So - even though I've loved being on vacation - it's also something of a relief to be back. Back to old routines and back to my cats, my bed and my laptop
But enough of that. Let's talk about your feedback and possible questions;
Ashley (Morning Dreamgirl)
Interesting how you assume that Max meant Sean when he referred to someone not calling him. Maybe it's not Sean? Sure, Sean would probably love to call Max and rub it in his face, but why would Sean make a "deal" or tell Max beforehand that he would be calling him? Either way, this will all become clearer in future chapters.And along those lines: Sean is a particular sort of jerk (to use a nice description). Telling Max he'd call him after sleeping with Liz. No wonder Max and he got into an altercation the night before the party. I'd have kicked his butt too.
But either way, we can still toss Sean into the bus.
Concerning Max doing a check-up on Liz; Your gut feeling is correct in that Max basically did the check-up because Liz was so freaked out. For her sake. So to throw a question back at you; Why wasn't Max more eager to examine Liz? Wouldn't he want to know just as much as Liz if she had been assaulted? Of course, he was pretty sure that their connection would've been affected if Sean had "crossed the line" and he would've known about it that way, but is there perhaps something more...?
Thank youThe intensity you put into the scene between the two of them during what could either be a fearful event or an uncomfortable one was just amazing! With how intensely he was watching her I'm guessing he would have given just about anything to have their bond open and to feel what she was feeling. I'm guessing he wanted more than their bond being open at that exact moment but given that they were in the eraser room you basically have to manage your expectations.
Yeah, trying to read her and figure out her feelings was most likely the reason to him watching her so closely. But maybe not just to share her feelings, but mostly to check that she was okay. That she was comfortable with what was happening. Because - as you might've noticed by now - Max is very much against pushing Liz sexually in any way. He wants her to have her free will when it comes to the steps she takes in anything sexual.Your analysis of Max's feelings was spot on. His first "go to"-feeling when things become too much seems to be anger. And the thing that makes him really angry is when Liz (consciously or not) puts herself in danger
Is there a challenge in there somewhere?And dear lord - could you write a hotter scene while keeping them fully dressed?!
But...thank you 
Quite possibly, there's never been an instance in the alien community when a bond needed to be "paused". It's possibly either been broken completely or remained whole. But maybe no human has ever been able to affect/control the connection. Not before Liz anyway. And maybe when a human tries to close the connection, they only manage to pause it. Something that is yet not known in the community. Max obviously knows about the breaking of bonds and that's why he was convinced that that's what Liz had succeeded doing (even though that also seemed very unlikely according to what Max has been taught while growing up - again, humans shouldn't be able to do that). And he only thought that he created a new connection with her when he kissed her, needing to heal her after Sean's assault on her in the locker room. Maaaybe, now that they are both aware of that the connection hasn't been broken completely before, merely paused, they will be able to pick up on signs of the connection still being there - just inactive - whenever/if their connection is paused again. In either way, this is a whole new concept for the aliens - as much as it is for Liz.I'm surprised that Max didn't suspect before that their bond was merely paused. Obviously he would have been thrown off given that she shouldn't be able to control it at all. But if pausing a connection is possible in their society I'm curious as to why that wouldn't have crossed his mind prior to this chapter. You would think he would want to hold on to the hope that they did have an unbreakable bond. If that were the case he could keep her safe without sleeping with her prior to her being ready.
Loved your reflection on Max's darkness. True, he can't be a softie if he is to survive in that society. He has to be forced to hide a lot of himself - especially the caring and sensitive parts of himself. Maybe, being a healer, makes him even more of a "softie" than the other hybrids (and especially more than the other pure aliens), because he's already seen a lot of injuries and diseases, which he has possibly been "forced to" connect to a lot of individuals in order to heal them. This should rapidly build someone's empathy, someone's ability to see other people's point of view. In a way, make him more understanding and sensitive to emotions, personal experiences and most of all; pain. Quite possibly, having removed a lot of pain during his training as a healer, he is very familiar with pain. And that probably changes a person. Maybe it has even changed Philip Evans...?
I love the way you think... <3I tend to look at it from a different perspective though. She's only able to look at it from a perspective of loss right now since she feels like she's about to lose everything she has left that she holds dear. But I think he meant it more as a declaration. A promise. He's not willing to let her go any more. He can't let her go. And he's going to do everything in his power to keep her because he loves her so fiercely.
Yeah *grimaces* It probably won't be received in the best way, if that were to happen. It is very much against the rules. Which is why they are right now going through so much pain and heartache - because Max is trying to solve the impossible equation of obeying the law at the same time as keeping Liz safe. We all know by now that those two things don't go hand in hand.So a question I have (getting tired of hearing that yet?
Oh dear... I don't think I have that many edited yetSo... I almost want to ask for the next six chapters just to avoid cliff hangers.
You'll have to start paying Elizabeth to work overtime. I happen to know that you're good with bribes *laughs* I fear that might be a bit confusingOr you could just post everything you have now!
- because the future chapters are still a bit all over the place. Well, at least after ch. 48. So in order for you to get some clear-cut answers (which hasn't really been the case with this fic anyway, right?) you probably don't want me to do that. And here's my part...I believe we had an agreement in regards to my role before you posted another chapter. I am here to deliver those parts of the bargain.
Thank you, Ashley, soo so much for your speculations, thoughts and compliments
Helen (roswelllostcause) - Sean *sighs and shakes head* Yeah. He's becoming a big pain in the a**, to be honest
Thank you for the feedback!Carolyn (keepsmiling7)
Hehe... No, it's getting more and more difficult to forget/ignore Max's presence and existence.Like Liz could ever forget Max......especially after the special examination he conducted.
I'll do my bestPlease get rid of Sean.......I don't care how, just pick a way.
But he's one slippery guy...Thank you for the feedback!
L-J-L 76
Please please please please have someone kill Sean, Sean's father and Mr. Evens? Have someone put a m90 up their butts or something please?
There seems to be no end to all these creative ways of killing Sean that you guys come up with Thank you for all your questions/musings and the feedback!
mezz
Thank you so muchI read the parts several times because they were so beautiful. The emotions are palpable. They jump and slide and vibrate off the page. The relationship between these two is so beautiful. It seems a shame that the Alien population has seemingly no regard for beauty.
Loving how you see Max.The depth you have given to Max is lovely. He is shy, bold, deep, playful, loving and gentle with steel inside him waiting to be used if he can find a proper path.
Babe, I'm a dreamer through and through. Let's leave it at thatThey will find a way. I have faith in you.You wouldn't have started this story if you didn't know of a solution. ... Surely
After that gush-fest I was very tempted to. But I didn't have the chapter with me, so it was not possible...So, after that gush/love fest will you cut your holiday short and post sooner?
But I'm here now Thank you so much for the feedback!
Eve (begonia9508) - Sean might just be on my kill-list
Thank you for the feedback!Natalie36 - Thank you
dreamon - You're the sweetest
Thank you Alien_Friend
Wow! I'm just in awe of your writing skills and how you can provoke such emotion. I'm at the edge of my seat as I read this going up and down with my emotions right a long with Liz.
Gosh, thank you There's a scary thought.I worry that if she keeps pausing their connection often it can't be restarted at some point.
Thank you so much for the feedback!
From FORTY-ONE:
His eyes lingered on my face for two concerned seconds, before he said softly, while his eyes turned fiery. ”I’ll keep watching over you. Even when you pause our connection to fool Sean and buy us time. Even when he’s in your mind. I won’t let him do anything that can’t be undone. Okay?”
I swallowed, feeling sad and relieved at the same time.
”Time for school,” Max whispered with an attempted half smile and approached the door, his eyes searching my face.
I took a deep breath, trying to collect myself, trying to bring energy back into my bone-tired body. At least Max’s presence had removed the headache inflicted on me by Sean trying to manipulate my mind.
”Don’t forget me,” he said quietly, his eyes begging, causing the air in my chest to hitch and making it impossible for me to find any words and give him a responding promise before he was out the door.
As the door closed behind him and I was alone in the dusty dark room, I felt the hum in my mind intensify and Max’s feelings flow freely into my mind.
A bittersweet and secret smile touched my lips as I pushed my Max-tousled hair back from my face, letting his feelings for me caress my soul. He had brought the walls around his mind down.
____________________________________
Considering the physical distance between our bodies and our minds, I had never before felt so much from Max. With every vibrant nuance of his rich emotional repertoire, I became increasingly aware of just how much he had hid from me during the periods when we had shared a mental bond.
With some humbling degree of mortification, I also realized how much was actually possible to be shared though the bond and how much Max must have received through the connection from me ever since he healed me that Sunday morning outside of my burning childhood home. I wondered if he had at any point tried to block me, because my feelings were mostly all over the place and it must’ve been exhausting - not mentioning distracting - to be assaulted by my emotional life. One could only wonder how it must feel to Max?
Or had he actually felt - and endured - every single private emotion of mine?
It was a comfort, though, that his feelings seemed just as confusing, altering and scattered as mine. They changed from trepidation to anxiety to fear to anger to sadness to regret to guilt to longing to bittersweet happiness to quiet reflection and so on. I wondered how much of that was for me.
Not being physically connected, we didn’t share thoughts, only emotions. And the further we got from each other physically, it was mostly the stronger emotions that were getting through. The ones that made your heart suddenly fly off in tachycardia, and made a smile spread across your lips no matter where you were, the ones that made your palms sweat and your stomach coil.
I realized that I could almost sense how far away he was by the strength of his emotions.
This fascinated me at the same time as it struck me with overwhelming sadness as it reminded me that I couldn’t embrace that bond, since it would soon be gone.
The next period passed quickly and by the end of it, I had no idea what had been said or taught. I had been very busy ’eavesdropping’ on Max’s beautiful span of emotions. And by the time the school bell rang, I was hot and bothered, fueled with a need to find Max, pull him into some private room and heavily make out with him. Amongst other things.
But instead of doing all of that, I inhaled deeply as I stacked my notebook on top of the textbook, topped it off with my half-chewed pencil and pressed back the chilling feeling of impending doom as I, once again, focused on bringing up that steel wall around my mind.
I was so focused on my task that I walked straight into the doorway and snickering mixed with laughter erupted around me. I took another breath, tried to give appearance that I had meant to do that, and hurried out of the classroom.
I leaned up against the wall of the hallway, squeezed my eyes closed in attempt to block out my surroundings, and focused again on shutting Max out.
He had said that he loved me.
He had taken the walls down.
He would have taken me away from here, to live with me underground, if it hadn’t been a dead end.
”You okay there, Parker?” an amused voice asked next to me and my eyes snapped open to discover Michael Guerin looking at me, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. ”That doorway came out of nowhere, did it?”
My past natural instinct to fear Michael was forgotten as I glared at him and bit out, annoyed, ”I’m fine.”
Michael chuckled. ”Right.”
And to my relief he left.
My eyes distractedly scanned the hallway, wondering how I would be able to shut Max out this time. How I was supposed to shut someone out that I desperately wanted to let in.
I realized that I needed to find Alex or Maria before hitting the cafeteria. Despite my sporadic black-outs as of late, I hadn’t forgotten that I was supposed to meet Sean for lunch. My hope was that Sean wouldn’t try anything too obvious if we weren’t alone. And maybe Alex would use his alien abilities and bend Sean into feeling that he didn't need to control me just then - or something.
It was not difficult to find Maria. She was laughing loudly at Alex who was trying to juggle two apples and one banana outside of Maria’s locker.
I hurried up to them, my breath in my throat as I suggested, a little bit too excitedly, ”Lunch?”
My two friends looked at me, smiles remaining on their faces from the entertainment they had both just enjoyed, but their smiles were slipping as they saw my anxious expression.
Maria’s eyes widened in confusion along with her mouth falling open as she took a breath to start talking.
But Alex cut off her speech, ”Sure,” hooking arms with Maria and pulling on her, ”Come along, Ria.”
I felt Max match my feelings through the bond; trepidation and nervousness. I wondered if he could tell that I was about to meet up with Sean and that I was having trouble shutting down (or pausing, or whatever I did to that connection) the connection.
With his fear feeding into mine, making my heart gallop in my chest, I grew gradually convinced that he did in fact guess that a meeting with Sean was in the imminent future.
”Do you guys have lunch with you?” Maria asked as I tried to focus on keeping my heart in my chest.
”Nah,” Alex said and I could feel his eyes on my tense profile. ”I’ll grab something here.”
A soft warm blanket of comfort spread through my body, making me stumble with its abruptness, as my heartbeat was forced back into normal rhythm and intensity.
Alex grabbed my upper arm, asking, ”Are you okay?”
I looked at him, a frown of bewilderment on my forehead, and as our eyes met I realized what had happened. My anxiety overrode the feeling of comfort as it slammed into me, making me pull my arm quickly out of his assisting hold.
”Don’t do that to me,” I hissed.
Alex’s face fell and hurt passed over his face. He leaned in, still walking, and whispered, ”I was only trying to help.”
I tried to pull back the worst of my anger. I could see what he had been trying to do. He had used his ability on me to calm me down; in his world he had been helping me.
But I was sick and tired of these ET:s deciding what I was supposed to think and even feel.
”Don’t,” I hissed back, glancing at Maria just as she angled her head around and in front of Alex’s body, to be able to look at me.
”What are you two whispering about?”
”Nothing,” Alex and I said in unison and our eyes collided with a sheepish smile.
Maria narrowed her eyes suspiciously and harrumphed in disbelief, ”Uh-huh.”
We brushed through the large yellow swinging doors which exposed us to the loud noise of hundreds of human voices talking over each other as we entered the canteen, and Maria raised her voice to be heard over the buzz, ”Have you two made up?”
”We weren’t fighting, Maria,” I denied, dodging a football player with a tray filled with food, not looking where he was going as he was having an ongoing conversation with one of his friends behind him.
”Sure seemed like it,” Maria said, completely not fooled by my denial.
Alex snagged up a tray from the bright yellow stack and said, ”It was my fault.”
I halted, freezing in the act of gathering a tray of my own. What was he about to do? What would he say?
”What did you do?” Maria asked, grabbing an apple and a plate with a slice of pizza, adding the articles to her tray. I know that she was trying to deny it, but I could see the curious interest glow on her face. Maria was all over this.
”I wasn’t there for Liz. When her mother died.”
My eyes flickered to his face and I wondered if he meant that. If he actually felt that he had not been around when I needed him the most. Thinking back to it, I couldn’t really remember where he had been. If he had tried to make contact or not. Things were blurred from that time. And I had been too focused on figuring out what Max was hiding to pay much attention to friends offering their condolences.
”But you were traveling,” Maria interrupted and looked at me for affirmation. ”Right, Lizzie? You’re not mad at him because of that?”
I swallowed. No, I wasn’t. But apparently Alex wanted it to be the excuse to me avoiding him. I couldn’t very well tell Maria that the reason for avoiding Alex was that I had discovered that he was an alien.
”No,” I sighed, and as I looked at the display of food, my stomach did a somersault and I decided that I couldn’t eat, but grabbed a banana for appearances, and added, ”It was just a bad time for him to talk to me. Things were said - completely in the heat of the moment.”
”Huh,” Maria said, still unconvinced, and eyed my banana pointedly as I pushed my tray up to the register. ”Is that all you’re eating?”
”I’m a bit nauseous,” I said, avoiding her eyes. I felt Alex’s eyes burn into the side of my face.
”Anyway, we’re over it,” Alex said lightly and I wondered why he was helping me to divert the attention away from my lack of appetite.
But Maria’s attention wasn’t that easily diverted. Handing the food lady the required amount of money, she grabbed her tray, hitched with her chin in the direction of an empty table and said, ”You’ve barely eaten anything at all since you had that breakdown.” She glanced back at my paling face, before taking a seat, grabbing the pizza slice mid-movement and pointing the pointy end of the food item at the seat next to her, smiling sweetly, ”I’ve saved you a seat.”
I took one look at my best friend and tensed. Uh-oh. She’s up to something.
Why couldn’t I sit opposite her?
When my body froze instead of taking the appointed seat, Maria pulled the chair out with her sneaker-covered foot while simultaneously taking a big bite of the pizza slice and repeating around a mouthful, ”Sit.”
I inhaled deeply and sank down on the chair, feeling like I was being brought to trial.
”Maria-” Alex started behind me, a tired warning in his voice. But whatever he was going to say was cut off by Maria’s raised finger and pointed look.
”Alex,” she said, ”Why don’t you go and get Liz here some pizza?”
”I don’t th-” Alex started at the same time as I protested with a, ”I’m not hungry.”
Maria frowned, the start of real anger flashing in her green eyes as she leaned in towards me. ”I can’t just stand by and watch you wither away, Liz. You’re my friend. And friends look after each other. They don’t stand idly by, watching their friends starve themselves to death.”
An odd combination of irritation, frustration, and love seized me, making my jaw tighten defensively. ”You can’t force me to eat.”
”Maybe not here,” Maria admitted. ”But anywhere else that’s not as public, I can get our dear Alex here-” she looked at Alex, interjecting empathically, ”who still hasn’t gotten you that pizza,” I heard Alex sigh loudly before departing to fulfill Maria’s ’request’, and Maria turned back to me, ”-to help me tie you to a chair and force food down your throat.”
I rolled my eyes. Maria didn’t scare me. Especially not when I compared her to the people (using the term ’people’ with a pinch of salt) I had come into contact with lately. Max’s father and Sergeant Carter being at the top of that ’Scary’-list.
”And then I’m going to pull the truth out of you,” Maria continued and I held my breath in anticipation of what she was going to say next, ”because there’s something more going on here than just the death of your mom.”
She took two mouthfuls of pizza, distractedly wiping her fingers on a napkin, before adding, ”And I think I’ve finally figured it out.”
I believe my heart stopped and I had to swallow before I could whisper, ”You have?”
Had she figured everything out? I was pretty sure Maria was human, because after finding out about Alex I had made sure to carefully research Maria and her family, so how would she possibly be able to figure out what I had been up to these last couple of weeks?
”Uh-huh,” Maria said, looking triumphant as she brushed her tongue over her teeth and reached for the can of Coca Cola.
I looked at her closely, highly aware of Max’s presence at the back of my mind, wondering what kind of emotions I was sending him right then. Because right then I was nervous about what Maria was about to say. I was scared about her safety, because the alternate world I had (apparently) been part of since the day I was born, was dangerous. And I would presume that that alternate world was even more dangerous for someone like Maria - someone ’non-special’ - because she was expendable.
Maria’s eyes glittered, in obvious delight of my reaction, as she announced, ”I think you’re in love, Elizabeth Parker.”
The air whooshed out of me and I slumped forward. Thank Goodness. Maria was still Maria the Matchmaker, not Maria the Private Investigator.
”Really?” Alex asked as he sank down on my other side, warily placing the plate with the pizza slice on my tray. Next to the lonely and, for the moment, abandoned banana.
A nervous laugh escaped me (where had that come from?) and I shook me head. ”No, Maria.”
But my response only fueled her theory and she laughed victoriously while she pointed at me, ”I knew it! It’s Max, isn’t it?”
”What about Max?”
The outside voice cut sharply into our bubble and made our trio pause while our eyes synchronically moved to the owner of the voice who was standing behind me. I knew exactly where he was standing, determined by the energy I felt flow towards me.
And I felt a headache coming on.
My pulse was already picking up as my stress shot towards dangerous levels. And my traitorous mind (which was supposed to hide Max) could only think his name over and over again.
Max. Max. Maxmaxmaxmaxmax.
Because Sean was standing behind me and my connection to Max was still wide open.
With a snap forceful enough to make me jump, Max slammed his walls down, and I could no longer read him. My gasp was elongated and loud as my head dipped forward with the unceremonious sense of loss.
He must have understood through the connection that Sean had approached me.
Unless…
I snapped my head upwards and quickly scanned the cafeteria. It didn’t take me long to find him and his dark eyes collided with mine. Even without the insight into his feelings, I could see the tension in his body, the anger in his eyes and I noticed how Michael, seated next to him, was staring at him oddly.
While all of this transpired, Maria had found her voice and answered, with a certain wobbly strain to her voice, ”Um…none of your business, Sean.”
I forcibly tore my eyes away from Max’s and squeezed them tightly shut; concentrating on blocking him.
Close.
Close.
Close.
And the comforting hum grew silent and vanished.
I tried to focus on Maria, noticing the small twitch around her blazing eyes and the way her hand was tightly squeezing the napkin on her tray.
Maria was angry. Like Alex had told me, Maria didn’t quite believe the story about Sean just having taken care of me in the gym after a presumed concussion. She had seen for herself how affected I was and probably how guilty Sean had acted.
I had to admire her for controlling herself, for not exploding in front of Sean when she was, for now, supposed to go with the official story of Sean being my ’savior’. Control was not something Maria generally excelled at.
But Maria had grown a lot these last couple of weeks. I was just beginning to see that.
”I hope you don’t think we’ve saved you a seat, Sean,” Maria continued acidly and I inhaled deeply, fisting my hands tightly and invoked the actress within me.
I felt Alex’s eyes on my profile, noticed how he had barely moved in his chair since Sean had arrived, and right then I kinda wished that Alex would use his powers on me. Calm me down. Make me focus.
Because I didn’t only have to convince Sean, but also Maria.
So, turning smiling eyes to Maria, I said lightly, ”You’re right, Ria.”
She turned to look at me, hesitation in her anger, and frowned. Before she had a chance to ask what she was correct about, I elaborated, ”I have fallen in love.” I swallowed and reached behind me to seek out Sean’s hand, my heart racing with the lie. His hand was dry and cold against mine, but he eagerly returned my squeeze, my hand folding into his.
Maria’s eyes widened in shock, her back sharpening with a snap, as she followed my movement. ”You must be…” she gasped and anger colored her cheeks red.
I willed myself to continue and state the implication straight out, when I really wanted to laugh it all away and let Maria know that ’yes, I was kidding. I would never voluntarily let Sean anywhere near me’. With a smile so sweet that I felt it sting my teeth, I filled in, ”With Sean.”
”No,” Maria whispered, looking like I had just announced that I was dying, as her anger was rapidly going through the stages of denial, confusion, and fear.
I wondered what was running through her head. If she was thinking of me talking fondly of Sean one second and blankly refuting that I had any feelings for him at all the next. If she was remembering when the drunk version of Sean had hugged me from behind at that party, painfully pressing his arms into my unhealed wound and how she had screamed at him for hurting me.
She most definitely was thinking of the gym incident, which was cloaked in a cover story she didn’t even believe. I wondered if she was slowly losing all respect for me. After all, to the outside observer I probably looked both naïve and stupid, running back to Sean and, on top of that, apparently falling in love with him.
I took another deep breath, preparing myself to turn around in my seat, because I knew what would happen when I looked into Sean’s eyes.
I would lose myself.
”Believe it,” Sean answered and I could hear the smug in his voice.
Anger flashed through me. Bastard.
Maria shifted in her chair, the knuckles of her hands turning white from her tight hold on the table. I didn’t dare to face her any longer.
Instead I glanced in Max’s direction, making my heart tremble at the way he was looking at me and the scene at our table (barely concealed anger all rolled up into helplessness), I started turning in my seat, when a female voice interrupted.
”Liz. Could I speak with you?”
Surprised (and very relieved to be interrupted) I found Isabel standing behind Maria, looking beautiful and regal. An Amazon beauty of perfection.
”Sure,” I basically stuttered, before carefully giving Sean’s hand a comforting squeeze as I let it go, and rose from my seat - being careful not to look directly at Sean as I smiled at him, ”I’ll be right back.”
”I’ll grab some food then,” he answered and there was obvious irritation in his voice.
”Great,” I said cheerily, but my eyes was questioning and serious as I locked gaze with Isabel.
She hitched her head towards the exit of the cafeteria, wanting me to follow. Sure. Whatever would buy me time.
Isabel was already halfway out of the cafeteria by the time I got my legs working to follow her. I felt clumsy and plain following in her elegant footsteps.
The hallway was empty as we reached it and I stepped right into Isabel’s floral smelling body as she abruptly turned and stopped.
Her eyes were frantic and worried. I think it was the first time that I could see a resemblance to her brother. When she wasn’t putting on an Ice Princess show, her eyes reminded me of Max.
”Do you remember me?” she whispered anxiously.
My eyes narrowed in suspicion and confusion. ”Um…yeah?”
She sighed frustratedly, as if I was a small child that just didn’t get it. ”I mean, do you remember me?”
I crossed my arms across my chest, not appreciating her attitude. ”You mean, do I remember that you are an alien-human-hybrid, who is part of a secret population of tormenters and users of homo sapiens and who would just stand idly by and watch her own brother being hurt and freezing cold? Because then; yes, I remember you.”
Her face had turned ice-cold during my statement and her reply was clipped and short, ”Funny.”
I guess that Max had already informed his sister of my momentary memory lapses post my contact with Sean.
I dug my fingers into the sides of my elbows. ”What’s up, Isabel?”
She exhaled loudly, looked at me quietly with contemplation for a long pause, before she simply stated, ”I need you to seduce Max.”
TBC...
