~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Part V~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Max and Logan said almost nothing to each other for the remainder of the 5-hour flight. They only spoke to each other when the plane finally landed in the 'Windy City' of Chicago, Illinois.
They disembarked from the plane and traveled down the corridor to the inside of the O'Hare Airport.
Once there, Logan gave Max a signal to wait a minute. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone and began to dial several digits before putting the phone to his ear.
"Aunt Meredith!" he said with a little too much enthusiasm in his voice. "It's me, Logan. Yeah, um.. Max and I are coming a little earlier than planned is that okay? Great thanks. Yeah, I have. Tuesday? Okay. Our plane arrives at the airport at 10:30. Okay then. We'll see you then. Bye."
They started walking toward the gate again. Logan turned his head toward Max, still slightly afraid to speak to her, and said
"My aunt's meeting us at the airport at 10:30 from there we're gonna go back to her house -well actually it's a mansion- and stay there until after the wedding."
"Sounds good to me," was the only thing Max said and kept walking.
They stopped at gate D14 and boarded the plane once again. The plane took off and they started their journey toward Canada.
Max was looking out of the window, thinking about how small and insignificant everything seemed from so high up, when her thoughts were interrupted by Logan's familiar voice,
"So... I've made up my mind," he said.
"About what?" Max asked.
"About the operation. I'm gonna go through with it. That's what I was talking about with my aunt. I'm going to go see the doctor the day after tomorrow," he told her.
"Really?" she asked sounding concerned.
"Yeah."
"So..." Max said trying to think of something to start a conversation with,
"Tell me some more about your family."
They spent the next 2½ hours talking about Logan's family. It was about 9:55 P.M. (Eastern Standard Time) when they finally ended the conversation.
"I remember a story my grandfather used to tell me about my mother. One Christmas, when she was about five years old, my grandfather and my grandmother had to go across the street to help the neighbors set up a Christmas tree. Before they left, they told her not to be snooping around in the Christmas gifts. Of course she assured them that she wouldn't and they left her in front of the television eating a chocolate bar," he narrated.
Max looked closely at Logan and could see just how much he missed his family and it made Max want a family of her own even more.
/He must have loved his mom a lot/ thought Max. /He said I reminded him of her./ At this thought, a faint smile crept across her face.
"Well, of course, as soon as my grandparents left the house, my mother went down into the cellar and started looking around for presents. She found a large box that was stapled shut and my mom stuck her little hand in and felt around the box and figured out that it was a doll. So, she went back upstairs and waited until Christmas morning to open the box. Can you imagine my grandparents' surprise and my mother's humility when, on Christmas morning, my mom opened the box and pulled out a porcelain doll with chocolate fingerprints all over it!!" Logan said. Max looked at him for just a moment and saw his eyes shining in reminiscence.
Instantly, Max and Logan laughed incessantly at the thought of a white doll covered in chocolate prints.
When Logan had finished telling Max about the "Christmas incident", an announcement came over the P.A. system of the airplane that they would be arriving in Montreal in 10 minutes.
/It feels good to hear her laughing again. I haven't seen her happy like this in a long time. Although when we get home, she's gonna have Lydecker to worry about and that's not going to make her too cheerful. Oh well, for the next few weeks, we won't have to be troubled by him. I guess we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it,/ thought Logan.
A couple minutes later, their plane arrived in Montreal, Canada. Once they managed to get Logan off the plane and into his wheelchair, they left the terminal.
/It's a good thing Logan speaks French, because God knows I would be lost here without him./
Before they went to claim their bags, Logan decided that it was a good time for him to start getting into character and took off his glasses and put in contacts.
When Max saw his face, she nearly pass out. He looked so incredibly different. Before then, he had been Eyes Only, the confident, 'tell-it-like-it-is' cyberjournalist, but now, now he was completely unlike that. Now he was cute and charming. Max could tell this wasn't going to help her when it came to keeping their relationship strictly business oriented.
Soon, they had their luggage and were making their way down to the exit. A middle-aged, blond-haired woman entered the airport with a young brunette.
"Logan!" yelled the latter of the two women. Logan's head snapped toward the direction of the girl's voice.
/It's show time/ thought Max.
"Katie? Is that you?" he called to the girl. The girl, Katie, came running over to Logan and Max.
"Well, just look at you," she said looking at the paraplegic.
"Let's not look at me and say we did," Logan chuckled feeling rather embarrassed by his condition.
By that time, Logan's aunt had finally caught up to Katie and was about to say hello when the younger woman spun around to face Max and said,
"And you," she began pointing to her, "must be Max. I heard a lot about you from Logan when I spoke with him the other night."
Max quickly got into character and glanced down at Logan giving him a tiny smirk as though to say, 'oh really', before responding.
"Well I hope it was all good things."
Now it was Logan's turn to start acting,
"Of course it was," he told her mischievously
/And what is that supposed to mean/ Max contemplated
When neither his cousin nor his aunt were paying attention, he raised an eyebrow at Max and gave her an equally mischievous smirk.
/God he looks so incredibly sexy when he does that, oh my god what am I saying, this is Logan. Max, snap out of it. I think that time change is starting to cloud your judgement./
As if she could sense the tension in the atmosphere, Logan's aunt interrupted their silent conversation,
"Logan, honey, it's just a shame what's happened to you," she started completely ignoring Max, "Well, surely Dr. Westbank will be able to help you."
Max disliked the woman already. She was everything Max hated in a person: conceited, judgmental, opinionated, and thought she was superior. They were not going to get along well.
Ending on that note, Mrs. Wrobleski (that's what Logan had said her married name was) led them out to an enormous black limousine as Max pulled a sporty grey sweater around her shoulders. And with that, they embarked on the beginning of their journey.
/Well,/ thought Max /maybe I should look at this little adventure as a chance to be whoever I want to be. After all, it can't hurt anyone, It's just acting./