“Ready?” she asked quietly, they were standing outside the hotel restaurant. Inside in amongst the plush upholstery, and small fancy foods, were her parents. Waiting to see what her daughter had dragged in on her shoe.
He nodded. “If you’re sure. I don't feel like I fit in here.”
She smiled, and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. “You’re not the only one. This is a million miles away from the person I am today. But I think we both need to do this, so let’s go in. We’ll check where the exits are in case we want a quick getaway.”
He smiled, and caught her waist before she went in, pulling her back into his arms. It might not be socially acceptable around here, but he was going to give her a proper kiss. Soft and gentle, his lips met hers, his tongue sliding along her lower lip. Max threaded her hands behind his neck, pulling him closer, opening her mouth to allow him in. Her tongue met his, and for a moment there were only the two of them in existence.
“Maxine. Is that you?”
There bodies jerked apart. Dan turned to see who had spoken, it was an older, rather distinguished looking man, his hair greying at the temples. He was dressed in a well cut suit, a Rolex on his wrist, but the striking thing for Dan was the resemblance between him and Max. It was in the eyes, and the strength of the jaw. There was no doubt that this was Max’s dad, and Dan felt like a school boy caught behind the bike sheds with the principal's daughter.
“Father,” Max said, gripping Dan’s hand so tight he thought the blood would be cut off. “This is Dan.”
“Dan, pleased to meet you.”
“Hello.” That was all he had. It left an awkward silence.
“Is Mom here?” Max asked.
“Yes, she’s just powdering her nose for the umpteenth time. She’s a little nervous to see you.”
“Oh?” Max looked worried. “Didn’t she want to come?”
“Yes. She insisted, she’s wanted to get in touch for ages, but she was afraid you wouldn't want to see her. She’s given me no rest over the way we parted.” He sounded exasperated.
“I see.” Max grew silent. Mulling over what her father had said.
“A good journey?” Dan asked, finding his feet, he could do small talk, the weather and things, it was part of the job when he was putting victims of fire and accidents at ease.
“Yes. The flight was good, no delays. And I’ve hired a car, I must say it takes some getting used to driving in a city again. What do you drive Dan?”
Dan’s heart sank, but he couldn't lie. “The big truck out there.”
“Very serviceable.”
Dan had to hide a smile. Of all the things you could describe his truck as, serviceable had never been one of them. This was going to be a struggle. Four people, trying to fill awkward gaps in conversation, he couldn’t wait to escape, and his eye wandered to the exit sign, and he smiled. Should he simply grab Max’s hand and make a run for it now?
She never knew she would feel so emotional about seeing her mom. It was strange, Max hadn’t realised she had dreamt of this moment so many times. Her mom seeing her, smiling and hugging her closely. But her mom had never been an affectionate woman, so Max had known that would never happen. It was what she loved most about Dan, and for that matter, Robin, they were open and free with their affection.
So when Max saw her for the first time, coming from the powder room, straightening her perfect hair, she looked away, not wanting to be hurt by her mom’s rejection.
“Maxine. Wow, look at you.” It was her mom’s voice, and when Max looked up, it was her mom’s face, a little older, yes, but nonetheless here was the woman she had felt so rejected by. Only now did she realise this was what had hurt her most, what had defined her ideas about children and relationships. How could a mother abandon her daughter simply because her husband had chosen to disown her as punishment for not doing as he wanted.
“Mom,” Max said stiffly, and watched her mom’s face crack for a short moment, before her mask set in place. In that moment she realised how good an actress her mom was, and wondered how many times she had covered up her feelings. This was how a society wife worked, no feeling, no emotion. But Max wasn’t one of those women. Dan and Robin had taught her to express herself. So she did.
She loosed Dan’s hand and went to her mom, embracing her, feeling the other woman’s body rigid in her arms. In her memory she recalled a similar embrace, it had taken place only days earlier in Helen’s house. Max had broken the mold her parents had set her in, she was not the same as these people. She was free, she was Max.
As though thawed by the sun, her mom relaxed, possibly realising Max was not going to let her go until she got some response, and if she had pushed her daughter away, she would have lost her forever.
“My goodness, Max. How you’ve bloomed. I barely recognised you.”
“It’s been a while Mom.”
“Too long. I should have picked up the phone and called you. So many times I’ve thought about it.”
“Yes, Mom, you should have,” Max couldn’t help saying.
“Will you forgive me?” Her mom’s voice cracked slightly. So there was a feeling human being in there.
“Of course. I’m not here to rake over the past.” She pulled back, feeling a little choked up herself, but determined not to cry. “I want you to meet Dan.” She held Dan’s hand. “Dan, this is my mom.”
“Hello, it’s good to meet you at last,” Dan said, shaking her hand.
“Hello, Dan. Please call me Kathleen.”
“Kathleen,” he repeated, letting go of her hand.
“Jeffrey?” Kathleen said, to Max’s father.
“It’s good to see you again, Maxine. Dan, please call me Jeffrey.”
Stiff as always, Max thought, still it was a start. “I’m starving,” she said, trying to break the awkwardness. “Shall we go and eat?”
“Of course, we have a reservation. Let’s go through.” He walked off with Kathleen following.
Dan linked arms with Max, patting her hand as she placed it on his lower arm, making her walk slower so he could speak to her. “How are you doing?” he whispered in her ear.
“I’m surprisingly OK,” she replied quietly.
“Good girl, I’ve got the exit in my sight, we could always make a run for it.”
She smiled and leaned against his arm, feeling comforted by his presence. “I think we can survive a couple of hours with my parents. We probably won't see them again for years, so make the most of it.”
“A couple of hours. I’ll run out of things to say in ten minutes. Don’t they do small talk?”
“When you’ve mixed with the important people they have, I suppose you lose touch with commoners like us,” she joked.
“Great,” he said. “Your mom looked happy to see you.”
“Did she?” Max asked hopefully. “I wasn’t sure.”
“She was, believe me.”
“Thanks, Dan. It means a lot.”
“So are we going to have to grab pizza after this meal too?” he asked, lightly, reminding her of the first night they met over a fancy dinner.
“Let’s hope not. I really am starving, I was so anxious this morning, I didn’t have breakfast.”
“Tut tut, breakfast is very important. I can’t wait to wake up with you tomorrow morning and eat breakfast on the cabin porch, I checked the forecast and the weather is supposed to be beautiful. Just like you Max.” He kissed her hand, and they drew apart to be seated at the table.
“So how is work, Maxine?” Don asked while they looked at menus.
“Great. I enjoy it.”
“I hear you’ve had a few challenges the last few weeks.”
Max kept her eyes firmly fixed on her menu, for a moment her heart raced, and she wondered if this was her father’s ulterior motive for coming to see her. Did he know about the embezzler, did he expect her to divulge that private information? While this all went through her head, she felt Dan’s eyes on her, and then he spoke.
“You must mean the fire. Max kept very calm throughout the whole thing. She helped the people she was with to get out safely.”
“Really Maxine? You never seemed the type to get stuck in.” Her father’s eyes didn’t leave the menu.
“I expect it was very frightening, Max,” Kathleen said. “We’re just glad you aren’t hurt. When we heard about it, we were worried for you.”
“It was frightening, I was in the conference room, my secretary was hurt, but when I heard Dan outside, I knew we would be OK.”
“Yes, how could I forget. The firefighter.” Jeffrey said it in such a way that Max wanted to slap his face. He made Dan sound like some lowly paid servant.
“Yes. Dan is a firefighter, it’s a very useful profession,” she added sarcastically, “Especially when your daughter is trapped in a building.”
She hadn’t expected things to disintegrate quite so quickly. Her father was such a snob. Max pushed her chair back, about to get up to leave. She saw Dan react, and knew he would follow her. But her mom put her hand down on top of Max’s, saying, “I am very grateful Dan was there.” She turned to talk to Dan, her hand still on her daughter’s. “You must be very brave, I think fire is one of the worst things, it destroys so much. So indiscriminately.” Her words were thinly veiled, her eyes fixed on Jeffrey.
“We’re well trained, Kathleen. And it’s very rewarding. Helping people when they are in desperate need,” Dan said, relaxing a little.
“Dan likes to help, and feel a part of the community. I think that’s a noble thing.”
“So do I. We’ve never settled down in one place before, as Max has probably told you. It is hard to find a sense of belonging when you are expected to move every six months, or sometimes at a drop of a hat. The house we live in now is beautiful, but I still don't feel like we belong in the village. I think we would be better here in the city.”
The conversation stopped while the waiter appeared, and Max tried to relax again. After they had all ordered, the waiter brought a bottle of wine to the table, which Dan refused, asking for soda instead. “I’m driving,” he said when Jeffrey looked at him questioningly.
“Very good of you, not to drink and drive,” Kathleen said.
Max had to admire her mom’s attempt to rally to Dan’s aid.
“Yes, I’ve seen enough drunks and the damage they can do on the road. And we have a long drive this afternoon. Don’t we Max.”
“Yes, Dan is taking me to a cabin he owns, we’re going to spend a couple of nights there.” She missed out the part about him sharing it with a couple of others, and hated herself for needing to.
“That sounds romantic,” Kathleen said, while Max grew increasingly cross with her father’s lack of courtesy at joining in the conversation.
“I hope so. It'll be nice to get away, just the two of us.”
“So what is your new house like?” Max asked, aiming the question at her father, who always liked to brag.
It took a few minutes before he answered, then he gaze a brief rundown, as though he were in real estate.
Dan whistled. “Fifteen bedrooms, that’s quite a few. It must take a lot to keep it running smoothly.”
“We have people in to clean. And cook,” Kathleen said. “I never could turn my hand to using an oven.”
“So that’s where Max gets it from,” Dan joked.
“You can’t cook either?” Kathleen asked.
“No. Robin cooks mainly.”
“So you still live with that woman.” Her father interjected.
“Yes.” Her tone defiant.
“Well I guess at least if you get married you’ll ditch her.”
“She is my best friend, I will never ditch her,” Max hissed as the first course arrived.
“Well, it’s all her fault we haven’t spoken for years.”
“No, it’s not. You are the one who gave me an ultimatum.” She set her fork down. “If all you’ve come to do is try to influence who I have in my life, you’ve had a wasted journey.”
“No, Maxine. It isn’t. I came here because you phoned, and that meant something was wrong. After all this time with no contact I assumed it must mean you wanted something..”
His words stung her, they were unfair, she had never used her parents in that way. “I don’t want anything. I’ve made it clear, I don't need anything from you, I can manage on my own.”
“So you’re not asking me to pay for a house, or a wedding. I see there’s no ring on your finger, so at least your not engaged yet. Or am I going to have to pay for that too? I don’t expect a firefighter’s salary stretches too far.”
They all sat in silence. Jeffrey’s outburst too shocking for anyone to speak. Slowly Max got her brain working again, “Is that what you think? Well it’s not true. I called because Dan wanted us to be reconciled. He has a very close family, a family who love each other, and are there for each other. They don't just walk out of each other’s lives over stupid quarrels.”
“It was not a stupid quarrel. She insulted me.”
“That is not a hard thing to do. And like I said we are not here to talk about Robin.” Max took a deep breath, and tried to regain her calm. “Dan wanted me to speak to you, so that when we do decide to get married, you might be the person to give me away. That is all. I do not need anything from you. It’s been a mistake, we should have left things as they were.”
She got up, but so did her father. “Sit down Max.”
“I am not twelve, you can not tell me what to do any more.”
“Please, sit down.”
Max looked at Dan, and then her mom, who had tears in her eyes. She could walk away now, and never see her father again, it wouldn’t matter to her, but it would matter to them. Dan because he believed in families, and her mom because deep down she wanted to love her and have a relationship with her.
She sat back down, aware of other diners looking at them. “What exactly do you want?” she asked her father. “You took the trouble to come here. Why? To see me, or because mom wanted you to. Or is there some other reason?”
He picked up his wine glass and slowly and deliberately took a sip. She knew it was a tactic to give himself time to think. Or to lie. To come up with some reason for him being here, but all she wanted was the truth.
“Maxine. I know you think it was cruel of me to walk out of your life. But I did it in the hope you would come to your senses and move on, and upwards with your life and career. You can hardly blame me for believing that Robin has held you back. Made you settle for less than you are capable of.” His eyes flicked momentarily to Dan, and she got the hidden meaning in his words, she only hoped Dan hadn’t. “However, I must concede that you are happy. And as a father, I am struggling to understand that. I have always wanted the best for you. But it appears what I consider best, is not what you wish to achieve.”