A/N: Here's the newest chapter guys. Hope it was worth the wait.
Disclaimer: Same.
ACT: 12
Liz tossed and turned in the bed of her hotel room later that night. The fact that it was a Sealy posture pedic did little to help. She just couldn't turn her brain off. And not for lack of trying either. She'd counted sheep, backwards from a hundred, and even played shadow puppets on the wall. But none of these things distracted her from the fact that somewhere, in the same hotel as she, was Max Evans.
And she was being an idiot.
No doubt he was somewhere sleeping, snug as a bug, while she dwelled on the past. No, it wasn't that simple, she sighed. Or that easy. It never had been for either one them. The past just refused to die. Would not go quietly into that good night. And the repercussions…well, they were infinite.
Liz wondered how the Evans family was dealing with their loss. If her family had been permanently fractured by the events of seven years ago, then the Evans had to be deeply scarred. This was one of the reasons Liz spent so little time with her family over the years. They all pretended it was because of her busy schedule, but it was a lie.
It was just too painful.
What little time she did spend with her family these days; she could not help but be reminded of a Dickens' poem. Charles had said it best:
I have had sorrows
But I have borne them ill
I have broken
Where I should have bent…
The poem was a near perfect encapsulation of the Parker clan. They had broken instead of bent. Would rather break than bend. Well, that wasn't entirely true. While Liz's father and brother were as unyielding as a hundred year old tree, Nancy Parker was nigh double jointed from all the adjusting she had done.
She was the only one out of the three who did not blame Liz for what happened. Oh her father pretended not to, but the way he would look at her sometimes, like she was… a stranger. Not just a stranger either, but someone he didn't want to know. And while she had never been extremely close to him this still grieved her.
And Tyler well, his resentment was apparent for all the world to see. Because if it hadn't been for Liz he wouldn't be…handicapped, wheel chair bound, a person with special needs. At least that was the way he saw it. And on a good day when she was feeling slightly more than mildly depressed, that was how she saw it too.
And boy had he used this to his advantage over the years. He'd manipulated Liz out of money, favors, a van, and anything else he could think of. She knew what he was doing of course. But how could she ever say no? To deny him would only rain down bitterness and accusations on her defenseless head.
As someone once said: An enemy can't cut you half as deep with a blade as a family member can with a word.
Wise person.
Liz knew she was broken too. In her own special way. She didn't like to think about that. And God! She really needed to get some sleep; she punched her pillow in frustration. If she had to face Max tomorrow she would need all her wits about her. He had made it more than clear he'd be seeking her out. And when he did, she would be calm, cool, and collected, was her last thought before she drifted off to sleep.
-&-
"What the hell do you want?" Liz asked, irritation peppering her voice as she glanced up from her lunch menu. She'd spent the hour before looking like a complete incompetent in front of a room full of convention goers. Potential investors, no less. All because she hadn't gone over Ed's notes. She, whom everyone at work thought of as a perfectionist. Why? All because she'd been too busy worrying about running into Max. And he stood there smiling innocently.
"May I?" he asked referring to the seat opposite Liz.
She glared at him. "If I say no will you go away?"
He shook his head.
"Not even if I add please?"
He shook his head again.
"Be my guest," she said ungraciously, then picked up the menu again. It was an obvious ploy to ignore him.
Max stared at her down bent head. With the menu partially obscuring her face, or at least her eyes from him, he could peruse all he wanted. The other day had been so rushed, and unexpected, he'd hardly gotten a good look at her. It was only now, that he could fully appreciate what he saw. Aesthetically speaking of course.
Liz had always been beautiful. At least to Max. But with added maturity, she was in a word…lovely. From the way her eyes sparkled when she'd glared up at him, to the way her hair swung just below her chin all dark and silky. She'd even put on a few pounds, graduating from coltish to slightly curvy. As best he could tell anyway, due to the severe, though highly stylish, black pant suit she was wearing.
Liz glanced up from the menu just in time to see Max staring at her. She could not get angry though. She'd been stealing peeks of her own while pretending to read. What she saw however, had her frowning. He was still good looking, a "hotty" in fact to use a Maria-ism. But in a conservative sort of way.
When she'd known Max before he'd been into old jeans and leather jackets. As liberal a dresser as he was a thinker. Now, he was all neatly styled hair and Hugo Boss suit. Liz understood the need to change and mature as one got older, but wow, he looked so far from the idealist she'd known it was…sad. Even the grooves in his cheeks suggested he did more frowning than smiling.
"May I take your order?" the waitress asked startling both Liz and Max.
"Um, just a Cobb salad," Liz stuttered out, "light dressing."
"And for you sir?" the waitress's smiled brightly at Max.
If her smile were any brighter she'd blind him, Liz thought snidely.
"I'll have the same," Max smiled charmingly. "And we'll both have a glass of white wine."
"Coming right up," the toothy blonde perked before sashaying away.
"Wow. If she's not careful she might break a hip," Liz said cattily,
"Meow," was Max's contribution.
"I'm just saying," Liz blushed lightly before staring at Max with serious eyes. "What are you doing here Max?"
And now he was serious too. "That's a good question. I wish I had a simple answer for you but I don't. Seeing you last night kind of threw me for a loop."
"Ditto." Liz replied.
"Anyway," Max shrugged uncomfortably. "It brought up a lot of unresolved issues."
"You think?" Liz's mouth twisted cynically. "Cause I totally enjoyed your Dear John letter."
Max flushed, holding up placating hands as he looked around the semi-crowded hotel restaurant. Liz had always been witty, now she seemed to have attitude to go with it. And he felt like an ass. So much for planning this scene just right. His timing was shot and game non-existent.
"Look Liz," he began quietly. "I know things ended badly between us." Understatement. "But I just thought we could…talk." He smiled benignly.
"Fine." Liz agreed. Small talk she could handle, barely. "So…what kind job did you end up doing?"
"Oh that," Max's eyes were briefly shadowed. "I work in finance. Investment banking. For my father actually."
See, now this is why Liz knew this was a bad idea. Max never intended to work for his father. That he was did so now could only be the result of one thing. His brother's death.
"So what do you do?" Max asked trying to keep the conversation from breaking down. He'd seen the guilty look cross Liz's face when he mentioned working for his father. He wanted to reassure her that he was fine with it. That in fact he actually enjoyed it. That he'd only been momentarily saddened when he thought about how much Steven had hated banking. But instead he changed the subject.
"Me?" Liz asked momentarily startled.
"Yes you," Max deadpanned.
"I ended up in research." She smiled softly. "I'm the assistant to head of genetics at Biotech Pharmaceuticals."
Max could tell by the smile on her face that she loved her work. "That great Liz," he smiled in return. "I always knew you'd do something important. So have you guys cloned anybody yet? God knows there are a few people I'd like to see replaced. The President being one of them."
"Max!" Liz gasped before giggling. He always did have a droll sense of humor.
And that was the icebreaker. When the waitress finally delivered their lunch, they were in a deep discussion about the pro's and cons of stem cell research. Max found it somewhat appalling, while Liz argued that it was necessary to the future of human survival.
By the end of the meal they'd debated everything from the Catholic Church to the war in Iraq. Interesting enough they were both able to see each others point of view on every given topic.
"I always did love your mind," Max said admiringly as the two sat sipping from glasses of white wine. During the course of lunch they'd finished off an entire bottle.
"I thought it was my body," Liz returned. And then, "opps, no more wine for you Lizzie girl," she said to her glass before placing it on the table.
Max laughed. "You're cute when you're tipsy. And appallingly honest. I like it."
"Ha, ha," Liz stared at him all blurry eyed. "You're just trying to get into my pants."
"More than that," Max muttered under his breath.
Liz's eyes narrowed. "I heard that, you know."
Before Max could answer her, his cell phone began to ring. The familiar and annoying sounds of Ashley Simpson's song Boyfriend filled the air. He and Jessie had argued for an hour over this ring tone. But she had been adamant. If he was going to ignore his cell phone during work hours, then she needed her own special ring tone. That way he would always know when it was her. Jessie was precocious like that.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his flip phone. He rolled his eyes ironically when Liz smirked.
"Hi sweety," he said into the phone and Liz's smile vanished.
See, reason 10,002 why this had been a bad idea, Liz thought as she watched Max's face alight with happiness.
"That sounds like fun," she listened to him say. And, "I'll bet she just loved that. See you tomorrow then. Love you too. Bye Jessie."
The conversation only lasted a few minutes. But in that short time Liz went from slightly tipsy to stone cold sober.
"Sorry about that," Max apologized while putting away his phone. "Where were we?"
"I was about to leave," Liz said refusing to meet Max eyes as she removed money from her Dooney & Burke bag to pay for her lunch.
"Liz what's wrong," Max asked picking up on the negative vibe. His eyes had a look of puzzled concern as he stared at her.
"Nothing," she answered evasively. "I just really need to go."
Ok, so now he was getting pissed. "Would you just cut the bullshit," he said angrily, quietly. "A minute ago we were having a good time, now you're as frigid as an iceberg."
"A minute ago we were flirting," Liz corrected him angrily. "A minute ago I didn't know you had a…"she glanced at his bare left hand, "significant other."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Who is Jessie, Max?" Liz spit out, the question burning her tongue like acid.
Max smiled softly, as understanding dawned. "Jessie is Jessica Ann Evans. My daughter," he said proudly.
His words hit Liz like a ton of bricks. The answer to her question was even worse than she suspected.
A/N: Good? Bad? Disappointing? You be the judge.
tbc…
