Page 14 of The Reverse Cinderella
“Are you sure?” Piaget asked. She didn’t want to intrude into his life.
“Absolutely,” he reassured her. “We can just spend time together. I’m happy with that.”
“Thank you, I’d like that.” Piaget appreciated that he was so easy about this. Gary would have pitched a fit and sulked if she didn’t do what he wanted when he wanted. Piaget told Max her apartment number and he promised to be there with Chinese.
Piaget spread her notes, textbooks and her laptop over the kitchen table and was deep in broadcasting history when she had to buzz Max into the building. She unlocked her door and went back to studying, cue cards of information mounting up.
Max let himself in, carrying two bags and a folder. He popped the bags on the kitchen counter and looked at the kitchen table.
“Give me a minute and I’ll move everything,” Piaget said as she scribbled down another note.
“Don’t. You’re all set up right here and it works for you. If you don’t mind, I’ll raid the cupboards for cutlery, plates and stuff. I’ll set everything buffet style on the counter. Then you can grab what you want and keep on studying.” He started taking containers out and setting up.
“Thank you so much for doing this,” Piaget got up to help. “I know you’d probably rather be doing other things, but I need to study. It’s important I get this chance to broadcast early.”
Max found the cutlery and set them with a couple of glasses on the counter. “Actually, this is good. First, I like that I get to help you with something that is important to you and second, I’ve been putting off the paperwork for the city for a little while. It’s due next week so I really do need to get it done.”
“Great,” Piaget smiled and heaped some rice on her plate. “Did you get soy sauce?”
“Of course,” he presented it to her with a flourish, making Piaget smile. They finished choosing their suppers from the selection and returned to the table. Piaget managed to give up a third of it so that Max could work on his forms.
Max pointed to her cue cards. “A little old school, aren’t they?”
“Maybe, but they work. Last test I achieved at ninety-eight percent because of them,” Piaget continued writing down small facts that she thought might be important.
“Wow. Good for you.”
They worked side by side quietly. It was nice having his company in a quiet, unobtrusive way. Max took away her dirty dishes, got her more water then washed the dishes.
“You don’t need to do that,” Piaget protested. “They can wait.”
“You need to study,” Max put the leftover Chinese in the fridge. “You don’t have time for dishes. Besides, I worked in a diner for two winters. I know all about doing dishes.”
“You worked in a diner?” Piaget asked, amused. Somehow that was hard to reconcile with the sexy man before her.
“I needed something for the winters when the demolition work was slow,” Max explained. “Now it’s been picking up so I’ve had full time work out of it.”
“You work for a demolition company?” she asked, curious about his life.
“I started out as labor and now I’m getting more into the supervision and avoiding paperwork where possible,” Max replied.
“What about your city forms?” Piaget pointed to them. “Avoiding them?”
“I’m taking a small break. I’ll get back to them.” Max swished her scrub brush through the water. “Now go back to studying.”
Piaget smiled and continued until she ran out of cue cards. She would have to get some more tomorrow from the discount store. She started reading through the ones that she had, trying to memorize them. After another hour of doing that, Max set aside his forms and helped her by asking the questions and seeing if she got the right answers. Better than that, he asked her more questions as he curiously read the cards.
“This is really amazing. I had no idea you need to know all of this stuff before becoming an on-air broadcaster,” Max said as he read another card.
“Three years of college,” Piaget replied. “Most of it I’ll probably never use but it’s important to know. Thank you for doing this with me.”
“Actually Piaget, thank you for letting me,” Max looked at her, suddenly serious. “I like hanging out with you. I like that I can help you with something important to you. And I’m learning about what you are passionate about.”
“Plus, you got those pesky city forms done,” Piaget yawned. “Sorry. I guess it’s time to quit.”
“Shall we do it again tomorrow?” Max asked. He stacked the cue cards together.
“Are you sure?” She didn’t want to inconvenience him.