Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 7:45 pm
************************************************************
Liz was trying to hurry with gathering her things so that she could get home before Michael and Kylan got too impatient with waiting for her. She was a little upset that the meeting had ran longer than she’d expected, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it now.
As she finished closing her briefcase and began shrugging on her coat, Tess walked up to the desk and put her hands on her hips. “Elizabeth Parker, how could you keep a secret from me!”
Liz gave her a puzzled look. “What are you talking about Tess?”
Tess began tapping her foot. “Why didn’t you tell me your son’s babysitter was hot! Do you have any idea how much I almost embarrassed myself from the puddle of drool I left behind!”
Liz stopped shrugging into her coat and gave Tess a look. “Ooookay. I don’t think I needed to know that.”
“What? Are you telling me you haven’t noticed how good looking the man is? When was the last time you had your eyes checked?”
Liz rolled her eyes. “My eyes are perfectly fine Tess.”
“Then you should have noticed how perfectly fine Max is!”
“Tess…”
“Yum and did you ever look at that tush? You told me he was good with things around the house. Makes you wonder just what else he’s good at.”
“Tess!”
“Oh come on Liz! I saw the Halloween décor and the carved pumpkins. If he’s that talented with his hands…can you just imagine if…”
“Tess Harding that is enough! I don’t want to hear about how you were ogling my son’s babysitter.”
Tess gaped at her. “Are you saying you’ve never done that?”
When Liz just gave her a ‘duh’ look, Tess sputtered in disbelief. “You have got to be kidding! How could you not notice that walking…”
“Tess! Would you stop!” Liz shook her head and smiled at her friend’s bluntness. She couldn’t help it. Every time Tess talked about men, she had Liz in stitches with the words she used to describe them.
Tess sighed. “Well, since you haven’t noticed him, I’m wondering just who else has.”
Liz shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know if he’s single?”
Liz nodded. “I think he is. I know he lives alone and he never talks about having a girlfriend. I’ve only heard him talk about his friends and family.”
Tess grinned. “Really? How interesting.”
Liz narrowed her eyes when she saw the look on her friend’s face. “What are you scheming up now?”
Tess gave Liz an innocent look. “Oh nothing.”
“Tess, spill.”
“Weeeell, since you don’t seem to be interested and you think he’s single…”
“Yes?”
“Think you could be a great friend and set us up on a date?”
Liz blinked. “Seriously?”
Tess pouted. “I did it for you.”
Liz rolled her eyes, “Yes you did. With your brother. Who is now a great friend of mine.”
Tess grinned. “Exactly. See it turned out okay. So?”
Liz looked at Tess making puppy dog eyes at her for all of two seconds before sighing. “I suppose I could run the idea by him.”
Tess giggled. “Wonderful!”
As Liz picked up her things and headed out the door, Tess suddenly exclaimed. “Oh! I just got a great idea!”
Liz turned to look at her. “Tess I’m already running late.”
“I know. Listen, how about we go on a double date. You and Mike and me and Max. That way we won’t feel so uncomfortable with the two of you there, huh? I mean we all know each other, so it could be fun.”
Liz nodded. “Okay, I’ll run that by the guys when I get home.”
Tess chuckled as Liz waved goodbye. “Thanks Liz!” She called out.
Liz simply waved as she rushed out of the door.
************************************************************
“So, Max did you ever want to go to college?” asked Tess as she continued to eat the dinner she had ordered.
Liz had brought up the subject of going on a double date with Tess and Max to Michael. Michael hadn’t seemed too keen with the idea, but Liz had told him that Tess was the one who wanted to go on a date with Max.
Finally Michael had relented, thinking that if it was just the four of them, maybe Liz would see just how uninterested Max was in any woman who was not her. He was also hoping his sister would see what he saw every time Max and Liz were together. He knew that once she did, Tess wouldn’t be interested in pursuing someone who wouldn’t look at her twice.
Liz found that it was even harder to talk Max into going out with Tess than it had been to convince Michael. She had bugged him for almost two weeks until he too finally surrendered to her begging and allowed Liz to plan a double date for the four of them.
It was the Saturday before Halloween when the four of them went out together while Kylan stayed with Nancy. Deciding to keep it casual, Liz had arranged for them to all meet at her apartment before they went to have dinner in the adult entertainment center Michael had taken her to before.
Max shook his head, “No there really wasn’t a particular career that I was interested in pursuing.”
“Really? I thought since you like dealing with kids, you could have picked a career along those lines.”
“True, but at the time I hadn’t known I liked to deal with kids. And by the time I figured it out, too much time had passed.”
“It’s never too late to go to college Max. Why I’ve even seen a lot of elderly people attending college classes,” said Liz.
Max shrugged. “I know, but I guess I’m just happy with the way my life is going right now.”
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that. And since Max seems to be doing very well in his life it’s all good. He’s happy and for some people it’s the happiness that counts more than anything else,” said Michael.
Max grinned. “Yep, that’s true.”
Liz nodded. “I guess that’s true. You do seem happy Max and you seem to have managed very well.”
Michael turned to look at her. “What about you? Did you always want to go to college?”
Liz grinned. “Oh yeah. I’d been dreaming of going to college ever since I can remember. I had always loved to decorate my room and when mom let me decorate the living room one year, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to go to college to learn how to professionally decorate the inside of people’s houses. I had always thought that would be so much fun to do.”
Max smiled. “Is it fun?”
“Yes it is. I mean there are parts that get a little tedious or frustrating, but at the end of the project when I get to see the finished work, I love seeing the happy faces of the people I decorated for. Just seeing how excited they are makes me happy. And I still enjoy being able to come up with all of my own creations, you know.”
Max nodded. “Yeah, that’s sort of how I feel when I finish a repair job and I managed to make it better than it was before. It just feels good.”
Michael looked up at Max with a grin. “I get it. It was something you created.” He turned to Liz. “It’s almost the same thing with you, Liz. You get satisfaction out of something you created with your own hands, so does Max.”
Liz chuckled. “Only I had to go to college to learn how to do that. Max seems to have been born with that natural talent.”
Max returned her smile. “Not really, I learned most of what I know from actually doing the jobs. Hands on experience as they say.”
They all laughed as Michael said. “Yep. That’s really interesting isn’t it? Jobs that deal with creating something of your own can be learned either in a classroom or learned by trial and error.”
Max and Liz looked at each other with small smiles on their faces.
“Yeah…” said Max.
“…interesting.” finished Liz.
************************************************************
Tess leaned against the side of the arcade game her brother was currently playing, but her gaze wasn’t on him. It was on the couple who were currently trying to see who was the fastest at accumulating points in order to get their horse and jockey across the finish line. They were sitting side by side at the booth and rolling balls up an incline trying to get them to fall into the holes with the highest points. The more points they got, the closer the horse got to the finish line.
She watched as Liz’s horse got close before Max’s horse suddenly lunged ahead and won the game. As Max threw his hands in the air and gave a shout of victory, Liz punched him in the shoulder. It started a playful shoving match between the two of them that soon had them laughing like kids until Max settled down long enough to pick a prize.
He pointed to a small white cat and when the operator handed it to him, he handed it to Liz. Tess watched as Liz gave him a shy smile and thanked him before they went back to their taunting for the next round of racing.
Crossing her arms in front of her, she addressed her brother. “Michael?”
“Yeah,” he replied without taking his eyes away from his arcade game.
“Have you noticed anything about them?”
“Who?”
Tess rolled her eyes and smacked her brother on his shoulder as she said, “I’m serious.”
Michael grabbed his shoulder and scowled at her. “Ow! That hurt!”
“It did not, you big oaf! Now answer the question.”
“What was the question.”
Tess gave an exasperated sigh and turned him around until he was facing in Max and Liz’s direction. “I’m not imagining things am I?”
Michael stared at them for a moment before he slowly shook his head. Turning to look down at his little sister he sighed. “Sorry sis, I’m afraid you’re not.”
Tess nodded with a frown. “That’s what I thought. So, what’s wrong with that picture and how do we fix it?”
Michael couldn’t help but grin at her words. He’d been right. The moment Tess realized she didn’t have a chance with Max, she was already jumping on the bandwagon to get those two together. Proud of the fact that she was woman enough to admit defeat without batting an eyelash, he reached out and pulled her into a tight hug.
Tess squeaked. “What the….Mike let go!”
Michael leaned back and looked into her eyes. “Have I told you lately how much I love you, little sis?”
Tess rolled her eyes. “Okay, enough with the sentimentality. You’re starting to scare me.”
He laughed. “Sorry, it’s just I was wondering if you were going to disappoint me or not.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Seriously? Why didn’t you just tell about it in the first place.”
“Would have believed me?”
Tess turned to look at them once more. Max was currently trying to roll the balls with one hand while attempting to tickle Liz with the other. Liz was giggling up a storm as she tried to simultaneously bat his hand away and roll her own balls.
Tess shook her head. “No, you’re right. I wouldn’t have.”
“Exactly.”
Tess sighed. “So, what are we going to do about it?”
Michael echoed her sigh. “I haven’t a clue.”
************************************************************
Absently twirling her ring around her finger, Liz looked up from her desk in time to see Tess walking past the door. “Tess?”
Tess stopped and poked her head into Liz’s office. “Good morning Liz.”
Liz chuckled. “Don’t you good morning me, my friend. Come on in and make yourself comfortable. I want to hear all about the end of the date.”
Tess shrugged as she walked into the room. “There’s really not much to tell. After you and Michael left, Max took me home and I thanked him for a fun night.”
Liz frowned. “That’s it?”
Tess nodded. “Yep, that’s it.”
Liz quirked an eyebrow. “Gee after the way you were going on about him and begging me to set the two of you up, I thought for sure you’d be trying to get him into your place.”
Tess shrugged. “I changed my mind.”
“Seriously? Did something happen?”
She shook her head. “No. I just realized he isn’t my type at all.”
Liz gaped at her. “Not your type? Tess you were ogling him at my apartment!”
“So what if I was? There’s nothing wrong with appreciating beauty when you see it, but after getting to know him, I knew it wasn’t meant to be.”
Liz frowned. “What don’t you like about him?”
Tess chuckled. “Oh Liz. It’s not that I don’t like him. I think he’s a great guy, but he’s not my type. I guess the initial attraction wore off once I got to know him a little better. Now I think we’re just better off as friends.”
“You sure?”
She nodded. “Yep. It’s not so bad just being friends with him. Besides there are plenty of other fish in the sea.”
Liz chuckled. “You and Michael really are one of a kind you know that? I’m glad you guys are my friends.”
Tess grinned and got up from her seat. Walking around the desk, she hugged Liz. “I’m glad you’re my friend too, Liz.”
************************************************************
The apartment was quiet when Kylan slid out of his bed and tiptoed to the door. Doing his best not to make a sound, he closed the door and turned on the lamp next to his bed. As soon as the light flicked on, Kyle appeared near the end of the bed.
Kylan grinned at his friend. “She went out wit him this weekend. Max tol’ me what they did. He said they had lots of fun and they laughed a lot.”
Kyle nodded. “Yes, but didn’t you say they went out with two others?”
“Yeah, but they’re mom’s friends. Mike and Tess are her friends.”
Kyle frowned. “You sure?”
“That what Max said. He said he and mom spent most of the time playing a racing game. Tess and Mike didn’ play wit them. And he won her a white kitty. Mom’s always loved white fluffy kitties.”
Kyle grinned. “Yes, she has.”
“See? They startin’ to like each other.”
“I hope so, Kyl. But we still have to wait and see.”
Kylan sighed. “Can’ we do somethin’ about it?”
Kyle shook his head. “Not right now, but I have a feeling we might be able to do something soon. Let’s just wait and see, okay?”
“M’kay Kyle.”
He grinned. “Okay, let’s get you into bed now. It would be bad for your mom to catch you up this late at night.”
Kylan nodded. “Yeah, I got school tomorrow too.”
After Kylan turned off the lights and crawled into bed, Kyle tucked him in and whispered goodnight. He waited until Kylan was asleep before taking his leave.
TBC...
Liz was trying to hurry with gathering her things so that she could get home before Michael and Kylan got too impatient with waiting for her. She was a little upset that the meeting had ran longer than she’d expected, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it now.
As she finished closing her briefcase and began shrugging on her coat, Tess walked up to the desk and put her hands on her hips. “Elizabeth Parker, how could you keep a secret from me!”
Liz gave her a puzzled look. “What are you talking about Tess?”
Tess began tapping her foot. “Why didn’t you tell me your son’s babysitter was hot! Do you have any idea how much I almost embarrassed myself from the puddle of drool I left behind!”
Liz stopped shrugging into her coat and gave Tess a look. “Ooookay. I don’t think I needed to know that.”
“What? Are you telling me you haven’t noticed how good looking the man is? When was the last time you had your eyes checked?”
Liz rolled her eyes. “My eyes are perfectly fine Tess.”
“Then you should have noticed how perfectly fine Max is!”
“Tess…”
“Yum and did you ever look at that tush? You told me he was good with things around the house. Makes you wonder just what else he’s good at.”
“Tess!”
“Oh come on Liz! I saw the Halloween décor and the carved pumpkins. If he’s that talented with his hands…can you just imagine if…”
“Tess Harding that is enough! I don’t want to hear about how you were ogling my son’s babysitter.”
Tess gaped at her. “Are you saying you’ve never done that?”
When Liz just gave her a ‘duh’ look, Tess sputtered in disbelief. “You have got to be kidding! How could you not notice that walking…”
“Tess! Would you stop!” Liz shook her head and smiled at her friend’s bluntness. She couldn’t help it. Every time Tess talked about men, she had Liz in stitches with the words she used to describe them.
Tess sighed. “Well, since you haven’t noticed him, I’m wondering just who else has.”
Liz shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know if he’s single?”
Liz nodded. “I think he is. I know he lives alone and he never talks about having a girlfriend. I’ve only heard him talk about his friends and family.”
Tess grinned. “Really? How interesting.”
Liz narrowed her eyes when she saw the look on her friend’s face. “What are you scheming up now?”
Tess gave Liz an innocent look. “Oh nothing.”
“Tess, spill.”
“Weeeell, since you don’t seem to be interested and you think he’s single…”
“Yes?”
“Think you could be a great friend and set us up on a date?”
Liz blinked. “Seriously?”
Tess pouted. “I did it for you.”
Liz rolled her eyes, “Yes you did. With your brother. Who is now a great friend of mine.”
Tess grinned. “Exactly. See it turned out okay. So?”
Liz looked at Tess making puppy dog eyes at her for all of two seconds before sighing. “I suppose I could run the idea by him.”
Tess giggled. “Wonderful!”
As Liz picked up her things and headed out the door, Tess suddenly exclaimed. “Oh! I just got a great idea!”
Liz turned to look at her. “Tess I’m already running late.”
“I know. Listen, how about we go on a double date. You and Mike and me and Max. That way we won’t feel so uncomfortable with the two of you there, huh? I mean we all know each other, so it could be fun.”
Liz nodded. “Okay, I’ll run that by the guys when I get home.”
Tess chuckled as Liz waved goodbye. “Thanks Liz!” She called out.
Liz simply waved as she rushed out of the door.
************************************************************
“So, Max did you ever want to go to college?” asked Tess as she continued to eat the dinner she had ordered.
Liz had brought up the subject of going on a double date with Tess and Max to Michael. Michael hadn’t seemed too keen with the idea, but Liz had told him that Tess was the one who wanted to go on a date with Max.
Finally Michael had relented, thinking that if it was just the four of them, maybe Liz would see just how uninterested Max was in any woman who was not her. He was also hoping his sister would see what he saw every time Max and Liz were together. He knew that once she did, Tess wouldn’t be interested in pursuing someone who wouldn’t look at her twice.
Liz found that it was even harder to talk Max into going out with Tess than it had been to convince Michael. She had bugged him for almost two weeks until he too finally surrendered to her begging and allowed Liz to plan a double date for the four of them.
It was the Saturday before Halloween when the four of them went out together while Kylan stayed with Nancy. Deciding to keep it casual, Liz had arranged for them to all meet at her apartment before they went to have dinner in the adult entertainment center Michael had taken her to before.
Max shook his head, “No there really wasn’t a particular career that I was interested in pursuing.”
“Really? I thought since you like dealing with kids, you could have picked a career along those lines.”
“True, but at the time I hadn’t known I liked to deal with kids. And by the time I figured it out, too much time had passed.”
“It’s never too late to go to college Max. Why I’ve even seen a lot of elderly people attending college classes,” said Liz.
Max shrugged. “I know, but I guess I’m just happy with the way my life is going right now.”
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that. And since Max seems to be doing very well in his life it’s all good. He’s happy and for some people it’s the happiness that counts more than anything else,” said Michael.
Max grinned. “Yep, that’s true.”
Liz nodded. “I guess that’s true. You do seem happy Max and you seem to have managed very well.”
Michael turned to look at her. “What about you? Did you always want to go to college?”
Liz grinned. “Oh yeah. I’d been dreaming of going to college ever since I can remember. I had always loved to decorate my room and when mom let me decorate the living room one year, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to go to college to learn how to professionally decorate the inside of people’s houses. I had always thought that would be so much fun to do.”
Max smiled. “Is it fun?”
“Yes it is. I mean there are parts that get a little tedious or frustrating, but at the end of the project when I get to see the finished work, I love seeing the happy faces of the people I decorated for. Just seeing how excited they are makes me happy. And I still enjoy being able to come up with all of my own creations, you know.”
Max nodded. “Yeah, that’s sort of how I feel when I finish a repair job and I managed to make it better than it was before. It just feels good.”
Michael looked up at Max with a grin. “I get it. It was something you created.” He turned to Liz. “It’s almost the same thing with you, Liz. You get satisfaction out of something you created with your own hands, so does Max.”
Liz chuckled. “Only I had to go to college to learn how to do that. Max seems to have been born with that natural talent.”
Max returned her smile. “Not really, I learned most of what I know from actually doing the jobs. Hands on experience as they say.”
They all laughed as Michael said. “Yep. That’s really interesting isn’t it? Jobs that deal with creating something of your own can be learned either in a classroom or learned by trial and error.”
Max and Liz looked at each other with small smiles on their faces.
“Yeah…” said Max.
“…interesting.” finished Liz.
************************************************************
Tess leaned against the side of the arcade game her brother was currently playing, but her gaze wasn’t on him. It was on the couple who were currently trying to see who was the fastest at accumulating points in order to get their horse and jockey across the finish line. They were sitting side by side at the booth and rolling balls up an incline trying to get them to fall into the holes with the highest points. The more points they got, the closer the horse got to the finish line.
She watched as Liz’s horse got close before Max’s horse suddenly lunged ahead and won the game. As Max threw his hands in the air and gave a shout of victory, Liz punched him in the shoulder. It started a playful shoving match between the two of them that soon had them laughing like kids until Max settled down long enough to pick a prize.
He pointed to a small white cat and when the operator handed it to him, he handed it to Liz. Tess watched as Liz gave him a shy smile and thanked him before they went back to their taunting for the next round of racing.
Crossing her arms in front of her, she addressed her brother. “Michael?”
“Yeah,” he replied without taking his eyes away from his arcade game.
“Have you noticed anything about them?”
“Who?”
Tess rolled her eyes and smacked her brother on his shoulder as she said, “I’m serious.”
Michael grabbed his shoulder and scowled at her. “Ow! That hurt!”
“It did not, you big oaf! Now answer the question.”
“What was the question.”
Tess gave an exasperated sigh and turned him around until he was facing in Max and Liz’s direction. “I’m not imagining things am I?”
Michael stared at them for a moment before he slowly shook his head. Turning to look down at his little sister he sighed. “Sorry sis, I’m afraid you’re not.”
Tess nodded with a frown. “That’s what I thought. So, what’s wrong with that picture and how do we fix it?”
Michael couldn’t help but grin at her words. He’d been right. The moment Tess realized she didn’t have a chance with Max, she was already jumping on the bandwagon to get those two together. Proud of the fact that she was woman enough to admit defeat without batting an eyelash, he reached out and pulled her into a tight hug.
Tess squeaked. “What the….Mike let go!”
Michael leaned back and looked into her eyes. “Have I told you lately how much I love you, little sis?”
Tess rolled her eyes. “Okay, enough with the sentimentality. You’re starting to scare me.”
He laughed. “Sorry, it’s just I was wondering if you were going to disappoint me or not.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Seriously? Why didn’t you just tell about it in the first place.”
“Would have believed me?”
Tess turned to look at them once more. Max was currently trying to roll the balls with one hand while attempting to tickle Liz with the other. Liz was giggling up a storm as she tried to simultaneously bat his hand away and roll her own balls.
Tess shook her head. “No, you’re right. I wouldn’t have.”
“Exactly.”
Tess sighed. “So, what are we going to do about it?”
Michael echoed her sigh. “I haven’t a clue.”
************************************************************
Absently twirling her ring around her finger, Liz looked up from her desk in time to see Tess walking past the door. “Tess?”
Tess stopped and poked her head into Liz’s office. “Good morning Liz.”
Liz chuckled. “Don’t you good morning me, my friend. Come on in and make yourself comfortable. I want to hear all about the end of the date.”
Tess shrugged as she walked into the room. “There’s really not much to tell. After you and Michael left, Max took me home and I thanked him for a fun night.”
Liz frowned. “That’s it?”
Tess nodded. “Yep, that’s it.”
Liz quirked an eyebrow. “Gee after the way you were going on about him and begging me to set the two of you up, I thought for sure you’d be trying to get him into your place.”
Tess shrugged. “I changed my mind.”
“Seriously? Did something happen?”
She shook her head. “No. I just realized he isn’t my type at all.”
Liz gaped at her. “Not your type? Tess you were ogling him at my apartment!”
“So what if I was? There’s nothing wrong with appreciating beauty when you see it, but after getting to know him, I knew it wasn’t meant to be.”
Liz frowned. “What don’t you like about him?”
Tess chuckled. “Oh Liz. It’s not that I don’t like him. I think he’s a great guy, but he’s not my type. I guess the initial attraction wore off once I got to know him a little better. Now I think we’re just better off as friends.”
“You sure?”
She nodded. “Yep. It’s not so bad just being friends with him. Besides there are plenty of other fish in the sea.”
Liz chuckled. “You and Michael really are one of a kind you know that? I’m glad you guys are my friends.”
Tess grinned and got up from her seat. Walking around the desk, she hugged Liz. “I’m glad you’re my friend too, Liz.”
************************************************************
The apartment was quiet when Kylan slid out of his bed and tiptoed to the door. Doing his best not to make a sound, he closed the door and turned on the lamp next to his bed. As soon as the light flicked on, Kyle appeared near the end of the bed.
Kylan grinned at his friend. “She went out wit him this weekend. Max tol’ me what they did. He said they had lots of fun and they laughed a lot.”
Kyle nodded. “Yes, but didn’t you say they went out with two others?”
“Yeah, but they’re mom’s friends. Mike and Tess are her friends.”
Kyle frowned. “You sure?”
“That what Max said. He said he and mom spent most of the time playing a racing game. Tess and Mike didn’ play wit them. And he won her a white kitty. Mom’s always loved white fluffy kitties.”
Kyle grinned. “Yes, she has.”
“See? They startin’ to like each other.”
“I hope so, Kyl. But we still have to wait and see.”
Kylan sighed. “Can’ we do somethin’ about it?”
Kyle shook his head. “Not right now, but I have a feeling we might be able to do something soon. Let’s just wait and see, okay?”
“M’kay Kyle.”
He grinned. “Okay, let’s get you into bed now. It would be bad for your mom to catch you up this late at night.”
Kylan nodded. “Yeah, I got school tomorrow too.”
After Kylan turned off the lights and crawled into bed, Kyle tucked him in and whispered goodnight. He waited until Kylan was asleep before taking his leave.
TBC...