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3:18pm New York Inquirer. 

"Kelly you busy?" Max looked into the room as Kelly was reading her notepad.." May I discuss something with you?"

Kelly put down her pad and looked at Max. He sounded so.. serious. " Why sure Max, what''s on your mind?"

"umm.." Max looked at his feet.  

" Max...You know we can talk about anything."

" Well....it's about Iris.. err I mean my mom..." Max hesitated for a while, "She asked me to go with her...."

" Go? Go where?" Kelly suddenly stopped.

" She's leaving Kelly....." Max finally blurted. " Friday night ...and she wants me to follow her....I know that we've only known each other for a few days, but I feel that I've known her all my life. There is so much that I need to know.. and I don't really want to lose her again...but she said she cannot stay...and I don't want to lose you or Arsene or Grognard either.... I , I....."

Max looked solemnly at Kelly, obviously hoping that she could make the decision for him.Kelly was stumped momentarily that she didn't know how to answer him. Deep down, she had always expected that a day like this may come, but it was too sudden, too fast. And still no news of Lupin...that charred namecard still freshly engraved in her mind. It's been almost two whole days and she had not heard from Lupin or Grognard, and she is now honestly fearing the worst. She looked at Max, still oblivious to what had happened.

Max seems so happy when he's with her. To ask him to stay would be selfish on her part, and she couldn't bring herself to tell Max to go. She bit her lip and took a deep breath.

Kelly kneeled down and put her arms around Max . " I'm afraid this is something that I cannot help you with Max.. you'll have to decide for yourself. "

"Awww Kelly.." somehow he knew that was what she'd say. ".But how.. what am I supposed to do?"

"Well...are you happy when you're with Iris?"

"Yes..but..."

"You've still got some time to think about it right? Whatever you choose, you will always have our support.. " Kelly replayed that sentence in her mind.

Our support..... Kelly was sure that Lupin and Grognard too, would support Max's decision ...if only they were here now. Although to be honest she wished they were here. To dissuade him.

"You have my support." She finally concluded. She was glad to see the boy smile a little. Perhaps that was all he needed to hear from her.

"Don't worry, everything will work itself out... always does." She summoned up her smile and rubbed noses with him as they both giggled.

There was a sudden creak as the door opened.

"Miss Kincaid? .." Iris peered into the office quite suddenly.

Kelly was a bit shocked that Iris was standing outside the office.  Come to think of it, Max might have been seeing her everyday, but this was only their third meeting, and all of them were under such uncomfortable circumstances.

"Oh.. I didn't know you were outside.."   Kelly stood up, her hands still placed on Max's shoulders.

"I was waiting for Max..."

Max looked earnestly at Kelly. There was a muted pause.

"Go on Max..." Kelly  finally smiled and nodded her head.

The two women looked at each other as they tried to cover their awkwardness.  Kelly felt her jaw hurting from her forced smile, but she kept up her appearance for Max's sake.

Max gave her a tight hug and whispered, "Thanks for your advice Kelly. You don't know how much this means to me.." he grabbed his cap and waved to Kelly as the door slowly closed on her.

Kelly maintained her smile until she was sure that Max was out of sight.  First Arsene and Grognard. Now Max. 

You don't how much you mean to me...

Kelly slumped back down on her seat. She tried to resume writing to distract herself but found her hand trembling as a single teardrop landed on her notepad, smudging her penned thoughts as she finally broke down sobbing ...

@-'---

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