Max returns to Thailand after finishing his latest manuscript only to accidentally meet the oldest son of the company that's one of the main topics of his next book. Tul has the reputation for having a chip on his shoulder for being the bastard son...
Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to the few of you who messaged me because you were worried about Max.
**
Max had no problem admitting to himself that he had been disappointed when Tul didn't contact him before he went to the maiensäss; however, he couldn't say he was surprised. He had confessed at the most inappropriate time: at the airport when he was leaving. Tul deserved candlelight and flowers and music, and he had done it at an airport in public, one minute before having to go through security to get on an international flight. Tul was probably wondering what he was supposed to do with that confession. He had told Tul to be happy, but if he were Tul would he even know what Max meant by that, especially when Max was walking away from him instead of toward him?
But Max had to get the book done. The pressure was on because despite the fact that there had been so many other things going on, Rita had never changed the publication date. This may sound unfeeling to outsiders, but Max knew that actually Rita had had to work hard to keep the publisher from wanting to move up the deadline. They wanted to capitalize on Max's popularity and direct connection to the Team2Crew. They were only appeased by two things: 1) Max was still in the spotlight because he had written so many pieces for magazines and blog posts before he left and 2)a couple of his articles had even been picked up by the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) and the Associated Press. Rita was able to hold off the publisher with these pieces of information, but she wasn't able to push back the deadline.
Despite what both Chalida and Tul thought, Max had already completed drafts of several chapters and sent them off to Rita before he left. He hadn't written them in order in which they would appear in the book, but he had focused on the chapters that had illustrations—photographs, charts, etc.—because he knew that those would be the most challenging in the proofing stage. He would need to check to make sure the pictures and charts were the best size and had the best placement in connection to the text, something you really couldn't see until actual templates and proofs were done. The real work in the mountains was to draft and revise the other chapters, send them to Rita, get all the proofs back, revise the entire book so the chapters flowed seemlessly, and then work on the index and the introduction.
Max knew that he didn't need to go this far away to finish his book, but unlike what many might think, he had planned this trip for a while. He'd always wanted to travel to a maiensäss and do some writing. He had just expected to be here working on his next project not still working on the Shilapath book. No, profits from the Shilapath book were supposed to be funding a real writer's retreat for him. He was supposed to be in the mountains after he had finished making the rounds of the press and bookstore readings for the book's publication. It was supposed to be a place of rest and to outline new projects.
However, he had stopped thinking about his retreat idea when it became clear that he was not going to be finished with the book in time, but Kuhn Bagnet hadn't forgotten. She had brought up his original plan when Clara talked about going back to Switzerland. She had been watching him and saw how tired and drained he was, how much weight he had lost, how much he was looking out for everyone and everything to avoid thinking about his sadness. She, like Chalida, knew this wasn't just about Pongpat. It was about Tul and how helpless Max felt in competition with the other world that seemed to want Tul without the other man knowing it. She knew that he'd probably travel back with the Tappitaks to Switzerland. Wouldn't this be the perfect time for him to take that writer's retreat?
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
