Wishing Star

Chapter 35

When Max woke in the morning, she stretched her limbs and reached her hand over to the other side of the bed only to find it empty. She blinked through the sleep haze, squinting at the bright light coming in through the space in the curtains.

She looked around, finding Clark seated at the table, already dressed and with a coffee in his hands. She took a second to look him over, noting he had showered and his hair was still slightly wet, but styled in its usual way. Parted on the side, but not necessarily neat. His natural wave wouldn't allow that. He was leaning back in his chair with one ankle over the knee of his other leg, his brown boots as clean as always despite them being his daily choice of footwear, even while he worked. His light wash jeans and his white t-shirt combination were typical, but somehow, he pulled it off every time. He smirked at her perusal of his person, tilting his head to the side. Her eyes followed the direction of his head, noticing a bag beside him with a label that told her he had braved the early Saturday crowds for her favorite bagel sandwich.

She gave him a sleepy smile as she stretched her arms over her head. "What time is it?" she croaked.

Clark glanced at the watch on his wrist. "A little after eight."

She threw herself back down on the bed. "Ugh, why'd you get up so early? Come back to bed."

"Can't do that, love."

She groaned. "Why not? Why do old people always insist on getting up early?"

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You're grouchy this morning."

She sighed to the ceiling. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired."

His answering sigh caused her to look over at him. "I know you are. But we have things to do today."

"Like what?"

Usually, Caelum was the one that wanted to explore the city, but if Clark were in the mood to go out, she'd put on a brave face for him and drink tons of coffee to keep herself from passing out from exhaustion.

"We're going home."

She looked at him in confusion. "What? No, I can't do that. I have work tomorrow."

He ran a hand down the dark stubble on his jaw and looked away. "Actually, you don't."

She stared at his stoic face. "Yes, I do. I can't miss work. I've only been there three months. My boss would kill me if I didn't show up. And probably fire me."

He let out a deep sigh and met her eyes. "It's time to come home, love."

She blinked a few times and scrubbed her hands over her face. "I don't know if I'm still half asleep or what, but I'm incredibly confused."

He stood up and walked towards her, the bag holding her bagel in his hand. He held it out towards her, and she automatically reached forward and took it.

Ignoring her confusion, he gestured towards the bag. "Hurry up and eat. Check out is at ten."

She shook her head and threw her covers back, following him back to the table.

She set the bag back down and stood in front of him, hands on her hips. "Can you please just stop being cryptic and tell me what's going on?"

He met her hard stare with one of his own. "Fine. It's time for you to come home, Maxine. You proved to yourself you were capable of becoming a chef in the largest city in the country. That was your goal, right? You've worked, and you've worked, and now you've almost killed yourself trying to prove you're worthy to your boss. Maybe even to yourself, I don't know. But it's time to come home."