appeal to me."
"You are a small percentage."
"Yes but normal is even more abnormal than abnormal."
"Now you're confusing me. I need sleep."
"I should probably go."
"Or you could stay. Talk to me until we both fall asleep."
"That's not a good idea."
"No?"
"No." Max pulled himself to his feet. "I promised Miles a bed tonight. I'll see you tomorrow." He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Good night."
"Night, Max."
TBC
Max splashed the sea water at Tess and she squealed with delight. He dove beneath the water and resurfaced behind her. She let loose another squeal when he tickled her. The sun felt good. This break was exactly what he needed. His hair be damned, he loved the ocean. Breaking for shore, Max dove as deep as he dared to touch the sand as he sped past. This vacation was just what he needed. Away from it all. Even Frank and Oliver had gotten a break. Steven and Miles were the ones on the beach keeping watch before their own vacation from New York.
This was actually just for a few days but what a wonderful three days Costa Rica would be. The rest of the week he was going to Cambridge to keep Liz company. Rising from the waves, he shook off excess water before the trek to his chair. Flopping down to dry off and reapply sunscreen, he noticed that Miles seemed as if he had something on his mind. Gesturing for the large man to sit, Max reached for his drink. "What's up?"
"Mr. Evans, I'm looking to get out of the business but… I've got a family to support…" Miles lowered his voice. "I know I'm not supposed to ask..."
"Can you type, Miles?" Max rubbed his heated flesh before looking the gray-eyed man dead on.
"A little."
"When we get back, take a couple of courses if your schedule allows it. Typing, computers, office type stuff. We'll upgrade your position with us, get you an assistant status. By next year, we'll have you geared to work in one of Mr. Langley's offices. Just don't let your bread-winning skills lapse. Langley will love that."
--
Max had just woken up from his nap when Tess was ushered into the room. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. He looked to Steven who shrugged a little and gestured for another room. "Tourists."
"What happened?"
"I was talking to a boy, Max. You said I could." Tess rushed forward. "Then he got mean and I didn't want to talk to him anymore but he wouldn't let me go."
"What?" Max's head snapped back to Steven.
"It's under control, Mr. Evans. It was unexpected and it was straightened out without police or even the manager." Steven paused a moment. "I would suggest though, that her… wardrobe be censored in the future."
"We'll see." Max turned back to his sister. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
March 18, 2004
Max snorted when he saw the tabloid at the gift shop in the airport. There was a picture of Kal and his own set of bodyguards. "Hollywood producer stalked? Murder attempt has movie mogul beefing up security." Anything for a little publicity. Paying for his coffee, he followed Miles out to the car that had been provided by Alan. The trip ended in front of Liz's apartment building, where both men followed him up but stayed outside the door when he entered. "Liz? You home?"
"Max!" Liz rushed out to the main room. "Hi! I wasn't expecting you for another hour."
"Wanna bring that tone down a few notches? My ears are still spinning from the engines. Really bad flight." He sat on the couch and stretched his arms over his head. "What have you been up to all week?"
"Nothing much… Michael's here." Liz fidgeted on her feet. "He surprised me, heh. Yeah."
"Oh, okay… did you want me to leave?"
"No! You promised we'd go to the gallery and I really want you to try this place me and my friends found. Come on, Max. Please stay." Liz rushed forward. "I… was just… making sure that Michael and I… are on the same page. I'm… I can't do that to myself anymore."
"You don't have to tell me." He sank down on the couch. "If you want me to take a walk."
"No… I'll be right back."
--
Max let Liz drag him through the gallery and out onto the street. That had been fun two hours of browsing paintings and sculptures, some they happened to catch on tour. Alan and Miles split, one to get the car and the other to keep watch out for their two charges. The four hit the eatery that Liz picked and the youngun's managed to get a booth in the back. Max let her order for the both of them and listened to her gush about her favorite pieces at the gallery. "I think I like impressionistic pieces. It's up to you to fill in the details. It reaches a much broader audience."
"Sure."
"What's that?" Liz smacked his arm.
"What's what?" Max shook his head in confusion.
"'Sure'… It's like, 'Sure, Liz, whatever you say. You don't have a clue what you're talking about.' You're an art elitist." Eyes narrowed and nose scrunched up, she waited for him to refute it.
"Okay. All I said was sure. I am not an art elitist. I mean, 'Sure, Liz, that's an astute assessment.' Art is relative and it's good that you feel that way but not everyone would agree with you. There are plenty of critics who don't like impressionistic pieces. I was just acknowledging your opinion." Max crossed his arms and stared back at her.
"Okay."
"You were picking a fight."
"Now, I wasn't. You sounded haughty. I was just calling you on it."
"You were picking a fight, Liz."
"I wasn't."
"My sphere of life is too small to omit everyone else's opinions of art. I'm still deciding how I feel about impressionistic art and so I didn't voice an opinion. When I have one, I'll let you know." He leaned forward in his chair and peered at her face. "Are we done fighting now?"
"We aren't fighting." She insisted as she stabbed at her salad.
"Does this have something to do with Michael and the look he gave me when he left?"
"No."
"No?"
"He thinks I've moved on to greener pastures or something like that but the truth is… comfort sex every third blue moon isn't enough and I told him. He doesn't want attachments and I told him I knew about the whole… outer… space thing and he got upset and I was trying to be calm about it but Michael is so unreasonable." She took a breath and stared out at the restaurant. "Michael lacks stability in his life. Not from the people around him but from himself. He can't decide who he is. Is he an alien war commander or is he the son of a law family? Is he the rich kid from Podunk or the wanderer from New York? His words, not mine… he worries me, Max. Your uncle has set up these bodyguards, who are great. Non-invasive, inconspicuous but very much protective… he ditched his. I'm learning to deal with the guy leaning outside my door when I walk out in the morning and who follows me up when I get up. I'm fine with it. I am. Michael can't abide it."
"I didn't figure he would." Max shrugged. "The war commander in him is offended, I know he is. The bodyguards say to him that he can't take care of himself. He probably can. I probably can. They're a precaution. It's the normal thing to do when you're a human and you might be stalked. Zan's been pissing his off. He sneaks up behind Miles… which is why Miles wants out."
"He told you that?" Liz sat up straight. "Miles, did?"
"No, but he wanted desperately to have the option to leave. I told him what I could." He shrugged again. "Fact is, once you work for Kal in such a position, you don't really get to leave… though, Kal might let him work some paraprofession if something opens up."
"I like Miles, he's sweet. I think he would have fallen in love with Isabel if he hadn't already been married."
"Well, she has that effect on people."
--
"Never had green skin?"
"No."
"Black eyes?"
"Never that I was aware of."
"Three foot tall?"
"When I was six… but that's not so unusual."
"Right… you didn't come to rule our planet."
"Like I could get around all the bureaucracy to get a movement started. If I wanted to do that, I think I'm in the wrong country. We should have gone to Africa to a small village and shown off a lot and have the natives believe we were gods. Though, with all the military installations, we wouldn't have lasted very long."
"You're not funny."
"I know."
Liz adjusted the pillow she had folded under her neck and turned to face him. "So, you're a normal guy?"
"Abnormal. Normal would be a small percentage and that doesn't appeal to me."
"You are a small percentage."
"Yes but normal is even more abnormal than abnormal."
"Now you're confusing me. I need sleep."
"I should probably go."
"Or you could stay. Talk to me until we both fall asleep."
"That's not a good idea."
"No?"
"No." Max pulled himself to his feet. "I promised Miles a bed tonight. I'll see you tomorrow." He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Good night."
"Night, Max."
TBC
Part 34 – March 18, 2004
Part 34 – March 18, 2004
"Max!" Liz dove beneath her sheets. "That's not fair. You've showered and I just woke up."
"It's not like I haven't seen you first thing in the morning." He leaned over and tugged at the sheet. "Oh, come on."
"Let me at least shower, you pest."
"No."
"Max, come on. Why are you even here so early? I feel like you just left." After a long moment of staring up at him from the corner of her sheet. "You win. I'll get dressed. Take a nap or something."
"Fine, wake me when your ritual is done."
--
When Max woke, the room was filled with light from the window, in a red tint rather than the orange it should have been. His throat was so dry. "Liz?"
"In here." Liz called into the room. Grumbling, he stumbled out into the kitchen area where she was sipping tea and painting her toe nails. "Morning, sleepyhead."
"What time is it?"
"Five. I knew you were tired. You had to be. Planes and galleries and jet lag and that heavy meal we ate… I just didn't think you'd sleep this long." She blew on her toes and nodded to the microwave. "There's a grilled veggie burger in there for you."
"You left?"
"No. I know a guy who delivers." She looked up at him when he reached in for the bag. "Don't worry, the grease level isn't so bad. It won't hurt your sensitive stomach."
"Thanks." He sat and heated it up with his hand, not much, just enough to make it warm. When he met her eyes, she was just glancing at him between painting her toes. "I don't usually do that. I just don't trust that reactor your call a microwave."
"It is a little old… you can nuke a potato in two minutes. I'm thinking of taking it to the lab to conduct some experiments." She smiled over at him and blew on her toes. She turned her eyes back to her feet to finish drying them, she almost jolted back when his hand entered her view. Two seconds later, her toes were completely dry. She blinked at her toes when he took his hand back and then lifted her gaze to his face. "Do you do nails too?" A broad smile broke out on her face when he blushed. "Those are some nifty hands you've got there."
"What are we going to do with ourselves?" He tried to change the subject.
"We could go dancing… see a movie."
"Or we could hang out."
"Hang out?"
"Get reacquainted…"
"We could do that."
March 20, 2004
Max felt Liz squeeze his arm during the scary parts of the movie. It felt good, better than he had felt in months. That he loved, the feeling that he was protecting. It sparked something in his mind, in his heart and it made his miserable excuse for a life worth living. It was small but it was growing. This interest in making his life better for himself. Wanting to take an active roll in it all instead of going through the motions.
March 25, 2004
Miles threw punches and griped at them both. He could take them both blind-folded. Shouting instructions, he advanced and separated the two of them. Yelling again, he blocked one then the other. They learned quick and that was excellent. Max focused on his breathing and let the kicks and punches fly on instinct, in the back of his mind keeping his powers from manifesting in front of the well-meaning Miles. Tess was struggling to keep calm, he could see that and shouted for her to take a break. The older man looked relieved and focused his energies on the kid half his age.
Of course, Miles was winded long before Max and begged for a break. "You learn fast, son." Sipping room temperature water, Miles took a seat to watch Max cool down some. "Tomorrow, it's hand-to-hand with a plastic knife. My dad's got a buddy who fences. I'll see if I can't get him up here to teach you."
"Good." Max nodded and reached for a towel. "How about her?"
"She's doing okay." Miles nodded to Tess who had settled herself on the mats with some stretches. "For… her, she's doing really well."
"Good."
"This is smart, son."
"How's that?"
"Getting in shape, learning to defend yourself. You're uncle's got some shady ties. Anything happens to him and who knows what happens to you and your girl over there. With you graduating next year and all… it's a smart move." Miles rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck.
"How are you with art, Miles?"
"Art?"
"Paintings, sculptures, pictures."
"I know the good stuff when I see it."
"I'm thinking I'm not giving you back to my uncle… I'm thinking I'm going into business and I'll need a brain like yours in the office." Max took a sip of his water. "Think you can stick with me until I make it happen?"
"I'm sure I can arrange it with Frank."
May 5, 2004
"Phony holidays." Kal muttered as he tried to move through the crowds in San Antonio.
"It's not phony. It's Mexican Independence day." Max clarified. Even the body guards were having a time of it pushing through the crowds.
"It's an excuse to drink."
"Maybe."
"So, this business. It's a no-go. Art dealing is taking a slam. Looting, hot merchandise. It's all bad news for the new places. Even if you could buyer interested in those touchy-feely pictures you take, it'd go under." Kal pushed past his personal guard to get a limeade from a vendor. "Least they know what to do with a citrus fruit. No azúcar, senora." He passed one to Max, who took it but didn't really want it. "I've got hopes for you."
"Not the acting again."
"Yes, the acting again. You forget, it's my business and I know it banks."
Max sighed. He had missed three reviews to fly down and talk to Kal on location and this is what happens. He should have known better. The sun was hot and bore down on him, forcing him to drink the tart green liquid in his hand. Glancing at Miles, he tried again. "I can make it work."
"I can make you work." Kal countered. "You get your bachelors in the Spring next year?"
"Yeah."
"That's great."
"But."
"But it'll never work." The bald man reentered the filming area and climbed up on his deck with the cameraman. "Get plenty of shots all around of the festivities. Use as much film as you want. I need a variety of people throughout the day. Every two hours our boy will walk through the crowds, make sure you get him when he does. Different outfits, different directions. He's got a mic on him."
Climbing down again, Kal made a show of wiping down his head and neck with a damp handkerchief. Max was almost certain the alien couldn't sweat. "So, kid, I got you a bit part."
"In what?"
"Zan's got a starring role in a flick, we may need a doppelganger. He doesn't have the range for that yet." The alien continued to move through the crowd. "You do five movies, various parts… with pay of course, and we'll see about your idea."
"That could take more than a year."
"Then it takes more than a year. Fives movies and some photography for eight others."
"Dammit." Max looked around about no one cared. They were drinking their half-priced margaritas and living it up. "Deal."
"You're gonna be huge kid."
TBC
"Max!" Liz dove beneath her sheets. "That's not fair. You've showered and I just woke up."
"It's not like I haven't seen you first thing in the morning." He leaned over and tugged at the sheet. "Oh, come on."
"Let me at least shower, you pest."
"No."
"Max, come on. Why are you even here so early? I feel like you just left." After a long moment of staring up at him from the corner of her sheet. "You win. I'll get dressed. Take a nap or something."
"Fine, wake me when your ritual is done."
--
When Max woke, the room was filled with light from the window, in a red tint rather than the orange it should have been. His throat was so dry. "Liz?"
"In here." Liz called into the room. Grumbling, he stumbled out into the kitchen area where she was sipping tea and painting her toe nails. "Morning, sleepyhead."
"What time is it?"
"Five. I knew you were tired. You had to be. Planes and galleries and jet lag and that heavy meal we ate… I just didn't think you'd sleep this long." She blew on her toes and nodded to the microwave. "There's a grilled veggie burger in there for you."
"You left?"
"No. I know a guy who delivers." She looked up at him when he reached in for the bag. "Don't worry, the grease level isn't so bad. It won't hurt your sensitive stomach."
"Thanks." He sat and heated it up with his hand, not much, just enough to make it warm. When he met her eyes, she was just glancing at him between painting her toes. "I don't usually do that. I just don't trust that reactor your call a microwave."
"It is a little old… you can nuke a potato in two minutes. I'm thinking of taking it to the lab to conduct some experiments." She smiled over at him and blew on her toes. She turned her eyes back to her feet to finish drying them, she almost jolted back when his hand entered her view. Two seconds later, her toes were completely dry. She blinked at her toes when he took his hand back and then lifted her gaze to his face. "Do you do nails too?" A broad smile broke out on her face when he blushed. "Those are some nifty hands you've got there."
"What are we going to do with ourselves?" He tried to change the subject.
"We could go dancing… see a movie."
"Or we could hang out."
"Hang out?"
"Get reacquainted…"
"We could do that."
March 20, 2004
Max felt Liz squeeze his arm during the scary parts of the movie. It felt good, better than he had felt in months. That he loved, the feeling that he was protecting. It sparked something in his mind, in his heart and it made his miserable excuse for a life worth living. It was small but it was growing. This interest in making his life better for himself. Wanting to take an active roll in it all instead of going through the motions.
March 25, 2004
Miles threw punches and griped at them both. He could take them both blind-folded. Shouting instructions, he advanced and separated the two of them. Yelling again, he blocked one then the other. They learned quick and that was excellent. Max focused on his breathing and let the kicks and punches fly on instinct, in the back of his mind keeping his powers from manifesting in front of the well-meaning Miles. Tess was struggling to keep calm, he could see that and shouted for her to take a break. The older man looked relieved and focused his energies on the kid half his age.
Of course, Miles was winded long before Max and begged for a break. "You learn fast, son." Sipping room temperature water, Miles took a seat to watch Max cool down some. "Tomorrow, it's hand-to-hand with a plastic knife. My dad's got a buddy who fences. I'll see if I can't get him up here to teach you."
"Good." Max nodded and reached for a towel. "How about her?"
"She's doing okay." Miles nodded to Tess who had settled herself on the mats with some stretches. "For… her, she's doing really well."
"Good."
"This is smart, son."
"How's that?"
"Getting in shape, learning to defend yourself. You're uncle's got some shady ties. Anything happens to him and who knows what happens to you and your girl over there. With you graduating next year and all… it's a smart move." Miles rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck.
"How are you with art, Miles?"
"Art?"
"Paintings, sculptures, pictures."
"I know the good stuff when I see it."
"I'm thinking I'm not giving you back to my uncle… I'm thinking I'm going into business and I'll need a brain like yours in the office." Max took a sip of his water. "Think you can stick with me until I make it happen?"
"I'm sure I can arrange it with Frank."
May 5, 2004
"Phony holidays." Kal muttered as he tried to move through the crowds in San Antonio.
"It's not phony. It's Mexican Independence day." Max clarified. Even the body guards were having a time of it pushing through the crowds.
"It's an excuse to drink."
"Maybe."
"So, this business. It's a no-go. Art dealing is taking a slam. Looting, hot merchandise. It's all bad news for the new places. Even if you could buyer interested in those touchy-feely pictures you take, it'd go under." Kal pushed past his personal guard to get a limeade from a vendor. "Least they know what to do with a citrus fruit. No azúcar, senora." He passed one to Max, who took it but didn't really want it. "I've got hopes for you."
"Not the acting again."
"Yes, the acting again. You forget, it's my business and I know it banks."
Max sighed. He had missed three reviews to fly down and talk to Kal on location and this is what happens. He should have known better. The sun was hot and bore down on him, forcing him to drink the tart green liquid in his hand. Glancing at Miles, he tried again. "I can make it work."
"I can make you work." Kal countered. "You get your bachelors in the Spring next year?"
"Yeah."
"That's great."
"But."
"But it'll never work." The bald man reentered the filming area and climbed up on his deck with the cameraman. "Get plenty of shots all around of the festivities. Use as much film as you want. I need a variety of people throughout the day. Every two hours our boy will walk through the crowds, make sure you get him when he does. Different outfits, different directions. He's got a mic on him."
Climbing down again, Kal made a show of wiping down his head and neck with a damp handkerchief. Max was almost certain the alien couldn't sweat. "So, kid, I got you a bit part."
"In what?"
"Zan's got a starring role in a flick, we may need a doppelganger. He doesn't have the range for that yet." The alien continued to move through the crowd. "You do five movies, various parts… with pay of course, and we'll see about your idea."
"That could take more than a year."
"Then it takes more than a year. Fives movies and some photography for eight others."
"Dammit." Max looked around about no one cared. They were drinking their half-priced margaritas and living it up. "Deal."
"You're gonna be huge kid."
TBC
Part 35 – June 8, 2004
Part 35 – June 8, 2004
Max read over the script. "So… I'm the evil twin?"
"Essentially." The casting director nodded and looked to Kal. "Read."
Max took another minute to read it over before dropping the pages on the floor and clearing his throat. Hand in his pocket, he circled the script. Reaching over slightly, he plucked Kal's cigar from the ashtray and took a long draw. "You've got a… real… modern James Dean thing going on there, kid. Shame what you did to that face of ours."
"Who are you?" The casting director read off the script. "Why are you here?"
"A little of you, a little of me… I gotta say, though, I got the brains…" Max sucked on the cigar and eyes empty space. "I'm here because I've got a proposition for you. Join me."
"Join you?"
"Join me and all your dreams will come true. More money than God would know what to do with. You've already seen the ladies. You and I… we could be the most powerful team in the world."
"What do I want with power?"
"You really did get the short end of the stick didn't you?"
"I just want my girlfriend back."
"That's just precious. You want your girlfriend back… It's too bad she doesn't want you." Max cleared his throat and stepped into the next test scene. "Do you really think you can stop me? You didn't even know I existed two weeks ago."
"You'll never pull it off, I promise you. I will stop you."
"You're a punk, kid. You wouldn't know a plan if it jumped up and bit you on the ass." Max waved the cigar around as he bantered with the casting director. "I'll tell you what, though. Maybe I let you die quick. Maybe I save your beautiful girlfriend for myself."
"You won't touch her…"
"Or what? You'll kill me. You're doing a great job of that so far."
Casting director called a scene change. Max picked up the script and flipped to the page he hadn't read yet before dropping it again. "I told you I'd stop you."
"You haven't stopped me yet, kid. I'm gonna eat you for breakfast." Max leaned on the table separating him from the money. "You got the nice end. You got parents and a family, kid. I got to rise from adversity to be the man I am. You're a little @#%$ that I'm going to wipe off the bottom of my shoe."
The casting director looked to Kal, who reached out and took his cigar back. "So, what do you think, boss?"
"I think he was overacting." Kal pulled on the cigar and blew out the smoke directly in Max's face. "Kid, you make fun of me again and I'll renegotiate our agreement."
"Come on. Playing it mobster was good."
"I don't sound like a mobster."
"You do so. You should be in all the mobster movies… but your character would die every time."
"That's cute. Don't do it again. Get him the full script." Kal rose from his seat. "You meet up with Zannamen and Rodriguez tomorrow. You'll do the read-throughs with them just to make sure this is going to work." He stepped out the door but then stepped back in. "Try and remember that your character is not in the mob and is not 40 years old."
"40?" Max snorted, to which the casting director gasped.
"Don't push it, kid." Kal glared at him.
"Do you think you should be talking to the boss like that?" The casting director gathered his things to leave.
"He's my uncle. We're just messing around."
June 9, 2004
"No, it's okay being out here again. I just wish I wasn't so far from everyone." Max murmured into the phone in the bedroom of his hotel suite in California. "I love L.A. just as much as anyone but I worry about Tess."
"Well, she's in good hands. When does shooting start?" Liz asked softly.
"Next week in Utah, then to New York for a month." He sighed heavily. "I won't be home for about six months. Then again, things could go wrong and I'd be gone for a year. I… Uh… I challenged some of my last courses but there's one or four that I'll take spring semester to graduate on time. How are you coming?"
"Two years to get my bachelors at the rate I'm going. Then I'm back for my masters. That's really important to me."
"I know." He hated these conversations. The ones where the discussions belied their friendship. They sounded like they had been dating for years and were always on the brink of breaking up for her career or his. It was sickening and yet he endured them every time. "By the time I get on my feet, on my own that is, you'll be doing really well."
"I hope so." She sighed and one of her silences traveled over the phone. They had been dancing around these silences for quite a while… since Spring Break to be exact. "Max?"
"Yeah?"
"I wish you weren't so far away."
"Yeah. How are people doing?"
"Isabel thinks she might be pregnant. Jesse's a little worried but ecstatic. She's a little upset. She was taking all those classes and she'll have to hold off on next semester if she is."
"Maybe not."
"What?"
"Her pregnancy may not last all that long." Max rubbed at his forehead. "Tell her to call me when she's sure."
"Okay. Michael's in and out of funks. His parents are really worried about him. He transferred to N.Y.U. and all and he's just been… afraid to let people in. He doesn't call Isabel so much… and his mother even less. He checks in with me every month or so. We hang out, I guess but he's all walled up." She took a breath and sighed heavily. "How's Zan doing?"
"I haven't actually seen him since I got here. I see him tomorrow though."
"Who else is in this movie?"
"Michelle… James… It's got a good premise but it's coming off hokey so far."
"Can you tell me about it?"
"I'm evil."
"You? That's funny."
"Why?"
"You don't have an evil bone in your body." She giggled. "You gonna stare the good guy to death?"
"I've got a couple of fight scenes, missy. I've got two with Zan for sure and I get to torture the leading lady. It'll be great."
"I'll believe it when I see it."
July 4, 2004
Zan couldn't help it. He laughed then threw Max over his shoulder. "Yo Langley. This ain't workin' for me." Then he went down when Max kneed him in the chest. "Watch it, foo."
"Boys. Don't make me separate you." Kal put his hand on his head.
"Mr. Langley, where did you find them?" The director whispered. They had come dangerously close to blows several times already.
"One's a model, one's my nephew."
"They're not brothers?"
"They could be for all I know. They fight like they are." Kal took a breath and approached the two. His nerves were all raw. The boys were taking out more than aggression on each other today. "Boys. We're losing daylight and we're running out of suits." Without glancing back, he motioned both of them closer. "I realize this situation is all my doing but we've got reporters coming up here in a couple of days. Now, I've been tinkering with this a bit… but the fans are going to notice."
Max crossed his arms and waited, this couldn't be good. "Now, Zan came out first, which rightfully makes him older. While it is possible to say you came from the same mother, I've already been spouting out how Max is my nephew by blood."
"That doesn't mean anything. If Tess is supposedly my half-sister."
"But you're identical, boys. Not even a millimeter difference in height." Kal wrapped an arm around each man and guided them further away from the parameters of the set. "I'm going to do some hacking here and there. If anyone looks it up. You were both abandoned early on and separated. It'll be a real life TV movie. Nearly two decades pass until a chance meeting in a New York subway reunites long lost brothers."
"That's cheesy." Max nodded.
"It's sappy." Kal corrected. "The press will eat it up. Unfortunately they're also going to bring up the incident with Maisey Day unless… someone tips off the FBI, in which case, they'll take care of that."
"So now we's related?" Zan groaned.
"You already act like brothers." Kal spun them both and propelled them both to their marks. "Let's shoot boys. We have time for two more shots before we completely lose the light. Zan! Just do the choreographed moves. Max! Don't egg him on." Just then a limo rolled to a stop behind the crew. A blonde blur flew from the backdoor and tackled Max. The crew chuckled. Kal sighed. "Tess, honey, come sit with me until we're done."
"But…" Tess couldn't get out another word before Max was pushing her toward the director's chair.
"From the top. Action!" The director called out.
Max launched himself at Zan and they ran quickly and sometimes hurtfully through the choreographed moves until Zan landed flat on his back, hitting his head on a 'rock' and passed out. Max laughed. "Never had a chance." He knelt over the body. "Your girlfriend's gonna love me."
"Cut!"
"Do it one more time. More evil in the laugh there, kid." Kal called out. "Brush some of the dust off. Blow the dirt smoother and take it from the top."
--
Max shook his head while he watched Zan inhale a side of beef, a gallon of potato salad and vat of baked beans. "Shouldn't you be watching your weight, old man?"
"I'm all good, son. Watch yourself." Zan pointed a barbeque-covered finger at him. "I's enjoyin' myself."
"He's making such a mess, Max." Tess huffed and kept herself busy shaving meat from her rib bones as carefully as possible.
Sipping his sweet iced tea, Max turned his face to the sky and waited for the fireworks to fill the sky. Crew members filled their plates and found their places to wait for the show provided for them while away from home. Murmurs and whispered filled the air, no one daring to make too much noise and miss the display.
"Scoot over, I'm comin'." A thick female voice called out. Zan's head snapped up and he immediately made room. He was disappointed when the girl sat next to Max. "Ain't you eating anything?"
"I ate." Max shook his head. "Just get here?"
"Got here this morning. I know how Kal is. I wanted to be out of the way… until I heard about the food." Michelle shook her head.
"You like the part?"
"I get to be an ass-kicking doctor. Hell yeah. Only other woman of medium color was the French chick and I don't count her." She set her plate down. "How you been living, Max?"
"Been in New Haven for a long while now."
"He finally roped you in?"
"Yeah." Max nodded.
"How'd he do it? You were so hell bent on staying out. I gotta know."
"I want to start a business but I'll need at least his name to get it started right away. I've got a contract to do five total and free photography on eight."
"You got ripped."
"Yeah." Max sat a moment longer before he made the introduction. He wanted Zan to sweat this one. "You remember Tess?"
"Yeah. Hey sweetie, how you living?"
"I've got a boyfriend." Tess announced and went back to meticulously cutting her meat.
"A guy friend." Max clarified for his friend. "Did you meet Zan yet?"
"Yeah. I read with him. How goes the virgin voyage?" Michelle tossed him a nod.
"Kal's ridin' my ass. Don't know if it's me or him?"
"Him." "Both." Max and Michelle blurted out at the same time.
"It's both, Zan." Max cleared his throat and reached for his drink. "He's a hard-ass and he hates you."
"Why?" Michelle cut in with her mouth full of food.
"Biology. Zan and I share some."
"No kidding?"
"I got the looks." Zan blew Max a kiss.
"I can always get plastic surgery. How could you survive a brain transplant?" Max winked back.
"Boys. Behave." Tess glared at them. "Max… I'm getting dirty."
"It's okay. We've got wet towels somewhere. Get as dirty as you want." Just when he was about to say more, Zan's phone rang where it sat on the table between them. They eyed each other through two more rings before racing to get to it. Having the cleaner hands, Max got it first. "Thank you for responding to the ad for the impotent thug from the sewer. How may I process your revulsion?"
"Max?" Liz laughed. "Where's Zan?"
"I'm hurt. You call and you want someone else?"
"I did call Zan's phone, Max. Put him on, I'll talk to him and then he can give it back so I can talk to you."
"He's eating."
"So? It's never stopped him before."
"So, he's covered in pounds of roasted flesh." Max shot a look at Zan who was already busy cleaning up and motioning for the phone.
"Put him on."
"Here, Michelle. Talk to Liz." Max handed the phone over and listened to Michelle ask Liz a million questions before the phone was finally passed to a seriously annoyed Zan. Finally, after Tess talked to Liz, the phone came back to Max. "Miss me?"
"After that stunt? No. I talk to you all the time, Max. I never get to talk to Zan." She drew in a breath on her end. "So, taking longer out there than you thought?"
"It rained when we first got here. Then the cameras wouldn't work. One accident after another. Zan and I are ready to kill each other again."
"He told me."
"I don't know what it is." Max got to his feet as the fireworks started and moved into a nearby trailer. "I guess it's the quiet."
"Quiet?"
"The news. It's been quiet on foreign affairs. It makes me nervous, probably him too. Quiet is never good. It means people are planning quietly in a cave somewhere. It means new biological weapons are being invented."
"Calm down, Max. Are you sure it's not just the stress of doing the movie?"
"It adds to it. We're doing fight scenes now and the leading lady just made it up here for her scenes."
"She's a character."
"Yeah."
"An old friend?"
"Just a friend."
"How close?"
"We met on a movie set way back when. I'm just a familiar friendly face to her…" Max felt the weight of the silence. "I have to kiss her… a lot."
"Oh?"
"It's stage kissing."
"Not it's not."
"Okay, it's not but just kissing and some… groping. That's it. I don't have the details on the scene yet."
"I'm not saying anything."
"It's what you're not saying."
"How about… you come up to New York a couple of weekends… we'll show you around when we have the time."
"Boy does that sound tempting?"
"What?"
"I work, Max. I can't just take off on a weekend. I mean, if you're running late, what if you keep running late and I miss the window of opportunity to see you?"
"How much notice will you need?"
"Three weeks."
"Okay. The 24th. I will meet you at Isabel's. I'm going to talk to her about the impending baby… assuming it hasn't made its arrival yet. From there, we will do whatever you want. If I can't make it. I'll call you and maybe you and Isabel can do something."
"We're not exactly friends…"
"But you're the only female she can talk to about what's going on. You maybe won't understand but she can still talk to you."
"Yeah. I guess."
"I will try my hardest."
"You better."
"Why were you talking to Zan?"
"I felt like it. I miss him and Kal runs him ragged."
"I guess."
"Call me when you get to New York."
"Will do."
That lengthy pause where each one wanted to blurt out three words but never did. "Night Liz, enjoy the night."
"You too, night Max."
TBC
Max read over the script. "So… I'm the evil twin?"
"Essentially." The casting director nodded and looked to Kal. "Read."
Max took another minute to read it over before dropping the pages on the floor and clearing his throat. Hand in his pocket, he circled the script. Reaching over slightly, he plucked Kal's cigar from the ashtray and took a long draw. "You've got a… real… modern James Dean thing going on there, kid. Shame what you did to that face of ours."
"Who are you?" The casting director read off the script. "Why are you here?"
"A little of you, a little of me… I gotta say, though, I got the brains…" Max sucked on the cigar and eyes empty space. "I'm here because I've got a proposition for you. Join me."
"Join you?"
"Join me and all your dreams will come true. More money than God would know what to do with. You've already seen the ladies. You and I… we could be the most powerful team in the world."
"What do I want with power?"
"You really did get the short end of the stick didn't you?"
"I just want my girlfriend back."
"That's just precious. You want your girlfriend back… It's too bad she doesn't want you." Max cleared his throat and stepped into the next test scene. "Do you really think you can stop me? You didn't even know I existed two weeks ago."
"You'll never pull it off, I promise you. I will stop you."
"You're a punk, kid. You wouldn't know a plan if it jumped up and bit you on the ass." Max waved the cigar around as he bantered with the casting director. "I'll tell you what, though. Maybe I let you die quick. Maybe I save your beautiful girlfriend for myself."
"You won't touch her…"
"Or what? You'll kill me. You're doing a great job of that so far."
Casting director called a scene change. Max picked up the script and flipped to the page he hadn't read yet before dropping it again. "I told you I'd stop you."
"You haven't stopped me yet, kid. I'm gonna eat you for breakfast." Max leaned on the table separating him from the money. "You got the nice end. You got parents and a family, kid. I got to rise from adversity to be the man I am. You're a little @#%$ that I'm going to wipe off the bottom of my shoe."
The casting director looked to Kal, who reached out and took his cigar back. "So, what do you think, boss?"
"I think he was overacting." Kal pulled on the cigar and blew out the smoke directly in Max's face. "Kid, you make fun of me again and I'll renegotiate our agreement."
"Come on. Playing it mobster was good."
"I don't sound like a mobster."
"You do so. You should be in all the mobster movies… but your character would die every time."
"That's cute. Don't do it again. Get him the full script." Kal rose from his seat. "You meet up with Zannamen and Rodriguez tomorrow. You'll do the read-throughs with them just to make sure this is going to work." He stepped out the door but then stepped back in. "Try and remember that your character is not in the mob and is not 40 years old."
"40?" Max snorted, to which the casting director gasped.
"Don't push it, kid." Kal glared at him.
"Do you think you should be talking to the boss like that?" The casting director gathered his things to leave.
"He's my uncle. We're just messing around."
June 9, 2004
"No, it's okay being out here again. I just wish I wasn't so far from everyone." Max murmured into the phone in the bedroom of his hotel suite in California. "I love L.A. just as much as anyone but I worry about Tess."
"Well, she's in good hands. When does shooting start?" Liz asked softly.
"Next week in Utah, then to New York for a month." He sighed heavily. "I won't be home for about six months. Then again, things could go wrong and I'd be gone for a year. I… Uh… I challenged some of my last courses but there's one or four that I'll take spring semester to graduate on time. How are you coming?"
"Two years to get my bachelors at the rate I'm going. Then I'm back for my masters. That's really important to me."
"I know." He hated these conversations. The ones where the discussions belied their friendship. They sounded like they had been dating for years and were always on the brink of breaking up for her career or his. It was sickening and yet he endured them every time. "By the time I get on my feet, on my own that is, you'll be doing really well."
"I hope so." She sighed and one of her silences traveled over the phone. They had been dancing around these silences for quite a while… since Spring Break to be exact. "Max?"
"Yeah?"
"I wish you weren't so far away."
"Yeah. How are people doing?"
"Isabel thinks she might be pregnant. Jesse's a little worried but ecstatic. She's a little upset. She was taking all those classes and she'll have to hold off on next semester if she is."
"Maybe not."
"What?"
"Her pregnancy may not last all that long." Max rubbed at his forehead. "Tell her to call me when she's sure."
"Okay. Michael's in and out of funks. His parents are really worried about him. He transferred to N.Y.U. and all and he's just been… afraid to let people in. He doesn't call Isabel so much… and his mother even less. He checks in with me every month or so. We hang out, I guess but he's all walled up." She took a breath and sighed heavily. "How's Zan doing?"
"I haven't actually seen him since I got here. I see him tomorrow though."
"Who else is in this movie?"
"Michelle… James… It's got a good premise but it's coming off hokey so far."
"Can you tell me about it?"
"I'm evil."
"You? That's funny."
"Why?"
"You don't have an evil bone in your body." She giggled. "You gonna stare the good guy to death?"
"I've got a couple of fight scenes, missy. I've got two with Zan for sure and I get to torture the leading lady. It'll be great."
"I'll believe it when I see it."
July 4, 2004
Zan couldn't help it. He laughed then threw Max over his shoulder. "Yo Langley. This ain't workin' for me." Then he went down when Max kneed him in the chest. "Watch it, foo."
"Boys. Don't make me separate you." Kal put his hand on his head.
"Mr. Langley, where did you find them?" The director whispered. They had come dangerously close to blows several times already.
"One's a model, one's my nephew."
"They're not brothers?"
"They could be for all I know. They fight like they are." Kal took a breath and approached the two. His nerves were all raw. The boys were taking out more than aggression on each other today. "Boys. We're losing daylight and we're running out of suits." Without glancing back, he motioned both of them closer. "I realize this situation is all my doing but we've got reporters coming up here in a couple of days. Now, I've been tinkering with this a bit… but the fans are going to notice."
Max crossed his arms and waited, this couldn't be good. "Now, Zan came out first, which rightfully makes him older. While it is possible to say you came from the same mother, I've already been spouting out how Max is my nephew by blood."
"That doesn't mean anything. If Tess is supposedly my half-sister."
"But you're identical, boys. Not even a millimeter difference in height." Kal wrapped an arm around each man and guided them further away from the parameters of the set. "I'm going to do some hacking here and there. If anyone looks it up. You were both abandoned early on and separated. It'll be a real life TV movie. Nearly two decades pass until a chance meeting in a New York subway reunites long lost brothers."
"That's cheesy." Max nodded.
"It's sappy." Kal corrected. "The press will eat it up. Unfortunately they're also going to bring up the incident with Maisey Day unless… someone tips off the FBI, in which case, they'll take care of that."
"So now we's related?" Zan groaned.
"You already act like brothers." Kal spun them both and propelled them both to their marks. "Let's shoot boys. We have time for two more shots before we completely lose the light. Zan! Just do the choreographed moves. Max! Don't egg him on." Just then a limo rolled to a stop behind the crew. A blonde blur flew from the backdoor and tackled Max. The crew chuckled. Kal sighed. "Tess, honey, come sit with me until we're done."
"But…" Tess couldn't get out another word before Max was pushing her toward the director's chair.
"From the top. Action!" The director called out.
Max launched himself at Zan and they ran quickly and sometimes hurtfully through the choreographed moves until Zan landed flat on his back, hitting his head on a 'rock' and passed out. Max laughed. "Never had a chance." He knelt over the body. "Your girlfriend's gonna love me."
"Cut!"
"Do it one more time. More evil in the laugh there, kid." Kal called out. "Brush some of the dust off. Blow the dirt smoother and take it from the top."
--
Max shook his head while he watched Zan inhale a side of beef, a gallon of potato salad and vat of baked beans. "Shouldn't you be watching your weight, old man?"
"I'm all good, son. Watch yourself." Zan pointed a barbeque-covered finger at him. "I's enjoyin' myself."
"He's making such a mess, Max." Tess huffed and kept herself busy shaving meat from her rib bones as carefully as possible.
Sipping his sweet iced tea, Max turned his face to the sky and waited for the fireworks to fill the sky. Crew members filled their plates and found their places to wait for the show provided for them while away from home. Murmurs and whispered filled the air, no one daring to make too much noise and miss the display.
"Scoot over, I'm comin'." A thick female voice called out. Zan's head snapped up and he immediately made room. He was disappointed when the girl sat next to Max. "Ain't you eating anything?"
"I ate." Max shook his head. "Just get here?"
"Got here this morning. I know how Kal is. I wanted to be out of the way… until I heard about the food." Michelle shook her head.
"You like the part?"
"I get to be an ass-kicking doctor. Hell yeah. Only other woman of medium color was the French chick and I don't count her." She set her plate down. "How you been living, Max?"
"Been in New Haven for a long while now."
"He finally roped you in?"
"Yeah." Max nodded.
"How'd he do it? You were so hell bent on staying out. I gotta know."
"I want to start a business but I'll need at least his name to get it started right away. I've got a contract to do five total and free photography on eight."
"You got ripped."
"Yeah." Max sat a moment longer before he made the introduction. He wanted Zan to sweat this one. "You remember Tess?"
"Yeah. Hey sweetie, how you living?"
"I've got a boyfriend." Tess announced and went back to meticulously cutting her meat.
"A guy friend." Max clarified for his friend. "Did you meet Zan yet?"
"Yeah. I read with him. How goes the virgin voyage?" Michelle tossed him a nod.
"Kal's ridin' my ass. Don't know if it's me or him?"
"Him." "Both." Max and Michelle blurted out at the same time.
"It's both, Zan." Max cleared his throat and reached for his drink. "He's a hard-ass and he hates you."
"Why?" Michelle cut in with her mouth full of food.
"Biology. Zan and I share some."
"No kidding?"
"I got the looks." Zan blew Max a kiss.
"I can always get plastic surgery. How could you survive a brain transplant?" Max winked back.
"Boys. Behave." Tess glared at them. "Max… I'm getting dirty."
"It's okay. We've got wet towels somewhere. Get as dirty as you want." Just when he was about to say more, Zan's phone rang where it sat on the table between them. They eyed each other through two more rings before racing to get to it. Having the cleaner hands, Max got it first. "Thank you for responding to the ad for the impotent thug from the sewer. How may I process your revulsion?"
"Max?" Liz laughed. "Where's Zan?"
"I'm hurt. You call and you want someone else?"
"I did call Zan's phone, Max. Put him on, I'll talk to him and then he can give it back so I can talk to you."
"He's eating."
"So? It's never stopped him before."
"So, he's covered in pounds of roasted flesh." Max shot a look at Zan who was already busy cleaning up and motioning for the phone.
"Put him on."
"Here, Michelle. Talk to Liz." Max handed the phone over and listened to Michelle ask Liz a million questions before the phone was finally passed to a seriously annoyed Zan. Finally, after Tess talked to Liz, the phone came back to Max. "Miss me?"
"After that stunt? No. I talk to you all the time, Max. I never get to talk to Zan." She drew in a breath on her end. "So, taking longer out there than you thought?"
"It rained when we first got here. Then the cameras wouldn't work. One accident after another. Zan and I are ready to kill each other again."
"He told me."
"I don't know what it is." Max got to his feet as the fireworks started and moved into a nearby trailer. "I guess it's the quiet."
"Quiet?"
"The news. It's been quiet on foreign affairs. It makes me nervous, probably him too. Quiet is never good. It means people are planning quietly in a cave somewhere. It means new biological weapons are being invented."
"Calm down, Max. Are you sure it's not just the stress of doing the movie?"
"It adds to it. We're doing fight scenes now and the leading lady just made it up here for her scenes."
"She's a character."
"Yeah."
"An old friend?"
"Just a friend."
"How close?"
"We met on a movie set way back when. I'm just a familiar friendly face to her…" Max felt the weight of the silence. "I have to kiss her… a lot."
"Oh?"
"It's stage kissing."
"Not it's not."
"Okay, it's not but just kissing and some… groping. That's it. I don't have the details on the scene yet."
"I'm not saying anything."
"It's what you're not saying."
"How about… you come up to New York a couple of weekends… we'll show you around when we have the time."
"Boy does that sound tempting?"
"What?"
"I work, Max. I can't just take off on a weekend. I mean, if you're running late, what if you keep running late and I miss the window of opportunity to see you?"
"How much notice will you need?"
"Three weeks."
"Okay. The 24th. I will meet you at Isabel's. I'm going to talk to her about the impending baby… assuming it hasn't made its arrival yet. From there, we will do whatever you want. If I can't make it. I'll call you and maybe you and Isabel can do something."
"We're not exactly friends…"
"But you're the only female she can talk to about what's going on. You maybe won't understand but she can still talk to you."
"Yeah. I guess."
"I will try my hardest."
"You better."
"Why were you talking to Zan?"
"I felt like it. I miss him and Kal runs him ragged."
"I guess."
"Call me when you get to New York."
"Will do."
That lengthy pause where each one wanted to blurt out three words but never did. "Night Liz, enjoy the night."
"You too, night Max."
TBC
Part 36 – July 24, 2004
Part 36 – July 24, 2004
Max winced as he turned pages of the script for the next few weeks. “You know, you told me it was only a bit part. I’m in a lot of scenes for a bit part.”
“I also told you that you were the bad guy, the doppelganger. You figure it out, smart guy.” Kal gestured to the leading lady. “Four days and you got the love scene with Rodriguez over there. Get over this shy crap.”
All Max could do was nod. He was good with the ladies and he knew it but… he had been hesitant to kiss Michelle for two reasons. One, they were just friends and he didn’t see her that way. Two, Liz. There was a third reason that he wouldn’t admit to himself. He and Michelle had a little bit of chemistry… which led to a far off fourth reason. Zan.
They ran through the scene several times and Max could tell Kal was getting irritated. At least they weren’t filming yet and it was a good thing that Zan wasn’t there. When everyone cleared out, Kal let him have it. “Work on it,” came the scolding. “The reading was great. The chemistry is definitely there. The banter is going to be huge.”
“Bit part. You promised. I’m feeling a lot of pressure.” Max reminded him.
“I lied.” Kal snorted as if Max should have known better, and he should have. “But you signed the contract without reading it.” People returned to gather forgotten items so Kal shoved Max into a closet to finish yelling at him. “You have got to nail the love scene and we only have three days in the hotel… I will not go over budget because my seducer looks more like a seducee. We have three short days to do your scenes with her in the hotel. Are you understanding me?” Kal saw the look and recognized it for what it was and did not hesitate to call the young man on it. “You are not cheating on Legs out there in front of the camera. This is work. This is business.”
“What do you suggest I do about it?”
Kal thought about it for a moment, closing his copy of the script in five different colors that said to Max more revisions were headed his way. “Chemistry is really good. Everything is believable and moving. It just needs more. You’re not necking anymore, you’re gonna make love to her and make her believe you’re her real lover and not just an imposter. You got it?”
“Yet but…” Max sighed.
“Practice, or hang out… whatever it is that will make you comfortable. It’s acting. Act. Find the girl, fix the problem and get me my scene.” Kal shoved him out of the closet and snapped his fingers at his assistant. “And stop shaving. You gotta look like your brother when you steal his girl.”
--
Kisses. That’s all it was. Weirder that he and Zan would be sharing a girl. Max tossed his keys on the table in his hotel room. Kisses and some heavy groping. Sighing, he reached for the phone. No answer on Liz’s cell. “Liz, it’s Max. I know it’s short notice but if you can make it up… I’ll have a few mornings free this week. Call me. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll see you when I can… please call me.”
Tossing his phone into a dark corner he rubbed at his eyes. He had never felt this much stress before. It felt good… until he remembered the interview.
July 25, 2004
Max sat as quietly as possible during the interview. This was supposed to be Zan’s big break, not his. Kal was hyping the movie as much as he could. He had to, he was directing this one personally. Apparently he hadn’t done that in a while and his fellows were beginning to doubt if he could do it anymore. Of course, the press wanted his statement. It was all very exciting to finally see what the nephew of the famous movie mogul could do now that he was finally involved in the business. And then there was the whole sap angle to play up. “Well, no. It wasn’t hard to figure out. The guy could look like me if he shaved and cleaned up.” Max winked at Zan, who snorted. “You could say we were both in a state of denial at first.”
“So you were separated at birth?”
Kal cleared his throat and waved his cigar in the general direction of the reporter. “Despite the striking resemblance, no. My boys are brothers but not twins. Emory over there is a year older… I think. Right?” He looked to Zan, who nodded, a little more than uneasy with so many cameras in his face and the reporters shooting out the questions. “I don’t know the circumstances as my brother had been estranged from me for some time before I got custody of Max. Emory just came to my attention recently, within the past few years or so.”
“Just like that?” came the question.
“Naw.” Zan jumped in because he had the answer to that one. “That denial… it cuts both ways, you know? Blood tests and all to be sure I wasn’t just blessed with the better set of genes.” Chuckles rumbled from the reporters but the questions shifted back to Max, which set Zan’s ire on the rise.
“Why did you wait so long to break into film, Max?”
Kal cut in. “That was my fault. As you know the boys have a half-sister who does modeling from time to time.” He held his hand up to silence the questions until he was finished. “My girl is rather special and Max being the shy boy he is… we focused our energies on her. As for his late involvement, he’s about to graduate from an Ivy League school we’ve been asked not to mention in any interviews.”
“Max, how do you like Yale? Is it a big change from UCLA?”
Laughter erupted at the question.
July 26, 2004
Michelle rubbed Max’s shoulders in an attempt to get him to relax but nothing seemed to be working. “I’m just a girl… and we’ve got two days before we gotta shoot this.”
“I know. Max cleared his head and relaxed so much he didn’t hear the door open. When he felt the odd silence, he opened his eyes and sat up. “Liz.” He said her name before he realized she was standing there.
“Am I early.” Her words came forced through clenched teeth.
“No.” Max got to his feet. Liz was not happy and he knew any attempt to explain was going to come off wrong and so he tried to avoid it as long as possible. “Liz, Michelle. Michelle, Liz.” Relief flooded his chest as she allowed him to guide her to a chair. “And you’ll be happy to know that Michael and I have no physical chemistry on-camera, which is why she’s here right now.”
“In that case, Michelle, it’s nice to meet you.” Liz realized that she had been rude and for no good reason. She and Max weren’t dating, exactly… still, he was hers. He sat down next to her on that couch. Her smell tickled his nose and he hadn’t realized he missed her so much until she was sitting right there. “I guess I should have called you back but I was free…”
“I’m glad you came, really.” Max nodded and kissed her deeply before realizing that he probably shouldn’t have. Pulling away, he fought for his tongue but it had gone.
“Wow.” Liz whispered and struggled to find her wits.
“I’ll say.” Michelle burst into their little bubble. She winked at Max as she stood. “I’m taking off, Max. You practice on her and I’ll see you on the set.”
Nodding, he didn’t even see her to the door. All his attention was focused on the brunette next to him. “Should I not have? I missed you too.”
“Yeah… I mean… yes it was good and I missed you, too.” Liz kissed his lips softly. That felt so good and right. “What?” He looked like he wanted to ask her a question. “What is it?”
“Can I take you to bed?”
“Um… what?”
“It’s nice and soft and I’m not asking for sex… I just want to hold you.”
“Maybe.” She teased him with another soft kiss, pulling away before he could deepen it.
“Can I?”
“I drove a long way, Max. If you’re taking me to bed, it better be for more than cuddles.”
TBC
Max winced as he turned pages of the script for the next few weeks. “You know, you told me it was only a bit part. I’m in a lot of scenes for a bit part.”
“I also told you that you were the bad guy, the doppelganger. You figure it out, smart guy.” Kal gestured to the leading lady. “Four days and you got the love scene with Rodriguez over there. Get over this shy crap.”
All Max could do was nod. He was good with the ladies and he knew it but… he had been hesitant to kiss Michelle for two reasons. One, they were just friends and he didn’t see her that way. Two, Liz. There was a third reason that he wouldn’t admit to himself. He and Michelle had a little bit of chemistry… which led to a far off fourth reason. Zan.
They ran through the scene several times and Max could tell Kal was getting irritated. At least they weren’t filming yet and it was a good thing that Zan wasn’t there. When everyone cleared out, Kal let him have it. “Work on it,” came the scolding. “The reading was great. The chemistry is definitely there. The banter is going to be huge.”
“Bit part. You promised. I’m feeling a lot of pressure.” Max reminded him.
“I lied.” Kal snorted as if Max should have known better, and he should have. “But you signed the contract without reading it.” People returned to gather forgotten items so Kal shoved Max into a closet to finish yelling at him. “You have got to nail the love scene and we only have three days in the hotel… I will not go over budget because my seducer looks more like a seducee. We have three short days to do your scenes with her in the hotel. Are you understanding me?” Kal saw the look and recognized it for what it was and did not hesitate to call the young man on it. “You are not cheating on Legs out there in front of the camera. This is work. This is business.”
“What do you suggest I do about it?”
Kal thought about it for a moment, closing his copy of the script in five different colors that said to Max more revisions were headed his way. “Chemistry is really good. Everything is believable and moving. It just needs more. You’re not necking anymore, you’re gonna make love to her and make her believe you’re her real lover and not just an imposter. You got it?”
“Yet but…” Max sighed.
“Practice, or hang out… whatever it is that will make you comfortable. It’s acting. Act. Find the girl, fix the problem and get me my scene.” Kal shoved him out of the closet and snapped his fingers at his assistant. “And stop shaving. You gotta look like your brother when you steal his girl.”
--
Kisses. That’s all it was. Weirder that he and Zan would be sharing a girl. Max tossed his keys on the table in his hotel room. Kisses and some heavy groping. Sighing, he reached for the phone. No answer on Liz’s cell. “Liz, it’s Max. I know it’s short notice but if you can make it up… I’ll have a few mornings free this week. Call me. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll see you when I can… please call me.”
Tossing his phone into a dark corner he rubbed at his eyes. He had never felt this much stress before. It felt good… until he remembered the interview.
July 25, 2004
Max sat as quietly as possible during the interview. This was supposed to be Zan’s big break, not his. Kal was hyping the movie as much as he could. He had to, he was directing this one personally. Apparently he hadn’t done that in a while and his fellows were beginning to doubt if he could do it anymore. Of course, the press wanted his statement. It was all very exciting to finally see what the nephew of the famous movie mogul could do now that he was finally involved in the business. And then there was the whole sap angle to play up. “Well, no. It wasn’t hard to figure out. The guy could look like me if he shaved and cleaned up.” Max winked at Zan, who snorted. “You could say we were both in a state of denial at first.”
“So you were separated at birth?”
Kal cleared his throat and waved his cigar in the general direction of the reporter. “Despite the striking resemblance, no. My boys are brothers but not twins. Emory over there is a year older… I think. Right?” He looked to Zan, who nodded, a little more than uneasy with so many cameras in his face and the reporters shooting out the questions. “I don’t know the circumstances as my brother had been estranged from me for some time before I got custody of Max. Emory just came to my attention recently, within the past few years or so.”
“Just like that?” came the question.
“Naw.” Zan jumped in because he had the answer to that one. “That denial… it cuts both ways, you know? Blood tests and all to be sure I wasn’t just blessed with the better set of genes.” Chuckles rumbled from the reporters but the questions shifted back to Max, which set Zan’s ire on the rise.
“Why did you wait so long to break into film, Max?”
Kal cut in. “That was my fault. As you know the boys have a half-sister who does modeling from time to time.” He held his hand up to silence the questions until he was finished. “My girl is rather special and Max being the shy boy he is… we focused our energies on her. As for his late involvement, he’s about to graduate from an Ivy League school we’ve been asked not to mention in any interviews.”
“Max, how do you like Yale? Is it a big change from UCLA?”
Laughter erupted at the question.
July 26, 2004
Michelle rubbed Max’s shoulders in an attempt to get him to relax but nothing seemed to be working. “I’m just a girl… and we’ve got two days before we gotta shoot this.”
“I know. Max cleared his head and relaxed so much he didn’t hear the door open. When he felt the odd silence, he opened his eyes and sat up. “Liz.” He said her name before he realized she was standing there.
“Am I early.” Her words came forced through clenched teeth.
“No.” Max got to his feet. Liz was not happy and he knew any attempt to explain was going to come off wrong and so he tried to avoid it as long as possible. “Liz, Michelle. Michelle, Liz.” Relief flooded his chest as she allowed him to guide her to a chair. “And you’ll be happy to know that Michael and I have no physical chemistry on-camera, which is why she’s here right now.”
“In that case, Michelle, it’s nice to meet you.” Liz realized that she had been rude and for no good reason. She and Max weren’t dating, exactly… still, he was hers. He sat down next to her on that couch. Her smell tickled his nose and he hadn’t realized he missed her so much until she was sitting right there. “I guess I should have called you back but I was free…”
“I’m glad you came, really.” Max nodded and kissed her deeply before realizing that he probably shouldn’t have. Pulling away, he fought for his tongue but it had gone.
“Wow.” Liz whispered and struggled to find her wits.
“I’ll say.” Michelle burst into their little bubble. She winked at Max as she stood. “I’m taking off, Max. You practice on her and I’ll see you on the set.”
Nodding, he didn’t even see her to the door. All his attention was focused on the brunette next to him. “Should I not have? I missed you too.”
“Yeah… I mean… yes it was good and I missed you, too.” Liz kissed his lips softly. That felt so good and right. “What?” He looked like he wanted to ask her a question. “What is it?”
“Can I take you to bed?”
“Um… what?”
“It’s nice and soft and I’m not asking for sex… I just want to hold you.”
“Maybe.” She teased him with another soft kiss, pulling away before he could deepen it.
“Can I?”
“I drove a long way, Max. If you’re taking me to bed, it better be for more than cuddles.”
TBC
Part 37 - July 30, 2004
Part 37 - July 30, 2004
Kal reviewed the dailies and drug heavily on his cigar as his suspicions were confirmed. The fresh ones were on the next monitor and there it was for anyone who knew what to look for. Max hadn’t even been on the set for his love scenes. The man working the scene was none other than Zan. That kid was good, damn good... and that bode well for business. Kal had been on the set for the impostor love scene and he hadn’t realized until after the wrap and the kid had lit a cigarette. Zan was getting a contract; multiple movies, maybe a franchise and plenty of point options.
Kal was reviewing the final shots when Max finally showed up, leaving his girl in the hallway, so he decided he wouldn’t forgive the boy just yet. “Does Michelle know that wasn’t you?”
“No.” Max straightened and braced himself for the raking to come. He knew he had been caught.
“Good... Don’t do it again.” Kal snapped at him and set his cigar down to shut off the equipment. Then he plucked the cigar back up and turned to his nephew. “Whose brilliant idea was this?”
“Zan’s.”
“Figures.” He stared at the boy just long enough to make him uncomfortable before turning to the row of blank monitors. “It’s good footage. I’ll use it because I won’t go overbudget for something I can’t explain to the studio... but don’t you ever do that again. Your contract isn’t wired to prohibit love scenes and you aren’t pulling a George Strait on me.”
Max shoved his hands into his pockets. “It does work better, doesn’t it? Looks a hell of a lot better than when I tried it.”
“Yeah.” Kal sighed and rose from his seat. “Zan’s getting half your points and I’m not totally talking about the box office. That girl...” He pointed to the door. “She’ll ruin you.”
Max shrugged and fingered a box in his pocket. “It’ll be a hell of a way to go.”
--
Isabel smiled broadly when she opened the door to let Max and Liz into the apartment. “It’s a little messy, I’m afraid. We’ve had a trying couple of days.” She picked up a stack of newspapers off the table by the door. “You’re just in time. We weren’t sure you were coming after all but I figured I’d better prepare. Jesse is starving and if we don’t hurry in there, he’ll start without us.” She didn’t give the couple a chance to talk, straightening the apartment as she moved them through it. “I’ve got summer finals and Jesse is working on a big case. It’s been really hectic.”
Max just smirked and nudged Liz after Isabel. “So, I guess it was a false alarm, then?”
She turned slowly just before they were to enter the kitchen. “Yeah, the whole baby thing, yeah.” She nodded and kept her voice low. “False alarm, yes. Good news for me, not so great for Jesse. If we could refrain from mentioning it at the table, that’d be super.”
Liz winced sympathetically. “He got really excited huh.”
“Yeah. He’s ready. He’s more than ready but I’m not ready to be 21, barefoot, and pregnant.” She cleared her throat as she raised her voice. “I had dinner catered. As Jesse will attest, my cooking skills are definitely not something I should ever brag about.” They turned into the kitchen just in time to catch Jesse tasting dinner. “Hey! Sit.”
“Hi Liz, Hey Max.” Jesse straightened his tie and reached for Max’s hand. “Good to see you again and finally have you both in our home.”
“It’s a nice place.” Max nodded and cast a glance around. “Not bad.”
“It’s just for now. I keep telling Isabel not to fix it up so much. I get a raise and a promotion this year and then we’re moving uptown.” Jesse shot his wife a meaningful look. “I’m talking penthouse with a view and multiple bedrooms.”
“I know but we’re entertaining in this apartment until then.” Isabel shot a look right back. “Sit, everyone. I’ll be back with drinks.”
Liz couldn’t help but take Max’s hand under the table. He had taken her everywhere with him. They hadn’t been separated for more than 10 minutes all day and that was so he could talk to his uncle about a shoot. “So, how is work?”
“Busy... which is good.” Jesse nodded to himself as he helped himself to another pinch of dinner. “I haven’t eaten all day if you’ll forgive me. I’ve been that busy.”
“Gotcha.” Liz nodded and smiled at Isabel when she returned with water, tea and a bottle of beer. “So you. How have you been?”
“College. Summer classes. Very hectic.” She answered as she took her seat. “Now, Mr. Ramirez, you can serve yourself.”
“Thank you.” Jesse sighed gratefully and began serving, ignoring himself at first to be polite even though Isabel had given him permission. “I hear this movie is going to be big.”
“What have you heard about it?” Max passed a bowl to Liz and a plate to Isabel.
“A little here and there. Kal petition for the rights to use real company names and we had to draw up some papers.”
“Only the best for my uncle.”
“Don’t I know it. He’s even got the right to film inside our office, not for this movie but for another one, I think. No one’s been able to do that in the entire history of the firm... not that no one’s ever asked. The foyer is huge with this statue that protrudes right out of the wall.” Jesse sipped his beer and opened his mouth to say more but Isabel shoved a dinner roll into it.
“Jesse, honey, I thought you were hungry.” Isabel said innocently enough before she turned to Max. “So, you and I are talking about my wayward brother.”
“Where is he?” He wiped at his mouth and looked to Liz, who shrugged slightly and said nothing.
“In the Village, I presume... I don’t know. For all I know he’s got a horse farm in the country except that he drops by once a week when no one is here to look the place over. He doesn’t leave messages, he just looks around and leaves.”
“I really don’t know what to tell you.”
“I do.” Liz gave them all apologetic glances before turning her eyes to her plate. “I’ve talked to him a little a while back. He says he’s on a quest.”
“A quest.” Isabel repeated doubtfully. “What on Earth for?”
“Well... he vented his resentment towards Max... that he came into our lives and turned everything upside down. He’s upset that you seem to like Max better than him even though Michael’s been your brother all this time.” She looked up in time to see Max’s face fall and Isabel’s crumble into tears. “Not to mention how close he and I used to be... but you do realize it’s just Michael’s paranoia. You could dote on him and look up to him until the day you die and he’s still going to think that maybe you don’t love him the way he thinks he should be loved... That’s just Michael.”
“I know.” Isabel pushed her food around her plate. “I wish he would just talk to me. I invite him over all the time... or at least when I can talk to him.”
“This... restlessness that I have... that Zan has...” Max cleared his throat and sipped his water slowly. “I don’t think we got it as bad as Michael. Michael was a warrior. A fighter. Maybe if he came to stay with me... Miles is training us and it seems to take the edge off. How are you dealing?”
“Peachy.” Isabel slid her eyes to her husband and back to Max. “I’ve had other things on my mind.”
“I wanted to ask you, Max.” Jesse cut in and this time he wouldn’t let Isabel interrupt. “You mentioned that things could get bumpy if we had a child...”
Max quieted Isabel with a motion of his hand. “Whether or not you’re ready to start a family.. there are some things you should know. I... assumed it wasn’t possible.”
“Because of the difference in species?” Liz asked quietly.
“Well, yeah. I’ve never taken any chances but I figured it couldn’t really happen. Antarian pregnancies are only a month long.” Simultaneously Liz and Isabel winced and clutched their flat abdomens. Max thought about it for a moment and winced himself. “Nine month’s growth in a single month’s time. Definitely an attention-getter. Not to mention any unforeseen complications attributing to biology. You’d have to plan, to prepare. I suggest, Isabel, that you make up a medical condition and claim...”
Liz picked up where he left off. “Claim you’ve been trying and miscarrying or been having complications conceiving and you didn’t want to jinx anything by telling people you were pregnant early on. You were just making sure that everything was going to be okay, first.”
“I hate lying.” Isabel whispered. Sitting up, she blinked rapidly to dispel the wetness that had gathered in her eyes. “But I suppose when we’re really ready, it’d be good to have a plan.”
Jesse didn’t say anything but set his fork down, no longer hungry though his plate was half full. After a moment, he sighed heavily. “I guess we still don’t know if it’s really possible.”
“Second session starts in two weeks.” Isabel spoke up. “I was thinking of getting caught up on my credits so I could graduate in the spring.”
“You’re already pushing yourself too hard.” Jesse shook his head, still staring at his plate. For once he wasn’t calculating the cost of tuition and loan payments. He was concerned for his wife and her tendency to throw herself into her work when she was upset.
“Then next summer I can get a job and we can start trying. By then we’ll be in that penthouse uptown and we won’t have to worry about space.” Isabel wiped at her eyes and Max realized that what he had said had hit her hard. The thought of being unable to carry her husband’s child had never occurred to her before. Having the option was very important to her.
“That’s all we need... a bunch of half-breeds running around.” A voice spoke up. “And that’s not a racial slight, Jesse. Human or otherwise.”
“Michael.” Isabel leapt out of her seat to throw her arms around him. “I’ve missed you.”
“Saw the lights on and figured it wasn’t too late.” Michael shrugged as much as he could with her squeezing the life out of him. “Hey, food.”
“Sit. Eat. Let me get you a plate and something to drink.” Isabel prodded him toward the table.
“I’m not intruding, right?” Michael barely glanced at Max and Liz to acknowledge their presence.”
“Not at all.” Jesse moved his chair down so Michael could have some room to maneuver. “Max was in town filming and Liz... came for a visit.”
Isabel served Michael a huge plate and kissed his forehead noisily. “You could never intrude.”
“Geez Isabel. You’re acting like Mom.” Michael complained and began shoveling food into this mouth in a way that was polite yet said he hadn’t eaten in even longer than Jesse. “How long you two been together?” He asked without looking up.
“Less than a week.” Liz replied cautiously, still trying to gauge his mood.
“About time.” He nodded to himself and took a long swallow of his soda.
“How’s your quest coming?”
“Been over about a month or two.” He shrugged and smiled down into his plate. The strangeness of it captured everyone’s attention and stretched the silence until he looked up at his sister. “I met someone.”
Isabel and Liz leaned forward anxiously, the smile on his face was so genuine and rare. “Well, little brother... tell us. There’s got to be a reason you graced us with your presence tonight.”
“Her name is Kathryn Murphy. “ Then a self-conscious quality formed just as the walls went up. “I... want to tell her and I want her to meet you guys but I don’t want you guys to give me any shit about her.”
“Michael..’ Isabel started but he cut her off.
“Especially you.” When she stayed silent, he looked up to find she wore a hurt expression. “Promise me you’ll trust me.”
“Michael, if you feel strongly enough to tell her... I more than trust you.” Isabel reached out and took her brother’s hand. “Why would you think otherwise?”
He had the decency to look cowed for a moment. “The guys at work have been giving me shit about Kathryn but all I have to do is look at her and I don’t care.”
“Sounds great, Michael. We’re happy for you.” Jesse put his napkin on the table. “Why all the stress if she makes you happy?”
Michael’s eyes flicked to Max and then he went on pretending Max wasn’t there. “It’s just that Kathryn is older.”
“Oh. 25?” Isabel guessed and raised her guess when he shook his head. “Jesse’s age?” Still Michael shook his head. “30?”
“Kathryn’s 32. She’s got a 10 year old son and a 7 year old daughter.” Michael rushed ahead before Isabel could protest. “I know what you’re thinking. She’s too old and she’s got a lot of baggage.. but she’s great and I get along with her kids.”
Isabel didn’t say anything at first but everyone could tell she wasn’t happy about it. “Have you told Mom?”
“No.”
“It’s only been a couple of months, Michael.” Isabel stopped and started over. “She’s ten years older than you and you are only 10 years older than her son.”
“Don’t you think I know that? That I haven’t agonized over it and that we haven’t talked it to death?”
“It would be really beneficial to her to latch onto a guy with a trust fund.” Isabel bit out.
“Probably.” Michael agreed. “Except that she doesn’t know anything about Roswell and my trust fund or any of our other shit.... She loves me...”
“That’s great Michael.” Max jumped in. “I’m glad you found someone that makes you happy. I’m glad you’re taking my advice.”
“Yeah, well... If I’m not gonna get picked up by a spaceship... maybe some roots aren’t a bad idea.” Michael shrugged off Max’s comment though he knew he could count on some support from one of his own kind.
“The kids are cute?”
Michael smiled broadly. “Yeah. Damian and me throw the ball around some. He wants to play for the Majors. I’m trying to steer him toward hockey but the kid sucks at it. Anna is really smart. She reads everything she can get her hands on. She’s tested way above her age level.”
“Kathryn?” Max asked and Michael’s smile broadened if that were possible. He could see Isabel relenting the more Michael talked.
“The sweetest person I’ve ever met. We met last year but we just started dating a couple of months ago and she’s amazing. Her husband died a few years ago, he was a cop. She’s a nurse at the hospital where I clerk. During the last brown out, we got to talking and.. before I knew it, I was asking her out. I think she was more surprised when she found out how old I am.”
“You sound so happy.” Isabel gushed. “Don’t you think it’s too soon, thought?”
Michael cleared his throat. “Actually... I already told her.” His face became defensive once more. “I kind of had to.”
“Had to?” Max pressed gently. Like Zan, if you bugged him too much, Michael would close off and forget he ever tried to open up.
“She’s pregnant.” Michael braced himself for the screams that never came.
Isabel sat stunned and turned slowly to Jesse. “Did you hear that?”
“You’re going to be an aunt.” Jesse nodded, the same joy in his eyes that lay in hers.
“Congratulations, Michael.” Max nodded and looked to his shocked girlfriend. “Was there any questions?”
“No... I talked to Kal before I came over. He threatened to kill me but he told me a lot of things, some I had already figured out and some that I really needed to know.” Michael smiled in spite of himself. “Obviously the questions are going to come but I think I can handle it. We... We’re eloping or I hope we still are. She’s processing right now.”
“How did you know?” Liz asked eagerly, her scientific mind churning with the possibilities. “That she was pregnant, I mean.”
“The puking a couple of days ago.. and the swelling in her...” Michael tilted his head in lieu of saying something that would get him slapped. “She’s been pregnant twice before, she knows the signs... She was panicking... so I told her the truth. When she’s talking to me again... I’ll explain what Kal told me.”
“Wow.” Isabel got to her feet and grabbed the phone. “Mom is going to kill you.”
“Who are you calling?” Michael’s eyes narrowed.
“Mom.” She scoffed at him. “You won’t call her, so I will.”
“Isabel.”
“Mom. You will never guess what your son has gone and done.”
“Isabel.”
“He’s getting married and getting 3 kids in the bargain.”
“Isabel!”
“I haven’t met her yet, no.”
“Isabel.”
“Ten and seven.”
“Isabel.”
“The third is on the way.”
“Isabel.”
“Yes, it’s his... well that’s what he said.”
“Isabel.”
“She’s 32 but Mom.... Mom... Mom, I’ve never seen Michael so happy in my life.” She turned to her brother and hugged him. “I think he’s ready for this.”
TBC
Kal reviewed the dailies and drug heavily on his cigar as his suspicions were confirmed. The fresh ones were on the next monitor and there it was for anyone who knew what to look for. Max hadn’t even been on the set for his love scenes. The man working the scene was none other than Zan. That kid was good, damn good... and that bode well for business. Kal had been on the set for the impostor love scene and he hadn’t realized until after the wrap and the kid had lit a cigarette. Zan was getting a contract; multiple movies, maybe a franchise and plenty of point options.
Kal was reviewing the final shots when Max finally showed up, leaving his girl in the hallway, so he decided he wouldn’t forgive the boy just yet. “Does Michelle know that wasn’t you?”
“No.” Max straightened and braced himself for the raking to come. He knew he had been caught.
“Good... Don’t do it again.” Kal snapped at him and set his cigar down to shut off the equipment. Then he plucked the cigar back up and turned to his nephew. “Whose brilliant idea was this?”
“Zan’s.”
“Figures.” He stared at the boy just long enough to make him uncomfortable before turning to the row of blank monitors. “It’s good footage. I’ll use it because I won’t go overbudget for something I can’t explain to the studio... but don’t you ever do that again. Your contract isn’t wired to prohibit love scenes and you aren’t pulling a George Strait on me.”
Max shoved his hands into his pockets. “It does work better, doesn’t it? Looks a hell of a lot better than when I tried it.”
“Yeah.” Kal sighed and rose from his seat. “Zan’s getting half your points and I’m not totally talking about the box office. That girl...” He pointed to the door. “She’ll ruin you.”
Max shrugged and fingered a box in his pocket. “It’ll be a hell of a way to go.”
--
Isabel smiled broadly when she opened the door to let Max and Liz into the apartment. “It’s a little messy, I’m afraid. We’ve had a trying couple of days.” She picked up a stack of newspapers off the table by the door. “You’re just in time. We weren’t sure you were coming after all but I figured I’d better prepare. Jesse is starving and if we don’t hurry in there, he’ll start without us.” She didn’t give the couple a chance to talk, straightening the apartment as she moved them through it. “I’ve got summer finals and Jesse is working on a big case. It’s been really hectic.”
Max just smirked and nudged Liz after Isabel. “So, I guess it was a false alarm, then?”
She turned slowly just before they were to enter the kitchen. “Yeah, the whole baby thing, yeah.” She nodded and kept her voice low. “False alarm, yes. Good news for me, not so great for Jesse. If we could refrain from mentioning it at the table, that’d be super.”
Liz winced sympathetically. “He got really excited huh.”
“Yeah. He’s ready. He’s more than ready but I’m not ready to be 21, barefoot, and pregnant.” She cleared her throat as she raised her voice. “I had dinner catered. As Jesse will attest, my cooking skills are definitely not something I should ever brag about.” They turned into the kitchen just in time to catch Jesse tasting dinner. “Hey! Sit.”
“Hi Liz, Hey Max.” Jesse straightened his tie and reached for Max’s hand. “Good to see you again and finally have you both in our home.”
“It’s a nice place.” Max nodded and cast a glance around. “Not bad.”
“It’s just for now. I keep telling Isabel not to fix it up so much. I get a raise and a promotion this year and then we’re moving uptown.” Jesse shot his wife a meaningful look. “I’m talking penthouse with a view and multiple bedrooms.”
“I know but we’re entertaining in this apartment until then.” Isabel shot a look right back. “Sit, everyone. I’ll be back with drinks.”
Liz couldn’t help but take Max’s hand under the table. He had taken her everywhere with him. They hadn’t been separated for more than 10 minutes all day and that was so he could talk to his uncle about a shoot. “So, how is work?”
“Busy... which is good.” Jesse nodded to himself as he helped himself to another pinch of dinner. “I haven’t eaten all day if you’ll forgive me. I’ve been that busy.”
“Gotcha.” Liz nodded and smiled at Isabel when she returned with water, tea and a bottle of beer. “So you. How have you been?”
“College. Summer classes. Very hectic.” She answered as she took her seat. “Now, Mr. Ramirez, you can serve yourself.”
“Thank you.” Jesse sighed gratefully and began serving, ignoring himself at first to be polite even though Isabel had given him permission. “I hear this movie is going to be big.”
“What have you heard about it?” Max passed a bowl to Liz and a plate to Isabel.
“A little here and there. Kal petition for the rights to use real company names and we had to draw up some papers.”
“Only the best for my uncle.”
“Don’t I know it. He’s even got the right to film inside our office, not for this movie but for another one, I think. No one’s been able to do that in the entire history of the firm... not that no one’s ever asked. The foyer is huge with this statue that protrudes right out of the wall.” Jesse sipped his beer and opened his mouth to say more but Isabel shoved a dinner roll into it.
“Jesse, honey, I thought you were hungry.” Isabel said innocently enough before she turned to Max. “So, you and I are talking about my wayward brother.”
“Where is he?” He wiped at his mouth and looked to Liz, who shrugged slightly and said nothing.
“In the Village, I presume... I don’t know. For all I know he’s got a horse farm in the country except that he drops by once a week when no one is here to look the place over. He doesn’t leave messages, he just looks around and leaves.”
“I really don’t know what to tell you.”
“I do.” Liz gave them all apologetic glances before turning her eyes to her plate. “I’ve talked to him a little a while back. He says he’s on a quest.”
“A quest.” Isabel repeated doubtfully. “What on Earth for?”
“Well... he vented his resentment towards Max... that he came into our lives and turned everything upside down. He’s upset that you seem to like Max better than him even though Michael’s been your brother all this time.” She looked up in time to see Max’s face fall and Isabel’s crumble into tears. “Not to mention how close he and I used to be... but you do realize it’s just Michael’s paranoia. You could dote on him and look up to him until the day you die and he’s still going to think that maybe you don’t love him the way he thinks he should be loved... That’s just Michael.”
“I know.” Isabel pushed her food around her plate. “I wish he would just talk to me. I invite him over all the time... or at least when I can talk to him.”
“This... restlessness that I have... that Zan has...” Max cleared his throat and sipped his water slowly. “I don’t think we got it as bad as Michael. Michael was a warrior. A fighter. Maybe if he came to stay with me... Miles is training us and it seems to take the edge off. How are you dealing?”
“Peachy.” Isabel slid her eyes to her husband and back to Max. “I’ve had other things on my mind.”
“I wanted to ask you, Max.” Jesse cut in and this time he wouldn’t let Isabel interrupt. “You mentioned that things could get bumpy if we had a child...”
Max quieted Isabel with a motion of his hand. “Whether or not you’re ready to start a family.. there are some things you should know. I... assumed it wasn’t possible.”
“Because of the difference in species?” Liz asked quietly.
“Well, yeah. I’ve never taken any chances but I figured it couldn’t really happen. Antarian pregnancies are only a month long.” Simultaneously Liz and Isabel winced and clutched their flat abdomens. Max thought about it for a moment and winced himself. “Nine month’s growth in a single month’s time. Definitely an attention-getter. Not to mention any unforeseen complications attributing to biology. You’d have to plan, to prepare. I suggest, Isabel, that you make up a medical condition and claim...”
Liz picked up where he left off. “Claim you’ve been trying and miscarrying or been having complications conceiving and you didn’t want to jinx anything by telling people you were pregnant early on. You were just making sure that everything was going to be okay, first.”
“I hate lying.” Isabel whispered. Sitting up, she blinked rapidly to dispel the wetness that had gathered in her eyes. “But I suppose when we’re really ready, it’d be good to have a plan.”
Jesse didn’t say anything but set his fork down, no longer hungry though his plate was half full. After a moment, he sighed heavily. “I guess we still don’t know if it’s really possible.”
“Second session starts in two weeks.” Isabel spoke up. “I was thinking of getting caught up on my credits so I could graduate in the spring.”
“You’re already pushing yourself too hard.” Jesse shook his head, still staring at his plate. For once he wasn’t calculating the cost of tuition and loan payments. He was concerned for his wife and her tendency to throw herself into her work when she was upset.
“Then next summer I can get a job and we can start trying. By then we’ll be in that penthouse uptown and we won’t have to worry about space.” Isabel wiped at her eyes and Max realized that what he had said had hit her hard. The thought of being unable to carry her husband’s child had never occurred to her before. Having the option was very important to her.
“That’s all we need... a bunch of half-breeds running around.” A voice spoke up. “And that’s not a racial slight, Jesse. Human or otherwise.”
“Michael.” Isabel leapt out of her seat to throw her arms around him. “I’ve missed you.”
“Saw the lights on and figured it wasn’t too late.” Michael shrugged as much as he could with her squeezing the life out of him. “Hey, food.”
“Sit. Eat. Let me get you a plate and something to drink.” Isabel prodded him toward the table.
“I’m not intruding, right?” Michael barely glanced at Max and Liz to acknowledge their presence.”
“Not at all.” Jesse moved his chair down so Michael could have some room to maneuver. “Max was in town filming and Liz... came for a visit.”
Isabel served Michael a huge plate and kissed his forehead noisily. “You could never intrude.”
“Geez Isabel. You’re acting like Mom.” Michael complained and began shoveling food into this mouth in a way that was polite yet said he hadn’t eaten in even longer than Jesse. “How long you two been together?” He asked without looking up.
“Less than a week.” Liz replied cautiously, still trying to gauge his mood.
“About time.” He nodded to himself and took a long swallow of his soda.
“How’s your quest coming?”
“Been over about a month or two.” He shrugged and smiled down into his plate. The strangeness of it captured everyone’s attention and stretched the silence until he looked up at his sister. “I met someone.”
Isabel and Liz leaned forward anxiously, the smile on his face was so genuine and rare. “Well, little brother... tell us. There’s got to be a reason you graced us with your presence tonight.”
“Her name is Kathryn Murphy. “ Then a self-conscious quality formed just as the walls went up. “I... want to tell her and I want her to meet you guys but I don’t want you guys to give me any shit about her.”
“Michael..’ Isabel started but he cut her off.
“Especially you.” When she stayed silent, he looked up to find she wore a hurt expression. “Promise me you’ll trust me.”
“Michael, if you feel strongly enough to tell her... I more than trust you.” Isabel reached out and took her brother’s hand. “Why would you think otherwise?”
He had the decency to look cowed for a moment. “The guys at work have been giving me shit about Kathryn but all I have to do is look at her and I don’t care.”
“Sounds great, Michael. We’re happy for you.” Jesse put his napkin on the table. “Why all the stress if she makes you happy?”
Michael’s eyes flicked to Max and then he went on pretending Max wasn’t there. “It’s just that Kathryn is older.”
“Oh. 25?” Isabel guessed and raised her guess when he shook his head. “Jesse’s age?” Still Michael shook his head. “30?”
“Kathryn’s 32. She’s got a 10 year old son and a 7 year old daughter.” Michael rushed ahead before Isabel could protest. “I know what you’re thinking. She’s too old and she’s got a lot of baggage.. but she’s great and I get along with her kids.”
Isabel didn’t say anything at first but everyone could tell she wasn’t happy about it. “Have you told Mom?”
“No.”
“It’s only been a couple of months, Michael.” Isabel stopped and started over. “She’s ten years older than you and you are only 10 years older than her son.”
“Don’t you think I know that? That I haven’t agonized over it and that we haven’t talked it to death?”
“It would be really beneficial to her to latch onto a guy with a trust fund.” Isabel bit out.
“Probably.” Michael agreed. “Except that she doesn’t know anything about Roswell and my trust fund or any of our other shit.... She loves me...”
“That’s great Michael.” Max jumped in. “I’m glad you found someone that makes you happy. I’m glad you’re taking my advice.”
“Yeah, well... If I’m not gonna get picked up by a spaceship... maybe some roots aren’t a bad idea.” Michael shrugged off Max’s comment though he knew he could count on some support from one of his own kind.
“The kids are cute?”
Michael smiled broadly. “Yeah. Damian and me throw the ball around some. He wants to play for the Majors. I’m trying to steer him toward hockey but the kid sucks at it. Anna is really smart. She reads everything she can get her hands on. She’s tested way above her age level.”
“Kathryn?” Max asked and Michael’s smile broadened if that were possible. He could see Isabel relenting the more Michael talked.
“The sweetest person I’ve ever met. We met last year but we just started dating a couple of months ago and she’s amazing. Her husband died a few years ago, he was a cop. She’s a nurse at the hospital where I clerk. During the last brown out, we got to talking and.. before I knew it, I was asking her out. I think she was more surprised when she found out how old I am.”
“You sound so happy.” Isabel gushed. “Don’t you think it’s too soon, thought?”
Michael cleared his throat. “Actually... I already told her.” His face became defensive once more. “I kind of had to.”
“Had to?” Max pressed gently. Like Zan, if you bugged him too much, Michael would close off and forget he ever tried to open up.
“She’s pregnant.” Michael braced himself for the screams that never came.
Isabel sat stunned and turned slowly to Jesse. “Did you hear that?”
“You’re going to be an aunt.” Jesse nodded, the same joy in his eyes that lay in hers.
“Congratulations, Michael.” Max nodded and looked to his shocked girlfriend. “Was there any questions?”
“No... I talked to Kal before I came over. He threatened to kill me but he told me a lot of things, some I had already figured out and some that I really needed to know.” Michael smiled in spite of himself. “Obviously the questions are going to come but I think I can handle it. We... We’re eloping or I hope we still are. She’s processing right now.”
“How did you know?” Liz asked eagerly, her scientific mind churning with the possibilities. “That she was pregnant, I mean.”
“The puking a couple of days ago.. and the swelling in her...” Michael tilted his head in lieu of saying something that would get him slapped. “She’s been pregnant twice before, she knows the signs... She was panicking... so I told her the truth. When she’s talking to me again... I’ll explain what Kal told me.”
“Wow.” Isabel got to her feet and grabbed the phone. “Mom is going to kill you.”
“Who are you calling?” Michael’s eyes narrowed.
“Mom.” She scoffed at him. “You won’t call her, so I will.”
“Isabel.”
“Mom. You will never guess what your son has gone and done.”
“Isabel.”
“He’s getting married and getting 3 kids in the bargain.”
“Isabel!”
“I haven’t met her yet, no.”
“Isabel.”
“Ten and seven.”
“Isabel.”
“The third is on the way.”
“Isabel.”
“Yes, it’s his... well that’s what he said.”
“Isabel.”
“She’s 32 but Mom.... Mom... Mom, I’ve never seen Michael so happy in my life.” She turned to her brother and hugged him. “I think he’s ready for this.”
TBC