Chapter Eight: Interlude Interrupted
Logan and Max went through the day just happy to be in each other's company. Logan had retired for a while to his study to tie up some loose ends with the Informant Net and his latest research project. He was loath to take any time away from Max, wanting nothing more than to spend every waking moment getting reacquainted with his love. Unfortunately duty called and he was still on alert when the problems around the city broke surface. This particular bit of business had already been put off too long with his absence in getting Max back.
He paused a moment to watch and listen as Max passed by the study humming tunelessly to herself. He broke out into a smile as he was whisked back to the time before his life fell apart, to the calm before the storm that had torn them from each other. To hear her again in his life, he felt that pang again, feeling that this was somehow a dream, one that he was about to wake from. He would find himself sitting up in his king-sized bed alone again, utterly and devastatingly alone. He was not sure that he could handle that. It was enough to keep him unconsciously tense even when he thought that he was relaxed.
He shook himself out and turned back to his work, telling himself that this was real, Max was really here, in his life. He continued for nearly an hour until he felt Max come in behind him and wrap her slim arms around his neck. He smiled as she did and leaned back from his computer to look into her face.
"Hey," He said catching her much more relaxed expression. He felt another part of his mind relaxed to see her starting to settle into their new and shared reality.
"Hey yourself. You going to be done soon?" She asked curiously.
Logan drew a deep breath sighing heavily at the reminder of his burgeoning workload, "I'm almost done," he reassured her, "Just one more reply to my source and I'll be caught up."
"Good 'cause Lunch is ready," she said in a tone that said that she was proud of her accomplishment that she had something of a surprise for him.
Logan looked at her, again this time with an eyebrow raised in surprise, "Really?" He said shutting down his computer, pushing back from the desk and rising to face her.
She straightened and looked at him hand on her hip, "REALLY," she answered sounding hurt at his incredulous tone.
Logan threw an arm around her shoulder as they moved toward the kitchen, "You are a constant surprise, Max."
"Don't sound so shocked. I did learn a thing or two about cooking," She threw a hip into his smiling sarcastically, "I had a good teacher."
"Really? And who would that be?" Logan asked feigning ignorance.
"Cute!"
Logan stopped short as he came into the dining room, shocked by what he saw. Laid out before him was a culinary miracle that rivaled several of his best. The shades had been drawn giving the room a half-lit aura of intimacy. At the center of the table was a bouquet of flowers from several different varieties that grew wild in the run down nooks and crannies of the city. The arrangement gave off a mellow sweet smell that was as relaxing as the sight of it was. Either side of the bouquet were long white lit candles that provided little more light that the subdued light from outside.
Arranged in a semi circle around the near side was what amounted to a picnic lunch arranged on small self serve dishes. The food was what constituted the miracle. There were summer sausages cut in neat even slices, three kinds of cheese; cheddar, jack and swiss, and crackers in various flavors that he had not seen in at least six years. There were plates of fruit, red and green grapes, sliced apples with a small side helping of peanut butter, and a mixed fruit salad to include of all things banana's. In a basket in front of the flower arrangement was a basket of fresh loaves of bread next to which was a tub of butter, which was as hard to find as hens teeth in this day.
Side by side were two white porcelain plates, ones he recognized as being an heirloom from his great aunt, on the table each with a matching glass of sparkling champagne the bottle set perfectly centered between them.
Logan looked down at Max and smiled warmly, she smiled a shining smile that he seldom saw out of her ever. She had been busy, had he really been occupied that long that she was able to go out and get this together?
"How did you get all this?" he inquired curious and awed by the feat, even as he was moving toward the veritable feast before him. He wondered silently just how much this had cost.
"Just lucky, I guess," She said demurely, shrugging in a way that told him that she was keeping a secret.
"Well… it looks wonderful," he said moving her chair out as an invitation to join him.
Max smiled again as she moved sinuously to join him. They ate at leisure, enjoying the tastes and smells and each other. There was electricity in the air that hinted at another romantic interlude later in the evening. They stole glances at each other demurely answering each others unspoken promise of more intimate moments to follow later in the evening.
Logan ate until he felt as if he was about to pop, and Max matched him bite for bite. Her appetite had certainly grown during their separation, it seemed because he could hardly get her to finish a plate of food before she had been taken. Some of that was due to her pregnancy, but most of it had just been Max. Slowly he pushed back from the table unable to even think of taking another bite of the delicious summer sausage that Max had been able to find, "That was wonderful, Max. Though you can hardly call it cooking," He teased as she smiled broadly, "Its more serving I think."
"Semantics," Max said. She shifted in her chair and leaned back, she slowly crossed her arms over her waist and she just sat there looking at Logan. Logan leaned on the arm of the chair he was seated in doing the same. They remained that was for long moments some silent electric cord keeping either of them from looking away, both thinking of nothing else but the person seated across from the other.
Logan blinked first saying, "Do you remember the night I proposed to you?"
Max burst out in laughter then, "How could I forget?" She asked rhetorically, "You sent me on a 'fact finding mission', had me following some 'madman's' clues across most of Seattle and into Tacoma. What was it you had said? Oh yeah, 'There's a young woman's future hanging in the balance, it is of utmost importance that you figure out what this mongrel wants.'" Max laughed again, "The final clue led me to a run down cannery in the worst section of town. I was so expecting to be ambushed at any minute. I came to the door that the clue had alluded to and opened it to find a small room draped in white lace, lit with candles and filled with white roses. There was a computer screen in the middle of it with the words 'touch me' flashing on the screen," Max paused smiling, "I should have realized there was something up, it was an Eye's Only contact computer, without the camera."
"The camera was there," Logan offered smiling slyly, "Hidden so that I could get your honest reaction."
"Really? Should have known," Max said, "The screen then instructed me to open the drawer and press 'continue'. In the drawer was the ring… I remember what the note said when I pressed continue, 'To he one true and honest thing to happen in my life, and the one person I can no longer live without. I would be honored if you would consider becoming Mrs. Max Guevera-Cale.'" Logan flushed red at the comment, "It said at the bottom, 'yes' and 'no'. I should have said 'No' for jerking me around like that," Max added, "You mongrel. You even had sounded concerned and self-righteous about it. You had me convinced that this was a real kidnapping… I didn't know whether to be happy or mad as hell about the deception."
Logan looked down, "As I remember it, you ended up running for you own life somewhere in there. You will never realize how anguished I was to realize that I had put you in the situation that the South African's would try to get you that night. I really have put you in harms way a lot over the years… I regret that."
Max just shrugged, "I've put myself in a lot more than you ever have… and I've done my own share of putting you in the line of fire. Starting just after we first met, you'd have never been crippled if it weren't for me."
Logan looked away still pained by the memory. He looked back at her, "Don't ever think that I blame you for that. Think about it, if you and I had never met, I would still have been in harms way. I would have tried to get Lauren and her daughter into protection even if we had never met, I would still have been crippled, and I would most likely still be that way. As much as I have lost, I have gained so much more knowing and loving you."
Max smiled again and reached over to get her glass of champagne, "Here's to our roller coaster of a life, to being back together, and to the hope that we are never separated again."
"Here, here," Logan agreed lifting his own glass. They set their glasses down simultaneously and leaned over to kiss each other. It started out as a small kiss but quickly deepened as their wants arose again.
Logan broke contact suddenly looking his eyes darting away from her toward the hallway looking concerned, "Damn it," he muttered rising.
"What's wrong?" Max asked suddenly confused rising to follow Logan as he stalked toward the door. Just as he reached for the knob the doorbell rang. Max froze in the hallway looking at Logan oddly, it was the first real show she had witnessed of Logan's radar ability. She was more than a little startled by it.
Logan glanced over at Max smiling a small smile, then he turned to the door and opened it, "Bling," He said in a sarcastic tone, "You're timing is impeccable."
"Bling?!" Max said from behind Logan, "Oh my God!"
Logan stepped aside and allowed Bling to step inside, he was smiling broadly as Max rushed into his open arms, "Welcome home Maxy," he said in a heartfelt tone, "We all missed you deeply."
Max leaned back, "Thanks."
Bling had faded to the background after Logan and Max had gotten married, just appearing on occasion to give a hand as was needed with the Network. He had pretty much left them to live their lives. The three of them sat back down again as she tried to catch up on what he had been doing.
"I didn't know about your 'death' until I was privy to the Eye's Only broadcast that Logan had put out," Bling said, "I came as soon as I knew, knowing that Logan was going to have a hard time of it. By then Logan had disappeared. It did not endow me with much confidence concerning his previous 'bouts with depression, and for a while I thought I had lost him too, especially when I saw the condition of his place, the bullets strewn about and the blood on the sheets.
"I was in process of gathering his things together and straightening up the place thinking that I was going to end up having to sell it as part of his estate. He shows up just out of the blue, on crutches, battered and bruised looking like he had survived a war. Tinga was with him helping him get himself back into the apartment. I was unsure whether I was more concerned or relieved to see him alive in that condition. I dropped everything else for a while, just trying to make sure that he was going to be able to survive the devastation of your loss.
"It took him a long time to start functioning again. There was a while there where he wouldn't even leave the study, just staring at the sculpture in there, shelled up. He would not tell me what had happened… not about the night you were taken, not what had taken place in the month that he was gone, nor why Tinga had returned with him. She was no help telling me that he would have to tell me himself."
Max looked over at Logan who was staring at the floor cleaning a nail with another nail. He seemed to feel her eyes on him for he looked up into her questioning eyes. He cleared his throat, "I told you I wasn't myself."
"Even after he started acting nearly like himself I hung around, just to be sure that he had some kind of support system in place."
Logan rolled his eyes embarrassed by the sound of that statement like he had been a little kid in need of his mommy. Unfortunately Bling was absolutely on the money about his emotional state, at that time. He had been very glad to have him available when things began overwhelming him, as had happened often in that first year after Max was gone. Logan sighed as Bling finished baring Logan's old wounds again, "So Bling what brings you here today?" kind of annoyed at Max and his interrupted interlude.
"Well, you did ask me to get some things for the lunch with the Logan Cale Brigade tomorrow for Max's welcome home."
Logan looked sharply at his watch, "That is tomorrow isn't it," he said sheepishly as he looked at Max, trying to explain, "I invited everyone back tomorrow for a welcome home for you… and to thank them each for their help and support in your rescue."
Max nodded slowly, "OH… Kay."
"I can cancel it if you're not up to it, Max, really," Logan said concerned that she was about to get mad.
Max shook herself out, "No," She said, "No… it's a good idea actually. I want to thank them myself."
Logan sighed again, relieved, sure that she was going to disapprove, "Well, then, let me help you get the stuff in," Logan said and Bling nodded and rose to his own feet. There was all the time in the world, he told himself, their interlude would still happen it was just going to be delayed.