Dreams and Expectations!

Maxwell sits in a foul mood at his desk. Working for his father is dreary, deadly boring and not at all what he prefers. The only reason it the work has been so easy recently was Fran. He could endure even the most dull work with the expectation of spending the evening with Fran.

But Fran is now far away in New York and he has a long week ahead of him without her. Yesterday he took her to the airport. He had offered her to drive her because they both wanted to spent every minute together they had left. It was a tearful goodbye, not easy for both of them. Maxwell never believed that you could miss one person that much. But he truly misses her. He misses everything about her, her whole appearance, especially her laugh and her funny, smart shining eyes. He wishes he could hold her now in his arms and listen to one of her ludicrous stories. Maxwell rummages in his drawer and pulls out an envelope with photos. He looks wistfully at the pictures and has to smile when he remembers some of the events. A knock tears him out of his thoughts. He hastily stuffs the photos back into the envelope and let them disappear.

His mother storms into the room.

"Hello Maxwell! I would like to discuss something important with you. I assume you have a moment for me?"

"Of course Mother!"

Like a well-behaved son, Maxwell jumps up immediately and pulls out a chair for her and offers her a drink.

"Well Mother, what is so urgent?"

"Your father and I are expecting important guests for dinner tonight and we want you to be there."

Maxwell groans secretly. He hates these events, but he knows what his parents expect of him. He forces a smile.

"Of course mother I will be there!"

"Great! You've been a bit scarce in this regard lately. I hope that changes in the future."

Maxwell winces. He indeed skipped some of those meals for Fran's sake. He tries to distract his mother from this vexed subject.

"Who are we expecting tonight?"

"It's good that you ask! Mr. Babcock and his daughter Chastity Claire. Mr. Babcock is a very successful businessman throughout the United States with excellent connections. Your father hopes he may help him with some business deals."

Maxwell secretly rolls his eyes. The relationships with is parents' acquaintances are never based on sympathy, but only about influence and connections. His mother continues.

"It would be good if you could take care of his daughter a bit. She is an extremely charming girl and very well educated. She attends one of the most prestigious universities in the USA."

Maxwell sighs. He suspects that his mother is trying to set him up again. He can vividly imagine what this girl was like. Alone the name Chastity Claire says it all.

Meanwhile, Fran sits together with her best friend Val. The two girls have a lot to talk about. Fran is telling Val all the details about Maxwell. Val listens enthusiastically. She is happy for her friend, but secretly she is also a little jealous of Fran. Val reacts very surprised when Fran mentions that she told Maxwell about the fashion school. Up until now, Fran had only talked about it with her and not even her had been allowed to see Fran's designs.

"And how did he react to your dreams?"

"Imagine, he said I really have a lot of talent and I should definitely try it. And you know what? That's exactly what I'm going to do. The next days I will go to the school and get the application form. Maxwell promised to help me with the application."

Val is astonished. Up until now, this was just a crazy idea on Fran's part; Val never thought that Fran would actually go through with it.

At that moment, Fran's mother comes home. Val notices how Fran quickly hides the picture of Maxwell in her jacket.

"Are you coming with me, Val? I want to buy some sweets and you also wanted to get some things for your mother, right?"

Val only gets the hint when Fran steps on her foot. The two say goodbye and storm out of the house.

"What was that all about? I don't want to buy anything for my mother?"

"I know! I just wanted to stop you from blabbing out anything. My parents don't know anything about Maxwell yet."

"What? You didn't tell them?! Why not, he sounds like the perfect son-in-law?!"

"I just want to wait. You know my parents are a bit sensitive with this topic. Because of everything that had happened. I don't want them to overreact. At the end they come up with the idea of not letting me go back to London."

Val nods compassionately. In the past, Fran had caused her parents a lot of troubles with her love affairs. Maybe it really was better to be a little cautious. Val promises to keep her mouth shut.