Worlds Apart

Chapter 23

"So this replacement of mine," Max said, balancing her wine glass between her middle and ring fingers, "how's he doing?"

Pepper readjusted herself in her seat on the couch as she shrugged. "I mean, he's definitely not you. He's great and all, but...let's just say you're very missed."

"By you or by the employees?" Max asked, then took a sip of her wine.

"Well, by me, obviously, but in this case I meant the employees," Pepper answered. "I mean, he's good, he gets the job done, and there aren't any official complaints against him, but the word on the street is that most of the cybersecurity department preferred you over him."

"I don't know if that's a compliment to me or says something really bad about him."

"I'd say both," Pepper said. "From what I've heard, he's controlling and you were always understanding. To quote one person I heard, 'she was my favorite boss I've ever had'."

Max didn't know whether or not to smile or cry, so the pout on her face sort of came out as a mixture of both. "What? Oh my god, that's so sweet. Ugh, as much as I'm happy I got to take this opportunity with SHIELD, I really do miss everyone back here. Especially you."

As if on cue, a furry brown and white blob entered into the corner of Max's vision, and when she turned her head, she saw Mocha trotting her way over them.

"And of course this baby, too," she added in the higher pitched voice she only used for animals. "Hi, Mocha bean; come here, I missed you!"

Mocha let out a long, drawn out meow in response and began to walk towards her faster. Within a few seconds, the cat was by Max's feet and rubbing up against her leg. Max reached down and petted the kitty's head, and a mere second later, she heard the cat begin to purr.

"It looks like she missed you too." Pepper laughed.

"Okay, that's it; we've gotta change the once a month rule to twice. I can't keep feeling bad about leaving this poor baby for so long," Max half-joked.

"But you're okay with leaving me for that long?" Pepper asked in mock offense.

Mocha finished a circle around Max's legs before jumping up onto the couch, then making herself comfortable by sitting herself down at Max's side. Max continued to absentmindedly pet the cat as she spoke.

"You talk to me on the phone at the very minimum twice a week. Plus, you know that I'm coming back; she doesn't," she countered.

"That's fair," Pepper replied. "But between me running an entire company and you living on some secret SHIELD base God knows where, as much as I'd love to have you come more often, I'm not entirely sure how realistic that is."

Max shrugged softly and nodded. "I know. I want to come more, but I was mostly kidding."

Pepper nodded back. "That's not to say that you can't come more often, though. If there are some months where it works out, you're welcome to come over as many times as our work allows us."

Max smiled. "I know. And thank you." She took a sip of her wine. "Not just for the invitation, but for continuing to be my friend even though we don't work together anymore. As much fun as I'm having over at SHIELD...it gets kind of lonely sometimes."

"Of course; I'll always be your friend," Pepper told her. "But what about Dr. Selvig and your other mentor - what was his name...?"

"Malone," Max answered.

"Malone, right," Pepper continued. "You were just telling me last week about how much fun you've been having with them. Did something happen?"

"No, nothing happened," Max said. "But it's not the same with them, you know? They're my mentors, not my best friends. I can't talk to them about how I'm feeling, or even last week's episode of Grey's Anatomy. We talk about science, and that's it."