12 The deal first version

Outside of the restaurant…

"Do you care to explain?", Liz asked with a scowl as soon as they stepped outside.

Max closed his eyes and took a deep breath. At this point, he is out of excuses and coming up with a good lie on the spot was never his strong suit. The current situation is absolutely outside of his calculations, so his only option is to be honest: "My family is pressuring me to settle down with a girl, and in a spur of the moment I told them that you are my girlfriend... like a real relationship girlfriend..."

Liz was hoping that he is lying, but why would he come up with such a lame lie? And what happened with thousands of girlfriends? Liz has so many questions, so she picked one: "Why me?"

Max shrugged, like it's not a big deal. "On Monday, in the hospital, Hunter saw you exit from my room and… it started from there. It was never my intention to drag you into this. I thought I will never see you again, and after a week or two I would tell them that we broke up."

His casual attitude pushed her buttons.

"How dare you use me as your pretend-girlfriend?!", she raged, ignoring his hand signals which indicated that she should lower her voice.

"You used me first to get a ride!"

Liz could not refute this. It's the truth. She even remembers shamelessly clinging onto Max's arm while telling the paramedic that she is his girlfriend, and Max played along by not exposing her. Thinking about it now, Liz has no regrets. Thanks to that she reached her interview on time.

Max can see that Liz's fighting spirit diminished, and he decided to give it a try: "Can you do this for me? Please? It's just a lunch. Hunter arranged for this charade, so he probably knows that our relationship is fake. This is just for Rina's sake. You only need to sit, enjoy the meal which Hunter will pay for and don't correct my sister when she says that we are dating. I never told them anything about us as a couple, or you... other than that you work in a hospital. I didn't say in which one because I don't know if you got the job or not. So, it's up to you if you want to say anything or not. I will not touch you. Rina already assumes that you are shy, so lack of any physical affection will be expected."

Liz pursed her lips while thinking how he is not asking for much, but… "What's in it for me?"

"What?" His disbelief was floating between: 'she is considering it!' and 'she wants something?'.

"Why would I do anything for you without a benefit for me?", Liz asked matter-of-factly.

"Whatever you want. Name it."

Max has no problems with this. If they convince Sabrina that they are dating, he will get at least few more weeks of his parents not nagging him, because his sister will also confirm that the girlfriend-Liz is real.

"Whatever I want?", Liz mused. "That's a blank check. This must be important."

"Well… it is.", Max admitted.

His biggest problem in last few years are his parents pressuring him to settle down. If he can get a temporary truce, no matter how short it is, he will take it. And after the (fake) breakup he will mourn for the loss of his (fake) girlfriend, and that will buy him at least few more weeks... the more he thinks about it, the better it looks.

Liz thought for few seconds. "No parties."

"What?" He didn't understand. Does she want him to be a monk? For that price, maybe he should get a real girlfriend.

"I don't want you to have any loud parties in your apartment. For one year.", Liz clarified.

Max is happy that this is limited to his apartment, and he nodded in agreement. In any case, he is not the one to host parties. Max does not like people touching his stuff. But her condition is strange. "Why do you care about what I do in my apartment?"

"Because I'm in 31A."

Max stared at Liz and remembered the young woman who he met that morning in the elevator. "No… the girl staying there is shorter, white hair…"

"That is my housekeeper…" Liz noticed Max's confusion. "Wait! Hunter didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"That I'm your neighbor…" How Liz sees this, Hunter invited Max for the lunch. Why didn't he mention that Liz will be there, his neighbor? "Hunter was in my apartment last night. He helped me with some boxes and to order delivery for dinner."

Max thought about the previous evening... "Last night, Hunter stopped by and told me to come for lunch. And this morning he just sent me the place and time, without anything else... Wait, did you say delivery for dinner? Was it from an Asian restaurant?"

"Yes."

Max leaned on the wall and exhaled. The things are starting to make sense... "He was at my place after yours. I found it suspicious that he came for only few minutes and asked random questions about you, I mean... about my girlfriend. He knew."

Liz leaned on the wall next to Max and exhaled. "I can't believe that he used me, and I fell for it without suspecting anything. I mean... I suspected something, but I was totally off mark."

"What did you suspect?"

Liz's eyes shifted nervously. How can she tell him that she suspected that Hunter is the lecherous neighbor (aka Max)?

Liz waved her hand dismissively, indicating that she does not want to talk about it.

She turned toward Max and looked him in the eyes. "I will be honest. I don't like that Hunter used me. I don't want to allow him to get away with whatever he is plotting right now, and I'm tempted to walk away and leave you hanging. You asked me to pretend to be your girlfriend for this lunch, and I am considering it, but I am serious about no parties in the apartment. I don't want to hear any noise in the middle of the night. Also… I want your promise that this lunch is the only time I need to go through this. You come up with a breakup story without involving me. Do we have a deal?" Liz extended her arm for a handshake.

He shook her hand and confirmed. "Deal."

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Max smiled. It's not that he got Liz to non-hostile, but he got her all the way to a status: an ally. Oh, this is so much better!

After the handshake ended, they stood in front of each other for few seconds, not knowing what to do.

"Let's go back. Here…", Liz extended her arm toward him again, but this time palm up.

Max raised an eyebrow questionably.

Liz rolled her eyes. "Your sister needs to believe that we are dating, right? So, we should hold hands while walking. It will be more convincing."

Max tilted his head and looked at her hand for few seconds like it's a foreign object before saying: "I don't hold girls by their hand when we walk."

When he thinks about it, they either walk side by side or the girl clings onto his arm, but they don't hold hands. Last time HE held hands with a girl was in college with…

"And where DO you hold them?", her question interrupted his thoughts.

Liz frowned. "Wait! Don't answer that… Just… Come on…", she grabbed his hand in hers impatiently and led the way inside.

The sooner they start, the sooner they will finish. And she is hungry.

A smile crept on Liz's face while thinking that she got a good deal out of this: a free lunch and a guarantee that Max will not disturb her peace.

And she will get back at Hunter for using her. How dares he!

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