Title: Only The Lonely
Chapter Title: Wild At Heart
Author: Restive Nature
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Dark Angel. They belong to Cameron/ Eglee. No infringement is intended and this fiction is for private enjoyment only.
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Fan Fiction
Type: Romance, Humor
Pairing: Max/ Alec
Summary: A remake of the "Pretty Woman" movie, with Max and Alec in the lead roles.
Spoilers/ Time line: This takes place pre-series. Due to the nature of the fiction, some information will be different, but should not overly affect the fiction.
Feedback: Always welcome!
Distribution: Ask first please.
Chapter Six
Wild At Heart
Max sat on the bed, still messy, since housekeeping hadn't shown up yet, the empty plate beside her, rubbing at the remnants of cherries and whipped cream. Her other hand held the phone to her ear as she listened to it ringing through the call she'd made just after she'd finished her bath. In fact, she was still in her robe, not wanting any of the hotel staff to see her blatantly sexual dress and wonder about it. Finally, the phone at the other end was lifted and a tired voice answered the phone.
"Hey Kiki," Max drawled and heard immediately her friend's indignant squeal.
"Maxie! Where the hell have you been? You didn't come back last night? Was Mercedes boy an all nighter?"
"Better than that," Max grinned. "Guess where I am sitting right this second!"
"If it's in his lap, then honey, what the hell are you doing calling me," Kiki giggled. "Unless he's looking for a twosome? Then just give me directions, I'll be there ASAP."
"No no," Max chuckled as well and then sighed. "He's a little too vanilla for that sort of thing."
"Oh, no good," Kiki commiserated.
"No," Max denied immediately. "Very good. Just, haven't seen any signs of kink yet. And if there was, it'd probably be spanking."
"You or him?" was Kiki's immediate inquiry.
"Mmm, probably both," Max surmised, even though this was not the reason she had called her friend. But it didn't hurt to think of the possibilities so that she was prepared. "He seems to go either way, whichever mood takes him."
"Flexible," Kiki surmised.
"Very," Max groaned, "and strong too."
"Oh Max, I think I'm jealous," Kiki pouted, Max could hear it clearly over the phone. "And to think, I just gave this guy to you. How nice am I?"
"You are a dear and true friend," Max laughed. "Because you're going to be extremely happy for me when you hear the rest. And only be you know, like twenty-five percent insanely jealous."
"Okay, details, spill," the girl demanded.
"Well at this moment, I am sitting in his luxury hotel suite, after just having had a bath in a tub the size of our entire bathroom!" Max began and she could hear Kiki whining already. "Get this, he needed an escort to hep him do business with some bigwigs society jerks. He was heading to Ramon's and got lost."
"Which is where you came in?" Kiki surmised.
"Uh huh," Max grinned. "So I gave him the lowdown on that sitch and he asks me if I could fill in."
"And of course you said yes," Kiki growled as if, to her, why would anyone in their right mind say no.
"Duh," the brunette giggled, rolling over onto her back. "And, get this, I did so well last night, he's asked me to stay on for the rest of the week!"
"Oh! No way, no way no way!" Kiki crowed. "Oh damn Maxie! How much?"
Max inhaled deeply before blurting out, "two thousand!"
"Ohmigod," her friend gasped. "That's like... woah. Manna from heaven here."
"I know," Max agreed, even if she wasn't as like to give this gift the religious bent that seemed to slip from her friends' mouth, once again reinforcing Max's belief that Kiki had a Catholic background somewhere in her upbringing. After all, who was it that had the supplies and taught Maxie that bit of dress up play?
"That's rent and food and... and..."
"And that's not all," Max went on. "Since I will be playing the part of dutiful, high class girlfriend, Alexander decided that I most definitely need a new wardrobe."
"Oh damn," Kiki breathed out rapturously. "Totally and completely one hundred percent envious here."
"And of course, I couldn't do that without my personal consultant now, could I?" Max threw out.
"Oh, when and where?" Kiki demanded. Max was about to respond when she heard another discreet knock at the door, followed by the announcement that it was housekeeping.
"Hang on," she murmured as she rose from the bed. Checking that her robe was once again modestly covering her naked form and that the towel surrounding her hair hadn't slipped, Max hurried to answer the door. She pulled the door open and found a young, slightly harried woman waiting on the other side, her cart placed to one side of the hallway.
"Housekeeping ma'am," she announced again, a polite smile on her face. "Would you care for service now, or shall I come back later?"
"Now is fine," Max smiled and stepped back to let her in. While the woman got her cart Max stepped back into the suite. She pulled the phone back up to her mouth. "How about we meet at the usual spot in about an hour. We can go shopping from there, maybe do lunch?"
"That's fine by me sweetie," Kiki agreed. "I'll see you then." They hung up and Max noticed that the young woman was once again waiting for directions. Max set the telephone on the coffee table and then turned to her.
"Could you get the bathroom and bedroom first?" she asked softly. "And then I'll let you get on out here."
"Certainly ma'am," the woman agreed, ducking into a slight curtsy. She hurried off and Max found that it didn't take the woman long before she had returned to the outer room. She deposited the trash into the cart receptacle and the plate from the bed into a shallow container for hotel dishes. Max, having decided that she was gong to indulge in the hotel's line of lotions and creams provided for the lady that their guest was expecting, before dressing, stood up to do so.
She figured that giving herself an all over body rubdown with a vanilla scented cream would give the housekeeper plenty of time to see to her work. Max certainly didn't want her seeing the so called young lady of Mr. Spalding's acquaintance dressed so obviously as a hooker would. When she returned to the outer room, the housekeeper was just getting ready to leave.
"Just a moment please," Max halted her progress. The woman stopped and looked back to her. Max leaned over the coffee table to pick up her bag. Rummaging inside, she pulled out a ten dollar bill. She knew all to well, just how much people like her had to work and if she was any judge of character, knew that this young woman had good reason to work herself to the bone. She approached the woman and pressed the money into her hand. "I was wondering, is there evening service available as well?"
The housekeeper knew exactly what Max meant and nodded even as, with a grin, she slipped the tip into her pocket. "Yes ma'am. When would be convenient for you?"
Max thought it over a moment. "Well, Mr. Spalding and I are committed each evening the rest of this week. So between eight and nine would be best. We should have left by then."
"I'll have the staff make a note of it ma'am," the other woman responded. She turned back to open the door to maneuver herself out of the room. Turning back to pull the door shut, she smiled once again. "Enjoy your day Ms. Gueverra."
"I will, thank you," Max called back and then inhaled, her shoulders coming up to her ears and then falling back to their natural position. Things were working out well if these little encounters with the staff where anything to go by.
*****
Kendra Mabaum, blond, stacked, with all the curves in all the right places, known to the everyone on the streets as Kiki, stood at the coffee kiosk, waiting patiently for her friend, roommate and coworker to show up. After that interesting telephone call that morning, she'd been afire with curiosity about the job her friend had scored. Kendra hadn't had a chance to see the guy for herself, but good looking or not, two thousand dollars was nothing to ignore or sneeze at. She would have jumped at the chance herself, but she was an honest enough person to admit that she wouldn't be able to carry off and assignment like Maxie could. Not that Ramon Carlton hadn't very graciously offered her the chance to come work for him. Kendra had found out from Max that after Ramon's fathers death when he was a small child, his mother had been forced to turn to prostituting herself to support them. But far from despising the profession, Ramon understood what drove young women and in some cases, young men to choose the life. And he had made it his personal crusade to save as many people as possible from a dread fate. Such as his mother had, dying of AIDS after being infected by one of her johns.
Most of the girls that Kiki knew of on the streets had little idea that Ramon was their patron saint. All they knew was that some high minded benefactor had opened up a clinic in their neighborhood, that seemed dedicated to helping them out. Health care, for those that chose to use it was cheap and readily available. The two female doctors and their small nursing staff never looked down on the kids for choosing this. Condoms were always available and for those girls that wanted to, scrips for birth control were handed out. And if the girls couldn't afford the pharmacy price, the next time they showed up, the pills were there waiting for them.
There was even, as Kendra had discovered, a certain room that all the clients were encouraged to "check out". Every single girl Kendra had talked to had been put in that examination room and had been handed a "magazine". Inside, covered by the women's home living articles, were some pages that detailed certain johns to watch out for. Men known to be violent or overly aggressive in their dealings with prostitutes. There was also a number to call if a girl needed help during or after a "situation". And Kendra knew that it worked, because that had been how she'd found out about Ramon
She sighed as the memories came back to her the one night she'd gotten roughed up by a client. Afterwards, once the guy had left, she'd gathered her money, and tried calling Max as her friend had instructed her to. She'd headed to their usual meeting spot, but Max hadn't gotten back to her within the half hour that she normally would have. Kendra had remembered that number in the magazine and slightly fearful, had called it. Ramon Carlton himself and his friend, the woman who worked as his secretary at the escort agency had shown up. After ascertaining that Kendra didn't need an ambulance, they'd carefully bundled her into Ramon's car and transported her to the clinic. Kendra had been surprised at how gentle and considerate they'd been of her. After her visit with the doctor, in which they found that one of Kendra's ribs had been cracked along with the multiple bruises on her face, Ramon had sat with her and talked about the guy that had done this to her.
Ramon had promised that he would not force her to go to the police, since they would just arrest her for solicitation, nor would he go himself. But he reminded her that she should not have to put up with being hurt to make money and that no other girl should have to suffer that as well. Seeing how young some of the girls were in that clinic, thirteen, fourteen years old, Kendra had agreed. So she had given the guys description to Ramon And sure enough, the next time that magazine had circulated it's way through her hands, the bastard's description had been there. It took a little longer for her to hear through the grapevine that the guy was out of action for a while, since someone had found him and returned the favor he had paid her. As far as Kendra knew, he hadn't been a problem since.
And it wasn't just for that, that Ramon held a special place in her heart. The man had offered her some work at the agency, answering phones, while she was recuperating for the two weeks the doctor recommended. She knew that it was pushing Angelique, Ramon's secretary, out of her job a bit, but the woman had made no complaints at all and helped Kendra with her diction. In fact, Angelique did everything she could to help all the girls that walked through that door, making Kendra wonder if the woman knew what kind of life these girls were coming from by personal experience. And it was by Angelique's suggestion that Kendra had attended some of her and Ramon's etiquette classes. Max had been there as well, but sorry to say, Kendra hadn't picked it up as well as her friend had. But that was no skin off anyone's nose. Upon realizing that Kendra wouldn't make it as one of his girls, Ramon had turned to finding out what Kendra loved. And when she had finally, shyly told Ramon about how she had always wanted to be an interpreter or work in some ways with languages, he had found her temporary gigs during the day in which she could put her extensive knowledge of the Japanese language to use. God love the guy, he was a saint.
Almost as much of one to her as her best friend in the world, Maxie Gueverra. Max had been distraught when she'd finally found out that Kendra had been hurt and she hadn't gotten there in time. Ramon had been the one to talk her down from outright snapping the guy's neck. And Kendra knew that Max would have made good on some part of her threat, since that was indeed how the girls had met. Max had just come to town with a friend and had seen Kendra getting roughed up. Taking exception to any female being treated like that, Max had delivered a little ass-kicking of her own that had the guy unconscious in a garbage heap in a matter of seconds. Convinced that those few moments before Max had shown up might very well be her last on this earth, Kendra had been overwhelmingly grateful to the other woman. Finding out that Max was new in town had led to an offer to crash at her apartment and that was the beginning of a wonderful friendship.
Kendra smiled and took another sip of her coffee. Oh, she couldn't wait to get shopping with her girl. They had so much fun just hanging out, what with Max's wicked sense of humor. It was just typical of her that she'd immediately thought to include Kendra in her little fashion jaunt, since Kendra absolutely loved dressing up, in many different ways. And even if she couldn't afford to shop in these places, Kendra knew exactly where to go. And thinking on this, she finally saw her friend approaching. She held up her coffee and then gave her friend a small wave. Max returned it and lengthened her stride up the street. Kendra waited where she was, by the kiosk, in case Max needed a little caffeine pick-me-up.
"About time girlie," she chided teasingly.
"Sorry," Max huffed good-naturedly. "I was waiting for housekeeping and then I needed to find something to... cover up... with." She gestured down at the long tan overcoat that she'd appropriated from the front closet of the hotel suite. It had to be Alexander's since Max doubted that the hotel would have left it to sit in there. And she was sure he wouldn't mind, since it was in his best interest as well that she wore it.
"Didn't want to give away the game to the hotel staff, huh?" Kendra asked sympathetically. She knew what was riding on Max's being able to pull off this gig.
Max shook her head and turned to the guy behind the counter. "One medium black please," she ordered, her money already out. The teen aged, pimply kid complied without response. Max and Kendra were fairly regular customers of his and he knew that they were too busy in their gossiping to care to speak to him. He handed Max her coffee and took up the money to enter it in the little cash box. Max fixed her coffee with a couple of sugars and then together, she and Kendra began walking off down the street.
"So," Max began as she blew on her coffee to cool it down a little before sipping. "Did J.J. ever show last night?"
"Nah," Kendra shook her head. "But Walter found me."
"That old sleaze bag," Max scoffed derisively. "What happened?"
"He just wanted to remind me that "rent" was due," Kendra sighed. Sometimes it was a pain in the ass, having to bribe the sector cops that patrolled their section of town, where they were in reality, squatting in an old abandoned building. But it was a hell of a lot cheaper than really renting.
"Damn it," Max sighed. "He knows he gets his payoff... what did he really want?"
"Just wanted to let me know that we could certainly pay up in other ways," Kendra frowned.
"As if," Max sneered. "Besides, we'll definitely have the money for him this time around."
"We sure will," Kendra agreed soothingly. "Oh speaking of, did he pay you yet?"
"Mm-mm," Max shook her head. But she did pull out the credit card he had left for her and discreetly flashed it to her friend, smiling at the appreciative gasp Kendra gave. "He paid me for last night and he'll get the rest to me when this whole gig is done."
"But he's good for it right?" Kendra pressed.
"Definitely," Max assured her.
"All right then," Kendra crowed, linking their free arms together. "Then boutiques a la snob, here we come!"
*****
It didn't take them long to make their way into the fancier sections of town, even if the sector cops eyed them askance as they checked over their sector passes. Passes that had seemingly cost Max a pretty penny to obtain. She never did tell her friend that she had broken into the hall of records and added their names to the roster of immediate issuance of Seattle wide passes. When they'd gone to City Hall to retrieve them, Kendra had been surprised, but from Max's hints, assumed that Ramon Carlton had provided them, as he did for all his girls. And Max never did correct her about that, just told her to keep it on the down low, or everyone would be after Ramon for his favors. Kendra had agreed.
They strolled along together, discussing different things that Max might need for the upcoming week. While Max had some idea, Kendra was able to fill in the blanks about the difference between what Max considered casual and what Alexander and his friend's would consider casual. There was a marked difference. Kendra pointed out in one window setting, the blouse and long matching skirt and wide brimmed hat that society called afternoon casual, as opposed to Max's idea of jeans and a t-shirt.
But at one store, Max stopped with a double take. "Ooh," she muttered to her friend, "look at that." She gestured up to the mannequin on display, wearing a fancy black cocktail dress with scalloped edging at the neckline. It would come to about mid thigh on Max in the right size. "Wouldn't that be great for tonight's party?"
"Definitely young grasshopper," Kendra giggled. "Go in?"
"Go in," Max agreed. They'd long ago discarded their cups since they didn't know of any clothing store that wanted food or beverages possibly ruining their merchandise. A bell chimed quietly over their heads as they pulled open the door and entered the softly lit spacious room. All around them were different styles of dress, all grouped by their intended function. Evening wear to the right, day wear to the left, sleep wear and personal things to the back. Max drifted to the right, straight towards the dress she had seen from outside. One hand drifted out to feel the silky soft floods of material in the skirt.
"Ahem," a voice announced from behind them. Both girls turned and smiled brightly at the well dressed young saleslady approaching them. "Can I help you?"
"Yes," Max gestured to the dress at her side. "I was wondering what size this was?"
"It's a size two," the woman answered automatically, her mouth tight. Max nodded, perfect size, especially since it seemed to be the only one there.
"And how much?" she added, recalling her promise not to "break" Alexander.
"Two," the woman answered, her voice if possible, almost squeaking with a thinly veiled nastiness.
"Hundred?" Max tried to clarify.
"No," the woman blinked rapidly. "Thousand. It's a Raphael Banks, imported straight from Italy. Perhaps a little out of your... range?" Her eyes flickered over Max and the girl realized then that her coat had fallen open. She fought the urge to snatch the folds of the coat around her once more, anger rising in her that she'd let this other woman make her feel badly about her appearance. Sure, the dress was revealing, but it was no worse than some things other women wore and hell, it wasn't like she was naked underneath.
"Actually," she lifted her chin decidedly, her own features taking on a haughty imitation of the saleslady before her, "I do believe I'd like to try it on."
"I'm sure you would," the woman returned, just as snarkily. "But I'm afraid that we don't encourage playing dress up here. Perhaps a department store would be more to your... style?"
"Hey!" Kendra protested, having been silent up until that point. "Our money is just as good as any one else's."
"I wouldn't dispute that," the woman barely glanced at Kendra. "Just the lack of depths in your... pockets. Now, I would ask you to please leave before I call security."
Max could see that her friend was gearing up for a fight to defend her friend, but it just wasn't worth getting escorted out by a large burly guard and drawing the attention of every other person in the place. And how would she explain it to Alexander if any of those women chanced to be at any of the gatherings they might attend. So silently, she nudged her friend and they rapidly exited the store.
"Stupid fucking bitch!" Kendra growled out as they hit the street, the door clanging shut behind them. She turned to see her friend's pensive face and immediately softened. "damn, I'm sorry Maxie. I should have brought you something from home to change into. I didn't even think."
"Don't worry about it," Max offered with a sad smile. "Like you said, my idea of clothes don't exactly match up with theirs. She probably still would have kicked me out."
"Probably not if you'd waved that card in her face," Kendra huffed, crossing her arms angrily over her ample chest. Max shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"She probably would have thought I'd stolen it and called the cops," Max mused. "And then we'd have an even bigger problem."
"You're right," Kendra conceded, her eyes roaming up and down the street. "Oh hey. I've got an idea. Come on!"
*****
It was perhaps six hours later that Vanessa Lane was strolling through the store that she so proudly worked in, a clipboard in hand as she prepared to do the quick evening inventory that was her newest responsibility. She knew that they had sold two dresses, plenty of hosiery, and some gloves. None of them had been her sales, but that was okay. Tomorrow was always another day. Vanessa headed over to the evening wear, since she knew she'd need to record the dress sales from there. Even as she began going over the dresses that were all proudly displayed on various mannequins, she heard the door open, the bell chiming softly to alert them to customers. She turned her head and saw Bridgette, her supervisor moving over to meet the two young ladies that had entered the shop so late in the afternoon.
"Good afternoon," Bridgette's softly cultured voice, the one that Vanessa strived desperately to emulate poured out like honeyed wine. "How may I be of service?"
"Actually," the taller of the two, a brunette, gestured in her direction, "if you don't mind, that's the lady I need to speak to."
If Bridgette was affronted, offended or taken aback, she certainly didn't show it. She just bowed her chin quickly in deference and snapped her fingers in Vanessa's direction. In fact, she looked almost... proud. Vanessa felt that special glow she always did when Bridgette put her attention in Vanessa's direction. There was a lot to learn from this woman and Vanessa was business minded enough to soak up everything this woman's brain had to offer. As Vanessa neared them , Bridgette stepped back, waiting expectantly, ready to help if needed. Vanessa was happy, judging by the number of bags each of the women carried, they were on the mother of all shopping trips. To bad they hadn't come to them first. But Vanessa was sure that had enough temptation in the shop to make this potentially late evening worthwhile.
"Yes, how may I be of service?" she asked, consciously echoing Bridgette's words and manner. The brunette smiled simperingly.
"Hello," she drawled. "Do you remember me?"
Vanessa blinked slowly for a moment, thrown off by the question. Did she... well there was something about the woman before her. "I..."
"I was the girl in here this morning," the brunette filled in for her. "Looking at the Raphael Banks cocktail gown," she prompted and Vanessa felt something akin to dread begin to fill her. "You wouldn't wait on me." Vanessa stifled a gasp as she heard a disapproving tutting sound coming from the blond at the other woman's side. She felt a distinct chill as the brunette began to prowl around her in a wide circle. "Tell me, you work on commission, don't you?"
"Y-yes," she managed to stutter out.
The brunette came to a halt in front of her once more. She held up her hands, the bags swinging gently into her sides. "Well, gotta say, big mistake. Big!" And with that, the two women turned on their heels and stalked from the store. Vanessa, her mouth gaping, could only stare after them.
"Oh Vanessa," Bridgette's disapproving tone filtered through to her ears. "How could you?"
"But I... I..." she stammered and then pointed after the women, now hailing a cab in the street. "She was dressed like a hooker!" she screeched, softly but indignantly.
"And how many times do I have to remind you that it is not our business to judge what these young girls consider fashionable?" Bridgette's stern voice rapped out. She did so quietly, mindful of other people in the store still. And then she said the worst thing possible, in Vanessa's estimation. "It seems, perhaps I was wrong about your potential in this store. I may have to rethink some things."
*****
494's steps were jaunty as he exited the elevator that had brought him to his floor in which he was housed. Digging in his pocket for the key card, he heard a brief commotion that caught his attention and made him realize that they key would be unnecessary. A woman, and it took hi a moment to realize that it was Max, was standing in the open doorway, calling out instructions to someone inside. There was a baggage cart parked outside their doorway, with a few shopping bags still residing.
"Just on the bed is fine," Max called out and then noticed his return. "Hey honey, how was your meeting?"
Realizing that she was playing it up for the hotel staff, 494 smiled and played along. "It was good. I see you've had a busy day?"
"Very," Max grinned up at him as her hand moved up to sweep the wide brimmed tan straw hat decorated with ribbons from her perfectly coiffed hair. "It was extremely... entertaining." She caught sight of a young man returning to them and pulled Alexander out of his way. The hotel porter deftly caught up the last remaining bags and took them swiftly to the bedroom as he'd been instructed. Before 494 could say anything, another young woman appeared in the bedroom doorway with a hesitant smile on her face.
"Would you care for me to unpack your luggage now ma'am?"
"Yes Lisa," Max nodded. "That would be fine." But before the woman disappeared back into the other room, Max lifted up her purse and removed the card that 494 had provided her with. "I've gotta say Alex, that that was a most appreciated birthday gift. Thank you sweetheart." She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Understanding, 494 squeezed on arm around her waist.
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," he offered back. Max let go of him, her purse still in hand and removed a bill from her wallet, pressing it into the porter's hand as he passed by them for the last time.
"Thank you Carlos," she spoke softly and the young man grinned up delightedly at them, accepting the tip.
"Any time Ms. Gueverra," he spoke quickly and with a soft accent that denoted his Latino background. He pulled the suite door closed behind him and Max led Alexander down to the sitting area.
"My luggage finally arrived from the airport," she said loudly enough so that if the other girl, Lisa, was listening, she would be heard and 494 was grateful that Max had paid attention to a lot of various details that he hadn't even thought of. She lowered her voice drastically then. "And it is returnable. But I thought it would be suspicious if I had nothing." 494 nodded. That was a good point. Then her voice rose in volume again. "And don't worry sweetheart, I bought plenty of things for you to enjoy too, mm?"
494 caught his breath as he realized exactly what Max was implying. "Well I should certainly hope so," he grinned. "Seeing's how I was footing the bill here."
"Oh you silly," Max giggled. "You know I always find something that you just can't resist?"
"And what is it this time?" he growled softly, getting caught up in their little playacting.
"You'll just have to wait until after tonight's party to see," she teased. "Oh, speaking of the party, come see what I got."
494 dutifully allowed himself to be dragged to the bedroom, where the hotel maid was carefully hanging her newest acquisitions into the wardrobe beside his own meager looking collection.
"Lisa, where's the, oh never mind, found it!" Max crowed as she pulled out a hot little black number from the closet. She held it up to herself and 494 let out a low whistle. It was black, it was tight and she was going to look sexy as hell in it. "What do you think?"
"I think we might not be going to any party after all," 494 growled as he closed the distance between them. He heard the maid's little giggle and held Max's eyes long enough to let her know exactly what his reaction to the sexy number and her earlier teasing was doing to him. Max echoed the maids giggle and gave him a little push.
"You go take a shower," she instructed. "Lisa and I will finish unpacking and then I'll start getting ready. Are you hungry?"
"A little," he admitted as he backed off. "You?"
"Famished," Max nodded. "I'll order a little something for now. It should be here when you get out."
"Sounds good to me," 494 nodded.
Half an hour later, fresh out of the shower, 494 and Max sat at the table, both in robes, though at opposite ends of the preparation process, talking over their days.
"And you should have seen the look on that girl's face when I flounced out of there with all those bags," Max giggled and Alexander smiled indulgently at her. She had already explained the trouble she and her friend had found at the start of their shopping trip. But thankfully, due to her friend's quick thinking, they had returned to Marjorie's store where Marjorie had performed another quick make-over, turning Max into the quality lady that would shop in those stores. Her suggestion that Max refer to her shopping trip on Alexander's dime as a birthday surprise for her and it was never once questioned. Max had also assured him that if she'd bought too much, that everything was returnable, all he had to do was say so. But 494 had questioned that himself when he'd met with his handler that morning and been satisfied with the fact that there was a slush fund Manticore had set up to deal with this sort of thing. It wouldn't look well for others to think that Alexander Spalding couldn't provide his girlfriend with all the necessities, even if the girl was supposedly independently wealthy.
In fact, his whole morning had gone well. His report of how well the girl had handled herself had impressed everyone, and the handler had been smug that his suggestion of using Carlton's had gone so well. Even if the girl wasn't one of Ramon Carlton's official girls, they knew he had trained her and his training was being put to good use. There was a minor, short discussion of avoiding certain problems, but 494 had it well in hand. And so the decision to carry on as planned was handed down. And after that meeting, there'd been the meeting of the unit to go over the latest Intel they had for the planned heists. Since they had discovered the facial recognition database program, coupled with some other technology, it had also come to light that someone in the Cale Industries had become aware of Manticore and was making some inquiries. Unsure as to what the nature of the inquiries would be, Manticore had instructed the team to pull a secondary mission of finding out what the hell was up with Cale and his cronies. What they knew, who they knew and what possible outcome there could be.
But none of that was here or there for 494. His mission was Max, and Max was all he cared about for the moment.
Chapter Seven
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