'Give me a hurricane, give me a tornado, give me the insistent babbling of Sketchy when he's drunk, anything but my little girl screaming her head off and me not knowing why.' Even as Alec thought through all the possibilities, things made no sense. He had reached a breaking point, a limit he didn't realize he had until he could not cure his daughters uncomfortable situation. He'd have to call Max. He dialed her pager and waited by the phone, all the while blinding himself from Eva's bloodshot eyes. Finally after what seemed like forever did she call.
"Max, I need help." he talked desperately into the phone. Light-heartedly, Max
let out a short laugh. He could see where being panicked was funny, but he
didn't call to be made fun of. Still he had to keep in mind this came like second
nature to her now, that it took practice.
"She too much for you already?" she asked as Alec moved from the sofa to the
bathroom where he could hear better.
"I admit it, child care was not what I scored high in at the Manticore school of
hard knocks." Max sighed. Alec's intentions weren't to make her feel bad about
letting him see Eva. But now that he had made it sound like that, he was almost
afraid she'd never let him alone with her again.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted you to-" 'Be with your daughter' he finished
non-verbally, 'just say the truth, Max, say she's mine.' After all this time, Max still wouldn't admit it aloud. Scared, possibly, that she'd want to believe it as he
wanted her to. He wasn't stranger to not verbalizing important things. He could
never admit he loved Max. But it wasn't a formality he was obliged to take for
granted.
"And I appreciate it. Just give me some help here." Max began to ask him if she
was fed. "If you mean that liquid stuff. Yes, she has stuffed her face." Max then
asked if he had burped her. Alec gave alittle chuckle, "Burp her?"
"Didn't you look in those books I brought?" Max said, alittle on the angry side.
Apparently this burping was very important. Alec said very little but a 'sorry' and
'no'. "If you don't burp her, she gets tummy aches."
"Human babies need to learn how to speak quicker." he grumbled, peeking out
the bathroom door to check and see if she had exploded yet. She was quite red
but still alive.
"I know, but just pat her back until she burps. She should stop crying. And then
change her."
"Change her.....?" Everything had a term to it and Alec was quite clueless to
them all, to his own dismay.
"Her diaper, Alec." Max replied impatiently. Alec sighed deeply, his hand falling to
his lap. He was so overwhelmed, it wasn't funny. "Your going to be fine. I'm only
working 'til five." Alec whimpered alittle over the phone to be dramatic. It made
Max laugh and he loved to hear her laugh. A smile appeared across his face like
he hadn't even gone through these past months at all. For a second he could
almost believe Max was his wife and Eva was with them, together as a family.
"Get here soon," he begged, suddenly finding himself mouthing 'I love you'
behind the receiver.
"I'll be there." True to her style, Max didn't say goodbye to Alec but just hung up
the phone. He still said goodbye though and without any resistance, a hushed
'Love you, .....
Max.
Time was nearing the end of her shift and night was casting its shadow on
the streets of Seattle. Max was on her way over to deliver her very last package
in the suburbs of a pretty decent neighborhood. Though the dark was no
challenge to her eyesight, Max found herself blinded and aloof to the life
surrounding her. She even biked past the drop site for the package by a block.
After getting the signature, thanked them and got back unto her bike, Max
checked her watch. Quarter after five and she was going to be another 20
minutes til reaching Jam Pony, five to get out of her work clothes that smelled
nasty, two minutes to punch out and another 10 minutes to reach Alec's
apartment. That left her approximately 50 minutes late to Alec's and an hour late
home. Logan would worry about her if she were that late. She'd have to call him
and then she'll tell Alec when she'll arrive. Taking a quick glance to the back
room, checking to make sure Normal was still busy counting tomorrow's
packages and sorting them out for individual deliverers, Max grabbed the phone
and slid around to gain some privacy on the other wall. Quickly, she dialed home.
"Logan, I'm going to be late." Max said after he had greeted her with a 'Hi'. "I
took a little to long on my last run and I still need to pick up Eva."
"At Alec's?" Logan asked, out of the blue. Max swore she'd told him the night
before she was dropping her off at Alec's for the day. Suspicions arose quickly
when there was silence for a minute on Logan's end.
"Yeah, he offered last week at work. Remember? I told you."
"I remembered. Listen," Logan replied, starting to sound very strange to Max, "I
got something we need to talk about when you get home." Max gulped,
suspecting something bad had happened.
"Is there trouble? Someone after you?" Max asked quickly, hoping maybe he'd
tell her something just to help clear her mind. But he didn't. He wouldn't share a
thing. Max's fears grew to an even deeper low as the silence returned. There
weren't many silences like this between the two of them. It literally scared her.
"Ok....," Max began, "well, I'm going to get Eva and I'll be home soon." Logans
goodbye was shady and very unlike him.
All Max could think of was somehow....somehow.....HE KNEW.
With that one night, when Max had broken in his apartment, Logan knew he was already in too deep. When emotions mixed with business, he knew he was in trouble. When he thought he could marry Max with no strings attached, he must have known all along he was asking for too much. Logan's eyes teared up, hopeless to stop himself from sinking deeper in thought. His entire life as up to this moment, all that telling himself he'd find a woman who wouldn't just use him for his money, has turned out to be all some mirage. But what a lovely desert he was lost in, with Max to saturate his ever-growing longing for affection and love.
'Eva Cale; mother Max Cale; father unknown
Blood type; undeciphered as of yet'
He had been lied to by the woman he ever truly loved; the woman he had risked his life for. He gave so much to keeping the two of them together. Maybe his believing so much in true love only made it more the 'Santa Claus' it really ever was.
The phone rang, startling Logan from his look out into the streets of Seattle.
"Hello?" Logan answered and waited for a reply. Nothing but dead air for a second. Quickly, Logan switched the reciever to the other ear, using his right hand to start a track on the call. "Who is this?"
"You think she ever really loved you?" spoke the gruff, familar voice. Someone in his past, Logan placed immediatly, but who? Logan had 20 more seconds until the track would be final. He'd have to keep him talking.
"What did you think I'd do after you sent me that email? That I'd leave her?"
"Has the thought never crossed your mind today at least once? Or are you that disillusioned?"
"I know Max loves me," Logan exclaimed, feeling like he had just lied to himself. "How'd you find out about Eyes Only?"
"You told me," leaving a short chuckle, "didn't expect me to live long enough to expose you, did you?"
"What do you think you are going to accomplish?"
"Call it- unfinished business." Five more seconds before locking it down.
"Do I know you?"
"You'll want to after I tell you your 'daughter' will die without my help." Without any notice, the man hung up. A sick feeling filled Logans mind and gut, not able to believe whom he just might have been speaking to. Someone who was supposed to be dead.
"Donald Lydecker." A name with no number. But what he had told Logan would be enough to encourage the investigation. His daughter will die without Lydeckers help? Max would rather die herself than give that man their child. Logan dropped his head down, 'I mean, her child.' Wheeling back to the window, Logan gave more attention where no attention purposed to be in a dreary world he was beginning to feel no longer needed a warrior with no strength to stand.
"Max, I need help." he talked desperately into the phone. Light-heartedly, Max
let out a short laugh. He could see where being panicked was funny, but he
didn't call to be made fun of. Still he had to keep in mind this came like second
nature to her now, that it took practice.
"She too much for you already?" she asked as Alec moved from the sofa to the
bathroom where he could hear better.
"I admit it, child care was not what I scored high in at the Manticore school of
hard knocks." Max sighed. Alec's intentions weren't to make her feel bad about
letting him see Eva. But now that he had made it sound like that, he was almost
afraid she'd never let him alone with her again.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted you to-" 'Be with your daughter' he finished
non-verbally, 'just say the truth, Max, say she's mine.' After all this time, Max still wouldn't admit it aloud. Scared, possibly, that she'd want to believe it as he
wanted her to. He wasn't stranger to not verbalizing important things. He could
never admit he loved Max. But it wasn't a formality he was obliged to take for
granted.
"And I appreciate it. Just give me some help here." Max began to ask him if she
was fed. "If you mean that liquid stuff. Yes, she has stuffed her face." Max then
asked if he had burped her. Alec gave alittle chuckle, "Burp her?"
"Didn't you look in those books I brought?" Max said, alittle on the angry side.
Apparently this burping was very important. Alec said very little but a 'sorry' and
'no'. "If you don't burp her, she gets tummy aches."
"Human babies need to learn how to speak quicker." he grumbled, peeking out
the bathroom door to check and see if she had exploded yet. She was quite red
but still alive.
"I know, but just pat her back until she burps. She should stop crying. And then
change her."
"Change her.....?" Everything had a term to it and Alec was quite clueless to
them all, to his own dismay.
"Her diaper, Alec." Max replied impatiently. Alec sighed deeply, his hand falling to
his lap. He was so overwhelmed, it wasn't funny. "Your going to be fine. I'm only
working 'til five." Alec whimpered alittle over the phone to be dramatic. It made
Max laugh and he loved to hear her laugh. A smile appeared across his face like
he hadn't even gone through these past months at all. For a second he could
almost believe Max was his wife and Eva was with them, together as a family.
"Get here soon," he begged, suddenly finding himself mouthing 'I love you'
behind the receiver.
"I'll be there." True to her style, Max didn't say goodbye to Alec but just hung up
the phone. He still said goodbye though and without any resistance, a hushed
'Love you, .....
Max.
Time was nearing the end of her shift and night was casting its shadow on
the streets of Seattle. Max was on her way over to deliver her very last package
in the suburbs of a pretty decent neighborhood. Though the dark was no
challenge to her eyesight, Max found herself blinded and aloof to the life
surrounding her. She even biked past the drop site for the package by a block.
After getting the signature, thanked them and got back unto her bike, Max
checked her watch. Quarter after five and she was going to be another 20
minutes til reaching Jam Pony, five to get out of her work clothes that smelled
nasty, two minutes to punch out and another 10 minutes to reach Alec's
apartment. That left her approximately 50 minutes late to Alec's and an hour late
home. Logan would worry about her if she were that late. She'd have to call him
and then she'll tell Alec when she'll arrive. Taking a quick glance to the back
room, checking to make sure Normal was still busy counting tomorrow's
packages and sorting them out for individual deliverers, Max grabbed the phone
and slid around to gain some privacy on the other wall. Quickly, she dialed home.
"Logan, I'm going to be late." Max said after he had greeted her with a 'Hi'. "I
took a little to long on my last run and I still need to pick up Eva."
"At Alec's?" Logan asked, out of the blue. Max swore she'd told him the night
before she was dropping her off at Alec's for the day. Suspicions arose quickly
when there was silence for a minute on Logan's end.
"Yeah, he offered last week at work. Remember? I told you."
"I remembered. Listen," Logan replied, starting to sound very strange to Max, "I
got something we need to talk about when you get home." Max gulped,
suspecting something bad had happened.
"Is there trouble? Someone after you?" Max asked quickly, hoping maybe he'd
tell her something just to help clear her mind. But he didn't. He wouldn't share a
thing. Max's fears grew to an even deeper low as the silence returned. There
weren't many silences like this between the two of them. It literally scared her.
"Ok....," Max began, "well, I'm going to get Eva and I'll be home soon." Logans
goodbye was shady and very unlike him.
All Max could think of was somehow....somehow.....HE KNEW.
With that one night, when Max had broken in his apartment, Logan knew he was already in too deep. When emotions mixed with business, he knew he was in trouble. When he thought he could marry Max with no strings attached, he must have known all along he was asking for too much. Logan's eyes teared up, hopeless to stop himself from sinking deeper in thought. His entire life as up to this moment, all that telling himself he'd find a woman who wouldn't just use him for his money, has turned out to be all some mirage. But what a lovely desert he was lost in, with Max to saturate his ever-growing longing for affection and love.
'Eva Cale; mother Max Cale; father unknown
Blood type; undeciphered as of yet'
He had been lied to by the woman he ever truly loved; the woman he had risked his life for. He gave so much to keeping the two of them together. Maybe his believing so much in true love only made it more the 'Santa Claus' it really ever was.
The phone rang, startling Logan from his look out into the streets of Seattle.
"Hello?" Logan answered and waited for a reply. Nothing but dead air for a second. Quickly, Logan switched the reciever to the other ear, using his right hand to start a track on the call. "Who is this?"
"You think she ever really loved you?" spoke the gruff, familar voice. Someone in his past, Logan placed immediatly, but who? Logan had 20 more seconds until the track would be final. He'd have to keep him talking.
"What did you think I'd do after you sent me that email? That I'd leave her?"
"Has the thought never crossed your mind today at least once? Or are you that disillusioned?"
"I know Max loves me," Logan exclaimed, feeling like he had just lied to himself. "How'd you find out about Eyes Only?"
"You told me," leaving a short chuckle, "didn't expect me to live long enough to expose you, did you?"
"What do you think you are going to accomplish?"
"Call it- unfinished business." Five more seconds before locking it down.
"Do I know you?"
"You'll want to after I tell you your 'daughter' will die without my help." Without any notice, the man hung up. A sick feeling filled Logans mind and gut, not able to believe whom he just might have been speaking to. Someone who was supposed to be dead.
"Donald Lydecker." A name with no number. But what he had told Logan would be enough to encourage the investigation. His daughter will die without Lydeckers help? Max would rather die herself than give that man their child. Logan dropped his head down, 'I mean, her child.' Wheeling back to the window, Logan gave more attention where no attention purposed to be in a dreary world he was beginning to feel no longer needed a warrior with no strength to stand.