A/N: Thank you to everyone for waiting for this one!
I have been so tired for the whole month, I'm thankful for the break that I might get to rest and write. Though having a little part-time job this Christmas makes my eyes go:
, followed by a reaction similar to
but I guess now more than ever is the time to practice my balancing skills.
From Loathe To Love Part 8
They had one hour to kill. This was because Max wanted to avoid the interrogation that would await them from the guests who didn’t, yet, get the chance to bother them from earlier in the church. Coming early would mean that they would be questioned for a longer period of time.
They drove down the stretch of wide road, and Liz looked out the window. It was a pretty sight outside, that time of day. The radio was on, and Stereophonics’
Have a Nice Day was playing. And as Liz listened to the lyrics of the song, she had a little smile on her face. Okay, she
had to admit it, Max was a little more different than what she’d expected. He was actually affable! And the day wasn’t so bad, -save for all the awkwardness. Unbeknownst to Liz, on the other side of the car, Max was smiling too. Having a “partner” in crime wasn’t as horrible as he assumed it.
As they sped on, Max was surprised to see Liz suddenly tap on the window. He gave her a curious look. She was pointing to a store they had just passed, and he noticed that she was giving him a kind-of-pleading look. Stealing a quick glance at his watch and figuring that they had an hour’s worth of free time, he shrugged and drove to the direction of the store.
As they got closer, Max noticed that the store was one that sold antiques and chocolates. He looked at Liz’s happy figure. He couldn’t really point out if she was an antique person or a chocolate person. But she seemed to be neither, since her living space looked pretty modern to him, -not that he had ever gotten a chance to have a look around inside, but he noticed it that morning when Liz opened the door. And the chocolates, he reckoned, was probably out of the picture, since Liz had the kind of body that looked well trimmed and maintained to a level of dietary perfection.
~!~
Max, at the moment, sincerely believed that he was the world’s worst guesser. With all the earlier assumptions that he’d made about Liz’s relationship with antiques and chocolates, he realized that he was so completely wrong about what he had thought.
As soon as they had entered the little shop, he realized his mistake:
His first guess was that Liz wasn’t the type to have antique furniture in her home, and -technically, he was right. She didn’t care much for the furniture, but she was obsessed with the jewelry and other accessories. Liz well pointed that out to him, when he mentioned that she didn’t look like much of an ‘antique’ person.
He watched, -with great interest, Liz walking about the antique section with glee. He could hear faint
oohs and
ahhs coming from her as he wordlessly followed her around, just like a faithful pet. This amusement coming from himself, he found odd, since he never had much fun in places that sold old things. Even when his ex-wife used to take him there, -back when they were still joined together in matrimony by an authorized sheet of paper containing several signatures. But Liz’s little-girl-like expression to the things there altered the mood, so that he didn’t feel so bored.
He watched Liz fall in love with an old pair of pearl earrings that looked to be, -more or less, fifty years old. It was crafted in a way that said that it was anything
but subtle, back in its time, -back when diamonds were worn in sheets that resembled ice cut rather thinly or icebergs, even. The pearls were white and medium sized, its diameter suitable for any kind of person to wear it. And the setting was spectacular. The, obviously, handcrafted setting was carved or maybe molded into tiny twinkling stars that looked as if the pearls were small replicas of the moon. The earrings itself was already a sight. But as he suddenly imagined Liz wearing it, he knew that she was the last piece that would complete the eye-catching set.
Liz seemed to think so too, -until she got a look at the price tag. She groaned aloud, and strode away briskly, muttering about the anti-depressant properties that chocolate had. And not daring to look back at the tempting pearls resting on velvet covered tabletop.
As she sulked off to the other side of the room where the chocolates were sold, Max got a better glance at the pearls and their price tag. Of course, something as breathtaking as that would definitely cost good money. He guessed that a movie star might have owned it in the past, but seriously hoped that that movie star was someone the likes of Grace Kelly or Audrey Hepburn. That would have made the price a bit easier to stomach.
After a few more seconds of thinking about who the possible owner of the pearls might have been, Max walked over to Liz who was looking at the displays of many kinds of chocolate. She was quite fickle about her choices at first, but later settled for a little bit of this and that. She told him that they’d eat it together. Her treat, -since he had already paid for their breakfast.
As they sat on a table in the corner, Max realized his second mistake: The shop was, by all means, perfect for Liz, because aside from her love for old jewelry, she also had a place in her heart for some kinds of sweets, -chocolates being the one on the top spot. To her, it did not matter that all that cocoa-goodness would be likely to head straight to her ass or to her face (in the form of a breakout). She stated that she would be able to work off the extra pounds later, -she loved to run anyway. But for her, chocolate was not something you could take out of her diet.
That was a fact.
So they ate, and chatted while commenting on the chocolate and discussing which one they preferred.
“…dark is good.” Liz was saying. “Mystery. There’s
mystery hiding under all that dark brown richness.”
“But then, there’s white.” Max argued. “White is bare. It is honest in all its creaminess.”
Liz smiled. “Wouldn’t want to be left too naked, would you?” she challenged. To which, Max blushed.
“But
you wouldn’t want to be trapped in all that bitterness?” he returned. Liz was embarrassed.
“I think that life should have a fair amount of emotions. And
yes, bitterness being one of them.” Liz shot back.
“But there should be honesty too, right? Purity is an essential.”
“Yes it is. But why would you want to be all too pure? Are you saying that white means perfection? –lack of mistake?”
“No. Not that-”
“I mean
dark! Bitter, yet amazingly sweet,
and lethally tantalizing. It has an edge, doesn’t it? A dangerous one…” Liz interjected in a rather suggestive tone. She noticed that the demeanor of the conversation could be sliding into different grounds, so she tried to cover it up. -but now after blushing into a grape color.
Max noticed this, but at that point, he wasn’t really sure what they were really talking about. “You see, not all things white are angelic.” He went on anyway.
“
Ha! There goes your point! You were all about proving that white was all nice and clean…You just told me that it wasn’t so angelic. There you go!” Liz said, raising an eyebrow.
Max looked defeated. He had obviously lost his case and thought to himself that the world was darn lucky that he didn’t pick a profession as a lawyer, because many would have suffered. Liz, on the other hand, was good at what she was doing. First there was the contract, now she had won her case. -a very small case, but a case nevertheless. She was, -he guessed, a chip off the old block, which led him to say, “You would’ve been a great lawyer.”
Liz gave him a look that said that she was happy with her occupation. “It was interesting. –yes it was. But that wasn’t what I’d intended for myself. That wasn’t what I wanted to immerse myself in.” she said honestly.
At the moment, a lady from out of nowhere went by their table and made a show of cleaning the place up. She was quite a plump woman, aging, and with gray hair and violet eyes. She smiled at the two of them, wrinkles appearing on her pale skin.
“In my opinion, marbled chocolate. Now
that beats the two.” Max and Liz stared at her in silent surprise. The lady hadn’t been there when they were talking, yet she seemed to know all about their conversation.
The woman blushed furiously. “I’m sorry. Awfully rude of me to come in like that, and talk as if a proper introduction was not made.” She held out her hand first to Liz, who was the closest to where she stood. “I am Julianne Jonn, and I am the owner of this little shop.” Liz shook her hand, then Max. And they complimented her on the setting of her shop. “The shop, it’s an heirloom.” She laughed. “It’s now one of those places that you furnish to look old…No, everything here is naturally vintage.” She said.
Julianne Jonn proceeded on to telling them about the brief history of the shop. It was actually from her late husband’s side of the family. It was supposed to be run by their women, but, since her husband’s generation back then was all from the male gender, and her husband, -Mr. Jonn, was the eldest of the brothers, the store was passed on to his ownership. When he married Julianne, he thought it better to have her run the place, because he believed that Julianne would have done a better job. And she did.
When Mr. Jonn died,
-Mrs. Jonn said that he was an architect that was killed in an accident at a worksite. “He died after one last embrace from me.” She said. “But I guess, it’s better for him to go with me as the last person he had embraced, rather than another woman.” She joked, but they noticed how the memory still brought tears to her eyes. she was left with no children, but decided to run the store by her self.
“So, where was I
before my autobiography.” Said Mrs. Jonn enthusiastically. “Ah, right. Marbled Chocolate. Well, I like that best because it leaves no arguments. It is perfectly balanced. The white and the dark, the swirls and light ripple. Everything is divided equally. If one side is rather different, then the other side will somehow compliment it. A beautiful site, and lovelier to taste.” She sighed happily.
The two agreed with Mrs. Jonn. The old lady was flattered.
“Are the two of you engaged?” she asked them knowingly. “No, we’re not.” They both answered quickly. Mrs. Jonn’s eyebrows rose. “Really?” she asked, looking suspicious. “No,” Max replied. “But we get that a lot.” Mrs. Jonn looked unconvinced, but she didn’t pursue the subject further.
Out of curiosity, Liz asked about the much-coveted pair of earrings. “Can you tell us about the stunning pair of pearl earrings over there?” she pointed into the table that carried the earrings.
Mrs. Jonn’s violet eyes twinkled brightly at the mention of the earrings. “
That pair. It is, indeed, very special. And it has a story behind it. -a beautiful story. But, alas, I sense that you will not be able to hear this story at the moment…No, not right now.” She said.
Liz frowned. “Why not?”
“You have forgotten,” Mrs. Jonn noted. “-that you are only supposed to be here for an hour, and one hour, only.”
Max and Liz suddenly remembered the reception that they were supposed to be going to. They would be late, if they would stay longer.
“Right!” Max exclaimed as he stood up, his chair was almost knocked over. “Damn.”
Liz looked longingly from Mrs. Jonn to the earrings. “Oh, we
have to go, Mrs. Jonn. Sorry to cut this meeting so short.” She said, her eyes still on the earrings.
Mrs. Jonn nodded. “Yes, of course you must go.”
They started walking to the shop’s door, Mrs. Jonn following them out. As Liz got to the old wooden doors and pulled them open, Mrs. Jonn pulled Max back by the arm. “You go on dear, I’ll just have a word with this young man.” She ordered Liz, who readily walked to the car.
Mrs. Jonn turned her attention to Max, who stood there wondering what the lady would say to him.
“Mr. Evans, I sense something very strong here.” She started. “I can feel something emanating from the two of you. It is amazing and light…very natural. Beautiful…a balance.” She said in an amazed whisper. “And I have a feeling,” she continued. “that even if you cannot stay for long today,…you will be back.” She muttered and turned Max to the direction of the pearl earrings. “Because I sense that, -after such a long time of waiting, that precious pair of earrings will finally have an owner that is meant for it. And this will happen soon.” She concluded with a bright and satisfied smile.
Max stared at her in awe. “Really?” he gulped.
“All this, will be as it should be.” She said. “And I really have a strong and persisting feeling that you will be back soon.”
“Now, don’t ask any more questions Mr. Evans.
Destiny will assume its place once more…The lovely Ms. Parker is waiting.” She said ushering a baffled Max out the door and into the direction of his car.
~!~
When Max got back behind the wheel, Liz looked at him curiously. “What’d she tell you?” she asked.
“I’m not sure.” Max replied nonchalantly and started the car.
(TBC)
But thanks for the fbs! You'll finally be able to find out what happens next in the diner. 
I just finished this today.