They sat at a table in the mall, Logan typing furiously on his laptop and Max looking bored. Logan only paused long enough to eat a French fry once in a while from the large cardboard container sitting on the table beside his computer.
"Mmmm. Max, you should really try one of these fries. They're the best in the world, and it's been so long since I've had them."
"No thanks. They look way to greasy to be good. The grease is soaking your napkin!"
"You don't know what you're missing." He went back to his computer. He had already found a little bit about Manticore, but it was a cover-up, and he was having a hard time getting any deeper.
Meanwhile, Max was getting bored watching all the people run around, some pulling little children, all hauling large bags stuffed full of things bought. She got an idea.
"Logan?"
"Hmm?" grabbing another fry and not even looking up from his monitor.
"Is it alright if I go look around for a little while? You know, we might be stuck here for a bit, an I might as well get used to the place." Logan glanced up.
"Sure. But you should stay in the mall. Why don't we meet back here in a couple of hours, and we can get dinner."
"Not at that fast food place, I hope." Logan just smiled.
"Be careful. Here's some money in case you want to buy a souvenir."
"Ten dollars? You're cheep."
"Have fun!" Logan smiled then went back to his computer and fries. Max got up from the table and walked away. It didn't matter how much he had given her, she had plans.
Max walked out of the mall and across the parking lot. She hadn't seen so many cars in one place since just after she had escaped Manticore. As she passed Logan's Aztec, Max decided to leave it there. She could get to where she was going faster on foot, and if Logan came out to get something from the car and it was gone, he might figure out where Max had went.
Walking out of the parking lot, Max decided to do the old fashioned thing and walk, rather than jump from building to building. It would be difficult to carry out her plan because it was daytime, so as she walked, Max thought of how she was going to stay hidden. Rounding the last corner, Max looked up at the familiar building. She noticed a couple of other people on the sidewalk glanced up too, to see what she was looking at. 'Human nature.' Max thought, and she crossed the street.
As Max stood at the door of the building thinking, a dark haired girl walked up. The doorman stopped her and she said she was a new babysitter for the family in the penthouse; she would only be there for an hour and a half as a trial as the parents went to the supermarket. Max wondered what a supermarket was as a plan formed in her head. As the guard helped an older woman Max recognized out the door, she slipped inside. The girl was waiting for the elevator, so Max walked up to her.
"Hi." She greeted the girl.
"Hello."
"You live here?" Max asked.
"No, actually, this is the first time I've ever been here, I'm babysitting in one of the penthouses. Do you live here?"
"Yeah, but there's only one pent house in this building, and I've babysat for them before."
"Really? I've heard their twelve year old is rowdy."
"Rowdy?" Max asked, "You wouldn't believe it! And his parents usually come home an hour early, just to check up on you, and they won't pay you for almost a week after you baby-sit, until they can get the entire low-down from the neighbours."
"Wow..."
"Did you know they have the entire apartment wired? You know, in case you try to do something. Someone I know was almost sent to juvie hall for 'reckless abandonment' because the kid hid and she couldn't find him. When the parents came home, he said she had told him they would play hide and seek, but then she wouldn't look for her."
"Sounds nasty." The girl said, as the elevator arrived.
"Hey good luck. How long they said they'd be gone?"
"An hour and a half, why?"
"That's what they told me, then they got home half an hour later. A week later, they sent me a check in the mail for five dollars. They told me I would be paid twenty an hour, and they couldn't even walk what little they did pay me down two floors! You DON'T want to baby-sit for this family, believe me!"
"You know what? I just remembered I had a doctor's appointment I can't cancel, nice talking to ya!"
"You to!" Max yelled, slipping into the elevator and pressing the penthouse button as the girl went across the lobby to the door. When she got to the top, Max rang the bell.
"Melissa, is that you?" a voice came over the speaker.
"Yes, I'm sorry if I'm a little late." Max answered back; she heard a beep and the doors swung open into the familiar apartment. The rooms were a little different, but this was defiantly the pent house apartment of Foggle Towers. The place where he grew up. 'And the woman and man coming towards me must be his parents.' Max thought. They looked frazzled.
"Melissa, We're running a little late, so we have to go right away. We'll try not to be more than an hour and a half. The children are in their bedrooms, if you need anything, ask Logan, he's a big help. Nice meeting you, and thanks for coming on such short notice!" The woman talked constantly as her husband helped her into her coat, and then they were out the door and in the waiting elevator.
"Wow." Max said, looking around. She went into the kitchen, and everything was the same as it would be in twenty years, except the table had tall chairs, like stools with backs. "Everything looks new, though."
"That's because it is. Usually the baby sitter does not go straight to the kitchen. Are you hungry, I could fix you something." Max turned around quickly. Behind her stood a small boy, he looked similar to Logan, but he said he was twelve, this boy looked about eight.
"Logan?"
"No, actually, I'm Sean. Logan is in the bedroom helping Erin. They will be here shortly." He said, sitting at the table. He looked at Max's confused face. "Did Mother forget to tell you there are three of us? Sometimes she does that."
"No, actually, she did tell me there was more than one child here, but she didn't say how many. How old are you, Sean?"
"I am nine years, one month and three days old. And you?"
"Twenty." Max answered, sitting at the table across from him.
"So you were born in 1981?"
"Um..." she quickly did the math, "Yeah, 1981, in January, actually. And how old are Logan and Erin?"
"Logan is..."
"Twelve, and Erin is seven. Is he boring you with his smart talk?"
Max turned to the voice. Logan stood in the doorway behind his much smaller sister, then Max noticed he was actually holding her up, his hands under her arms so she could stand.
"I'm Logan, and this is Erin." He shuffled one foot forward and Erin slowly took small steps towards the table, When they got there, Logan lifted her up on one of the stools, then sat down beside her on another. She gave Max a wide smile. "And you are?"
"Oh, sorry, I'm M..." then Max remembered, "Melissa. It's nice to meet you all."
"It is nice to meet you, too, Melissa. Where do you come from?"
"Sean, stuff it. He thinks he's smart just cuz he goes to a big boarding school in Ireland. Yeah, ya gotta be smart to get in there, but he likes to show off sometimes." Erin started giggling.
"Logan, that is not nice to say. I will ignore it. But, I must leave; I have some schoolwork to attend to. It was nice meeting you, Melissa."
"I thought it was summer, why does he have to do school work?" Max asked as Sean left the kitchen.
"Like I said, a big boarding school in Ireland. He'll be going back in a few weeks to start the fall semester, but they keep sending him schoolwork in the mail over the summer. I think it sucks, we prefer public school, although our parents don't approve much."
"Really?"
"Yup. Can we go watch cartoons?" Max wasn't quite sure what he was talking about, so she agreed. Logan got up and crouched in front of Erin, who slid herself onto his back. She threw her arms around his neck and he stood up. Max followed them into the living room, where Logan deposited Erin on a couch and sat down beside her. "Sit down." He said, so she did. He picked up a little device she knew to be a remote control, from the couch and turned on the television. In her time, the only thing you could find on television was news, sports or Eyes Only. The show that came on was very colourful and obviously not real. It was about a bunch of kids and little monsters that became bigger monsters and fought other monsters. As they watched, Max thought of how she could get this young Logan alone so she could talk to him.
To Be Continued...