*Six*

"... The shocking news that American businessman Maxwell Lord has somehow come into possession of over half of the world's oil reserves. The instability in the oil community has resulted in a nationwide run on gas..."

Well, news certainly travelled quickly in this modern day and age, that was for sure. There was no keeping any secrets, it seemed. Not anymore.

Just like that her boyfriend's name was all over the news, and he seemed all the happier for it, thriving at being in the spotlight. In fact, he was happier than she had seen him in a long time, and that was certainly saying something.

Max spent the next couple of hours racing through the whole office building preparing for his 'guests'. The crowd outside kept growing, and grew restless.

With him running around so much, it gave Paulina some time alone in his office - to investigate. She set down to work, not wanting to waste a moment.

Ever since the visit from the Smithsonian employees, she had been preoccupied with thoughts of Max basically stealing the artifact. No, he had stolen it, why was she still trying to deny it?

Because she didn't want to believe he would do such a thing, her Max.

She still couldn't yet understand the significance of the item to him. There were various images of all kinds on the stone Ms. Prince had told her about, but no sign of the actual stone itself. Apparently, according to Max's notes - extensive notes - it was called the Dreamstone, and supposedly had the power to grant wishes. Judging by the images, it didn't look very large, so fairly easy to hide.

Suddenly, her mind flashed back to that night at the Smithsonian gala - Max had had something with him on the way out, the wrapped item. Could it be...

She started digging through his desk - careful to listen for any sign that he was returning. Luckily, Max was never a very quiet person, and his loud voice usually carried across far distances, and she knew these offices tended to have an echo.

She was digging through the top drawer when she came across something interesting, something separate from all the office supplies:

A small black velvet box.

Her curiosity peaked, she picked it up and opened it.

She was not expecting what she found inside.

A diamond ring.

She was so shocked she almost dropped it. She was struck then with the sudden realization of 'what else usually came in small velvet boxes?', but was still nonetheless shocked.

A ring. And not just any ring, but an engagement ring.

But why was it here? What was it doing in his work desk?

So there wouldn't be a risk of her finding it at home.

"Oh Dios mío..." Well this was pretty self-explanatory: Max was going to propose.

He wasn't just planning to, he had the ring and everything - he was going to.

But when? He seemed quite tied-up and preoccupied as of lately.

Speaking of preoccupied - she had thought she had felt so before, but she certainly did now.

Max's voice coming from out in the hall snapped her back to focus, and she went to meet him out in the offices.

"Max, I really need to talk to you-"

"Not now, dear."

"It's really important-"

"Later, I promise."

"Max, it's about the ring in your desk drawer."

This got his attention. He actually stopped what he was doing and stared back at her. "Oh - well, yes then, I think we should talk."

He followed her back into his office, sliding the door closed behind them.

"Is it what I think it is? An engagement ring?" she clarified, wanting to be absolutely certain with this.

"Yes, yes it is. It was meant to be a surprise-"

"Yes, well it is surprising. And that's not the only surprising behaviour that's been going on lately."

"I tucked it away - how did you find it? Were you going through my desk?"

"Yes."

"Lina, why?"

"Because of this." She held up a messy pile of his notes on the stone. "Two employees from the Smithsonian showed up while you were on your hop, skip and jump over to Cairo, and they said you stole an artifact. This-" She held up one of his drawings and shoved it in his face. "Where the hell is it?"

He heaved a sigh.

"Did you really steal it?"

"I-"

"Maxwell Lorenzano you answer me right now!"

"You want me to tell you the truth?"

"Si !"

"The Dreamstone has the power to grant wishes, so I wished to become it. When I did it dissolved away. I am the stone itself now. That's why so many people are showing up, they want me to grant their wishes."

She blinked back. "Max, what is going on? Just tell me!" she pleaded.

"I am telling you!"

"But that makes no sense!"

"You have to believe me-"

"No! I'm not going to believe some nonsense about a magic stone!"

"I am on the precipice of everything!"

"If you were going to ask me to marry you you have to be truthful! Otherwise what are we starting a new chapter on but mistrust? Max-" She reached out and took his hands in her own. "I wish you would just tell me-"

"No, no!" He suddenly jumped away from her grasp, startling her. "No, don't use your wish on something like that! Your one wish!"

This time she grabbed his arms. "I wish you would tell me the truth!"

"No!" He pulled away again. "Wish not granted! Now, if you will excuse me, I must get back to work - no time to waste!" And with that he shoved her out of the office, slamming the door behind her, leaving her standing there, shocked.

"Are you and Daddy going to break up?" Alastair asked.

She jumped at his sudden presence. His question shocked her. "Oh Buddy - where on Earth did you get an idea like that?"

"I heard you fighting - him and Mommy fought a lot before they broke up."

"Oh, Baby-" This was the last thing she needed right now. "The truth is - well that's the point actually, I don't know what the truth is. I don't know what's going on with your dad at the moment - it's complicated. But we haven't said anything about breaking up, okay?"

This made Alastair smile a little, which in turn made her smile too. He gave her a hug. "Okay, good, I'm glad."

"Who the hell are all these people?" Lina had been hoping to escape the chaos that was the top floor - only the lobby wasn't much better.

The building was flooding with people. More were impatiently waiting outside, held back by only the security force.

"Business leaders, political figures, people from everywhere really. They're waiting for their turn for Mr. Lord to grant their wishes," Raquel explained.

"Do you really believe that?"

"Well I asked for more help, and suddenly, boom! People just appeared out of thin air. You had to see it to believe it, and I saw it."

It all sounded very unbelievable.

When she returned upstairs she found Alastair sitting in a chair right outside his dad's office, trying to be as close to him as possible. She could hear Max's and Emerson's raised voices from within.

"Alastair, again?!" came Max's cry. "How many weekends do I have?!"

Alastair got up and ran away from the door - Lina right after him.

"You, you-" Max flew out of his office and grabbed a man's arm, pulling him to his feet from where he was sitting working away at his desk. "Don't you wish I had an audience with the President today?"

"Yes, of course I do. And can I tell you how happy I am and how important it is to me that you value my opinion, Sir-"

"Wait a minute," Max cut him off mid-praise. "Did I ask for your wish already?"

"Yesterday, a Porsche."

"Ugh-"

"I wish you had an audience with the President." He whirled around at Lina's voice.

"You do?" He took her hands in his.

She shrugged. "Yeah, what the hell. I wish you had an audience with the President," she mocked.

There was a small gust of wind and Max beamed. "Oh, thank you, thank you my love!" He kissed her before taking her hand. "Emerson, keep an eye on Alastair. Lina, come with me" And with that he practically dragged her out of the building to where John was waiting with the car. The whole lot which had once seemed so quiet and empty had erupted into total chaos.

"How's traffic?" he asked John.

"Terrible."

"Don't you wish it wasn't? And that everywhere you went parted like the great Red Sea?"

"That's very specific," Lina mumbled.

"Of course I wish that. Sadly, it ain't gonna happen."

However, wish granted, it did. They made it to their destination in no time: the White House.

Spanish Translations:

Oh Dios mío - Oh my God

Tensions are rising! And poor Alastair, he deserves all the love in the world!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)