Chapter 29 - Part 2
Max grinned and threw his arm around Lyz’s shoulder as they walked back out to the dining room. Jeff was just about to open the restaurant when Max stopped him, asking him to wait a few more minutes. While Max asked for everyone’s attention, Lyz asked the Parkers to join them. She waited until Max pulled out several bank books and handed each person a book, even Amy and Jim, but asked them not to open them. As he handed Maria hers, her eyes grew wide and she started to fidget with nervous excitement.
Lyz grinned at her friend’s excitement and started to talk,
“Today is technically my birthday.”
When her friends would have rushed in with hugs and good wishes, Max held up his hand, forcing them to stop. “Wait. Although this is legally Lyz’s birthday, this is not the day we are going to celebrate. Instead, she’s chosen September 19th as her day to celebrate.”
“But why don’t you cele….omph. Mmph!.” Maria held her hand tightly over Michael’s mouth and whispered in his ear that she would explain later. She knew from conversations with Lyz that her birthday was not something she liked to remember and she didn’t want Michael to embarrass her. She winked at Lyz who gave her a thankful smile.
“In Switzerland, I was considered…lucky. I was a ‘princess’, rich, privileged. But I had nothing – no laughter, love, or even freedom.
When I came here and met all of you, I use to envy everyone. I had no family like all of you. But then, Maria once told me that family doesn’t always mean biological connections, but that it can mean a circle of people one could trust, love, and support. I’ve come to realize that you, all of you, have become my family.
Being with you here, you showed me a life full of passion, love, and generosity that I had only imagined. You made my dreams come true and showed me the way to battle my own demons. You showed me how to live. And I wanted to tell you of my gratitude for helping me, supporting me, and most of all, being my friends. So, I have arranged for a special gift for all of you.
All of you know that I have no desire to keep my inheritance, that I have arranged for all of it to be donated. What you do not know is that a bank account has been created for each of you and money was wired into it as soon as I turned 21, which was 12:01 this morning.”
She nodded and let everyone open their bank books. The women screamed with excitement while the men just sat stunned. Maria jumped up from her seat and rushed over to embrace Lyz. As they were hugging, Maria whispered,
“You’re my family too, babe.”
Isabel hugged Lyz in thanks before calling her boss to quit her job and planning her own business. In the back of her mind, she thought about possibly taking on Lyz as a partner. Alex thanked Lyz and decided to wait a while, but he too would quit his job so that he could start his business of developing child friendly computer games. Michael sat glued to his seat as he stared at his bank book – he couldn’t get his voice to work but he gave Lyz an incredulous smile. He immediately planned on painting something for her and then thought of creating a children’s center that offered free art classes and free meals. Maria dreamed of quitting her job to pursue her love of music – creating another band or recording her own music.
Kyle’s heart leapt at the thought of his grandfather and wished that he had enough to buy the nursing home his grandfather was in and renovate it. When Lyz asked him why he was so crestfallen, he told her about his wish. Lyz replied that he should keep his money for himself and that she would make the arrangements for Kyle to buy the nursing home. Kyle gave Lyz a huge bear hug and agreed to borrow only half the money since he wanted to put his money into the facility as well. Jim then interrupted and said that Kyle wouldn’t be the only one investing in the nursing home, since he too would invest some of his own money. And Ava punched him in the shoulder, reminding him he had wife who would help too.
Jeff and Nancy were stunned and so excited that they could finally pay off the loan on the restaurant. They were left even more stunned when Lyz presented another bank book, one with Ben’s name in it. She explained to the Parkers that her father would never bother them again and that it was safe for Ben. She hoped that they would use the money to send Ben to college. Jeff and Nancy both took turns hugging Lyz. While everyone was talking about their future plans, Lyz discreetly reached into her purse for an envelope. As she leaned into Max’s side, she brought up the envelope and lightly tapped him on his chest.
Max pulled his attention from Alex and Isabel to turn to Lyz. When he saw the envelope, he asked, “What’s this?”
“Open it.”
Max took his arm from Lyz’s shoulders and opened up the envelope. His jaw dropped when he saw three more bank books. He flipped them open and saw one was made out to him and also to each of his parents.
“Lyz…what, why did you do this? You know I don’t want any of your money.”
Lyz’s eager face fell with disappointment at Max’s questions. “You do not like it?”
“No! I-I love it, but I just didn’t think you…I wasn’t expecting it Lyz. That’s all. I really do love it.”
“I wanted to give each person of my new family a gift. And you, as well as your parents, are my family.”
Max hugged Lyz, once again amazed at her generosity and warmth. Every time he thought he couldn’t be more in love with her, she proved him wrong.
Once everyone settled down from the excitement, Lyz extended the invitation to go to Switzerland with her and Max. Neither Max or Lyz explained the real purpose of the trip, but told everyone that Lyz needed to sign some papers over the inheritance with the Swiss law firm. Eagerly, everyone agreed.
Only the Parkers turned them down, worried that Ben might have bad memories still associated with Switzerland. Lyz wanted to get the business about the chateau finished before her visit, so she had the Swiss law firm arrange for servants to be retired and everything sold off. As soon as she signed the papers, the chateau was to be torn down. She also had the law firm investigate the men of Khivar’s private security team – she wanted them all arrested and thrown in prison but knew it was impossible. The men hadn’t really done anything wrong and they never hurt her, but they were Khivar’s men. The law firm assured her that they would take care of everything before she even arrived.
She also arranged with the Swiss police to claim the bodies of her father and Nicholas as soon as she arrived. She didn’t care that the coroner’s office might have thought it odd she was taking her time, but she did explain that she wanted to make sure privacy was ensured and the funeral was arranged.
Lyz left it up to Maria and Isabel to make the arrangements and gave them an allowance. Within a couple of days, Maria had arranged for a private plane to fly the group, including the older Evans’s, to Switzerland. Isabel arranged their accommodations and set up several different itineraries for each person to choose from.
It was an excited group that flew to Switzerland, but only Maria and Max could sense that Lyz was nervous and anxious. At the airport while everyone was busy buying last minute items and food, Lyz confided in Maria the main reason for going to Switzerland -to claim the bodies. Maria hugged Lyz and silently gave her support as she listened to Lyz talk. Lyz finally confessed that she wanted, no needed, to see the chateau once more before it was torn down. Maria agreed but insisted that Lyz take the group of friends. They would send the Evans as well as Jim and Amy to do some sightseeing while they went to visit the chateau with Lyz.
Lyz could only nod in grateful acceptance, and told Maria that she and Max would not join the rest of group at the hotel as soon as they landed. The limousines would drop everyone off at the hotel while Max and she went to meet the funeral home director at the coroner’s office. The bodies were to be transported to the funeral home as soon as possible and cremated. They had told the director that they wanted to do everything quickly, that day, before the press found out about it.
Maria asked if the press would really be a problem and Lyz had to think for a few minutes. She finally said that she didn’t think the press would really care. Nicholas and Khivar always chased the press, trying to get their names published and be seen, but Lyz didn’t think that the press would take any notice of them. They really weren’t royalty.
At the airport in Switzerland, Lyz was proved right when she saw that no press was waiting for them. If they were really interested in her or her family, they would have been there waiting for her plane to land. The group were all settled into their limousines and off to the hotel, except for Max and Lyz.
The group was led to their private wing and in the privacy of their sitting room, Maria explained to the rest of the group what Max and Lyz were doing. She then explained that Lyz wanted to see the chateau before it was torn down and wanted the group to go with her. They all nodded in agreement and mentally prepared themselves for the next day’s trip, but the older Evans’s and Jim and Amy decided not to go along. While the group had dinner and settled in for the evening, they knew that Lyz and Max wouldn’t join them until morning.
The next morning, the older couples went off on a sightseeing tour while the others waited for Lyz and Max to come out of their room. Midmorning, a tired Lyz came out of the suite she shared with Max. To Maria, Lyz looked tired but she couldn’t see any trace of tears. When Lyz smiled, Maria let herself relax. A part of her had worried that seeing Khivar’s body might upset Lyz, but Maria saw that underneath the fatigue, Lyz was actually very calm. After another hour, the group quietly got into another limousine and drove to the chateau.
As the car pulled up to the chateau, Lyz’s eyes filled with tears as she fought back memories that assaulted her. She forgot that Max and their friends were there as she stared at the building that had once been her prison. As she stared at the building, she tried to analyze her thoughts. The fear and the anger she once felt were still there, but it was no longer suffocating. Lyz had talked with Dr. Topolski about visiting the chateau and why it was important for her to look at it one last time. She had expressed that until she faced the memories that the chateau brought up, she wouldn’t really feel free and she wanted to be free to move forward. Dr. Topolski and Max both encouraged her to visit one last time.
With a deep breath to calm her heart, Lyz walked through the heavy front doors. She stopped in the front hallway and looked around the empty building. As soon as the servants had been retired, they had plundered the chateau’s riches and took everything they could get their hands on before they left. Carpets were ripped up, someone had chipped away at the marble taking large chunks of it, fixtures torn down, and even the light bulbs were gone. The once opulent chateau lay in tattered ruins.
Lyz made her way up the ravaged cold marble stairs and carefully made her way towards her old room. Her step slowed as her mind filled with memories of beatings, terror in the dark, and long painful nights. She drew the door open and vacantly stared around the room. She silently walked over to the windows and stared out, reminded of all the years she stared out this very window, standing at this exact spot. Suddenly she rushed towards the window and started to beat at the thick panes.
Max had quietly followed Lyz as she moved toward her room, leaving the others to explore the chateau on their own. He stared at the doorless stark room. From what Lyz had told him, there had never been any flowers in vases or pictures on the wall. Nothing at all to look at except a window facing the gardens. He noticed the window was fairly small but barred. His heart cried as he watched Lyz rush to the window and beat against the thick glass, crying brokenly. He walked over to her, gathering her in his arms and trying to stop her from hurting herself when he heard,
“I want to break that window.”
Max cradled a crying Lyz in his arms, “Shh, angel. Why do you want to break the window?”
“I use to stand by the windows every day, for hours, and wish I was on the other side! Wishing I could feel the warm wind or hear the birds in the gardens. It was the worst torture that Father ever inflicted, never allowing a curtain but never allowing it to be open. I hate that window!!!” Lyz turned pleading eyes to Max, “I do not care how long it takes me, I want to break that window!”
Max could feel tears prick his eyes as he thought about the kind of life that Lyz had endured. He left her for a minute, crying on the floor, as he made his way back to the staircase and picked up a large chunk of the loose marble. He carried it back to Lyz’s old room and held it out to her. Lyz stared at it for a minute before understanding what the marble was for. She took it from Max and went back to the window. She pounded against the thick panes until she grew tired.
When Max saw Lyz tire, he walked over to stand behind her. Silently, he placed his own hand on top of her hand that was holding the marble and loaned her his strength. It took another few minutes, but together, they finally shattered the hated glass window.
Lyz stared at the shattered glass and felt a heavy black shadow lift from her mind and heart. She could finally believe that she was free. Free from her prison, free from her father, and free from her fear. All that was left was to clear the rubbish. She clasped Max’s hand and walked out of her room, not once looking back. Lyz ignored all the other rooms in the chateau, not caring to see anything else. Instead, she led Max to the gardens that she had always wanted to walk in but never could.
When Lyz had started walking towards a specific room, the others let Max follow her and went off to explore the rest of chateau. They briefly discussed splitting up, but Isabel clung to Alex and shook her head no. She wanted everyone to stick together. The group explored room after room but it was the last room that made them all feel sick.
They had opened the door to find a stark white room. Inside it was chaos. Broken whips were strewn about the floor, the walls were cracked and chunks were missing. A large chunk of the ceiling was missing and they saw that the missing chunk was on the ground with a long heavy chain attached to it. The large king sized bed was burnt beyond recognition. A panel in one of walls revealed another hidden room and the group slowly made their way into it. They saw battered cameras and a shattered tv. A large mound of melted black plastic lay in the center of the room. The mirrors in the bathroom were all shattered and the closet lay bare.
Looking at the destruction in the room, Maria remarked, “It must have been Ranulf and his group. I hope they finally feel at peace.”
The rest of the group nodded and walked out of the room. They made their way outside and found Lyz and Max in the gardens, holding hands and sitting peacefully. Both Maria and Michael searched her face and saw that while there had been tears, there was also a sense of peace.
The Nightmare and The Dream- COMPLETED 09.9.05
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Chapter 30
After leaving the chateau, the women spent the rest of the week having fun shopping and sightseeing. The men were able to get away for a few hours each day to go skiing or beer tasting, but they were often dragged away from their fun by their respective partners. By the end of the week, the men were ready to go home. The night before they left, the guys all got together for a game of poker while the girls slept.
Jim, with a cigar hanging from his mouth said, “Do you know how many stores I went through with Amy, trying to find the perfect wedding dress? Do you? Because I sure don’t. I lost count after the fifteenth.”
Kyle threw a few chips in the pile in front of him, “Oh please, like you’re the only one of us that suffered? Isabel made us try on a whole store full of tuxedo’s. I didn’t know there were so many different styles of tuxes, did you?”
Michael groaned at the memory, “And shoes. Who the hell cares what kind of shoes I’m wearing with a damn tux!”
“Yeah, and that was just the first day. Dressing the girls was worse! God! My arms are sore after carrying around fifteen hundred bags! No way am I letting Iz do this for our wedding.”
Philip laughed at his future son-in-law, “Just wait, Alex! She’ll be worse for your wedding! You think the Christmas tree diagram was bad, wait until you see her plan for your wedding.”
The entire table of men groaned at the thought.
“I swear, if Maria gets all crazy like this, we’ll be on the first plane to Vegas.” Michael snorted as he threw in his chips. At the sudden silence, Michael looked up, “What?”
“Vegas.” Kyle mumbled.
Alex rubbed his hands together, “Payback!!”
Suddenly, the men forgot their poker game and started to plan.
The next morning, the entire group was packed and ready to go. Their flight was over ten hours long, with a layover, and they wanted to get to the airport as soon as possible. At the private airport, the men exchanged knowing smirks with their pilot. When the plane landed several hours later, Michael stood and ordered everyone out of the plane. The girls became confused when they saw signs reading “Welcome to Las Vegas!” as they walked out of the plane. They turned to the boys and demanded know what was going on.
Outside the plane, a driver stood waiting for them by a late model VW van. The girls all voiced confusion until Michael explained “Ladies! You have held us men hostages for the past week. You dragged us all over Switzerland shopping – for shoes, clothes, junk for your faces. You dressed us up. You made us carry your bags!” Alex winced as he rubbed his arms.
“Made us look at hundreds of different shoes that all look the same! Then you drag us to a spa and made us get massages and that, that pedicure crap.” Kyle shuddered at the memory. Michael’s voice deepened in horror, “You even made some of us wax.” Both Philip and Jim shuddered at the memory. “Well, you had your fun and now it’s our turn.”
Kyle spoke up and continued to explain “That’s right ladies. You will be our hostages now, here in sin city. We are going to gamble and drink. We will drag you along to fetch us our food, our drinks, our cigars. We will watch basketball, horse racing, and the occasional baseball game. There will be farting, scratching, and burping – deal with it! We’re guys. There will be no dieting, no picky food-eating, or suntanning, oh no. You are at our mercy just like we were at yours. Ladies, prepare yourselves for a weekend with the boys!”
Alex then took over, “Diane and Philip, Jim and Amy will fly back on Sunday since they have to get back to work. Once we men decide when we are done playing here in Vegas, we will be driving home to Roswell in this van – road tripping!! There will only be junk food. No juice spritzers, no healthy stuff. There will be loud Metallica music, rock and roll and none of that love song crap. You are only allowed one overnight bag. We will buy you clothes when you need it. We will decide when we eat and when to stop gambling. While we are here, there will be no whining, no cuddling, and no shopping!!!”
“And Maxwell? Lyz? No mushy romance crap!”
Max and Lyz looked at each other, laughing before Kyle broke the two of them apart and announced, “Ladies, pick your bag.”
Amused, the ladies grabbed their overnight bags. They piled into the van and headed off to Las Vegas’s main strip. They checked into a suite at the Bellagio and the men let the ladies shower and change before they headed downstairs. For the next three days, the men did exactly what they promised and the girls actually enjoyed themselves. They almost didn’t want to leave when the men decided to pack the van and head home.
On their way out of Vegas, they were passing a block of chapels when Alex cracked, “Too bad none of us got married at the Elvis chapel. Now that would have been classic.” The rest of the group laughed when suddenly Maria asked Michael to pull over to the curb. When he did, she turned to face Michael,
“Michael – I love you. Ever since we started dating, I knew that you were the one for me. Lately I’ve been thinking about what I want and I realize it’s you. Whatever happens in the future, I want to do it together. Michael, I don’t have ring but I love you and I want to marry you. Here, today. At the Elvis chapel or the Alien King chapel or the quickie drive in – I don’t care – will you marry me?”
Michael was stunned and the rest of the group held their breaths with excitement. “Maria – are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure in my life.”
“Yeah, ok. What the hell.”
Maria squealed in excitement and threw herself at Michael.
“Wait! Maria is not going to get married in jeans! We have to buy her a dress and she needs some flowers!” Isabel protested. Looking around the block, she pointed to a small shop “There, let’s go.”
Everyone piled out of the van and rushed into the clothing shop. Upon entering, they all noticed that it was a 70’s vintage clothing store and it fit Maria’s sense of style perfectly. Maria picked out a short eyelet lace scoop neck white dress with bell sleeves and white patent knee high platform boots. She wore her hair down with a matching white eyelet lace head scarf as her veil. Isabel picked out a mauve flower print sundress and strappy sandals and Ava picked out an old fashioned ice blue empire waist dress with flowing cap sleeves and square neck. Liz chose to go with a dark cream off-the-shoulder peasant style blouse and skirt with embroidered red flowers along the collar of the blouse and bottom of the skirt.
When the group stood around together, Maria burst out laughing, claiming that they all looked like flower children. At Lyz’s confused look, each girl took the time to explain the era of hippies, flower children, and grooviness.
While the girls were giggling over their outfits, Michael picked up a black leather bomber jacket, a white butterfly collar polyester shirt and black jeans. He rolled up the long jeans and slicked back his longish hair. Max chose a lime green polyester snap up shirt with white stripes and matching lime green hip hugging pants with white patent loafers. Alex picked out a dark purple velvet tuxedo suit with a light purple ruffled shirt while Kyle chose khaki colored polyester bell bottoms and a rainbow print poncho-style top with a matching head band wrapped around his forehead.
The girls grabbed flowers from a street vendor and ran to the nearest chapel-Alien King Wedding Chapel. They all tried to be serious as the large alien king married the couple, but they couldn’t help but laugh. Max was Michael’s best man, and Lyz was Maria’s maiden of honor. The rest of the group all cheered as Michael and Maria kissed for the fist time as man and wife. It was a happy crowd that piled back into the VW van and drove home towards Roswell. Halfway home, they stopped the van and had an impromptu reception at a nearby karaoke bar.
Upon arriving back in Roswell, Amy was furious to learn she had missed the wedding of her only daughter. She calmed down only when Maria offered to have a reception and re-new their vows in front of a priest and friends. Maria insisted upon everyone wearing the same outfit that they had worn during the original wedding and the guests had to wear similar themed clothing. All the guests laughed as Maria danced down the aisle with Jim to the song, ‘These Boots Were Made for Walking’ sung by Nancy Sinatra. Two months after Michael and Maria renewed their vows, Amy DeLuca officially became Amy DeLuca-Valenti.
Isabel’s reputation as the Christmas Nazi had taken on a whole new meaning when she had picked Christmas Eve as her wedding day. She made lists and wrote out detailed instructions for everyone involved in the wedding so that she could control every detail. When Alex noticed how stressed and tense she was getting, he put his foot down and insisted that Isabel hire Lyz to take over organizing. It was their first big argument and Isabel was left bemused as she realized that her laid back Alex that would do anything for her would not back down. She was actually forced to give in and turn things over to Lyz.
At first Isabel was very reluctant and questioned Lyz everyday about the details of the wedding that she had planned out. After a week of getting all the right answers, Isabel finally trusted Lyz to get everything right. Of course she still insisted on overseeing everything, but Isabel was much more relaxed knowing that Lyz had everything under control. Lyz’s organizational skills and calm manner convinced Isabel that she would make an excellent business partner and decided to talk with Lyz about it later.
On Christmas Eve, Isabel Evans walked down the aisle of a moonlight winter wonderland decorated church on the arm of her doting and proud father in a lavish wedding. Candles filled the church and reflected off the fake snow that covered the pews and the aisle. White frosted birch trees and small evergreens were brought in and scattered through out the church. Isabel wore a white silk strapless full-skirted dress with a white fur trimmed lace shawl draped from her elbows. She refused to wear a veil so that she could meet Alex’s gaze as walked down the aisle.
When Alex saw Isabel coming down the aisle, he couldn’t help pinching himself to make sure everything was real. He had loved Isabel for so long and had thought for years that she could never possibly be interested in him. But now, watching her walk down the aisle towards him, he thanked whoever was in charge upstairs for the small miracle.
Afterwards, as Alex and Isabel danced for the first time as man and wife to Sarah McLaughlin’s “I Love You”, Isabel rested her head on Alex’s shoulder and thought how perfect Alex was for her. He would do anything for her but wouldn’t let her walk all over him either. When their song was done, Alex escorted Isabel back to the table and went to the stage of the reception hall. The DJ turned over the microphone and Alex asked for everyone’s attention.
“Friends, I just wanted to say a few words. Today is the best day of my life. Years from now when I remember this day, I will remember how radiant my bride looks and how I shared this day with my best friends and family. I can honestly stand before you and say that despite meeting some wonderful women over the years and seeing some beautiful women, there is no other woman for me except my Isabel. Before the DJ continues, I wanted to introduce my old band, The Whits, and dedicate this next song to my beautiful bride.”
The crowd in the reception hall started to clap, except for Max. He sat still as he stared at Alex and thought about what he had just said. The curtain behind Alex opened up to reveal the re-assembled band, who were still good friends of Alex’s, and they started to play as Alex sang
All I am, all I'll be
Everything in this world
All that I'll ever need
Is in your eyes
Shining at me
When you smile I can feel
All my passion unfolding
Your hand brushes mine
And a thousand sensations
Seduce me 'cause I
I do cherish you
For the rest of my life
You don't have to think twice
I will love you still
From the depths of my soul
It's beyond my control
I've waited so long to say this to you
If you're asking do I love you this much
I do
In my world, before you
I lived outside my emotions
Didn't know where I was going
'Til that day I found you
How you opened my life
To a new paradise
In a world torn by change
Still with all of my heart
'Til my dying day
I do cherish you
For the rest of my life
You don't have to think twice
I will love you still
From the depths of my soul
It's beyond my control
I've waited so long to say this to you
If you're asking do I love you this much
I do
- 98Degrees ‘I Do, Cherish You’
Tears spilled down Isabel’s face as Alex sang to her and she didn’t care that it messed her makeup. Alex always managed to surprise her with cheesy gestures that she found to be romantic. The crowd clapped and cheered as Alex finished and walked off the stage to Isabel. As he approached her, she said one more prayer of thanks for her loving husband. She couldn’t wait for the next fifty years.
Max was silent as he drove him and Lyz home. Lyz had moved in with Max after Michael moved into Maria’s house when they got back from Las Vegas. Both Max and Lyz loved living together and their bond grew stronger every day. Their friends teased them about how close they were, but neither one really cared.
Alex had said something that bothered Max and brought back all of his insecurities. He looked over at Lyz and watched as she prepared for bed. No matter how many times he watched her, he could never get tired of watching Lyz. Her gentle grace and beauty took his breath away. But he had to be sure,
“Lyz, do you ever regret not dating other men?”
Lyz stopped brushing her hair and turned to stare at Max “What?”
“Well, Alex said something tonight that got me thinking. He said that of all the women he had met and dated, that he really knew that Isabel was the only person for him. And I realized tonight that you never really got a chance to date other people, to meet other guys.”
“Are you saying you want me to date other men?” Lyz stared with wide eyes.
“No! I can’t stand the thought of you dating other men, but maybe I wasn’t fair in proposing so soon. I mean, down the road, I don’t want you to feel trapped or feel like you missed something. I don’t want you to regret getting married so early.”
“Max, are you doubting that I love you and want to marry you?”
Max ran his hand through his hair and frustratingly bit out, “No, it’s just…sometimes I wonder…you haven’t had much experience with dating and sometimes I wonder if our being engaged so soon has cheated you out of that part of your life in some way…”
“I see, so you think I do not know my own mind.”
“No…”
“Max…”
“Forget it…let’s just drop it, I don’t know what I was thinking.” Max kissed Lyz on the forehead and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. When he came out, he stopped dead at the sight of Lyz packing her suitcases.
“What are you doing?”
After leaving the chateau, the women spent the rest of the week having fun shopping and sightseeing. The men were able to get away for a few hours each day to go skiing or beer tasting, but they were often dragged away from their fun by their respective partners. By the end of the week, the men were ready to go home. The night before they left, the guys all got together for a game of poker while the girls slept.
Jim, with a cigar hanging from his mouth said, “Do you know how many stores I went through with Amy, trying to find the perfect wedding dress? Do you? Because I sure don’t. I lost count after the fifteenth.”
Kyle threw a few chips in the pile in front of him, “Oh please, like you’re the only one of us that suffered? Isabel made us try on a whole store full of tuxedo’s. I didn’t know there were so many different styles of tuxes, did you?”
Michael groaned at the memory, “And shoes. Who the hell cares what kind of shoes I’m wearing with a damn tux!”
“Yeah, and that was just the first day. Dressing the girls was worse! God! My arms are sore after carrying around fifteen hundred bags! No way am I letting Iz do this for our wedding.”
Philip laughed at his future son-in-law, “Just wait, Alex! She’ll be worse for your wedding! You think the Christmas tree diagram was bad, wait until you see her plan for your wedding.”
The entire table of men groaned at the thought.
“I swear, if Maria gets all crazy like this, we’ll be on the first plane to Vegas.” Michael snorted as he threw in his chips. At the sudden silence, Michael looked up, “What?”
“Vegas.” Kyle mumbled.
Alex rubbed his hands together, “Payback!!”
Suddenly, the men forgot their poker game and started to plan.
The next morning, the entire group was packed and ready to go. Their flight was over ten hours long, with a layover, and they wanted to get to the airport as soon as possible. At the private airport, the men exchanged knowing smirks with their pilot. When the plane landed several hours later, Michael stood and ordered everyone out of the plane. The girls became confused when they saw signs reading “Welcome to Las Vegas!” as they walked out of the plane. They turned to the boys and demanded know what was going on.
Outside the plane, a driver stood waiting for them by a late model VW van. The girls all voiced confusion until Michael explained “Ladies! You have held us men hostages for the past week. You dragged us all over Switzerland shopping – for shoes, clothes, junk for your faces. You dressed us up. You made us carry your bags!” Alex winced as he rubbed his arms.
“Made us look at hundreds of different shoes that all look the same! Then you drag us to a spa and made us get massages and that, that pedicure crap.” Kyle shuddered at the memory. Michael’s voice deepened in horror, “You even made some of us wax.” Both Philip and Jim shuddered at the memory. “Well, you had your fun and now it’s our turn.”
Kyle spoke up and continued to explain “That’s right ladies. You will be our hostages now, here in sin city. We are going to gamble and drink. We will drag you along to fetch us our food, our drinks, our cigars. We will watch basketball, horse racing, and the occasional baseball game. There will be farting, scratching, and burping – deal with it! We’re guys. There will be no dieting, no picky food-eating, or suntanning, oh no. You are at our mercy just like we were at yours. Ladies, prepare yourselves for a weekend with the boys!”
Alex then took over, “Diane and Philip, Jim and Amy will fly back on Sunday since they have to get back to work. Once we men decide when we are done playing here in Vegas, we will be driving home to Roswell in this van – road tripping!! There will only be junk food. No juice spritzers, no healthy stuff. There will be loud Metallica music, rock and roll and none of that love song crap. You are only allowed one overnight bag. We will buy you clothes when you need it. We will decide when we eat and when to stop gambling. While we are here, there will be no whining, no cuddling, and no shopping!!!”
“And Maxwell? Lyz? No mushy romance crap!”
Max and Lyz looked at each other, laughing before Kyle broke the two of them apart and announced, “Ladies, pick your bag.”
Amused, the ladies grabbed their overnight bags. They piled into the van and headed off to Las Vegas’s main strip. They checked into a suite at the Bellagio and the men let the ladies shower and change before they headed downstairs. For the next three days, the men did exactly what they promised and the girls actually enjoyed themselves. They almost didn’t want to leave when the men decided to pack the van and head home.
On their way out of Vegas, they were passing a block of chapels when Alex cracked, “Too bad none of us got married at the Elvis chapel. Now that would have been classic.” The rest of the group laughed when suddenly Maria asked Michael to pull over to the curb. When he did, she turned to face Michael,
“Michael – I love you. Ever since we started dating, I knew that you were the one for me. Lately I’ve been thinking about what I want and I realize it’s you. Whatever happens in the future, I want to do it together. Michael, I don’t have ring but I love you and I want to marry you. Here, today. At the Elvis chapel or the Alien King chapel or the quickie drive in – I don’t care – will you marry me?”
Michael was stunned and the rest of the group held their breaths with excitement. “Maria – are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure in my life.”
“Yeah, ok. What the hell.”
Maria squealed in excitement and threw herself at Michael.
“Wait! Maria is not going to get married in jeans! We have to buy her a dress and she needs some flowers!” Isabel protested. Looking around the block, she pointed to a small shop “There, let’s go.”
Everyone piled out of the van and rushed into the clothing shop. Upon entering, they all noticed that it was a 70’s vintage clothing store and it fit Maria’s sense of style perfectly. Maria picked out a short eyelet lace scoop neck white dress with bell sleeves and white patent knee high platform boots. She wore her hair down with a matching white eyelet lace head scarf as her veil. Isabel picked out a mauve flower print sundress and strappy sandals and Ava picked out an old fashioned ice blue empire waist dress with flowing cap sleeves and square neck. Liz chose to go with a dark cream off-the-shoulder peasant style blouse and skirt with embroidered red flowers along the collar of the blouse and bottom of the skirt.
When the group stood around together, Maria burst out laughing, claiming that they all looked like flower children. At Lyz’s confused look, each girl took the time to explain the era of hippies, flower children, and grooviness.
While the girls were giggling over their outfits, Michael picked up a black leather bomber jacket, a white butterfly collar polyester shirt and black jeans. He rolled up the long jeans and slicked back his longish hair. Max chose a lime green polyester snap up shirt with white stripes and matching lime green hip hugging pants with white patent loafers. Alex picked out a dark purple velvet tuxedo suit with a light purple ruffled shirt while Kyle chose khaki colored polyester bell bottoms and a rainbow print poncho-style top with a matching head band wrapped around his forehead.
The girls grabbed flowers from a street vendor and ran to the nearest chapel-Alien King Wedding Chapel. They all tried to be serious as the large alien king married the couple, but they couldn’t help but laugh. Max was Michael’s best man, and Lyz was Maria’s maiden of honor. The rest of the group all cheered as Michael and Maria kissed for the fist time as man and wife. It was a happy crowd that piled back into the VW van and drove home towards Roswell. Halfway home, they stopped the van and had an impromptu reception at a nearby karaoke bar.
Upon arriving back in Roswell, Amy was furious to learn she had missed the wedding of her only daughter. She calmed down only when Maria offered to have a reception and re-new their vows in front of a priest and friends. Maria insisted upon everyone wearing the same outfit that they had worn during the original wedding and the guests had to wear similar themed clothing. All the guests laughed as Maria danced down the aisle with Jim to the song, ‘These Boots Were Made for Walking’ sung by Nancy Sinatra. Two months after Michael and Maria renewed their vows, Amy DeLuca officially became Amy DeLuca-Valenti.
Isabel’s reputation as the Christmas Nazi had taken on a whole new meaning when she had picked Christmas Eve as her wedding day. She made lists and wrote out detailed instructions for everyone involved in the wedding so that she could control every detail. When Alex noticed how stressed and tense she was getting, he put his foot down and insisted that Isabel hire Lyz to take over organizing. It was their first big argument and Isabel was left bemused as she realized that her laid back Alex that would do anything for her would not back down. She was actually forced to give in and turn things over to Lyz.
At first Isabel was very reluctant and questioned Lyz everyday about the details of the wedding that she had planned out. After a week of getting all the right answers, Isabel finally trusted Lyz to get everything right. Of course she still insisted on overseeing everything, but Isabel was much more relaxed knowing that Lyz had everything under control. Lyz’s organizational skills and calm manner convinced Isabel that she would make an excellent business partner and decided to talk with Lyz about it later.
On Christmas Eve, Isabel Evans walked down the aisle of a moonlight winter wonderland decorated church on the arm of her doting and proud father in a lavish wedding. Candles filled the church and reflected off the fake snow that covered the pews and the aisle. White frosted birch trees and small evergreens were brought in and scattered through out the church. Isabel wore a white silk strapless full-skirted dress with a white fur trimmed lace shawl draped from her elbows. She refused to wear a veil so that she could meet Alex’s gaze as walked down the aisle.
When Alex saw Isabel coming down the aisle, he couldn’t help pinching himself to make sure everything was real. He had loved Isabel for so long and had thought for years that she could never possibly be interested in him. But now, watching her walk down the aisle towards him, he thanked whoever was in charge upstairs for the small miracle.
Afterwards, as Alex and Isabel danced for the first time as man and wife to Sarah McLaughlin’s “I Love You”, Isabel rested her head on Alex’s shoulder and thought how perfect Alex was for her. He would do anything for her but wouldn’t let her walk all over him either. When their song was done, Alex escorted Isabel back to the table and went to the stage of the reception hall. The DJ turned over the microphone and Alex asked for everyone’s attention.
“Friends, I just wanted to say a few words. Today is the best day of my life. Years from now when I remember this day, I will remember how radiant my bride looks and how I shared this day with my best friends and family. I can honestly stand before you and say that despite meeting some wonderful women over the years and seeing some beautiful women, there is no other woman for me except my Isabel. Before the DJ continues, I wanted to introduce my old band, The Whits, and dedicate this next song to my beautiful bride.”
The crowd in the reception hall started to clap, except for Max. He sat still as he stared at Alex and thought about what he had just said. The curtain behind Alex opened up to reveal the re-assembled band, who were still good friends of Alex’s, and they started to play as Alex sang
All I am, all I'll be
Everything in this world
All that I'll ever need
Is in your eyes
Shining at me
When you smile I can feel
All my passion unfolding
Your hand brushes mine
And a thousand sensations
Seduce me 'cause I
I do cherish you
For the rest of my life
You don't have to think twice
I will love you still
From the depths of my soul
It's beyond my control
I've waited so long to say this to you
If you're asking do I love you this much
I do
In my world, before you
I lived outside my emotions
Didn't know where I was going
'Til that day I found you
How you opened my life
To a new paradise
In a world torn by change
Still with all of my heart
'Til my dying day
I do cherish you
For the rest of my life
You don't have to think twice
I will love you still
From the depths of my soul
It's beyond my control
I've waited so long to say this to you
If you're asking do I love you this much
I do
- 98Degrees ‘I Do, Cherish You’
Tears spilled down Isabel’s face as Alex sang to her and she didn’t care that it messed her makeup. Alex always managed to surprise her with cheesy gestures that she found to be romantic. The crowd clapped and cheered as Alex finished and walked off the stage to Isabel. As he approached her, she said one more prayer of thanks for her loving husband. She couldn’t wait for the next fifty years.
Max was silent as he drove him and Lyz home. Lyz had moved in with Max after Michael moved into Maria’s house when they got back from Las Vegas. Both Max and Lyz loved living together and their bond grew stronger every day. Their friends teased them about how close they were, but neither one really cared.
Alex had said something that bothered Max and brought back all of his insecurities. He looked over at Lyz and watched as she prepared for bed. No matter how many times he watched her, he could never get tired of watching Lyz. Her gentle grace and beauty took his breath away. But he had to be sure,
“Lyz, do you ever regret not dating other men?”
Lyz stopped brushing her hair and turned to stare at Max “What?”
“Well, Alex said something tonight that got me thinking. He said that of all the women he had met and dated, that he really knew that Isabel was the only person for him. And I realized tonight that you never really got a chance to date other people, to meet other guys.”
“Are you saying you want me to date other men?” Lyz stared with wide eyes.
“No! I can’t stand the thought of you dating other men, but maybe I wasn’t fair in proposing so soon. I mean, down the road, I don’t want you to feel trapped or feel like you missed something. I don’t want you to regret getting married so early.”
“Max, are you doubting that I love you and want to marry you?”
Max ran his hand through his hair and frustratingly bit out, “No, it’s just…sometimes I wonder…you haven’t had much experience with dating and sometimes I wonder if our being engaged so soon has cheated you out of that part of your life in some way…”
“I see, so you think I do not know my own mind.”
“No…”
“Max…”
“Forget it…let’s just drop it, I don’t know what I was thinking.” Max kissed Lyz on the forehead and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. When he came out, he stopped dead at the sight of Lyz packing her suitcases.
“What are you doing?”
I'm a believer!
From Chapter 30
“Max, are you doubting that I love you and want to marry you?”
Max ran his hand through his hair and frustratingly bit out, “No, it’s just…sometimes I wonder…you haven’t had much experience with dating and sometimes I wonder if our being engaged so soon has cheated you out of that part of your life in some way…”
“I see, so you think I do not know my own mind.”
“No…”
“Max…”
“Forget it…let’s just drop it, I don’t know what I was thinking.” Max kissed Lyz on the forehead and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. When he came out, he stopped dead at the sight of Lyz packing her suitcases.
“What are you doing?”
Chapter 31
“I’m packing.”
“What? No! Lyz, don’t do this.” Max reached out and grabbed Lyz’s arm, forcing her to face him. “You promised you would never leave me!”
Lyz reached up to gently caress Max’s cheek, “Oh Max. I am not leaving you. I am giving you space.”
“I don’t want space. I just want you.”
Looking into his earnest face, Lyz almost gave in “Max, I thought all this time that you loved me and knew that I love you, that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but you obviously have some doubts a-about me.” Lyz sucked in her bottom lip and averted her eyes to hide the hurt she felt at his earlier comments.
“No, not about you, Lyz.” Max hugged Lyz to his chest, “Never about you. I just want to make sure that you don’t have any regrets once we get married.”
“Regrets about what?”
“I-I…just want to make sure that you’re not going to regret choosing me. Us.” Max stood there kicking himself for bringing up the subject.
Lyz pulled away and looked him directly in the eye “Max, we have been through so much together, how can you doubt that I want to be with you?”
Max let his arms fall away and all the frustrations and all of his doubts came rushing out as he tried to explain, “That’s just it, Lyz. We have been through a lot. We met under stressful conditions – you were in hiding, fearing for your life. Then we had to deal with your father and Ranulf. You were scared and lonely, of course a close bond grew between us. I represented everything you needed – security and safety.
But you’re free now. No threat of your father or Nicholas. You have money to travel like you wanted. The whole world is open to you now. I’m the first man in your life that has been kind to you, loved you, taken care of you. You could be confusing gratitude for love. And someday you might wake up and realize that I’ve tied you down, that you really don’t love me. And I couldn’t stand that, Lyz. It would kill me.”
Lyz gasped lightly as Max confessed his feelings and tears rushed into her eyes as she heard the extent of Max’s doubts. As silence fell between them, she desperately tried to think of something to say. Finally, she realized that there was nothing she could say to dispel his doubts and knew what she had to do. She pulled off her engagement ring and mournfully held it out to Max who didn’t make a move.
“You are right, Max. We met under very difficult circumstances. And yes, I have been very isolated my whole life. There are things I have never done, or tried, or seen, but that does not mean I do not know what I feel for you. If you can doubt that, then I have no reason to wear this ring.”
When Max stared at the ring dumbly and refused to take it from her, she placed it gently on top of his dresser. “I hope to some day get my ring back. But I do not want it if you have any doubts.” Lyz grabbed her suitcase, half full, and walked out of the bedroom towards the front door.
Max lurched out of his daze when he heard her open the door and rushed out to the hallway, “Lyz! Don’t go. I was talking stupid before.”
Without turning around, Lyz told him, “No Max. I think you were talking the truth.” Lyz took one last longing look at Max before closing the door.
Max couldn’t move. He wasn’t sure if he was even breathing. He stared at the door, willing Lyz to come back. Endless minutes went by before he finally admitted to himself she wasn’t coming back. Shocked, Max stumbled back to his room and stared around the room. His eye caught on her ring on top of his dresser. He stared at it unblinkingly until it began to blur. He collapsed on the bed, still staring at the ring, and hated himself for the hurt look in Lyz’s eyes. He tried to tell himself that what he did, voicing his concerns, was right, that he was just making sure, but in the end, he felt the world’s biggest fool. He had the girl of his dreams and he let her go. ‘Fool! Idiot!!’
No, wait. Max sat up as he remembered what Lyz had said. She wasn’t leaving him, just giving him space. So he still had a chance to win her back. He would get her back.
Lyz went to Michael and Maria’s. She was trying not to cry, but when Maria opened the door, she burst into tears. Concerned, Maria hugged Lyz and tried to get an explanation as she led her into the living room. When she couldn’t get a coherent sentence out of her crying friend, she went to the kitchen and got out two spoons and a tub of ice cream from the freezer. Taking a spoon, Lyz calmed down enough to tell Maria what happened. Just as she got to the part of where Max explained his doubts, Maria jumped up and called Max a fool, an idiot, a blind moron. When Lyz stuttered, “I-I do not think Max wants to marry me.”
Maria was quick to reassure her, “Oh sweetie, you know that’s not it! He adores you! He gets this goofy besotted look on his face every time he even mentions your name. He’s just feeling a little insecure right now. Listen, men act so stupid when they get insecure.” Warming up to her subject, Maria got up and started pacing as she explained exactly how stupid men, like Max, could be.
Michael, who had been watching TV in the living room, rolled his eyes as Maria continued pacing and calling Max names but was ignored by both women. As she grew louder and rushed to reassure Lyz, he finally gave up trying to watch his hockey game. Grumbling softly, he got up to get his own spoon and joined Lyz on the couch. The two of them silently ate ice cream as Maria continued her rant on insecure men and their boneheadedness. Michael explained it was a Maria-verse word at Lyz’s confused look.
While Maria ranted, Michael thoughtfully asked, “You know, it kinda sounds like Max is feeling insecure, what do you think?”
Maria’s stopped pacing and retorted with sarcasm, “Nooooo, really? Isn’t that what I’ve been saying all along?!?”
“I wasn’t talking to you! I was asking Lyz.” Michael snapped before trying to explain Max’s point of view “Think about it – you’ve been isolated from the world your whole life. You never dated or even kissed another man. Then he comes along and he’s the first nice available man who showed you kindness. He probably thinks that if another guy had met you first and been kind to you, you would’ve fallen for him.”
“He thinks that I would have fallen in love with any man who was nice to me?”
Michael shrugged “Yeah – it sounds like it.”
“I repeat, he’s a moron.” Maria sat herself down on Michael’s lap and scooped more ice cream.
“But, what about the dreams? I dreamed of him before I even met him! I know it was him. And he dreamt of me! Does that not mean anything?”
“Damn, I forgot about that. Ok, that’s it, Maxwell is an idiot.” Michael continued eating ice cream.
Lyz tapped her spoon thoughtfully against her lips, “Hmm, what must I do to convince him that he is the only man I could love?”
Maria and Michael ate silently as they thought before Michael pointed out, “Well, if you think about it, Max showed you – with all that romantic crap.”
“And those were some pretty romantic gestures – picnics, driving lessons, prom night. Ooooh, and your birthday party back in September, don’t forget that!”
“Who can forget it? Maxwell had all of us running around trying to put it together. Damn! He was almost as bad as the Christmas Nazi!”
“Well, I thought it was so romantic. The 21 cupcakes for your 21 birthdays, the 21 presents, 21 white roses.” Maria sighed heavily as she remembered. “Ooooh, and don’t forget the serenade! In French no less.” She pointed out, slightly gushing.
Michael snorted, “Yeah, and guess who had to listen to him practice!”
As Maria and Michael argued, Lyz smiled tenderly as she remembered the night they celebrated her birthday at the Crashdown. That had been just three short months ago and Max had seemed so happy, they had all seemed happy. Lyz furrowed her brow as she tried to remember if Max showed any signs of doubts as far back as then. Throughout the entire year and a half they knew each other, there was no indication of any of his doubts.
What Michael and Maria pointed out made some sense and it made Lyz think about everything Max had done for her. She fell silent as she ate her ice cream before she suddenly sat up. “I got it! Max told me he loved me by showing me, so I will show him.” Lyz outlined her idea to Michael and Maria who both had to smile and agree that it was a brilliant plan.
Since Isabel was leaving on her honeymoon and wouldn’t be back for two weeks, Maria volunteered to help Lyz organize her strategy. Michael interjected that it would take everyone to pull it off and offered to talk the Valenti’s the next day over Christmas dinner. Lyz would talk with Alex and Isabel during Christmas dinner at the Evans’s house.
The next morning, Lyz went over to the Evans’s early and explained the situation between her and Max. She explained why she moved out of Max’s condo and her plan on showing Max how much she loved him. Both Philip and Diane declared their son an idiot before offering Max’s old room to stay in while she got everything ready, and she eagerly accepted. When Alex and Isabel showed up, they were both amazed at how insecure Max was acting and Isabel called her twin an idiot. She and Lyz went to Max’s room to plot out a strategy and to talk about their men.
Max sat outside of his parents’ house and waited anxiously for Lyz to show up, wondering if she really would. After ten minutes, he gave up and walked into the house. He greeted his parents and sister and stumbled over his explanation about Lyz. He was so busy trying to explain, he didn’t notice that his parents weren’t concerned that Lyz wasn’t with him or that Isabel and Alex didn’t ask where she was. Instead, they went about preparing dinner normally while he stood in the kitchen doorway talking. Lyz walked down the stairs to the kitchen and hugged Max mid-sentence. He whirled around,
“Lyz! When did you get here?” Max hugged her back and worriedly looked over at his family. He then wondered at the sly smiles his family was exchanging.
Lyz explained to him, “Your parents have actually invited me to stay with them for awhile, in your old room.” She pulled back “Max, the other night when you said all of those things, I thought maybe you were looking for a reason to not marry me. Then Michael and Maria made me realize that you were not secure in the belief that I love you, that I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you. I have been so busy marveling and enjoying having you show me how much you love me, that I have not done the same for you. I am ashamed that I have not shown you how much you mean to me. But I have every intention of rectifying the situation.” Lyz strengthened her resolve and continued “I have decided that I want us to, um, how did Maria say it, take a few steps back in our relationship so that I can court you.”
“What?” Max asked in a puzzled tone.
“Starting today, I want to court you, to show you that I only want to be with you.” Lyz said simply.
“But Lyz, we’re already engaged.”
“True, but that does not stop you from having doubts. When you put that ring on my finger again, I want you to be confident in my love for you.”
“Lyz, I don’t doubt you love me. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t feel cheated.”
“Well, I am going to make sure you know completely that I do not feel cheated. Know this Max, I’m coming for you.” Lyz kissed him passionately before stepping back and smiling at his stunned expression. “And everyone has agreed to help me show you.”
Lyz tugged on his arm and led him to the kitchen where Diane and Isabel were preparing the turkey. She smiled brightly at Diane before telling Max. “Your mother is going to help me by teaching me how to cook. My first lesson is today – I am going to learn how to make mashed potatoes.”
Philip handed Max and Alex a glass of wine while they stood by and watched Diane teach Lyz how to peel the potatoes, cut them up for boiling, and how to mash them. They hid smiles when a few potatoes landed on the floor as Lyz tried to cut them up, then they laughed out right as Lyz forgot to mash the potatoes before whipping them with the mixer. Bits of potato flew around the room and on Lyz’s face. Max had wanted to help her clean up but she refused. The three men then shared an indulgent, proud smile when Lyz finally whipped the potatoes into a fluffy white pile.
Next came the dressing. Lyz was grateful that it was a boxed mix and easily prepared it by following the directions but then Diane instructed her on how to stuff the bird. Max couldn’t help the laugh that spilled out when he saw the look of revulsion on Lyz’s face
“You want me, to stick my hand up…up the butt?”
Lyz looked over at Max as he laughed and Philip and Alex tried not to laugh at her reaction.
Lyz narrowed her eyes, “I am so glad you find this amusing, Max. Only for you will I stick my hand up a turkey’s butt.” She lifted her chin and took a large portion of the uncooked stuffing in her hand. With her free hand, she gingerly pulled on one turkey leg to give her easier access and with a grimace, she sank her hand into the empty cavity of the turkey. Both Diane and Isabel had to laugh at Lyz’s expression. Once the turkey was stuffed, Diane instructed Lyz on how to set the temperature on the stove and let the turkey cook. For the sake of time, Diane prepared the pies and breads.
After dinner and exchanging gifts, it was time for Max to leave but he was reluctant to go. The others left the room to give the two some privacy.
“I don’t want to go home without you. I hate sleeping in our bed alone.” Max whispered as he held Lyz who sat curled across his lap.
Lyz cuddled closer “I know. I am lonely in your bed here without you.”
“Then come home. Please, angel.”
“Max. No.” Lyz directed his face so that she could look into his eyes “I want to do this right. Please, let me.”
Max closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Lyz’s temple “Alright, if it means that much to you. But Lyz, do me a favor, make it quick. I hate that you’re not wearing your ring.”
“Max, that is the entire point of this. When I am done, you will know that I am yours completely, with or with out a ring.” Lyz pulled Max down for a breathless kiss and then sent him out the door.
“Max, are you doubting that I love you and want to marry you?”
Max ran his hand through his hair and frustratingly bit out, “No, it’s just…sometimes I wonder…you haven’t had much experience with dating and sometimes I wonder if our being engaged so soon has cheated you out of that part of your life in some way…”
“I see, so you think I do not know my own mind.”
“No…”
“Max…”
“Forget it…let’s just drop it, I don’t know what I was thinking.” Max kissed Lyz on the forehead and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. When he came out, he stopped dead at the sight of Lyz packing her suitcases.
“What are you doing?”
Chapter 31
“I’m packing.”
“What? No! Lyz, don’t do this.” Max reached out and grabbed Lyz’s arm, forcing her to face him. “You promised you would never leave me!”
Lyz reached up to gently caress Max’s cheek, “Oh Max. I am not leaving you. I am giving you space.”
“I don’t want space. I just want you.”
Looking into his earnest face, Lyz almost gave in “Max, I thought all this time that you loved me and knew that I love you, that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but you obviously have some doubts a-about me.” Lyz sucked in her bottom lip and averted her eyes to hide the hurt she felt at his earlier comments.
“No, not about you, Lyz.” Max hugged Lyz to his chest, “Never about you. I just want to make sure that you don’t have any regrets once we get married.”
“Regrets about what?”
“I-I…just want to make sure that you’re not going to regret choosing me. Us.” Max stood there kicking himself for bringing up the subject.
Lyz pulled away and looked him directly in the eye “Max, we have been through so much together, how can you doubt that I want to be with you?”
Max let his arms fall away and all the frustrations and all of his doubts came rushing out as he tried to explain, “That’s just it, Lyz. We have been through a lot. We met under stressful conditions – you were in hiding, fearing for your life. Then we had to deal with your father and Ranulf. You were scared and lonely, of course a close bond grew between us. I represented everything you needed – security and safety.
But you’re free now. No threat of your father or Nicholas. You have money to travel like you wanted. The whole world is open to you now. I’m the first man in your life that has been kind to you, loved you, taken care of you. You could be confusing gratitude for love. And someday you might wake up and realize that I’ve tied you down, that you really don’t love me. And I couldn’t stand that, Lyz. It would kill me.”
Lyz gasped lightly as Max confessed his feelings and tears rushed into her eyes as she heard the extent of Max’s doubts. As silence fell between them, she desperately tried to think of something to say. Finally, she realized that there was nothing she could say to dispel his doubts and knew what she had to do. She pulled off her engagement ring and mournfully held it out to Max who didn’t make a move.
“You are right, Max. We met under very difficult circumstances. And yes, I have been very isolated my whole life. There are things I have never done, or tried, or seen, but that does not mean I do not know what I feel for you. If you can doubt that, then I have no reason to wear this ring.”
When Max stared at the ring dumbly and refused to take it from her, she placed it gently on top of his dresser. “I hope to some day get my ring back. But I do not want it if you have any doubts.” Lyz grabbed her suitcase, half full, and walked out of the bedroom towards the front door.
Max lurched out of his daze when he heard her open the door and rushed out to the hallway, “Lyz! Don’t go. I was talking stupid before.”
Without turning around, Lyz told him, “No Max. I think you were talking the truth.” Lyz took one last longing look at Max before closing the door.
Max couldn’t move. He wasn’t sure if he was even breathing. He stared at the door, willing Lyz to come back. Endless minutes went by before he finally admitted to himself she wasn’t coming back. Shocked, Max stumbled back to his room and stared around the room. His eye caught on her ring on top of his dresser. He stared at it unblinkingly until it began to blur. He collapsed on the bed, still staring at the ring, and hated himself for the hurt look in Lyz’s eyes. He tried to tell himself that what he did, voicing his concerns, was right, that he was just making sure, but in the end, he felt the world’s biggest fool. He had the girl of his dreams and he let her go. ‘Fool! Idiot!!’
No, wait. Max sat up as he remembered what Lyz had said. She wasn’t leaving him, just giving him space. So he still had a chance to win her back. He would get her back.
Lyz went to Michael and Maria’s. She was trying not to cry, but when Maria opened the door, she burst into tears. Concerned, Maria hugged Lyz and tried to get an explanation as she led her into the living room. When she couldn’t get a coherent sentence out of her crying friend, she went to the kitchen and got out two spoons and a tub of ice cream from the freezer. Taking a spoon, Lyz calmed down enough to tell Maria what happened. Just as she got to the part of where Max explained his doubts, Maria jumped up and called Max a fool, an idiot, a blind moron. When Lyz stuttered, “I-I do not think Max wants to marry me.”
Maria was quick to reassure her, “Oh sweetie, you know that’s not it! He adores you! He gets this goofy besotted look on his face every time he even mentions your name. He’s just feeling a little insecure right now. Listen, men act so stupid when they get insecure.” Warming up to her subject, Maria got up and started pacing as she explained exactly how stupid men, like Max, could be.
Michael, who had been watching TV in the living room, rolled his eyes as Maria continued pacing and calling Max names but was ignored by both women. As she grew louder and rushed to reassure Lyz, he finally gave up trying to watch his hockey game. Grumbling softly, he got up to get his own spoon and joined Lyz on the couch. The two of them silently ate ice cream as Maria continued her rant on insecure men and their boneheadedness. Michael explained it was a Maria-verse word at Lyz’s confused look.
While Maria ranted, Michael thoughtfully asked, “You know, it kinda sounds like Max is feeling insecure, what do you think?”
Maria’s stopped pacing and retorted with sarcasm, “Nooooo, really? Isn’t that what I’ve been saying all along?!?”
“I wasn’t talking to you! I was asking Lyz.” Michael snapped before trying to explain Max’s point of view “Think about it – you’ve been isolated from the world your whole life. You never dated or even kissed another man. Then he comes along and he’s the first nice available man who showed you kindness. He probably thinks that if another guy had met you first and been kind to you, you would’ve fallen for him.”
“He thinks that I would have fallen in love with any man who was nice to me?”
Michael shrugged “Yeah – it sounds like it.”
“I repeat, he’s a moron.” Maria sat herself down on Michael’s lap and scooped more ice cream.
“But, what about the dreams? I dreamed of him before I even met him! I know it was him. And he dreamt of me! Does that not mean anything?”
“Damn, I forgot about that. Ok, that’s it, Maxwell is an idiot.” Michael continued eating ice cream.
Lyz tapped her spoon thoughtfully against her lips, “Hmm, what must I do to convince him that he is the only man I could love?”
Maria and Michael ate silently as they thought before Michael pointed out, “Well, if you think about it, Max showed you – with all that romantic crap.”
“And those were some pretty romantic gestures – picnics, driving lessons, prom night. Ooooh, and your birthday party back in September, don’t forget that!”
“Who can forget it? Maxwell had all of us running around trying to put it together. Damn! He was almost as bad as the Christmas Nazi!”
“Well, I thought it was so romantic. The 21 cupcakes for your 21 birthdays, the 21 presents, 21 white roses.” Maria sighed heavily as she remembered. “Ooooh, and don’t forget the serenade! In French no less.” She pointed out, slightly gushing.
Michael snorted, “Yeah, and guess who had to listen to him practice!”
As Maria and Michael argued, Lyz smiled tenderly as she remembered the night they celebrated her birthday at the Crashdown. That had been just three short months ago and Max had seemed so happy, they had all seemed happy. Lyz furrowed her brow as she tried to remember if Max showed any signs of doubts as far back as then. Throughout the entire year and a half they knew each other, there was no indication of any of his doubts.
What Michael and Maria pointed out made some sense and it made Lyz think about everything Max had done for her. She fell silent as she ate her ice cream before she suddenly sat up. “I got it! Max told me he loved me by showing me, so I will show him.” Lyz outlined her idea to Michael and Maria who both had to smile and agree that it was a brilliant plan.
Since Isabel was leaving on her honeymoon and wouldn’t be back for two weeks, Maria volunteered to help Lyz organize her strategy. Michael interjected that it would take everyone to pull it off and offered to talk the Valenti’s the next day over Christmas dinner. Lyz would talk with Alex and Isabel during Christmas dinner at the Evans’s house.
The next morning, Lyz went over to the Evans’s early and explained the situation between her and Max. She explained why she moved out of Max’s condo and her plan on showing Max how much she loved him. Both Philip and Diane declared their son an idiot before offering Max’s old room to stay in while she got everything ready, and she eagerly accepted. When Alex and Isabel showed up, they were both amazed at how insecure Max was acting and Isabel called her twin an idiot. She and Lyz went to Max’s room to plot out a strategy and to talk about their men.
Max sat outside of his parents’ house and waited anxiously for Lyz to show up, wondering if she really would. After ten minutes, he gave up and walked into the house. He greeted his parents and sister and stumbled over his explanation about Lyz. He was so busy trying to explain, he didn’t notice that his parents weren’t concerned that Lyz wasn’t with him or that Isabel and Alex didn’t ask where she was. Instead, they went about preparing dinner normally while he stood in the kitchen doorway talking. Lyz walked down the stairs to the kitchen and hugged Max mid-sentence. He whirled around,
“Lyz! When did you get here?” Max hugged her back and worriedly looked over at his family. He then wondered at the sly smiles his family was exchanging.
Lyz explained to him, “Your parents have actually invited me to stay with them for awhile, in your old room.” She pulled back “Max, the other night when you said all of those things, I thought maybe you were looking for a reason to not marry me. Then Michael and Maria made me realize that you were not secure in the belief that I love you, that I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you. I have been so busy marveling and enjoying having you show me how much you love me, that I have not done the same for you. I am ashamed that I have not shown you how much you mean to me. But I have every intention of rectifying the situation.” Lyz strengthened her resolve and continued “I have decided that I want us to, um, how did Maria say it, take a few steps back in our relationship so that I can court you.”
“What?” Max asked in a puzzled tone.
“Starting today, I want to court you, to show you that I only want to be with you.” Lyz said simply.
“But Lyz, we’re already engaged.”
“True, but that does not stop you from having doubts. When you put that ring on my finger again, I want you to be confident in my love for you.”
“Lyz, I don’t doubt you love me. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t feel cheated.”
“Well, I am going to make sure you know completely that I do not feel cheated. Know this Max, I’m coming for you.” Lyz kissed him passionately before stepping back and smiling at his stunned expression. “And everyone has agreed to help me show you.”
Lyz tugged on his arm and led him to the kitchen where Diane and Isabel were preparing the turkey. She smiled brightly at Diane before telling Max. “Your mother is going to help me by teaching me how to cook. My first lesson is today – I am going to learn how to make mashed potatoes.”
Philip handed Max and Alex a glass of wine while they stood by and watched Diane teach Lyz how to peel the potatoes, cut them up for boiling, and how to mash them. They hid smiles when a few potatoes landed on the floor as Lyz tried to cut them up, then they laughed out right as Lyz forgot to mash the potatoes before whipping them with the mixer. Bits of potato flew around the room and on Lyz’s face. Max had wanted to help her clean up but she refused. The three men then shared an indulgent, proud smile when Lyz finally whipped the potatoes into a fluffy white pile.
Next came the dressing. Lyz was grateful that it was a boxed mix and easily prepared it by following the directions but then Diane instructed her on how to stuff the bird. Max couldn’t help the laugh that spilled out when he saw the look of revulsion on Lyz’s face
“You want me, to stick my hand up…up the butt?”
Lyz looked over at Max as he laughed and Philip and Alex tried not to laugh at her reaction.
Lyz narrowed her eyes, “I am so glad you find this amusing, Max. Only for you will I stick my hand up a turkey’s butt.” She lifted her chin and took a large portion of the uncooked stuffing in her hand. With her free hand, she gingerly pulled on one turkey leg to give her easier access and with a grimace, she sank her hand into the empty cavity of the turkey. Both Diane and Isabel had to laugh at Lyz’s expression. Once the turkey was stuffed, Diane instructed Lyz on how to set the temperature on the stove and let the turkey cook. For the sake of time, Diane prepared the pies and breads.
After dinner and exchanging gifts, it was time for Max to leave but he was reluctant to go. The others left the room to give the two some privacy.
“I don’t want to go home without you. I hate sleeping in our bed alone.” Max whispered as he held Lyz who sat curled across his lap.
Lyz cuddled closer “I know. I am lonely in your bed here without you.”
“Then come home. Please, angel.”
“Max. No.” Lyz directed his face so that she could look into his eyes “I want to do this right. Please, let me.”
Max closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Lyz’s temple “Alright, if it means that much to you. But Lyz, do me a favor, make it quick. I hate that you’re not wearing your ring.”
“Max, that is the entire point of this. When I am done, you will know that I am yours completely, with or with out a ring.” Lyz pulled Max down for a breathless kiss and then sent him out the door.
I'm a believer!
Hey guys! Can you believe this story is almost over? There are only three chapters left after this one. I've decided that instead of dragging it out, I'll just post all three of them at once. So, keep an eye out sometime late next week for the final three!!!!
Many thanks to Melissa and Angela(even though she hasn't been on this site) for all of their help!
Chapter 32
For the next few weeks, Lyz was true to her word about courting Max. Max didn't know whether to laugh at Lyz's antics or kiss her because of them. She had sent him a bouquet of white roses one day, then concert tickets to Gomez on another day. She showed up for impromptu picnics in his office and even snuck into the apartment to cook him dinner one night.
She went all out in trying to gain life experiences too. She bribed the principal with a donation check to be allowed to attend high school for a week and Kyle volunteered to show her the nearby Roswell Community College so that she could experience college.
Lyz even talked Jeff Parker into hiring her as a waitress at the Crashdown, After one day of dropping plates, noisy kids, rude customers, and trying to smile all day while standing on her feet, she knew she hated being a waitress. But she promised Jeff that she would work a week and she was determined to keep her promise. One week later, she wasn’t dropping any plates or missing orders but, her feet still ached and she hated the smell of grease in her hair.
As Lyz showered after her shift, she smiled at the memory of Max’s reaction when he had seen her in her uniform. Max had come to the Crashdown for dinner with parents on her fourth day. Lyz had been in the back putting on her apron and had seen them as they were seated. She smiled and hid in the back until Jeff walked away and they were engrossed in their menus. Smoothing down her apron, she had confidently walked into the dining room and walked to their table.
At the sound of her voice, Max had looked away from his menu and his jaw promptly fell open as he took in the short Crashdown uniform. Max had gone still and wouldn’t look her in the eyes, instead, his eyes seemed permanently glued to her legs. More specifically, the exact spot where the skirt ended and her legs started. Lyz had to poke him with her pencil to get his attention and repeated her question of what he wanted for dinner. She promptly laughed out loud when he had replied, “You” and blushed as he realized his parents had heard him.
He had stared at her the entire time he was eating and his parents had given up trying to have a conversation with him. After his parents left, Max continued to stay to watch her as she had finished her shift. As she closed up the restaurant, Jeff had laughingly told her to go home and take Max with her.
When Max escorted her to his jeep, he had swiftly pulled her in his arms and urgently kissed her. Lyz made a mental note to speak to Jeff about keeping the uniform when Max had whispered disjointed thoughts about the uniform, the snaps, the length, and something about easy access…
Lyz sighed with pleasure as the water from her shower cleaned off the smell of the grease and food from the Crashdown. Thinking about the new Crashdown uniform folded on the bottom of her suitcase, Lyz had to smile. She definitely planned on surprising Max with that uniform. With a couple of jobs now on her resume of experiences, Lyz thought about the next step in her courting. When she couldn’t think of anything, she called Maria who promptly called Ava on three-way.
After a brief discussion, Maria and Ava decided that it was time for Lyz to learn how to flirt. They arranged to get together that weekend and go to Albuquerque. Maria and Ava drove Lyz out to a weekend resort near downtown Albuquerque. While they were getting pampered, they told her about the importance of flirting. Even the manicurists and hair stylists gave input and shared flirting stories.
At dinner in one of the nicer restaurants in the city, the girls shared the finer points in flirting with Lyz.
Maria spoke up first, “Ok, first of all you have to remember one thing: Flirting is all about the maybe’s, the hint of what could happen, not will happen.”
Ava nodded, “Yeah, when you’re flirting, never say more than what you’re willing to follow through with.”
Lyz looked from one girl to the other and nodded, seriously intent on learning.
“There are two main reasons for flirting too – To get what you want, and to toy with the opposite sex. And they fall for it every time.” Ava snickered lightly.
“But, how does one go about flirting?” Lyz asked perplexed.
“It’s all in the way you look at him.”
“What?” Ava and Lyz both asked.
“It’s true. Eye contact is very, very important. When you see an interesting guy, make eye contact. Direct eye contact, no matter how brief, will let him know you’re interested. You can even mix it up and wink. And only look at his eyes – looking anywhere else leaves room for misunderstandings. But, don’t stare – that would be rude.”
“Ok – eye contact. Possible wink. Got it. Anything else?”
“Smile. To me, flirting is all in the smile.” Ava said as she sipped her wine.
“But, I smile all the time!”
“No, no, no, there’s a difference between smiling when you’re happy and smiling to flirt. When you are smiling to flirt, the smile should say ‘Hi – I think you’re attractive and I want to get to know you.’ But, also a little secretive.”
Lyz furrowed her brow and tried to understand the complexities of a simple smile. After dinner, Maria steered them all into a nearby bar. As they sat drinking their fruity drinks, both Maria and Ava pointed out people who were engaged in flirting and interpreted the moves for Lyz.
“See that woman by the bar, who looks like a stuffed sausage in that white tube top? See how she’s looking at the guy next to her?” Maria pointed. “She’s giving the guy short, repetitive glances which basically means, you have an interesting face and I want to play with you, if you’re interested. Oooooh and look! Did you see that guy’s eyebrows? They shot up! He noticed her. Despite her appearance, he seems to be interested.”
“No wait, look at that woman sitting on the barstool with the skirt hiked up. See that? She’s smiling at the guy at the next table. It’s soft yet shows that she’s interested. The guy can’t take his eyes off of her.”
“No – look at sausage girl. She’s about to do that thing….yes, there it is! Did you see it? She did the hair flip!”
“The hair flip? What is that?”
“It’s when…”
Ava interrupted, “Barstool lady is licking her lips.”
“Why is licking her lips important?”
Lyz sat between her two friends as they pointed out various flirting techniques and tried to make sense out of everything being thrown at her.
After the bar, Ava suggested taking Lyz to a strip club. Maria nixed the idea but Ava pointed out that Lyz needed to learn a few ‘other’ things too. Lyz, unsure what a strip club was, innocently followed her friends into the new bar. The first thing she noticed was the large group of men close to a well lit stage. She saw a woman come out from behind a curtain and started to dance. Right in front of the men. Her jaw dropped and her face became bright red when the woman started to peel away her clothes and she quickly averted her eyes.
Maria and Ava laughed at her embarrassment and gently forced her to turn around and face the stage. Maria pointed out,
“Besides the whole nudity thing, watch how she moves her body. Not the leg spreading or boob thrusting, but how her body moves with the music yet still remains attentive to the men around her. She knows they’re watching her, knows that they’re excited by her.”
Lyz averted her eyes from the barely clad woman dancing on the stage and tried to focus on the men near the stage.
“See how she reacts by giving a little bit more by moving in a bit closer but then moving away, briefly touching but not really. See how she makes them think she’s about to touch them – see the way they anticipate it, wait for it, long for it? That’s what you can do to Max.”
“But without taking your clothes off.” Ava piped in. “You can flirt with a man like Max just with your body, hinting at things to come without taking off your clothes.”
At the sound of loud whistles and clapping, Lyz couldn’t help but look at what all the noise was about and promptly turned bright red. She got up from her seat and insisted that they return to the hotel. Maria and Ava both agreed. Once back at the hotel room, the girls quizzed Lyz on what she had learned that day.
The next day the girls decided to spend the afternoon suntanning by the pool. While dressing, Ava and Maria both sported barely there bikinis, Lyz came out in shorts and a tank top. When they discovered Lyz didn’t have a bathing suit, they marched her down the resort shop and picked out a modest black and white polka dot bikini. After arguing that the bikini was much to small, Lyz finally conceded to Maria and bought it. The two older girls rolled their eyes when Lyz finally came out of the dressing room wrapped in her towel.
“Sweetie, you’ve got to lose the towel.”
“But I am almost naked!”
“No you’re not. All of your important parts are covered.”
“But…”
“Lyz, I know you’re uncomfortable right now, but you’ll get use to it the more you wear it.” Ava gave Lyz a comforting squeeze around the shoulders.
“It’s so immodest.” Lyz mumbled.
“Hey! Bikinis are the norm here. No one is going to judge you. Yes, there will be people who look at you but that’s because you are beautiful and have a beautiful body. You’re tiny and slim with just enough curve to catch some male eyes. Be proud – I know tons of women who would kill for a body like yours.” Maria assured her.
“The more comfortable you are in your own skin, with your own body, the more power you have when you flirt. They can look, but they can’t touch unless you want them to." Ava explained. "Here, we’ll wrap the towel around your waist as we walk down to the pool, but once we get to our chairs, you have to take it off.”
“But…”
“Relax! Just pretend that you don’t care or notice anyone watching, ok? Act like a princess!”
Lyz smiled a little at Maria's joke, then relaxed and nodded, “Ok, I think I can do this.”
Maria hugged her friend, “Great! Now, remember what we taught you last night about ‘THE’ walk?”
“Lead into the room with the hips, pause for one second, lightly sway hips side to side, walk slowly, confidently – yes?”
“Good girl! Let’s see that walk!”
Ava and Maria clapped their encouragement before pushing Lyz towards the pool. They whispered words of encouragement as they followed behind her. The rest of the weekend was spent practicing her walk and her techniques, until she could do them without blushing or giggling. When the weekend was over, Lyz was ready to try out the moves that she had learned and she called Max to invite him over for movie night.
Max wondered what she was up to, but he was eager to find out. He stood in front of his parent's house and ran a hand through this hair before ringing the bell. His body temperature heated up when Lyz answered the door wearing a short baby blue, sexy spaghetti-strapp sundress. His eyes drank in the sight of her exposed creamy skin, the tempting cleavage, and as Max's eyes traveled down, he had to swallow the lump that came to his throat.
The flirty skirt of her dress did nothing to hide the long expanse of her legs - her very tempting bare legs and bare feet. Max could feel his control slipping a bit as his hand automatically went out to touch the silkiness of her neck, but he clamped down hard and got himself under control again. He forced his eyes upward onto Lyz's face and saw her soft lips curved in a seductive smile.
Max's heart skipped a beat as he saw the smile and the look in Lyz's eye. He couldn't define it, but it sent his pulses racing. He couldn't move as she slowly leaned in to greet him with a light kiss. His eyes drifted close as he smelled her unique scent of strawberries and honey. He was about to reach up to touch her hair when she pulled back and tugged on his arm.
"Come in, Max." Were his ears stuffed up or was Lyz's voice just a bit husky? "I just took the strawberry shortcake out of the oven."
Max was trying to pay attention to what Lyz was saying but he had to shake his head of his steamy daydreams to focus on what Lyz was saying. Lyz pulled Max further into the house and towards the kitchen where she was finishing the preparation of their movie snack. Max propped himself against the kitchen counter and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he watched Lyz.
"Where are my parents?"
Lyz glanced at him over her shoulder and smiled as she finished removing the shortcake from the baking pan "They're spending a few nights in Albuquerque."
She met his eyes, gave him another small smile and walked over to him. Max tensed as she approached, watching every move she made. He stopped breathing when she leaned in to press one hand on his chest and gently pressed up against him to reach for something behind him.
He smelled the strong scent of fresh strawberries as she brought a bowl of them out from behind him. His eyes glued to her hips and watched them sway as she walked over to the sink to start washing the strawberries. He couldn't breathe when she suddenly paused and held a wet berry to her lips.
He swore everything slowed down as she looked over at him and seductively bit into it. His jaw slackened as he watched her tongue came out to slowly lick the strawberry juice off of her lips. He had the sudden desperate craving to lick her lips too.
As she finished the berry, Lyz noticed Max watching her intently and playfully sent a small smile to him "Mmm, sweet. I hope you like strawberry shortcake."
Max had to clear his throat a couple of times before he could get his voice to work. "Yeah, I do." He blinked and had to force himself to concentrate on what they were talking about. It suddenly dawned on him that Lyz was acting a little different. The flirty smiles, the brief glances, the way she walked, the short dress, it was like she was deliberately teasing him.
"Lyz, are you flirting with me?" He asked.
Lyz finished slicing the berries before meeting Max's eyes and answered honestly "Yes."
She moved to remove another pan of shortcake from the oven. Max watched intently as she bent over at the waist and couldn't help himself as his eyes traveled to the curve of her small butt. Again, he had to clamp down on his urge to reach out and pull her to him.
"Why?" He asked hoarsely as she placed the pan on the oven and then went to the cupboard to reach for another bowl which caused her short skirt to rise even higher and reveal more leg. Lyz finished putting the extra strawberries in the bowl before turning to reach into the refrigerator for the bowl of fresh whipped cream.
"Because, Maria told me that it would get your attention." Lyz prepared two individual bowls with shortcake, then scooped freshly sliced strawberries over them. As she topped both bowls with the whipped cream, she scooped a bit of the cream on to her finger and slowly licked it off before glancing at Max and asking, "Is it working?"
Max pushed himself away from the counter and lunged for Lzy. He grabbed her and roughly pulled her up against his chest. Stars exploded for both of them as his lips crashed against hers and their tongues entwined. Max let go of his control and reached down to pick Lyz up and set her on top of the counter without removing his lips from hers.
As he moved to part her legs and step between them, the bowl of strawberries went crashing to the floor. The scent of crushed strawberries engulfed the two as their kiss intensified. Max pulled Lyz's legs up to wrap around his waist as he lifted her off the counter and carried her to his old bedroom.
~!~
The next morning, Lyz woke up and couldn't help but smile as she saw Max's arms wrapped tightly around her naked waist. She thought over what had happened last night when Max carried her into his old room. She had been ready to take the next intimate step with him but he still insisted on waiting. Instead, they had spent the night exploring each others bodies and giving each other pleasure. Several times Max had to pull away from her and regain some control, but he had kept his word that he wouldn't take her before their wedding night.
Lyz stroked Max's arm and watched him sleep as she thought about her plan. She loved Max and wanted him to believe that she would always choose him, but she could not tell if she was making any progress. She quietly sighed, not knowing how else to show him and thought she would talk with Nicole to get some new ideas.
Many thanks to Melissa and Angela(even though she hasn't been on this site) for all of their help!
Chapter 32
For the next few weeks, Lyz was true to her word about courting Max. Max didn't know whether to laugh at Lyz's antics or kiss her because of them. She had sent him a bouquet of white roses one day, then concert tickets to Gomez on another day. She showed up for impromptu picnics in his office and even snuck into the apartment to cook him dinner one night.
She went all out in trying to gain life experiences too. She bribed the principal with a donation check to be allowed to attend high school for a week and Kyle volunteered to show her the nearby Roswell Community College so that she could experience college.
Lyz even talked Jeff Parker into hiring her as a waitress at the Crashdown, After one day of dropping plates, noisy kids, rude customers, and trying to smile all day while standing on her feet, she knew she hated being a waitress. But she promised Jeff that she would work a week and she was determined to keep her promise. One week later, she wasn’t dropping any plates or missing orders but, her feet still ached and she hated the smell of grease in her hair.
As Lyz showered after her shift, she smiled at the memory of Max’s reaction when he had seen her in her uniform. Max had come to the Crashdown for dinner with parents on her fourth day. Lyz had been in the back putting on her apron and had seen them as they were seated. She smiled and hid in the back until Jeff walked away and they were engrossed in their menus. Smoothing down her apron, she had confidently walked into the dining room and walked to their table.
At the sound of her voice, Max had looked away from his menu and his jaw promptly fell open as he took in the short Crashdown uniform. Max had gone still and wouldn’t look her in the eyes, instead, his eyes seemed permanently glued to her legs. More specifically, the exact spot where the skirt ended and her legs started. Lyz had to poke him with her pencil to get his attention and repeated her question of what he wanted for dinner. She promptly laughed out loud when he had replied, “You” and blushed as he realized his parents had heard him.
He had stared at her the entire time he was eating and his parents had given up trying to have a conversation with him. After his parents left, Max continued to stay to watch her as she had finished her shift. As she closed up the restaurant, Jeff had laughingly told her to go home and take Max with her.
When Max escorted her to his jeep, he had swiftly pulled her in his arms and urgently kissed her. Lyz made a mental note to speak to Jeff about keeping the uniform when Max had whispered disjointed thoughts about the uniform, the snaps, the length, and something about easy access…
Lyz sighed with pleasure as the water from her shower cleaned off the smell of the grease and food from the Crashdown. Thinking about the new Crashdown uniform folded on the bottom of her suitcase, Lyz had to smile. She definitely planned on surprising Max with that uniform. With a couple of jobs now on her resume of experiences, Lyz thought about the next step in her courting. When she couldn’t think of anything, she called Maria who promptly called Ava on three-way.
After a brief discussion, Maria and Ava decided that it was time for Lyz to learn how to flirt. They arranged to get together that weekend and go to Albuquerque. Maria and Ava drove Lyz out to a weekend resort near downtown Albuquerque. While they were getting pampered, they told her about the importance of flirting. Even the manicurists and hair stylists gave input and shared flirting stories.
At dinner in one of the nicer restaurants in the city, the girls shared the finer points in flirting with Lyz.
Maria spoke up first, “Ok, first of all you have to remember one thing: Flirting is all about the maybe’s, the hint of what could happen, not will happen.”
Ava nodded, “Yeah, when you’re flirting, never say more than what you’re willing to follow through with.”
Lyz looked from one girl to the other and nodded, seriously intent on learning.
“There are two main reasons for flirting too – To get what you want, and to toy with the opposite sex. And they fall for it every time.” Ava snickered lightly.
“But, how does one go about flirting?” Lyz asked perplexed.
“It’s all in the way you look at him.”
“What?” Ava and Lyz both asked.
“It’s true. Eye contact is very, very important. When you see an interesting guy, make eye contact. Direct eye contact, no matter how brief, will let him know you’re interested. You can even mix it up and wink. And only look at his eyes – looking anywhere else leaves room for misunderstandings. But, don’t stare – that would be rude.”
“Ok – eye contact. Possible wink. Got it. Anything else?”
“Smile. To me, flirting is all in the smile.” Ava said as she sipped her wine.
“But, I smile all the time!”
“No, no, no, there’s a difference between smiling when you’re happy and smiling to flirt. When you are smiling to flirt, the smile should say ‘Hi – I think you’re attractive and I want to get to know you.’ But, also a little secretive.”
Lyz furrowed her brow and tried to understand the complexities of a simple smile. After dinner, Maria steered them all into a nearby bar. As they sat drinking their fruity drinks, both Maria and Ava pointed out people who were engaged in flirting and interpreted the moves for Lyz.
“See that woman by the bar, who looks like a stuffed sausage in that white tube top? See how she’s looking at the guy next to her?” Maria pointed. “She’s giving the guy short, repetitive glances which basically means, you have an interesting face and I want to play with you, if you’re interested. Oooooh and look! Did you see that guy’s eyebrows? They shot up! He noticed her. Despite her appearance, he seems to be interested.”
“No wait, look at that woman sitting on the barstool with the skirt hiked up. See that? She’s smiling at the guy at the next table. It’s soft yet shows that she’s interested. The guy can’t take his eyes off of her.”
“No – look at sausage girl. She’s about to do that thing….yes, there it is! Did you see it? She did the hair flip!”
“The hair flip? What is that?”
“It’s when…”
Ava interrupted, “Barstool lady is licking her lips.”
“Why is licking her lips important?”
Lyz sat between her two friends as they pointed out various flirting techniques and tried to make sense out of everything being thrown at her.
After the bar, Ava suggested taking Lyz to a strip club. Maria nixed the idea but Ava pointed out that Lyz needed to learn a few ‘other’ things too. Lyz, unsure what a strip club was, innocently followed her friends into the new bar. The first thing she noticed was the large group of men close to a well lit stage. She saw a woman come out from behind a curtain and started to dance. Right in front of the men. Her jaw dropped and her face became bright red when the woman started to peel away her clothes and she quickly averted her eyes.
Maria and Ava laughed at her embarrassment and gently forced her to turn around and face the stage. Maria pointed out,
“Besides the whole nudity thing, watch how she moves her body. Not the leg spreading or boob thrusting, but how her body moves with the music yet still remains attentive to the men around her. She knows they’re watching her, knows that they’re excited by her.”
Lyz averted her eyes from the barely clad woman dancing on the stage and tried to focus on the men near the stage.
“See how she reacts by giving a little bit more by moving in a bit closer but then moving away, briefly touching but not really. See how she makes them think she’s about to touch them – see the way they anticipate it, wait for it, long for it? That’s what you can do to Max.”
“But without taking your clothes off.” Ava piped in. “You can flirt with a man like Max just with your body, hinting at things to come without taking off your clothes.”
At the sound of loud whistles and clapping, Lyz couldn’t help but look at what all the noise was about and promptly turned bright red. She got up from her seat and insisted that they return to the hotel. Maria and Ava both agreed. Once back at the hotel room, the girls quizzed Lyz on what she had learned that day.
The next day the girls decided to spend the afternoon suntanning by the pool. While dressing, Ava and Maria both sported barely there bikinis, Lyz came out in shorts and a tank top. When they discovered Lyz didn’t have a bathing suit, they marched her down the resort shop and picked out a modest black and white polka dot bikini. After arguing that the bikini was much to small, Lyz finally conceded to Maria and bought it. The two older girls rolled their eyes when Lyz finally came out of the dressing room wrapped in her towel.
“Sweetie, you’ve got to lose the towel.”
“But I am almost naked!”
“No you’re not. All of your important parts are covered.”
“But…”
“Lyz, I know you’re uncomfortable right now, but you’ll get use to it the more you wear it.” Ava gave Lyz a comforting squeeze around the shoulders.
“It’s so immodest.” Lyz mumbled.
“Hey! Bikinis are the norm here. No one is going to judge you. Yes, there will be people who look at you but that’s because you are beautiful and have a beautiful body. You’re tiny and slim with just enough curve to catch some male eyes. Be proud – I know tons of women who would kill for a body like yours.” Maria assured her.
“The more comfortable you are in your own skin, with your own body, the more power you have when you flirt. They can look, but they can’t touch unless you want them to." Ava explained. "Here, we’ll wrap the towel around your waist as we walk down to the pool, but once we get to our chairs, you have to take it off.”
“But…”
“Relax! Just pretend that you don’t care or notice anyone watching, ok? Act like a princess!”
Lyz smiled a little at Maria's joke, then relaxed and nodded, “Ok, I think I can do this.”
Maria hugged her friend, “Great! Now, remember what we taught you last night about ‘THE’ walk?”
“Lead into the room with the hips, pause for one second, lightly sway hips side to side, walk slowly, confidently – yes?”
“Good girl! Let’s see that walk!”
Ava and Maria clapped their encouragement before pushing Lyz towards the pool. They whispered words of encouragement as they followed behind her. The rest of the weekend was spent practicing her walk and her techniques, until she could do them without blushing or giggling. When the weekend was over, Lyz was ready to try out the moves that she had learned and she called Max to invite him over for movie night.
Max wondered what she was up to, but he was eager to find out. He stood in front of his parent's house and ran a hand through this hair before ringing the bell. His body temperature heated up when Lyz answered the door wearing a short baby blue, sexy spaghetti-strapp sundress. His eyes drank in the sight of her exposed creamy skin, the tempting cleavage, and as Max's eyes traveled down, he had to swallow the lump that came to his throat.
The flirty skirt of her dress did nothing to hide the long expanse of her legs - her very tempting bare legs and bare feet. Max could feel his control slipping a bit as his hand automatically went out to touch the silkiness of her neck, but he clamped down hard and got himself under control again. He forced his eyes upward onto Lyz's face and saw her soft lips curved in a seductive smile.
Max's heart skipped a beat as he saw the smile and the look in Lyz's eye. He couldn't define it, but it sent his pulses racing. He couldn't move as she slowly leaned in to greet him with a light kiss. His eyes drifted close as he smelled her unique scent of strawberries and honey. He was about to reach up to touch her hair when she pulled back and tugged on his arm.
"Come in, Max." Were his ears stuffed up or was Lyz's voice just a bit husky? "I just took the strawberry shortcake out of the oven."
Max was trying to pay attention to what Lyz was saying but he had to shake his head of his steamy daydreams to focus on what Lyz was saying. Lyz pulled Max further into the house and towards the kitchen where she was finishing the preparation of their movie snack. Max propped himself against the kitchen counter and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he watched Lyz.
"Where are my parents?"
Lyz glanced at him over her shoulder and smiled as she finished removing the shortcake from the baking pan "They're spending a few nights in Albuquerque."
She met his eyes, gave him another small smile and walked over to him. Max tensed as she approached, watching every move she made. He stopped breathing when she leaned in to press one hand on his chest and gently pressed up against him to reach for something behind him.
He smelled the strong scent of fresh strawberries as she brought a bowl of them out from behind him. His eyes glued to her hips and watched them sway as she walked over to the sink to start washing the strawberries. He couldn't breathe when she suddenly paused and held a wet berry to her lips.
He swore everything slowed down as she looked over at him and seductively bit into it. His jaw slackened as he watched her tongue came out to slowly lick the strawberry juice off of her lips. He had the sudden desperate craving to lick her lips too.
As she finished the berry, Lyz noticed Max watching her intently and playfully sent a small smile to him "Mmm, sweet. I hope you like strawberry shortcake."
Max had to clear his throat a couple of times before he could get his voice to work. "Yeah, I do." He blinked and had to force himself to concentrate on what they were talking about. It suddenly dawned on him that Lyz was acting a little different. The flirty smiles, the brief glances, the way she walked, the short dress, it was like she was deliberately teasing him.
"Lyz, are you flirting with me?" He asked.
Lyz finished slicing the berries before meeting Max's eyes and answered honestly "Yes."
She moved to remove another pan of shortcake from the oven. Max watched intently as she bent over at the waist and couldn't help himself as his eyes traveled to the curve of her small butt. Again, he had to clamp down on his urge to reach out and pull her to him.
"Why?" He asked hoarsely as she placed the pan on the oven and then went to the cupboard to reach for another bowl which caused her short skirt to rise even higher and reveal more leg. Lyz finished putting the extra strawberries in the bowl before turning to reach into the refrigerator for the bowl of fresh whipped cream.
"Because, Maria told me that it would get your attention." Lyz prepared two individual bowls with shortcake, then scooped freshly sliced strawberries over them. As she topped both bowls with the whipped cream, she scooped a bit of the cream on to her finger and slowly licked it off before glancing at Max and asking, "Is it working?"
Max pushed himself away from the counter and lunged for Lzy. He grabbed her and roughly pulled her up against his chest. Stars exploded for both of them as his lips crashed against hers and their tongues entwined. Max let go of his control and reached down to pick Lyz up and set her on top of the counter without removing his lips from hers.
As he moved to part her legs and step between them, the bowl of strawberries went crashing to the floor. The scent of crushed strawberries engulfed the two as their kiss intensified. Max pulled Lyz's legs up to wrap around his waist as he lifted her off the counter and carried her to his old bedroom.
~!~
The next morning, Lyz woke up and couldn't help but smile as she saw Max's arms wrapped tightly around her naked waist. She thought over what had happened last night when Max carried her into his old room. She had been ready to take the next intimate step with him but he still insisted on waiting. Instead, they had spent the night exploring each others bodies and giving each other pleasure. Several times Max had to pull away from her and regain some control, but he had kept his word that he wouldn't take her before their wedding night.
Lyz stroked Max's arm and watched him sleep as she thought about her plan. She loved Max and wanted him to believe that she would always choose him, but she could not tell if she was making any progress. She quietly sighed, not knowing how else to show him and thought she would talk with Nicole to get some new ideas.
I'm a believer!
Oh my gosh - this it, the last three chapters! I can't believe it!!
Thanks to everyone who has read this story and left me such wonderful feedback.
Melissa and Angela - thank you for being my editors and pushing me through this! This story was by all three of us - thank you!
Chapter 33
The next couple of days Lyz spent more time with Diane learning to cook and spent time with Philip refining her driving skills. She loved spending time with them – they made her feel so comfortable and part of a family. They told her stories about Max and Isabel as they were growing up which gave Diane the perfect excuse to bring out old family videos to show her. Lyz sat next to Diane and feel a pang of jealousy at how much Diane and Philip loved their kids and took pride in them. While looking at baby pictures of Max, Lyz giggled as she saw a naked baby Max sleeping on a pillow which lay on the floor, a naked toddler Max running on the front lawn with a towel around his neck for a cape.
“Oh god, Max is going to kill me when he finds out I showed you these! Oh – look at this one!” Diane laughingly pointed out a picture of a very grumpy looking young Max seated at a tea table with Isabel, wearing a dress.
Lyz laughed at the picture and couldn’t help the feeling of sadness as she realized that her mother didn’t have a photo album full of her pictures. As she enviously traced the image of young Max and Isabel, she wished that she had albums and warm memories of her childhood too. Diane, sensing Lyz’s sadness, got up and brought out another album that had a few pictures of Max as he graduated from law school, but the rest of it was empty. She placed an arm around Lyz and assured her that she would soon be a part of their family and her pictures would be included in the album along side Max’s. Lyz melted and hugged Diane back, whispering she couldn’t wait.
When Isabel first got back from her honeymoon, she wanted to hear about how Lyz’s plan to court Max was going but she was forced to wait another month as she and Alex had to fly back to Boston so that Alex could finish up his last project and resign from Worldwide Global. After they got back from Boston, Isabel and Alex moved into their new house on the outskirts of Roswell. Even before they were finished unpacking, she called up the girls and had them come over for dinner in the new house. The girls arrived with bottles of wine and sat around the kitchen helping Isabel prepare food for the fondue as Alex left to join Michael, Kyle, and Max. Lyz offered to clean the strawberries, secretly smiling at the memories the smell evoked. Maria prepared the cheese and chocolate while Ava cut up the bread. When everything was ready, they sat on the floor around the living room coffee table.
As they ate and drank, the girls couldn’t help but slyly ask Isabel about her honeymoon. They were astonished to see Isabel start to blush and stammer.
“Well, um, I’m sure Hawaii is gorgeous.” Isabel said quickly, trying to sound casual.
Ava jumped at Isabel’s comment, “Wait, what do you mean you’re sure Hawaii is gorgeous? Don’t you know? You were there for couple of weeks, right?”
When Isabel didn’t answer, Maria started to laugh. “Oh my god! You never even left the hotel room, did you?”
Ava snorted in disbelief at Maria’s question, “Impossible. Isabel’s been talking about Hawaii for as long as I remember.”
Maria just kept laughing as Isabel blushed even harder, “Well? Did you leave the room, Isabel?”
Lyz tried to admonish Maria, but she couldn’t help but giggle too. Maria tried to sober up to hear Isabel’s response, but when she wouldn’t answer, Maria started to make teasing comments about flying all the way to Hawaii just to never leave the room.
Knowing she’d be teased even more, Isabel finally admitted, “We never made it to Hawaii.”
For a heartbeat, the girls stared at Isabel before they simultaneously burst into giggles. Isabel started laughing with them and told them the connecting flight in Los Angeles had been delayed because of thunderstorms. They had intended to spend just the one night at hotel, but before they knew it, they had spent three nights there. They missed their flight and decided that instead of re-booking their flight, they would rent a car and drive up the coast to San Francisco. But, they spent the rest of their honeymoon in a cozy but luxurious hotel on the coast and never made it to San Francisco.
After laughing at Isabel’s blushes, the girls quieted down and started to discuss what was happening with Max. Lyz shared with them some of the results of her tactics and briefly mentioned the movie night. She assured both Maria and Ava that their advice was very sound, but refused to go into details no matter how much Maria begged. Ava and Maria both offered up some other ideas but Isabel interrupted them.
“Max’s biggest issue is that Lyz hasn’t dated any other guy, right – he doesn’t want her to feel cheated?”
The girls nodded in agreement.
“He’s right. Lyz should date.” Isabel smugly told the group and waited as the other girls loudly protested.
Lyz wrinkled her nose “But I do not want to date other men! Max is the only one I want!”
Isabel held up her hand, “Listen. What if there was a way to date but not really date?”
The girls looked at each other, confused as to what Isabel was talking about. Isabel waited for a few seconds for dramatic effect before saying,
“Speed Dating.”
~!~
At Michael and Maria’s house, the guys were busy shouting at the tv.
“Don’t move there Michael, you’ll get killed! Don’t you see, you have to go around the guard!”
“Shut up! I’m gonna try to sneak up on him and kill him. He’s worth 250 points!” Michael grunted as he focused on the small screen.
“Not if I beat you to it.” Kyle maneuvered his controls and concentrated on the screen.
“Asswipe! Touch that guard and you’re a dead man!”
“So says the man who’s only got one leg and one eye.” Max smirked as he watched Michael and Kyle fight over the guard on tv. “You do realize playing video games is a bit immature for grown men, right?”
“Shut up Maxwell.”
“Yeah – we all know how mature you are, buddy. You’re the one that allows his woman to court him.” Kyle retorted as he quickly moved his man.
As the other guys laughed, Max felt his ears burn and knew they were turning red, something that Lyz thought was cute if he remembered correctly.
“Just remember Max, Lyz has got Maria, Ava, and your sister helping her plan this. So don’t say you weren’t warned.” Alex warned.
“Well I don’t think she could do any worse than what Maria and Ava have taught her, so whatever Isabel comes up with, I’m game.” Max boasted.
Kyle and Michael both perked up at the mention of their spouses, each wanting to know what Max meant by his comment. When Max’s cheeks started to turn red, they started to beg to hear the details but Max kept refusing. Alex only shook his head and half mockingly told the guys,
“Just wait. Isabel is about to unleash Pandora’s Box, my friends, just watch.”
~!~
Maria burst out laughing, remembering how her mother had gone to Albuquerque to try speed dating. Isabel grinned at Maria and explained to Lyz and Ava the premise of speed dating and how it was very popular in Albuquerque.
“Speed Dating consists of a group of single people would meet a restaurant where each person is given a sheet and women are sat at tables. Each woman is then visited by a man for 10 minutes or so and then, a bell signals for the men to rotate to the next woman. Each visit to a table is considered a mini-date and if the person is interested in her visitor, she marks it down on her sheet of paper. After all the ‘dating’ is done, the company host will then sort through each list and match up the people who indicated they were interested in each other.”
Lyz was fascinated by such a concept and asked several questions but most importantly asked if she was obligated to go out with any of the men after the event. Maria told her no, that if she didn’t mark any of the men down, she wouldn’t be matched with anyone.
“Oh my god – it’s perfect!! You can do it as many times as you want and not really have to go out with any of those men! Iz – you’re a genius!” Ava shouted, slightly tipsy from the wine.
“Yeah! A freaking genius!” Maria joined in, slightly tipsy herself, and high-fived Ava. As the two started whooping, Isabel leaned over to Lyz and asked her how she felt about it. Lyz grinned back and toasted Isabel who started to laugh. They spent the rest of the night planning their adventure into speed dating.
Over the next couple of days, the girls had a devilishly good time carrying out their plan, but ran into a stumbling block when they told their spouses the plan. After Alex reminded her of dinner plans with his family, Isabel volunteered to sign up Lyz and Maria as well as signing up Max, so that he could witness Lyz dating. Ava offered to go shopping with them for a new outfit since Kyle flat out refused to agree to the plan and couldn’t go. Maria jumped at the chance to participate in the ‘dating’ in the name of helping her best friend and didn’t tell Michael about it until two days before the event and after she already paid to attend.
Max had protested over the speed dating event when Isabel approached him about it. He refused to go, but Isabel knew which buttons to push and convinced him that it was Lyz’s idea. Wondering what Lyz was up to, he finally agreed to participate.
The night of the event, Ava helped Lyz dress at Maria’s. The dress was a black silk sleeveless sheath with a mandarin collar and gold threaded buttons. The dress stopped at the knees and both sides of the dress were slit up high on the thigh to give a peek at the top of her silk stockings. After putting up Lyz’s hair in a funky knot with chopsticks, Ava stepped back to admire her work. Wisps of hair hung on her neck and framed her face which was made up to make sweet little Lyz into a mysterious sexy Lyz.
“Ooooh – hot mama!” Maria whistled as she peeked into the bathroom. Maria herself was dressed in a similar dress but her’s was in green satin instead of black. “We are so gonna knock those men off their feet!”
“Hey! Just remember that you have a husband at home!” Michael shouted to the girls from the living room, irritated that Maria was having so much fun ‘dating’. When Maria had first told him of the plan two days ago, he had been pissed at the idea of Maria spending the night flirting with every guy that came to her table. Despite all of her reassurances, he was still not happy with it.
“How could I forget with you reminding me every five seconds!” Maria yelled back. “It’s not like I’m doing this for myself, Michael! I’m just going to support Lyz!”
Michael snorted in disbelief “Yeah right, and you’re not enjoying it at all!”
“Of course not!” Maria spoke with an aggrieved voice but couldn’t prevent the wicked smile as she winked at the girls. She left Ava and Lyz to walk into the living room. Silence fell and Ava grinned at Lyz “She must be reassuring him.”
After a few minutes, Maria came back to the bedroom to re-apply her lipstick and when she was ready, Lyz and Maria drove to Albuquerque.
Max had been sitting at the bar of the restaurant, miserable that he was actually there and about to go through with the stupid speed dating thing. He couldn’t believe he let Isabel talk him into doing it and glumly drank his beer. He sat up straight in his chair and became more alert when Lyz’s unique scent permeated through the room. He whipped around on his bar stool and saw Lyz standing by the door. He didn’t see Maria standing next to her, he could only stare at Lyz. She was stunning in the simple black silk dress. He had to remember to breathe when he saw how the short dress parted on the sides with each step and teased him with peeks at her silky legs. The high heels of her sling-back pumps made her legs look longer, sexier.
He peeled his eyes away from her legs to glance around the room and frowned when he noticed that every other guy was staring at her legs like he was. He felt a surge of possessiveness run through his body. He wanted to act like a caveman - to throw her over his shoulder and carry her off back to his apartment, but he forced himself to stay in his seat. His eyes were drawn back to Lyz’s face. Her dark brown eyes looked smokier, more mysterious with the dark gray eye shadow. Her lashes looked impossibly longer and her lips…they were tinted to a glossy dark red.
He watched as she gazed around the room, unaware of the eyes watching her. She stood up straight and proud, coolly looking around. A slow seductive smile spread across her face when she made eye contact with him. He gulped a little as she winked flirtatiously. He couldn’t help the answering smile that came to his lips – he loved a playful Lyz. He decided two could play at the flirting game. He leaned back against the bar, propped his arm elbow on the bar to give a casual appearance, and raised an eyebrow – challenging her to make the next move.
Lyz smiled deeper and tilted her head to the side, looking him up and down, causing Max’s temperature to rise. She started to make her way over to him, her hips gently swaying, mesmerizing him, but she stopped walking when the host spoke into the microphone. Max wanted to thrash the guy for interrupting and wanted him to shut up – he counted how many more steps Lyz would have to take before she reached him and prayed that she would continue. As the host asked the ladies to find their tables, Lyz looked over at Max, then at the space between them.
Max groaned out loud when Lyz slowly winked again and walked away to find her table next to Maria. He followed her every movement and tried not to stare at her legs or remember how they felt last time, wrapped around his waist, entwined naked with his. Max quietly groaned again and had to mentally calm himself down so he wouldn’t be embarrassed when he stood up.
The host asked each man to find a table to start with and Max noticed that almost every guy moved towards Lyz. He clenched his jaw when he saw he was too slow. He wanted to rip the guy who actually did sit down across from Lyz from his seat and throw him across the room. He didn’t care which table he sat down at because his attention was focused on Lyz – he didn’t even bother turning to face the woman. He didn’t hear the woman sitting at the table ask him his name or hear her sarcastic comment about being an alien from another planet.
No, instead, he watched Lyz’s face as she spoke to the man across from her. He watched how she smiled at the man, how she lightly laughed at something the man said, how she playfully swung her one leg. He wondered jealously if she was flirting with the guy and had to fight the urge to grab Lyz from the table. As the bell rang for the men to rotate, Lyz’s eyes met Max’s and he felt himself starting to drown in them. He was unkindly poked by the woman sitting across from him and harshly asked to move on. Max looked back at Lyz and saw that another guy sat down in front of her and she wasn’t looking at him anymore.
Max tried to be polite to the next woman he sat down across from, but he couldn’t focus, he kept listening for the bell that signaled rotation. As soon as he heard it, he jumped up eagerly– counting the chairs separating him from Lyz. Each ring meant he was closer to Lyz. Finally, he was almost at her table, sitting diagonally across from her. He didn’t bother looking at the woman at his table. Instead, he stared at Lyz’s legs underneath the table – watched as they kept crossing and uncrossing. His eyes traveled from her legs to her hand when it lightly brushed against her thigh then moved up to brush a stray curl behind her ear. It wasn’t until a piece of crumpled paper bounced off his forehead that he turned to face the woman across from him and saw Maria. Max’s jaw dropped,
“What are you doing here? Does Michael know you’re here?”
Maria sat unconcerned in her seat and shrugged, “Of course he does. And he knows why I’m here, too.”
“Why?” Max asked perplexed.
Crossing her arms, Maria replied “Because you’re an idiot. By the way, he says he’ll thank you personally for making my participation in this event necessary the next time he sees you.”
“But I…”
The bell rang for the next rotation and Max jumped out of his seat to get to Lyz. He sat across from her and just stared, trying to figure out what to say.
“Hello Max.” Lyz smiled at Max as she uncrossed her legs and let them lightly brush against his.
“Lyz.” He couldn’t help but stare at her and slightly stirred when he felt her leg against his “What are you up to?”
“I am taking your advice Max. I am dating other men so that I have something to compare you to.”
“What?”
“Did you not once say that you thought I might regret not dating other men? Well, I have come to prove you wrong. I have met several men, talked with them, and even flirted with a couple.” Lyz’s smile deepened as Max’s frown deepened. She looked intently into Max’s face and noticed the clenched jaw and tense muscles. She leaned forward on the table and spoke in a low tone,
“There are some very handsome men here, Max. Some of them are very, very nice. There are even some that would very much like to take me out. But you know what? I am not interested in any of them.” She leaned a little closer and reached out to cup Max’s tense jaw in her palm. “All I see is you. When I was talking to them, it was you I wanted to be talking to. When I looked at them, it was you I wanted sitting across from me. I will keep doing this speed dating and meeting new men until you finally realize that I know what I want. You. Its always you, Max.”
She closed the distance between their lips and gently kissed him just as the bell rang for the next rotation. Lyz sat back in her seat and smiled at his bemused look. The man behind Max had to clear his throat a couple of times before Max broke eye contact and reluctantly moved to the next table.
As he sat ignoring the woman at his new table, he thought about what Lyz had said. While he truly believed that Lyz thought she loved him now, he couldn’t ignore his little voice of insecurity. He pondered the situation through the rest of the tables and tried to find Lyz in the crowd after the rotations were through, but she had left the restaurant before he could reach her. He thought about following her home, but decided to take the rest of the night to think about what had happened.
Lyz was at her wits end. She didn’t know what else she could do to convince Max that she wanted only him. It had been two weeks since the speed dating event and she felt that she wasn’t any closer to convincing Max since the night she left. He still believed that she would change her mind. In desperate need of advice, she called Nicole.
For the next few hours she poured out her heart to Nicole and told her how she started the whole campaign and why. In tears, Lyz went into detail about how she set out to learn new things, and meet new people, and Max still didn’t believe her. Nicole listened with concern and as she hung up, she made a decision to visit Roswell.
Thanks to everyone who has read this story and left me such wonderful feedback.
Melissa and Angela - thank you for being my editors and pushing me through this! This story was by all three of us - thank you!
Chapter 33
The next couple of days Lyz spent more time with Diane learning to cook and spent time with Philip refining her driving skills. She loved spending time with them – they made her feel so comfortable and part of a family. They told her stories about Max and Isabel as they were growing up which gave Diane the perfect excuse to bring out old family videos to show her. Lyz sat next to Diane and feel a pang of jealousy at how much Diane and Philip loved their kids and took pride in them. While looking at baby pictures of Max, Lyz giggled as she saw a naked baby Max sleeping on a pillow which lay on the floor, a naked toddler Max running on the front lawn with a towel around his neck for a cape.
“Oh god, Max is going to kill me when he finds out I showed you these! Oh – look at this one!” Diane laughingly pointed out a picture of a very grumpy looking young Max seated at a tea table with Isabel, wearing a dress.
Lyz laughed at the picture and couldn’t help the feeling of sadness as she realized that her mother didn’t have a photo album full of her pictures. As she enviously traced the image of young Max and Isabel, she wished that she had albums and warm memories of her childhood too. Diane, sensing Lyz’s sadness, got up and brought out another album that had a few pictures of Max as he graduated from law school, but the rest of it was empty. She placed an arm around Lyz and assured her that she would soon be a part of their family and her pictures would be included in the album along side Max’s. Lyz melted and hugged Diane back, whispering she couldn’t wait.
When Isabel first got back from her honeymoon, she wanted to hear about how Lyz’s plan to court Max was going but she was forced to wait another month as she and Alex had to fly back to Boston so that Alex could finish up his last project and resign from Worldwide Global. After they got back from Boston, Isabel and Alex moved into their new house on the outskirts of Roswell. Even before they were finished unpacking, she called up the girls and had them come over for dinner in the new house. The girls arrived with bottles of wine and sat around the kitchen helping Isabel prepare food for the fondue as Alex left to join Michael, Kyle, and Max. Lyz offered to clean the strawberries, secretly smiling at the memories the smell evoked. Maria prepared the cheese and chocolate while Ava cut up the bread. When everything was ready, they sat on the floor around the living room coffee table.
As they ate and drank, the girls couldn’t help but slyly ask Isabel about her honeymoon. They were astonished to see Isabel start to blush and stammer.
“Well, um, I’m sure Hawaii is gorgeous.” Isabel said quickly, trying to sound casual.
Ava jumped at Isabel’s comment, “Wait, what do you mean you’re sure Hawaii is gorgeous? Don’t you know? You were there for couple of weeks, right?”
When Isabel didn’t answer, Maria started to laugh. “Oh my god! You never even left the hotel room, did you?”
Ava snorted in disbelief at Maria’s question, “Impossible. Isabel’s been talking about Hawaii for as long as I remember.”
Maria just kept laughing as Isabel blushed even harder, “Well? Did you leave the room, Isabel?”
Lyz tried to admonish Maria, but she couldn’t help but giggle too. Maria tried to sober up to hear Isabel’s response, but when she wouldn’t answer, Maria started to make teasing comments about flying all the way to Hawaii just to never leave the room.
Knowing she’d be teased even more, Isabel finally admitted, “We never made it to Hawaii.”
For a heartbeat, the girls stared at Isabel before they simultaneously burst into giggles. Isabel started laughing with them and told them the connecting flight in Los Angeles had been delayed because of thunderstorms. They had intended to spend just the one night at hotel, but before they knew it, they had spent three nights there. They missed their flight and decided that instead of re-booking their flight, they would rent a car and drive up the coast to San Francisco. But, they spent the rest of their honeymoon in a cozy but luxurious hotel on the coast and never made it to San Francisco.
After laughing at Isabel’s blushes, the girls quieted down and started to discuss what was happening with Max. Lyz shared with them some of the results of her tactics and briefly mentioned the movie night. She assured both Maria and Ava that their advice was very sound, but refused to go into details no matter how much Maria begged. Ava and Maria both offered up some other ideas but Isabel interrupted them.
“Max’s biggest issue is that Lyz hasn’t dated any other guy, right – he doesn’t want her to feel cheated?”
The girls nodded in agreement.
“He’s right. Lyz should date.” Isabel smugly told the group and waited as the other girls loudly protested.
Lyz wrinkled her nose “But I do not want to date other men! Max is the only one I want!”
Isabel held up her hand, “Listen. What if there was a way to date but not really date?”
The girls looked at each other, confused as to what Isabel was talking about. Isabel waited for a few seconds for dramatic effect before saying,
“Speed Dating.”
~!~
At Michael and Maria’s house, the guys were busy shouting at the tv.
“Don’t move there Michael, you’ll get killed! Don’t you see, you have to go around the guard!”
“Shut up! I’m gonna try to sneak up on him and kill him. He’s worth 250 points!” Michael grunted as he focused on the small screen.
“Not if I beat you to it.” Kyle maneuvered his controls and concentrated on the screen.
“Asswipe! Touch that guard and you’re a dead man!”
“So says the man who’s only got one leg and one eye.” Max smirked as he watched Michael and Kyle fight over the guard on tv. “You do realize playing video games is a bit immature for grown men, right?”
“Shut up Maxwell.”
“Yeah – we all know how mature you are, buddy. You’re the one that allows his woman to court him.” Kyle retorted as he quickly moved his man.
As the other guys laughed, Max felt his ears burn and knew they were turning red, something that Lyz thought was cute if he remembered correctly.
“Just remember Max, Lyz has got Maria, Ava, and your sister helping her plan this. So don’t say you weren’t warned.” Alex warned.
“Well I don’t think she could do any worse than what Maria and Ava have taught her, so whatever Isabel comes up with, I’m game.” Max boasted.
Kyle and Michael both perked up at the mention of their spouses, each wanting to know what Max meant by his comment. When Max’s cheeks started to turn red, they started to beg to hear the details but Max kept refusing. Alex only shook his head and half mockingly told the guys,
“Just wait. Isabel is about to unleash Pandora’s Box, my friends, just watch.”
~!~
Maria burst out laughing, remembering how her mother had gone to Albuquerque to try speed dating. Isabel grinned at Maria and explained to Lyz and Ava the premise of speed dating and how it was very popular in Albuquerque.
“Speed Dating consists of a group of single people would meet a restaurant where each person is given a sheet and women are sat at tables. Each woman is then visited by a man for 10 minutes or so and then, a bell signals for the men to rotate to the next woman. Each visit to a table is considered a mini-date and if the person is interested in her visitor, she marks it down on her sheet of paper. After all the ‘dating’ is done, the company host will then sort through each list and match up the people who indicated they were interested in each other.”
Lyz was fascinated by such a concept and asked several questions but most importantly asked if she was obligated to go out with any of the men after the event. Maria told her no, that if she didn’t mark any of the men down, she wouldn’t be matched with anyone.
“Oh my god – it’s perfect!! You can do it as many times as you want and not really have to go out with any of those men! Iz – you’re a genius!” Ava shouted, slightly tipsy from the wine.
“Yeah! A freaking genius!” Maria joined in, slightly tipsy herself, and high-fived Ava. As the two started whooping, Isabel leaned over to Lyz and asked her how she felt about it. Lyz grinned back and toasted Isabel who started to laugh. They spent the rest of the night planning their adventure into speed dating.
Over the next couple of days, the girls had a devilishly good time carrying out their plan, but ran into a stumbling block when they told their spouses the plan. After Alex reminded her of dinner plans with his family, Isabel volunteered to sign up Lyz and Maria as well as signing up Max, so that he could witness Lyz dating. Ava offered to go shopping with them for a new outfit since Kyle flat out refused to agree to the plan and couldn’t go. Maria jumped at the chance to participate in the ‘dating’ in the name of helping her best friend and didn’t tell Michael about it until two days before the event and after she already paid to attend.
Max had protested over the speed dating event when Isabel approached him about it. He refused to go, but Isabel knew which buttons to push and convinced him that it was Lyz’s idea. Wondering what Lyz was up to, he finally agreed to participate.
The night of the event, Ava helped Lyz dress at Maria’s. The dress was a black silk sleeveless sheath with a mandarin collar and gold threaded buttons. The dress stopped at the knees and both sides of the dress were slit up high on the thigh to give a peek at the top of her silk stockings. After putting up Lyz’s hair in a funky knot with chopsticks, Ava stepped back to admire her work. Wisps of hair hung on her neck and framed her face which was made up to make sweet little Lyz into a mysterious sexy Lyz.
“Ooooh – hot mama!” Maria whistled as she peeked into the bathroom. Maria herself was dressed in a similar dress but her’s was in green satin instead of black. “We are so gonna knock those men off their feet!”
“Hey! Just remember that you have a husband at home!” Michael shouted to the girls from the living room, irritated that Maria was having so much fun ‘dating’. When Maria had first told him of the plan two days ago, he had been pissed at the idea of Maria spending the night flirting with every guy that came to her table. Despite all of her reassurances, he was still not happy with it.
“How could I forget with you reminding me every five seconds!” Maria yelled back. “It’s not like I’m doing this for myself, Michael! I’m just going to support Lyz!”
Michael snorted in disbelief “Yeah right, and you’re not enjoying it at all!”
“Of course not!” Maria spoke with an aggrieved voice but couldn’t prevent the wicked smile as she winked at the girls. She left Ava and Lyz to walk into the living room. Silence fell and Ava grinned at Lyz “She must be reassuring him.”
After a few minutes, Maria came back to the bedroom to re-apply her lipstick and when she was ready, Lyz and Maria drove to Albuquerque.
Max had been sitting at the bar of the restaurant, miserable that he was actually there and about to go through with the stupid speed dating thing. He couldn’t believe he let Isabel talk him into doing it and glumly drank his beer. He sat up straight in his chair and became more alert when Lyz’s unique scent permeated through the room. He whipped around on his bar stool and saw Lyz standing by the door. He didn’t see Maria standing next to her, he could only stare at Lyz. She was stunning in the simple black silk dress. He had to remember to breathe when he saw how the short dress parted on the sides with each step and teased him with peeks at her silky legs. The high heels of her sling-back pumps made her legs look longer, sexier.
He peeled his eyes away from her legs to glance around the room and frowned when he noticed that every other guy was staring at her legs like he was. He felt a surge of possessiveness run through his body. He wanted to act like a caveman - to throw her over his shoulder and carry her off back to his apartment, but he forced himself to stay in his seat. His eyes were drawn back to Lyz’s face. Her dark brown eyes looked smokier, more mysterious with the dark gray eye shadow. Her lashes looked impossibly longer and her lips…they were tinted to a glossy dark red.
He watched as she gazed around the room, unaware of the eyes watching her. She stood up straight and proud, coolly looking around. A slow seductive smile spread across her face when she made eye contact with him. He gulped a little as she winked flirtatiously. He couldn’t help the answering smile that came to his lips – he loved a playful Lyz. He decided two could play at the flirting game. He leaned back against the bar, propped his arm elbow on the bar to give a casual appearance, and raised an eyebrow – challenging her to make the next move.
Lyz smiled deeper and tilted her head to the side, looking him up and down, causing Max’s temperature to rise. She started to make her way over to him, her hips gently swaying, mesmerizing him, but she stopped walking when the host spoke into the microphone. Max wanted to thrash the guy for interrupting and wanted him to shut up – he counted how many more steps Lyz would have to take before she reached him and prayed that she would continue. As the host asked the ladies to find their tables, Lyz looked over at Max, then at the space between them.
Max groaned out loud when Lyz slowly winked again and walked away to find her table next to Maria. He followed her every movement and tried not to stare at her legs or remember how they felt last time, wrapped around his waist, entwined naked with his. Max quietly groaned again and had to mentally calm himself down so he wouldn’t be embarrassed when he stood up.
The host asked each man to find a table to start with and Max noticed that almost every guy moved towards Lyz. He clenched his jaw when he saw he was too slow. He wanted to rip the guy who actually did sit down across from Lyz from his seat and throw him across the room. He didn’t care which table he sat down at because his attention was focused on Lyz – he didn’t even bother turning to face the woman. He didn’t hear the woman sitting at the table ask him his name or hear her sarcastic comment about being an alien from another planet.
No, instead, he watched Lyz’s face as she spoke to the man across from her. He watched how she smiled at the man, how she lightly laughed at something the man said, how she playfully swung her one leg. He wondered jealously if she was flirting with the guy and had to fight the urge to grab Lyz from the table. As the bell rang for the men to rotate, Lyz’s eyes met Max’s and he felt himself starting to drown in them. He was unkindly poked by the woman sitting across from him and harshly asked to move on. Max looked back at Lyz and saw that another guy sat down in front of her and she wasn’t looking at him anymore.
Max tried to be polite to the next woman he sat down across from, but he couldn’t focus, he kept listening for the bell that signaled rotation. As soon as he heard it, he jumped up eagerly– counting the chairs separating him from Lyz. Each ring meant he was closer to Lyz. Finally, he was almost at her table, sitting diagonally across from her. He didn’t bother looking at the woman at his table. Instead, he stared at Lyz’s legs underneath the table – watched as they kept crossing and uncrossing. His eyes traveled from her legs to her hand when it lightly brushed against her thigh then moved up to brush a stray curl behind her ear. It wasn’t until a piece of crumpled paper bounced off his forehead that he turned to face the woman across from him and saw Maria. Max’s jaw dropped,
“What are you doing here? Does Michael know you’re here?”
Maria sat unconcerned in her seat and shrugged, “Of course he does. And he knows why I’m here, too.”
“Why?” Max asked perplexed.
Crossing her arms, Maria replied “Because you’re an idiot. By the way, he says he’ll thank you personally for making my participation in this event necessary the next time he sees you.”
“But I…”
The bell rang for the next rotation and Max jumped out of his seat to get to Lyz. He sat across from her and just stared, trying to figure out what to say.
“Hello Max.” Lyz smiled at Max as she uncrossed her legs and let them lightly brush against his.
“Lyz.” He couldn’t help but stare at her and slightly stirred when he felt her leg against his “What are you up to?”
“I am taking your advice Max. I am dating other men so that I have something to compare you to.”
“What?”
“Did you not once say that you thought I might regret not dating other men? Well, I have come to prove you wrong. I have met several men, talked with them, and even flirted with a couple.” Lyz’s smile deepened as Max’s frown deepened. She looked intently into Max’s face and noticed the clenched jaw and tense muscles. She leaned forward on the table and spoke in a low tone,
“There are some very handsome men here, Max. Some of them are very, very nice. There are even some that would very much like to take me out. But you know what? I am not interested in any of them.” She leaned a little closer and reached out to cup Max’s tense jaw in her palm. “All I see is you. When I was talking to them, it was you I wanted to be talking to. When I looked at them, it was you I wanted sitting across from me. I will keep doing this speed dating and meeting new men until you finally realize that I know what I want. You. Its always you, Max.”
She closed the distance between their lips and gently kissed him just as the bell rang for the next rotation. Lyz sat back in her seat and smiled at his bemused look. The man behind Max had to clear his throat a couple of times before Max broke eye contact and reluctantly moved to the next table.
As he sat ignoring the woman at his new table, he thought about what Lyz had said. While he truly believed that Lyz thought she loved him now, he couldn’t ignore his little voice of insecurity. He pondered the situation through the rest of the tables and tried to find Lyz in the crowd after the rotations were through, but she had left the restaurant before he could reach her. He thought about following her home, but decided to take the rest of the night to think about what had happened.
Lyz was at her wits end. She didn’t know what else she could do to convince Max that she wanted only him. It had been two weeks since the speed dating event and she felt that she wasn’t any closer to convincing Max since the night she left. He still believed that she would change her mind. In desperate need of advice, she called Nicole.
For the next few hours she poured out her heart to Nicole and told her how she started the whole campaign and why. In tears, Lyz went into detail about how she set out to learn new things, and meet new people, and Max still didn’t believe her. Nicole listened with concern and as she hung up, she made a decision to visit Roswell.
I'm a believer!
Chapter 34
The next day, a startled Max opened the door to an angry Alex.
“Alex, what’s up?”
Alex stalked through the door and turned to confront Max “Do you have any idea how much you’re hurting Lyz?”
Startled, Max stared at Alex, “What?”
“You’re hurting her. Yesterday, Isabel and I were visiting your parents and we accidentally heard Lyz on the phone with Nicole. She was crying, Max. Crying because you don’t believe her when she says she loves you. It hurts Isabel to see Lyz cry and it hurts me to see Isabel hurting. So I’m here to set you straight on some things.”
Alex started to pace, forgetting that Max was still standing by an open front door. “Before you start in, let me just say my piece and get it over with ok? In school, you know how I felt about Isabel. I adored her, worshipped the ground she walked on. But I never said anything, never asked her out, never told her how I felt. You know why? I told myself it was because she was too good for me, she could have any guy in the school, she’d never look at me. But to tell you the truth, you know what it was? It was fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of knowing for sure that she didn't want me. Fear that I would humilate myself. At least if I never said anything, I could at least still dream.
And Max, I missed out. Because I never moved forward with Isabel, I never saw the other girls that could have been interested in me. Until I finally said something to Isabel, I never moved on. If I hadn’t had that last confrontation with Isabel after graduation, I never would have gone to MIT, I would never have met Samantha, and I never would have had the chance with Isabel like I did.”
Max shook his head, “It’s not the same, Alex.”
“Yes it is. You’re afraid to believe Lyz could love you, just like I was afraid to believe I had a shot with her.”
“I do believe her. I believe that she thinks she loves me, but she could change her mind later on.”
“And Isabel could wake up one day and not want to be married to a former geek like me.”
Max shook his head, “You know that wouldn’t happen, Alex.”
“It could. Anything is possible, Max. But the one thing I do know is this, if you don’t take the chance, you’ll never know.”
“But…”
Alex walked to Max and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Listen Max, there are no guarantees in life. Sometimes you’ve just got to sit back and enjoy the journey instead of worry about the destination. With that said, just remember, you’re hurting Lyz with your doubts. Think about that.”
Without waiting for Max’s reply, Alex left. Max stood watching him and thought about what he had said. Slowly he closed the door and walked into his living room. Memories of Lyz and their times together rushed through his mind. He hated to think he made her cry, but he didn’t know how to stop the doubts. He kept wishing there was some way he could know for sure.
Max was brought out of his thoughts with another knock at the door. He went to the door and was surprised to see a young woman in her early 30’s, dressed very chic in a khaki pant suit and her curly dark blonde hair in a neat bun.
“Hello, can I help you?”
“Are you Maxwell Evans?” she asked politely with a faint accent.
“Yes.”
“Hello. I am Nicole, Lyzette’s friend.”
“Oh! Um, I’m sorry but Lyz is staying with my parents...”
Nicole interrupted him with a wave of her hand. She walked into his living room and turned to face him “I am not here to see Lyzette. I am here to see you.”
Max was puzzled as to what Nicole could possible say to him, but he closed the door and gestured toward the couch. “Ok. Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Tea?”
“Tea, please.”
Max hurried into the kitchen to prepare a mug of tea and set it in front of Nicole. He sat down across from her and they exchanged polite conversation before Nicole came to the point of her visit.
“Maxwell, I was Lyzette’s personal assistant ever since I was 16. I have been with her through almost everything. I have watched her grow up to be a beautiful young lady. She is bright, very intelligent, but most of all, she is incredibly kind and compassionate to others. Its even more incredible that she turned out so lovely considering her circumstances.”
Nicole paused to sip her tea and Max checked the urge to ask what her point was, instead, he remained quiet.
Nicole allowed herself to look over Max before saying “She is a strong young woman-she has always had to be considering her family. All she has ever thought about was how to survive from day to day. There was very little joy or love in her life and what little there was, had to be kept secret from her father. Like her dreams of you."
“Then I saw her in Alaska. Looking at Lyzette was like looking at a whole other person. She was vibrant and alive. For the first time since I have known her, she was living in the moment. But you, Max, you made her dreams come true and gave her a future. Every time she mentioned your name, she glowed. She told me you were smart, handsome, kind, but also warm and generous. Yet, I receive a call from her and she is crying. Crying because you do not believe she loves you, wants to make a life with you.”
Max sighed, “Its just….I need to be sure.” After a slight pause, Max finally blurted out his feelings and retold Nicole the entire story of how he had met Lyz, how he felt during the entire course of their relationship. When he was done, he blurted out, “I’m the first single guy that showed her any attention and treated her well, of course she’s going to respond to that. But one day, she’s going to realize that gratitude isn’t the same as love.”
“Do you really believe that Lyzette would confuse love with gratitude?” Nicole snapped, losing her patience.
“Yes.”
“Then answer me this, are you sure you love her?”
“What? Of course I do!”
Nicole arched her brow and queried, “How can you love someone, if you don’t trust them, completely? If you love her, then trust her. Trust her to know her own heart and mind. Max, love is about trust and the willingness to risk everything for that love.”
Max sat back in his seat, stunned, he couldn’t counter her argument because she was right. They sat in silence as Nicole finished her tea – Max thinking about what Nicole had said and Nicole thinking that she made her point. As she got up to leave, Max put a hand on her arm,
“Nicole, Lyz is going to want to see you. How long are you staying?”
“I and Enrique are staying in town for a week. I have already let Lyzette know that I am visiting. We are having dinner later.”
After Nicole left, Max went to bed thinking about what Nicole had said and as he fell asleep, he made two realizations. 1) He loved Lyz, completely. 2) Lyz loved him, completely.
The next morning Max woke up with a smile on his face. Everything felt right with his world, knowing and believing that Lyz loved him as much as he love her. As he was walking out the door to find Lyz, Max’s eye was caught by a caption and a picture on the cover of the paper on his front door mat.
“JULET WAITING FOR ROMEO’S AWAKENING KISS”
Max was stunned as he saw Lyz’s picture. He bent down to retrieve the paper and read:
“This year’s annual fundraiser ball offers an additional opportunity to be generous!
For the first time ever, there will be a Kissing Booth!
For only $1, you have an opportunity to kiss a fair Juliet to see if you’re her Romeo!
All interested parties must attend Roswell’s annual Fundraiser Ball, this Friday, where Juliet awaits."
Max stormed over to Isabel’s new office where she was directing the decorators. She hid a smile as he angrily demanded,
“What’s this?” Max waved a paper in his hand.
“It’s an ad for the annual Fundraiser Ball.”
Max angrily pointed at the ad, “What’s this about Lyz?”’
“Oh, that? Lyz volunteered for the kissing booth this year.” Isabel said nonchalantly, avoiding looking at Max in case she burst out laughing. When she had told the girls about the idea for the kissing booth, they all laughed because they knew Max would go wild with jealously. But it would also shake him up, too, and that’s exactly what they were hoping for.
“The Fundraiser Ball doesn’t have a kissing booth.” Max pointed out.
“It didn’t use to, but the committee and I decided that it would be a great idea to raise some extra money this year.”
“The committee? Who the hell do you think you’re kidding? Everybody know that the committee does nothing without you! This was your idea, wasn’t it?” Max fumed.
“Why, yes, it was.” Isabel put on her most innocent look.
“I knew it! Alex warned me about this and I should’ve listened!”
“Well, Lyz offered to be our Juliet. I didn’t ask her. Just between you and me, Lyz seemed a bit eager about it. She said something about getting more experience in kissing…”
“The hell she will!” Max roared and rushed off to find Lyz at his parents place.
No one opened the door when he knocked. Getting back in his car, he called Michael, then Maria then Ava. No one would admit to where Lyz was. After spending the rest of the afternoon looking for her, Max returned home to his apartment defeated.
Flinging himself on the couch, Max finally admitted to himself that he had been a fool. He had let his insecurity and fears drive him to doubt Lyz and her commitment to him. He acted like prized idiot the night of Isabel’s wedding and forced Lyz to leave. He smiled to himself as he remembered what she had told him on Christmas day about courting him.
She had lavished him with gifts, put herself through some embarrassing moments, all just to prove to him that she loved him. She loved him. Max snorted in disgust with himself that it had taken him a few weeks and some not-so-friendly lectures to finally believe in his heart and mind that she loved him. He trusted her. There was no room for doubt.
So now, he had to get his fiancée back – before the ball tomorrow night. After pacing for a few minutes, Max smiled and got up to get ready for bed. Tomorrow he had to face his friends and family. It would take all of his skill as a lawyer to persuade them to help him, but he knew he would win. There was just no other option.
Max got up early to plan the rest of his day. He first called Isabel and Alex and then the rest of their group of friends to invite them over for lunch. He called his parents to include them and discovered that Lyz was going out with Nicole and Enrique, showing them the sights before dropping them off at the airport. He asked them to close the office for the day and to come over for lunch.
Once everyone was assembled in his living room and hungrily munching on the food he provided, Max stood in front of everyone.
The next day, a startled Max opened the door to an angry Alex.
“Alex, what’s up?”
Alex stalked through the door and turned to confront Max “Do you have any idea how much you’re hurting Lyz?”
Startled, Max stared at Alex, “What?”
“You’re hurting her. Yesterday, Isabel and I were visiting your parents and we accidentally heard Lyz on the phone with Nicole. She was crying, Max. Crying because you don’t believe her when she says she loves you. It hurts Isabel to see Lyz cry and it hurts me to see Isabel hurting. So I’m here to set you straight on some things.”
Alex started to pace, forgetting that Max was still standing by an open front door. “Before you start in, let me just say my piece and get it over with ok? In school, you know how I felt about Isabel. I adored her, worshipped the ground she walked on. But I never said anything, never asked her out, never told her how I felt. You know why? I told myself it was because she was too good for me, she could have any guy in the school, she’d never look at me. But to tell you the truth, you know what it was? It was fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of knowing for sure that she didn't want me. Fear that I would humilate myself. At least if I never said anything, I could at least still dream.
And Max, I missed out. Because I never moved forward with Isabel, I never saw the other girls that could have been interested in me. Until I finally said something to Isabel, I never moved on. If I hadn’t had that last confrontation with Isabel after graduation, I never would have gone to MIT, I would never have met Samantha, and I never would have had the chance with Isabel like I did.”
Max shook his head, “It’s not the same, Alex.”
“Yes it is. You’re afraid to believe Lyz could love you, just like I was afraid to believe I had a shot with her.”
“I do believe her. I believe that she thinks she loves me, but she could change her mind later on.”
“And Isabel could wake up one day and not want to be married to a former geek like me.”
Max shook his head, “You know that wouldn’t happen, Alex.”
“It could. Anything is possible, Max. But the one thing I do know is this, if you don’t take the chance, you’ll never know.”
“But…”
Alex walked to Max and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Listen Max, there are no guarantees in life. Sometimes you’ve just got to sit back and enjoy the journey instead of worry about the destination. With that said, just remember, you’re hurting Lyz with your doubts. Think about that.”
Without waiting for Max’s reply, Alex left. Max stood watching him and thought about what he had said. Slowly he closed the door and walked into his living room. Memories of Lyz and their times together rushed through his mind. He hated to think he made her cry, but he didn’t know how to stop the doubts. He kept wishing there was some way he could know for sure.
Max was brought out of his thoughts with another knock at the door. He went to the door and was surprised to see a young woman in her early 30’s, dressed very chic in a khaki pant suit and her curly dark blonde hair in a neat bun.
“Hello, can I help you?”
“Are you Maxwell Evans?” she asked politely with a faint accent.
“Yes.”
“Hello. I am Nicole, Lyzette’s friend.”
“Oh! Um, I’m sorry but Lyz is staying with my parents...”
Nicole interrupted him with a wave of her hand. She walked into his living room and turned to face him “I am not here to see Lyzette. I am here to see you.”
Max was puzzled as to what Nicole could possible say to him, but he closed the door and gestured toward the couch. “Ok. Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Tea?”
“Tea, please.”
Max hurried into the kitchen to prepare a mug of tea and set it in front of Nicole. He sat down across from her and they exchanged polite conversation before Nicole came to the point of her visit.
“Maxwell, I was Lyzette’s personal assistant ever since I was 16. I have been with her through almost everything. I have watched her grow up to be a beautiful young lady. She is bright, very intelligent, but most of all, she is incredibly kind and compassionate to others. Its even more incredible that she turned out so lovely considering her circumstances.”
Nicole paused to sip her tea and Max checked the urge to ask what her point was, instead, he remained quiet.
Nicole allowed herself to look over Max before saying “She is a strong young woman-she has always had to be considering her family. All she has ever thought about was how to survive from day to day. There was very little joy or love in her life and what little there was, had to be kept secret from her father. Like her dreams of you."
“Then I saw her in Alaska. Looking at Lyzette was like looking at a whole other person. She was vibrant and alive. For the first time since I have known her, she was living in the moment. But you, Max, you made her dreams come true and gave her a future. Every time she mentioned your name, she glowed. She told me you were smart, handsome, kind, but also warm and generous. Yet, I receive a call from her and she is crying. Crying because you do not believe she loves you, wants to make a life with you.”
Max sighed, “Its just….I need to be sure.” After a slight pause, Max finally blurted out his feelings and retold Nicole the entire story of how he had met Lyz, how he felt during the entire course of their relationship. When he was done, he blurted out, “I’m the first single guy that showed her any attention and treated her well, of course she’s going to respond to that. But one day, she’s going to realize that gratitude isn’t the same as love.”
“Do you really believe that Lyzette would confuse love with gratitude?” Nicole snapped, losing her patience.
“Yes.”
“Then answer me this, are you sure you love her?”
“What? Of course I do!”
Nicole arched her brow and queried, “How can you love someone, if you don’t trust them, completely? If you love her, then trust her. Trust her to know her own heart and mind. Max, love is about trust and the willingness to risk everything for that love.”
Max sat back in his seat, stunned, he couldn’t counter her argument because she was right. They sat in silence as Nicole finished her tea – Max thinking about what Nicole had said and Nicole thinking that she made her point. As she got up to leave, Max put a hand on her arm,
“Nicole, Lyz is going to want to see you. How long are you staying?”
“I and Enrique are staying in town for a week. I have already let Lyzette know that I am visiting. We are having dinner later.”
After Nicole left, Max went to bed thinking about what Nicole had said and as he fell asleep, he made two realizations. 1) He loved Lyz, completely. 2) Lyz loved him, completely.
The next morning Max woke up with a smile on his face. Everything felt right with his world, knowing and believing that Lyz loved him as much as he love her. As he was walking out the door to find Lyz, Max’s eye was caught by a caption and a picture on the cover of the paper on his front door mat.
“JULET WAITING FOR ROMEO’S AWAKENING KISS”
Max was stunned as he saw Lyz’s picture. He bent down to retrieve the paper and read:
“This year’s annual fundraiser ball offers an additional opportunity to be generous!
For the first time ever, there will be a Kissing Booth!
For only $1, you have an opportunity to kiss a fair Juliet to see if you’re her Romeo!
All interested parties must attend Roswell’s annual Fundraiser Ball, this Friday, where Juliet awaits."
Max stormed over to Isabel’s new office where she was directing the decorators. She hid a smile as he angrily demanded,
“What’s this?” Max waved a paper in his hand.
“It’s an ad for the annual Fundraiser Ball.”
Max angrily pointed at the ad, “What’s this about Lyz?”’
“Oh, that? Lyz volunteered for the kissing booth this year.” Isabel said nonchalantly, avoiding looking at Max in case she burst out laughing. When she had told the girls about the idea for the kissing booth, they all laughed because they knew Max would go wild with jealously. But it would also shake him up, too, and that’s exactly what they were hoping for.
“The Fundraiser Ball doesn’t have a kissing booth.” Max pointed out.
“It didn’t use to, but the committee and I decided that it would be a great idea to raise some extra money this year.”
“The committee? Who the hell do you think you’re kidding? Everybody know that the committee does nothing without you! This was your idea, wasn’t it?” Max fumed.
“Why, yes, it was.” Isabel put on her most innocent look.
“I knew it! Alex warned me about this and I should’ve listened!”
“Well, Lyz offered to be our Juliet. I didn’t ask her. Just between you and me, Lyz seemed a bit eager about it. She said something about getting more experience in kissing…”
“The hell she will!” Max roared and rushed off to find Lyz at his parents place.
No one opened the door when he knocked. Getting back in his car, he called Michael, then Maria then Ava. No one would admit to where Lyz was. After spending the rest of the afternoon looking for her, Max returned home to his apartment defeated.
Flinging himself on the couch, Max finally admitted to himself that he had been a fool. He had let his insecurity and fears drive him to doubt Lyz and her commitment to him. He acted like prized idiot the night of Isabel’s wedding and forced Lyz to leave. He smiled to himself as he remembered what she had told him on Christmas day about courting him.
She had lavished him with gifts, put herself through some embarrassing moments, all just to prove to him that she loved him. She loved him. Max snorted in disgust with himself that it had taken him a few weeks and some not-so-friendly lectures to finally believe in his heart and mind that she loved him. He trusted her. There was no room for doubt.
So now, he had to get his fiancée back – before the ball tomorrow night. After pacing for a few minutes, Max smiled and got up to get ready for bed. Tomorrow he had to face his friends and family. It would take all of his skill as a lawyer to persuade them to help him, but he knew he would win. There was just no other option.
Max got up early to plan the rest of his day. He first called Isabel and Alex and then the rest of their group of friends to invite them over for lunch. He called his parents to include them and discovered that Lyz was going out with Nicole and Enrique, showing them the sights before dropping them off at the airport. He asked them to close the office for the day and to come over for lunch.
Once everyone was assembled in his living room and hungrily munching on the food he provided, Max stood in front of everyone.
I'm a believer!
The very last chapter!!!
Chapter 35
Lyz had gotten up early too. Today, after dropping off Nicole and Enrique at the airport, she was getting a lesson in playing basketball, Max’s favorite sport, from Michael and Kyle. When she arrived at Michael and Maria’s house, Maria answered the door and let her know that both Kyle and Michael had gotten called into work. As an alternative, Maria suggested they meet Isabel and Ava and go shopping. The girls went through the stores and each picked out a gorgeous dress for the evening’s ball except Lyz.
Every dress Lyz pulled out, the rest of the group agreed that it wasn’t quite right. As a last resort, Isabel pulled them into an exclusive custom made dress shop. Isabel went through the dresses until she one that took her breath away and held it up for everyone to look at. The dress was a gorgeous white silk with just a blush of pale orchid pink. It had a strapless corset-style bodice with miniature roses beaded with pale pink pearls on the entire bottom edge. Silk ribbons, a shade darker than the dress, laced up the back and trailed down the entire back length of the skirt. The skirt flowed in a simple A-line, with a slightly long train in the back to trail behind each step. When Lyz saw it, she fell in love with it and bought it, along with the matching beaded silk open toe pumps that had. She never saw the secret smiles that passed between the other girls and the store’s owner.
After lunch, Maria dragged everyone to La Perla to buy new lingerie and stockings. Then Ava suggested that they all get their hair and nails done, so they wouldn’t have to do it later. Afterwards, everyone agreed that they would meet at the Evans’ to get ready since Kyle and Michael had to work late and Alex was helping set up the band for the ball.
Lyz was excited to get to the ball and hoped Max wouldn’t be late. When Isabel had first brought up the idea, she had wrinkled her nose at the thought of kissing anyone but Max. But when Maria explained that it would be a great way to prove to Max she had experience in kissing other guys, she decided to do it. She wanted to be able to tell Max that no matter who kissed her, his kisses were the ones she craved, only his. She planned on taking Max out to the desert with her after the dance so that she could give him one last present. Lyz smiled as she thought of the small box that was hiding in her purse.
Diane started crying as she watched the girls get ready and Isabel rushed her out of the room before Lyz could see her.
“Mom! You’re going to make her suspicious! Now stop it! Here.” Isabel handed her a tissue.
She left Diane to compose herself and went to the back door as she saw Michael motioning to her. Michael handed her a trio of white roses, whispering that that they were from Max for Lyz. Isabel nodded and took them to Diane who promptly burst into another fit of tears. Isabel tried to calm her down and went back into the other room.
“Hey Lyz, look what I found. Mom just picked these from our garden.”
Lyz turned from the mirror and saw the three white roses in Isabel’s hand, “I did not realize that your mother grew roses. I did not see them.”
“Well, um, you kinda have to look…in a special place. You know, I hate to see these go to waste, why don’t we put some in your hair. They really go with your dress.”
Maria agreed, “They’d look just perfect with the way they did your hair. Here, let me have a few.” Maria took a few roses, trimmed them, and pinned them in place. When she was done, she stood back for everyone to admire her work. Lyz’s hair had been curled and then the front half was pinned back, leaving a few curly tendrils falling around her face. Then long sections in the back were loosely rolled and pinned up so the back of her head looked like a mass of loose curls and fell softly against her neck. Maria added the three roses into the mass of curls close to her left ear.
Ava noticed the time and rushed everyone out the door so that Lyz could take up her place in the kissing booth. At the Roswell Hilton Hotel, Lyz hurried to the ball room and the booth, busy looking around the crowd for Max. She didn’t notice that the girls lingered behind her until she disappeared around the corner, then took off towards the car again. Lyz got to the booth and noticed that the Amy was there setting it up. She quickly apologized for being late and helped finish decorating. The plan was to wait until a full hour had passed after the dance began before opening the booth so it would give everyone a chance to collect a number.
Lyz checked the time and when she thought an hour had passed, she stepped up and called out the first number, one. Her face broke out in a huge smile as Max, looking gorgeous in his tux, walked up with the corresponding number. He smiled into her eyes and leaned down to kiss her. Lyz was lost as Max’s lips moved over hers and was completely surprised when Max placed his hands on her waist and pulled her over the booth’s counter. She pulled back from him and was about to reprimand him when he bent down and placed an arm under her knees to sweep her off her feet. Lyz grabbed at Max’s shoulders for balance as Max walked towards the entrance of the hall and demanded to know what was going on.
Max smiled at Lyz, “Did you really think I was going to let anyone else kiss my angel?”
Lyz wanted to melt at his words, “But Max, what about the booth?”
“It’s closed.” Lyz looked over Max’s shoulder and sure enough, someone had closed it down. Looking at Max, she asked “What’s going on? Where are you taking me?”
“It’s a surprise.” Max stopped by his car and set Lyz down before pulling out a white silk scarf. Lyz looked questioningly at Max who asked her “Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then let me put this on you”
Lyz turned around and allowed Max to blindfold her. He gently guided her into the car and started driving, holding her hand all the time. The ride was bumpy, but after a few minutes, he stopped and again guided her out of the car. Once out, he lifted her in his arms again and carried her. Lyz heard a door open and quiet music playing as Max set her down. He stood behind her gently embracing her and whispered in her ear,
“When you first told me that you were going to court me, I admit, I thought it was silly. But then I realized that deep down, I was insecure about you. I was scared that you would regret not being with other people and that you would always wonder what it was like. Then I got a visit from a couple of friends. One told me to enjoy the journey and not worry so much about the destination, the other asked me, ‘How can I love someone, if I don’t trust them?’ It made me think about what you were doing and why you were doing it and I finally understood, Lyz. When you asking me to believe you loved me, you were asking me to trust you. And I do, I always have.” There was a pause as Lyz felt Max move.
“Lyz, I’m ready to put your ring back on your finger.” Max picked up her hand and she felt the engagement ring slide back on her finger “But there’s another ring I want to add.”
Max pulled away and undid the blindfold. Lyz opened her eyes to see that Max had brought her to a unfamiliar and almost empty house. They were in the doorway of a room filled with lit candles and white roses, soft music played from another room. Their friends and family sat in white folding chairs on either side of a rose petal covered path leading towards a waiting pastor.
“Lyz, I want to add a wedding band along with your engagement ring. May I?”
Tears welled into Lyz’s eyes and she bit her lower lip as her heart melted at Max’s gesture. She blinked furiously before slowly nodding yes. Max threaded Lyz’s arm through his and walked towards the pastor. When all of their friends responded “We do” as the pastor asked who gave away this bride, tears threatened again. The girls all stood and walked to Lyz’s side and the guys walked over to Max’s. They finally fell when Max took a wedding band from Michael and said his vows.
“With this ring, I promise to love, cherish and protect you all the days of my life and more. I promise to hold your hand whenever you’re frightened, to wipe away your tears when you’re hurting, and to laugh with you all through the years. You are my life, my heart, my soul. Love is not even a strong enough word for what I feel for you. Without you, I’m lost. Let this ring be a symbol of my promise my love to you. Always.” Max kissed Lyz’s palm before turning it over and slipping the band on.
Maria stepped forward and handed Lyz a band before the pastor asked for Lyz to repeat after him but she only shook her head. She replied that she had her own vows.
“Max, my whole life I have searched for you without knowing it. I have always dreamed of a place where I feel safe and loved, a haven, a home. My heart and soul cried out for you, even in my dreams. In your arms, I found everything I was looking for. You are my home, Max. I love the way you love me, the way you want me, the way you need me. You make me realize I will never be alone again. With this ring, I give you my body, my soul, and my heart. I belong to you.”
Lyz slipped on the wedding band and couldn’t wait any longer to kiss Max. Their friends and family all clapped when the pastor announced them man and wife as they continued to kiss. Max then pulled back and swept Lyz down the path into another room across from the one they were in. It was empty except for standing candelabras all along the walls. Music filled the room from speakers posted in the corners. Family and friends gathered in the room as Max and Lyz danced their first dance as man and wife.
Halfway through the dance Max suddenly stopped and motioned to them with his head to leave. Lyz smiled as she hugged her friends, laughing as she heard Michael and Kyle tease Max about being impatient. She started to cry when Diane showed her a picture of her and Max walking towards the preacher and told her it was the first one going into the album. When everyone was finally gone, Max swept her back into his arms and walked up the stairs, down a hall and pushed open a door with his foot.
The room was filled with candles and the windows were covered with navy blue curtains. The only piece of furniture was a draped king size bed. Pale blue sheets and pillows peek out from beneath the white rose petals that covered it. Max set Lyz down next to bed and reached out to flip a switch. As the husky voice of Etta James drifted through the room, he reached outand pulled Lyz into their private wedding dance.
At last
my love has come along
my lonely days over
and life is like a song
Max sang along, singing in Lyz’s ear quietly.
Ooh At last
the skies above are blue
well my heart was wrapped up in clover
the night I looked at you
I found a dream
that I could speak to
a dream that I could call my own
I found a thrill
to press my cheek to
a thrill that I have never known
well
You smile
you smile
oh and then the spell was cast
and here we are in heaven
for you are mine at last
Max placed a soft kiss on Lyz’s bare shoulder and continued to sing
I found a dream
that I could speak to
a dream that I
could call my own
I found a thrill
to press my cheek to
a thrill that I have never known
well
You smile
you smile
oh and then the spell was cast
and here we are in heaven
for you are mine at last
ooo yea
you are mine
you are mine
at last
at last
at last
at last
-Etta James ‘At Last’
As the strains of the song faded away and another song came on, Max stepped back to look at Lyz. He gently caressed her face with both hands. He pulled back further to take off his shoes and socks, his jacket and tie and let them fall to the floor. He moved back to Lyz and kissed her tenderly on the forehead, cheek, and then her lips. He looked intensely into her eyes and Lyz saw the hunger and raw need in his eyes as he whispered to her,
“I will cherish you all of my life.”
He let his hands softly wandered down her neck and over her shoulders to her back as he bent to kiss her. Lyz’s skin felt hot and sensitive, too sensitive for the restriction of her dress. She loved the feel of Max’s touch on her skin – he made her feel so loved, cherished.
Still kissing her, Max pulled loose the ribbons holding her dress together. Lifting his lips off of hers, he looked at Lyz as the dress came loose and he pushed the dress slowly down her body. He followed the dress with his lips, falling to his knees as he kissed every curve, every inch of exposed skin lovingly, hungrily, before allowing the dress to pool at her feet. Lyz moaned as Max’s lips moved over her. From his position at her feet, he looked up and clamped down the fierce flash of desire that coursed through his body as he saw Lyz bare except for a pair of the tiniest white silk lace panties, white silk thigh highs and tiny high heeled silk pumps.
He stood up to face her and in awed tones he whispered “You take my breath away.” He cupped her cheek and bent to kiss her passionately. Before he could put his arms around her, Lyz moved her hands to the buttons of Max’s shirt and undid them. “I want to see you.”
She pushed his shirt off before pulling back and ran her hands over his shoulders, down his arms, back up to his shoulders and down his chest and stomach. Max’s eyes closed and he sucked in breath as Lyz’s hand explored his chest, then moved lower to his belt, she knew exactly how to drive him to the edge. She slowly unbuttoned his pants and let them fall to his feet. Lyz followed Max’s example and lovingly caressed and kissed every inch of exposed skin, down to his feet. Max had to concentrate hard to keep his control as Lyz’s hands intimately explored his heated skin.
She stared fascinated at the bulge poking out at her from Max’s boxers but before she could touch it, Max guided her back to her feet. He took her mouth in a hot, hard, and hungry kiss before gently pushing her back on to the bed so that she lay stretched out before him. His stood still as his eyes devoured every inch of her. She was so beautiful to him that it actually hurt to look at her.
Lyz was awed at the play of muscles and sheer beauty of Max – she couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. She had seen his body, explored it with her hands and mouth, but tonight it was all different. Tonight and every night after, he was hers.
Max reached down and pulled Lyz’s right knee up, kissing it before stretching out her leg over his shoulder as he bent forward and tugged gently on the top of the thigh high. He pulled the stocking and kissed along the skin he exposed. He bent her knee and pushed her leg until her foot was cradled in his hand. He tugged off her shoe along with the stocking and kissed her arch before resting the leg back down. He repeated the process with her left leg.
When he was finished, he turned Lyz onto her stomach and let his lips caress every part of her, reveling in the silkiness of her skin, her unique scent. He took his time paying homage to her body – leisurely worshiping every inch of her. She was his dream girl – his miracle. And he couldn’t stop caressing her.
He rolled her over and his eyes roamed her face before entwining his fingers with hers and leaning down to kiss her. They hungrily ate at each other while their hands became reacquainted with each others bodies. Max gently found the swell of her breasts and allowed himself to drown in her intoxicating scent and taste, drawing one nipple into his mouth.
Everywhere Max touched, Lyz burned. She gasped breathlessly as Max found and gently tugged on the tips of her breasts. She moved her hands over Max’s back and down to buttocks, loving how the muscles reacted to her touch.
Max’s hands slowly caressed a heated path down to her knees. He gently nudged her legs apart and slowly stroked upward on her inner thigh. He felt a surge of rampant desire as his fingers found moist heat welcoming him through her lace panties.
Lyz moaned with need and ground her hips against his hand, craving more as Max placed his fingers on the pulsing secret her body held and started to stroke it. Her lips kissed anything that came near and she gently nipped his shoulder as Max continued to stroke her body. She whimpered in the back of her throat as her hips moved against Max’s hand, the sensation heightened by the feel of wet silk lace. “Please Max, I ache.”
Max tensed at the sound of her words and he had to force himself not to rip her panties and enter her. Instead, he moved away to pull off his boxers and then repositioned himself between her legs. He wanted to spend the night just looking at her, all of her. He had to clench his jaw tight at the sight of his aroused angel laying before him, looking at him with such trust and love in her eyes. He closed his eyes to calm his body down and then he reached for her panties. He opened his eyes again when he finally tugged them off and he became even harder than before.
Lyz’s heated body ached for Max’s touch. She arched off the bed as Max’s hand once again found her wet core. Instantly the hunger and need inside of her started to wind tighter and tighter as she felt his fingers slide inside of her. After a few strokes, she felt her world explode and send her soaring as ripples of pleasure crashed through her. She clung to Max, stunned that her body could experience such violent pleasure and still survive. As she fell from the heights of her pleasure, she saw Max above her, carefully trying not to crush her with his weight as he watched her with dark glittering eyes.
She lay beneath him, staring at him with wonder then reached to lightly lick at the bite mark on Max’s shoulder. She felt his body shudder as her tongue licked his sweaty skin. She savored the tangy masculine taste of him on her tongue and reached to lick him again. Again she felt his body shudder. She pulled her mouth away from the addiction of Max’s skin and let her hands stroke up Max’s back to soothe his tense muscles when she felt his cock long and hard pressed against her hip.
She tilted her head to look at Max who had his eyes closed and was breathing very heavily. When he felt her gaze on him, his eyes opened to reveal the dark hunger surging through him and flexed his hips against hers. She answered him by arching her body, letting him know how much she wanted him. When he pulled away and sat back on his heels to try to get more control over himself, Lyz determinedly followed him. She wanted Max to lose control and she knew just how to do it.
Max’s head flew back and he let out a hissing breath as Lyz’s small hand touched his straining hardness and then wrapped her fingers around him. After only a few long seconds of torturous stroking, Max pulled Lyz’s hand away.
“Angel, I’m not going to make it if you keep that up.” He kissed the palm of her hand and let it fall on his shoulder as he leaned in to plunder her mouth in a hot open kiss. He stroked her hair, softly kissed her eyes, and whispered, “I love you, angel. Always.”
He moved to settle between her legs and gently lowered himself onto his elbows, resting them on either side of her head. He reached down between them to touch her core and stroked her. Lyz’s body tensed again and began it’s aching climb towards release. As Lyz began to shatter with pleasure, Max eased himself into her, slowly, one inch at a time until he reached her barrier. Lyz cried out Max’s name as she felt herself being invaded and Max leaned in to capture her mouth, thrusting himself past her barrier and all the way into her body.
Lyz’s gasp of pain was caught by Max’s open kiss. He forced himself to stay still to allow her to stretch and relax to accommodate him despite his body’s screaming demand that he finish his possession of her. Max moved his lips back and forth over Lyz’s as he whispered, “Mine.”
Lyz scraped her nails down Max’s back as a tearing pain invaded her pleasure, but the pain was soon replaced with waves of erotic pleasure as Max moved achingly slow inside of her. Soon, the two of them were in a rhythm, rocking back and forth against each other. Lyz gave herself up to the intoxicating pleasure that Max created as he moved in her body. Each stroke became longer and harder – creating an unbearable friction until Lyz exploded in flames.
As he felt Lyz’s climax rock her body, Max threw his head back and let go of his control. He plunged into her wet heat over and over - reveling in her pleasure, her scent, the touch of her heated skin. The ecstasy of her, all of her, engulfed him and he let himself drown. As Max came apart in her arms, stars exploded behind his eyes and his heart stopped for a split second as he surrendered to the shattering pleasure that rocked his body. Everything that he had felt missing in his life, she filled it. She filled his soul.
Max collapsed on top of Lyz and rolled them onto their sides. He held Lyz to his chest, his breathing erratic and his body trembling from the aftermath. He looked to check on Lyz and saw she wasn’t in much better condition. They lay together, facing one another, trying to catch their breaths. Max possessively gathered her closer to him as gently pushed her damp hair away from her face and kissed her forehead, cheek, and lips, “You are my life.”
When their hearts and breathing slowed back down, Max got up with Lyz in his arms and walked to the bathroom. He carefully sat her down on the counter and washed away the stain of Lyz’s virginity off of their thighs. He kissed her quickly before telling her to stay put and walked back into the bedroom to change the sheets.
Lyz stretched and then looked at herself in the mirror. She wanted to see if there were any visible signs of change now that she lost her virginity.
“What are you looking at?” Max asked as he came back in the bathroom.
“I am trying to see if I look different, changed, now that I am no longer a virgin.” Lyz replied, slightly embarrassed.
Max laughed before he carried her back to the bed. As they settled down, he asked “How do you feel, wife?”
Lyz slowly smiled and replied “Loved.” They smiled at each other before Lyz suddenly sat up with a gasp. She jumped up and threw Max’s shirt over her body and rushed downstairs, hoping everyone left. She came back a few minutes later and climbed back into bed, facing Max.
“You know, you ruined my surprise. I was going to take you out to desert tonight and give you this.” Lyz handed Max a small velvet box. When he opened it, he saw a simple band of silver. Lyz pulled it from the box as she explained “I wanted this to be sort of like an engagement ring for you. I was going to propose to you tonight, but I am glad we got married instead. See, there is an inscription on the inside.”
Max took the ring from Lyz and looked at the inscription which read ‘Max + Lyz. Always’. He looked at his wife with a tender smile, “Thank you, Lyz.” He was about to tell he that he too had a gift for her, the house they were in, but Lyz crawled up Max’s chest and mischievously teased “If you must thank me, thank me with a kiss.”
Unable to resist her flirtatious smile, Max suddenly flipped Lyz on her back and kissed her soundly. As their kiss turned more passionate, Lyz briefly thought about the nightmare her life had been almost two years ago and about the beautiful dream she was living now. She said a prayer of thanks before surrendering to the dream of life with Max.
~ THE END ~
Chapter 35
Lyz had gotten up early too. Today, after dropping off Nicole and Enrique at the airport, she was getting a lesson in playing basketball, Max’s favorite sport, from Michael and Kyle. When she arrived at Michael and Maria’s house, Maria answered the door and let her know that both Kyle and Michael had gotten called into work. As an alternative, Maria suggested they meet Isabel and Ava and go shopping. The girls went through the stores and each picked out a gorgeous dress for the evening’s ball except Lyz.
Every dress Lyz pulled out, the rest of the group agreed that it wasn’t quite right. As a last resort, Isabel pulled them into an exclusive custom made dress shop. Isabel went through the dresses until she one that took her breath away and held it up for everyone to look at. The dress was a gorgeous white silk with just a blush of pale orchid pink. It had a strapless corset-style bodice with miniature roses beaded with pale pink pearls on the entire bottom edge. Silk ribbons, a shade darker than the dress, laced up the back and trailed down the entire back length of the skirt. The skirt flowed in a simple A-line, with a slightly long train in the back to trail behind each step. When Lyz saw it, she fell in love with it and bought it, along with the matching beaded silk open toe pumps that had. She never saw the secret smiles that passed between the other girls and the store’s owner.
After lunch, Maria dragged everyone to La Perla to buy new lingerie and stockings. Then Ava suggested that they all get their hair and nails done, so they wouldn’t have to do it later. Afterwards, everyone agreed that they would meet at the Evans’ to get ready since Kyle and Michael had to work late and Alex was helping set up the band for the ball.
Lyz was excited to get to the ball and hoped Max wouldn’t be late. When Isabel had first brought up the idea, she had wrinkled her nose at the thought of kissing anyone but Max. But when Maria explained that it would be a great way to prove to Max she had experience in kissing other guys, she decided to do it. She wanted to be able to tell Max that no matter who kissed her, his kisses were the ones she craved, only his. She planned on taking Max out to the desert with her after the dance so that she could give him one last present. Lyz smiled as she thought of the small box that was hiding in her purse.
Diane started crying as she watched the girls get ready and Isabel rushed her out of the room before Lyz could see her.
“Mom! You’re going to make her suspicious! Now stop it! Here.” Isabel handed her a tissue.
She left Diane to compose herself and went to the back door as she saw Michael motioning to her. Michael handed her a trio of white roses, whispering that that they were from Max for Lyz. Isabel nodded and took them to Diane who promptly burst into another fit of tears. Isabel tried to calm her down and went back into the other room.
“Hey Lyz, look what I found. Mom just picked these from our garden.”
Lyz turned from the mirror and saw the three white roses in Isabel’s hand, “I did not realize that your mother grew roses. I did not see them.”
“Well, um, you kinda have to look…in a special place. You know, I hate to see these go to waste, why don’t we put some in your hair. They really go with your dress.”
Maria agreed, “They’d look just perfect with the way they did your hair. Here, let me have a few.” Maria took a few roses, trimmed them, and pinned them in place. When she was done, she stood back for everyone to admire her work. Lyz’s hair had been curled and then the front half was pinned back, leaving a few curly tendrils falling around her face. Then long sections in the back were loosely rolled and pinned up so the back of her head looked like a mass of loose curls and fell softly against her neck. Maria added the three roses into the mass of curls close to her left ear.
Ava noticed the time and rushed everyone out the door so that Lyz could take up her place in the kissing booth. At the Roswell Hilton Hotel, Lyz hurried to the ball room and the booth, busy looking around the crowd for Max. She didn’t notice that the girls lingered behind her until she disappeared around the corner, then took off towards the car again. Lyz got to the booth and noticed that the Amy was there setting it up. She quickly apologized for being late and helped finish decorating. The plan was to wait until a full hour had passed after the dance began before opening the booth so it would give everyone a chance to collect a number.
Lyz checked the time and when she thought an hour had passed, she stepped up and called out the first number, one. Her face broke out in a huge smile as Max, looking gorgeous in his tux, walked up with the corresponding number. He smiled into her eyes and leaned down to kiss her. Lyz was lost as Max’s lips moved over hers and was completely surprised when Max placed his hands on her waist and pulled her over the booth’s counter. She pulled back from him and was about to reprimand him when he bent down and placed an arm under her knees to sweep her off her feet. Lyz grabbed at Max’s shoulders for balance as Max walked towards the entrance of the hall and demanded to know what was going on.
Max smiled at Lyz, “Did you really think I was going to let anyone else kiss my angel?”
Lyz wanted to melt at his words, “But Max, what about the booth?”
“It’s closed.” Lyz looked over Max’s shoulder and sure enough, someone had closed it down. Looking at Max, she asked “What’s going on? Where are you taking me?”
“It’s a surprise.” Max stopped by his car and set Lyz down before pulling out a white silk scarf. Lyz looked questioningly at Max who asked her “Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then let me put this on you”
Lyz turned around and allowed Max to blindfold her. He gently guided her into the car and started driving, holding her hand all the time. The ride was bumpy, but after a few minutes, he stopped and again guided her out of the car. Once out, he lifted her in his arms again and carried her. Lyz heard a door open and quiet music playing as Max set her down. He stood behind her gently embracing her and whispered in her ear,
“When you first told me that you were going to court me, I admit, I thought it was silly. But then I realized that deep down, I was insecure about you. I was scared that you would regret not being with other people and that you would always wonder what it was like. Then I got a visit from a couple of friends. One told me to enjoy the journey and not worry so much about the destination, the other asked me, ‘How can I love someone, if I don’t trust them?’ It made me think about what you were doing and why you were doing it and I finally understood, Lyz. When you asking me to believe you loved me, you were asking me to trust you. And I do, I always have.” There was a pause as Lyz felt Max move.
“Lyz, I’m ready to put your ring back on your finger.” Max picked up her hand and she felt the engagement ring slide back on her finger “But there’s another ring I want to add.”
Max pulled away and undid the blindfold. Lyz opened her eyes to see that Max had brought her to a unfamiliar and almost empty house. They were in the doorway of a room filled with lit candles and white roses, soft music played from another room. Their friends and family sat in white folding chairs on either side of a rose petal covered path leading towards a waiting pastor.
“Lyz, I want to add a wedding band along with your engagement ring. May I?”
Tears welled into Lyz’s eyes and she bit her lower lip as her heart melted at Max’s gesture. She blinked furiously before slowly nodding yes. Max threaded Lyz’s arm through his and walked towards the pastor. When all of their friends responded “We do” as the pastor asked who gave away this bride, tears threatened again. The girls all stood and walked to Lyz’s side and the guys walked over to Max’s. They finally fell when Max took a wedding band from Michael and said his vows.
“With this ring, I promise to love, cherish and protect you all the days of my life and more. I promise to hold your hand whenever you’re frightened, to wipe away your tears when you’re hurting, and to laugh with you all through the years. You are my life, my heart, my soul. Love is not even a strong enough word for what I feel for you. Without you, I’m lost. Let this ring be a symbol of my promise my love to you. Always.” Max kissed Lyz’s palm before turning it over and slipping the band on.
Maria stepped forward and handed Lyz a band before the pastor asked for Lyz to repeat after him but she only shook her head. She replied that she had her own vows.
“Max, my whole life I have searched for you without knowing it. I have always dreamed of a place where I feel safe and loved, a haven, a home. My heart and soul cried out for you, even in my dreams. In your arms, I found everything I was looking for. You are my home, Max. I love the way you love me, the way you want me, the way you need me. You make me realize I will never be alone again. With this ring, I give you my body, my soul, and my heart. I belong to you.”
Lyz slipped on the wedding band and couldn’t wait any longer to kiss Max. Their friends and family all clapped when the pastor announced them man and wife as they continued to kiss. Max then pulled back and swept Lyz down the path into another room across from the one they were in. It was empty except for standing candelabras all along the walls. Music filled the room from speakers posted in the corners. Family and friends gathered in the room as Max and Lyz danced their first dance as man and wife.
Halfway through the dance Max suddenly stopped and motioned to them with his head to leave. Lyz smiled as she hugged her friends, laughing as she heard Michael and Kyle tease Max about being impatient. She started to cry when Diane showed her a picture of her and Max walking towards the preacher and told her it was the first one going into the album. When everyone was finally gone, Max swept her back into his arms and walked up the stairs, down a hall and pushed open a door with his foot.
The room was filled with candles and the windows were covered with navy blue curtains. The only piece of furniture was a draped king size bed. Pale blue sheets and pillows peek out from beneath the white rose petals that covered it. Max set Lyz down next to bed and reached out to flip a switch. As the husky voice of Etta James drifted through the room, he reached outand pulled Lyz into their private wedding dance.
At last
my love has come along
my lonely days over
and life is like a song
Max sang along, singing in Lyz’s ear quietly.
Ooh At last
the skies above are blue
well my heart was wrapped up in clover
the night I looked at you
I found a dream
that I could speak to
a dream that I could call my own
I found a thrill
to press my cheek to
a thrill that I have never known
well
You smile
you smile
oh and then the spell was cast
and here we are in heaven
for you are mine at last
Max placed a soft kiss on Lyz’s bare shoulder and continued to sing
I found a dream
that I could speak to
a dream that I
could call my own
I found a thrill
to press my cheek to
a thrill that I have never known
well
You smile
you smile
oh and then the spell was cast
and here we are in heaven
for you are mine at last
ooo yea
you are mine
you are mine
at last
at last
at last
at last
-Etta James ‘At Last’
As the strains of the song faded away and another song came on, Max stepped back to look at Lyz. He gently caressed her face with both hands. He pulled back further to take off his shoes and socks, his jacket and tie and let them fall to the floor. He moved back to Lyz and kissed her tenderly on the forehead, cheek, and then her lips. He looked intensely into her eyes and Lyz saw the hunger and raw need in his eyes as he whispered to her,
“I will cherish you all of my life.”
He let his hands softly wandered down her neck and over her shoulders to her back as he bent to kiss her. Lyz’s skin felt hot and sensitive, too sensitive for the restriction of her dress. She loved the feel of Max’s touch on her skin – he made her feel so loved, cherished.
Still kissing her, Max pulled loose the ribbons holding her dress together. Lifting his lips off of hers, he looked at Lyz as the dress came loose and he pushed the dress slowly down her body. He followed the dress with his lips, falling to his knees as he kissed every curve, every inch of exposed skin lovingly, hungrily, before allowing the dress to pool at her feet. Lyz moaned as Max’s lips moved over her. From his position at her feet, he looked up and clamped down the fierce flash of desire that coursed through his body as he saw Lyz bare except for a pair of the tiniest white silk lace panties, white silk thigh highs and tiny high heeled silk pumps.
He stood up to face her and in awed tones he whispered “You take my breath away.” He cupped her cheek and bent to kiss her passionately. Before he could put his arms around her, Lyz moved her hands to the buttons of Max’s shirt and undid them. “I want to see you.”
She pushed his shirt off before pulling back and ran her hands over his shoulders, down his arms, back up to his shoulders and down his chest and stomach. Max’s eyes closed and he sucked in breath as Lyz’s hand explored his chest, then moved lower to his belt, she knew exactly how to drive him to the edge. She slowly unbuttoned his pants and let them fall to his feet. Lyz followed Max’s example and lovingly caressed and kissed every inch of exposed skin, down to his feet. Max had to concentrate hard to keep his control as Lyz’s hands intimately explored his heated skin.
She stared fascinated at the bulge poking out at her from Max’s boxers but before she could touch it, Max guided her back to her feet. He took her mouth in a hot, hard, and hungry kiss before gently pushing her back on to the bed so that she lay stretched out before him. His stood still as his eyes devoured every inch of her. She was so beautiful to him that it actually hurt to look at her.
Lyz was awed at the play of muscles and sheer beauty of Max – she couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. She had seen his body, explored it with her hands and mouth, but tonight it was all different. Tonight and every night after, he was hers.
Max reached down and pulled Lyz’s right knee up, kissing it before stretching out her leg over his shoulder as he bent forward and tugged gently on the top of the thigh high. He pulled the stocking and kissed along the skin he exposed. He bent her knee and pushed her leg until her foot was cradled in his hand. He tugged off her shoe along with the stocking and kissed her arch before resting the leg back down. He repeated the process with her left leg.
When he was finished, he turned Lyz onto her stomach and let his lips caress every part of her, reveling in the silkiness of her skin, her unique scent. He took his time paying homage to her body – leisurely worshiping every inch of her. She was his dream girl – his miracle. And he couldn’t stop caressing her.
He rolled her over and his eyes roamed her face before entwining his fingers with hers and leaning down to kiss her. They hungrily ate at each other while their hands became reacquainted with each others bodies. Max gently found the swell of her breasts and allowed himself to drown in her intoxicating scent and taste, drawing one nipple into his mouth.
Everywhere Max touched, Lyz burned. She gasped breathlessly as Max found and gently tugged on the tips of her breasts. She moved her hands over Max’s back and down to buttocks, loving how the muscles reacted to her touch.
Max’s hands slowly caressed a heated path down to her knees. He gently nudged her legs apart and slowly stroked upward on her inner thigh. He felt a surge of rampant desire as his fingers found moist heat welcoming him through her lace panties.
Lyz moaned with need and ground her hips against his hand, craving more as Max placed his fingers on the pulsing secret her body held and started to stroke it. Her lips kissed anything that came near and she gently nipped his shoulder as Max continued to stroke her body. She whimpered in the back of her throat as her hips moved against Max’s hand, the sensation heightened by the feel of wet silk lace. “Please Max, I ache.”
Max tensed at the sound of her words and he had to force himself not to rip her panties and enter her. Instead, he moved away to pull off his boxers and then repositioned himself between her legs. He wanted to spend the night just looking at her, all of her. He had to clench his jaw tight at the sight of his aroused angel laying before him, looking at him with such trust and love in her eyes. He closed his eyes to calm his body down and then he reached for her panties. He opened his eyes again when he finally tugged them off and he became even harder than before.
Lyz’s heated body ached for Max’s touch. She arched off the bed as Max’s hand once again found her wet core. Instantly the hunger and need inside of her started to wind tighter and tighter as she felt his fingers slide inside of her. After a few strokes, she felt her world explode and send her soaring as ripples of pleasure crashed through her. She clung to Max, stunned that her body could experience such violent pleasure and still survive. As she fell from the heights of her pleasure, she saw Max above her, carefully trying not to crush her with his weight as he watched her with dark glittering eyes.
She lay beneath him, staring at him with wonder then reached to lightly lick at the bite mark on Max’s shoulder. She felt his body shudder as her tongue licked his sweaty skin. She savored the tangy masculine taste of him on her tongue and reached to lick him again. Again she felt his body shudder. She pulled her mouth away from the addiction of Max’s skin and let her hands stroke up Max’s back to soothe his tense muscles when she felt his cock long and hard pressed against her hip.
She tilted her head to look at Max who had his eyes closed and was breathing very heavily. When he felt her gaze on him, his eyes opened to reveal the dark hunger surging through him and flexed his hips against hers. She answered him by arching her body, letting him know how much she wanted him. When he pulled away and sat back on his heels to try to get more control over himself, Lyz determinedly followed him. She wanted Max to lose control and she knew just how to do it.
Max’s head flew back and he let out a hissing breath as Lyz’s small hand touched his straining hardness and then wrapped her fingers around him. After only a few long seconds of torturous stroking, Max pulled Lyz’s hand away.
“Angel, I’m not going to make it if you keep that up.” He kissed the palm of her hand and let it fall on his shoulder as he leaned in to plunder her mouth in a hot open kiss. He stroked her hair, softly kissed her eyes, and whispered, “I love you, angel. Always.”
He moved to settle between her legs and gently lowered himself onto his elbows, resting them on either side of her head. He reached down between them to touch her core and stroked her. Lyz’s body tensed again and began it’s aching climb towards release. As Lyz began to shatter with pleasure, Max eased himself into her, slowly, one inch at a time until he reached her barrier. Lyz cried out Max’s name as she felt herself being invaded and Max leaned in to capture her mouth, thrusting himself past her barrier and all the way into her body.
Lyz’s gasp of pain was caught by Max’s open kiss. He forced himself to stay still to allow her to stretch and relax to accommodate him despite his body’s screaming demand that he finish his possession of her. Max moved his lips back and forth over Lyz’s as he whispered, “Mine.”
Lyz scraped her nails down Max’s back as a tearing pain invaded her pleasure, but the pain was soon replaced with waves of erotic pleasure as Max moved achingly slow inside of her. Soon, the two of them were in a rhythm, rocking back and forth against each other. Lyz gave herself up to the intoxicating pleasure that Max created as he moved in her body. Each stroke became longer and harder – creating an unbearable friction until Lyz exploded in flames.
As he felt Lyz’s climax rock her body, Max threw his head back and let go of his control. He plunged into her wet heat over and over - reveling in her pleasure, her scent, the touch of her heated skin. The ecstasy of her, all of her, engulfed him and he let himself drown. As Max came apart in her arms, stars exploded behind his eyes and his heart stopped for a split second as he surrendered to the shattering pleasure that rocked his body. Everything that he had felt missing in his life, she filled it. She filled his soul.
Max collapsed on top of Lyz and rolled them onto their sides. He held Lyz to his chest, his breathing erratic and his body trembling from the aftermath. He looked to check on Lyz and saw she wasn’t in much better condition. They lay together, facing one another, trying to catch their breaths. Max possessively gathered her closer to him as gently pushed her damp hair away from her face and kissed her forehead, cheek, and lips, “You are my life.”
When their hearts and breathing slowed back down, Max got up with Lyz in his arms and walked to the bathroom. He carefully sat her down on the counter and washed away the stain of Lyz’s virginity off of their thighs. He kissed her quickly before telling her to stay put and walked back into the bedroom to change the sheets.
Lyz stretched and then looked at herself in the mirror. She wanted to see if there were any visible signs of change now that she lost her virginity.
“What are you looking at?” Max asked as he came back in the bathroom.
“I am trying to see if I look different, changed, now that I am no longer a virgin.” Lyz replied, slightly embarrassed.
Max laughed before he carried her back to the bed. As they settled down, he asked “How do you feel, wife?”
Lyz slowly smiled and replied “Loved.” They smiled at each other before Lyz suddenly sat up with a gasp. She jumped up and threw Max’s shirt over her body and rushed downstairs, hoping everyone left. She came back a few minutes later and climbed back into bed, facing Max.
“You know, you ruined my surprise. I was going to take you out to desert tonight and give you this.” Lyz handed Max a small velvet box. When he opened it, he saw a simple band of silver. Lyz pulled it from the box as she explained “I wanted this to be sort of like an engagement ring for you. I was going to propose to you tonight, but I am glad we got married instead. See, there is an inscription on the inside.”
Max took the ring from Lyz and looked at the inscription which read ‘Max + Lyz. Always’. He looked at his wife with a tender smile, “Thank you, Lyz.” He was about to tell he that he too had a gift for her, the house they were in, but Lyz crawled up Max’s chest and mischievously teased “If you must thank me, thank me with a kiss.”
Unable to resist her flirtatious smile, Max suddenly flipped Lyz on her back and kissed her soundly. As their kiss turned more passionate, Lyz briefly thought about the nightmare her life had been almost two years ago and about the beautiful dream she was living now. She said a prayer of thanks before surrendering to the dream of life with Max.
~ THE END ~
I'm a believer!