Blame

Chapter 30 (Him)

The next day at the recording studio, Dan couldn't shake off the anger. He couldn't look Martin in the face and everyone sensed the tension. Every time the door swung open, he looked up to see if it was Max and each time it wasn't. He was relieved and he was miserable all at the same time.

"Hey mate, you all right? What happened yesterday? Martin raised a shit storm when you didn't show up." Kyle leaned in and asked with concern in his eyes.

"I...I was with Max." Dan replied without looking back.

"Oh, well that's good...right?"

"I don't know anymore. Martin showed up last night and threatened to send Max home if she pulled a stunt like this again. He can't do anything to me so he's using her against me." Dan replied with a scowl on his face.

"What the hell." Kyle shook his head.

"And Max fell for it." Dan replied with bitterness. As soon as he spoke those words, Max walked in quietly into the room. She looked disheveled and out of sorts. A styrofoam cup of coffee in one hand and her laptop briefcase in the other. Her hair was in a messy bun atop her head but pieces were falling out every which way. The subtle dark circles stood out underneath her makeup and her white tee shirt stuck out wrinkled underneath her jean jacket. God she was beautiful.

Dan held his breath and tried not to watch her, but she was like a siren screaming his name and pulling him in. The anger dissipated in a second and only remnants of lust and great fondness remained.

"Good morning Max." Kyle called out to her and she raised her head, offering a small smile. Woody and Kyle walked up to her and were making small talk just out of earshot but Dan could tell that it was taking effort for her to reply and even her smile wasn't genuine. All that he wanted to do was scoop her up in his arms and take far, far away from this place.

"Dan, yeah?" Martin snuck up behind him and ruined his moment. He offered a small grunt in response. He was clicking away at his laptop and didn't want to talk to Martin.

"Look you have to understand why I had to say what I said last night. Sometimes things needs to be done the hard way in order to maintain order and—,"

"Bullshit," Dan cut him with a glare.

"I am sorry, whether you believe it or not. But Max is a smart girl and if her career is as important to her as I think it is, then she'll keep her distance. And you need to start thinking about that too. You can't afford fooling around. We're about to lock in on this album and we're only left with crucial time—,"

"Fuck you and your crucial time and your album!" Dan slammed his laptop down and roughly put it on the table, getting up and storming out of the room.

"Dan!" Martin called out after him and everyone stared awkwardly at the ordeal. He slammed the door behind him and stormed down the hall and into the lobby. He paced back and forth and tried to regain some sort of composure. He wasn't entirely sure why Martin's words were affecting him so much, maybe it was because he was developing feelings for Max and that was getting compromised because of some bullshit from Martin.

"Hey you." A quiet, American voice spoke up behind him and Dan swung around.

"Hey." Dan looked at Max uncertainly, not sure what she was going to say. After last night he was scared of the words that might come out of her mouth.

"I can't stop thinking about last night." She looked down and took a couple of steps toward him. He had to fight every instinct to leap towards her and wrap her up in his arms.

"Me neither." He replied.

"I...I've wanted to talk to you and I prepared this organized speech but as soon as I see you, it just...," She paused and offered a wry chuckle.

"I have a feeling I know what this is about." Dan grimaced and she took another step.

"I'm not sure you do." Her statement caught him off guard and he watched her intently and carefully. The dark circles did nothing for her green, green eyes. They were almost brown, they were that dark. He waited patiently for her next words. But before she spoke, she took his hand and he was even more taken aback.

"I don't want to have to choose between you and this job. That's not fair. I hate Martin for putting the ultimatum on us like that...and I thought a lot about a lot of things." She looked right at him and Dan compared her again to a siren, because he never knew someone could be so irresistible.

"I mostly thought about how you kidnapped me." They laughed and she continued, "I thought about the fountain and the book store and everything you did for me. It was...breathtaking." Dan forgot about what Martin said and pulled Max toward him.

"I don't want to lose you, not like this." He whispered and she nodded. They were centimeters apart and Dan finally closed the distance with his lips and took her all in. They were in the lobby, in public and neither gave a single shit. 

* * * * * *

"Earth to Daniel!" Kyle shook Dan out of his stupor as the taxi cab came to a halt and they arrived at their apartment. Dan's mind wandered to the better days and he couldn't help thinking about Max and him when they were able to work through the hardest moments.

They climbed the flights up to their apartment and unlocked their door. The smell of perfume and hair products hit their senses and Kyle called out to Max.

"Oh hey! I didn't know you were gonna be home so early." She replied somewhere from the bathroom. Max peaked her head around the corner and Dan noticed the full face of make-up and the perfectly curled ringlets of hair. She was getting ready for Joey and he felt like he was just punched in the gut.

He set down his stuff on the table and began rummaging through the fridge. He didn't want to look at her because he knew she was beautiful and it hurt so much that she wasn't his beautiful.

"Okay, so I'll be back in a couple of hours. I'm sure it's not gonna take too long. We'll just discuss what this job actually means. I guess it's nothing like I had to do for Martin." She was in the living room and Dan turned around. She was putting on black pumps and everything she was saying seemed like it was directed at Dan, trying to reassure him, but somehow he had a hard time believing it.

"Well we'll be here." Kyle replied, lounging on the couch.

"See ya later." Dan offered and Max looked at him like at a pitiful roadside animal. Fuck getting punched in the gut, his heart was being torn out of his chest cavity.

Max waved and was out the door.