Maxine & Mavis

Chapter 3

Past...

It was a cold Friday night, the sky had already turned dark and the streets of London were covered with snow. Max sat inside the safety and warmth of her car, working on her laptop as she waited for her driver and bodyguard, Jake, who was currently waiting for his order amongst a long line of people. She took a sip from her hot chocolate which had already gotten cold due to being neglected for the sake of her work and sighed before finishing it in a few gulps so that Jake doesn't start lecturing her on being careless again.

Jake had been at Max's side for many years now and they treated each other like friends. So when Jake's daughter had texted Max to ask her to tell her father to bring them their favorite burritos from some small business in the busy parts of London, Jake had only shaken his head in annoyance while Max laughed at his expressions before telling him to do so. Being the caring gentleman that he was, Jake bought a cup of steaming hot chocolate for Max before going to get in line, and just as he thought, it was taking way longer than he would have liked but Max was so busy with working that she didn't even notice. 

Max sighed heavily before settling back in her seat as she looked out of her car's window and when her eyes landed on a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk on the other side of the road, a frown etched across her face without her knowledge. She was about to open the door on her side so she could approach the misfortunate man and offer him a job and a place to stay but her cell phone went off and when she saw her grandmother's face flashing on the screen she sighed softly before answering. As she talked to her grandmother, Max's eyes never left the man, and as soon as the call ended, she was out of her car, her eyes never leaving her target.

As Max was approaching the man with fast steps, something magical happened which made her stop dead in her tracks.

Max watched, utterly surprised, shocked, and very much intrigued, as a girl came out of nowhere and squatted down beside the old man who looked at the intruder with a confused look on his wrinkly face which soon broke into a teary smile as she talked to him. Max was then completely bewildered when the girl, whose face she couldn't see clearly, sat down beside the old man before opening a huge box of pizza and started eating with him while talking animatedly as if they had been friends for years but Max knew that wasn't the case.

Max wasn't sure how long she stood in the middle of the sidewalk, watching the intriguing sight, but she came to her senses when a random passerby bumped into her and apologized before walking away quickly. When Max looked back to where the old man and the girl were sitting, she found her getting up as if ready to leave and without an ounce of control over herself, Max's feet started moving closer to her. The girl took out several bills from her pocket and handed it to the old man before draping her warm coat and a scarf around the old man. With a final pat on his shoulder, the girl started walking away from him and from Max who started walking faster to get to her.

Just like it happened to Max, a passerby bumped into the other girl but unlike Max, she was looking through her handbag at that time and all her belongings fell on the sidewalk while the one who bumped into her walked away without even a glance. Max took a deep breath as she watched her squat down, suddenly feeling nervous for no sensible or intelligible reason, and finally approached the girl before squatting down to help her gathering her things with trembling hands.

"Here you--" Max started to say as she handed the other girl her lipstick but her words died in her throat when the other girl finally looked up from her hand and met her eyes.

Max's heart skipped a beat as she looked in the most beautiful set of forest green eyes she had ever seen.  She felt funny all of a sudden like one feels on a swing, her tummy was in knots as if waiting for something to happen, and at that moment, as she looked in the striking green eyes staring back at her, it was like nothing else existed except for the girl in front of her. She watched her in a tunnel vision, the world simply evaporating around them and she heard nothing but the sound of her heart racing away. It was exhilarating, this feeling, like a rush of some sort and Max knew she was going to be addicted to it even before knowing what it really was because she knew it in her heart that whatever it was, it will change her life.