𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 // ᵐᵃˣ ᵛᵉʳˢᵗᵃᵖᵖᵉⁿ

𝑘𝑒𝑣'𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒¹¹

During the car ride to Kevin's place, Celia stayed quiet while Max drove. The radio played softly, and Max hummed to the music. Celia noticed how Max had been in a bad mood all day, and now that her mood was spoiled too, he seemed cheerful again, which annoyed her.

She remembered Victoria's warning about how Max could be annoying, but she didn't expect to feel that way so soon. Celia didn't know why Max was acting like this, but she didn't want to argue with him, so she chose to stay silent.

"Can we go to a mall to buy gifts for Laura and the baby before we go to Kev's place?" Celia quietly asked when they stopped at a traffic light. She didn't want to meet her friend empty-handed.

"Of course, Lia. Whatever you need," Max responded with a smile. And Celia felt annoyed again. Why was he cheerful now after upsetting her earlier? If she didn't know him so well, she might think he was bipolar. But she knew him, so she knew Max's behavior was intentional - first being mean, then trying to start a fight, and now acting like nothing happened. She just didn't understand why.

Max drove them to the nearest mall according to the GPS and parked underground. He smiled as he opened Celia's door for her.

Celia rolled her eyes as he got out, and covered her face with a scarf and sunglasses to avoid being recognized.

"Why aren't you doing anything?" she asked Max, noticing he wasn't trying to disguise himself like her.

"I don't have anything with me," Max said, shrugging.

Celia sighed, searching her bag for a cap and putting it on Max's head, pulling it down to cover upto his eyes.

Max grinned at Celia's action, but she just rolled her eyes again as she walked past him to the elevator, clicking on the floor with kids' toys and clothes.

Reaching, Celia went into the first toy shop they saw, and a saleswoman greeted them warmly.

"Hello ma'am, how can I help you?" the woman asked.

"We were looking for gifts for our friend's daughters," Max replied before Celia could, as the woman nodded.

"And what ages would they be?" the woman asked next.

"One of them is 2 years old and the other girl is a few months old, I think, right sweetheart?" Max asked Celia, grinning at her. He knew very well she was rolling her eyes at him at the moment, although he couldn't see them.

"Uh, yeah," Celia replied, while the woman nodded again.

"Okay, if you could follow me here; we have clothes, books, and toys for toddlers that you could choose from first," the woman offered, leading them down the aisles, with Max walking closely behind Celia.

As the woman stopped, so did Celia, but Max was looking elsewhere, causing him to bump into Celia.

"Shit, Max," Celia groaned as Max turned around, realizing he had stepped on her foot.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Schat, are you okay?" he asked with concern, holding her arm to steady her. Celia nodded slowly before pulling her arm out of his grip, facing the woman witnessing their clumsy encounter.

"Um, so," the woman then continued, "these are some good bedtime stories that toddlers like; and here are some toys they might like. These make sounds and light up as well."

"Alright, thanks, please give us a minute to decide," Celia asked politely as the woman nodded and walked away. Celia picked up a book and began to scan it.

"Charles got this book for Harper on her first birthday, and she loved it," Celia told Max with a fond smile at the memory, "maybe we should get this for Laura?"