"What?" Liz exclaimed. "Wait, let me get this straight, you have a 2 year old son in New York." "Yeah, his name's Jack," Max told her quietly, not knowing what to do. Liz's mind went into turmoil. She didn't know what to do or say to Max. He had a son, a fact she had to accept if she wanted to be with him. She didn't know how to react to him. Liz looked up at Max and saw his beautiful green eyes look back at her, full of love and care. "I have to go," Liz said, standing up to leave. "Liz," Max said, grabbing Liz's arm. "Max, please, let me go. I have to go," She told him, turned her back and left. As Liz was walking out of Greener, Naima caught sight of tears falling down Liz's cheek. "Alex, I gotta go. I'll call you tomorrow, ok?" Naima told her cousin. "Yeah, sure, no worries. Take care yeah?" Alex told her, giving her a big hug.
Naima ran after Liz as fast as she could in her heels. "Liz, wait up." Naima shouted. Liz stopped to let Naima catch up with her. Naima ran up to Liz and saw her mascara dripping down. She took out a piece of tissue and dabbed at Liz's cheek, then hailed a cab and packed Liz in. "Ok, what happened? Are you ok? One moment, you were there all happy with Max and the next moment, I saw you run out, crying. Are you ok?" Naima asked Liz, concerned about her. Liz kept quiet for awhile, letting tears flow freely down her cheek. Liz never cried outside. Whenever she was upset or affected by something, she always ran to her bedroom or the toilet but today, she wanted nothing more than to get out of Greener.
"Max has a son," Liz said quietly. "What? Max Evans has a son?" Naima exclaimed, shocked. She didn't ask Liz anything more. She just stroked Liz's hair as Liz laid her head on Naima's shoulders, crying. They reached Liz's house and Naima took her back to her room. "Can you stay over tonight?" Liz asked Naima. "I don't wanna be alone." Naima stayed at the hostel at Northwestern because her parents didn't want her to drive up and down all the time. She went home on Friday nights and returned to the hostel on Sunday night. "Sure, just let me make a call to my folks." Naima said. She got her parents' approval. "You wanna talk about it?" Naima asked Liz. "I don't know what to do. I mean, we hardly even know each other but I do have some feelings for him. At Greener, he asked me to be his official girlfriend. Then the next minute, he drops that bombshell on me. I mean, I don't know what to do. It totally shattered me." Liz told Naima. "Oh you poor girl, I know how you feel. Maybe Max told you about his son because he trusts you. He doesn't want you to find out through another person or in any other way. He wanted you to find out from him. He trusts you, Liz." Naima replied.
"I don't know. I mean, how am I suppose to take it? My new boyfriend has a two year old son. What do I do? Say everything's ok? I don't know." Liz said, confused about everything. "Hey, look, Max really trusts you if not he wouldn't have told you at all. So just try to take it in stride and let it settle, ok?" Naima said, trying to console Liz. "Ok." Liz said. Naima gave her a big hug and made Liz sleep. "Go to sleep. You'll be in a better state of mind to handle this tomorrow." Naima told her and turned the lights off.
Back at the club, Isabel saw Max drinking brandy. Isabel knew that Max hated brandy because he felt that it was too strong for him but he always drank it when he was upset or trying to get over his emotions. "What happened" Isabel asked Max, pointing towards his cup of brandy. Max just kept quiet. "Did you tell Liz about Jack?" Isabel asked, quietly. "Yeah, and she left crying." Max said. "I trusted her, that's why I told her. I didn't want her to find out any other way; I wanted her to hear it from me." "Oh Max," Isabel didn't know how to console her brother. She knew that Max only told his girlfriends about Jack if he really trusted them. "Max, give her some time, she'll get over it," Isabel told Max. "I don't know. Is, I'm gonna a cab back to the hotel, ok? I just wanna be alone." Max said. "Yeah, sure, call me when you reach your room," Isabel told him, hoping her brother would be ok.
Michael and Maria were having fun together. "So let me get this straight, you work as a shoe shop assistant?" Michael asked Maria. "Yeah, it's so much fun." Maria told him. Throughout the night, Michael and Maria chatted about their lives, enjoying each other's company. The DJ played Michael's favourite song and he asked Maria, "Would you like to dance with me? It's my favourite song." "I'd love to, it's my favourite too," Maria replied, taking Michael's outstretched hand as they walked towards the dance floor.
"Hi there," Alex said to Isabel. "I'm Alex Whitman," Alex offered his hand. "Hi, I'm Isabel Evans," Isabel replied, shaking Alex's hand. "I thought you were kinda cute from just now," Alex told Isabel, a little embarrassed by his 'confession.' "Thank you," Isabel laughed. "So, I gather that you must be somehow related to Max Evans, right?" Alex asked. "I'm his elder sister and also his manager, publicist and stylist." Isabel replied. Alex laughed. "You know Naima?" Isabel asked him, as she saw him talking to Naima just now. "You know her? Naima's my cousin. I haven't seen her in two years." Alex told her. "Oh, I don't really know Naima. We were introduced to each other just now because Max's girlfriend Liz brought Naima and her other friend Maria along," Isabel said. "Hmm, I guess we do have some in common. Can I get you a drink? I'd love to see what more we have in common," Alex said, hoping that Isabel would be interested. "Sure, get me a martini." Isabel said. She loved how relaxed and confident Alex was. He wasn't too over-confident or too egoistic, like the guys she usually met back in New York. The night went pretty fast. Michael developed a crush on Maria and managed to get her number while sending her home. Isabel liked Alex quite a bit and gave him her number, hoping he would call her soon. Sadly, Max spent the night on his bed in his hotel room brooding over whether or not Liz would still want to be his girlfriend.
The next morning, Liz thanked Naima for being there for her before she headed home. "Hey, don't worry about it. That's what friends are for. Call me if you need anything, ok?" Naima said, giving Liz a big hug and then heading off. Liz went back into her room and just that second, Max called her. "Hello?" Liz answered. "Hi Liz," came Max's voice over the phone. "I don't want to talk to you right now. Leave me alone, ok?" Liz said. "Liz, please. I didn't mean to upset you or anything. I just wanted you to know the truth. I didn't want you to find out from anyone or any other source that I had a son. I wanted to tell you myself. Liz, I'm really sorry. Please, can you give me a chance to explain everything?" Max asked, hoping that Liz would give him a chance. "Fine, come to the Crashdown café. I'll see you at noon." Liz told him, and then she put down the phone without saying a goodbye.
At noon, Max reached the Crashdown. He entered the café and loved the chic interior of the café which he remembered from two years ago. Liz was standing at a table, waiting for him. "Hey," Max said to her. "So what have you got to say" Liz asked him, hoping that he wouldn't give some stupid excuse to try and get her back.