Roswell Fanatics

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Part 10

Liz had made up her mind the night before. Now, she was carrying out her plan. She was going to get a job and become more independent. It was the only solution to the problem.

However, the rest of the world clearly hadn’t gotten the message. She’d been out for most of the day and still wasn’t having any luck in landing a job. Most of the places she’d gone into were stores that had the ‘help wanted’ sign in the front window. However, once she’d gone in and told them she wanted to apply for the job, they told her she needed to fill out an application, provide some references, and some identification.

She could have filled out the application and she knew Tess and Maria would allow her to use them as references, but she couldn’t produce any identification. Still, she continued looking, hoping there would be someplace that wouldn’t ask her for that.

A few hours later, she was beginning to get frustrated. Not only could she not show any identification, but some of the jobs where she didn’t have to do that wanted her to have some experience. How was she supposed to get any experience if she couldn’t work in the first place! And much to her consternation the cooking, cleaning, and other things she did around the house she lived in wasn’t considered experience.

She finally decided to call it a day since she knew Max would be getting off soon and she needed to get home to get dinner ready. She turned around and began walking back the way she had come. Reaching the corner, she turned right and walked down to the end of the next block.

She stopped and looked around, then remembered she’d gone two blocks before turning the corner. So she looked both ways before crossing the street and continued down the next block. At the end of that block, she turned left and crossed the street continuing on home.

Several blocks, turns, and minutes later Liz knew she was lost. Standing at another intersection, she continued to look around with a frown on her face. Nothing around her looked familiar to her. She had walked a bit more, looking for the help wanted signs in the windows hoping that one of those stores would look familiar, but it had been a bust.

Now she stood there and wondered how she was ever going to find her way back home. She knew it would be hopeless to retrace her steps because she couldn’t remember the exact sequence of blocks and turns she’d already made.

Suddenly she saw a familiar car come to a stop in front of a convenience store a few blocks down. A smile spread over her face as she watched two men get out of the car and walk into the store. She’d found her way home.

Making her way down the sidewalk, she continued until she reached the parking lot of the convenience store. As she reached the car, the two men walked out of the store. Each of them was holding a steaming cup in their hand and one of them also carried a box.

They both looked up at her as she approached with a smile on her face.

“Hello,” she said. “I was wondering if you could help me. See, I’m still kind of new to the city and I seem to have gotten lost. I’m staying with a friend of mine, but I don’t know his exact address. Would it be possible if you could help me get home again?”

The two men looked at her for a moment before glancing at each other with raised eyebrows. The one with the box turned back to her.

“You’re lost, you say?” At Liz’s nod, he asked. “What’s your friend’s name?”

“Max. Max Evans. He lives in this loft in a building called The Heights.”

The man nodded. “I see. You wouldn’t happen to know how to reach him would you?”

“What do you mean?”

“A phone number. Do you know his phone number?”

“Oh! No, sorry, I don’t know his number either.”

The man sighed. “Okay, well, why don’t you get in the back seat and we’ll take you down to the station where we can look up his name and the building you gave us.”

Liz smiled. “Oh thank you so much!”

The officer nodded as the other officer held open the back door for her to get into the police vehicle. Once she was inside and they were situated in the front seat with their coffee and donuts, they were on the way to the local police station to find out the address and phone number of a Max Evans that lived in The Heights building.

************************************************************

“And that, gentlemen, is the reason why Hearty Grain Bread is good for everyone,” said Max as he wrapped up the presentation he had created for the executives of the Healthy Dough Company.

Each of the three men looked at the boards he’d displayed around the conference room before looking at each other in silent communication. As Max watched them going over the information, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Glancing towards the window nearest the door, he saw his assistant waving her arms to get his attention.

He gave her a frown, letting her know that he wasn’t happy being interrupted. She knew better than to disturb him when he was in a meeting. His frown didn’t deter her since she immediately placed a piece of paper against the glass. His eyes widened slightly as he read the large words she’d scribbled on it.

“Police on line 2. Emergency. Have your lost friend.”

“Mr. Evans, would you be so kind as to give us a few minutes to discuss some things before we give you an answer,” asked one of the executives.

Max turned to look at them, more than eager to give them all the time they needed. “Of course gentlemen. I’ll be in my office when you’re ready.”

Without another word, he walked out of the room. Closing the door behind him, his assistant fell into step besides him.

“They said she named you as the only one she knows in town. Her name is Liz Parker.”

Max scowled as Terry confirmed his suspicions. Liz had gone and gotten herself lost again. “Thanks Terry. Let me know when they executives are ready to talk to me.”

“Of course,” she replied as he walked into his office and shut the door behind him.

He picked up the phone and pressed the button for line two. “This is Max Evans.”

“Mr. Evans? This is Officer Ingles at station 28. Would you happen to have a young woman who is currently staying with you while she is visiting the city?”

“Yes I do. Her name is Elizabeth Parker, but she goes by Liz.”

“Right. Well, she approached me and my partner when we were at a convenience store on Lincoln Avenue claiming to be lost. She told us that all she knew was your name and the building you lived in called The Heights. With that information, we were able to find your address and phone number. We tried calling you at home first and left a message on your machine. Luckily, one of our detectives was able to locate your work number, so that’s how I’m calling you now.”

Max’s frown had deepened when the officer had mentioned that Liz had approached him on Lincoln Avenue. That was about five miles away from his place. He wondered just what she was doing going so far away from home and all alone at that.

“Mr. Evans? What would you like us to do with her?”

“Oh well I’m in the middle of a meeting and I don’t think I’ll be done for another hour or two, would it be possible for me to send a friend of mine to pick her up? I am going to call first and find out who can go get her, but it will be someone Liz will recognize. Can I have your number so I can call you back and inform you which person is going to pick her up?”

“Of course.”

Max wrote down the number before hanging up and dialing the number to Tess and Maria’s Pet Shoppe. It was Maria who answered.

“Your Family’s Pet Shoppe, Maria Deluca speaking.”

“Maria, it’s Max.”

“Hey, Max aren’t you supposed to be at work right now?” she asked.

“I am. Listen I need a favor from you or Tess. Would one of you be able to go down to the police station to pick up Liz?”

“What!” She exclaimed before giggling. “She got lost again didn’t she?”

“Yes,” growled Max. “She managed to find a police officer who took her to Station 28 where they looked up my phone number to call me.”

“Man, did they have to go through the phone book again?”

“No, this time Liz knew my name and the name of my loft building. They called my home phone first and when they got my voice messaging, one of their detectives looked up my work number.”

“Right. Okay, um let me tell Tess to look after the store and I’ll go get her.”

“Thanks Maria, I really appreciate this. I’m going to call them back and give them your name so they’ll know who is picking her up. I already told them that Liz will recognize whoever it was that I sent.”

“Okay. Um, what station was it again?”

“Station 28.”

“Right. Okay, it should take me about twenty minutes to get there. You want me to take her back to your place?”

“Yes could you? I’ll be home as soon as I wrap this meeting up. Thanks so much for doing this Maria.”

“No problem Max. I’ll get Liz and we’ll wait at home for you.”

“Okay.”

As soon as he hung up with Maria, Terry knocked on the door. Max glanced up as she stuck her head in and told him that the executives were ready to talk to him again. Max asked her to let them know he was on his way and called the station back to give them the information about Maria.

As soon as he was done with that, he got himself back into business mode and made his way into the conference room once more.

************************************************************

Liz turned her head the moment she heard the front door open. A smile spread over her face as soon as she saw him. He was finally home and just in time for dinner. However, her smile fell when she saw the look on his face. He was upset and she knew who had placed that scowl on his face.

As Liz stood up, Maria noticed the way she was wringing her hands and biting her bottom lip nervously. Glancing at Max, she could see why Liz looked nervous. Max was giving her one of his famous glares. The one that could cow even the often oblivious Kyle.

“Hey Max. Liz made a scrumptious dinner as usual! Just wait until you try it! She gave me a taste, so you can take my word that it’s wonderful.” Maria was hoping to calm her friend down before he said something he’d regret.

Max didn’t even look at her as he nodded. “I’m sure it is. I can smell the aroma.” He finally turned to look at her as he finished. “Thanks for bringing her home, Maria.”

Maria clearly heard a dismissal when she heard one. “It wasn’t a problem and the officers were only too happy to help out a wonderful woman like Liz.”

She turned to give Liz a smile as she said, “Okay, I’m going to head back to work now. Liz, I’ll see you tomorrow for our weekly cooking lesson?”

As Liz nodded and hugged Maria, she added “At least you were able to get help and nothing bad happened to you while you were out and about.” She said all of this while looking Max dead in the eyes.

She could see that Max had gotten her message as the glare seemed to fade a little. Moving away from Liz, she gathered up her purse and walked over to him. “Max, always a treat to see you and Liz.”

Max gave her a smile, “Thanks again Maria.”

“No problem, hon.” She leaned in to give him a hug whispering in his ear as she did. “Don’t be too mad Max. At least she had the mind to seek out someone she could trust with getting her home safely.”

She moved away from Max and walked to the door, waving to them as she walked out. “See you tomorrow Liz. Bye Max.”

As soon as the door had closed, Max turned to look at Liz. She stood there looking a bit sheepish in a navy blue dress that flowed from her waist down to her calves. Max couldn’t help but take a few moments to admire the way she looked. She had her hair swept up into a relaxed bun with a few wisps framing her face. The dress was complemented with a pair of matching blue pumps and pearls at her neck and ears.

The dark blue dress gave her skin a warm, tanned look. The overhead lighting was reflected in the depths of her eyes, making them seem as if they were pools of midnight black with diamonds swimming throughout them. In short, she looked radiant.

And just like that, the thought that something bad could have happened to her that could have potentially removed her from his life suddenly flashed into his mind. Once more the scowl returned to his face making her take a hesitant step backwards.

“Liz, what were you thinking!” he whispered heatedly.

“I’m sorry Max,” she whispered back.

“Sorry! God Liz you know better than to go out on your own! What if something had happened to you? Couldn’t you have waited until Tess, Maria, or even I could go with you?”

“Max I’m a grown woman. I think I can take of myself.” She was trying to sound confident, but with Max staring at her the way he was, her voice come out hesitantly.

“I know you’re a grown woman Liz. That’s not the point! You should have waited for someone to go with you!”

This time Liz straightened up and glared right back at him. “I don’t need anyone to hold my hand Max! If I’m going to learn how to adapt to this world, I can’t have people constantly trying to shelter me and take care of me! I have to learn how to be independent, like most women are these days! I have to learn how to take care of myself!”

Max gave her a puzzled look. “What makes you think you’re being sheltered? I think you are quite capable of doing things yourself, but you still don’t know how to get around the city. I’m not saying you can’t take care of yourself, I’m just saying there are still things you have to learn.”

“Well exactly how am I going to learn them if I don’t try to do them myself.”

Max sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Liz sometimes it’s okay to depend on others for certain things. No one is asking you to be perfect and no one expects you to know everything.”

Liz just stared at him in silence.

Max walked closer to her and ran a comforting hand down her arm. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, “I’m fine. I didn’t panic and as soon as I saw the officers, I made my way over to them.”

“Okay,” he replied as he gave her a little smile. Moving away from her, he walked towards the kitchen. “So, why were you out there alone anyway?”

“I was looking for a job.”

That made Max come to a stand still. He whirled around to look at her. “You were what?”

“Looking for a job.” She rolled her eyes, “I had no idea these places were so picky! I had to fill out applications and provide references and even a form of identification! And when I got lucky enough to find a place that didn’t require identification they wouldn’t hire me because I didn’t have experience or something like that!”

Max just stood there gaping at her as she rambled on about the different places she’d gone to look for a job. It took him a while before he finally stuttered out a response.

“Wait. Back up a minute. You went to look for a job?”

“Yes, I told you. I am trying to be more independent and provide for myself.”

“I understand that, but why were you looking for a job?”

Liz rolled her eyes, “I thought I just said…”

Max shook his head, “No Liz, you don’t need a job to prove your independence.”

“Yes I do Max! If I’m to be able to get my own house and buy my own groceries and other things, then I have to have money. And the only way to get money is to get a job.”

“Liz, if you need something, all you have to do is ask me and I’ll get it for you.”

“I can’t always depend on you Max. It’s not right for me to keep taking things from you.”

Max gave an exasperated sigh. “Liz, I said I’d help you.”

“I know, but it’s time I stopped letting you care about me,” she stated.

“You can’t stop me from doing that Liz. I can get you whatever you need.” His voice was starting to rise again as they continued to argue.

“Max, you need to let me take care of myself, I don’t want to be a burden on you anymore.”

“You’ve never been a burden!” He shouted. “Where the hell is this coming from?”

“I’m not letting you give up your life to take care of me!” Came her heated response. “You need to move on and I’m not going to stand here and watch you give up your life for me!”

“What?” he exclaimed.

“I heard your friends talking to you! They’re worried about your life and I’m not going to let you ruin it for me!”

Max’s eyes went wide as realization suddenly dawned on him. He stood there for a moment before asking in a quieter voice, “You heard me with Kyle and Michael the night of the party?”

Liz nodded.

Max closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes to look at her, he couldn’t help but think that he’d almost lost her again because she’d believed she was a burden to him.

He moved close to her again and looked down into her eyes. “Liz, whatever you heard them say, it’s wrong.”

“But Max…”

He stopped her with a finger over her lips. “Listen to me. Kyle doesn’t know the first thing about taking care of someone and Michael, he is just being a concerned friend. I don’t know how much of the conversation you heard Liz, but I told them that I wanted to take care of you. I can take care of you for as long as you let me. Don’t you see Liz? I want to take care of you because I like you. You mean a lot to me.”

Liz just looked up into his eyes as he slowly lifted his hand to caress her cheek. “I don’t ever want you to think that you are a burden to me Liz. I’m doing this because I want to. Because I like having you in my life. Please, just allow me to do this for you, okay?”

Slowly she began to nod. “Okay, Max.”

He gave her a smile as he slid his hand down to her arm. “Good. Now, how about we make a deal? I take you on a walking tour of the city this weekend to show you where things are and how to get around the city. In return, you stop worrying about being a burden to me and let me take care of you. Deal?”

She gave him a huge smile. “Yes, it’s a deal.”

Max chuckled and pulled her into a huge hug. “Great! Now how about we go eat that dinner you made? The smell is making my mouth water.”

This time she laughed as she hugged him back. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to hold out for too long!”

TBC...

Part 11

Bright and early Saturday morning, Max was woken up by the smells of a hearty breakfast Liz was making for the two of them. As he made his way into the kitchen, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Liz turned to greet him with a smile.

“Good morning sleepy head,” she laughed.

Max gave her a sleepy smile. “What smells so good?”

Liz set down the spoon she had and walked over to him. Planting a kiss on his cheek, she turned him around and ushered him towards the stairs. “You go on up and get dressed, then I’ll serve you a nice piping hot breakfast of pancakes and hash browns before we go on that city tour you promised me, okay?”

Max chuckled as he allowed her to push him up the stairs. “Okay, okay. I’m going.”

After Max had showered and changed, the two of them sat down to have the breakfast Liz had made for them. As Max cleaned up their remains, Liz had gone upstairs to change and soon the two of them were out touring the city.

Max talked Liz through everything as they began walking from the outside of his loft building through the neighborhood he lived in. For the first part of the day, the two of them continued to tour the area that was within walking distance from Max’s place. Max would point out street signs and other noticeable landmarks for Liz to remember.

Eventually, they stopped for a light lunch at a quaint deli in the neighborhood. As they sat and ate their lunches of sandwich or salad, Max showed Liz the maps he’d picked up of the subway, roadway, and bus routes. Liz listened attentively to what Max was showing and telling her and she often asked questions when she needed some clarification.

After lunch, Max and Liz walked back to his loft building and Max showed her where the nearest bus, subway, and taxi service where located. They soon got on a bus and Max began to point out all the signs and sights along the way as the tour of the city continued.

He was now taking her out of the neighborhood to explore more of the city. As they went on, he kept track of their progress on one of the maps he had so that she could see where they were.

After a while they got off the bus and Max showed her around the area again. He was trying to show her places he knew she’d probably go to such as a mall, a grocery store, and other places of interest.

Max showed her a couple of more areas close to his neighborhood before they finally made their way back towards his home. They stopped for dinner at a nearby gourmet burger restaurant which Liz enjoyed because burgers were one of her favorite things to eat nowadays. And this was the first time Liz had ever had a gourmet burger. Needless to say, Max enjoyed watching Liz eat her burger since she made it so entertaining with her wide eyed exuberance.

After dinner, Max took Liz to the top of his building and showed her the sights from up there in the darkness. Once more he pointed out all of the places he’d showed her during the day and Liz pictured the places he pointed out in her mind. Soon they went inside to get some rest since Max said they would be going out again on Sunday for another tour.

************************************************************

Max grinned as he followed Liz down the sidewalk. She kept walking until she got to the corner where she stopped and began looking around for a familiar sign. As he came up besides her, he could see the frown that marred her features. She knew she was lost. Again.

Max had decided to do something a little different when they’d headed out on Sunday for the tour of the city. This time after they’d eaten breakfast, he had taken out the maps and spread them out on the dining room table. Then he had pointed to certain places and asked Liz if she recognized the area or if she could name something there. She had done a pretty good job in answering his questions, so Max had mapped out a route for her to follow when they left the loft.

Liz had memorized the route Max had showed her on the map, then proceeded to be the tour guide, taking Max through the city. She had done fine while they were in his neighborhood, but once they had left it she began to lose her sense of direction.

Still, she had been stubborn and continued to try to figure out where they were and how to get to where Max had originally intended for them to go. Max allowed Liz to try to figure it out because even though she didn’t have a clue where they were, he did.

Twice he’d helped her out by pointing her in the right direction and still she managed to get them lost again. They’d taken a break for a light lunch earlier in the afternoon before trying it once more. And still Liz had managed to get lost once more.

His smile widened as she placed her hands on her hips and began chewing on her bottom lip in frustration.

Finally she threw her hands in the air. “I give up! It’s hopeless Max! I just don’t have any sense of direction and no matter how many times you show me, I’m still not going to remember how to get from here to there.”

Max chuckled softly. “It’s okay, Liz. Give yourself some more time. You can’t learn everything in a day you know.”

Liz pouted. “Really Max, you don’t have to spare my feelings. I know I’ll never be able to figure directions out. I can’t even really understand the maps you showed me.”

She shrugged. “I guess I can’t do everything, huh?”

Max took her hand and led her down the sidewalk. “Come on. Let me get us back on track and we’ll try again, okay?”

Liz let him lead her to a bus stop where they waited until a bus came by and boarded it. A few minutes later, Max had them at the outlet mall that was just a few miles outside of his neighborhood. Once they were there, Max asked her to get him to the post office on Oak Street.

Once more Liz led the way as the two of them walked down sidewalk after sidewalk in search of the post office. But nearly thirty minutes later, Liz knew she’d gotten lost again.

Turning to Max with a frown, she shook her head. “Forget it Max. I’m just not cut out for getting around the city on my own.”

Max sighed at the forlorn look on her face, wishing there was something he could do to help her learn directions. He was beginning to think that Liz was just one of those unfortunate persons who was born with a bad sense of direction and there was nothing either one of them could do about it.

He moved to give her a comforting hug when something in a nearby store window caught his eye. Turning his head and catching sight of the products in the window, an idea suddenly dawned on him. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of this before.

Pulling out of the hug, he grabbed Liz’s hand and almost dragged her into the store behind him. “I’ve got an idea. Come on.”

“What? What do you think could possibly help me?” stammered Liz, as they walked into the small place.

************************************************************

Max and Liz sat next to each other in the booth near the back of the restaurant with their foreheads so close together they were almost touching. If anyone glanced in their direction, it looked as if they were two lovers whispering to each other.

They were indeed talking to each other, but it wasn’t sweet nothings they were saying. Instead, they were discussing the new gadget Max had brought for Liz. She was currently staring down in awe at the cell phone in her hand as he continued to show her how to use it.

After Max had dragged her into the phone store, he’d looked around until he’d found the perfect phone for her to have. The phone included an address book and could store all of the important phone numbers she would need if she ever got lost again. And as a bonus, this phone had a tracking system in it that could help her tell whomever she called just where to find her.

So, he’d haggled with the associate and nearly an hour later they had walked out with a brand new cell phone for Liz. They had been told it would be activated by 5pm that evening, so until then Max decided to brief Liz on how to use the phone. He had explained that if she ever got lost again, all she would have to do was press a number and the phone would speed dial whoever it was that she was trying to reach.

Once they’d left the store, they had gone to a nearby restaurant to have dinner. After ordering, Max took out the phone, handed it to Liz, and began showing her how to program the phone numbers and addresses she would need. After that, he’d showed her the other wonderful features that were included in the phone, such as the tracking system.

Soon the waitress returned with their meal which the two of them ate even while Liz continued to fiddle with her new phone. Luckily Liz caught on quickly on how to use it. Together, she and Max explored all of the features included in the phone until it became a sort of game to them.

She laughed as she succeeded in breezing through another challenge Max had asked her to do on the phone. “Well, I guess I can do almost anything except find my way around the city on my own, huh?”

Max chuckled before he took a sip of his soda. Setting the glass down, he draped his arm over her shoulders. “Well, they say no one is perfect so I guess you had to have a flaw somewhere in there.”

When Liz stuck her tongue out at him, he laughed. “What? I’m not saying it’s a bad thing Liz. Sometimes it’s the flaws that make a person more interesting.”

She quirked her eyebrow at him. “More interesting huh? So you’re saying I’m more interesting because I get lost easily?”

He blinked a few times before he responded. “Well, when you put it that way…”

Liz started laughing at the sheepish look on Max’s face.

When Max realized she was just joking with him, he too began to laugh.

A few minutes later, Liz had sobered up somewhat. Turning to look at him, she reached up and patted his cheek before giving it a quick kiss.

“Thank you, Max. This phone is such a thoughtful gift. I just want you to know how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. Everything that you are doing for me. I’m glad that I’m not alone in this world and that you’re here to help me learn how to live in it. I can’t imagine what I’d do without you here.”

Max returned her smile as he squeezed her shoulders with affection. “I’m glad I’m here to help you Liz. I just want you to know that it’s never a burden for me to help you learn anything. Seeing you here, it makes me enjoy my own life more. And you’re welcome, but you know I’d help you with whatever I can. That’s what people do when they care about someone so much.”

Liz nodded. “Yeah, I know,” she whispered before leaning her head against his shoulder.

Dinner had long since been finished, but they had remained there talking and playing with her phone. They were there for a little while longer before they decided to leave and take an evening stroll through the park they both had come to love so much.

As they walked through the park, they held hands and enjoyed the soft breeze that stirred their hair and clothing. Both of them were silent as they took in their surroundings, even though they were very aware of each other. Slowly the light faded and the park lights began flickering on, illuminating the small pathway they took.

They continued walking until they came to the fountain that was surrounded by benches on all sides. Max led Liz to their favorite one with the most shrubbery surrounding it. He helped her to sit down before sitting next to her, once more putting his arm around her shoulders. As he did, she leaned into his side until they were both comfortably enjoying the display of water and colored lights that made up the huge fountain.

As they sat there enjoying the night, the smell of fragrant night blooming flowers drifted on the breeze towards them. Max could feel Liz taking a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the flowers. He smiled as he thought of the look she would be wearing as she inhaled the scents she loved. Her eyes would be closed and a soft, secretive smile would cover her face. It was one of the looks he loved seeing on her face.

Leaning his head down, he buried his face in her hair and inhaled her scent. Liz may love the scent of flowers, but he was fast becoming addicted to the smell of Liz. To him, she always smelled like she’d rolled in a fresh bed of wildflowers or sometimes she smelled like she’d just come in from a spring rain. He had no idea how she did that, but chalked it up to the bath soaps she used now.

She shifted slightly against him and Max lifted his head to peer down at her. She was holding her phone in her hand and looking down at the way the face of it lit up in the darkness.

She giggled. “I think it’s been activated.”

Max nodded. “Yeah, it’s way past 5, so I’m sure it is.”

Liz glanced up at him with a sparkle in her eyes. “What do you say I give it a test run?”

He chuckled. “Go ahead.”

Liz pressed a couple of buttons and lifted the phone to her ear and waited. Max watched her face as the grin spread over it. He could hear the faint ringing on the other end and then the sound of a connection.

There was a pause as Liz’s face lit up. “Hi Tess!”

Another pause. “Yep, it’s me. Guess where I’m calling from?”

She giggled. “Nope, I’m calling from my new cell phone.”

“What!” This time Max could hear Tess’ shriek.

“It’s true. Max got me a cell phone because it may be the only way to keep me from getting lost again.”

Max laughed as he sat back against the bench and listened to Liz talking to Tess. She told Tess all about the weekend she’d had with Max and how that had finally led to Max getting her the phone. Tess had agreed that it was a great idea, but said she still thought Liz shouldn’t go anywhere alone anyway until she was more familiar with the city.

A few minutes later, the two women had said good bye and Liz had hung up the phone with a squeal. As she hugged Max again in thanks, he couldn’t help but laugh with her.

“So, you definitely have the hang of using the phone,” he said.

“Yep. I wanted to call Tess, so I pressed number three and the phone did the rest of the work!”

Max nodded. “Easy huh?”

“Very easy.”

He grinned as he watched her pocket her phone. As soon as she did, she got up and held her hand out to him.

“Come on, I want to take a walk in the gardens.”

“Now?”

She nodded. “Yes now. The flowers will smell wonderful this time of night.”

Max slid his hand into hers and allowed her to pull him up. She continued to hold his hand as they made their way towards the back of the park where the flower gardens were. When they got there, Liz slowed down her walk so that they were now just strolling through the curved path.

From time to time, the two of them would stop to admire a particular batch of flowers before moving on to the next. Just like always, Max enjoyed watching Liz enjoy the flowers. He would watch as she bent over or knelt next to one of her favorites so that she could get a better look at them.

Sometimes she’d lean so close that her nose was almost inside the petals. Other times she would just reach out and stroke the petals with her fingers. It was during those times when she seemed to get so close to those flowers that he could imagine himself doing the same things, only Liz was the flower he was imagining smelling or stroking.

And when she reached up and pulled him down besides her, he went willingly because he knew he’d get to share that with her. Max couldn’t imagine being anywhere else other than at her side. He couldn’t imagine being as happy and relaxed as he was when he was with her.

But most of all, he loved the smiles she gave him when she shared her joy with him. Those smiles made him feel things he wanted to keep feeling long after they were gone. The kind of feelings that would keep him warm late at night when he needed it the most.

As their stroll through the gardens drew to a close, Liz glanced up at him with a smile. Leaning closer to him she spoke in a voice only he could hear.

“I love this place Max. I love how tranquil and lovely it is here. And I love being able to share it with you. Being with you just makes me happy and I can’t imagine not doing this without you. I’m glad you’re here with me.”

Max returned her smile as he let go of her hand and slid his arm around her shoulder, hugging her close to his side. “I’m glad to be here with you too and I love sharing this with you also, Liz.”

Her smile widened as she slipped her arm around his waist and the two of them made their way back towards the front of the park.

Max didn’t let go of her as they walked out of the park and down the street towards his loft building. He could feel Liz leaning into him as they walked together in comfortable silence. Her arm was still looped around his waist and her fingers were curled into the belt loop at his side.

As they neared his building, Liz could feel the way his fingers caressed her shoulder through the fabric of her shirt. She couldn’t help the thrill she felt when he tucked her closer into his side as they crossed the street. And when they were finally inside the building and riding in the elevator, she could feel his fingers shift to the back of her neck.

Little goosebumps rose on her skin as his fingers stroked feather-light caresses against the back and sides of her neck. Instinctively she closed her eyes against the wonderful sensation his fingers were creating on the skin of her neck. She got so caught up in the feelings that she almost missed the sound and feel of the elevator stopping on their floor.

She blushed as she quickly tried to regain her bearings before stepping out of the elevator with Max at her side. Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, she realized he hadn’t noticed the effect he’d had on her. Or so she thought.

Max was completely aware of what he’d done to her. He couldn’t help it. When his fingers had touched her skin, he was too tempted to stop what he was doing. So he caressed her neck and was glad when she didn’t pull away from him. And the look on her face when she’d closed her eyes had almost made him lose it right there.

Instead, all he could do was bite his lip to keep the moan from escaping as she seemed to lean into his caressing fingers. He had continued to do that until he’d heard the elevator ding. The sound had immediately jerked him back to reality as he’d tried to compose himself just as Liz was doing the same to herself.

They walked down the hallway together and Liz waited until Max unlocked the door and stepped aside to let her go in first. She walked inside and flicked on the lights as Max came in behind her, closed the door and locked it.

Suddenly the silence seemed to feel more awkward than it ever had before. Liz looked everywhere but at Max who was currently looking straight at her. She could feel his gaze on her, but she couldn’t meet it.

Finally unable to stand it anymore, she glanced up at him shyly. “Thanks for the phone Max and the lovely weekend. I had fun.”

Max simply nodded. He didn’t say a word, but just kept on gazing at her.

Liz began backing up towards the stairs. “I guess I’ll just turn in now, okay?” She turned around and walked towards the stairs. Looking over her shoulder she whispered to him. “Goodnight, Max.”

Max still didn’t respond to her as she turned back around and walked to the stairs, but just as she reached the bottom step, she felt his hand on her arm.

“Liz?”

She stopped at his touch and slowly turned her head to look up at him.

Max stared down into her eyes as he lifted his hand to caress her cheek.

Liz noticed the way his eyes darkened when she leaned her cheek into his caress.

Max didn’t need any other sign to know this was a risk worth taking. Without another thought, he leaned down and covered her lips with his.

Liz froze when she felt his lips on hers, but it was a hesitant kiss at first. Then she could feel just how warm and soft his lips were as he pressed his lips closer to hers.

When she didn’t seem to be resisting him, he moved his fingers from her cheek to curl around the back of her neck, holding her closer to him as he deepened the kiss.

Liz could feel her knees go weak when his tongue slid over her lips before sliding into her mouth. Instinctively, she reached up to wrap both of her arms around his shoulders as his tongue continued to explore her mouth.

Max moaned at the taste of her. She was sweet and heady, just like those flowers she loved so much, he was sure of it. When he felt her arms wrap around him, he had to catch himself. Her kiss was intoxicating, but he knew it was already too much.

Excruciatingly slowly, he pulled away from her delicious mouth and placed his forehead against hers. He couldn’t help the smile that spread over his face as he realized her eyes were still closed as if she were still enjoying his kiss. He took a few moments to collect himself and get his breathing back under his control.

Just as he did, her eyes slowly opened and she blinked up at him in confusion.

“Max?” came her breathless question.

He gave her a gentle smile as he caressed her cheek once more. “It’s late and I have to work in the morning. We should be getting some sleep.”

He moved away from her then and made his way towards his office. He turned to look at her one more time and noticed the slightly disappointed look in her eyes. “Goodnight, Liz.”

“Night, Max.”

He gave her one last longing look before he walked into his office where he could hear her soft footfalls on the stairs.

TBC...

Part 12

Max leaned back against the elevator as he watched the numbers increase on the panel. Sighing he wondered if Liz was going to continue the game she’d been playing with him for the last month. At least to him it had seemed like a game, even if she didn’t think it was. It was a very cruel game to him.

Ever since he’d kissed her that night, he’d hoped things had changed. After that night, he’d hoped they could move forward from there, but when he’d gotten up the next day, she had acted like they had never shared a kiss. Nothing she did indicated that she had even been affected by it the way he had been.

Granted she hadn’t pulled away from him completely. She just acted like the kiss had never happened, so much so that Max almost believed he’d dreamed it. Liz continued to treat him like she always had with friendly smiles and innocent touches and kisses. She had continued to take care of the house and meet with her new friends Tess and Maria, but at least she’d stopped trying to find a job for the time being.

However, when he’d tried to move closer to her, trying to instigate another kiss like the one he’d given her that night, she found some way to avoid it. She would move out of his way or find something else to do before he could even try to kiss her.

It was as if she knew he was trying to kiss her again and she was making any excuse not to do it. She would hold his hand or lean against him when they were watching movies or doing anything they usually did, but she wouldn’t kiss him anywhere other than on his cheek.

He pushed himself away from the wall as the elevator dinged and waited for the doors to open. Walking down the hall towards his door, he tried to think of a way to talk to Liz about whatever was going on between the two of them. He was still lost in thought as he slid his key into the lock before opening the door and walking in.

As soon as he stepped inside his home, he was bombarded with the most mouth watering smells ever. He immediately turned to look at the kitchen, but Liz wasn’t there. Just as the thought about where she was entered his mind, he saw movement to the left of him.

Turning towards the dining area, he saw Liz standing there with her hands behind her back wearing a huge smile. Behind her on the dining table was a feast fit for a king. He stared in awe at what he saw as he set his briefcase and jacket down on the stool near the kitchen.

“Hi Max. Welcome home. Hope you’re hungry for dinner.”

And he was. Those smells were affecting his stomach something fierce. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just his stomach that was being affected. As he stood there taking in the feast, he was also noticing her.

She was wearing a light green top that was short enough to leave her navel exposed. It had short puffy sleeves that sat slightly off her shoulders and curved perfectly over the tops of her breasts showing the perfect amount of cleavage. A pheasant styled skirt in several shades of green complimented the shirt and just barely reached her knees.

However, the thing that Max noticed the most was the fact that she was barefoot and her hair was loose and flowing around her shoulders. Liz had certainly come a long way from the modest dresses and pants she’d worn when she’d first gotten there. She’d always been the most comfortable in dresses since that was all she’d known before. Now however, she could wear the occasional slacks, jeans, and even shorts.

Still, as tiny as her clothes seemed to be getting, it was the other details Max noticed the most. Like her bare feet or the small gold ankle bracelet she wore on her left ankle. Or the way she often wore her hair which cascaded in soft waves down her back.

Liz made her way to his side and rose to her toes to give him a kiss on his cheek before she stepped back and tugged at his arm.

“Come on, why don’t you get comfortable so we can have dinner.”

“Sure, I’ll be just a minute,” he replied. As he made his way upstairs to change, he really hoped she had some dessert for him too. Namely a dessert called Elizabeth Parker.

It only took him a few minutes to change and make his way back downstairs to the dining area. Liz had finished putting everything out and was pouring the tea she’d made into their glasses. She looked up and graced him with another smile as he walked towards her.

He leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek before holding out her chair and helping her to sit down. “Thanks for dinner, it smells wonderful.”

“Hm. You’re welcome,” she replied as she picked up her spoon to begin on her soup. Max sat in the chair next to hers and began eating his own soup.

Liz had made a four course meal of soup, salad, entrée, and dessert. Of course Max was slightly disappointed that she wasn’t part of the dessert, but he didn’t mention that. They started with the soup in the bowls she had already placed before he’d sat down. It was a light vegetable soup which she had made on her own.

After the soup came the house salad with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, radish, cheese, and bacon bits. Then the main course was served. This was baked fish seasoned in several herbs and butter. It was accompanied by string beans and steamed white rice. She had also served slices of French bread baked with a light garlic butter sauce.

For dessert was the lemon custard pie she had made from scratch and topped with her own whipped cream recipe. From the looks of it, Liz had spent the entire afternoon cooking and baking this meal for them. Yet, his kitchen was now spotless and the dining table was full of her finished work.

As they sat and ate, Liz kept the conversation light as she asked him how his day at work had been and he asked her how she had managed to cook up the delicious meal. He loved hearing her talk about how she’d prepared the whole thing just as much as she loved hearing him talk about his work. It always amazed him how they could always find so much to talk about, yet they enjoyed the comfortable silences they shared too.

While he ate his fish and vegetables, he couldn’t help but comment on her skills once more. “This is so good, Liz. I can’t help but be amazed at how good at cooking you’ve become.”

She blushed slightly as she shrugged. “Thanks. I think it might be something I managed to carry over with me from before. I mean, I had been a good cook before and I loved doing it then. Tess says that the only thing that prevented me from being a good cook now was getting used to the appliances in this day and time. But once all of you helped me get used to them, I could finally get back to doing something I did well and loved to do.”

Max nodded. “Yeah, I can see that. You really like doing it and it shows in the final results how much effort went into it. This is delicious!”

She grinned and ducked her head as she continued to eat her own meal.

Both Max and Liz sampled everything she had prepared, but it was too much for them to completely eat in one sitting. So, once they had eaten as much as they could the two of them began to clean up the remains.

As Liz put the leftovers into sealed containers, Max rinsed and loaded the dishes into the dishwasher before washing the items that could only be done by hand. When Liz had finished putting away the leftovers and cleaned the table, she went to help Max. While he washed and rinsed the dishes, she dried them and put them away.

They worked together in comfortable silence, but eventually Max couldn’t help but look at Liz while she moved around the kitchen. She had pinned her hair back from her face to keep it out of the way while she worked, but wisps of it kept falling against her skin.

He couldn’t help but admire the way she moved so easily around the kitchen. He loved the way she could quickly and efficiently pick up a dish, dry it completely, then glide to wherever it was that the dish needed to go. She did most of it without even making so much as a sound, it was only the dishes that made sounds as they were set down in their places.

Through it all, he watched her hands grasping the dishtowel and gliding it over the dishes to dry them. Then he watched as she moved around the kitchen, her skirt rippling with her graceful movements and swirling around her legs. He loved the way she sometimes rose to her tiptoes to reach one of the shelves and the way she often pushed the wisps of hair behind her ears. Then once she’d put the dishes away, she’d glide back to his side to start drying another dish.

At one point, Liz had moved back to his side only to catch him watching her. As their eyes connected, she had blushed and ducked her head once more before standing next to him. She picked up the towel and proceeded to dry another dish all the while completely aware that he was watching her.

Max couldn’t help but smile at the way she seemed so shy all of a sudden, but that didn’t stop him from watching her move around the kitchen. Despite the fact that she knew he was watching her every move, she continued to look so graceful and serene as she put the dishes away.

As she moved to his side once more Max broke the comfortable silence. “What do you say to watching some movies after this? I don’t have any work I have to do tonight, so I thought we could just relax and watch something on TV.”

She smiled up at him. “Sure we could do that.”

“Great. Anything in particular you want to watch?”

She shook her head. “No. I think I watched all the movies you rented for me already. Why don’t we just see what’s on cable?”

He chuckled. “We could do that. Or we could see what’s on pay per view. Maybe there’s something there that we haven’t seen yet.”

“That’s a good idea too.”

“Okay, let’s finish up here and then go get ready for movie night.”

She laughed. “Okay.”

************************************************************

Liz threw her head back and laughed at the latest funny scene from the movie they were watching. Max chuckled as the scene continued until the end credits began to roll up the screen. As he leaned forward to retrieve the remote control, Liz sat up and wiped the tears of mirth from her eyes.

“Now that was a very funny movie,” she said, slightly out of breath from laughing.

Max nodded. “I agree. It was definitely funnier than I’d expected.”

Liz grinned at his reply.

The comedy had been the first movie they’d chosen after looking at both the television and pay per view guides. They discovered how lucky they were that the comedy was going to start on cable a few minutes after they had sat down on the couch together.

Max glanced at the time on the DVD panel before looking at Liz. “Do you want to watch one more movie before I turn in for the night?”

Liz smiled. “Can we watch the drama I wanted to see on pay per view? It really seems like a good one, Max.”

He rolled his eyes in mock exasperation as she gave him a pleading look. “Fine, we can watch it.”

She giggled as he used the remote to find and purchase the movie. As he did, Liz started to get up. “I’m going to get a blanket, do you want a soda or something?”

Max shook his head. “No, I’m good.”

He waited until Liz came back and settled on the couch next to him before he started the movie. As the previews began, Liz moved closer to him and leaned against his side. He draped his arm over her shoulders, holding her closer to him while she got comfortable. With their legs stretched out in front of them on the small ottoman, Liz draped the blanket over their legs before tugging more of it up to her torso.

As she leaned her head to rest against his shoulder Max spoke in a soft voice. “You cold?”

“Not really, I just wanted to be cozy, that’s all.”

He nodded as he slid his hand down her arm, hugging her to his side. They both got quiet as the movie finally began. They remained that way for most of the movie, watching in comfortable silence as they leaned against each other. Being like that was nothing new for them.

Every time they watched movies together, it was like that. They would sit on the couch and put their arms around each other, finding a comfortable position to relax in. Sometimes Liz would drape a blanket over them and sometimes they would even share a bowl of popcorn.

Liz loved movie nights with Max. She enjoyed being able to watch the movies in the comfort of his embrace. He was always so warm and comfortable to lean against. She loved the way he made her feel relaxed and safe in his arms.

She also liked watching certain kinds of movies with him because of his reactions. She savored the sound of his laughter when they watched comedies and the look on his face when they watched action movies with special effects he found fascinating. She even liked the way his eyes softened when a particular scene affected his emotions.

The movie they were watching now was a mix of action and drama. She could feel the way he’d tense up slightly when a particular action scene happened, indicating that he was getting into it. As the movie went on and the scenes became more intense, she could feel his heart beat speeding up where her hand rested against his chest.

Liz was getting into the movie just as much as he was. Max could feel her fingers beginning to dig into his shirt and the skin beneath it. She leaned even closer to him than she already was and even hid her face a few times when it seemed to be too much for her.

A few minutes later as the pivotal scene came up, Liz expelled her breath with a barely audible, “Oh my!”

Max wrapped both arms around her at that point, making her feel warm and safe once more. When he nuzzled the top of her head, she was unaware of the sigh of contentment she gave in response to it. Max smiled to himself when he heard it and pressed his lips against her hair while breathing in her scent.

A few moments later, Liz became aware of the way his fingers were sliding through her hair and down against her back. The more aware of it she became, the more goosebumps spread over her skin. Her breath hitched when he pressed his lips against her temple in a tender kiss.

Unable to stop herself, she tilted her head back and closed her eyes as Max spread more soft kisses to the corner of her eye, her cheek, jaw, and finally against her neck. Another sigh escaped her lips as he lifted his other hand and nudged her face towards his.

The fingers of his other hand remained buried in her hair, while he cupped her cheek with his hand and guided her mouth to his. The moment his lips covered hers, she let out a moan as her fingers gripped his shirt harder.

Max deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue over her bottom lip until she parted her lips to grant him complete access to her mouth. The moment he was able to taste her again, he moaned in bliss. He had missed this. Her kisses were sweet, soft, and so addicting. They were more than enough to make him lose his mind.

He slid his tongue against hers before exploring the rest of her mouth at his leisure. He was glad she wasn’t pulling away from him as he continued to savor her taste. All she did was shift slightly against him until she slid the hand that had been resting against his chest up to wrap around his shoulder.

He slid his hands down her shoulders and over her back, pressing her closer to him. She obliged him and allowed him to shift her until she was almost lying on her back on the couch with him hovering over her. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders with one hand burying itself in his hair.

Max pulled his lips from hers slightly to kiss the corner of her mouth, her cheek, and chin before going back to claim her lips again. Liz moaned into his mouth as he pressed his chest against hers and ran his fingers through her hair. He dug his fingers into her tresses, holding her head back slightly to plunder her mouth the way he needed to.

He couldn’t get enough of her kisses. The way her lips were so soft against his, the way she tasted so sweet, and the way she gave those throaty little moans when he kissed her in a way she liked. It made him want to stay like that forever.

Liz couldn’t get enough of his kisses either. She was amazed that his lips were so soft and warm. And she loved the way his tongue made her weak in the knees. She was awfully glad that she wasn’t standing up otherwise she was certain she’d be a puddle on the floor.

She would have never dreamed kissing a man could feel that good, no one had ever told her it could possibly be enjoyable. She also didn’t know that a man could make a woman feel as good as she was feeling right at that moment. The way he touched her with his hands and lips, Liz couldn’t ever remember feeling that desirable or cherished.

And with that thought came the next one that shocked her back to reality. Her husband had never made her feel the things she was feeling now. Sean had never kissed her like she was something he’d been craving desperately. He had never held her as tenderly as Max was holding her. As her eyes flew open, she realized what she was doing and that it wasn’t her husband she was with.

Max was oblivious to her realization as his lips moved from hers to travel down her neck. He removed one hand from her hair and pressed it against her side, spreading his fingers slightly.

Liz gasped in mortification the moment she felt his fingers brush against the underside of her breast. Without another moment of hesitation, she grabbed his shoulders and shoved him off of her before scrambling out from under him.

Max blinked in confusion as he looked up at Liz who stood there staring at him with wide eyes. He couldn’t help but notice the way her lips were red and puffy from his kisses and the way her hair was slightly mussed from his fingers.

“Liz?” he asked, still confused. “You okay?”

Liz continued to stare at him for a few more moments as a blush began to stain her cheeks. “I-I’m…” she stuttered before closing her mouth.

Max frowned as he began to get up from the couch and go to her. Reaching out a hand towards her he asked, “What’s wrong?”

She backed away from him and shook her head. “I’m sorry Max.”

“What?” he whispered. “Why?”

She looked at him with tears beginning to well in her eyes and Max couldn’t miss the look of fear in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she repeated.

Max shook his head. “Don’t be. I’m not.”

He took a step towards her but stopped when she continued to back away.

“Liz, please?” he begged.

She shook her head once more and turned away from his pleading eyes.

“Goodnight, Max,” came her barely there reply before she turned and bolted up the stairs.

Max stood there looking up the stairs where she’d disappeared and watched as the lights went off. It was a few more minutes before he sank down onto the couch and stared at the television without even noticing that the movie had long since ended. All he could see was the look of fear in her eyes before she’d ran away from him.

And it made him wonder where he had gone wrong.

TBC...

Part 13

Max resisted the urge to throw something. She was avoiding him again. It had been two days since the night they’d been together on his couch and Liz had avoided him like the plague. So much so that when he got home in the evenings, she had his dinner warming for him, but she didn’t stay and eat with him.

Now it was Saturday and he had yet to see her. She’d gotten up early and gone out shopping with Maria. He’d found the note she left for him and now he was waiting impatiently for her to get home so they could talk about it. He had never been one to beat around the bush and he wasn’t about to start now.

He had been attempting to work on one of his latest projects at his drawing table for most of the morning and mid afternoon when he finally heard the front door opening and closing. The sound of feminine laughter drifted from the living area as well as the crinkling of several shopping bags.

Setting his work aside immediately, he made his way out of his office in time to see Liz saying good bye to Maria at the front door. He stood near the kitchen island with his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Maria and Liz hug.

“I’ll call you tomorrow girlfriend,” said Maria as she shouldered her bag. She turned to smile at Max. “Hey Max, wait ‘til you see what Liz got today!”

With a friendly wave, Maria walked out of the door and walked to the elevator. Liz waited until Maria was in the elevator before closing the door and turning to look at Max.

She gave him a small smile as she made her way to the bags she’d left against the couch. “Hi Max, you hungry? I could make us a late lunch.”

Max shook his head. “I’m good.”

“Okay then. I’m just going to go put my things up.” She picked up a few of the bags and made her way towards the stairs. As she got closer, Max closed the distance between them.

“So, did you use my card or did Maria max out her card again?”

“Well she didn’t max out her card, but yeah, she brought most of it. I didn’t want to use your card without you knowing it and since you were still asleep when I left, I couldn’t ask you for it.”

He sighed. “You know where it is and you know I don’t mind if you use it so long as it is in moderation and you give me the receipts.”

“I know, but you know how I feel about…”

“Liz,” he interrupted. “I said I don’t mind taking care of you.”

She didn’t respond to that as she began to make her way up the stairs.

“Liz?” When she paused at the sound of her name, Max continued. “We need to talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about Max.”

“Yes. I think there is. I know you’re avoiding me and I want to know why. I want to know what I did that was so wrong.”

Liz didn’t say anything for a moment and when she did it was so low that Max almost didn’t hear it.

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

He frowned. “I didn’t? Then why have you been avoiding me?”

“I was confused.”

“About what happened?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

She closed her eyes. “Max, please…”

Max closed his mouth on the next thing he was going to say when the note of sadness in her voice penetrated his brain. He glanced up at her just in time to see a single tear sliding down her cheek. His heart went out to her as she stood there staring at the floor while her lower lip trembled slightly.

He lifted his hand and covered the one she had resting on the banister. “Liz?”

Her gaze moved to their joined hands. “Liz, we can’t pretend that it didn’t happen.”

“I know.” She looked up at him and he saw the unshed tears that remained there. “It’s not you Max. You have to know that it’s not you.”

“Then what is it?”

She stared at him for a few moments before she took her hand out of his and began walking up the stairs again. Max stood there looking at the space she had just occupied for a moment before he closed his eyes.

“I don’t regret it Liz.” He knew she had stopped climbing the stairs. “And I was hoping we could maybe do that again. Share what we shared before.”

It was a while before Liz turned around to look at him and when she did. She said the one thing he wasn’t expecting. “I haven’t forgotten that I am still a married woman Max. Have you?”

Those words rendered him speechless as he felt the wind literally knocked out of him. Liz believed she was still married to someone else. She couldn’t move on until she believed she was free to do so.

Suddenly it became clear to Max exactly what it was that was bothering Liz. And as she walked up the stairs and disappeared into the bedroom, Max realized that Liz was feeling guilty for being with him when she was still Mrs. Sean Brown.

************************************************************

Liz walked down the street towards the little store that housed the business that Tess and Maria co-owned. She knew it was closing time, so she would be getting there just in time to be able to catch the two of them alone. At least that was what she was hoping because she really needed some female advice.

After Max had confronted her and told her how he’d felt about what had happened that night on his couch, Liz had spent the rest of the evening alone in the bedroom crying silent tears. Torn between her feelings of guilt for betraying her husband and of the growing feelings she knew she had for Max, she had cried herself to sleep. When she’d woken up the following morning, there still wasn’t a clear answer so she decided to go talk to her friends.

That was why she’d hopped on the subway and made her way to the store to talk to Tess and Maria. Luckily for her, it was extremely easy to remember how to get to the store. Much easier than it was to try to get to their homes.

As she continued to walk, she thought about her husband again. They had been close, but she’d never been in love with him. She knew that much. They had become good friends and after their marriage, they had seemed to grow even closer. It wasn’t until they had moved out West that things had changed between them.

Slowly but surely Sean had changed into someone she barely recognized. Now she knew it was because of all the stress and expectations that had been heaped on him. At the time however, she had thought he no longer enjoyed her companionship.

Despite everything that had happened, even down to him accusing her of cheating on him, Liz didn’t hold any grudges against Sean. Deep down inside she knew he was a good person, but the circumstances of his life had begun to affect him negatively. She also knew she couldn’t hate him for killing her because he was still out there reliving what he had done to her while she got to start all over again. How could she hate him for that?

She was almost to the store when her thoughts turned to Max. She knew without a doubt that the things she felt for Max were nothing like what she had once felt for Sean. Granted, she felt a closeness to Max similar to the friendship she had once shared with Sean, but there was something more there. Something she had never felt before.

That something had first appeared when they’d shared their first kiss and it had become blazingly clear when they’d shared the second one. The longer that kiss had gone on, the more she could feel its affects on her body. If fact, she was positive that it wasn’t just her body that had been affected by being so close to Max that night.

“Liz! What a surprise!” came Tess’ voice as Liz walked into the little shop.

“Hi Tess!” Liz grinned and walked up to the counter.

Tess looked towards the door for a moment before giving Liz a questioning look. “Does Max know you’re here?”

Liz rolled her eyes. “I know how to find this shop without Max’s help thank you very much! Besides,” she paused as she looked down at the countertop with a slight blush. “I actually wanted to talk to you and Maria without Max knowing I was here.”

At that Tess stopped what she was doing and looked up at Liz, noting the look on her face. “Are you okay? Is something the matter?”

Liz shook her head. “It’s nothing bad, I just…well, I just wanted to have a sort of girl talk. You know…”

As Liz trailed off, Tess just stood there looking at her for a moment before something passed over her face. She gave Liz a sympathetic smile before nodding. “Okay, Maria’s in the back getting things ready for tomorrow, why don’t you go on in and I’ll be back there as soon as I lock up.”

Liz gave her a grateful smile. “Okay, thanks Tess.”

Tess nodded as Liz made her way behind the counter and walked through the door that led down a hallway. There were a few doors that were the rooms were the animals were groomed and then further down was the supply room, staff room, and offices. As she walked past the supply room, Liz could see Maria sorting through some shelves gathering supplies for the next day.

Liz walked into the room and called out, “Hey Maria.”

Maria jumped and whirled around clutching at her chest. “Oh lord! Girlfriend don’t scare me like that!”

Liz laughed at the dramatic way Maria always liked to act. “Sorry.”

Maria stilled and looked at Liz, narrowing her eyes. “Does Max know you’re here?”

Liz gave an exasperated sigh, but it was Tess who answered as she joined them in the room. “No he doesn’t, but it’s because Liz needs to talk to us about him without him knowing about it.”

Maria nodded blankly. “Oh,” then she turned back to Liz, “why?”

Liz shrugged. “Something happened the other night and well, I just need some female advice.”

Maria’s eyes went wide. “Female advice! Liz what did you do!”

“That’s what I want to talk about,” she said as she began to blush again.

“Oh my! Did you and Max? No, you couldn’t have! Wait, but I’ve seen the way he’s been looking at you. Did he? No, he wouldn’t have!”

“Maria!” Interrupted Tess. “Would you slow down! Let the girl breathe! Remember things weren’t the same for her back then as they are now! You’re embarrassing her!”

Maria stopped her rambling as she looked at Liz again and realized Tess was right. Liz looked a little flustered. It was just that Liz had seemed to take to living in their world so easily most of the time that it was easy to forget she really wasn’t used to the way things were now a days.

“Oh Liz, I’m sorry. Okay, well why don’t we all go to the staff room and talk there? We can get comfortable on the sofas in there.”

Liz nodded before following the two of them to the staff room. It didn’t take long for the three of them to make themselves comfortable. Liz and Tess sat on a sofa while Maria pulled up a plush chair and sat down near them. As soon as they were ready, they looked to Liz to say something but she seemed at a loss of where to begin.

Tess and Maria looked at each other for a moment before Tess turned to look at Liz. Taking her hand in hers, Tess gently prodded. “Liz, honey whatever it is we’ll help you with okay? Trust us, we won’t laugh at you or pass any kind of judgment on you. We’ll hear you out and try to help you honestly.”

Liz smiled at them both before she sighed. “I know. I just don’t know where to begin.”

Maria reached out and took Liz’s free hand. Giving it a squeeze she said, “Why don’t you tell us what happened that made you decide you needed to come talk to us.”

Liz nodded. “Okay, well. Um, Max and I kissed.”

When she didn’t say anything else, Tess prompted. “And?”

“We shared a kiss goodnight about a month ago and that was it then. But a couple of nights ago, we were watching movies and we kissed again. It was different than the first one. Um, it was longer and…I think he wanted more, but I stopped.”

“You didn’t want more?” asked Tess.

“That’s just it. I think I did.”

Once more Tess and Maria looked at each other in confusion.

“So, why did you stop then?” asked Maria.

Liz sighed as she leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes. “I lived before, remember? I had another life before.”

Tess nodded. “I see. You feel like you are still married to someone else.”

Maria’s eyes went wide. “What! But Liz, he mur….well he…”

Liz nodded. “Yeah, I know that, but he was still my husband.”

Maria gaped at her, but Tess patted Liz’s arm in sympathy. “Okay Liz. I can see why you would feel guilty about kissing Max when technically you are still married to someone else, but let’s think about this. First of all, Maria has a point, the man you were married to, committed a serious crime against you. That means, he betrayed you in a way.”

Liz frowned. “I know why he did it though.”

“What!” sputtered Maria. “Are you saying you forgive him!”

Liz sighed. “Maria, you didn’t know him the way I did. We were close friends once. And when we first got married we were close too. I believe the circumstances changed him. The harsh life we had to live after we moved out West wore him down. Sean had always been a nice guy. He loved to laugh and we had always had so much in common, but it all changed after we had moved. All that grueling work to make a life for us got to be too much for him and he didn’t know how to handle it.”

“So, he took it out on you,” finished Tess. At Liz’s nod she added, “Not a good way to handle stress huh?”

“Especially when it results in you killing your wife,” growled Maria.

Liz turned a frown on Maria while Tess glared at her. “Maria, this isn’t about Sean okay? Let it go!”

“Look, I think that Sean is getting his justice. I think that’s the reason why I am here and he isn’t. I’m alive and I get to live my life again while he’s still back there having to relive what he did over and over again.”

Silence descended on them as they absorbed the words Liz just said. It was a few moments before Tess broke the silence.

“Liz, you said that you were close to Sean. What do you mean when you say that?”

“We were like close friends.”

“Did you love him?” she asked.

“Yes, as a friend. I wasn’t in love with him, but I did care about him.”

Maria frowned. “But weren’t you and Sean trying to have kids?”

“Maria, things were different back then. You didn’t always get married for love, but it was a plus that Sean and I happened to care about each other before we were married. And yes, we were trying to have kids. We both always wanted children.”

“Okay, so you cared about Sean, but you weren’t in love with him. Now, let’s look at Max. How do you feel about him?” asked Tess.

Neither one of them missed the far away look Liz suddenly got in her eyes the moment his name was mentioned. She didn’t even have to say anything for them to know the answer. “It’s nothing like I felt for Sean. It’s nothing I’ve ever felt before.”

She closed her eyes as she continued softly. “I didn’t know kissing someone could make you feel the way I felt that night.”

“How did you feel?” whispered Maria.

“Cherished, beautiful even.” She opened her eyes as she added, “And loved. I know that when Max kissed me that night, I never wanted it to end. And it was the first time I ever found myself wanting to spend the night in a man’s bed.”

Once more the other two were speechless as they stared at Liz in amazement. Granted they each had their own man to go home to and love, but the way Liz just spoke almost put their feelings to shame.

This time it was Maria who broke the silence, but only because she was still in shock that Liz was talking about Max. The same obsessive, compulsive Max they had all known for years. “Gee, who knew Max could be passionate?”

“Maria!” huffed Tess.

“What? I’m just saying. We all know Max’s track record with women hasn’t been a good one. We’ve all heard the complaints from several of those he was involved with. They made it sound like he was incapable of having feelings.”

Tess turned to look at Liz for a moment before tilting her head in thought. “Maybe it’s because he hadn’t met the right woman yet.”

At that, even Maria was looking at Liz in a different light.

Liz looked from one to the other and back again before she finally spoke. “I think Max is a very kind, caring, passionate man.”

Maria nodded. “Oh yeah, he definitely hadn’t met the right woman yet.”

Liz turned a puzzled look towards Maria, but before she could ask what that was supposed to mean, Tess spoke up.

“Liz, you seem to know how you feel about Max. If he wanted to, would you want to have a relationship with him?”

Liz shook her head, “I can’t.”

“Yes, you can,” answered Maria.

“No Maria, I’m still…”

“Liz, listen to this,” Tess interrupted once more. “You are alive again. Sean is not. You are the one who has been given a chance at life again. Not Sean. Did you ever think that maybe there is a reason why you have been given another chance to live again? Maybe there’s a reason why you are here now and that it was Max who helped you to live again.”

Maria nodded. “She has a point. I mean, you were there reliving that incident over and over again for centuries and then suddenly Max shows up and presto, you’re alive again. Maybe it wasn’t coincidence, maybe it was meant to be.”

Liz looked at both of them once more as their words began to sink in. Slowly things seemed to be coming together in her mind. She remembered the vague dream she’d had that night after Max had stepped in between her and Sean and theoretically sacrificed himself for her. What she’d dreamed seemed vaguely familiar to what the two of them were now telling her. She knew she needed to think about it some more.

Finally she nodded and gave them both a smile. “You’re right. There has to be a reason why I’m here now. I just have to figure it out myself.” She stood up from the couch. “Thanks! I really needed this talk! I think I know what to do now.”

Maria and Tess stood up too. “You do?” asked Maria.

“Yes, I do.” She hugged Maria. “Thanks again, but I should be getting home now before Max starts getting worried.”

“Are you sure you don’t need one of us to take you home?” asked Tess as Liz gave her a hug in turn.

“No. I can get home fine.” She moved away from them and headed to the door. She waved over her shoulder as she called back to them. “Thanks again for the girl talk! You guys are the best friends I could ever have!”

As she disappeared from the room, Maria turned a puzzled look to Tess. “Now what just happened here?”

“I have no idea,” answered Tess with an equally puzzled frown.

************************************************************

Max heard the front door open and then close before he heard Liz call out. “Max? Are you here?”

“Yeah in my office,” he answered as he shut down his computer.

He took a deep breath and mentally told himself not to get upset over the fact that she had snuck out without telling him where she was going. He’d been in the shower when she’d left and when he’d gotten out, he’d found the note laying on the bed. All it had said was that she was going to run an errand and she’d be back soon. She would call if she needed him.

So, he’d tried not to worry himself to death while he’d waited for her to come back. He knew she could still get herself lost easily, but at least now she had the phone just in case. Still, that hadn’t stopped him from tying himself into knots with worry. That was why he was once again attempting to do some work on the computer. It was his way of trying not to think of the things that could possibly happen to her while she was out.

So, when he’d heard her return, he’d breathed a sigh of relief that she came back unharmed. Now he just had to give her the impression that he hadn’t spent the last few hours on the verge of losing his mind.

He stood up from his chair just as she walked into the room. Hoping it was a kind smile he was giving her he said, “Hi how’d it go?”

She nodded. “It was fine. I went to see Tess and Maria at their shop.”

“Oh, how are they?”

“Good.” She paused for a moment before she said, “Max? There’s something I need to ask you.”

“Oh? Okay, what is it?”

“I was wondering if you could take me somewhere. I need to see someone.”

“Sure, where do you want me to take you?”

Liz looked him in the eyes as she answered. “I need you to take me back to my home. I need to see Sean again.”

TBC...

Part 14

Max glanced at Liz out of the corner of his eye. They were both sitting on the couch inside of the place she had once called home, waiting for the night to come. He had brought her back to the place where he’d met her, the place where she had been murdered centuries ago and where he’d brought her back to life a few months ago. And they were there again because Liz wanted to see the man who had been responsible for murdering her in the first place.

The night after she’d sprung that request on him, Max had been stunned into silence. It had taken him quite a while to get over what she had just asked him to do, so much so that he hadn’t realized he’d nodded his head when she’d asked him once again. He’d stood there as she gave him a hesitant hug before going upstairs to the bedroom.

Hours later after he’d sank down on his chair in his office and stared numbly at the wall, he’d finally snapped out of it and realized what she had asked of him. By then, it was too late to talk to her since he realized she had already gone to bed. However, early the next morning before he had gone to work, he’d talked to her.

She had been up already, making breakfast for the both of them when he’d gone into the kitchen and told her that he thought her idea was a really bad one. Liz had looked up from the French toast she was making and said she knew what she was doing. They had gotten into a small argument right there in the kitchen until she had finally reached over and shut off the stove.

Putting the toast and some eggs onto a plate, she set it on the counter for him next to a glass of orange juice. Once she’d set the pan into the sink, she leaned against it with a sigh and folded her arms over her chest before asking him why he really thought it was a bad idea to go back. She had known he was just blustering false reasons during the small argument and now she wanted him to tell her the truth.

He had still been hesitant to tell her the real reason why he refused to take her back but it hadn’t taken her very long to wear him down. Finally he’d just blurted out that he was afraid she’d get sucked back into that nightmare reoccurrence and he’d lose her for good.

Once he’d gotten that off his chest, Liz had simply hugged him and told him she didn’t think there was a chance of that ever happening. She reminded him of the dream she’d had that night after he’d rescued her. According to that dream, she was given the chance at life again. If that was true, then there wasn’t any chance of her being taken back in because her dream had said she was to live her life.

Still Max couldn’t understand why she would want to go back again. If she was supposed to live again, then why did she want to revisit the past. Liz told him she needed to see Sean one more time. She needed to finally close that part of her life so she could move on.

In the end, Max had agreed to take her back even when he still felt queasy about it. Over the next couple of weeks they had continued to talk about it since they had to wait for the moon to wane anyway. Needless to say, it was a very awkward couple of weeks for them.

So the day the moon began to wane, the two of them had climbed into his Lexus and made the trip back out to the house. That was where they were now. Sitting on the couch in more awkward silence, waiting for the night to come and for Sean to begin the same routine he did three nights a month.

Max glanced out of the open front door to see the fading light. It was still early evening and night was still a few hours away. They’d made it to the house in good time as there had been very little traffic on the highways. As he glanced over at Liz again, he saw her looking around her old home with a sort of sadness in her eyes.

Just as he was about to ask her what was wrong, something flashed out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look at the doorway just as he heard Liz’s startled gasp from besides him. There in the doorway, framed by the fading sunlight and looking straight at Liz was none other than her deceased husband, Sean.

As the two of them sat there in stunned silence, he took a step into the house still looking directly at Liz as he said, “I have been waiting for you to return to me.”

That statement galvanized Max into action. He sprang up from where he had been sitting and made his way towards Sean, fists curled at his sides. “You can’t have her back! She’s not here to go back to you, you murdering bastard!”

Liz scrambled up and moved in front of Max. Placing her hands on his chest, she tried to push him back. “Max! Stop it!” she cried as Sean grimaced at his words.

“I suppose I deserved that,” said Sean in what sounded like a guilty voice.

Liz looked at him over her shoulder and almost gaped at his words, but Max was still trying to stride towards him. “You deserve a hell of a lot more than what you got!” Max growled.

“Yes, I’m aware of that,” he replied.

“Max, please!” Liz begged as she tried to push him back once more.

He didn’t budge. “Really? Then why don’t you go back to whatever hell it is you came from!” He retorted.

Sean glanced down at Liz as he said, “Believe me, I’d like to if I could.”

That succeeded in getting Liz to fully turn around and give him a quizzical look, which gave Max the opening he needed. Without a moments hesitation, Max leaped at Sean swinging his fist and connecting solidly with Sean’s jaw.

As Sean stumbled back clutching his jaw, both Max and Liz stared in shock. Despite the fact Max went in swinging, neither he nor Liz had expected his fists to connect with solid matter. Max clearly remembered all the other times he’d taken a swing at Sean only to have his fists go right through him.

Max glanced down at his now smarting fist before looking back up at Sean who simply stood there massaging his sore jaw.

“Damn, that really, really smarts.”

Max huffed. “There’s more where that came from.”

Liz glared at him. “Max Evans! Would you please stop acting like this!”

He returned her glare. “How should I act! He was waiting for you to come back! I told you this was a bad idea!”

Sean sighed. “It’s not what you think.”

They both turned to look at him as he held his hands up in surrender. “I knew she would come back looking for answers eventually. I simply meant I was waiting for her to come back to get them.”

Liz frowned. “So you know why I’m here then.”

He turned to look at her with a nod. “Yes.”

“Why am I here then? And why are you not a ghost?” she asked.

He smiled as he answered her. “They allowed me to come to you in solid form for the time being, but I don’t have long. Just enough time to say what I need to say.”

“And then?” she asked.

“It depends on how this ends.”

Max frowned as he took a threatening step towards him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Liz held her hand over his chest and growled. “Max, please! Let the man talk.”

“How can you be so forgiving? After what he did to you! How can you stand here and let him just…”

“Because I knew him. Okay? Please, just trust me on this. Go sit down and let me talk to him.”

When he didn’t move and continued to glare at Sean, who remained standing where he was with a neutral expression on his face, Liz sighed. “Max please let me do this.”

He finally looked down at her when he heard the desperate note in her voice. They stood there for a few moments just looking into each others eyes before he finally nodded hesitantly.

“Fine. But you don’t hesitate to call out to me…”

“I know, I’ll be fine.”

He looked at her for another moment before nodding and walking over to one of the chairs at the table. He sat down and folded his arms over his chest watching them in silence.

Liz turned back to Sean, who remained standing in the doorway looking in Max’s direction. “He doesn’t trust me.”

Before Liz could reply to that he added, “I don’t blame him at all.”

She closed her mouth on her retort. Instead she looked him over before asking, “So, why are you here?”

He looked down at her and she saw something different in his eyes. Something akin to sadness and fear. “I came to ask you to forgive me,” he said.

“What?” she whispered, stunned.

He nodded. “I know it’s a lot to ask. After what I did to you, but it’s what I need to be able to cross over.”

She scowled. “What? I forgive you and you go to heaven?”

Sean shook his head. “No. What I did won’t allow that, but at least my soul can leave here.” He paused for a moment as he continued to look at her. “I know what I did Liz and I’m prepared to take the punishment for it, but I wanted to make it right before I did.”

“Make it right?”

He nodded. “Yes, by allowing you to live again.”

Her eyes widened. “What?”

He gave her a sad smile. “After what I did, after you died. I lost it. Went mad with the guilt I guess. Or maybe it was a sort of punishment they gave me for what I did. In any case, I wasn’t in my right mind when I went walking off a cliff one day.”

Liz grimaced.

He nodded. “Yeah. After my death, I was standing to be judged when I asked what had happened to you. I asked until I found out that your life was basically over, so I asked them to give you another chance. Told them I knew what I did was wrong and if they would allow you to have the life I stole I’d take my punishment gladly.”

She gaped at him. “Are you saying you made a deal with them?”

“Yes. But I asked them to make sure you got the chance to have what you wanted with someone other than me. They said it would be centuries until you could have that chance again and by that time, your soul wouldn’t be able to come back.” When I asked them how I could keep your soul from crossing over, they said the only way was to keep it locked to earth.”

“So, that’s the reason I replayed my death scene over and over again.”

He nodded. “It was also my punishment to relive it too. And I will continue to do so if you choose it to be so. I asked them for another way to help you, but it was the only way they were willing to keep your soul here. So I took it, hoping that the time would come for you to get another chance.”

“Did they tell you when my chance would come?”

He shook his head. “All they said was that he would be the only one who would dare to try to talk to us and to interfere with us.”

Liz widened her eyes and looked over her shoulder at Max, who still sat in the chair watching them. Turning back to Sean she whispered, “It was Max?”

Sean nodded. “I knew it the moment I heard his voice that first night. In all the time we were here, no one but him had dared to talk to us. No one had ever tried. So I knew he was the one.”

He sighed. “Unfortunately, just talking to us wasn’t doing the trick. At first, I thought it had worked when I found out that you visited him during the day, but then you were with me that night and I knew it hadn’t worked.

It took me all that night and the next day to try to figure out why it wasn’t working when it dawned on me. They had said he needed to interfere and he hadn’t done that, at least not they way he was supposed to. So that night, when he came after us again, I decided to give him a push in the right direction.”

Liz quirked an eyebrow. “You mean that literally don’t you?”

He grinned. “I had to make sure he interfered with us at the pivotal moment.”

“The moment you stabbed me.”

“Right. So, I tripped him.”

She frowned. “How did you manage that? We were ghosts.”

“Not during the day. Like you, I could take solid form during the day, so while you were inside with him, I went to the garden and did a little rearranging. Then hoped it would all work out that night.”

Liz gasped. “What if it hadn’t! Oh Sean what if Max hadn’t…”

“Trust me, I would have had words with them for going back on our bargain. But they assured me it had been their plan all along. I had to have a hand in helping you both get together.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “It was all planned. You’re telling me all of this was planned.”

He nodded. “Yes. They knew he would come for you all along, we just had to play our parts for it to work.”

She closed her eyes. “That’s just weird. If what you say is true, then my life has been completely mapped out.”

Sean shook his head. “No Liz. It’s not. It can still change because of the path you choose to take. Yours changed all those years ago when I took it from you. Your life was never meant to be cut short like that. You were meant to have a life, a family. It was just me who wasn’t, but I cheated you out of it.

Liz, I knew you never cheated on me. I knew you hadn’t. You had always been there for me and tried so hard to help me in whatever I did and all I did to repay you was to take out my frustrations on you. I let my frustrations with work and not being able to have a family get to me. It ate at me to see how you still managed to pick yourself up and go on. No matter what, you didn’t let life get to you.

In a way, it made me jealous. Jealous that you could still love life even when it gave you nothing but hardship. And in the end, I used your friendship with Lance against you. I used it as an excuse to take my anger out on you.”

Liz couldn’t say anything to that. Now she knew the truth. Now she knew what had really been going on with him and she had nearly been right in what she’d told the others. Sean had taken his frustration out on her, but like Tess had said, it was the wrong way for him to handle it.

“Liz?” She looked up at him as he got her attention again. “I wanted to tell you that I always knew we were never in love with each other. Even though we were married and wanted a family, we didn’t love each other. At least not more than as friends and I’m okay with that. I always knew you were meant for something else and now, you have that chance. You have the chance to have everything you ever wanted.”

He glanced over at Max before looking back at her. “Don’t waste the chance to have a life again. Don’t waste it on someone like me, okay?”

Liz couldn’t help the tears that began to gather in her eyes. She knew the man standing in front of her was the same one she had once been close friends with. This was the man she had grown up with. The one who had always gone out of his way to make sure she was happy with her life. Finally, after all this time, she could she her old friend.

Swallowing her tears, she nodded. “Okay,” she whispered.

He smiled. “Good. Live your live the way you were meant to and don’t worry about me. Don’t waste your time thinking of me anymore.”

“Oh Sean, I’m so sorry.”

He shook his head. “No. Don’t be Liz. I’m not worth your tears and you know it. I’ll be paying the price for what I did, but I’m doing it gladly. Because now I know you are going to have the happy life you deserved.”

Still, a few tears rolled down her cheeks. “Sean…”

He shook his head. “Please, don’t cry for me.”

She wiped her tears away as she shook her head. “I’m not. I’m crying for my best friend. The one who still cared enough to make sure I was always happy.”

Slowly he nodded.

“Will you tell him something for me?” she asked.

“Sure.”

She sniffled. “Will you tell him that I will miss him. I will miss the way he used to make me laugh and the way he always took care of me. And tell him…tell him that I forgive him. I forgive him for what he did and I don’t blame him for it, not anymore.”

Sean stared at her in silence when she said the last part. Unable to speak because he honestly didn’t think she would ever forgive him for it. Even though he told her he came to ask for her forgiveness, he honestly hadn’t been expecting it. He had been prepared to spend eternity reliving that murder scene over and over again all by himself. Still, he knew that where he was now going would be an even bigger punishment for what he had done to her.

As his own tears welled in his eyes he whispered, “Thank you.”

She nodded and as a sob escaped her lips, she threw herself in his arms. He hugged her to him, whispering against her hair. “Liz, it’s okay. You have to let me go now.”

“I know,” she whispered against his chest before she pulled away to look up at him. “I’ll miss you.”

He smiled. “I’ll miss you too Elizabeth.”

He stepped back and looked up at Max who had risen to his feet when Liz had thrown herself into Sean’s arms. Giving Max a nod he said, “I know you will take good care of her for me.”

Max returned his nod. “I will.”

He looked down at Liz again and gave her another smile before he turned and walked out of the door. Max moved to stand next to Liz as they watched Sean walking towards the garden.

As he turned back to wave to them, they both saw the shadows behind him begin to move. Liz’s eyes went wide and she cried out his name in warning, but Sean simply turned around and walked towards the shadows.

As they began to surround him, Max reached out and shut the door knowing Sean wouldn’t want Liz to see it. The cries of pain were suddenly silenced as the door closed and neither of them stopped to wonder why even with the cracks in the wall, they couldn’t hear what was happening outside.

As her body shook with sobs, Max wrapped his arms around her and held her close, trying to give her the comfort she needed. He knew without having to be told that what they had seen was something from that other place coming to take Sean there.

Where ever it was that bad souls went to receive their punishment, that was where he was going now. His ghost would no longer appear to haunt the house and its grounds just as Liz was now free to live again.

************************************************************

It was hours later when they finally made it back to Max’s loft. Neither one of them had wanted to spend the night in that house, so they had braved the walk to the Lexus to make the drive back to the city.

Once they had gotten back to the loft, Max had made them both some tea before he and Liz sat on the couch and she had told him everything that Sean had told her. By the time she was finished, he was holding her again as she cried once more over saying goodbye to her best friend. Still, it was what she said about him that had him speechless.

Liz had told him that all along Sean had been waiting for Max to show up and set Liz free. All this time, it was Max who was meant to go get her and bring her back into his life. Liz was meant to be with him. Closing his eyes as he held her, he sent a silent prayer of thanks to the memory of the man who had sent Liz to him.

TBC...

*Warning* this part comes with an Adult rating and most parts after this will be so for the most part


Part 15

Max leaned back against the couch, allowing Liz to curl against his side as they continued to watch the movie he’d rented for the night. Nearly two weeks had gone by since they had gone back to her old home and she’d said goodbye to Sean. Since then, they had returned home and Max had given Liz some space, knowing she needed time to move on.

Liz hadn’t brought Sean up after that night and Max had been surprised that she hadn’t shut him out either. After she’d told him what Sean had told her, she’d gone up to bed and he’d retired to the office bed. When he’d gotten up the next day, she hadn’t come down to make him breakfast, but he really hadn’t expected to see her much.

Still when he got home she’d greeted him with a smile, kissed him on the cheek, served him dinner, and sat and ate it with him while she asked him about his day. Just like that, things had gone back to normal. As normal as they had been before the two of them had shared any kisses.

Then when the weekend came, things changed once more. They’d gone out to dinner and then walked through the park. Later when they’d returned, they’d watched television for a while before Liz said she was going to bed. Just before she went upstairs, she went back to him and kissed him. And it wasn’t just a peck on the lips.

Liz had wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaned in and kissed him full on the mouth. As soon as he’d gotten over the shock, he’d responded to her and slid his arms around her waist. It was a good few moments before they both came up for air and she’d smiled shyly up at him before whispering goodnight. He repeated the words and let go of her, watching as she made her way up the stairs to bed.

The next day, he’d thought she’d go back to pretending nothing had happened just as she had always done before. Instead, she smiled and went to kiss him on the lips the moment he walked out of the office before asking if he wanted her to make something for them to eat. They’d spent the rest of that day being lazy around the house and even curled up on the couch where they’d shared more kisses and dozed off for a while together.

As the days went by after that weekend, the two of them had gotten closer and Max knew she was getting more comfortable being with him. She kissed him goodbye in the mornings and when they had time to cuddle, she shared plenty of one on one time with him.

Still, as much as he loved having her close to him and sharing kisses with her, he let her set the pace this time. Liz didn’t hesitate to be close to him at all and there were plenty of times when the kisses did lead to some hot and heavy make out sessions. But he had made it clear to her that he wasn’t going to push her until she was ready for it.

What he didn’t realize was that Liz had been ready for it for a while now. She just didn’t know how to go about telling him that she was ready to take that last step with him. There had been times during some of their make out sessions that she was sure he’d gotten the hint, then he’d pull away and there was no other mention of it again that night.

Liz lay with her head against his chest, listening to his heart beating even as she pretended to watch the movie. This was the second one of the night and she knew after this one, they’d be calling it a night because Max had to work in the morning. Still, she was hoping that this time she could convince him to stay up a little longer with her.

It wasn’t long before even Max was losing interest in the movie. Liz could feel him lightly caressing her back and arm with his hand as he held her to his side. A few moments later he gave a little sigh as he mumbled, “I guess this is another dud.”

Liz leaned her head back to look up at him with a sympathetic smile. “It’s okay, Max.”

He looked down at her with a smile of his own. “Do you want to watch something else?”

She shook her head as she trailed her hand up his chest. “Nothing on the television.”

He frowned. “It’s too late to go to a movie and…”

Liz placed a finger over his lips to stop him from going on. As he sat there looking at her, she leaned in closer and tilted her head slightly. She saw his eyes darken and knew he had gotten the hint.

Lowering his head to meet hers, he kissed her and immediately began to deepen the kiss when she parted her lips for him. Liz closed her eyes and slid her hands over his shoulders into his hair to hold him to her. As his tongue slid into her mouth and teased hers, Liz pressed her body closer to his.

Max wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her upper body flush with his. The moment he felt her breasts pressed up against his chest, he moaned at the way she rubbed herself against him. Her fingers began to massage his scalp as her tongue dueled with his.

Soon her hands had wandered down to the front of his shirt where she began to undo the buttons. Max leaned back into the sofa, pulling her into his lap. She went willingly and continued to open his shirt, sliding her hands up his chest and removing it at the same time. As she reached his shoulders, she pulled her lips from his to trail kisses down his jaw and neck while she pushed the remainder of his shirt off his shoulders.

Leaning back, she pushed the shirt down his arms and sat there gazing at him. His lips were slightly parted and she could see the swift rising and falling of his bare chest. Lifting one hand up, she trailed her fingers down the center of his chest enjoying the feel of his skin against her fingertips.

As her fingers reached the edge of his pants, she looked up into his darkened eyes.

“Max? Will you make love to me tonight?” she asked softly.

She saw the breath hitch in his chest and the sudden widening of his eyes as her words registered.

“Are you sure you want this Liz?” he whispered past a throat gone dry.

“Yes,” she replied as she leaned in to brush her lips over his. “I want you, Max.”

Max didn’t need another hint. Taking her in his arms, he stood up and made his way towards the stairs. Liz slid her arms around his shoulders and leaned closer to him as he carried her up the stairs to the bedroom.

He set her on her feet at the foot of the bed where she kept her arms around his shoulders and pulled him down for another kiss. It didn’t take long for the kiss to deepen again as Liz ran her hands over the skin of his chest and back.

Max began to trail kisses over her neck and throat as he slowly lifted her shirt up. Liz lifted her arms, allowing him to remove it completely before she returned to touching him. Max slid his arms around to her back and undid the clasps to her bra before settling his fingers on her shoulders and trailing them down her arms.

The movement of his fingers pushed the bra straps down her arms and she leaned back to allow him to pull it off completely. As he let the scrap of material fall to the ground, he let his gaze roam over her bare skin.

This wasn’t the first time he’d had access to her skin, but it was the first time he’d ever had to freely gaze at her without anything obscuring his vision. He glanced up at her face to see a slight blush beginning to spread. He reached up to cup her cheek while leaning in close to her.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered against her lips before taking them into a gentle kiss.

The kiss soon turned heated as their hands roamed over each others skin. Max lifted his hands to cup her breasts, making her push them further into his warmth. As his thumbs caressed her nipples, she moaned into his mouth before leaning further into his touch.

Her head fell back slightly allowing Max to suck on the skin of her neck sending delicious chills down her spine. He caressed her breasts for a few more moments before sliding his hands down to the side zipper of the skirt she was wearing.

With skillful hands, he undid the button then slid the zipper down before sliding his fingers under the cloth and pushing it down her hips. He let the skirt fall the rest of the way to the floor on its own as he moved his fingers to the edge of her panties.

The moment he realized she was wearing lace panties, he growled low in his throat. She had no idea how much he’d fantasized about her in lace undergarments. Pulling back, he gazed down at her body, instantly growing hard when he saw what she looked like in that lace. He resisted the urge to growl again when he saw that they were white lace. Against her olive skin, it looked very good.

As he continued to drink her in, she moved her fingers to the button of his pants. He could feel her fingers slightly trembling as they touched him. He lifted his eyes to hers as he curled his fingers around hers.

“Liz, we don’t have to do this.”

She nodded. “I know, but I want to. Max, I want to be with you.”

Despite her hands, he could see the determination and need in her eyes. He suddenly realized that she wasn’t scared, she was excited. This was something she’d been anxiously waiting for and she had no idea what to expect.

He gave her a gentle smile as he leaned down to give her a sweet kiss. She sighed into his mouth as he deepened it and began to remove his own pants and underwear so that she wouldn’t have to fumble through it.

Max moved away from her long enough to completely remove his clothes before wrapping his arms around her and lifting her into his arms. He moved to the side of his bed and bent down to lay her in the middle of it before sliding in to her side.

Leaning over her, he caressed her cheek as he gazed into her eyes once more. She lifted her own hand to run it through his hair even as he brushed her hair away from her face. They shared a secret smile before Liz used her fingers in his hair to nudge him down to kiss her.

As their lips met, Liz slid her other arm around his shoulders pulling him completely on top of her. His body molded to hers as he began to rub against her heat. Liz widened her legs allowing him to slip between them. She moaned into his mouth as she felt his hardness rubbing her through her panties.

Max returned her moan as he felt her heat against his groin and the way she was already responding to him. He could feel how wet she was even with that scrap of lace between their skin. Lifting himself slightly, he reached down with one hand and quickly removed the last barrier between the two of them.

As he lowered his body to hers once more, he looked into her eyes. She shifted slightly to cradle him between her hips and lifted her legs to wrap around his. Without taking his gaze from hers, he slowly lowered himself to her waiting heat.

Liz gasped as his head pushed against her opening making him pause in his movements.

“Liz?” he questioned.

She shook her head. “I’m okay. Please don’t stop.”

Max looked at her for a moment before dipping his head and taking a nipple into his mouth. Liz cried out as she threw her head back, arching her body and offering him more. He suckled her breast, drawing it further into his mouth and using his tongue to press her nipple against the roof of his mouth.

That succeeded in making her buck her hips against his which made him slide slightly more inside of her. Max pulled out before he got go in to far and lifted his head to look at her once more. When she opened her eyes and gazed up at him through her eyelashes, he surged into her with one swift move.

Her mouth formed an O and her fingers dug into the back of his shoulders as she tightened her hold on his legs. Max gritted his teeth against the feel of her hot tight sheath around his hardness. He waited until he could feel her moving against him before he began a slow rhythm of sliding in and out of her.

Lowering his lips to hers, he kissed her and slid his tongue into her mouth when she gave him the invitation of her parted lips. Her tongue began to duel with his as she lifted her legs to wrap around his hips, making him fall even deeper into her.

Liz moaned into his mouth as he deepened his strokes and picked up the pace. She let her hands roam down his back and over his chest when he lifted to his elbows to get a better rhythm going.

Once more they gazed into each others eyes as Max set a fast pace of pistoning into her body and she lifted her own hips to meet his hard thrusts. Soon she began to dig her fingers into his shoulders as she felt the tightening begin between her legs.

“Max! Oh Max!” came her breathless pleas.

Knowing what she needed, Max reached a hand between their bodies and caressed her nub in small circles. That was all she needed to fall apart beneath him. With a final cry of his name, she came.

“Maaax!”

Max closed his eyes as he felt her liquid heat wash over him before he thrust once more into her body and lost himself in her with a moan of her name.

“Lizzz!”

She gripped him even as her body slowly began to come down from its high. Max could feel her walls still milking him even after he was already spent. Lowering his body over hers, they lay still for a while chest to chest, hearts beating in tandem.

A few minutes later, Max rolled over to his back and pulled Liz into his side. She went easily and draped an arm over his chest as she laid her head against his shoulder. Once more they lay in silence as Liz began to feel herself drifting off to sleep.

Sighing, she turned her head slightly to brush her lips over his skin.

“Good night, Max,” she whispered.

He tightened his arm around her while he pulled the comforter over them with his other hand. She felt his lips graze her hair as his hushed words reached her ears. “Night, Liz.”

************************************************************

Liz opened the door and beamed at Tess and Maria. The two of them had just arrived for their weekly cooking get together, so she had buzzed them up and then let them in. As she walked towards the kitchen, Tess and Maria looked at each other for a moment before following her.

“So Liz. What has you all bright and cheerful this morning?” asked Tess.

Liz’s smile widened and she literally waltzed around the kitchen. As they watched her move around the kitchen, Maria was the first to notice that Liz was glowing.

“Oh my God!” she squealed, making Tess jump besides her and Liz turn to look at her with a puzzled expression. “You and Max did it, didn’t you!”

At her exclamation, Tess swung her gaze towards Liz in time to see the faint color creep into her cheeks. She gasped, “It’s true, isn’t it? You and Max…”

Liz nodded bashfully causing the two of them to squeal and throw their arms around her, hugging her while jumping up and down in happiness. Liz couldn’t help but laugh and giggle with them as her own happiness spread inside of her.

Stepping back, but still holding her hand, Tess smiled at her. “So, does this mean that you two talked about it? That you have moved on and decided having a relationship with Max is something you want?”

Liz nodded as she looked between the two of them. “Yes. After I talked to you two that night, I came back home and asked Max to take me out to see Sean again. Max was hesitant about it and I know it was just because he was afraid I’d get caught back up again. But he took me back when the moon waned.”

Maria nodded as she gestured to the couch. “Come on, let’s sit and talk over some coffee.”

They agreed and quickly made some coffee and poured them into mugs. Once they were all seated comfortably in the living room, Liz continued her story. She told them how they had gone back to her home and waited for nightfall only to have Sean appear to them in the house. He had revealed to her why it was that she’d relived the murder over and over again with him.

The girls were surprised and amazed that Sean had gone through all that just to give Liz the chance he believed she should have had if it hadn’t been for his behavior. They were even more amazed to find out that Sean had known that it was Max who was to be the one Liz was waiting for. At that point, even Maria seemed to have forgiven Sean for what he’d done because now they knew Liz and Max were meant to be together.

After Liz had finished explaining everything that had happened at her old home, she told them how she had returned to the city with Max and things had slowed down again. Max had taken a step back and let her set the pace for whatever was going to happen between the two of them.

“Is that what you wanted?” asked Tess.

Liz shook her head. “Not really no. I mean, I needed a little time to really say goodbye to Sean, but even then I knew I wanted to be with Max. That’s why I wanted to go back to the house. So I could make a clean break and try to have a relationship with Max. I knew I couldn’t do it until I made my peace with my past.”

Maria nodded. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Yes, it does,” added Tess. “So, why the long wait then?”

Liz smiled. “Max didn’t want to push me into doing something he didn’t think I was ready for. I tried to show him that I was ready, but I don’t think I did it well. So, last night I just came out and asked him to.”

Maria’s eyes went wide. “You asked him to sleep with you!”

“Well…sort of. I asked him to make love to me.”

Tess smiled. “And he obviously said yes.”

Liz’s smile was radiant. “Oh yes, he did.”

The girls looked at each other with huge smiles before looking back at Liz.

“So? How was he?” asked Maria.

“Maria!” exclaimed Tess.

Liz giggled. “Oh, he was wonderful!” she replied with a contented sigh.

Tess only gave Liz a happy smile as Maria quirked an eyebrow. “We are talking about Max aren’t we?”

Tess gave her a playful swat on her arm as Liz laughed. “Yes, Maria I’m talking about Max. He’s everything I’d hoped he’d be and more.”

Maria turned to grin at Tess. “You were right then. He definitely hadn’t met the right woman.”

Tess rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Liz. “So, it wasn’t awkward or anything was it?”

Liz shook her head. “Not in the least. He was extremely tender and kind just like he’s always been. He made me feel comfortable and beautiful and I never wanted it to end. I don’t regret any of it.”

Tess nodded. “And Max?”

Liz smiled. “He seemed to be in a good mood when he left for work this morning. I made him breakfast as usual while he showered and when he came down, he just took me in his arms and asked me if I was okay.”

Tess leaned on her elbow and sighed. “Wow!”

Even Maria was speechless.

“I know. We ate breakfast together and then he kissed me goodbye. It was the kind of kiss that made me remember last night, you know the kind?”

Maria nodded as a dreamy look crossed her features. “Oh yes, I love those kinds of passionate kisses.”

Tess pouted slightly. “Wish I got more of them.”

Liz’s smile faded slightly. “Oh Tess, maybe we should get to our cooking lesson?”

Tess shook her head. “Oh don’t mind me! I want to hear all about you and Max! It’s so wonderful to hear that you and him are finally progressing! I mean, Max has been alone for so long and you? Well, you both deserved to have some kind of happiness!”

Liz smiled as she slid her hand into Tess’. “I am happy. Max makes me incredibly happy!”

“See! That’s all I needed to know.”

The three of them laughed as the went to the kitchen to start their cooking lesson. As they worked, they continued to talk about men, love, relationships, and even about sex.

************************************************************

“Mr. Evans? Kyle Valenti is here to see you,” came Max’s secretary’s voice over the intercom.

Max pressed the button on his desk before responding. “Okay, send him in Laura.”

A few moments later there was a knock on his door and Kyle stuck his head around the edge. “Hey bud,” he greeted Max with a grin. “You had lunch yet?”

Max gave him a wide smile as he said. “Nope, you buying?”

Kyle chuckled, “I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t now would I?”

“Okay, then give me a few minutes.”

Kyle nodded and leaned against the wall waiting for Max to get some things in order before the two of them walked to the elevator.

“So where do you want to go? I was thinking of the sandwich shop on the corner.”

Max shrugged as he smiled at the closing elevator doors. “If you want. But I was actually in the mood for something sweet. Why don’t we go to the deli a couple of blocks down? They have a better selection.”

Kyle could only gape at his best friend.

It took a few minutes before Max realized Kyle hadn’t responded. Turning to look at him, he saw the look on his face. “What?”

“Who are you and what have you done with my best friend? Sweet? Since when does Mr. I-Take-Care-of-What-Goes-In-My-Body want to eat something sweet?”

Max grinned at him. “What? A guy can change his mind from time to time can’t he?”

“Change his…” his eyes went wide. “Holy shit! You got laid didn’t you!” Max’s goofy smile was all the answer Kyle needed. “Holy! I have to call Michael and tell him to meet us at the Deli! This is a momentous occasion!”

Kyle got out his cell and made the call, excitedly telling Michael the news over the phone and getting him to agree to meet them in fifteen minutes at the Deli. Kyle couldn’t stop bouncing around about what he was sure would be the best news he’d had in weeks. Max simply ignored his hyperactive friend and continued to walk down the sidewalk wearing a huge smile and looking like he was on top of the world.

The two of them got to the Deli and ordered their lunches. They were just sitting down with their meals when Michael showed up. He quickly went to grab something for himself before making his way to their table. Sitting down next to Max, he looked at him and saw the same things Kyle had seen.

“Shit! You weren’t kidding Kyle!”

Max rolled his eyes. “Seriously guys, it’s not what you think.”

Michael and Kyle exchanged looks before Kyle said, “Not what we think? After an extremely long dry period, you finally got laid last night and it was obviously great! How could it not be what we think?”

Max sighed as he looked from one to the other before he finally spoke in a serious tone. “You’re wrong about one thing Kyle. I didn’t get laid last night because I was with Liz.” He smiled at Kyle. “But you’re right about it being great.”

Kyle’s jaw nearly hit the floor in shock. Michael on the other hand, took it in stride. Patting Max on the shoulder he chuckled.

“So, you and Liz huh?”

“Yeah,” beamed Max.

“And it was great?” he asked.

Max nodded as a dreamy look crossed his features. “It was wonderful really. Explosive even.”

Kyle sputtered. “Ex-explosive! What were you thinking!”

“Kyle!” hissed Michael in warning.

“What? Are you saying you agree with this? He’s sleeping with a ghost!”

The tables around them went silent as Kyle’s last remark echoed around them. Michael glanced around at the others in the restaurant before sending a glare Kyle’s way.

“Would you keep your voice down, idiot!”

Max was now frowning at Kyle. “Look,” he said in a low voice, “I know you don’t agree with what Liz and I have, but it is what it is Kyle. I love her and I want to have a relationship with her. I’m sorry you don’t approve of it, but she makes me happy.”

“Max, she’s not even real!” Kyle responded in an equally low voice.

“Yes she is. She’s very real. More real than any of the other women I’ve ever dated.” He turned to look at Michael as he continued. “Several weeks back we shared some kisses and it sort of freaked her out. Turns out it was just that she needed closure with Sean. So, when the moon waned again, I took her back to the house and Sean was there waiting for us.”

“He was what!” exclaimed Kyle.

Both Max and Michael ignored his outburst as Max continued to explain. “He told Liz that this had been planned all along. He’d made a deal with the powers that be to allow him and Liz to stay on Earth until the right time came that would allow her to have another chance to live the life he took from her. They could only remain here if they replayed the murder scene constantly and Sean only had clues about when the time would be right for Liz to be freed.”

“So, how did he know the right time then?” asked Michael.

“He was told that he would know because it would be the only person who would ever dare to talk to them.”

Michael’s eyes widened. “Holy shit! It was you!”

Max nodded. “Yes, I was the only one in centuries to ever try to talk to them, but I needed to do more than that apparently. It took Sean a while to figure out just how I was supposed to interfere and make Liz human again, but he did. He arranged it so that I would trip and wind up between them right when he was going to stab Liz. That sacrifice was what made her human again. He told us that it had been the plan all along. I was the one who was meant to find Liz and bring her back with me.”

Now both Kyle and Michael were speechless as Max glanced from one to the other. “So you see? She’s human again and what we have is real.”

Michael nodded in awe. “Right. Um, so if what you are saying is true, then you were meant…”

Max smiled. “Yes, we were meant to be.”

TBC...

Part 16

Liz, Maria, and Tess scurried between the kitchen and back yard trying to finish putting things in place before Michael and Kyle arrived with Max in tow. It was the weekend of Max’s birthday and Liz had managed to talk his friends into helping her throw a birthday party for him. Maria and Michael had volunteered their home for the party, so while the guys were hanging out at a sports bar for the afternoon, the women worked on getting things ready for the party.

It had been nearly a month and a half since Max and Liz had become officially a couple to their friends and they still seemed to be going strong. All of their friends were thrilled that the two of them seemed happy with each other except for Kyle. He wasn’t hostile or anything towards Liz. He just thought something was going to happen to hurt his best friend. Whenever he was around Liz, Kyle was polite to her and he never said anything bad about her, he was just concerned for his best friends feelings.

Everyone else had come to understand that Kyle was the way he was and there was nothing they could do about it. At least he didn’t go out of his way to make anyone miserable when they all hung out together so they always managed to enjoy each other’s company.

When Liz had been discussing the party for Max with Tess and Maria, she had asked if it should be just the six of them or should others be invited. Maria and Tess said they thought they’d also invite Isabel since she was Max, Michael, and Kyle’s friend also and in turn her husband, Tommy would come.

Maria also wanted to invite her brother Alex since he was friends with all of them too. And when they called Isabel to invite her and Tommy, she asked if Keegan and Vicki could tag along also. So the women were preparing the party for eleven people in all unless someone else came unexpectedly.

As Liz and Maria worked outside, Tess went to answer the door when she heard the doorbell chime. Opening the front door, she was greeted by Isabel and Tommy with Keegan, Vicki, and Alex behind them.

“Tess! Oh it’s so good to see you again!” exclaimed Isabel as she hugged the younger woman.

“It’s good to see you too, Isabel,” she replied as she hugged her back before stepping aside to let them in. She hugged each of them in turn until she got to Alex who grinned at her.

“So, did my sister and her husband actually volunteer their home to throw a party for Max?”

Tess laughed as she shut the door behind them. “Yep, they did.”

Tommy shook his head. “Unbelievable. I never thought I’d live to see the day Max would even have a party for him! Whose idea was it to even throw him a birthday party?”

“It was mine,” came a voice from the door leading to the kitchen.

As one they all turned to see Maria standing just behind the woman who had answered Tommy. Instant recognition made every one of them stare in shock.

All except Keegan who remarked in surprise, “Hey! I know you!”

************************************************************

Max grinned at Kyle who was still making a fool of himself as they got out of Michael’s truck and walked to the house together. He couldn’t remember the last time the three of them had all gone out and enjoyed themselves like they had that day. The only thing that had been missing was Isabel and it would have been just like the good old days. Then again, there were some things Isabel had said were strictly for guys only.

Michael opened the front door as Kyle walked in still cracking jokes and Max followed him. Kyle made his way to the living room and Max was just about to call out for Liz when he rounded the corner and saw her waiting for him.

Behind her were all of his friends from school and Kyle. Michael was still behind Max as he glanced up and noticed the ‘Happy Birthday’ banner strung across the room.

“Surprise!” They exclaimed all at once.

Max blinked and looked down at Liz as she made her way to his side. He grinned down at her. “Your idea huh?”

She chuckled. “Everyone else was too afraid to face your wrath.”

Max laughed at that as he wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks baby, I love it.”

Liz beamed at him as throats cleared around them. Isabel walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him. “Happy birthday Max!”

Max let go of Liz to hug his friend. “Thanks Izzy. I’m glad you’re here.”

Tommy shook Max’s hand and hugged him while patting his back. “We wouldn’t miss this for the world! You’ve never let us get away with it before.”

As Alex came up to wish him a happy birthday the way Tommy had, Max sent Liz a smile. “Yeah, things change I guess.”

Alex laughed. “Yeah and I for one am not complaining about it.”

“Thanks Alex,” replied Max before hugging all of the others. He thanked Michael and Maria for allowing them to have the party there and all of the others for helping Liz plan it.

As they all moved outside, he was amazed at the work the women had done as they told him how they’d managed to do it all without him ever having a clue. Michael turned on the stereo so that music filled the back yard and everyone began serving themselves from the table where a wide range of food was set up.

There were buffalo wings, finger sandwiches, salad, potato salad, apple pie, vanilla pudding, chips, dip, and fresh vegetables to choose from as well as several kinds of drinks. Everyone filled their plates with their choice of food and made themselves comfortable around the two tables Michael and Kyle had set up under the makeshift tarp they had set up the night before.

Max sat down in the chair next to Liz and slung an arm around the back of her chair before leaning in to plant a quick kiss on her cheek. She smiled at him as he pulled away to begin chowing down on the food, some of which Liz had made from scratch, on his plate. He was oblivious to some of the looks his friends sent his way as they began to make small talk amongst themselves.

As they ate and enjoyed the music and festive party atmosphere, they found out that Alex had hitched a ride with Keegan and Vicki in Keegan’s car while Tommy and Isabel came in Tommy’s car. Since Tommy was more familiar with the city, Keegan had followed Tommy all the way to Michael’s house. They were only planning to stay for the weekend since some of them couldn’t get any more time off from work.

It was agreed that Tommy, Isabel, and Alex would stay with at the Guerin’s house since they had a three bedroom home. Keegan and Vicki would be staying with Tess and Kyle, sharing the extra bedroom they had.

As they continued to talk and joke, they others began to see just how close Liz and Max had become. When Isabel, Tommy, Alex, Keegan, and Vicki had first gotten there and seen Liz for the first time, they had immediately recognized her from the pictures they’d seen in the ones Keegan had showed them because he’d been interested in the ghost story about the house near their camp site.

While they all waited in the living room for Michael, Kyle, and Max to show up, the three women had filled them in on what had happened. Every one of them had mixed feelings about it, most were shocked that they were actually talking to a ghost who was now a real living, breathing human being again. All except Keegan, who was more curious than anything else.

Keegan was the one who asked most of the questions thus allowing the rest of them to sit and absorb everything. Eventually even Tommy, Isabel, and Alex began to ask questions of their own and soon they all understood that Max and Liz were a couple. The only one who seemed unable to come to terms with all of it was Vicki, she alone remained quiet and sullen until Max and the others returned.

Now as they all sat around the tables, everyone seemed to be taking the new relationship between Max and Liz in stride, even Kyle who would always worry about his best friend seemed okay with the couple. No one paid any attention to the fact that Vicki had barely said a word all afternoon or that she seemed to be sending glares in Max and Liz’s direction.

Eventually, everyone began to finish their food as the late afternoon light began to fade. Michael and Kyle got up to light the torches around the yard as Tess, Liz, and Maria lit all of the candles and the rest of them cleared the tables and covered the remaining dishes that were left. Michael and Kyle then went to the garage and brought out the large ice chest filled with beer and other alcohols while Maria and Tess brought out the two blenders of frozen margaritas they’d mixed earlier. Liz came behind them carrying the plastic colored glasses they would use to pour their drinks in.

Once more they all settled in chairs and enjoyed the cool evening air, talking and listening to the music in the back yard until Michael got up and pulled his wife to her feet. He led her to a clear area and began to slow dance with her which prompted Max to ask Liz to dance and Tommy and Isabel soon followed after.

After that, all of them began to enjoy intermittedly dancing and talking to each other. At various points they even got Michael to put on some fun music where they could do dances such as the Macarena and even the hokey pokey since Liz had never done things like that before. As they all laughed and giggled over the ridiculously fun dances they did, Vicki remained the only one who wasn’t having a good time.

************************************************************

It was a few hours later that Max excused himself to go to the restroom while Liz danced with Keegan. He was walking back down the hall towards the living room when Vicki approached him.

“Hey Vick,” Max greeted as he started to go past her.

“Are you really happy with her Max?” she asked, making him stop a few feet away from her.

He turned around to face her with a questioning look. “Of course I am, why would you ask me that?”

She shrugged as she moved closer to him. “It’s just I don’t think she’s the right one for you that’s all.”

Max frowned. “Really? No one else seems to be worried about it.”

“None of them are saying it, but they are all thinking it. They just don’t want to hurt your feelings.”

“And you do?”

She shook her head. “No Max, I want to keep you from making a mistake.”

“I’m not making a mistake, Vicki.”

She sighed. “Max, I don’t think you’re even looking at this clearly. I mean what do you know about her huh?”

“I know enough.”

“Do you? She was a ghost Max!”

He threw his hands in the air. “Oh for crying out loud! You have obviously been talking to Kyle!”

“She was Max! And it’s just not like you to be interested in a woman who doesn’t have a life at all!”

“Liz has a life now. One that she’s learning to enjoy.”

Vicki put her hands on her hips. “Max! This woman is from a very distant past. One that is very different from the way we live now! She doesn’t know anything about this world, so what makes you think she could survive here? She probably can’t even get a job! Does she even know what that is?”

Max spoke from between gritted teeth. “Yes Vicki, Liz knows what a job is. You’d be surprised with what all Liz really does know about living in the world of today.”

“Really? I would huh? Well it doesn’t really matter what she knows Max. The thing is, does she know what she’s going to have to do to make you happy? Why would you even bother getting involved with someone like her? She wouldn’t know the first thing about the way you live your life! For God’s sake Max, she lived in a hovel! I never thought I’d live to see the day when you looked at someone who is so far beneath you!”

Max stiffened at her words. Suddenly he knew exactly what Vicki was getting at. As his hands curled into fists, he took a warning step towards her and growled. “Get this through your head Victoria, I am in love with Liz. You and I, we ARE the past, not Liz and I! What you and I had was just a high school infatuation, nothing more. It was never love and you know it! Stop trying to hang on to me and what you think we had over ten years ago! It’s time that you let go of this and move on!”

Vicki didn’t move as Max whirled away from her and stormed out into the living room towards the back yard.

************************************************************

Liz smiled as Max pulled her closer to him and lowered his forehead to hers as they continued to dance to the slow music surrounding them. He had one arm around her waist, the fingers of that hand skimming her exposed skin between her shirt and skirt. With his other hand, he held hers close to his chest with fingers entwined. They remained that way for a while, enjoying the way it felt to just dance so close together as they got lost in each others gaze.

When the song ended, he leaned down to give her a soft kiss which she returned eagerly before they broke away and rejoined the others sitting beneath the tarp. Maria was sitting in Michael’s lap feeding him some of the apple pie Liz had made while Isabel leaned against Tommy’s side, her head leaning against his shoulder. Tess and Kyle were at the food table apparently in the middle of a playful argument and Alex and Keegan were digging through the ice chest trying to find something to drink.

Vicki was unnoticeably absent.

As they approached the others, Liz tugged on Max’s hand before leaning in to tell him she was going to the restroom. He let go of her and watched her walk inside before sitting down in his chair across from Tommy and Isabel.

Isabel sat up and smiled at Max. “You and Liz have really gotten close to each other now.”

Max nodded as he returned her smile. “Yeah, we have. I think I’ve finally found what I’ve been looking for in Liz.”

Even Tommy was sitting up now. “Seriously?” he asked.

Max nodded again as he looked from one to the other. “Yes. In fact, I was wondering if I could ask you two to do me a favor for Liz.”

They glanced at each other for a moment before Tommy said, “What is it?”

“You know Liz has no legal identity because of who she is.” At their nods, he went on. “So, I was wondering if there was a way to get her some kind of real identity. I mean, if she’s going to live in this world then don’t you think she’s going to need some form of identification?”

Tommy nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“So, any idea how she can go about getting some identification? I mean how hard is it going to be or is it even possible?”

Tommy thought about it for a few moments before shaking his head. “No actually I don’t think it’s that hard at all. I mean there are still plenty of immigrants that come to America with no official form of identification because they come from places that don’t keep records or some form of documents.”

Isabel nodded. “Right, so the thing we have to do is figure out where she’s supposed to have come from and go from there. Once we establish that she’s from somewhere were documentation is unheard of, it won’t be a problem to make her a new one.”

Max straightened up at that. “So, does that mean you’ll help us?”

Isabel turned to look at her husband with a hopeful smile. He turned to Max with a grin and held his hand out to him. “We’ll do everything we can to help you and Liz, my friend.”

Max shook his hand in earnestness. “Thanks guys! I really appreciate this.”

“No problem Max. I’ll start researching it as soon as Tommy and I get home and we’ll keep you up to date on what we come up with.”

“Yes and as soon as we can establish where she might have come from, we’ll get the petition started so that her new identity can be processed.”

“Any idea how long that takes?” asked Max.

“It can take anywhere from six months to a year, maybe more.”

“Right. Okay.” He frowned.

“Don’t worry, Max. They won’t refuse to make her a citizen of the United States. It’s actually a lot easier to become a citizen here than it is to become one anywhere else. This is America after all.”

Max nodded. “Okay, I just don’t want it to cause problems for Liz, that’s all.”

Tommy grinned. “Trust me Max, I’ll make sure there won’t be any problems at all.”

************************************************************

Just like she’d done to Max, Vicki was waiting for Liz when she left the restroom to return outside. As soon as Liz walked into the living room, Vicki stood up from the chair she’d been sitting in and crossed her arms over her chest.

Lifting her chin, she spoke in a haughty voice, “So, do you really think that you and Max have a chance at a life together? Because I can tell you right now, knowing what I know about Max, it isn’t going to be a piece of cake. Especially for someone like you.”

Liz gave her a puzzled look. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean I know what Max is like since I’ve known him for longer than ten years. You’ve only known him for what, a few months? Trust me when I say that’s not long enough to know anything about Max.”

Liz watched the way Vicki looked her up and down as if she were sizing her up. She suddenly sneered as if she didn’t like what she saw. Liz’s frown deepened. “Vicki, is it? I know enough about Max to care about him and…”

Vicki rolled her eyes and laughed. “Care about him? Trust me honey, you wouldn’t know the first thing about caring for a man like Max.”

Liz stiffened at the condescending tone in the woman’s voice. “Oh,” she said through clenched teeth, “and you would?”

“Yes I would. I’ve known him for years remember? I know how peculiar Max can get about a lot of things in his life and…”

It was Liz’s turn to cut her off. “Tell me something Vicki,” she hissed, “have you ever lived with Max?”

Vicki frowned. “What?”

“It’s a simple yes or no question. Have you ever lived with him?”

“No, but..”

“But nothing! I live with him. I’ve lived with him for these past several months and trust me, you tend to learn a lot about someone you share a roof with even in a short time like that. I know what he’s like. I know how he needs things to be in their proper place. I know he is very driven in his work and I know how much his friends mean to him. I know how he likes his work clothes to be pressed just so and I know how much he hates peanuts and onions.”

When Vicki didn’t say anything but continued to glare at Liz, she continued. “Max loves watching movies, taking weekend walks in the park, and eating good home cooked meals. He enjoys taking long showers, sleeping in on his days off, and hanging out with his best friends during his free time.”

She folded her arms over her chest as she narrowed her eyes at Vicki. “What can you tell me about what he loves or hates?”

Vicki frowned.

“What’s his favorite color?” asked Liz.

She grinned. “Blue.”

Liz rolled her eyes. “It’s actually sky blue,” she emphasized her point by pointing to the halter top she had worn specifically because she knew how much Max loved that color.

The grin immediately disappeared from Vicki’s face.

Liz moved closer to Vicki as she lowered her voice. “I don’t know exactly what you are to Max or what you were to him, but I know this. I love Max now and he loves me. Whatever it is that you had with him, it’s obviously in the past. Max and I are the future and I don’t have any intention of letting him go. And I know he feels the same way about me.”

With those words, she brushed past Vicki and walked outside to where Max, Tommy, and Isabel were waiting to share the good news with her.

************************************************************

Liz stood at the bathroom counter taking off the jewelry she’d worn to the party. As she picked up her hairbrush, Max walked into the room and slid his arms around her waist. Pulling her back against his chest, he leaned down to nuzzle her neck.

“Thanks for the party Liz. I had fun.”

She set the brush down and slid her hands over his that were clasped over her waist. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you did.”

He kissed her cheek as he turned her around to face him. Wiggling his eyebrows he asked, “Do I get another gift since technically my birthday isn’t until Monday?”

She laughed. “Well, only if you’re a good boy.”

He chuckled. “A good boy huh? Exactly what does that mean?”

She couldn’t answer since he picked that moment to lean in and kiss her. He pulled her closer to his body and deepened the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and returned his kiss, parting her lips to allow him access. As his fingers slipped beneath her shirt and began to lift it while he started to walk her backwards into the bedroom, she pulled away from him.

He stopped his movements to frown down at her. “Liz? What’s wrong?”

“There’s something I need to ask you, Max.”

He nodded as he took her hand and led her to sit on the edge of his bed. “Ask me.”

She looked down at their entwined hands before looking into his eyes. “What is Vicki to you?”

His eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Vicki?”

“Yes, Vicki. Isabel’s younger sister. What is she to you?”

“Nothing.”

“Max, she was something to you once, right?”

Max sighed and leaned back on the bed. “Yeah, we dated back in high school. Everyone called us high school sweethearts, but we weren’t even that. I was always too busy with my school work and trying to get into a good college that I didn’t really have time for her. She complained about my neglecting her all the time. I broke up with her when I graduated and went off to college because I knew there had never been anything between us.”

Liz turned to look at him. “So nothing ever happened between the two of you?”

Max shook his head. “Nothing at all. Why are you asking?”

Liz shrugged. “Just wondering.”

He sat up and took her hand again. “No, something must have happened for you to be asking me about her. What is it?”

Liz sighed. “She confronted me when I came out of the restroom tonight.”

Max narrowed his eyes. “She what? What did she say to you?”

“She claimed that she knew you longer than I did and that meant she knew what you needed. I think she was just trying to intimidate me, to prove that I didn’t know the first thing about you and having a life with you. I got the impression she wanted you for herself.”

Max sighed. “Yeah, like I said we dated in high school and she just hasn’t let go of that. She confronted me tonight too. I think when she couldn’t win me over, she went after you.”

“Really? What did she say to you?” asked Liz.

“Basically the same things she tried to tell you. That she knows what I need and you wouldn’t. That you couldn’t give me what she could.”

Liz frowned. “Is she right?”

Max wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. “No Liz! Didn’t you hear what I said? Nothing ever happened between us! What I have with you, I never had with her. It was just a high school infatuation, nothing more. I share so much more with you. And I love you. I never had these kind of feelings for her, ever.”

Liz smiled as she slid her hands into his hair. “I love you too Max.”

He smiled. “Did you tell her that?”

She giggled. “Of course I did.”

“Good because I told her I loved you too.”

“You did?”

“Uh huh,” he nodded as he slid his arms around her waist, tugging her higher in his lap.

She ran her hands down his chest as she smiled at him. “Remember when I said you would get another gift only if you’ve been a good boy?”

“Um hm.”

She leaned closer to him and brushed her lips over his before kissing him lightly. Moving back slightly, she whispered against his lips. “Well tonight, you’ve been a very good boy, Max.”

He grinned as she pushed him back on the bed where the two of them spent the rest of the night celebrating his birthday in each others embrace.

TBC...

** Author's note**
After consulting with my brother and doing a bit of research, we came up with what we hope is a good explanation for a solution to Liz's identity. We tried to go with something close to Shiri Appleby's real background since her mother is Israeli... Hope I did okay and all the references to Saudi Arabia and it's Bedouin tribe are accurate to my knowledge...hope I am not offending anyone with the use of it


Part 17

Liz paced the area between the dining room and kitchen wringing her hands as she fretted. She bit her bottom lip worrying what Max was going to say when he got home from work. She just hoped he wouldn’t take it the wrong way.

She’d done it because Tommy had showed up about a week ago after nearly two months since he’d talked to Max. Once she’d heard what he had to say and realizing just how bored she was staying in the loft alone while Max was at work, she’d decided to do something about her boredom. Especially since she’d gotten the package in the mail two days ago.

When Tommy came over, the three of them had sat at the dining room table as he went over the information with them and had Liz fill out some paperwork. Turned out that Isabel had done a lot of research and found out that there were several tribes within the Bedouin culture of Saudi Arabia that still didn’t have any formal records among them. The tribes were a nomadic people, so it was hard to keep track of them.

After finding that out and checking into it, Tommy and Isabel realized that Liz could actually pass for someone from that region, so Tommy went ahead and put in a request for her citizenship in the United States. Granted, the region wasn’t exactly friendly to any foreigners and especially the United States, but Tommy reassured Max that the government wouldn’t turn down Liz’s request to become a citizen of the U.S.

Now, all they had to do was wait for the government to grant her a true identity, but in the mean time a temporary ID would be sent to her. With the photo Tommy had taken of her and all the information Liz had written down on the paperwork with the help of Tommy and Max, the government would be sending her a temporary ID for one Elizabeth Parker, formerly Ibtihaj al-Shahriar of Saudi Arabia.

They claimed she’d changed her name to something more American since her real name couldn’t be pronounced by many people. That was something else Tommy said would endear her to the government since it would seem to them like she was willing to show loyalty to the American way of life.

So Tommy had taken all of the new information they’d come up with and sent off the paperwork, telling them that she should receive her temp ID within the week. True to his word, the ID arrived in the mail two days ago and Max had walked into the loft with a smile on his face and the mail in his hand.

Together they had opened the envelope from the government that had been addressed to her and found the new temp ID in it. They oohed and aahed over the ID since they knew she was now just a step away from becoming a real person in the world today. It was that fact coupled with the increasing boredom she felt when Max wasn’t there to occupy her time, that she had made the decision that was currently worrying her.

Hearing the key in the lock, she spun around just in time to see Max stepping into the house. He gave her a look of surprise which turned into a smile.

“Hey Liz, were you waiting for me to get home?” he asked as he set his things down on a nearby chair.

Liz nodded. “Yeah, um there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

Max nodded. “Sure, what’s up?”

She swallowed. “Um, why don’t we sit down for a bit?” She indicated the couch before she made her way over to it.

Max followed her wearing a frown. “Liz? You okay? What’s this about?”

Liz sat down on the couch and patted the area nearby. “Come sit down Max.”

Sighing, he reluctantly did as she asked and turned to face her. “Okay, I’m sitting, now out with it.”

She bit her bottom lip, a clear sign to Max that she was worried about his reaction. Before he had a chance to prod her some more, she blurted it out.

“I got a job today.”

Max didn’t say a word, but Liz could see that he was processing that information. Slowly, she saw the way his frown deepened and his eyebrows came together in clear displeasure.

“What?” he asked in a very low voice that was almost a whisper.

She swallowed again before clearing her throat. “I got a job as a cook at a restaurant. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a job and I’ll be doing something I know how to do. They said what I don’t know, they’d train me in since there are a few more cooks that work there.”

Max shook his head, “I don’t think you should…”

“Max, just listen okay? Look I just need to be doing something other than sitting around here staring at the walls. You don’t know how bored I get staying here all alone when you and our friends are all at work or busy with their lives. I just want to do something…”

“Then we’ll find you a hobby!” he snapped.

“I don’t need a hobby Max! I need a job!”

He stood up and glared down at her. “Why? I told you before I can take care of you!”

She sighed. “This isn’t about the money Max. This is just for me to do something with myself, that’s all!”

He whirled away from her, walking to the windows and staring out of them. Liz watched him as he stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. She could see his profile and he didn’t look pleased. His jaw and shoulders were very tense.

She waited a few more moments before she got up and moved to him. Setting her hand lightly on his bicep, she spoke in a soft voice.

“Please try to understand things from my view. I know that you want to take care of me and I don’t mind that at all. I don’t. But I just need to do this for myself.”

Max closed his eyes for a moment before he seemed to relax a bit. He turned his head slightly to look at her. “Where are you working?”

She gave him a little smile. “It’s at Mama Reno’s just around the corner.”

Max nodded as he recognized the name of the restaurant. Liz was right. It was a little out of the way diner that was only a few blocks down from where they lived. Which told him she was basically going to be a short order cook. Not exactly what he’d thought she’d go for.

Liz saw the frown on his face and knew what he was thinking. “It’s the best I could do with the temp ID that I have. No serious restaurant or any of the bigger chains are going to hire me until I’m official, so this will have to do for now. I don’t really mind Max. This will give me an opportunity to get out of the house and maybe learn a few more things on my own.”

Max sighed as he turned his body towards hers. Lifting a hand to her cheek, he asked, “When do you start?”

“Day after tomorrow. And I only have the mid-morning and afternoon shifts, so I should be home before you are. The owner was willing to work out a schedule with me so I could still be able to have time with you.”

He nodded and smiled at her admission. He knew she wanted this job because of the way she was. He knew that even in her past life, she had been somewhat headstrong and independent. Besides, it was one of the things he loved about her. She was clearly so different than all the other women he’d dated. Where they had all seemed to turn clingy when things progressed, Liz hadn’t.

Somehow, she managed to remain independent up to a point. It was the little things she did, like cooking meals for him and now arranging her day around him that told him she was more than willing to compromise for him. Because of that, he knew he was going to have to make his own compromises for her.

“Okay, well then I guess congratulations are in order huh?”

Liz returned his smile as she squealed in happiness and threw her arms around him. “Oh! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Max chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Don’t thank me baby, you got the job all on your own!”

She giggled as she looked up into his eyes. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Yep,” he replied as he lowered his forehead to hers. “I think this is a cause for celebration don’t you?”

“A celebration? What kind of a celebration?”

Max shrugged. “Oh you know, the usual.”

He leaned down to place a kiss on her lips. “Some good food.”

Then moved to kiss her cheek. “Maybe some wine.”

Her jaw. “Or champagne.”

Her neck. “And a bit of dancing.”

Finally he whispered into her ear. “Then we’ll end the night with a very nice bang.”

She closed her eyes in pleasure as he finished the last statement with a lick to the shell of her ear. “Mmm, I’d like that,” she sighed.

************************************************************

Two and a half weeks later, Liz had clearly discovered that her life had gone from boring to full in no time at all and she wasn’t complaining about it. She loved having something to occupy her time now and it seemed to make her look forward to having that downtime to spend with her friends and most especially with Max.

She loved getting up in the mornings and making breakfast for the two of them while Max showered and got ready for work. Then they would eat breakfast together at the breakfast bar before she went up to get ready for her shift while Max cleaned up the kitchen.

Max drove her to work in the mornings since it was in the direction he took to get to work. She’d lean over and give him a kiss goodbye before hopping out of his SUV and waving to him before disappearing into the diner.

For the next few hours, her time was occupied with cooking all kinds of food on the grills, stoves, and other appliances in the restaurant. In between all the cooking, she was either washing fresh vegetables or fruits and chopping them up as well as making other preparations before going back to cooking the requested dishes.

There was always something to do in the kitchen of the restaurant whether it was preparing, cooking, or cleaning up the dishes. When her shift ended around two in the afternoon, she’d gather her things up and say goodbye to her co-workers before walking the few blocks back to Max’s loft.

Once home, she’d take another shower to wash all the grime and smell of grease off of her before going down to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Max would come home just as dinner was almost ready, giving Liz a kiss before going upstairs to take his own shower.

By the time he was done, dinner was usually ready and the two of them would sit in the dining room enjoying the view of the fading light from the huge windows. It was then that the two of them would share the events of the day with each other while they enjoyed the meal Liz had cooked.

After dinner, Max would clean up the dining room and kitchen while Liz either got their clothes ready for the next day or did some other chore depending on what day of the week it was. When all of that was done, the two of them would curl up on the couch for a little while to relax a bit before calling it a night.

Of course, they didn’t always go straight to sleep. Sometimes the two of them would just lie together in the bed on their sides, talking about whatever was on their mind. Other times, one or the other would get frisky and it would either lead to a playful romp or something much more heated.

No matter how their night ended, both of them loved the fact that they would fall asleep in each others arms and wake up there too. After their first time together, it had taken a few days before Max had moved back into his own room where he began sharing everything with Liz.

Now the two of them were comfortable knowing that their lives were completely revolved around each other. It was completely natural for Liz and Max to share the same room and bed even though in the beginning Max had worried that Liz wouldn’t like that because she wasn’t from his time. When she’d realized his hesitation, she’d told him how she felt about him and that she had no reservations at all with sharing her life with him.

She knew it’s what he wanted. He’d always made it clear to her and anyone else who listened that Liz was a big part of his life that he wasn’t willing to part with. She felt the same way. Liz had admitted that there was nothing better than being in his arms and knowing that he loved her as much as she loved him.

************************************************************

A low growl escaped Max’s throat right before he took another swig of his beer. Unfortunately the growl wasn’t low enough to escape Michael and Kyle’s attention as they looked at him out of the corner of their eyes. He was glaring at something in the distance, so they followed his line of sight until they could see what had made him growl.

Liz, who had been standing with Tess, Maria, and a few other women had just bent down to pet one of the dogs that was at the annual Pet Parade that Tess and Maria’s company took a part in. It wasn’t that she was petting the dog that had Max acting like that.

It was the fact that Liz was dressed in a sky blue baby tee that revealed a tantalizing amount of midriff and a matching set of ridiculously tiny shorts that seemed to fit like a second skin. It was those shorts that caused every male within eyeshot to stop and appreciate the view.

Several of the other women were dressed in revealing clothing too since it was an incredibly hot day where they were all gathered outside on the adjoining lawn of the convention center. Still, Liz was currently the only one bent over like that giving plenty of lusty males a good view.

Michael winced at the sight, knowing exactly what Max was feeling since his own wife was also wearing something a little revealing. They all watched as Liz straightened up and laughed at something one of the others said, making Max growl again.

Max had known what she was going to wear to the parade. In fact, he’d helped her pick it out. However, he’d only been thinking about himself and not about all of the other men that would be at the parade. It hadn’t occurred to him what kind of effect her outfit would have on anyone else until they had arrived at the parade and Liz had gotten out of the car.

The moment she had, Max had instantly become aware of all of the stares sent her way. In that moment, an emotion he’d never experienced before snuck up on him and refused to let go. With each passing hour, it only seemed to get worse.

He’d had to endure standing next to her and their friends while watching the parade. He’d tried to make it known that she was with him by moving behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist so that she could lean back against him during the last part of the parade. After that, he’d gotten a little respite as they’d gotten back into his SUV to head over to the convention center where the parade ended with a cookout.

However, as soon as they were out of the SUV, he was back to feeling that still unfamiliar emotion. He’d done his best to make it known that Liz was with him, but she wasn’t always at his side. It was a big place, so naturally everyone moved around. Max couldn’t believe how badly he wanted to drag her back to his side and demand that she stay there for the rest of the time they were there.

Liz seemed oblivious to the way he was feeling. She was her usual friendly self even as she shared plenty of loving moments with him while they were there. Max was quickly finding he didn’t like himself very much when Liz was dressed like that and they were in a very public place.

His eyes suddenly narrowed as he watched some guy saunter up to the group until he was standing next to Liz. They all turned to him when he spoke up and a few of them laughed at what he said. Max saw Liz turn to look at him with her usual friendly smile.

Michael and Kyle both went still next to Max, very aware of what was going on where Liz was. They all watched as the guy turned his gaze to Liz and leaned in slightly, his body language clearly indicating she had gotten his interest. As he said something that made her laugh, Max growled a little louder and clutched his beer harder.

Kyle looked down at Max’s hand, seeing the clear indentions in the can from Max’s stronghold. “Um, buddy…”

“What?” hissed Max as he lifted the beer and chugged it down.

Kyle looked helplessly at Michael, who frowned and looked at Max. “Why don’t we go see if the girls are ready to go huh?”

Max lowered the can and licked his lips, his glare still fixed on the scene in the distance. “Yes. Let’s.” he agreed.

Just as they were about to go, the guy lifted a hand to brush an imaginary piece of hair off of Liz’s shoulder.

“Aw hell!” Kyle mumbled under his breath just as Max threw down his empty beer can and took off at a dead run.

Michael took off right after him, reaching out to grab hold of Max’s arms as Kyle came up to help him. Luckily Liz had turned her head just in time to see Max taking off towards them.

Quickly she had excused herself from the group, motioning to Tess and Maria at the same time so they could see what she saw. It was the two of them that managed to keep the guy from going after Liz as she made her way to Max’s side, thus preventing things from getting really ugly.

Liz had recognized the signs of jealousy the moment she’d seen Max. It was a sight that now seemed to have followed her into the present, but this time she was determined to meet it head on. As Max struggled against the hold his friends had on him, Liz walked up to him and cupped his face so that he would look into her eyes.

Not caring in the least who was watching, she pulled his face down and gave him a very passionate kiss. One that clearly announced to the world just who she was going home with. It was more than enough for Max to stop struggling so that Michael and Kyle released their hold on him.

The moment they did, he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and pulled her body flush with his as the kiss deepened. When Liz parted her lips, he dipped his tongue in and to tease hers. Liz moaned into his mouth, causing Kyle to quietly snicker.

Kyle leaned in to Michael and whispered, “Now that is not something I ever thought my best friend was capable of!”

The couple ignored his remark for a few more moments until air became extremely necessary. Slowly pulling away, Max placed his forehead against Liz’s and smiled as he gazed into her eyes.

As she gazed back, giving him a smile of her own, she asked, “What wasn’t he capable of Kyle?”

Kyle blinked in amazement over the fact that they’d actually heard him before stuttering, “Um, well, that he could be so public with his affections for a woman. That sort of thing.”

Max raised his head to make a retort, but Liz beat him to it. “Trust me Kyle. Max knows how to make a woman happy, even in public.”

Her remark caused Michael to laugh at the stupefied expression on Kyle’s face.

Without missing a beat, Liz turned to wink at Max as she took his hand in hers. “Come on honey. I’m ready for you to take me home…”

It was completely obvious to all those who heard just what Liz was insinuating as her voice trailed off at the end. As Liz led him away from the small group of friends, all of them had smiles on their faces. All except Kyle, who stood there gaping at the couple when Max had looked back at him with a look of complete male smugness written on his face.

“Later guys,” came Max’s confident voice as Tess, Maria, and Michael erupted into laughter over Kyle’s shocked expression and sorry excuse of a wave.

TBC...

Part 18

Max opened his front door to reveal a darkened house. Frowning, he flicked on the light and closed the door behind him before glancing around the place. He had been expecting to come home from work to find Liz flitting around the kitchen like she had always done for the last four months since she’d began to work at the Mama Reno’s. Instead, the place looked like it had been empty all day.

Trying not to let panic seize him, he set his things on the dining room table and made his way towards the study. Peeking in, he found the place empty and the computer off. Picking up his pace, he hurried up the stairs to the bedroom and came to a complete stop as soon as he reached the landing.

Sprawled out on the bed on her stomach was Liz. Max let out a breath of relief as he made his way to her side and realized she was still wearing her work clothes. Her shoes were lying haphazardly on the floor as if she’d kicked them off. Leaning over, he brushed the hair out of her face and saw that she was indeed fast asleep.

Smiling at how adorable she looked sprawled out on the bed like that, he chuckled softly before kissing her cheek and nuzzling it until she mumbled in her sleep.

“Liz, honey?” Max whispered before nuzzling her cheek again.

She sighed softly and shifted slightly, baring more of her neck allowing him to move to nuzzle her there.

“Liz?” he whispered once more, against the skin of her neck.

Liz’s eyelids fluttered open and as sense returned to them, she tilted her head to look up at him.

He smiled at the sleepy look in her eyes. “Hi baby.”

“Mm hi,” she mumbled before rolling to her back and stretching slightly.

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the way she looked. All wrinkled and disheveled. When she gave him a puzzled look, he grinned at her.

“Rough day?”

“Huh?” she asked as she slowly sat up.

“I got home to find you passed out on the bed,” he chuckled again. “Here I was all worried that maybe something happened to you and I get upstairs to find you sprawled out on the bed. Obviously you were awake only long enough to kick your shoes off.”

He glanced down at the shoes as his grin widened.

Liz rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll put them up in a minute.”

Max turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. “I’m not worried.”

Liz simply nodded as she slid off the bed and made her way to the bathroom. Max began to change as he heard the water running, knowing Liz was probably trying to wake herself up.

When she came out a few minutes later, he was leaning back against the headboard in only a pair of shorts. He smiled at her as she came out wiping her face with a towel. Getting off the bed, he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into his body.

“You awake now?” he teased.

Liz pursed her lips as she tilted her head back to look up at him. “Yeah, I guess.”

He chuckled as he nipped at her jaw. “Well, why don’t we get dressed and go out for dinner okay?”

She shrugged. “I’m not really hungry Max.”

He pulled back and frowned. “Oh? Well I’m starving. Let’s just go…”

“Why don’t you just order something or go pick something up? I don’t really want to go out tonight.”

Max looked at her for a moment before lifting a hand to her cheek. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just a little tired.”

He glanced towards the bed before looking back at her. “You took nearly a two hour nap and you’re still tired?”

Liz sighed. “I just don’t feel like doing anything tonight. What’s wrong with just staying in and doing nothing for a night?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just not like you to do this.” He smiled, “I mean, you’re always moving around it would sometimes make my head spin.”

“Well, even I need a break sometimes.”

He chuckled. “That’s a surprise.”

Liz threw her hands up in the air. “Why is that a surprise to you? What? Did you think I never got tired? That I was like that pink rabbit on TV? The one that goes on and on and on?”

His smile faded. “No that’s not what I mean.”

She began to pace, ignoring the look he gave her. “I mean, you must think I’m like a robot and that I don’t need to rest or sleep at all! You think I have enough energy to work for a few hours in a hot, cramped kitchen before rushing home to take a quick shower so that I can cook dinner for you! Then I spend the rest of the evening and night with you before getting some sleep and waking up and starting it all over again!”

She whirled around to look at him as he stared at her, shocked at the spiel that had just come out of her mouth. “It’s not that easy Max! I’m not as full of energy as you seem to think I am! Excuse me if I need to take a day off and just sleep!”

“I never said you didn’t need sleep Liz,” Max said in a voice he hoped wouldn’t set her off.

“Well I do! And you just keep thinking that I can do everything for you!”

Max frowned as he reached out to grab her shoulders. “Liz! Stop this and listen! I never said you had to do all of this! You were the one who loved to cook and I let you do it. But if it’s too much then stop! And that job of yours? I told you before, there is no need for you to have it. I make enough to take care of us both.”

She sighed as she closed her eyes. “I know Max.”

“Do you Liz?” he placed his fingers beneath her chin, lifting it up until she opened her eyes to look into his. “You can do whatever you chose to do Liz. Have a job or not. Cook or not. I will stand behind whatever it is you choose to do. All I ask is that you be with me, that you allow me to care for you.”

She nodded. “I’m sorry Max. I just thought I could do it all, but it is just too much.”

He sighed and hugged her close. Tucking her head beneath his chin, he caressed her back. “What’s too much?”

“The job. I thought it would be something to help pass the time, but it’s just too much. And I’ve learned everything I could learn.” She chuckled against his chest as she hugged him back. “At least all the things that are useful to me.”

“So quit,” he replied.

She frowned as she looked up at him. “I can’t.”

“Why not? If you’re not happy there and you don’t think it’s what you want, then quit.”

“Well if I quit then I won’t have a job at all.”

“Nothing wrong with that.”

She sighed. “Max, I can’t do that to you! I just feel really bad about letting you…”

He placed a finger over her lips. “What have I told you time and again, Liz? I can handle it. I can take care of you.”

“I know, but…”

He shook his head. “No buts. There’s nothing for you to feel bad about Liz. I don’t want you to ever feel guilty about not having a job. Don’t you understand? I love you and I want to take care of you if you would let me. I want to be everything to you the way you are to me.”

She gazed into his eyes for a few moments, seeing the truth of the way he felt about her in the depths.

Max gave her a gentle smile as he caressed her cheek. “I love you Liz. Please, let me care for you the way you deserve.”

Her lips trembled as she sighed. “Oh Max. I love you too,” she whispered.

His smile dazzled her. “So, you’ll quit?”

She nodded. “Yes, I’ll quit.”

“Good.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “There’s something I want to do for you tonight.”

She smiled. “What is it?”

“Why don’t you go watch TV for a bit while I get things ready.”

“Max, what are you going to do?”

He laughed. “You’ll see.” He gently pushed her towards the stairs. “Go on, watch TV until I call you back up here.”

She rolled her eyes, but went downstairs like he asked her to and made herself comfortable on the couch to watch TV. A she was only down there for about fifteen minutes before Max called her back up.

Turning off the TV, she made her way upstairs where Max was waiting near the bathroom door. Smiling at her, he held out his hand until she moved close enough to slide her hand into his. Leading her into the bathroom, he stepped aside so that she could see what he had done.

The footed tub was already filled with water and bubbles which gave off a relaxing scent just like the numerous candles that flickered on the vanity sink, on the floor around the tub, and on the ledge above the tub. As she stood there taking it all in, Max moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Giving her a kiss on the cheek he said, “I thought I’d treat you to a nice, relaxing bubble bath.”

She smiled. “Oh Max, you really didn’t have to.”

“I know, but I thought I needed to do something to let you know how much you mean to me.”

She giggled as he led her towards the tub and began to undress her. When she tried to help him, he nudged her hands away as he shook his head.

“Let me do this. You just stand there and let me spoil you tonight.”

She giggled once more, but stood there as he slowly removed her clothes. Liz sighed in contentment as his fingers skimmed over bare skin every once in a while. With each touch of his fingers, she really did feel as if he were cherishing her. And when he leaned in to give her a soft kiss on her lips, she melted in his arms.

Before she could wrap her arms around him to deepen the kiss, he pulled away and smiled at her. “Come on, get in and relax for a bit before I bathe you okay.”

As he helped her into the tub, she chuckled. “You’re going to bathe me?”

He winked at her. “Yes. I did say I was going to spoil you tonight.”

She leaned back against the tub as Max piled her hair onto the top of her head and fastened it with one of her clips. When she was relaxing beneath the bubbles, he kissed her cheek.

“I’ll be right back. You just sit there and relax until I get back okay?”

“Mm hm,” came her reply.

************************************************************

Liz had been relaxing with her eyes closed in the tub for about ten minutes when Max finally returned with a plate full of chopped fruit and cheese and two glasses of wine. Sitting next to the tub, he handed her a glass of wine before he began to feed her several pieces of the food. In between feeding her pieces, he ate his own and drank his own wine.

Liz couldn’t help but smile at the way he was caring for her as he fed her for a while until he set the glasses and nearly empty plate aside to pick up a sponge. She watched as he lathered up the sponge with liquid soap before motioning for her to sit up.

When she did, he began to move the sponge in a soothing circular motion from her neck down her shoulders all the way to the tips of her fingers. Max took his time, working his way down both arms before doing her back down to her bottom. Moving back to her front, he started at her throat and made his way down her chest to the area between her legs.

At this point, Liz had leaned back against the tub again and closed her eyes. She was enjoying the way the sponge moved in that hypnotic circular motion over her skin. When Max reached her tender folds, she let out a soft moan and widened her legs for more.

Max watched the emotions move over her face as he bathed her slowly. His breath hitched when she moaned, but he didn’t tease her as he moved the sponge down her leg and then up the other one. Liz opened her eyes to look up at him in disappointment. She’d hoped he would caress her some more, instead of moving on.

Trying to ignore the heated look in her eyes, Max finished bathing her before letting the water drain and rinsing the suds off of her. Then he took her hands and helped her out of the tub as he wrapped a towel around her. He dried her off a bit before sending her into the bedroom so that he could blow out all of the candles.

Liz was standing next to the bed drying herself off when Max joined her. Taking the towel from her hands, he took over drying her off. Once more she closed her eyes as he rubbed her skin in a leisurely motion.

Max moved to stand behind her as he ran the towel over her shoulders and back. When he was done, he let the towel fall to the floor before leaning over to press his lips against her shoulder. Trailing his fingers up her arms, he continued to kiss his way up her shoulder to her neck.

Moving his lips from her neck, his hands began to knead her shoulders making her moan in pleasure and tilt her head forward so he could continue his massage. Max massaged her shoulders for a few more moments before he had her lay on her stomach on the bed.

When she was comfortable, he began to massage her shoulders once more before making his way down her back and sides. Max made sure to massage the muscles of her arms as well as her thighs and bottom.

Liz was feeling very relaxed, yet needy by the time Max had made it to her lower back. She was trembling in anticipation when he got to her thighs. Without waiting for his next move, she rolled over onto her back and tugged him down over her.

Max chuckled as she covered his lips with hers and literally devoured him. Her hands made quick work of his shorts and underwear before moving on to caress him everywhere.

His own hands weren’t idle as he caressed every inch of skin he came into contact with. His tongue began to duel with hers as he cupped her breast in his hand and teased the nipple with his thumb. That move caused Liz to moan and arch into him, pressing her breast more into his hand.

She ran her hands down his back and slid one between their bodies to stroke him. As her fingers curled around his shaft and stroked him just the way he liked, Max groaned into her mouth. His hips began to move so that he slid through her hand, adding more friction and increasing his pleasure.

Not one to take all of the pleasure, Max removed his lips from Liz’s and leaned down to take her breast into his mouth. As he suckled gently and teased her nipple with his tongue and teeth, he slid one hand down to the junction of her thighs and slid his fingers into her slick folds.

Liz bucked against his fingers as he began to rub her bundle of nerves, sending pleasurable chills all over her body and making her moan louder. She clutched him to her as he continued to pleasure her with his fingers. Her head was thrown back against the pillows as she gasped in need.

“Max! Please, no more! I can’t wait any more!”

Lifting his head, he looked down at her and slid a finger inside of her, preparing her for his invasion. She opened her eyes to gaze into his as she widened her legs and wrapped them around his.

Max allowed her to pull him closer and removed his finger just as she took hold of him and guided him to her opening. He never looked away from her gaze as he sank into her depths, loving the way her eyes darkened and her lips parted slightly.

“Oh yes, that’s it Max,” she cooed as he began to set the pace of rocking in and out of her.

He wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her to him as he picked up the pace. “Liz,” he breathed when he felt her walls tighten around him.

She smiled up at him. “I know Max. I love you too.”

He groaned before lowering his face to bury it in the crook of her neck. He could feel her short, quick pants against his skin as she wrapped her arms tight around his body and lifted her hips to meet his thrusts. Together they urged each other on and kept pace with each other until Max could feel the trembling begin in Liz’s body.

Moments later she was crying out his name as she bathed him in liquid heat which triggered his own release. As his orgasm bathed her walls, Liz heard him moan, “I love you. So much.”

Liz sighed in completion as she continued to hold him close to her. Waiting until both of them had come down from their high, she whispered into his ear, “You can spoil me like this any time you want to Max.”

His answer was a soft chuckle before he rolled off of her and tucked her into his side. Pulling the covers over themselves, they settled down for some much needed sleep in each others arms.

TBC...

Part 19

Tess, Maria, and Liz sat on the couches in the break room of the Pet Shoppe. As Liz toyed with the edge of the papers that pronounced her a legal citizen of the United States, she sighed in boredom. Tess and Maria glanced at each other before looking back at Liz. They both knew she was upset about something, but she had yet to say what it was.

Liz had received the papers in the mail that day and the moment she had, she’d called Max at work to tell him. Unfortunately, he was in the middle of a meeting. She’d known he had an important client to impress that day, but she’d hoped the deal had been done by the time she’d called.

No such luck. So when his secretary had asked if she could take a message after Liz had called again for the fourth time in two hours, Liz had just told her that she’d try calling him later. When she’d hung up, she had quickly gotten dressed and made her way to the girls Pet Shoppe to share the news with them.

It had been nearly three months since she had quit her job at Mama Reno’s and a few weeks after that, Tommy had called them to tell them that he had called in a favor with one of his friends who worked with the government diplomats in Saudi Arabia. His friend had managed to find a way to insure that Liz was identified as one of the Bedouin members and he’d sent the information back to the United States.

Once they were certain that Liz was indeed from Saudi Arabia, they decided to grant her citizenship and began to process her new identity. All Tommy had to do now was wait for the official papers to get to him before he took them to Liz and they all went to a court to have her sworn in as a United States citizen.

He had driven up with the papers three weeks ago after calling ahead to arrange for a local judge to help swear Liz in. Max had gotten off of work early to go with them and served as a witness while she pledged her loyalty to the United States in front of the judge. It had only taken about thirty minutes for the proceedings to take place before she was signing her name on the official records, along with the judge, Tommy, and Max.

Once that was done, Tommy had to mail all the information back to the government and all Liz had left to do was wait for her official ID that marked her as a United States citizen. All in all, it had taken nearly nine months for her to become an American citizen and it had actually only taken one small interference from one of Tommy’s friends out in the field.

Now she sat there holding papers that had her official information on them wearing a slight frown. She had really hoped she’d be able to share this information with Max before she shared it with her friends, but she knew Max would be busy for most of the day.

Tess looked at Maria and raised an eyebrow. Maria shrugged and looked back at Liz. Tess sighed as she turned to look at Liz, who still seemed to be somewhere else.

“Liz?” she asked, waiting until Liz turned her gaze to her. “You okay?”

Liz nodded. “Yeah, sorry.”

“You sure? I would have thought finally getting your new ID would have made you much happier than you seem right now.”

“Yeah,” added Maria, “you should be getting ready to go and celebrate! Not sitting there looking almost bored.”

Liz let out a sigh and sank back against the cushions. “I guess I was just hoping I’d share this news with Max first, before I told anyone else.”

Maria cocked her head to the side, clearly puzzled. “So, why haven’t you?”

“I tried! But every time I called, he was in a meeting. He’d been working on this new Ad for this important client for weeks and today was the deadline. So, I knew he’d be in a meeting with the client for most of the day, but the meeting was supposed to start early this morning! I was sure they’d be finished by the time I called him!”

Tess nodded. “Well, maybe you should have waited a bit before you tried calling him back?”

Liz rolled her eyes. “I did. I called him every thirty minutes for the next two hours, but his secretary said he was still in a meeting.”

“Well, did you ask her if there was a way for her to tell Max you needed to talk to him?”

Liz gave a laugh. “Yeah, right. Tell his secretary to tell Max I need to talk to him right way! Maria! It’s Max! Do you know what that would do to him!”

Tess giggled. “He’d jump to conclusions.”

“Yep,” replied Liz.

“Then leave a message,” said Maria.

Liz sat up and looked at her with a frown. “I thought about it, but I didn’t want to tell him about this in a message. And just saying that I wanted him to call me as soon as he was able wasn’t really a good thing to say either.”

Tess nodded. “Right. He’d either panic and start calling everyone or he’d completely disregard it until he got home.”

Maria glanced at Tess for a moment before looking back at Liz who wore a grin. “Right, I’m going with the first option.”

Liz laughed. “Good choice.”

Tess glanced at the clock on the wall before looking back at Liz. “Well, he should be getting off of work in a couple of hours. Do you want to try calling him again?”

Liz shook her head. “No, I’ll just wait until he gets home to tell him. It’s already lost it’s appeal since I shared the news with you.”

Tess didn’t say anything for a few more minutes as she studied Liz. Obviously that wasn’t really what was bothering her.

“Liz? Is something going on between you two?”

Maria gaped at Tess. “What kind of question is that? Of course there’s something going on between the two of them! Geez, where have you been these last few months!”

Tess stuck her tongue out at her friend. “That’s not what I mean, Maria, and you know it!” She turned back to Liz. “Come on, Liz, what’s really bothering you?”

“It’s nothing between Max and I, not really.”

“Then what?” asked Tess.

Liz sighed. “I guess it’s more like feeling a bit homesick.”

Maria blinked. “You’re homesick? Seriously? Why would you want to go back to that rickety old place?”

Tess rolled her eyes. “She’s not talking literally, are you Liz?”

Liz shook her head. “No, I just miss the atmosphere I guess. The surroundings. Things seemed much more relaxing out there. And there was so much space and all that greenery.”

Maria smiled. “Yeah, it’s beautiful out there isn’t it?”

Liz shared the smile. “It is. And I loved the way the leaves changed in the fall. All that red and yellow. Like the world was catching on fire. And then the snow in the winter, putting out the fire and making everything seem quiet and sleepy.”

Both girls smiled as the words Liz spoke drew visions in their minds.

“Then the rains would come and wash all that snow away to reveal a riot of color and lush carpets of greenery beneath all of it. And everything would smell fresh and alive again.”

Tess sighed. “Wow! Ever thought of being a spokesperson for all things wild Liz?”

Maria nodded. “Yeah, that has to be one of the best descriptions I’ve ever heard about nature and I thought I’d heard them all.”

Liz shrugged, but they all noticed the faint blush that stained her cheeks. “I just love being surrounded by nature. I guess I just got really used to it even though I was born and raised in a city too.”

The girls nodded. They both knew the story already. Liz and Sean had been friends growing up in an Eastern city back when America was still struggling to become a nation. Cities back then weren’t anything like now, but they were still noisy and messy and big like today. Liz had been used to that, so when she and Sean packed up and moved out West into the wilderness, it was a definite change for them.

Things were harsher out there and not as easy to adapt to, but they had managed to do it. Over the years, Liz had begun to enjoy all the wide open spaces and the nature of the place. Gone were the dusty streets that turned into rivers of slushy mud in the winter or after heavy rains. Everything in the city had been browns and grays, but the world had turned into a riot of color when she’d moved out West.

Now that she was back in a city, Liz was finding the browns and grays had been replaced by glass and steel. And the streets were black or a chalky white. Granted, there were spots of color here and there, but it still wasn’t anything like her last home had been. And she was beginning to realize that even those spots of color weren’t enough to satisfy that longing inside of her.

“Why haven’t you talked to Max about this? I thought you two talked about everything?” asked Maria.

Once more Liz gave a soft sigh. “There really hasn’t been any time. Max has been so busy with work lately and when he comes home, he usually works late in the office too. We haven’t really had much time to be with each other, so I haven’t brought it up.”

“Liz, Max won’t know what’s bothering you if you don’t tell him you know. Isn’t that what he’s told you from the beginning?”

She nodded. “Yeah, but I know how important these last few clients have been to him. I’m not going to interfere with his work when I know how much it means to him.”

Tess and Maria exchanged looks, but Liz stopped them before they could say anything else. “Guys, really. Max loves his work and you know that as well as I do. I won’t interfere when I know it’s important. There will be other times.”

Maria opened her mouth to say something, but Liz quelled it with a look. “No, Maria. There will be other times.”

************************************************************

The moment Tess and Liz left the shop, Maria was on the phone. Tess had volunteered to drive Liz home, so Maria decided to do a little interference despite the warning Liz had given them.

As usual, his secretary answered the phone. “Mr. Evans office, may I help you?”

“Yes, I need to speak to Mr. Evans please.”

“He’s in a meeting right now, may I…”

“Just write down on a piece of paper that Mrs. Guerin wants him on the phone right this minute or he will regret it then go hold that paper right where he can see it,” she snapped, right before she added, “I’ll hold.”

She heard the beep signaling that she had indeed been put on hold and a few minutes later came another beep.

“Maria? What’s wrong?” came Max’s worried voice.

“Max Evans! Just when I thought there was hope for you yet! You go and ruin it!”

“What? What did I do now?”

“Oh don’t you give me that buster! You know very well what you did!”

She heard the exasperated sigh. “Maria, I don’t have time to play games with you right now…”

“Yeah, yeah I know all about the important client and the new Ad you got for them. Liz told me all about it. She also told me you’ve been neglecting her!”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment before he spoke again. “She told you that? That I’ve been neglecting her?”

“Yep. It seems you’ve been losing yourself in your work again! Geez Max, you’re falling back into old habits and that’s not a good sign!”

“I’m not falling back into old habits Maria! I love Liz, she knows that!”

“Whatever. Listen to me for a minute Max, okay? Liz came by the shop today to show us her new ID. She got it in the mail and called you to tell you, but you’ve been in meetings all day. And yes, she tried calling you several times and each time you were in a meeting. So, she couldn’t wait to share the news with someone and came to us. While she was here, we realized something was bothering her and she eventually told us she is feeling homesick.”

Max sighed. “I kind of figured. We haven’t been able to take our usual walks in the park lately.”

Maria couldn’t help but smile. Max hadn’t taken it literally like she had at first. “Well, good for you. At least you knew what I meant when I said that. So, what are you going to do about it, huh?”

“What exactly did she tell you?” he asked.

Maria told Max everything Liz had told them, even emphasizing the way Liz had described the change of seasons. When she was done, Max assured her that he was going to fix it and make sure Liz wasn’t feeling homesick for much longer.

“You do that Max. And please, try not to lose yourself in work again! I swear! You can’t get any higher on the ladder of success than you already are, but you can definitely get better at sweeping a girl off her feet.”

Max chuckled at that. “Thanks for the encouragement, Mrs. Guerin.”

“No problem buddy. Now go impress your girlfriend.”

************************************************************

Max couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as he rode the elevator up to his loft. After he’d gotten off the phone with Maria, he’d gone and closed the deal as quickly as he could before going back to his office to put the plan he’d thought of while on the phone with her into motion.

With a little help from his secretary and the acknowledgement from his boss, Max had managed to come up with what he hoped was a nice surprise for Liz. As the elevator opened up, he stepped out and nearly skipped to his door in anticipation of seeing her face when he told her the news.

When he opened the front door and stepped inside, Liz looked up from where she was sitting at the dinner table. Max could clearly see everything had already been set for dinner and she had been waiting for him. She rose from her chair with a smile and walked over to him, throwing her arms around his shoulders.

“Max! Guess what I got today!” she exclaimed as she hugged him tight.

He chuckled as he hugged her back. “What is it?”

She let go of him and walked to the breakfast bar where she picked up a small item and handed it to him. He looked down at it and grinned. It was her identification card.

“Liz! You got it! You’re officially an American citizen now!” he beamed at her.

She nodded. “Yep. Got it in the mail today!”

He took her hand and led her back to the dining table. They sat down and he looked at the card once more. “Let’s see. Elizabeth Ann Parker. Brown eyes, brown hair. Five foot, three inches tall. Twenty-four years old.” He chuckled as he looked up at her. “And wow! You look much better in person!”

Liz giggled and playfully slapped his arm. “Ha ha! Very funny Max.”

He grinned and leaned in towards her. “Congratulations, Liz. Welcome to the United States.”

She smiled shyly. “Thanks, Max.”

He nodded before leaning in to kiss her, tunneling his hand in her hair to hold her to him as he deepened the kiss. When air became important, he only pulled away enough to lean his forehead against hers.

“Sorry I took so long getting home this evening. There were some things I needed to take care of before I left work for the day.”

She smiled. “It’s okay, I knew you had an important client today.”

He pulled away and looked at he food on the table. “You haven’t been waiting that long have you?”

“Not really. I think it’s actually all not so hot anymore so that we can eat it without burning our tongues.”

He laughed at that and squeezed her hand. “We’ll definitely have to celebrate you becoming an American citizen.”

She shrugged as he let go of her hand and they began to eat dinner. “It’s okay. I’m just happy that it actually worked and that I have an identity now.”

Max nodded, but didn’t push the subject. Instead, he ate dinner and talked about work when Liz asked him how his deal had gone. Once they were done eating, Max cleaned up the remains while Liz went to put away her papers. When Max was done, he went upstairs to find Liz preparing his clothes for the next day.

Moving to her side, he reached out and took her hands in his. When she looked up at him in question, he gave her a gentle smile. “Leave that for now, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

Liz nodded and put his shirt down before turning off the iron. She let Max lead her to the bed where they sat down on the edge of it. Max sat slightly turned towards her as he held her hand. As soon as they were comfortable, Max just dove right in.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were feeling homesick?” he asked.

Liz blinked and a slow frown formed on her face.

Max squeezed her hand gently. “Now don’t go blaming Tess and Maria for telling me this. I already had a hunch you might be missing those walks in the parks we would take. I just wish you’d told me sooner.”

Liz sighed as she looked up into his eyes. “You’ve been busy Max and I wasn’t about to bother you when you’ve all these important clients to deal with.”

Max reached up to brush her hair behind her ear. “I’m never too busy when it comes to you Liz. You know that. If something is bothering you, I always want you to tell me right away, no matter what I’m doing. Didn’t I tell you time and again that I want to take care of you?”

At her nod, he went on. “Promise me you won’t keep things from me again and I’ll promise to do the same too. Okay?”

Liz smiled at him. “Okay, I promise.”

He returned her smile as he ran his fingers through her hair. “Good. Now that we understand each other, I have a surprise for you.”

She smiled wider. “A surprise!”

He nodded and got up to retrieve his jacket. Reaching into the inside pocket, he pulled out a long envelope and handed it to her as he sat back down. Liz took the envelope and opened it, pulling out its contents.

Her eyes went wide as she read what was on the long piece of paper. Looking up at him she exclaimed, “We’re going to Hawaii for a week!”

Max grinned. “Yep. I remember you told me you wanted to visit, so I got all of next week off from work.”

“Oh my God! Max! Are you sure you can take the week off? And we have to pack and…”

He laughed. “Whoa! Slow down there. I already asked my boss and he gave me the week off especially since it’s been a long time since I’ve ever asked for time off and I did manage to win two major clients for him. These are the flight tickets, plus I’ve already rented the beach house we’ll be staying in while there. That’s why I was a little late coming home, my secretary and I were pulling it all together at the office. So, all we have to do is show up at the airport Friday night with our bags and we are on our way to enjoy a weeks vacation in Hawaii.”

“Wow!” she whispered in amazement.

“So, does that mean we’re going?” he asked.

Liz laughed and threw her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tight. “Oh yes!”

He chuckled as she pulled slightly away to pepper his face with kisses, proclaiming her happiness between each kiss. “Thank you! I love this surprise! And I love you, Max! I love you so much!”

TBC...