Chapter 48
{Isabel}
I looked all over the country club, searching for my little brother. I had literally been all over the establishment. I walked out to the front, but he wasn’t there. I went back to our private little lounge and he wasn’t there either. I even went out to the golf course and walked through the first nine holes looking for him as it started to drizzle. I finally caught him lounging at the main bar near the dance floor.
I marched right up to my brother and slapped the back of his head.
“Ow!” he said. “What the he—Isabel, what are you doing?”
“Are you stupid?” I asked flat out.
He continued to rub the back of his head. I’m glad that my little slap stung.
“Liz told us that you said ‘no’ to her proposal,” I said.
Max sighed and did that thing with his eyes where he looks around the room quickly and then back at the other person in the conversation. It was something he did when he was frustrated.
“I had a good reason to turn her down,” Max told me.
I shook my head and stared at my brother. “The reason being…?”
He looked around the room again. “I can’t tell you.”
“I’m telling Mom on you,” I said, a split second later I realized how stupid the response was. “I mean…you’re really stupid, Max.”
“Nice one, Iz,” Max teased. “Listen, you’ll find out soon enough what my reason is, but I can’t tell you now.”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest and stared hard at my brother. “I bet Michael knows, doesn’t he?”
Max avoided looking straight into my eyes and continued to scan the room.
“You can tell Michael, but you can’t tell me, your own sister?” I wondered. “Where’s Liz now?”
Max shrugged his shoulders and sipped his cola like he didn’t care. “I don’t know. With Maria, I guess.”
“Your reason better be a good reason,” I warned. “Otherwise, you won’t start the new year very well with me, Maxwell Jeremy Evans.”
{Max}
She used all three of my names. Isabel only did that when she was really angry with me. It seemed like Liz and I getting married was more important to other people than to Liz and I. But I did want to marry Liz. But yet again, I had to do things the right way. What kind of gentleman would I be if my girlfriend was the one that had to propose? I wouldn’t be a gentleman at all. Besides, I had the proposal all planned out first.
I lied to my sister. I really did know where Liz was, she was back at the lounge with Maria. Right now, Maria was probably talking trash about me for saying “no”, but if she knew why, I bet she wouldn’t.
“I wouldn’t go back to the lounge,” Michael sighed.
He sprang up from no where. Kind of freaked me out a bit.
“Why?” I wondered.
“Apparently, the Presidential Lounge is the headquarters for the ‘I Hate Maxwell Club’,” he replied with a roll of the eyes. “And since I happen to like you…I got kicked out.”
I gave a little laugh and patted Michael on the shoulder. “Well, thank you for the support.”
“Hey,” he replied quickly, “I was liking that lounge, you got me kicked out.”
I chuckled a bit.
“You know,” Michael sighed, “if you didn’t have to be so damn complicated, you would never have problems and you would have been married to Liz now.”
“I know,” I nodded. “But I like a challenge.”
“You keep that attitude up and you’re never going to marry Liz.”
I shook my head and drank the last of my cherry cola. “Nope, this time Liz and I will get married.”
*~*
“How much time do we have?” I asked.
Jesse slid his sleeve back and read his watch. “A little less than five minutes.”
I hopped off the bar stool and took a deep breath. “Alright. Here I go.”
“Good luck,” Kyle wished me.
Jesse and Michael shared the same sentiment by raising their glasses to me. While loitering at the bar minutes before midnight, I told Jesse and Kyle my plan, making them promise not to tell Isabel that I had told them before my sister. Jesse definitely agreed, not wanting to be on the outs with his wife who would definitely force him to sleep on the couch.
“You got the ring?” Michael wondered.
I slapped my right hip and felt the box. I gave a little nod to Michael and headed towards the private lounge. I hadn’t seen the girls in a while and there was no doubt that they were still bashing me.
I came to a thick wooden door near the back of the country club and tried to turn the golden door knob, but it wouldn’t budge. Maria locked it. I placed my hand over the lock and waited to hear a click before trying to open the door again.
[Liz]
“May I come in?” he said, poking his head into the room.
All four of us—Jennifer, Isabel, Maria, and I—turned to the door. Jennifer, Isabel, and Maria stared Max down while I looked away, trying to avoid looking into his eyes. His eyes always knew how to draw me in. I hated how I could be so easily attracted to Max.
“Go away,” Isabel ordered. “The door was locked for a reason.”
“Actually,” he said, “I was hoping all of you would go away. The countdown’s about four and a half minutes away, I thought you all might want to be with your significant others.”
Isabel and Jennifer looked at their watches while Maria and I glanced the clock on the wall.
“He’s right,” Jennifer said.
Isabel stood up from the couch and started to iron out her dress, discreetly using her powers. “Come on, Liz,” she sighed, glaring at my brother. “You can hang out with Jesse and I.”
As much as I loved being the third wheel, I shook my head and denied Isabel's offer. “Thanks,” I told her, “but I think I’ll stay here.”
Maria shook her head and started to grab my arm. “No, come on.”
“Maria,” I said firmly. “I’m staying. You guys go.”
Maria rolled her eyes. “Are you going to be ok?” she wondered.
I kept quiet and nodded in reply. The girls all stood up and walked past Max, giving him the cold shoulder and angry sneers. It was bad for him but good for me, but now it was just him and me.
“You came for the coat,” I said to him even though I knew that's not what he came for.
I still had his jacket from when he lent it to me when we were outside. I had actually completely forgotten that I had it on until I saw him. He had made me keep it.
But he shook his head in response to my question. “No, I came to talk to you.”
I angrily rolled my eyes. “Max, you know, there’s really nothing to talk about—”
“Yes, there is,” he disagreed. “See, this, right here? This is an example of running away. Something you and I do so well.”
I shook my head in confusion while my eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“Liz, I said no to the proposal, and you automatically assume that it’s the end of the relationship,” he explained.
I looked away, regretting when I got down on my knee. He had no idea how embarrassed, how humiliated, I felt.
“It’s not the end to the relationship. Look, we just got back together. I said no, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be with you. When something bad happens to us, we think that’s just it. That’s the reason why we’re always breaking up because we’re always giving up. Liz, you and I are strong, I don’t know why we give up so easily.”
I looked up and stared into Max's eyes. “I walk away because I don’t want you to see my hurt,” I said.
Max swallowed the lump in his throat and lowered his head. “I’m sorry for hurting you, Liz. It kills me every time I realize that I cause you pain, pain that you don’t deserve. I’m sorry,” he apologized again. “But it’s a new year,” he said happily, “and I had have these resolutions, and I plan on keeping them. They’re going to help me become a better per—”
“What are they?”
Both his eyebrows rose as his eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
“What are your resolutions?” I clarified.
“Oh,” he replied, clearing his throat. “Um…To not make stupid mistakes that result in hurting you,” he told me. “To make sure that you’re happy even if it so happens that we’re not together. To work out all bumps in the road instead of running away for the same reason you do. And to love you the way you deserved to be loved, because I do love you, Liz. I love you so much.”
I stared at him and listened intently to each word he spoke. Max Evans really did have a force on me, but this time it wasn’t about the force he had over me. This time he was right. I hated it when he was right. And he was right, because in a few minutes, that past year was going to be behind us and we had a whole new year to screw up.
{Max}
Liz stared at me, but it was like she was staring beyond me. I couldn’t imagine what she was thinking at that moment or what she was feeling. How would I feel if Liz said no to my proposals? I would be crushed.
No, crushed would not be an adequate enough word to describe it.
“You’re right,” she realized.
“About what?” I wondered.
“It’s a new year,” she answered, “and I have a few resolutions to make for myself, like we can learn to actually talk these things out.”
A smile stretched out on my face. “So, are we ok?”
“I guess so,” Liz playfully sighed.
“Good,” I grinned. “I love you.” I kissed her cheek and looked at the clock on the wall. “Speaking of new year, we’ve got about two minutes. What do you say we head out there?”
I managed to break a smile onto Liz’s face. She handed me back my coat anyway, insisting that I didn’t look right without it. And we walked back to the main hall where everyone was gathered on and around the dance floor. I found our friends at the bar where I left the boys. We decided to ring in the new year over with them.
As we walked over, I immediately noticed Maria glaring at me, and not in a nice way.
“Maria,” Liz smiled. “Relax. Max and I are ok.”
Maria’s scowl turned into a smile.
“One minute!” someone had shouted.
The bandstand lowered the volume of their playing while the huge timer set up on the wall was set to countdown one minute. A second later, it changed to fifty-nine seconds and then fifty-eight.
“Happy New Year,” I heard Jesse whisper into Isabel’s ear.
I leaned my back against the bar and let Liz lean back against me. I quickly reached into my pocket, pulling out a box, after making sure that Liz was distracted by the clock. Then I wrapped my arms around Liz and let my hands meet on her stomach, and then she placed her hands on mine.
“Thirty seconds!” another person shouted.
My heart began to race and I knew Liz could feel it, it was pounding so hard.
“Max, relax,” she told me.
I nodded and kissed the back of her head. Her hair felt so silky and soft, and it smelt like sweet apples.
“Twenty!”
I took a deep breath and crouched down, practically sitting on a bar stool to compensate the height difference between Liz and me. I lightly rested my chin on her shoulder and kissed her neck.
“Liz?” I smiled.
“Mm-hmm?” she wondered.
“I want to tell you all the reasons why I love you so much.”
Liz laughed. “Right now? The countdown’s about to start.”
I nodded as the people shouted.
“10!!!” they cried.
“I love you because you’re intelligent and wise,” I grinned, ignoring the people around us.
“9!!!”
“Because you can bring a smile to my face and make me laugh.”
“8!!!”
“Because you entice me.”
“7!!!”
“Because of your wonderful smile.”
“6!!!”
“Because you’re so kind.”
“5!!!”
“Because you’re so strong and brave.”
“4!!!”
“Because you’re beautiful, inside and out.”
“3!!!”
“Because you saved me in so many ways.”
“2!!!”
“Because you’re my soul mate.”
“1!!!”
“And about a billion other reasons I can’t say in ten seconds.”
“HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!” the whole town cheered.
I took a quick, deep breath. “For the third time: Will you marry me, Liz Parker?” I whispered into her ear.
Everyone started to sing “Auld Lang Syne” as hundreds of balloons fell from the ceiling and as confetti showered the ballroom. Liz watched the balloons from the ceiling to the floor and as she looked down, she caught a glimpse at our pile of hands and noticed that I held a small, opened box in my hand, displaying Grandma Claudia’s ring. Through all the cheering, I heard Liz laugh.
“I thought you didn’t want to,” she said. “I thought you said it was too early.”
I shook my head. “I said I wanted to when the time was right,” I grinned. “I had this whole thing planned out, and then you threw me off by proposing to me. Liz, I wanted to say yes, but a woman shouldn’t be the one to propose. I’m not trying to be sexist, but the decision of whether or not a couple should get married should be up to the woman. The ball should be in the woman’s court.”
“I understand,” Liz nodded. “I just wish you would have told me that.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Then I wouldn’t have been able to do my proposal. I even rehearsed it, ask Michael.”
“I believe you,” Liz laughed.
I gave a small smile and kissed Liz’s cheek. “So…will you?”
“Fine, Max Evans,” Liz sighed playfully. “I’ll marry you.”
She turned around and planted a kiss on my lips.
“Happy New Year,” I told her.
She kissed my lips again. “Happy New Year.”
“Mmm,” I hummed in delight, keeping my eyes closed. “I have one more resolution,” I said.
Liz pressed her forehead onto mine. “What is it?” she wondered.
“To get married this time.”
“That's a resolution you're definitely keeping,” Liz assured me.
_______________
How many of you guys are hating Max for what he did (did, meaning when he said no)? LoL.
K, I got the proposal idea from MSN.com. I thought it was cute and I wanted it to be in my story. So yeah.
If you guys want any sort of insurance or guarantee from me whether or not they'll get married, leave feedback telling me you do.
Ok, bye for now.
-hoLLy
. I love your feedback. I really should just leave you some feedback on your story, but I'm a lousy feedbacker. I'm more of a lurker.