Fighting Fire With Fire

4.

"Ah, your unfortunate rival Axel Cortés." Leo nodded. "I forgot he's your least favourite person. That's why you're moping." 

"Second least favourite. He got demoted since Patrick Braham." 

Leo paused, then nodded again. "Understandable."  

"No. No, not understandable." 

Max's mom, who'd been on her phone for a great portion of the evening but had now finally slipped the device into her purse, frowned at Max. "Why are you always picking fights with the kids of our friends or business partners?"

She took her seat next to Leo, elegantly adjusting her dress. While Mom couldn't hold a candle to Dad's looks, she still looked like what any woman would hope for at age fifty with her long, midnight black hair and barely any wrinkles. She attributed it to her Indonesian father. 

Max crossed his arms. "I didn't choose the drama life. The drama life chose me. Next time I'll turn around and walk when someone harasses Selene. Oh! Wait! That's exactly what I was trying to do, but cologney boy didn't let me." 

Leo snorted at Max's reply, but quickly shut up when his wife showed her infamous pinched expression. 

"And, like I said: I believe you," Mom said, turning to Max. "It's good that you defended her. Just..." She sighed. "Just stay out of his way, will you? He'll do the same with you. The deal with Mr. Braham is almost final." 

Max averted his gaze to the various cutlery on the table. "Fine." 

"And, I expect you to behave tonight, too."

"I will. Can't promise Golden Boy won't make me gag, though." 

"Max--" his mom started, but it looked like the discussion was over. Mr. and Mrs. Cortés had arrived, their son Axel walking just behind them. 

Greetings between Max's parents and Axel's parents always resembled that noise a flock of wild geese made when someone tossed bread their way. A lot of high pitched vocals, and laughter that sounded like honking. They acted like they hadn't seen each other in decades, while in reality it had only been a month. Only Max and Axel gave each other a 'normal' handshake during which they subtly tried to crush each other's hand. 

Max glared at Axel when the latter moved to kiss his mom on the cheeks. Look at him, being all nice to her face while he called her an attention seeker behind her back and then proceeded to eat on her expense. 

"I love your dress Christina!" Mrs. Cortés said, after they'd also planted kisses on each other's cheeks. 

"And I love yours," Max's mom replied with a wide smile. "It suits your hair and eyes so well!" 

Leo and Mr. Cortés were the last to cordially shake hands, and then they all took a seat. On cue, but not too on cue the waiter appeared out of nowhere with the menus. 

"And, Max," Mr. Cortés asked, making Max tear his gaze off of the appetiser section of the fixe prix menu. "How's your wrestling training going? You better be working hard for those matches after the winter break, because our Axel is." 

 Max felt his mom's warning gaze on him. No I am not training very hard, Max wanted to say, I'm only wrestling because my mom made me do this sport as a child. Mini-me actually wanted to be a figure skater.  Instead, he put on a smile that got stuck somewhere between polite and a locked jaw from forcing his mouth to move into a position it didn't want to be in. 

 "Absolutely," he replied, smooth as a baby's bottom. "Our team is training very hard too. We won't be making it easy for anyone." 

Axel kept his mouth shut. Probably had nothing nice to say. When he noticed Max looking at him, his eyes narrowed. Max just raised his eyebrows into an arrogant 'whatever' expression and turned back to his menu card.