A/N:

and another story chapter! I'm 2 for 2 weeks... damned I can write again, so happy!

I hope you enjoy this one!


Chasing Max

Victoria Prescott-Chase, CEO of Chase Freight Ltd and, for now at least, wife of Nathan Prescott, son of the billionaire businessman Sean Prescott, had been, once again, staying overnight in her office. Officially, she was waiting for an important freight to be transshipped as fast as possible. Officiously, any minute spent in the office was one she did not have to spend home, with the risk of having to see her husband or his family.

Yeah, well… There is a bigger chance of Sean showing up, begging for a grandson, than Nathan.

Victoria had never made any mystery of her lack of love for her husband, and had she had any choice to begin with, she would not have married him. Sadly, her parents had decided otherwise, hoping to merge their business with the Prescott's.

That and avoid the scandal of their heiress being gay!

She had known Nathan Prescott for years, their families being close, but she had never thought of him like that. She had never thought her parents would pack her bags and marry her straight out of highschool, either.

This was what had finally defined Victoria as she was now. Having been denied a chance at a college degree through the standard methods, she had spent her time as a 'housewife' getting it through online course. And to stick it to those who had tried to bring her down, she had done it in only two and half years. She was a self-made woman, refusing to be brought down by others, refusing to see her life decided by others.

Having been cast down, dismissed as a woman, judged by her parents as nothing more than a tradable good; she had created her own company, hiring competent and independent women to work in a field where men were the norm. In a way, she had been rebelling against the establishment, proving that gender did not make anyone better or worse.

And it had worked. In fact, it worked so well she had been strapped for drivers. To the point she could not afford to kick her one bad apple through the door, preferably with that last one still closed for more effect, however much she wanted to.

That and I'd probably get Sean and Nathan screaming bloody hell if I dared to fire Nathan's frat bro!

She sighed. Eliot had been trouble since day one. Actually hired by Nathan in the Prescott freight company, the guy had been such a problematic driver that Sean had been eager to let Victoria start her own company, provided she took the employee.

It had seemed like a good idea back then… Got the husband and his dad off my back for refusing to be just a trophy wife. I did not know how bad he was.

The truth was that her problematic driver saw women as only one thing: fuck toys he could play with whenever he wanted. It had ended badly a few times too, a few fight having been started because of it. And more than once, it had him finishing with a few injuries he dared not explain too. But he never seemed to learn.

"Oh well… Chloe's arrived… Just need to get the paperwork sorted, and send his ass up North for a couple of days!" She muttered to herself. At the thought, she looked up at the window of her office, checking what her problematic driver was up to, and growled as she noticed him hitting on a small blonde with her hair tied in a tight bun.

Yeah, I need his ass gone fast!

She stood up, anger starting to boil in her veins as she opened her office's door. "Eliot! Your trailer is here! Get your ass into gear and go hitch your truck!"

The frat boy turned his head and growled, not happy to see his attempt interrupted. "What's the rush? I'm talking to Kate. Besides, Chloe hasn't given me the manifest yet."

Victoria had to stomp on her nerves, fighting the urge to physically throttle him. "The rush is that the cargo has already been delayed enough! Go get your truck ready!"

Eliot looked at her with a smirk. "Or what? You're gonna fire me? Wonder what Nathan would say about that."

Victoria clenched her fists, her eyes turning cold as she called loudly. "FRANK!"

At the name, Eliot stiffened and raised his hands in surrender. "Fine! I'm going!" He started to walk away mumbling to himself. "No wonder her husband cheats on her…."

She watched him leave, growling to herself as she pondered about letting her Mechanics loose on him – god knew the men had wanted to, after what he did earlier that day. As if on cue, the blonde mechanic with his tattoos and his beard showed his head through the door leading to the garage. "You called, boss?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Eliot needed some encouragement." She paused a moment before adding. "Make sure he actually is getting his truck ready instead of harassing girls again."

His blue eyes thinned and his lips curved up with a predatory grin as he left. "No problem, boss!"

Victoria turned toward Kate with a sigh. "Sorry about that."

The smaller blonde smiled and waved a hand. "No worry, Victoria. You know, I don't really care about him."

"Yeah… I know… I'm more worried about him caring a bit too much about you, honestly." She pinched the bridge of her nose for a minute. "Anyway, what brings you here this late? Did something happen with Dana?"

Kate smiled warmly. "Oh no, Dana's fine. I gave her a sedative and she's resting on my foldout couch. I came because Chloe asked."

"She did?" Victoria sighed, rolling her eyes. "Of course, she did… And I wondered what had upset Rachel." She shrugged. "Oh well, can you wait in my office? I'll go get our favorite punk and her stray."

Her heels clacking on the ground, she walked with a fast pace through the building, heading toward the parking, pursing her lips as she pondered for what seemed the hundredth time about the need to get a new driver so she could get rid of her dead weight. She had barely left the building when she heard the raising voices of her driver and Rachel fighting.

I suppose Chloe did pick another stray….

She turned the corner, preparing herself to cut the fight short, only to find herself facing a scantily clad woman with pink hair and bruises on her face. The initial confusion quickly wore off as she noticed the deep blue eyes, the familiar freckles.

It can't be!

She froze for seconds, her mind hesitating as she recognized the woman standing in front of her. A woman she had not seen in years. A woman who had been torn away from her, and whom she thought she would never see again.

"Maxine?" The word erupted from her lips before she even thought about it, as sudden as her realization, and she saw the blue eyes widening in shock as they met hers.


"Maxine?"

The voice was all too familiar, a ghost from her past, a voice she still heard as a flicker of hope for this world, the last bit of warmth she ever felt before falling in the coldness of a cruel world. She froze, unable to move, unable to respond or even breath, as she faced the blonde young woman in her tailored suit.

I should have known! I should have fucking figured it out from the voice on the radio, the name on the side of the truck!

But she had not. Something in her had not wanted to even think of this possibility, even if every hint had been there. She had been glad to dismiss her suspicions, not wanting to face them.

And now, here she stood, right in front of her, the living proof that her life had not always been dipped in shit, the very reason she had fallen from grace.

Victoria Chase, heiress to the Chase family, former classmate from Max' former life in Seattle, and Max' only experience at a relationship.


"I can't believe it!" Her father had yelled as he finally joined her in the living room, and Maxine had sunk in the couch she had been tossed into. She had never seen her father like that, so furious, so upset.

It was on her eighteenth birthday, she had spent the day with her best friend and her girlfriend, Victoria. Her father had found them as they sat in the blonde's car, about to kiss goodbye for the day, and he had literally yanked her out of the car.

He had not said a single word, just grabbed her and thrown her to one of her uncles, and she had been dragged into the house, crying and screaming, while he stayed behind to talk with Victoria.

She had been left to wait his return, anxious, panicked, and scared. And his first words to her had been so loud, the room had shuddered around her.

"Dad… I …" she had started, trying to apologize, only to be interrupted as his right hand smacked strongly across her face.

"SHUT UP, YOU WHORE!"

She had flinched. Hearing her loving father call her a whore had hurt more than she ever thought could be possible, more than the pain spreading through her cheek, or the slight burn in her cracked lip.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE you would do that to our family! That you would whore yourself like that and commit such a sin!" He bellowed, pacing the room.

"Dad… I'm sorry… I didn't mean it… I…"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"


For a moment, she swore she could hear her father's voice, his threats, and feel his strong hands as they manhandled her and slapped her again.

"Maxine? Is... Is that you?"

The question pulled her out from her thoughts. She tensed, her eyes darting around, searching an escape, a way to get out of this situation. As her eyes moved across the bluenette's face, she also noted the confusion, maybe a hint of wariness too.

Yep… Guess the fake name will bite me in the ass!

She felt exhausted, tired as she never had been, facing one problem after another. And, she did not want to face this one. She was not ready to face someone from her past. But before she had a chance to try and run for it, Victoria had closed the distance between them and snagged the pinkette into a crushing bear hug, burying her face in the girl's neck.

The shock and pressure from the hug made Max grunt loudly as her wounds flared with pain. Holy FUCK!

Thankfully, the blonde seemed to notice the discomfort as she eased back, holding her back as she scanned her face, her clothing. "Oh my god, Maxine! What happened to you? Where have you been all this time?! I've been so worried! We all were!" Tears started to show in the blonde's eyes. "I thought… I thought you were dead!"

Max regained her composure, brushing the shock of the meeting away, she swiftly moved a hand, swiping Victoria's arm away to break the contact as she scoffed. "Like you really cared."

Shock was visible on the blonde's face as she tried to match the shy hipster Irish girl from her memories with woman standing in front of her. She moved a hand, trying to reach for Max only to see it swatted away. "Maxine…"

"Don't call me that! Never call me that name!" Max hissed angrily, feeling acid coming up from her stomach as she heard her old name. "She's dead! Maxine's dead!" She just stated plaintively, feeling her breathing starting to turn frantic as she kept eyeing left and right, looking for something she could not find, some danger.

Panic started to build in her, the voice drooling with sociopathic pleasure resonating in her head, drawn from her memories.

The blonde was about to say something, to reach for her again, but the bluenette came forward. "You two know each other?"

Both Victoria and Max answered at the same time. "Yes…." "No!"

Before Victoria could inquire further, Max growled. "You don't! The girl you knew is dead, Victoria! She died five years ago!"

The three girls looked at her, obviously confused. Confusion brought by trying to understand who they had picked up on that truck stop and drove with for a day. Confusion brought by the memory of a loved one who kept denying that past and the hurt in her eyes and voice. Confusion at seeing their current lover expressing some interest toward someone else.

Rachel was the first to talk, her tone flat and dismissive. "Just let her go… She obviously doesn't want to be here…"

"What?! No!" Victoria exclaimed in a panick.

Chloe took a step while reaching for the pinkette's shoulder. "Listen… Sinead, or what the fuck your name is, I don't care about your past, okay? And, you can leave if you want to…"

"No, she can't!" Victoria interrupted, more and more panic in her voice.

"Yes, she can!" Chloe said insistently. "She's a free person, and no one can force her to do anything!" She took a deep breath, her eyes staring at the blonde for a moment. She turned to Max again. "As I said, you can leave if you want to. But… You're injured and I… I had a friend who can help come over to see you… She's not a doctor, yet… but she can help you and make sure you are safe. Please, before you leave, let her have a look at you. If you want to leave after that, fine… I'd rather you don't of course, but it's your choice. And if you want, my offer for a place to stay, at least tonight, is still there."

Max looked at the blue haired punk for a minute, hesitating. She wanted to leave, to be far away from any place, any person that reminded her of her past, of her nightmares. But the girl was also right. She had seen how the bandages on her arm had been tainted with blood, and she had felt the pain in her ribs.

Besides, she was tired. Tired of running away, of trying to escape, of surviving instead of living. She sighed, something between a deep breath and a groan. "Fiiinne… I'll see that friend of yours…. But I'm not saying I'll stay longer than that!"

At her words, relief was obvious in the punk's eyes. Same with Victoria who's face showed hints of hope. On the other hand, Rachel's face stiffened and her lips thinned as she seemed unhappy with the way things had gone.

"Okay… Just…. You know so as to make things clear… How do we call you? I mean, I'm fine with Sinead if you want… But…"

Max bit her lip as she thought. She had used quite a few names since that fateful day, all of them faked, all of them to hide who she was, her past, her memories. But here she could not do that anymore… Not with someone from her past standing there.

"Max… Max is fine…" she finally sighed.

"Okay, Max… Let's go get you checked up, okay?… Just to make sure everything's fine." Chloe said while moving to show her the way to the building.

"Kate's in my office." Victoria announced, finally finding her voice back. "I'll… I'll show her the way… Can you sort out the papers with Eliot for now? You can join us after."

The bluenette rolled her eyes with a smile. "Ok… I guess we want him far away as fast as we can anyway… I'll go meet him by the trailer and join up with you gals."