Worlds Apart

Chapter 11

The closer the minute hand on the clock above the door got to the twelve, the more Max realized that she wasn't going to be getting out of work on time. She'd been in denial for the better part of an hour, but now, it looked like her hopes were not coming to fruition. They'd had a problem arise that required the whole department to get on top of, and even with all of their heads put together, things just weren't going as smoothly or as quickly as Max had hoped they would.

With a frustrated sigh, Max let her head fall forward into her hands. Finally accepting her fate, Max pulled out her phone, clicked on her messages with Pepper, and began typing.

M: Hey, I'm really sorry to ask this last minute, but work is going to end up keeping me well past when I was supposed to be off; would it be okay if we rescheduled going to see the movie for another night?

Max let her phone drop gently onto her desk and let her eyes shift back to her computer screen while she waited for a response. After a few long minutes of trying to make her brain process the information in front of her, she heard a ding and felt her phone buzz on the desk. Max picked her phone back up and unlocked it to read the message.

P: Hey, no worries at all! We work for the same company; I know how it can be like that sometimes. :) As for rescheduling, I'm leaving tomorrow with Mr. Stark to go to Moldova for the next few days for a business trip, so it'd have to be sometime after I get back on Tuesday.

Max let out a quiet sigh of relief. At least Pepper wasn't mad at her for canceling.

M: Thank you so much for understanding. Mid-next week is a little busy for me, but I can do the same time next Friday night if that works for you!

The next response from Pepper came a bit quicker than the last one.

P: Unfortunately next Friday is my birthday so I have plans set for that evening already. :( I could squeeze you in the following day if you're free, though!

Max narrowed her eyes at the screen to make sure she was reading that correctly and scoffed. There was no way - Pepper's birthday was only six days before hers? What were the freaking odds?

M: Yeah that Saturday works great for me! And hey, no way; my birthday is that following Thursday; I didn't know our birthdays were so close to each other!

Max shook her head and laughed as she turned back to her work. About a minute or so went by before she got a response.

P: OMG a fellow Aquarius! It's no wonder we get along so well! :D

She chuckled and leaned forward onto her elbows as she began typing.

M: Lol you're right! Listen, would you happen to be free for lunch that day? Because if you are, I'd love to take you out for lunch for your birthday! My treat of course :)

Completely ignoring her work at this point - she was already going to be trapped here for at least another hour or two, tacking on a few more minutes wasn't going to make much of a difference - Max set her focus on the text conversation, patiently awaiting each new text as it arrived.

P: That's really sweet of you and I'm available that day for sure, but I can't let you pay for it when it's your birthday too! I'm going to be in D.C. with Mr. Stark on that Thursday so I think we should use the lunch of Friday to celebrate both of our birthdays, in which case we could just split the bill like always and grab a bottle of champagne or something to celebrate. How's that sound?

Max grinned. Pepper's thoughtfulness had never ceased to amaze her.

M: Sounds great! Want to plan for our usual time? And would you want to go to Bavel? I know we just went a couple of weeks ago but honestly it was so yummy I wouldn't mind going again.