Ache With Me
Catch Me If You Can
I rolled into work ten minutes late, thanks to the bus breaking down two stops away from mine. I was about to throw my stuff onto the desk and go tell Zina I was here when I noticed the enormous bouquet of flowers on my desk. Peonies in shades of pale pink and lavender spilled out of a glass vase, blocking my view of my chair until I walked closer. Sitting in my chair was a very remorseful looking Max, who also seemed to be trying to avoid eye contact with my curious co-workers. He popped up out of the chair when he saw me.
“What are you doing here Max?” I sighed. I didn’t want to deal with him this early in the morning, especially since I had been late.
“I came to apologize.” He rubbed the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable with the amount of attention everyone in the office was giving us.
“Let’s talk out in the hallway.” I grabbed a fistful of his jacket and hauled him out of the room, knowing that in seconds Margot would have her ear pressed up against the door. She was the office gossip and I didn’t need her telling everyone I’d shouted at one of Seattle’s greatest artists. I finally stopped pulling when we reached the stairwell; unless Margot had supersonic hearing, at this distance we could talk in private. I gestured for him to continue, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I’m sorry I acted like such an ass yesterday.” He shuffled his feet, avoiding eye contact with me. I was absolutely shocked at the complete 180 from yesterday.
“What brought this on?” His head snapped up, his eyes filled with confusion. “I mean yesterday you were the biggest arrogant dickwad ever, and today you bring me flowers and apologize?”
He stammered for a moment, before finally muttering, “I like to fuck with people.”
“Well that’s obvious.”
“I mean that people expect me to act a certain way, because I’m an artist and the way I look, so I act like that just to fuck with them.” He shrugged. “It’s how I get my kicks. You’re the first person that’s ever called me out on my shit.”
“So basically you feel bad for acting like an asshole to me, but only because I yelled at you?”
“No, no!” He groaned. “Fuck, I’m bad at apologizing.”
“Again, that much is obvious.” I had to smile at how frustrated he looked.
“I’m a bit of a shit, aren’t I?” He laughed.
“Yes, yes you are.” A heartbeat of silence passed between us before he spoke again.
“Would you like to get coffee with me sometime?”
“That depends, which Max am I gonna be having coffee with? This Max or shit head Max?”
“This Max, definitely.”
I mulled it over briefly, then smiled up at him. “Sure, I’d love to.”
“Great!” He handed me his phone and waited as I punched in my number, then called myself so I’d have his number. “So I guess I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah, I gotta get back to work.” I patted his shoulder awkwardly and headed back into the office, ignoring the stares that my co-workers were giving me.
“Everything okay?” Zina asked. She’d been standing at my desk waiting for me.
“Yeah, Max just wanted to apologize for being a dick during the interview yesterday.” I shrugged. “Can I stick these in your office? I can’t even see my computer with these things in the way.”
“Sure, I’ll be able to pretend that hot artist boys brought me pretty flowers.” She carried the flowers away and I got to work on the revisions she had asked for on the article.
Zina had ordered food for the entire office from an Italian place nearby, a fact that made me very happy that I’d forgotten to bring lunch today. My boss, in her infinite wisdom and care for us, had ordered me about a gallon of minestrone soup and some crusty bread to go with it. I was practically chugging the stuff when Joan, one of my coworkers, asked about the scene this morning.
“Oh, that.” I mumbled around a mouthful of bread. I swallowed hard and almost choked. So not worth it.
“Yes, that.” Margot leaned forward intently.
“I interviewed him yesterday and he was an ass, so he wanted to apologize.” I waved my hand nonchalantly. “It was a nice gesture.”
“Hell yeah it was a nice gesture.” Zack laughed. “Glad he owned up to his asshole tendencies though.”
“Me too. I swear I was gonna strangle him.” I let the conversation die and the subject changed to something that had happened in the Sports department.
Joan gave me a ride home, since I had to transport that massive bouquet of flowers and I couldn’t take it on the bus. Wrestling it into the tiny elevator in my building was almost impossible, as was opening the steel door to my loft.
I puttered around for a while, tidying things up and organizing my magazines by type. I was bored and restless and nothing sounded good. There was nothing on TV, no movies I wanted to watch on Netflix. On a whim, I pulled out my phone and dialed Max’s number. It rang twice, and then he picked up.
“Hello?” His voice sounded far away.
“Hey, it’s Lily.” I said.
“I have caller ID you numpty.” He laughed. “I knew it was you, I’ve just got paint all over my hands, you’re on speaker.”
“Oh, did I interrupt you?”
“Nah, I’m having some trouble and I took a break, otherwise I wouldn’t have even picked up. So what are you up to?”
“I came home from work and I’m bored silly.”
“Well I shall have to try to remedy that.” We talked for a while about nothing in particular, and I couldn’t help but notice how much more I liked him now.
“You know, when you aren’t putting up your asshole persona, I rather like you.”
“Glad to hear it. I’m still sorry about putting you through that.”
“Trust me, I’ve dealt with bigger assholes than you.” I flopped down on the couch, letting out a little groan as I stretched.
“What exactly are you doing while you’re on the phone with me? All I hear is moaning.”
“And now you ruined it.”
“Oh Lily, you’ve just started scratching the surface of how twisted my humor is.”
“Then I look forward to coffee with you. Meanwhile I think I need to make dinner and feed my cat. I’ll talk to you later.” We said goodbye and hung up. I held my phone to my chest, chewing on my lip as I thought about the last few days. Max could be a rather interesting person in my life, or I’d strangle him. It all depended on which Max I got to see.
“What are you doing here Max?” I sighed. I didn’t want to deal with him this early in the morning, especially since I had been late.
“I came to apologize.” He rubbed the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable with the amount of attention everyone in the office was giving us.
“Let’s talk out in the hallway.” I grabbed a fistful of his jacket and hauled him out of the room, knowing that in seconds Margot would have her ear pressed up against the door. She was the office gossip and I didn’t need her telling everyone I’d shouted at one of Seattle’s greatest artists. I finally stopped pulling when we reached the stairwell; unless Margot had supersonic hearing, at this distance we could talk in private. I gestured for him to continue, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I’m sorry I acted like such an ass yesterday.” He shuffled his feet, avoiding eye contact with me. I was absolutely shocked at the complete 180 from yesterday.
“What brought this on?” His head snapped up, his eyes filled with confusion. “I mean yesterday you were the biggest arrogant dickwad ever, and today you bring me flowers and apologize?”
He stammered for a moment, before finally muttering, “I like to fuck with people.”
“Well that’s obvious.”
“I mean that people expect me to act a certain way, because I’m an artist and the way I look, so I act like that just to fuck with them.” He shrugged. “It’s how I get my kicks. You’re the first person that’s ever called me out on my shit.”
“So basically you feel bad for acting like an asshole to me, but only because I yelled at you?”
“No, no!” He groaned. “Fuck, I’m bad at apologizing.”
“Again, that much is obvious.” I had to smile at how frustrated he looked.
“I’m a bit of a shit, aren’t I?” He laughed.
“Yes, yes you are.” A heartbeat of silence passed between us before he spoke again.
“Would you like to get coffee with me sometime?”
“That depends, which Max am I gonna be having coffee with? This Max or shit head Max?”
“This Max, definitely.”
I mulled it over briefly, then smiled up at him. “Sure, I’d love to.”
“Great!” He handed me his phone and waited as I punched in my number, then called myself so I’d have his number. “So I guess I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah, I gotta get back to work.” I patted his shoulder awkwardly and headed back into the office, ignoring the stares that my co-workers were giving me.
“Everything okay?” Zina asked. She’d been standing at my desk waiting for me.
“Yeah, Max just wanted to apologize for being a dick during the interview yesterday.” I shrugged. “Can I stick these in your office? I can’t even see my computer with these things in the way.”
“Sure, I’ll be able to pretend that hot artist boys brought me pretty flowers.” She carried the flowers away and I got to work on the revisions she had asked for on the article.
Zina had ordered food for the entire office from an Italian place nearby, a fact that made me very happy that I’d forgotten to bring lunch today. My boss, in her infinite wisdom and care for us, had ordered me about a gallon of minestrone soup and some crusty bread to go with it. I was practically chugging the stuff when Joan, one of my coworkers, asked about the scene this morning.
“Oh, that.” I mumbled around a mouthful of bread. I swallowed hard and almost choked. So not worth it.
“Yes, that.” Margot leaned forward intently.
“I interviewed him yesterday and he was an ass, so he wanted to apologize.” I waved my hand nonchalantly. “It was a nice gesture.”
“Hell yeah it was a nice gesture.” Zack laughed. “Glad he owned up to his asshole tendencies though.”
“Me too. I swear I was gonna strangle him.” I let the conversation die and the subject changed to something that had happened in the Sports department.
Joan gave me a ride home, since I had to transport that massive bouquet of flowers and I couldn’t take it on the bus. Wrestling it into the tiny elevator in my building was almost impossible, as was opening the steel door to my loft.
I puttered around for a while, tidying things up and organizing my magazines by type. I was bored and restless and nothing sounded good. There was nothing on TV, no movies I wanted to watch on Netflix. On a whim, I pulled out my phone and dialed Max’s number. It rang twice, and then he picked up.
“Hello?” His voice sounded far away.
“Hey, it’s Lily.” I said.
“I have caller ID you numpty.” He laughed. “I knew it was you, I’ve just got paint all over my hands, you’re on speaker.”
“Oh, did I interrupt you?”
“Nah, I’m having some trouble and I took a break, otherwise I wouldn’t have even picked up. So what are you up to?”
“I came home from work and I’m bored silly.”
“Well I shall have to try to remedy that.” We talked for a while about nothing in particular, and I couldn’t help but notice how much more I liked him now.
“You know, when you aren’t putting up your asshole persona, I rather like you.”
“Glad to hear it. I’m still sorry about putting you through that.”
“Trust me, I’ve dealt with bigger assholes than you.” I flopped down on the couch, letting out a little groan as I stretched.
“What exactly are you doing while you’re on the phone with me? All I hear is moaning.”
“And now you ruined it.”
“Oh Lily, you’ve just started scratching the surface of how twisted my humor is.”
“Then I look forward to coffee with you. Meanwhile I think I need to make dinner and feed my cat. I’ll talk to you later.” We said goodbye and hung up. I held my phone to my chest, chewing on my lip as I thought about the last few days. Max could be a rather interesting person in my life, or I’d strangle him. It all depended on which Max I got to see.
♠ ♠ ♠