| Part 7 |
| 1 Month Later: Respecting Jeff's wishes and trying to be with Liz proved to be one of the hardest things Max had ever done. Every night he and Liz sat cozily in a booth and talked. A few kisses here and there took place but nowhere near satisfying for them. Max snuck up to Liz's balcony alomost every night just to be able to kiss her properly but left quickly in fear of getting caught. Now, Max stood in front of the double swinging doors marked 'Employees Only' in the Crashdown. Max summoned up his courage and walked through them. He headed for Jeff Parker's office and knocked quietly on the door. "Come in." was the muffled reply. Max opened the door and took a step into the office. With his hand still on the doorknob, he asked nervously "Um, Mr. Parker is this a good time?" Jeff waved him in while saying "Yeah, sure. Have a seat." he motioned to the chair. Max closed the door and sat down. "Thank you for taking the time to see me sir." he said politely. "It's no problem, Max." Jeff said with a genuine smile on his face. "Now, what is it?" "Well, Mr. Parker. I may be outta line by asking you this but, I, um, I need a favor." he said quickly. "Okkkay." Jeff said hesitantly. *What could he possibly want?* "What is it?" "Um, since I can't take Liz out anywhere but the Crashdown. I need to ask you if maybe I could use the Cafe after it closes to give Liz a romantic dinner. I wanted to do something special for her. Oh, and I would clean up everything. You wouldn't need to do a thing. Except of course give me permission..." Max started babbling. "Max... Max... MAX!" Mr. Parker said with his voice slightly raised in order to make Max stop. And it worked. "Oh, sorry." he said, resigned. *A romantic dinner? In the Crashdown? He's not gonna try and weasel his way around the rules? Wow!* Jeff thought, thoroughly impressed. "I'll tell you what Max..." Max leaned in listening carefully. "...I'm impressed with how you've been respecting my wishes. Not many teenage guys would do that. You and Liz have been doing everything that I asked and I appreciate that. So you can have the Crashdown, when do you need it?" Jeff asked lightly. "Oh really sir! Thank you so much. Is tonight okay?" Max asked excitedly. "That's fine. You can come in before I close which is at ten." Jeff stated. "Okay. Thanks again sir." he stood up and shook Jeff's hand. "If you continue to do as I ask Max, you will definitely gain my trust back and that means that you will be able to see Liz more freely." he said sternly. "Yes, sir." Max said seriously. Max turned around and opened the door. Just before he stepped out Jeff said "Don't hurt her Max. Or you'll wish that you'd had never been born." "Don't worry, Mr. Parker if I did that, I would already be worse than that." Max said with equal seriousness. The two men squared off until Jeff finally relented and nodded stiffly. He sat back down at his desk and Max closed the door behind him only to run into Liz. |
| (* means thoughts) |
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