“OK. Fresh start.”
“Fresh start.”
She leaned her head on his chest. “Thank you for coming over.”
He stroked the nape of her neck. “There’s no way I’m letting you go over something like this. I know Helen phoned and gave me a kick up the ass, but I would have come around anyway. You know that?”
“I’d hoped. I didn’t know.”
He kissed the top of her head. “You should get some sleep.”
“You don’t mind not staying?”
“No. It’s not what you need right now. For men, well sex cures anything. But if we went to bed now I think you’ll always be thinking that’s the only thing you mean to me Max, and it’s not.”
“Goodnight.” She kissed him properly now, heat threading it’s way through the last of her sadness, chasing it away. It would be all too easy to ask him to stay, but she wasn’t going to. Her heart still ached and her body needed to rest, to recuperate.
He went out, and they held hands, both needing some closeness in the awkward atmosphere that still remained. Their relationship was damaged, but not broken. They would be stronger after this, she was sure. Or at least she hoped, with all of her aching heart.
Dan checked his phone, still no message from either Max or Helen. He tried to concentrate on his job, but it was next to impossible. Luckily they had no call outs and cleaning the truck didn’t require too much concentration.
“So what plans have you got for the weekend, Dan?”
“Sorry?” Dan asked, registering his name but nothing else from the question Harry had asked.
“You’re like a love sick puppy. I asked about your plans for the weekend, I presume they include that fancy girlfriend of yours.”
“She’s not so fancy,” Dan said, thinking of Max and hoping everything was going smoothly.
“Course not. I bet she earns twice as much as us though.”
“I don’t know, I’ve never asked her. Any way, we’re meeting her parents tomorrow.”
Harry laughed. “Meeting the parents, it must be serious. My wife only took me to see her parents when I’d asked her to marry me. You’re not planning on proposing are you Dan? Or have you got her in the family way.”
“No, neither. She’s not seen them for years, that’s all. They’re coming to see her and I’m going with her for a bit of support.” He wiped the last of the polish off, and then began to buff the bright paintwork until it shone. There was nothing like manual work for keeping busy, but his brain still kept slipping back into worry mode. He thought he should have had a phone call by now. Helen had told him the last appointment was this afternoon. Max had narrowed it down to two people, he knew she had put in a lot of hours to get this right. There was nothing to worry about, he kept telling himself, but still he glanced at his phone again.
“Tea, Dan?” Harry asked, putting his cloth down.
“Yes, thanks Harry. Just what I need.”
“I’ll be two minutes, keep polishing, the captain will want to see his face in that shiny paintwork when he comes to inspect the job.”
“As always,” Dan answered, putting some more elbow grease into it.
He had nearly finished when Harry returned with a mug of tea for him. “Here, I’ve even managed to pinch some cookies too.”
“Thanks Harry, just what I need. I’m glad it’s been a quiet afternoon.”
“Me too, I like it being quiet when I’ve got a couple of days off to follow. I hear you’re off to the cabin for a night. Taking the missus?”
Dan smiled at the thought of Max as his missus. But that’s how the men saw each others significant other. “I am. Hoping to have a bit of time to ourselves. It’s been a bit of a hectic week, I haven’t seen her since last weekend. And speaking on the phone is not the same.”
“Not the same at all,” Harry said nudging him.
“You have a filthy mind, Harry. There is more to a relationship than sex.”
“I’m not denying it. But at your stage in a relationship, make the most of it before the kids come along. There's nothing like a baby to take the edge of your sex life, for ever.”
Dan laughed. “Thanks for the tip. I’ll bear that in mind, when we ever get around to having kids.”
“Make the most of it, that’s all I’m saying. Get to know each other, you're young, there’s plenty of time for kids.”
“You sound like my granddad.”
“Funny. You’re a funny man Dan.” He dunked his cookie in his tea, and Dan laughed. Harry was not much older than Dan, but had married his childhood sweetheart, and now had two kids under five. He knew the shift pattern put a strain on things in Harry’s household, but they had joined the fire service together, and he knew how much Harry loved the job. For this reason his wife put up with it.
Would Max ever feel that way? Would she ever give up her job to bring up their children?
Sipping his tea he tried not to let his thoughts cloud over him. They would work things out, just as they had worked through their first argument. While he collected his thoughts, his phone rang.
Nearly dropping it as he fumbled to answer it, and almost spilling his tea, he breathlessly said, “Hello.”
“Dan, it’s Helen. I know you’re at work, but I know you were worried so I’m ringing to let you know everything worked out OK. They’ve got what they needed, and Max will call you later.”
“Are you OK?” he thought she sounded happy. Maybe she had been paid and this could all be put behind them.
“Yes. I didn’t have much to do really. Max set it up. She won’t admit it but I think she knew it was the second guy, she’s asked me not to mention names. I got the feeling the first person I saw was simply a trial run to make sure I behaved normally. Anyway, it doesn't matter, I’ve got my check, they’ve got their man, so I’m off home.”
“I’m glad, Helen, honestly I am. Get the money in the bank, and go and buy yourself something nice. It’s time you and the girls had a little treat.”
“Thanks Dan. And you and Max are OK, right?”
“Yes. She’s told you I’m meeting her parents tomorrow?”
“Yes she did. It’ll be fine, she’s terribly nervous though.”
“I expect she is, they’re not going to be too happy when they find out she’s dating a man like me.”
“Well they’re fools then aren’t they? They couldn't place their daughter in safer hands.”
Dan laughed, the relief that Helen was safe and her part in this all over bubbling up inside him. “I might have to bring you along to sell me as the perfect partner for their daughter. I know they fell out originally because they thought Robin, Max’s flat mate, wasn’t suitable. I think there’s a very narrow chance that I’ll pass whatever criteria they think Max’s boyfriend should have.”
“Don’t worry. And remember, if Max didn’t cave into them about Robin, I very much doubt she will over you. It would simply be nice for them to be part of Max’s life. Especially if you ever have kids.”
“Another one on about kids, I’ve had Harry’s version this afternoon.”
“You know I’m biased. It would be nice for my girls to have a cousin to play with before they’re too old.”
“I have to go, Helen.”
“Coward.”
“No, really, the boss is on his way, and I shouldn’t really be taking personal calls during my shift.”
“I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, Helen.”
He hung up, and pushed his phone into his pocket, taking the last swig of his tea before setting his mug down and getting on with his work. Now all he had to worry about was meeting his future in-laws.
“Thank you, Max. I can’t tell you how relieved I am we’ve put an end to this. I can rely on your discretion?”
“Of course, Sir. I have the file for you, I think it has everything the police will need.”
“Thank you, I’ll hand it over to them, I think you were right to persuade me to call the authorities, I would have preferred it all swept under the carpet, as you’ll understand. But it’s the right way to handle things. Nothing like a conspiracy theory to bring down a bank.”
“We will weather the storm over this, Sir. You know that. The bank, and you, have a fantastic reputation, that isn't going to go away. You’ve proved you can deal with dishonesty quickly and thoroughly.”
“I know. But it’s taken it out of me. I always trusted my employees, in all my years here I never thought I could harbour such deceit.”
“You should go home and get some rest now it’s over. Mrs Pierceson must be worried about you.” She had to admit he looked old and tired, all of his years had caught up with him this last week, and she felt sorry for him.
“I am taking Mrs Pierceson out tonight so we can celebrate the end of this fiasco and talk about the future. I’m thinking it might be time for me to retire. Hand the reins over to someone else.”
“It wouldn’t be the same without you at the helm. But I can understand why you would want to do that.”
“We’ll see, Max. Now you get off home too. I appreciate the time you’ve put into this.”
“Could I ask a favour, Sir?”
“You can ask.”
She smiled, seeing the steely man who had made the bank what it was, suddenly wary of what she might demand now she held the secrets of the bank in her head. But she was still going to ask. “I wondered if I might have Monday off. My parents are in town for the weekend, and Dan is going to meet them for the first time, then we would like to spend a night or two away from everything. I haven’t seen him all week.”
Bob relaxed, and even chuckled a little. “Of course, Max. Take Monday off, I’ll see you on Tuesday, get things back to normal.”
The look he gave her was obvious. This was one thing he would grant her, but don’t milk it. Business was business. She wished she’d asked for the week off instead. “Thank you. I’ll see you Tuesday. Have a nice evening, Sir.”
“You too, Max. Say hello to Dan for me.” With that he turned back to his desk, and she knew she had been dismissed.
Suddenly feeling lighter, the freedom hit her hard, relief almost palpable. She would ring Shirley for an update on how she was doing after the fire. Her secretary was recovering at home after being released from hospital. Max imagined Carl looking after her, fussing over his fiancée.
And suddenly she missed Dan so much. All her attention had been on today, making sure Helen got through this and collected her payment, the money would make life so much easier for her. It had been the reason she had kept her mouth shut when she had stumbled across the evidence she needed to pinpoint the embezzler. If she had told Bob, he would have called the whole thing off, but Max wanted Helen to come out of this clear of debt. Max had eased her own conscience by telling herself she had not been paid any overtime for her work, and she had put her life on hold, spending every minute she could going over records and files. In a way Dan had given his sister the money, by allowing Max the time to sort everything out, if he had pressured her to see him instead, she might have missed something, or simply not had time to go back so far. It seemed their man had been at this for a long time. It was up to the police now to track down all the bank accounts that held thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Walking through the temporary offices the bank had been partially moved to, she looked around at old familiar faces, faces who had no idea what had been going on today. Not even Phil.
Pressing the button, she waited for the elevator, and then rode it down to the ground floor, there she went to her car, and drove home, resisting the temptation to call Dan. She wanted to go home and soak in the bath. Then she would dress ready for their dinner date with his family, a small celebration of Helen’s good fortune, although his parents didn’t know exactly where the money had come from.
She had never looked forward to something so much in all her life, it would be fun. The girls were so excited. After Helen had told them that Max and Dan couldn’t take them out tomorrow because Max’s parents were coming to visit, they had been upset, so this evening was quickly arranged to make up for it. She only wished she was looking forward to her parents visiting as much. But she wasn’t, she could imagine the way things would go. Never good enough, never clever enough, never thin enough. Why couldn't they simply be pleased she was happy?
***
“Are you sure you want me to come?”
Robin stood in the doorway to Max’s bedroom, dressed rather conservatively. Max smiled, she longed to know what was going on with her best friend, but knew she would have to wait until Robin wanted to share. This new man of hers was making her behave in the most erratic way. She only hoped he wouldn’t change her too much. Max liked the old scatterbrain, free living Robin.
“Yes. You are like family to me, more than my real family, you know that. So I thought it would be nice for you to meet Dan’s family. I’m sure you’ll have lots in common with the girls.” She let that hang, watching Robin smile before adding. “It’s a shame your mystery man couldn't make it.”
“He’s not my mystery man, and anyway he’s out of town.”
“Missing him?”
“I don't know. It’s as if he has some invisible control over me. I don’t like it.”
“You mean you’ve actually found a man stronger than you? It might do you good.”
“I don’t need to be controlled, Max.”
“No you don’t,” Max agreed, before adding, “I like the new look.” Max knew she shouldn’t have said that.
Robin looked down at her clothes, and groaned. “Next I’ll be asking to borrow your clothes.”
“Thank you, Robin. I’ll take that as a compliment.” They both knew it wasn’t.
“Anyway, he’s out of my life for a few days. I am going to enjoy myself.”
“Lucky you. I can’t get this meeting with my parents out of my head.”
“It’ll be fine. You have Dan as moral support.”
“As long as he doesn't blow his top like he did over this Helen thing. What if my dad insults him? Or even worse insults me.”
“Then you’ll live without them for the rest of your life, in the same way as you’ve lived without them for the last few years. You have me, and Dan’s family. Which sound great. I am looking forward to meeting them.”
“You’re right.”
“Yes, I am. And anyway surely Dan will behave himself, he wants them to be part of your life, and he surely wants them to like him. So no fisticuffs at dawn.”