Through the Eyes of a Servant | Chapter 18 | by: Rachel / Chapter posted October 1st, 2010.
AU | Max/Fang | PG / 3,991 words
Max, Fang - 17 | Iggy - 19 | Nudge - 16 | Gazzy - 15 | Angel - 13 / The original age ranges have been changed.
When Max accepts a job as a maid in Fang's household, will it be love at first sight? Or will anything and everything come between them?
The idea for this story is my own, and no one else's. Everything else belongs to Jame's Patterson -although I will be next in line for the throne when he retires xD-. I made no money for writing this story, I simply write for reviews.
"I'm back!" Max shouted as she opened the front door. Three heads popped up around the room as she unloaded her things and plopped down on the couch. Studying their blank faces, she huffed, slightly put out. "I got our school schedules."
Gazzy's face brightened, and he snatched the piece of paper out of her hands. Iggy shrugged closed his eyes, going back to sleep. "Awesome, I've got all the easy classes first semester!" he pumped his fist in the air. "Geez. Art, home economics, P.E., shop and computer apps. I'll have, like, no homework at all!"
"Aw, that's right!" she beamed. "You're starting high school!" Before he could register the thought, she'd wrapped her arms around his neck in a death grip. "Little Gazzy is all grown up!" she wailed melodramatically.
"Get off, Max!" he shoved her away and grabbed her own schedule. "Dude, you have all the hard shit," he mused. "What's this? AP English, Biology II, Geometry, Digital Art and Design and…and…choir?" he burst out laughing.
"Shut up," she pushed him. "I'm going to be up to my ears in homework," she groaned. "But I already did all the easy classes early on, so I need the credits now. And besides, you're going to have all the hard classes next semester. So live with that, O Great Smart One."
"Hey, I like to live in the moment," he shrugged. "You, on the other hand, have to live in the moment with all the hard classes. Who's laughing now, Max?" he cackled, and walked away, cackling all the way down the hall. They could still hear his laughter when the door closed behind him.
"Ah, you children and your crazy back-to-school paranoia," Iggy sighed happily, his eyes still closed. Max rolled her eyes and poked him in the side. "What?" he asked, annoyed.
"Why aren't you going to school too, mister?" she asked. "After all, that's the whole reason I worked my ass off to earn all that money. We have enough money to get you through the first year, at least. So why don't you go? I thought it was your dream."
Iggy shrugged. "I don't need to go to college anymore," he replied simply. She blinked.
"What? Of course you need to go to college!" she almost shouted. "You have to if you want to get a job, and make a living, and get a wife and kids one day! And let me tell you, Iggy, you're not living on my couch when you're forty-five!"
"I don't need to go to college to do all those things," he said calmly.
"What brought this on?" she asked curiously. "Iggy, I'm worried about you! Is it because you don't want to leave us here? Because you know, you can always come back and visit us, even Nudge," she bit her lip.
"Max, I just don't have to. And I don't have to tell you why. So just drop it," he felt a flicker of irritation toward his little sister. She gulped, and then she saw it. His reasons.
He was happy. He was happy right where he was. His life wasn't perfect, but to him, it was better than it had ever been. He didn't need to go to college to be happy. He could make a life for himself without going to college. And he also knew that life was better now that they finally had more money, and it was pointless to waste it if it wasn't going to make him happy.
"Anyway," he looked up at her, and his face had softened, but it was still serious. "Max, how long is your average school day?"
She shrugged. "About eight hours. Why?"
"Did you plan on continuing to work at Fang's this year?"
"Well, yeah," she answered thoughtfully. "I figured that I'd just get there early in the mornings, spend a few hours there, then go to school, hurry back to Fang's house, and then get home a little later."
Jeb sat up in his chair. "Max," he had a look of disbelief on his face. "Don't you realize that when you're going to school, you're going to be overworking yourself as it is? Anything more…any more stress you have to put on yourself…that would be overkill."
Max seemed genuinely surprised. "What are you saying?" she asked. "That I shouldn't work at Fang's?" Traitor tears welled in her eyes, and she blinked them back in a rush. "Dad, I can't just…I can't just not be around Fang."
"I didn't say that," he shook his head. "But I know the situation, both Iggy and Gazzy have told me." She cast Iggy a reproachful glare. "My point is that you can't build a life for yourself that involves Fang sneaking out to come see you, and try to keep the relationship alive that way, it won't work."
"And you can't overwork yourself," Iggy piped up. She turned to face him, dread sinking into her expression. "You might be able to live with working that way for a few weeks. But the stress of it would eat you alive sooner or later. Do you think we want to see you like that?"
Max closed her eyes. "Fang isn't 'stress'," she said, suddenly exhausted. "He's my…my boyfriend, and whether you like it or not, I think I might be in love with him." Her fists clenched. "But what other choice do I have left? What do you want me to do! This is happening, and I don't want to lose him!"
Before she knew it, tears were streaming down her face. Jeb looked at the floor, trying to ignore the fact that it was all Fang's fault for stealing his daughter's heart away. He wanted Max to forget Fang. He wanted her to be happy and forget. But he didn't know if she would.
"Max, even on the off-chance that you could work that hard, have you ever thought of the fact that they might not want you to?" Jeb asked, and Max looked up in surprise. "My point is," Jeb continued, "that they'll have no reason to hire you. Fang certainly can't tell them, and they won't need a schoolgirl who can only work part time. Whether you like it or not…you'll need to let go."
"I know," she chewed on her nails, and Iggy pulled her closer until she was sniffling into his chest. "I know." Jeb's heart clenched, and Iggy sat there helplessly as she sank into her realization. Autumn really would be the end of Fang, and she couldn't do anything about it.
Jeb stood up. "I'll leave you alone to think," he said quietly. "But remember that school is only a few days away. You have until then to make a decision." He left her with Iggy, but at that moment, she'd never felt so alone.
She needed the Voice to tell her what to do. She needed it to guide her this time.
But when she heard nothing, no thought of any kind, she gave up.
Hours later, the sky was pitch black, and so was the rest of the house. The boards creaked occasionally, and Gazzy tossed and turned in his light sleep. Iggy remained awake, just not able to do it. Because he knew nothing about his life was wrong. Nothing was changing for him. And Max's world was crashing down around her.
"Gazzy," he whispered, shaking the bunk beds slightly. "Gazzer, are you awake?" He felt the younger boy stir down on the bottom bunk, and crawled down the ladder to find his brother yawning and looking at the alarm clock, which read one o'clock in the morning.
"Iggy?" he asked sleepily. "What time is it?" he asked sleepily.
"Never mind that," Iggy waved it off. "Gazzy, Max is really upset, and I'm afraid that she won't even consider the decision, even though it's killing her. Knowing Max, she'll probably work herself into the ground and kill herself before she gives Fang up."
"What?" Gazzy sat up. "Do you want Max to break up with Fang?" he asked. He wasn't exactly the 'brightest crayon in the bag", as Max had pointed out several times, but he knew that Max hadn't been truly happy until meeting Fang.
"I don't know," Iggy sighed. "But I know that we have to talk to her, before she has a chance to have some sappy dream about Fang and then makes up her mind based on a fairy tale!" Gazzy looked at the ground. Iggy was right, even if he didn't want to admit it. He didn't want Max to go back to being the unhappy way that she was.
"Fine," he said reluctantly, and they got up, walking to the door. Gazzy followed Iggy down the hall, down the stairs, and into Max's room. They cracked the door open silently, and peered inside to see Max curled up in a ball on her bed with a bag of chocolate-chip cookies sitting next to her and a box of tissues in her hand.
She looked over to the door and noticed them. "Oh, hey guys," she sniffled, not even mustering up the will to smile. Gazzy rubbed his sleepy eyelids and walked inside. Iggy followed suit. Once they were seated on her bed and watching her shove cookie after cookie into her mouth, Gazzy broke the silence.
"So you're still upset about Fang?" he asked timidly.
She rolled her eyes slightly. "No, Gazzy. I'm upset because the Jonas Brothers are having a concert next month and I couldn't get any last-minute tickets."
He sighed. "Okay, granted, that was kind of an easy question." She didn't answer, shoveling more cookies into her mouth.
"What should I do?" she whispered suddenly, so quiet that Iggy wasn't sure he heard it. But then she said it again. "What should I do?" her lower lip was trembling. "I know I can't live like that. But I don't want to have to give him up. He's everything to me. He's everything that I want to have after high school."
Iggy put his hand over hers. "I know. But you have to remember that you're only seventeen, and you're too young to be-"
"Don't say I'm too young!" Max interrupted. "I hate that. I hate it when people say that." She looked straight at him. "Are you aware that right now, in India, there are twelve and eleven year old girls getting married so as not to be a burden on their families? Do you know that there are starving babies in Africa that have to deal with more hardship than most adults here? Did you ever think that there were children that escaped from the Titanic that had to watch and hear people dying? Tell them they're not old enough, Iggy."
"Know-it-all," Gazzy muttered, and Iggy bit back a chuckle. "Alright, wrong choice of words. Max, I'm not saying you're too young. I'm saying that you're too in love." She looked up in surprise. "No matter how much in love with him you are, be realistic. Don't let love cloud your decision."
She looked down, and they waited for what felt like forever before she finally spoke. "You're right," she chuckled humorlessly, hollowly. She felt dead inside. "I have to do this. And I don't know what will happen. I just have to hope that he won't forget me."
"So you're going to quit the job?" Gazzy asked, and she nodded. Pushing the cookies and the tissues off of her, she got up and walked to one of the boxes. After much searching, she found what she was looking for, an old notepad.
"I'll write a note," she sighed. "I'll give it to his mother. But I can't…I can't talk to him. At least, not now." A lump rose in her throat. "I'll give it a week, or two. And I'll see where I am by that time. What I'll want. I'll give him an answer then."
They left then, after many reassurances that they would be there for her, or that they would help her in any way she could. And after they were gone, a single tear rolled down her cheek. This time, she wouldn't have anyone to lean on. She was truly and completely alone.
The next day, Max's heart was heavy as she walked up the front steps to the house, as she had done so many times. It was too early in the morning for Fang to be awake, and she knew that, but his mother was always up and about by about eight-thirty nowadays. She felt horribly like she was sneaking around, and she was. But she just couldn't face him.
As she walked in the doorway, she realized that this would be the last time she was in this house, possibly forever. She couldn't control it, but it made her want to cry all the same as she walked into Anne's office.
Anne Walker looked up from her laptop and gave a prim smile. "Good morning, Max," she said crisply. "I see you aren't in uniform. Is something wrong?" Max sighed and held up a finger as she rummaged in her bag for the envelope. She finally found it, and placed it on her desk.
She fidgeted as she wanted for Anne to open it. When she finally did, and her hawklike eyes scanned through it, a look of disbelief passed over her face. "Max, you're resuming?" she asked, and Max nodded. "I…my school…I wouldn't have time…"
Before she knew it, Anne had crossed the room and enveloped her in a hug. Max held in her tears and refused to cry on Anne's shoulder. "I understand," Anne said when she pulled away. "And I hope you know that I'm not the bitch that they all say that I am."
Max looked up in surprise. To be honest, she wasn't sure that Anne knew anything about it, but she slapped on a surprised look nevertheless. "They think that I don't know what I'm doing, my own son and daughters included," she sighed. "But I just care about them so much. And if anything happened to them, I'd be devastated."
She smiled. "Just remember that I'm a mom, too. And it was nice having you work here, Max." Max sighed. You have no idea just how nice. And she managed a small smile before scurrying from the room.
On her way back to Iggy's car, she saw Angel and Nudge in the garden. They cast her a knowing smile, an 'I-know-you'll-make-the-right-decision' smile. But she wasn't sure that she should. "Thank you," she managed to say, before pulling the both of them into a tight hug.
She was going to miss them, too. Her best friends.
When Fang walked down the stairs that day, it was exceptionally quiet for being around lunchtime. Angel, Nudge and Total (as she'd named the new dog) were nowhere to be found, and many of the servants had clustered together in groups, leaning together and whispering whenever he appeared. He knew what they were doing. He just didn't know why.
He did notice that he usually saw Max around this time, and today, she didn't seem to be anywhere. He knew because he'd already searched for her. But he didn't think much of it. After all, everyone had sick days. Maybe she'd come down with something.
"She's not here," he heard a voice behind him, and whirled around to see one of the maids standing behind him. Julie, if he remembered her name correctly. And he usually did. "Who's not here?" he asked nonchalantly.
"Don't act like you don't know," she rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid. You and Max are together. I saw you two sneak off at lunch one day." In seconds, he'd grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of sight. "If you tell anyone about this," he hissed, "I'll have you fired in the blink of an eye."
She wrenched away from him, surprisingly. And then she slapped him across the face. He stared at her, awestruck. "Oh, please," she huffed, but there was a laughter in her eyes. "You can't just push me around, pretty boy. You're just another human, and I am, too! I'm not afraid of you!" He touched his cheek, wincing slightly.
"Besides, it's not like I was going to tell anyone," Julie shrugged. "Max was one of my best friends. I used to talk to her a lot, because before she got with you, we were on the same lunch break, so we'd eat together. And even after you got together, I still talked to her every day."
She laughed silently. "Don't you get it? I'm keeping your dirty little secret, so don't get me fired now, pretty boy," she ordered. "Plus, you two are perfect for each other," she laughed. "And I just want her to be happy. So make her happy, you got it?"
He nodded. "Got it." She grinned, and flounced out. What the hell just happened?
She was a strange one, all right.
He sighed. Make her happy, huh? Little did he know that he just might not get the chance.
After that, Max tried as hard as she possibly could to forget about Fang, that house, and the life she had made there. She couldn't say she succeeded. Every day that she was away from him got harder to live with, and as the days grew longer, she couldn't help but wonder what Fang was doing.
Her mind would stray to him at the most unexpected of times. If she was in her room, and getting ready for bed, she would look at it and remember the night Fang held her in his arms. She had loved having his arms around her and feeling so vulnerable, and yet, so safe.
When she was making sandwiches for Iggy and Gazzy, her mind would travel to that time in the attic of his house, with the picnic blanket and the sandwiches that had seemed like such a big step to him at the time. She remembered seeing his smiling face. He had been proud. Proud of making a sandwich. She would giggle, and instantly regret it.
One day, she was walking past her new school, and saw a notice sticking to the door. The first day of school would be pushed back two weeks due to some construction they were doing on the new wing. All she could think about was how she could have had two extra weeks with Fang as she ran home and cried.
She would wake up in the middle of the night, screaming for no reason at all. It was always the same dream – the dream of never seeing Fang again, and then learning that he had died. Every night, Iggy would run down to her room to comfort her, to hold her until her tears stopped flowing and she fell back to sleep.
The days wore on, and every hour fell like a century. What must Fang have been thinking? Had he missed her? Had he forgotten her? She just didn't know. And the dreams were getting worse, more vivid. Her family tried to talk to her. Julie had called her. And the Voice still wasn't answering her thoughts.
On one particular night, she woke up screaming from a new dream, an excruciatingly real one. Her sobs echoed throughout the house, and she waited for Iggy to come. But he didn't. He never showed up. And she began to realize that he'd given up on her.
Up in his room, Iggy was tortured. But he told himself that it was better this way, if she got over it. So he plugged his ears and looked away as his own tears pooled in his eyes. Without Fang…their world was falling apart.
A week and a half went by, and Fang was beginning to worry. What had happened to Max, and why wasn't anyone telling him? He hadn't been able to get anything out of Nudge, or even Angel, and he didn't know what to do. Nothing made sense without her there, and it scared him.
As he walked around the corner, he could hear his mother talking. Lurking just behind the door, he could hear her voice. "I've made a list of the new employees," Anne was saying. "We always need more people in the fall, and one more because of Max's resignation."
Fang was sure that he felt his jaw hit the floor. Resignation? Max isn't working here anymore? A thousand emotions filled him at light speed. But the biggest one was the wonder. Why had she left? And why hadn't she told him? Was she even planning on ever seeing him again.
Without a second thought, he whirled around and raced out the front door. He had to find her again, he was sure. About what he'd do when he got there, he was uncertain. But he had to get her back. He couldn't let her leave.
So make her happy, you got it?
Yeah, I get it. Now more than ever.
Fang raced through the city streets, not caring as he knocked over newspaper stands, hot dog carts and even a few people. He didn't care that he looked like an idiot flailing his arms and running at what felt like the speed of light but was really slower than a ten-year-old riding a bike. He just needed to find Max.
I won't be too late. I can't be too late. Too late for what, exactly? That was just it. He didn't know why he hadn't heard from Max. He didn't know if she'd moved and not been able to tell him, or if she didn't love him anymore. He gritted his teeth and kept running. It couldn't be.
And there, at the end of the street, was Max. She was walking out of a store with a bag in her hand, completely oblivious to him. That was when he realized that he had switched over to his supernatural bird-kid strength, running way too fast.
Before he could skid to a stop, he ran straight into her, and knocked her to the ground, and everything was still as Max realized just who had fallen on her, and the fury on her face was replaced with fear. "F-F-Fa-Fang," she stammered, tears gathering in her eyes.
"Thank God," he whispered, well aware that they were in the middle of the sidewalk. And it all poured out in a rush. "Max, where were you? Why did you leave and not tell me? Why did you quit working for my mom? Why didn't you even say goodbye?" he was shaking, and he couldn't stop.
She was crying. "Fang, I…I have to leave!" she looked away. "This summer…it was fun. But we both knew that it wasn't going to last forever, and it wasn't going anywhere fast. I…thought I loved you, but I'm still just a kid, and you'll probably get over me. So forget me!"
"I can't forget you," he said honestly. "For God's sake, Max, I told you that I loved you, and you said the same thing about me! Were you lying? And if you weren't, then why do you have to leave now?" She bit her lip.
"Fang, I have school. I have responsibilities, and I have a life to live. I'm only seventeen, and I can't deal with this right now." She looked around her, and saw the situation – him lying on top of her on the sidewalk with over a hundred people staring at them.
He bit his lip. "Then I only have one thing to ask you," he replied.
A tear slid down her cheek. She didn't want to end it, but she had to. What's your question, Fang? 'Can we still be friends'? 'Will you tell anyone that I have wings'? 'Should I remove you from my friends list on Facebook'?
She wished she'd never met him. She wished that she'd never loved him. And maybe she wouldn't feel this way now. He took a deep breath.
"Max, will you marry me?"
Okay, first of all, CLIFFY! *cue maniacal laughter* xD I've had this stored up for some time. The smart ones figured it out. (Oh, and I dropped, what, a thousand clues? :/) Btw, how cool is it that when I was writing the bit about Fang listening in on his mom's conversation, "Fly On the Wall" came on my iPod? 8D
Since I'm updating from my aunt and uncle's house (omgomg they live on a ranch but their house is effing AWESOME) I thought I'd give you this a little bit early. Screw the schedule! Who loves me? *raises hand* xD Actually, you're all very lucky. If you've been following all these crummy A/N's, you know I have bad teeth, so yesterday, I got more metal in my mouth AGAIN, and now I feel lik crap. In short, I can't chew anything. So I'm half-starved and having hallucinations of the Jonas Brothers. WTF THIS IS NOT GOOD.
Reviews would be greatly appreciated (as well as a passing grade in Physical Education, Mr. Schmidt? :D)!
~Rachel