The following morning Henry announced with overzealous glee that he had arranged for them to go on a trip to the Willis Tower.
The four of them took a cab to South Wacker Drive, the name of which Max had sniggered at as Henry instructed the driver.
The long yellow cab pulled up right outside the tower on the corner of a cross roads, revving the engine brutally whilst they exited, keen to take the money and get away, on to the next passengers.
The four of them looked up in unison. Helena looked away almost instantly, instead taking the chance to look at the shops on the opposite side of the road. Zoe, Max and Henry squinted up at the autumn sky, the Willis tower high above them.
"Tallest skyscraper in the world!"
Henry said proudly, as if he himself had had a hand in it's creation.
He placed a large hand across his forehead to shield his eyes from the sun.
"I thought it was just the tallest in America..?"
Max asked, his voice softer, slightly strained as he tilted his head back even further to try to see the very top of it.
Henry ignored him, instead choosing to regale them with the history of the building while Helena stood staring at a pair of red Jimmy Choo shoes in a shop window with feigned interest.
"Can you imagine..."
He concluded.
"...there are 25 miles of plumbing, 1,500 miles of electric wiring, 80 miles of elevator cable, and 145,000 light fixtures in there..."
Zoe caught the beginnings of a laugh at the edges of Max's lips as she glanced at him from the corner of her eye, the three of them still raising their eyes to the building.
"Fascinating..."
Helena murmured, folding her arms across her chest and watching as a horse and carriage clattered past them.
"Ready to go to the top?"
Henry asked, lowering his gaze to the larger of the two entrances.
"The top?"
Helena asked, looking up again at the tower, the sky above it darkening with each moment, threatening a storm.
"You know I don't like heights."
She sighed as she spoke, as though he was forever forgetting.
He shrugged.
"You'll miss out..."
He smiled a wide, threatening grin at her. She looked away, sighing again.
"I'm sure I'll manage."
She answered slowly, stepping forward to let a family walk behind her.
He took advantage of her movement and took a firm hold of her arm, Zoe noticed the strain of her coat sleeve against his fingers, the tips of which were white from how hard he was pressing into her skin beneath. Helena sucked in her cheeks, taking the pain.
"I'll look after you."
He said, the words deeply at odds with the rough manner in which he was holding on to her.
Helena looked at him, the blank look of pure contempt.
She stood still, he seemed to take her silence as defeat and moved forwards, finding it not difficult at all to pull her along next to him, his arm interlinked with her own. They moved ahead.
"Come on!"
He called, his voice jovial as he called to Max and Zoe who followed them into the building, a knowing glance passing between them.
"It's 1,354 feet to the Sky-deck. Do you think you can walk or shall we take the elevator?"
Henry joked again, pushing the button of the lift that stood in the large lobby area, a stand full of leaflets and maps stood next to it, Max ran the tips across the tops of them, making a soft ruffling sound like a chicken ruffling it's feathers.
The lift reached the ground level with a hiss and a clunk, the doors making a jarring juddery sound as they opened. The four of them stepped inside, it smelled of antibacterial spray and new metal.
The mirror to their left reflected them, Max leaning against it with his bad arm, his fingers finding Zoe's whilst they stood at the back of the lift, softly playing with them, running his own fingers between them and over the smooth flesh of her palm.
They reached the top within moments, the heady rush of the lift making their heads spin as they exited. Helena paled as she saw there was only a small amount of carpeted floorspace, the rest was glass.
Max was the first to step out onto it, looking down at his feet, and down further to the ground far far below them, the tops of people's heads moving to and fro on the pavement, looking impossibly tiny as they scurried about.
Henry seemed to abandon Helena as they exited the lift, she stood motionless, even her lips pale as she tried to avert her eyes so as not to look out of any of the windows.
"Are you brave enough?"
Henry asked Zoe, stepping onto the glass floor himself and reaching out a hand to her.
She raised an eyebrow, a slight smile.
"Not much scares me."
She mused, stepping onto the glass without taking his offered hand. It took her a moment to look down, and when she did the heigh made her giddy. She felt Max take her arm, squeezing it gently.
She watched another horse and carriage pass by below them, the horses like two exclamation marks cantering down the avenue.
Max glanced back at Helena who was busy looking at a noticeboard next to the lift. He looked towards Henry, expecting to find him looking out at the view, instead he was staring at a spot just behind Zoe on the floor. He looked down, finding the spot where Henry looked. The pale grey reflection of Zoe's legs in the glass which you could only see if you adjusted your eyes to focus on the glass rather than the view below.
He glanced again at Henry whose gaze hadn't moved. Still he looked, Max looked again, his eyes travelling up the reflection of Zoe's legs, to where you could just about see the faint pale outline of her lace underwear. He shifted from one foot to the other and clenched his teeth shut, looking again at Henry, staring at him hard until eventually Henry, sensing someone was looking at him looked up and caught Max's gaze. He smiled a wide smile and winked, Max remained still, his lips pressed firmly together, his blue eyes sharp and cool.
Henry pushed his hands into his pockets and moved over to the window, looking out across the skyline.
"Apparently you can see four states from up here."
He spoke loudly, his breath fogging the window briefly.
"Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Idaho."
He said again, someone standing next to him looked at him comically before looking away again.
"Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin...I think you'll find..."
Max dipped his head to whisper to Zoe who smiled slightly, turning her gaze from the view to him.
"Why is it that you know so much about Chicago?"
She asked, narrowing her eyes, smiling at him as he pressed a finger to his lips so that she lowered her voice.
"I told you, I feel at home here."
He whispered simply.
"Anyway, Idaho is on the other side of the country..."
He added softly before Henry turned back around to face them.
"Incredible isn't it?"
He asked, opening his arms wide, gesturing to their surroundings.
Zoe nodded slowly and Max glanced around again, refusing to meet his gaze.
"Where's Helena?"
He asked, suddenly noticing that Helena no longer stood on the small patch of carpet near the elevator.
"Maybe she's gone down..."
Zoe began, stepping back as Henry moved hurriedly over to the lift, circling it briefly, appearing again on the other side and pressing the button several times to call the lift back up.
"She did say she didn't like heights..."
Max breathed, his hand in his pocket, toying with the loose change, setting it jingling against his fingers.
"She just likes the attention..."
Henry almost laughed, a tension appearing across his forehead that Zoe hadn't noticed before.
Max rolled his eyes and looked below them again, teetering back and forth on the balls of his feet as he looked down at the pavement far below.
The lift pinged and hissed open it's doors, the three of them entered, standing in silence as they descended.
Once at the bottom Henry exited first, bustling through a crowd of Japanese tourists, to where Helena stood looking out through the window. A man in a red waist coat stood outside playing a guitar, she was staring at his back, arms folded protectively across her chest. Henry placed an oversized hand on her shoulder and her whole body stiffened.
"Do you think we should say something?"
Max leant in, whispering to Zoe through the corner of his mouth. She shook her head slightly in response.
"Not our place. He hasn't done anything yet anyway, not that we've witnessed."
She added quietly, smiling at the gabbling tourists.
"I know...but there's obviously something going on."
Both Max and Zoe watched as Henry spoke in hushed tones to Helena who turned to face him slowly, succumbing to him and eventually following him over back to their little group of four.
By mid afternoon it was time to head back to Michigan. The weather had turned and the storm clouds overhead hung like a threat above their heads as they drove back over the suspension bridge, Max's gaze lingering on the Chicago skyline as if wishing it a silent goodbye.
Zoe watched the clouds as they darkened, turning from a a muddied brown to a tempestuous black, laced with glaring silver, the air felt close and tense, the temperature had dropped and the moon was already visible. A full moon, hanging low in the sky, only just visible through the gaps in the clouds that moved so quickly across the night sky that it could be gone as quick as a blink.
Henry flicked on the radio to dull the silence, it muffled for a moment while he fiddled with the buttons, the interference and white noise spitting and hissing until he settled on a station he liked, bouncing country music filled the car.
"Oh God..."
Max whispered as he exhaled, stretching in his seat and yawning into the back of his hand.
"Shhh..."
Zoe leant her head against his shoulder, it bumped and wobbled as they made their way back to the other side of the bridge, back to Michigan.
The sign's of various places passed them by, "Holland', 'Grand Rapids'. Eventually they passed the sign for 'Saugatuck', a long sign with neon red writing that glowed florescent in the black of the night. An artists paint pallet at it's side, the towns symbol, colours flashing on it's surface.
No sooner had they passed the sign then Henry's phone rang. The song had faded on the radio and the shrill sound of the ring tone bought them all in from their various daydreams.
To Zoe's surprise he answered, one hand still on the wheel. She'd forgotten the difference in laws. She felt Max tense too, both of them watching the road intently as he spoke.
He uttered only a few words, mainly a series of shorts affirmative responses before clicking off and tossing the phone into Helena's lap.
"Zoe?"
Henry glanced at Zoe in the rear view mirror.
"Mmm?"
She looked back at him, raising her head from Max's shoulder and swiping the hair from her face.
"Are you up for some excitement?"
He asked, raising his voice as another song started.
She glanced to Max who rolled his eyes and looked out of the window at the cars in the distance.
"That was the hospital, they need more trauma staff at Huron Valley Jail, there's been a riot."
More soon ;) Who is watching Sunetra on Strictly later?! xxx