Title:
Another guy, another girl
Name:
Joy
Email:
SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com
Rating:
PG
Logan sat stiffly in his wheelchair
staring out at the rain pounding the pavement below. His anxiety level had
risen a great deal in the last couple days. Max had been coming over more often
since they had returned from Cape Haven. However, in those days she had made
mention of a new guy at work about four times. This was the topic Logan was
pondering by the window.
/ What did you think? A bright,
intelligent, gorgeous woman like her wouldn't eventually be attracted to
someone…other than me… someone who could walk. /
So engrossed in his own thoughts, he
was unaware of the vision of loveliness that had come to visit him. "Hey
Logan," she said, drenched from top to bottom. If he hadn't been so
depressed, he probably would have noticed the wet t-shirt at the very least.
"Can I snag some clothes?"
"Sure," he said, never
looking up from his window.
"What's up? You don't normally
get this depressed without it having to do with your legs or Max, so
spill."
"Leila, I don't want to talk
about it," he said to the Asian beauty in his bedroom.
"Oh, must be Max and your
legs," she yelled from his bedroom as she changed.
"Fine, fine… you're
right."
Leila was one of Logan's best
informants, having been to military school and graduated top of her class at
the Quantico. Plus she was a hottie, able to get in and out of situations with
ease. Logan had met her when she was a teenager. She dropped the dime on a sex
slave ring run through the prestigious military academy she attended. She was
at best a kid sister type, although she was older than Max. To Logan, she would
always be the fifteen-year-old smart-ass that kicked him to the wall when he
tried to 'save' her.
"I didn't even get a hug… Not
even a hello," she said sitting in his lap by the window.
"Sorry. Hello," he said
kissing her cheek and hugging her around the middle.
************************************
Max came blowing into Crash very
upset. "What's up, Boo? You look like somebody needs to get a beat
down," Original Cindy said sitting down next to her.
"Alcohol is what I need!
Bartender- Whiskey."
"Damn, Sugar. What 's up? You
never up for that kind of poison."
"I am tonight!" Max
snapped.
"What's got you so tense?
Original Cindy knows you haven't been getting it a lot lately, but you're not
the type to freak like this."
"I'm… I'm pissed and … I
shouldn't be!"
"Why?" asked Cindy.
"I went over to Logan's, and I
walked in to see him with this girl on his lap by the window. I mean, yesterday
he said I didn't need to come over if I didn't want to… I guess I know
why."
"Whatever you saw… well, he is
a man," she thought better of her statement. She was about to defend Logan
bet then thought about his gender deficiency.
Max looked bummed, "She was
beautiful and Asian and wearing his clothes. It looked like she just got out of
the shower. I don't even want to know what they were doing that made her need a
shower."
"OK, despite what I just said,
Logan is crazy about you. I don't think he is a normal guy… It's probably not
what it seems," Original Cindy said to calm Max.
Max just stared at her friend and
hoped she was right. /What did I expect? He is handsome, rich, intelligent
and funny. Did I really think he would never date? /
*********************************
Leila spent the night in Logan's
guest bedroom while Logan moped about in his apartment. Max perched on his
skylight watching to see what was going on with the girl. Logan was muttering
to himself by his computer. Max could make out that he was upset. He was saying
something about maybe Leila being right, and maybe they need some good one on
one time together. Max was crushed. He was going to go on vacation or something
with this chick she knew nothing about.
Max headed to work and ran into
Connor, the new guy. He had been shadowing her the last few days. He was
Normal's nephew and eighteen. He was a good-looking guy, but she still saw him
as a kid. Their age difference was much smaller than the one between her and
Logan; but, despite all her protests, Logan was her interest. Max and Connor
delivered their packages around town joking and laughing. Connor realized Max
wasn't her normal jovial self, so he did his best to cheer her up. By lunchtime
he decided to press the issue.
"What's up, Max? You're
laughing at my jokes, but you don't seem at all happy."
"Rough night," she
responded. Just then her pager went off; it was Logan. "Mind if we detour.
I need to answer a page and we're near where the caller lives."
"Oh, does this mean I get to
meet the legendary Logan?" Connor said raising an eyebrow.
"I wouldn't call him legendary,
but if you want to meet him I don't see why not," she replied.
"Alright, let's hit it."
**************************************
"What ya doing?" Leila
asked after Logan put down the phone.
"I paged Max. I'm hoping to
talk to her about taking a road trip. I just can't think of a good
reason."
"How about you like her?"
she responded. "So I get to meet her. Cool!"
"Don't be so eager please. I
don't want you to pounce on her... Besides she'll probably call, not come
by."
"I'll get my stuff together.
Where's my new assignment?"
"The paper work is in my
bedroom," Logan said pointing to the door.
"Thanks, I think I can manage."
Leila walked into Logan's bedroom as
the lock was being picked. "Do you always pick his lock?" Connor
asked.
"Yes," Max said.
She rolled her bike in and yelled,
"Logan! You paged, sire?"
Logan rolled into the living room
with a big smile on his face and was about to ask her to run away with him for
the weekend when he noticed the tall blond guy- not Zack, but good looking none
the less - standing outside his door. The guy had obviously come with Max. Just
then Leila came bounding out of the bedroom and slid on Logan's hard wood
floor. She fell into Logan's lap causing Max to cringe.
Leila was the first to speak,
"Sorry about that. You would think I would have learned not to run in
socks on hard wood floors."
Logan cleared his throat, "Ah,
Max, this is Leila. Leila, this is Max."
/Damn. Why couldn't she be ugly?
/
"Pleased to meet ya,"
Leila responded.
"Like wise."
"So… Who's your friend?"
Logan asked
/I bet he'd be taller then me
even if I were able to stand. /
"Oh," Max had totally
forgotten Connor was standing behind her. "Connor this is Logan and
Leila." She did her best not to make the name sound like it was to sweet
or full of venom. Leila had just become Max's least favorite name in the world.
Logan added Connor to the list of names not to name his sons; Eric was on that
list as well.
After an uncomfortable minute of
everyone staring at each other, Max said, "You paged me. Was there
something you needed?"
"Yeah, how bout we go into the
computer room?"
Logan and Max made their way out of
the room as Leila came closer to Connor. "Do you think either of them has
a clue that the other is jealous?" Leila ventured.
"Not a clue," Connor said
shaking his head. "So how often does he mention her?"
"Constantly… And her?"
"Same… You wish it were
different?" Connor asked.
"Not really, but sometimes. How
bout you?" Leila responded.
"She will never see me as
anything but her boss's nephew. There is no hope, so why do it? Besides she was
going to set me up with a cute girl that has our same shifts."
"Nice."
"Yeah... What do you think they
are talking about in there?"
"He was going to ask her to go
on a road trip with him," Leila commented. "He may be too freaked
now. I mean you're young, good looking, and able to walk. Something tells me
he'll chicken out."
"That's funny… She said
something about thinking he was going to ask her to take care of some stuff
while he was gone on a road trip."
"So she got wind of it somehow.
Ok, here's the plan: if they come back out and he hasn't asked her, we'll run
interference until he does. Got it?" Leila said.
"Fine by me. Everyone at work
would be happy if Max calmed down a bit. I might actually get some other
friends at work if we pull this off," Connor commented.
Max came from behind the computer
room wall partition frustrated. "Come on, Connor. Lets go back to my real
job, where I get paid."
"Did you ask her?" Leila
whispered to Logan who shook his head. "Do it!" she commanded.
"How can I? She's happy,"
he insisted, pointing at Connor.
Leila signaled Connor to stall.
"Can I get some water or something? I'm really thirsty."
"We can get water
downstairs," Max snapped.
"No, come on Max. Julia won't
go for me if I pass out on a run," Connor added to alert Logan to the fact
things weren't necessarily as they seemed.
"Fine!" she huffed.
"So Logan, you got any plants
you need me to water while you and Max are gone this weekend?" Leila said
taking the hint from Connor.
"What are you doing?"
Logan pulled at Leila's t-shirt.
"Making sure you don't make a
big mistake and let her leave thinking we are something we aren't."
"What?" he said with
curiosity.
Max looked so confused, "I
thought you two were going away this weekend." The thought had never even
occurred to Max that he could have been muttering about her the night before.
"Nope. I'm just here for a few
days. Holding down the front while the 'sire' is gone," Leila responded.
"Hey, Max. Why don't I go cover
for you at work? Don't want my uncle to fire my favorite matchmaker,"
Connor said as he headed out the door.
"Fine. I'll meet you at the
coffee shop in a half an hour," she said over her shoulder.
"I'll let you two talk about
your trip," Leila said slipping into the guest bedroom.
Logan and Max just stared at one
another for a few minutes, trying to figure out what had happened.
"So that was Connor? Great guy.
Normal's nephew, huh?" Logan said finally.
"Yeah. Great kid. He's
eighteen. I'm setting him up with a girl at work."
"Julia?"
"Yeah… So Leila is?" Max
asked looking down.
"She's an informant. I've known
her since she was a teenager. Kid sister type."
"Kid sister that borrows your
clothes?"
"Yeah. An assignment went
screwy, so she was staying here until the heat died down. She came over in the
middle of the rainstorm the other night. All her stuff was really wet. My
clothes became the replacement," Logan said calmly.
"Ah."
"So, I was thinking- why don't
we take that vacation I promised you? No work, I promise. Leila can hold down
that fort."
Max raised her eyes in disbelief,
"Yeah, I'd like that."
Connor and Leila were both listening
at the doors they were standing by. "Yes," each whispered. Connor
headed back to work proud of his accomplishment, and Leila sat on her bed
reviewing the contents of her new assignment. She was happy to know her friend
was finally going to let himself be happy.
************************
"Hey, Cindy! Guess who is
finally going to relax?" Connor said.
"Who? Your uncle?"
"Nope, Max! She is going on a
road trip with the legendary Logan."
"Damn Boo… You did good. Now
figure out how to remove the stick from your uncle's butt and ya got a friend
for life."