DISCLAIMER: I don't know whether I'm meant to write a disclaimer each chapter but I'll do it anyway! I don't own Dark Angel!
A/N: A BIG Thanks for reviewing my first chapter! And thanks to my sister, who loves Dark Angel too! She's very inspiring!
Philosophy!
CHAPTER 2: Full of surprises
4 days later…
It was another chaotic day in the lives of the sweat-breaking employees, and also in the lives of the slacker employees (which was the majority) of the Jam pony messenger service, and Alec, who was strutting about the workplace in a snazzy pair of black cargo pants, a t-shirt the colour of an overcast day and a half-zipped, shiny black leather jacket, was lost in thought as he perched on the top of the Jam Pony delivery counter.
"Where the fire-truck is Max?" Normal bellowed, his face, ironically, the exact same colour of a fire truck.
"She'll be here any second." Alec stated plainly in an automatic response. He was already knee-deep in thoughts and the busy variety of action, noise and chaos, which was Jam Pony's usual atmosphere, was getting to his head. If there was just some way I could tell her…Some way to get through to her without her threatening to kick my ass, maybe…then he decided to do something he knew he'd regret,
"Eh- Sketchy? Herbal? Do you have a minute?"
"Sure man! What's up?"
"How can a brother help?"
Alec decided to take on the 'casual-cool' approach, so he leaned up against a nearby wooden post, took a deep breath and started,
"Oh it's nothing much just this girl I know,"
"Right.", Sketchy confirmed swivelling his citrus fruit orange cap with black rim backwards, and following Alec's lead with the 'casual-cool approach' to the problem (a little less coolly).
"Well I like her…a lot, but the thing is she's a little bit cranky."
"When you say little bit? Do you mean 'MAX cranky'?"
"Hey, Max isn't that cranky!"
"I think our brother Sketchy had a meaning of the term Maximum."
"Oh. Right, yes heh heh! Of course," Alec chuckled nervously,
"Thing is, this girl-"
"Have we come to an acquaintance with the woman in question?" Herbal interrupted with his query of curiosity.
"What? Oh. Right, yeah, yeah. You've met her. But see the thing is I er- really like her but she-"
"Dude, 'she an employee at Jam Pony?" Sketchy asked in a hushed voice, looking suspiciously shifty and glancing here, there and pretty much everywhere.
"Yes," Alec replied, he was beginning to get agitated, "But she doesn't know that I really like her and, well I can't say that she really has a liking to me that much or, you know at all."
"Well it's easy. All you have to do is tell her the truth and just be yourself…" Sketchy suggested. There was a short pause. Then all three were laughing their faces off.
"Hahahahahahaha! Good one Sketchy! Hoohoo! See you later!"
"Eheheheh, yeah, seeya round dude!" Alec turned around and gritted his teeth in frustration. What am I gonna do? Alec forced himself to shrug off the panic and swung his ash grey satchel over one shoulder, heading in the direction of the lockers, which, at this time of day and on this day of the week (Friday), was usually swarming with employees.
"Boo, if you need advice on how to get through to Max, you certainly don' go knockin' on Sketchy's door." OC stood in front of him with an unimpressed look on her face.
"Sssssshhhhhh! Let's not go telling the whole world now!" Alec ushered OC over to a vacant bench and they both sat down.
"How did you now I was talking about Max anyway? Was I really that obvious?" Alec whispered, popping open his locker and removing his various necessities from it.
"Boo, this sister may not like listenin' in on the so-called manly-men trippin' over their own words like a bunch o' fools, but when they tryin' to or, in your case, not quite tryin' to give one o' their own advice about women, well you jus' gotta stop 'em righ' there! And besides, you think a sister don't know love when she sees it? What with you hangin' offa every word she says and what not! Only person who don' see it is Max. Which is you're problem, right? "
Alec sighed dramatically, "Right. So, what do I do?"
"'You wanna win Max's heart, you be yourself-"
"But that's what I've been doing and it's just not-"
"Did I say I was finished, fool?" Alec rolled his eyes and said in a resigned tone of voice,
"No."
"Then shutcha pie-hole and listen up! If small gestures aint workin', try something' BIG." Original Cindy suggested, rummaging through her bag, emptying the contents in the now empty space beside her and fishing out her pager from the assorted pile of stuff. Alec raised an eyebrow,
"You mean like a big romantic gesture, or something?"
"Bulls-eye." Cindy answered, hurriedly stuffing various things back into her back-pack.
"But I don't really know…how to. I mean, you know, I grew up in Manticore for crying out loud, and even when they paired us up as breeding partners, they didn't really specify how you make a candle-lit dinner even remotely romantic when you're stuck in a four-by-four cell with guards circling your room and steel bars blocking out all the lovely moonlight. Catch my drift?" Alec said casually with the usual dosage of sarcasm.
"It's easy, fool. And when I said 'big', I aint necessarily talkin' 'bout a lamp lit lunch! I jus' meant pour your heart into everythin' you do for her. Be sweet and-"
"I thought you said be myself?" Alec interrupted, looking glum and gloomy. Original Cindy rolled her eyes, put on her cap and slid her arm through the second strap on her small, khaki green back-pack, shaking her head in disapproval.
"Don' go kiddin' yo'self Alec! You a real softie at heart! I bet even Max knows that!" Alec watched OC skip over to her bicycle, hop on and ride away, whistling a gleeful tune, with a puzzled look on his face.
"Hey I'll have you know I'm anything but a softie!"
"Going into self-denial are we Alec?" Max strode into Jam Pony, head held high with her usual attitude and, to Alec's surprise, a skip in her step. Considering how pissed she looked when she came out of Logan's place a couple of days ago, this was a bombshell on Alec. Had they kissed and made up? Had he missed his chance with her again? Flabbergasted, all he could say was
"What?" Max rolled her eyes, sliding the rusty lock off of her locker and prying it open.
"Max, are you OK?" Max gave Alec a sideways look of suspicion.
"Yes. Why?"
"Oh it's nothing. Nevermind…"
"There she is, Miss. Lateness herself! There have been myths of her ever-reliable lateness to any occasion however unimportant but now they have been confirmed by yours truly,"
"Normal, the only reason I was late was because my washing machine broke, could I have prevented that particular event happening, NO." Max slammed her locker shut, slipped the lock back into place and scooted past a very irate Normal.
"Well you better come in early tomorrow or you're fired, Missy! That's right, I said fired!" Normal called after her. Finally giving up, he sighed and stated hopelessly,
"Slackers, eh? Can't live with them, and, well…that's it."
"Hold that thought, Normal. Max! Max, wait up!" Alec followed Max's lead and scooted past the obstacle that was Normal. Leaping gracefully onto his bike like a highly skilled acrobat and peddling like a madman out of Jam Pony after Max, he left a stunned and very disapproving Normal in his wake.
"Max, wait up!"
"Nope. No way. Uh-uh. You'll just slow me down!"
The two of them peddled down the steamy streets of Seattle, cycling past the numerous broken-down, burnt out husks of cars, trucks, vans and the like, as well as some blissfully ignorant pedestrians who were too caught up in their own business to notice the two whirlwinds fly past them. Alec, who was grinning smugly at Max, as he had now caught up with her and was cycling right beside her, decided to take this fantastic opportunity to take Cindy's expert advice,
"Eh- Max would you- would you like to go out sometime?" Alec knew this part only too well, as he had played it back in his head over and over again. Max's bike would screech to a halt, she'd turn to him and tell him that she'd rather die and ride away, never to be seen again. And it would be entirely his fault. He would've lost her forever…just like Rachel.
But to his astonishment, she kept on cycling, her brow creased in thought, and after a brief (but still painful for Alec) silence, her expression cleared up and she casually answered,
"Yeah, sure, I'd love to. But if it involves one of us cooking you'll be doing the honours, pretty boy." Still a bit stupefied by her answer, Alec didn't react immediately to this,
"Oh, yeah, yeah, 'course! Heh, heh!" After this rather lame statement, Alec was lost in thought… So did she break up with Logan? Was she happy to be without him? Or maybe she WAS with him and mistook what I meant when I asked her out…maybe she thought I was asking her out as a friend? Maybe not? Alec unfortunately was so lost in thought, that he didn't see the neatly trimmed evergreen bush that was barely metres away.
"Alec, err- you might wanna move. Alec. Alec! ALEC!"
Ring, ring! CRASHHH! "OOooooof!" and "Arg! Get off!" could be heard shortly after both Max and Alec crashed into the privet bush (Max dived at Alec to make him swerve out of the way but it turned out he was already swerving out of the way when she rugby tackled him).
"Max, could you please remove your foot from my face?"
"Maybe, when you remove your elbow from my stomach! Oooof!" After untangling each other's limbs, they both simultaneously sat up, their faces dangerously close together. An unwanted suggestion popped up in Max's head, telling her to close the distance between them (little did she know Alec was thinking the same)… she shrugged it off and got to her feet retaining as much dignity as possible. She dusted herself off, giving Alec one last long look and smiling genuinely,
"See you at, what, 10:00?"
"You're just full of surprises, Maxie!"
"It's Max!"
"Whatever!"
And as Alec watched her walk away, something deep inside fizzed like a glass of lemonade. Maybe he still had a chance with Max. Maybe. Or maybe not. This life of his was just full of surprises! So who knows what's in store…
