Idlehands: Duh that was a long author's note, that's why you were only supposed to read your nice little line. I break it down so you all don't kill me; you ignored the rules so I'm not responsible for the length :-D And haha think you're getting spoilers out of me for the story? I don't think so. What I said was I wish I could have had them be cured, but I would never use an uncommon plot twist that belongs to another. Teachers did too good a job on me regarding plagiarism (heaven forbid they could have used all that energy on something like punctuation or something I'd use in everyday life), sucks for the story though doesn't it:-D. Ooh and I'm doing such a good harassing people into working on/posting their stories, I'm going to have so much good DA reading material.
M/L Only: Awww I'm so glad you gave my story a chance, even more glad you seemed to be liking it at least up until chapter 40, so hopefully you get up to this chapter to read this.
Kelly Kay: Okay first things first, reading 70 chapters may be tough, but imagine my poor fingers and wrists, not to mention laptops can overheat which leads to pads of fingers burning :-D Of course I can't even read this story all the way through anymore, I go all cross eyed, so I hope to god you took breaks :-D Thanks so much for reading and giving it a chance, even more thank you for liking it! Okay and now another comment regarding the length (which I personally find really annoying since the story was supposed to be over in 45 chapters, but decided to take on a life of its own and refused to allow me to corral it back in) at least you knew that with all the things about the different types of bad angst that no matter what this was not a case of rushed anything. Yea okay even my replies are long, I'm sorry :-D Thanks for reading! Oh and that whole M/A thing…Yea I can't even figure out how we all watched the same show. There has to be a DA M/A version out there in which Logan is a psycho, that's the only way to explain it.
KK: Hmm if you're Kelly Kay, sorry about having to see two separate ones. Yea not surprising you'd think that this story goes well with that song because that cd is one of like only 3 that I'll listen to while writing. Yea I totally like adore that cd, like I'm not even kidding, I think I listened to it for a full 3 months without ever changing (Honestly only a slight over exaggeration) and I still listen to it at least a couple times a week now. In fact I'm listening to it right now because you got it stuck in my head.
AN: Ahhh, finally this chapter is done. Totally not the right chapter though. I swear I tried writing about a dozen different parts for this chapter in the past two weeks trying to do the chapter I had in my head. Totally did not work, that chapter was so scrapped. So aggravating, so so so aggravating. Sorry about the wait folks. Hope it's halfway decent.
Side note: Crap, this story is entirely too long. I really think I somewhere in the story I wrote a description for Vida, but of course I cannot find it. I remember thinking redhead to remind Max of Valerie, but I can't remember if I used that because I decided I didn't want to make her into an interest for Logan and I can't picture a redhead going with the surfer look I created in Zen. But the redhead would make sense since I didn't give Cassia (which means cinnamon) red hair. This is what I get for naming a character after a supermodel's dog. That all being said, since I can't find a description for her, I now can't return back to my original redheaded thought since I keep thinking Brazilian. If anyone remembers that I did give her a description please yell at me and I'll fix the chapter.
Chapter Seventy-One
Halfway
It had been almost two months since that fateful day.
Two months since their relationship took a dramatic turn. A turn that she had demanded and had implemented by turning down dinners and outings until he stopped offering them so frequently.
She missed him; she missed their old life like crazy. It was funny because she hadn't realized she spent so much time with him. Turned out she had though and now she'd go stir crazy alone in the apartment, her entire body itching to hop on her bike and go join Logan and Cale for yet another night of bad tv watching or something as uneventful as that.
She forced herself out of the apartment now, it hadn't been like the last time, Original Cindy was now the one being dragged places not the other way around. Tuesdays and Thursdays meant Crash and that same old crowd. Saturdays meant OC got to try out every club in the city and more often than not Max went home alone. Last Saturday she had tried to reach into her past and recreate one of those Girls Night Out that she always used to have with Kendra, OC and whoever else they could drag along.
Her old roommate long since gone, having moved on to the greener pastures of California with the guy that had replaced Walter, so she'd invited along Gem and Vida and all three of the girls had insisted she call Asha which Max had begrudgingly done so. Then of course much to her chagrin Vida had invited Cassia, who still had a tendency of flirting with Logan. Making the proportion of the night slightly unnatural since over half of the girls who swung that way had wanted to swing it with Logan. Of course the fact that she had didn't make it any better since the other two still could. All in all it hadn't been a bad night as she drank enough to forget that she really wanted to be curled up next to Logan.
-o-o-o-
Last Saturday:
They'd started early with Gem coming over before everyone else so OC could primp and prod over her like she did Max, the fair skin around the poor girl's eyes had remained tinged with pink for hours after Cindy's vigorous plucking. Max had been providing comfort in the form of Southern Comfort, which she'd gotten off of Sketch for a new tire for his bike as Gem had started muttering that having Ronnie was easier than going out for the night. The problem with SoCo was absolutely nothing in her apartment aside from the lime juice she'd swiped from Logan's earlier in the day went with it. Gem had turned brighter red than her eyebrows on the first sip and begged Max for water to cut it with.
Max had goaded, OC had laughed and by the time everyone else arrived Gem had lost her farm girl look replaced by punk sophisticate and both of the girls were drunk enough that they didn't even bother to fight Original Cindy on the length of the skirts she'd put them in and OC felt like she was dealing with a young Max as she kept tapping the youngest girl's knees reminding her she wasn't wearing the typical Jam Pony outfit and knees needed to be kept together.
Max's hair had been parted on the side and pinned back on that side. She wore a purple tank that plunged low in the middle and back finished off by a dark gold skirt and heels. She made a few statements about looking like a high class hooker as OC had stacked on some bangles, but had gone straight back to her drink the moment her hand had been returned to her. And that had been the exact reason why Asha's head had shot around to catch Alec's face after Original Cindy had opened the door for them.
He might have wanted to clear his throat catching Max in a skirt for the first time since she'd quit her old job, not to mention the expanse of skin left showing by Gem's equally revealing emerald green outfit. Original Cindy's outfit compared to theirs seemed sedate, brown fitted pants with a crisscross design and a plunging halter. Exactly where were they all going tonight? was the question on his mind and he was pretty sure he wasn't as happy about them actually including Asha in something as he had originally been.
"Wasn't that full when Sketch gave it to you?" Alec asked taking in the half empty bottle of SoCo.
"Turns out Gem's a lush," Max said pushing off the back of the couch she'd been leaning against.
Gem snorted and then covered up her mouth at the offending noise that didn't normally come out of her.
"You know maybe I should go with you guys," he put on his most serious face as he looked between Asha and OC, "just to-"
"Don't worry Boo, I got it handled," Original Cindy waved a hand and then pulled Asha in close to her, "your boo is in good hands."
A slew of things went through Alec's mind at that moment, not only of things to say, but images, it took all of his effort to not actually say them aloud, though he did decide to find a right way to mention if Asha ever wanted to hang out with Original Cindy more he wouldn't be against it, he just wanted pictures.
"Who's in good hands?" Vida said coming up behind Alec, pushing her way past him in the doorway and lifting up two bottles of wine in her hands, "look at what I scored from Logan's."
Max let out of pout of displeasure and Alec once more really wished he could be a fly on the wall tonight, "Couldn't have shown up while my sense of taste was still intact could you?" she grabbed one of the bottles from Vida's hand and moved into the kitchen with it.
He was about to comment about her actually opening the bottle, since she'd always just pass it along to Logan, but he got distracted as Cassia followed Vida in smiling, "Hi guys." She was wearing a pair of black low rise pants and a maroon bandeau top, her brown hair highlighted with copper from summer fell straight down her back ending right above her strip of a shirt, wow Logan had missed out on that one, he thought.
Not that Vida also wasn't also something to look at, but her outfit was more sedate like Asha, who was wearing black pants, a black v-neck tank and had her hair straight pulled into a high ponytail. Vida was wearing fitted brown suede pants and a white tank, the brown hair with golden highlights left down with soft waves, highlighting just how perfect she was for the laidback Zen.
Oh to be a fly on the wall tonight…
"Bye Alec," Max had smiled as she waited for OC to pull down glasses.
"Sure you girls don't need me to give you a ride over there?" He asked.
"Cab's already lined up," Max supplied with glee knowing Alec all too well and what being around 6 scantily dressed girls was doing to him. Poor guy, she thought still smiling amazed he'd actually managed to survive being with only one girl for so long.
So shortly after that Alec regrettably left and headed over to Logan's where he found Logan and Zen in an absurdly guy setting lounging on the brown leather sofa, beers in hand watching the Mariners and Rangers game on tv. He walked straight past them and headed into the kitchen for a beer, downing half of it while standing in front of the fridge he grabbed another and headed back out to the living room collapsing into the arm chair. "They're naked," he said as they other two briefly glanced over at him.
"The girls?" Zen asked.
Alec nodded.
"They tend to be when they go out," Logan supplied having seen what Max and Original Cindy deemed club appropriate.
"She was wearing a bra," he said as he brought the beer up to his lips trying to remember his last threesome, it was so long ago…
"Who?" Both men on the couch immediately asked and both followed up their question with a look of remorse at worrying aloud.
Alec chuckled, "Cassia," another swig of beer, "gotta say Logan you really dropped the ball on that though."
Logan glared.
Alec smirked and paused with an insightful look, "Then again a day with Maxie," he smiled.
"Shut up and watch the game," Logan said turning his attention back to the screen.
Alec chuckled, "What's the score?"
-o-o-o-
Wednesday:
Max smiled remembering the night as Cale was perched on her hip being kept away from the elevator buttons that repeatedly proved more tempting than candy. Remembered how Gem found out the hard way that they hadn't been genetically engineered against puking, not all of the X-5s had been gifted with the high tolerance gene that Alec and Cassia had, poor Gem though her tolerance was on par with…Actually she had the lowest tolerance Max had ever seen, she was pretty sure even Dalton could drink more than Gem.
The problem was once the booze had worn off for Max's missing Logan had returned. The problem was as much as she missed him, she didn't regret her decision. She didn't regret deciding to only spend enough time with Logan to make sure Cale ended up with some type of semi-normal life. That and the fact that life without Logan entirely wasn't worth living, which was the entire point of this.
Today though she was craving it.
Craving the normalcy, the intimacy she was used to. She'd woken up feeling it. She'd paced around the apartment waiting for the sun to rise forcing herself to remain in the apartment and not rush over to Logan's and watch Cale as he slept.
She tended to do that. She tended to perch in her window and look back on her son soundly sleeping in every type of comical pose: on his stomach with his butt lifted in the air, on his back limbs flung every which way, his head occasionally burying itself under the pillow, the corner of his cat ending up in his mouth instead of his thumb. He hadn't been there to watch though and she refused to allow herself to go to him.
As she'd been getting ready for work it had gotten the best of her and she'd told Cindy to tell Normal she had developed a case of sudden case of malaria after being bitten by a mosquito the size of Montana. It wasn't as if he'd ever really believed a single illness before and certainly wasn't going to now, didn't mean she didn't deserve the day off.
So she'd gone over to TC and spent an hour or so with Joshua before heading out with Cale, spoiling him rotten with attention as she suddenly felt like a bad mother that she forced him into this weird situation of every other day in a different place. They'd started off with the park, followed that up with hot dogs and soda, proving just how crappy she was feeling by feeding him that. She topped it off with a trip over to the pier overlooking Elliot Bay and the Takanao Aquarium, where Cale had gone crazy being surrounded by the fish swimming over him and kept trying to figure out how to join them.
It had perked her up more than a bit, but it didn't make her miss Logan any less. So she pushed aside feelings of guilt as she'd boarded the bus over to the Seattle Time's Building, telling herself that it wasn't as if she was doing this solely for her benefit. After all keeping Cale happy and well adjusted and not so aware his life was vastly different than the kids he'd soon be entering school with meant keeping his parents in close contact, so he got the steady feel of having two parents and they hadn't had dinner in almost a week. Cale hadn't been with both of his parents together for longer than an hour since then.
So stopping by with their son was completely acceptable, at least that's what her mind had talked her into as she'd debated it all day. Her mind might keep flashing back to the feel of his weight in her arms, seeing his eyes close and not reopen for hours…The problem was her mind also knew that there wasn't much reason for her in the world if she wasn't with him, even if she wasn't 'with him'.
So she pushed aside those lingering thoughts of turning back as the elevator doors opened and lowered Cale to the floor holding onto his hand.
-o-o-o-
He'd been prepared since he first thought of going back to work for it to be weird. He was a different person than the person that had last exited those doors so many years ago. That man had been a loner, more than slightly jaded, maybe it had been his youth that had made him so much more passionate and ignored the risks. Maybe it had just been that he hadn't had anything tying him to the world. He had that now in spades.
He may have worked here once at a time when he appeared to have that in abundance. Living with Valerie he'd been forced to endure an active social life, though she probably would have disagreed with that. There had been parties though, both purely social and for charity that they attended, Sunday brunches with his family in which it had seemed a race to see who could consume more Bloody Marys and Mimosas. It had all served only one purpose, to make him more jaded. Less time was spent out; less time had been spent in the company of his family and his wife.
The man who had left this job had been divorced, almost completely separated from his family and old friends. He worked; he worked and occasionally socialized with others like him, any personal relationships were completely superficial and stopped before he allowed whomever he was involved with to get attached.
Logan could barely remember being that guy. He certainly couldn't remember why he liked it so much. He was more mellow now, things weren't always life or death, he'd allowed in the gray. In short, he was happy now, even though at the time that old Logan had thought the same, he knew he actually was now.
Slipping back into it all though wasn't as hard as he expected it to be. He liked his job, he was good at it and in some ways he never really left it though it was hard to remember not to say 'I'm sure he'll be able to use this.'
Things had been going well for over two weeks, there was only one thing he found difficult about working and that was the separation from Cale. The hours they'd left him with Josh had done well to prepare Cale for the separation, but little for his father. He'd gone from having his son every single weekday and a few nights to two full weekdays and a Saturday, of course most weekends Cale spent in the company of both of his parents. Still though Logan found himself struggling by the end of the workday to not rush over to Max's and casually pretend he was just stopping by for no real reason. In just over two weeks that had only happened once though since he'd throw himself into Eyes Only work the moment he entered his house and exhaust himself to prevent that from happening regularly. Of course it didn't hurt that he tended to call the cell phone he'd given Josh on a rather frequent basis.
Today though that wasn't an option because while he'd gone to call Joshua while heading out to try to interview the principal of a school that had had 11 students rushed to the hospital in alleged 'accidents' in the past month alone he'd been informed Max had picked him up shortly after he'd dropped him off.
So today the transition was harder and he really wondered if he instead of turning into his father as he had always feared he had managed to turn into his mother.
He'd even been called out on it today by Gabby, who had seemed to master Alec's smirking smile within two meetings of him. At least she didn't know the full story and he hadn't been forced to hear how he and Max were using the little boy as an outlet for all of their feelings. The sad part as much as he hated to admit it he knew everyone that had called them out on that was right and he could feel it after her prolonged absence from his daily life at least before they'd see each other while switching Cale's residence, it was guaranteed they wouldn't go twenty four hours without seeing each other, he hadn't seen her since Sunday now and stopping by her apartment with takeout after work was sounding really good.
"Daddy," he heard cried and he was pulled out of his thoughts to hear the galloping footsteps and Max calling out Cale's name ordering him not to run.
He turned in his chair and in a few seconds his son was before him using his legs to scamper up his father even though his father was lifting him up. He managed to get across a "Hey," to the young boy as his son quickly hugged his neck before launching into a jumble of words, slides, swing, dog, fish, the fish got a huge display of his hands and Cale would have fallen back if he wasn't supported by his father's.
Logan looked up at Max decently confused and smiling as Cale started waving his hands over his head and to the side "An' they were there an' they were there…"
"We went to the Aquarium today," she explained laughing at her son who was animatedly trying to describe everything to his father and locations of the fish were interspersed with colors and sizes as his mind actively remembered.
Then out of nowhere Cale paused suddenly and turned to his mother, "Fish," he said outstretching his hands once more being caught by his father as he spotted the gray stuffed sting ray in his mother's hand.
"Easy there Cale," Logan said with a hand on his son's chest as he almost took a header to the floor.
"Someone had a little too much excitement today," Max explained as she handed over the sea creature.
"Daddy an' I petted it," Cale said stroking the furry version of the creature he'd been allowed to touch and had squealed and fell backwards on the first touch.
"You did?" Logan smiled, "How'd it feel?"
"Slimy," Cale's face scrunched up causing both of his parents to laugh again.
"Hey," Gabby said walking over, "I heard the ruckus going on over here," she smiled.
"Hey Gabby meet Max and Cale," he nodded in their directions as he said their names.
"Nice to meet you," she nodded in Max's direction before moving to squat down in front of Logan to greet the young boy, "so you're the legendary Cale?" she smiled, "And what's that?"
"Fish," he said presenting it out to her, "it was slimy."
Max suddenly didn't know whether to feel relieved or not that she hadn't bother to inform her son of the correct name since he'd been too overwhelmed while in the aquarium itself to take in any of the names even though it meant her son seemed perfectly average for his age because she suddenly felt to urge to reinforce her position, her importance to the other woman.
"You got to touch one?" Gabby asked with large eyes.
"Uh huh," he said leaving his mouth open as he nodded.
"Cool," she said.
And with that Max decided she didn't like the other woman and Logan was smiling along with her son's awed look, 'Traitor,' she thought.
"So we just came by to see if we could talk you into feeding us?" Max said butting in on the happy moment.
Her son turned back to her, proving his loyalty before tilting his head up to his father, "Food!"
"Yea," he said with a quick confused looked as his mind ran through everything making sure nothing was waiting for him that he couldn't take home, "I'm just about done here."
Gabby stood back up, "Ooh lucky, I'm probably gonna be here until the paper goes to print," she pouted.
"Benefits of being part time," Logan grinned.
She sighed and shook her head, "Don't rub it in." She turned, "It was nice meeting you Max," she nodded before turning back to Cale, "You too Cale," she smiled. "See ya Friday," she nodded at Logan.
Nope, definitely don't like her, Max thought as Logan returned the goodbye before proceeding to pat their son off of him so he could save his unfinished work to a disk to bring home.
And Max was reminded of the same thing she'd been thinking since going away with Logan, letting him go was definitely going to be harder this time around.
Okay totally don't remember what a sting ray feels like anymore. That's a sign of being an adult isn't it :-( How sad. Thanks for reading folks.