Leo and Max walked through the park with much cheerfulness, as Max was trying to keep Leo's mind off of the eviction and keep his own mind off of Evelyn Saunders. It was a beautiful sunny day and many people were out for a stroll on the warm June day, though Max, Leo and other business men certainly weren't happy. Their suit jackets and hats were causing them to break out in a sweat! In fact, Max was sweating so much that he was sure he was sweating away another pants size!
"My God, is it hot today!" Max exclaimed to Leo as they walked at a fast pace down the path. Leo was currently wiping his forehead with his blue blanket, agreeing with Max silently to himself about the heat. "You know, sometimes, I hate the summer! It's too hot for people like you and me! Gimme that thing for a second!" Max snatched the blanket from Leo's hands and wiped his own face with it before giving it back. Leo looked at it with a slightly disgusted look before dabbing at his brow again. "Come on, Leo, say something! It's a beautiful day!"
"B-but you were just complaining about the heat!" Leo reminded him.
"Never mind about the heat! Why don't we start a new topic? How's your father doing?" asked Max, his arm around Leo's shoulder despite the fact that Leo was sweating through his shirt and jacket and Max was sweating through his sleeve.
"He's in the hospital…" said Leo.
"Nevermind then! How's, er… How about we stop talking about ourselves and this weather! Why don't you come up with a topic?" asked Max.
"Er… how is your family?" asked Leo. Max's mother, Rebecca Bialystock, was a short, skinny old woman who continuously wanted her son to visit her. Usually, she asked if Max had found himself a girlfriend yet, and usually, Max responded with the fact that he was still heartbroken over Evelyn leaving him. His father, William Bialystick, really didn't care much if Max had a girlfriend or not.
"Great! My mother's bothering me once again about visiting her and my father!" Max told him.
"And your sister?" asked Leo. Max's younger sister, Laura Bialystock, was a beautiful woman of forty years with the same dark hair that Max had and the same chocolate brown eyes.
"Laura? She's great! Still unmarried, but great! I heard she's got herself a friend to live with," Max replied.
"That's good… What about your uncle?" asked Leo.
"Uncle Max? You mean the man whom I'm named after?" asked Max. "He's great! Fantastic, even! He's probably doing almost as good as I am in the Bialystock family!"
"That's good…" said Leo.
"Aw, come on, Leo, stop being so nervous! Why don't you cheer up and have a good time for once? You're living your dreams now! You're a Broadway producer! Everyone who knows your name loves you!" Max exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.
"Not all of my dreams came true…" said Leo, looking at Max. Max lowered his arms.
"I understand, kid. But hey, it'll get better! I promise! You're not even forty yet! You still have a few years! Unlike me, of course! I'm in my fifties now and way out of my prime!" Max told him.
"You aren't out of your prime," Leo told him. "In fact, I'd say you're in your prime now! You've heard all the reviews in those magazines and what all the people in New York are saying… You're more handsome now than you were ever before!"
"Thanks, Leo. I know that I'm the most handsome devil in New York. But like I was saying… You're now in your prime as well! There are women everywhere who want to claim their spot in your bed!" Max told him as a couple of young blonde women were walking their way. "Watch this… Good afternoon, ladies! Mr. Bloom here would like to say something to you!" The two young women stopped and giggled excitedly behind their hands, looking at each other and then at the men standing before them.
"Uh… uh…" said Leo, tensing up as Max pushed him forward. "…hi." The girls giggled and looked at Max.
"God dag, stilig," said the two young women to Max. Max gaped at them and his arms fell to his sides. Leo's eyes went as wide as saucers. Of course, they were Swedish.
"Ha ha… ha… Well, Leo and I have to go. Don't forget to come and see Sleepy in Chicago!" Max said to them, throwing an arm around Leo's shoulders and dragging him away. "Are you all right, little buddy?"
"I'm fine," said Leo honestly.
"Leo, I'm amazed at your strength right now," Max told him, turning and placing his hands on Leo's shoulders. "I know who those women remind you of, and you're staying strong. I'm highly impressed, and I'm very proud of you. I'm also glad that you didn't have a nervous breakdown."
"Max, I'm telling the truth! I'm fine!" Leo told him, and Max pulled him into a tight hug, patting his back gently.
"It's all right, Leo. You don't have to keep up the act when it's just me. I know what you're feeling and I know how hard this is for you," he told Leo.
"Max! Max, I'm not acting! I'm perfectly fine! I don't love Ulla anymore! In fact, I don't think I ever did!" said Leo, trying to get out of Max's grip. Max obviously didn't understand the fact that Leo was telling the truth about him not really caring that those women were Swedish and reminded him of Ulla.
"You need a drink more than anything!" Max exclaimed, pulling back and wrapping an arm around Leo's shoulders. "Come on, buddy, it'll make you feel better!"
"Max! Please, I'm fine! I don't even like Ulla! I have feelings for someone else!" Leo exclaimed, pulling from Max's grip and stepping away from him.
"Leo, come on! Don't go into denial, please! It already hurts me that you're hurting! Denying it will make it even worse!" Max told him, pulling him back into his grip and leading him away again.
"Max, stop! Just stop!" Leo shouted, pulling out of Max's grip once again and holding his hands out to prevent Max from coming any closer.
"Leo, what's gotten into you?" Max asked, incredibly taken aback. Leo usually never took control like this!
"What's gotten into me? I'll tell you what's gotten into me! You've gotten into me, in more ways than one!" Leo snapped. "Now, just leave me alone and don't follow me!" He then stormed away, amazed at his bravery at that moment in time. Of course, once he was out of Max's visible range, Leo collapsed underneath a shade tree, pulled out his blue blanket and broke out in sobs. His best friend was trying to help him, and he yelled at him for it. Max didn't yell at him when Leo tried to help him get back with Evelyn Saunders! Leo suddenly wondered how that meeting went… Oh, who cared? Leo had just yelled at his only friend and pushed him away! What could he do now?
Max sighed, shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away with his head hanging when Leo had disappeared around a curve. He should have followed his friend anyway, whether Leo liked it or not, but he didn't. Instead, he just wandered until he ran into someone, and he brought his brown eyes up to meet the emerald green eyes of Evelyn Saunders.
"Evie!" Max exclaimed. "Are you all right? I didn't see you!"
"I can see that," said Evelyn, having noticed that Max had his head hanging low.
"Well, I was hoping I'd get the chance to see you again and I'm glad I did!" Max exclaimed, taking Evelyn's arm and leading her to a bench.
"Well, I spent a lot of money coming up here! I'm certainly not going to waste it on a few hours here in the city!" Evelyn exclaimed, sitting down on the bench and Max sitting down next to her. "So, I've heard that you're back on top of Broadway, Max."
"You've heard correctly!" Max exclaimed, grinning at her.
"That's good. What was the name of that show of yours that I was in…" Evelyn said, knowing what the name was and knowing that Max knew that she knew the name of the show.
"Anything Comes?" Max asked her anyway.
"Yeah! Is that one still running?" asked Evelyn.
"Not exactly… But it could! It could run again with new actresses or you can stay here in New York and act in it again!" Max exclaimed.
"Max, it'd be great to do what I once did, but as I was telling you earlier before you interrupted me, I left a seventeen-year-old who happens to be your son back home in Kentucky with a fourteen-year-old and a nine-year-old. Considering the fact that he's your son, I can't trust Charlie at the house alone for more than a few days," Evelyn told him.
"I have a son? And his name's Charlie?" asked Max, loving to hear about the child he never knew more than anything.
"Well, actually, his name is Maxwell Charles, but he prefers to go by 'Charlie'," said Evelyn. Max's face lit up, thrilled at the fact that his son possessed the same name as he. The name, 'Max Bialystock' had been passed down to the firstborn son in the next generation for the past few generations. It all started with Max's great, great, great grandfather, Ezekiel Bialystock, whose father was named Maxwell. He had named his son 'Maxwell', and the name carried over to his son's firstborn son, then to his son's son, then to the following son, and so on until it reached Max's uncle, who was his father's older brother, and himself.
"Well, why don't you bring him up here then? Bring them all up here, if you must!" Max exclaimed, suddenly excited at the idea that he'd finally get the chance to meet his son.
"Oh, I don't know… I don't really like the idea of two Max Bialystocks in one place," Evelyn said, looking down at her hands in her lap.
"Oh, come on, Evie! I haven't even met my own son! I think he deserves a right to meet his father!" Max exclaimed. Evelyn looked up at him with a do-you-think-I'm-stupid expression.
"Yes… Because he can learn so much from his oh-so-responsible father…" she told him.
"Hey! I can be responsible! Just gimme a chance with him, Evie! It's all I ask… If you don't want to be with me anymore, then that's fine. But at least let me meet my own son!" Max exclaimed, and Evelyn sighed.
"All right… I'll send for the boys as soon as possible, then. But until then, I ask that you leave me alone," Evelyn told him, standing. Max stood as well, his face brighter than ever before.
"I promise, Evie!" Max exclaimed.
"Good. I'll see you soon, then," said Evelyn, and she turned and started to walk away.
"Wait, Evie!" Max called, having forgotten to ask her something. Evelyn stopped and turned.
"Charlie… Does he have my last name or…" Max had asked, not wanting to call the man she married her 'husband'.
"His full name is Maxwell Charles Bialystock," said Evelyn, and she turned and continued on her way. Max smiled to himself, glad that Evelyn at least gave his son his rightful last name. With the argument with Leo long forgotten, Max nearly flew home with a certain gayness – the happy kind – to his aura.
…
Later that evening, Max was sitting at his desk going through some scripts for future plays when he heard the door open and looked up to see Leo walking in.
"Leo!" Max exclaimed, and Leo jumped, let out a small cry and quickly pulled his blanket out of his pocket. "Oh, don't be frightened! I'm not mad at you!" Max stood from his desk and approached Leo with open arms, and Leo shrunk back into a corner. "Leo – darling Leo, glorious Leo – you wouldn't believe what happened to me today!"
"Wh-what?" asked Leo, looking down at his and Max's shoes.
"I ran into Evelyn Saunders today after you left to do whatever the hell you did and she told me about my son! Yes, Leo, I do have a son with her and I finally get to meet him real soon!" Max exclaimed. "Isn't that wonderful?"
"I-it's… It's great…" said Leo, still frightened.
"Oh, Leo! There's no need to be nervous!" Max exclaimed, pulling Leo out of the corner and then leading him to the couch. "It's something to be excited about!"
"I-I think it'd be hard to handle t-two Max Bialystocks!" Leo told him once they were seated on the couch.
"You know what? Evelyn Saunders said the same thing. But who cares!" Max exclaimed.
"C-Can I go to bed now, Max?" asked Leo, who wanted to sleep more than anything.
"Of course you can. I'll leave you alone, then. You want the bed or the couch? Either is fine for me," Max told him.
"The couch is fine… I-I won't kick you out of your bed," Leo said to him.
"All right, then, if you insist," said Max, standing and going to the bedroom door. "I'll see you tomorrow, then. Goodnight, Leo."
"Goodnight, Max," Leo muttered once Max had gone into the bedroom and closed the door. He then pulled a blanket over himself, closed his eyes and fell asleep rather quickly.
