by Len Webster
“Since when?” Stevie asked, the shock still in her eyes.
“Since you guys were in France, really,” Max said as he glanced over to see Josie staring up at him, love still bright in her eyes.
“We need the full story,” Stevie added.
“Look,” Max breathed as he nodded at Josie, pleading with her to trust him. Then he turned and faced his two friends. “This is new. Although there’s been something between Josephine and me for months, it’s new.”
“How new?” Julian squinted at Josie.
“Since last night,” Josie answered. “And can we not make this a big deal? This isn’t about us tonight. It’s about Rob and Ally.”
Stevie and Julian turned to face each other. They both stared at each other as if they were having a silent conversation. Then Stevie faced them first.
“I like this,” she declared. “The two of you together. I really like this. So we’ll keep your relationship on the down-low. Just keep the kissing to a minimum or in the shadows if you don’t want people like Clara freaking out—who is here with Noel.”
“Just to add, I’m freaking out on the inside,” Julian announced. “I thought I was the only love in Max’s life—”
“Julian,” Stevie hissed. “Don’t put the ‘L’ word on them right now.”
“It’s okay,” Max assured. “She already knows I love her.”
“You do?”
Josie nodded. “As of last night, I did.”
“How long has this really been going on?” she asked, sceptical.
“Since Noel and Clara’s wedding,” Max stated. “But we lost contact until you all went to France.”
Stevie smirked. “Ah, that wedding seems to have brought so many of us together. Well, Julian and I are going to go elsewhere. We’ll see you both later.”
Then Stevie and Julian giggled like schoolgirls as they headed over to the bar and left Max alone with Josie.
“So my best friend and his fiancée know.” Max released Josie’s hand and turned to face her.
She smiled. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Definitely not.”
“I don’t want to tell Clara just yet,” she announced. “I’d like to catch up with her before I do.”
“All right,” he agreed, wanting to kiss her once again. “Do you want to go our separate ways for a little bit and meet up at the bar?”
Josie closed the distance and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’ll see you at the bar.”
In her search to find Rob and Ally to wish them congratulations, Josie had made several rounds of the ballroom. Each time she passed Max, he’d send her a wink, or he’d reach over and squeeze her hand when no one was looking. All Josie wanted to do was steal him away from whoever he was talking to and leave the party.
Memories of last night and this morning continued to replay in her thoughts throughout the day. She wasn’t sure how she was able to get through her shift at the bakery. All she could think about was how Max touched her so intimately. How he drove into her with such need and desire. And how he whispered how much he loved her as he reached his high.
“Josie?” she heard a familiar voice say.
She spun around to see Clara Parker behind her with a wide smile on her face. “Clara!”
They hugged for a long time, Josie hating that she hadn’t seen Clara the last time she was in Melbourne.
“How are you?” Josie asked when their embraced ended.
“I’m good. How’s uni going?” Clara brushed her brunette curls over to one shoulder. The emerald green halter neck dress she wore fit her perfectly. Josie was still envious of Clara’s natural beauty.
“Good. I have exams coming up. How long are you staying in Melbourne for?”
“Not long,” she said. “We’re here for Rob and Ally’s engagement party. Then we’re going to catch up with my dad, Noel’s family, and then Noel’s got some business he has to take care of here.”
“Business?”
Clara sighed. “Yeah. Recruitment. Boring stuff.”
“And how are you and Noel?”
“Good. Really good. He made this grand gesture of us moving back for me to take some of those offers I had.”
“So you guys are moving back?” Josie asked too eagerly.
Clara laughed. “No. It was sweet of him to offer, but there’s too much in the States for me to walk away from now. I have my nephew, and I want to be in his life. I love seeing my brother every fortnight. I miss you and all the girls, but I have a pretty great life in Boston. My career in the culinary arts has suffered, but that’s my fault. I guess I’m just not meant to be a dessert chef.”
Josie’s heart broke for her. “So are you working in any restaurants?”
“No,” she said in a small voice. “But it’s okay. I’ll figure it out.”
“Why don’t you give up the business degree and open your own restaurant or bakery? You’re wasting money going to Boston University, Clara. Your tuition fees could pay for rent on a place.”
“You sound like my husband,” she teased.
“Because your husband is a smart man.”
Clara’s eyes softened. “Yeah. He is.”
“You should go tell him that.”
“I will.”
Josie noticed Max staring at her behind Clara’s shoulder. His lips were pursed, and he raised his phone up as she felt hers vibrate in her clutch. She opened her bag and pulled it out. She glanced down to see he had sent her a text message.
“New guy you’re seeing?” Clara asked.
Josie held her phone closer to her and away from Clara’s prying eyes. “It’s just my roommate,” she lied. “I’d better take this.”
She could tell Clara didn’t believe her. Right now, Clara had other problems to worry about than Josie and Max being together.
“Okay, sure. You’d better reply to your roommate.”
Her cheeks heated, knowing that Clara didn’t believe her. She cleared her throat and asked, “Have you seen Rob and Ally?”
“Ally had to go take her medication, and Rob went up to their room with her. I think they’re just tired of this engagement party and wanted some alone time. They’ll be back before the end of it to say their last thanks and everything. Noel and I are gonna head out, too.”
And as if on cue, Noel was by Clara’s side. “Hey, Josie,” he said with a smile. “All right, baby. Ready to go? By the time we get back to the apartment, you’ll have time to FaceTime with Will.”
Clara’s eyes flashed with excitement. “Okay, let’s go. We’ll catch up with you later, Josie?”
She nodded. “Definitely. I’ll see you both. Tell Alex and Keira I said hello.”
“I will,” Clara promised, and then Mr and Mrs Parker turned and headed for the ballroom’s exit.
Josie watched them walk out, and she glanced down at her phone to read Max’s message.
Max: Come back to me. This is torture.
She laughed at his message.
Josie: Get over here. I’m yours.
Lifting her chin, she raised her brow at him from across the dance floor. Max peeked down at his phone, smirked, and slipped it into his pants pocket. As she watched Max make his way to her, Josie dropped her phone into her clutch and snapped it close the second he stood in front of her.
“So …” he drawled.
“So,” she said as he took her clutch from her.
“I think we should dance.”
Josie laughed as he walked over to the table she assumed was his and set her clutch down. When he returned to her, he set his hand on her hip and brought her close to his body. Josie wrapped her arms around his neck and bit back a smile as his other hand settled on her hip.
Then the music from the live band came to a halt, and there were groans and yells from people. But Josie didn’t care. She just loved the feel of her arms around Max as he looked into her eyes.
Love was a many wondrous thing.
But love with Max was the most beautiful k
ind of wonder imaginable.
A strum of guitar echoed in the ballroom, and then suddenly she heard it, her heart clenching at the guitar playing the chorus.
“La Vie En Rose.”
It was no longer just her mother’s favourite song.
It was theirs.
“No,” she breathed as she glanced over to see a man in formal attire playing an acoustic guitar.
“Yes,” Max said with a grin when she looked back at him. “Asked him if he knew ‘La Vie En Rose’ and promised him a generous tip if he could perform it when he saw us together.”
“You’re insane,” she whispered as their song played so beautifully.
Max hummed. “Suppose I am. But if insanity gets me that look in your eye, then I’m all for it.”
Josie rolled her eyes.
When the guitarist played the last chords, she whispered, “I love you, Maxwell Sheridan.” She got on her toes and pressed her lips to his in a sweet kiss. “You’re my La Vie En Rose.”
“And you mine, Josephine.” Then he kissed her forehead and let his lips linger on her skin for a long moment.
Her poor heart was so in love with him.
“Want to go?” he asked when he pulled back.
Josie nodded.
“I’ll grab your clutch.”
She watched as he spun around and made his way to his table. Josie pressed her hands against her warm face and smiled. It was crazy how badly he affected her. But everything he did was so right and beautiful. It’d be more frightening if she didn’t fall in love with him. Josie made her way towards him and frowned when a woman she had never seen before stepped in front of him, and Max went rigid in an instant.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
Josie stopped her steps just close enough to hear him.
“I had to see you,” the woman said.
Josie could just see her face. She was beautiful. Dark brown hair, fair skin, and blue eyes. She was the kind of woman she saw in the Victoria Secret’s Fashion Show each year. She and Stella would watch the models walk down the runway as they ate chicken wings and talked about how great it was to love food.
“You can’t be here,” he hissed. “How did you know I’d be here?”
“Gregson sent me, and he told me that Noel would be here.”
“So you flew from the States to tell me what?”
Josie flinched.
No.
She can’t be Andrea.
Can she?
But Josie felt it in every bone in her body. Her heart refused to believe so, but her brain knew.
“To tell you that I choose you, Max. I want to be with you.”
Josie’s heart dropped to her stomach, and she struggled to inhale air into her lungs.
“This isn’t fair, Andrea!”
Andrea.
Josie felt dizzy.
And nauseous.
“I know. But I need you, Max. I need you, and so does Noel. Please.”
Max shook his head. “You have to go. Please, Andrea, just leave.”
“Please, Max,” she begged. “I need to explain. I came all this way. You’ve ignored all the emails I’ve sent you for the past month.”
Emails.
She sent him emails.
He never told her that Andrea had sent him emails. He had kept that from her.
“I’ve ignored them for a reason. You can’t be here. You can’t just show up a year later and expect me to give in to you now.”
Andrea inhaled sharply. “I’m staying at the Crown Promenade. I can explain, Max. I want to make this right with you … and Noel. Please just give me a chance.” Then she took several steps back, spun around, and made her way out of the ballroom.
Max let out a sigh and turned. His eyes were wide as if he were surprised to see Josie standing there.
She felt raw standing in front of him.
She felt weak that she was envious of the hold Andrea still had over Max.
She felt her tears want to be shed, but she forced them away with a tight smile.
“So that was Andrea?”
Max nodded and took two steps to her. “Yeah.”
“She’s here in Melbourne,” Josie said, stating facts.
“Yeah, she is.”
The regret and guilt that swirled in his eyes caused her heart to clench. She knew what she had to do.
She had to give him and her the opportunity of closure so that he could be with Josie without any regrets.
“You should go after her.”
“What?” He shook his head.
“Go and get closure, Max. She’s emailed you more than once in the past month, and you’ve kept that from me. Obviously, there are things left unsaid, and you deserve closure. And I don’t deserve just parts of your heart when I gave you all mine last night. So go.”
“Josephine,” he breathed, and she heard the pain and panic in his voice.
She knew how loyal Max was. And she knew how much he wanted forgiveness for the things he had done to his best friends in the past. It would be terrible for her to take away his chance at redemption.
“She said something about Noel. And if it affects Noel, it affects Clara, Max. And she’s my friend. If it affects her, it affects me. You need to discover why she was sent to come find you,” Josie urged. Then she reached up and cupped his face in the palm of her hands. “You need this, Max. I’ll be waiting.”
“You promise you’ll wait for me?”
Josie smiled then let her lips touch his ever so briefly. “I promise.” She dropped her hands and took her clutch from him. “I love you, Maxwell, and this is me putting you first.”
Max pulled her in and wrapped his arms tightly around her. “I love you,” he whispered. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”
In the distance, she heard a phone ringing loudly.
Josie groaned and wished the sound away.
To her delight, it stopped.
But then it rang again.
Josie threw her arm in the direction of the sound. When she found what felt like her phone, she grasped it and brought it closer to her. Prying an eyelid open, the high brightness instantly blinded her. She saw a number she didn’t recognise on her phone’s screen and answered the call.
“Hello,” she murmured, irritated that her sleep had been interrupted.
“Miss Faulkner?”
“That’s me,” she confirmed.
And then Josie heard words and not sentences as her heart ripped apart. Tears dragged down her cheeks as she flung the blanket off her body and said, “I’m on my way,” before throwing her phone onto her bed.
Josie raced to her closet, flicked on the light, and pulled open a drawer. She removed the first pair of jeans she found and slipped them on. She now cursed herself for being stupid enough to sleep in just her underwear and a long sleeve shirt. Josie grasped the zipper of her jeans and tried to pull it up.
She had tried twice before her body began to heat in frustration and anger.
“Fuck it!” she cursed as she left her jeans unbuttoned and pulled a coat off a hanger. Then she slipped into a pair of flats, grabbed her phone off the bed, and raced out of her bedroom. On her way out of her apartment, she swiped her keys off the hallway table and raced out, unsure if she locked the door behind her.
How Josie didn’t have an accident as she drove with tears in her eyes was beyond her.
She had found parking close by the electronic doors, got out of her car, and shoved her keys into her blue coat pocket.
When she found the desk, she raced towards it, and the nurse gave her a tight smile. She wasn’t sure if it was Kristy or Kirsty, but she did know that the double choc fudge cupcakes were her favourites.
“Hello, Josie.”
“Someone called,” Josie said, getting straight to the point. “They didn’t say—”
“I’ll page Dr Frederickson now,” Kristy/Kirsty said.
Josie pushed off the desk and covered her face with her hands. She too
k several deep breaths, hoping it would calm her, but it was no use.
She shook in fear.
Her chest pained because it seemed to know the truth.
And her eyes stung from the relentless number of tears that kept being produced and kept falling.
She wasn’t sure how long she had been crying when Dr Frederickson pulled her hands away from her face and led her through double doors to a quiet hallway.
The doctor had set his hands on her shoulders and apologised.
Then he spoke words that had her fall to her knees, sobbing.
He broke her heart with a sentence.
He tore out her soul with a statement.
He ruined her with the truth.
Dr Frederickson sent her home.
He gave her papers to read.
He offered her his support and comfort.
And Josie gave him silence.
It was a blur.
She had no idea what time the hospital had called her.
And she had no idea what time it was when she walked through the security gate of her apartment building.
Her heart was no longer in her chest.
It was left crushed in that hallway.
Josie’s throat was raw from her cries and shouts.
Her tears came and went.
But the immense pain stayed.
When she glanced up from her feet, she noticed Max sitting on the step.
In light of the circumstances, something in her found hope and warmth at the sight of him.
A faint smile began to cross her lips but was halted immediately when Max lifted his eyes to hers, and she saw the pain in his brown eyes. His eyes glazed over and his bottom lip trembled.
“Josephine,” he pleaded as he slowly got to his feet.
Pain struck her.
She knew.
She knew what he would say.
What remained of her heart tumbled from her chest to fall deeper.
And deeper,
and deeper …
Until it no longer beat for her.
Josie covered her face with her palms and sobbed.
Not Max.
This could not be happening to her.
Not after everything.
Arms were around her as she shook.
She wanted to push him away.
