"Good morning, Liz!", Olivia greeted Elizabeth when she saw her exit the master bedroom. "I was thinking of checking on you in a bit."Olivia was arranging fresh groceries in the fridge.
"Hi Olivia.", Liz greeted her back.
"So, tell me: who is the hunk from last night?", Olivia went straight to the topic.
Liz paused. "What makes you think that there was a hunk here last night?"
Olivia turned to Liz and gave her a "who are you kidding?" look before pointing with her chin toward the table in the living room.
"Considering that you are hanging out with Anderson brothers, I know that you have high standards. Based on that I a.s.sume that whoever was here last night is a hunk.", Olivia explained.
Liz saw two wine gla.s.ses on the table and sighed.
"Before you get any crazy ideas, I want to tell you that we only watched a movie."
"Sure, whatever you say." Olivia grinned. "So, how was the movie?"
"Which movie?"
"The one you watched last night.", Olivia said teasingly. "If you ONLY watched a movie, then you should know what you were watching, right?"
Liz pursed her lips while thinking how to answer this. There were two movies. One was interrupted by Quentin, and she slept off during the second one… so technically, she didn"t watch any of them properly and they are all mixed up in her head, and…
The bedroom door opened, and Max stepped out.
"I can"t find my t-shirt.", he said while walking toward Liz.
Liz felt that there is an avalanche of questions ready to burst out of Olivia who is obviously gawking from the kitchen, and there is half-naked Max walking toward her... Oh, G.o.d! Is he walking in slow motion or did her perception of time shift?
"What do you mean you can"t find it?", she decided to handle Max first.
He shrugged helplessly. "It"s not in visible range, and I"m not sure if it"s OK for me to go through your stuff. Don"t worry about it. Let me know when you find it."
Max leaned closer and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I will be back before noon to pick you up for lunch."
He turned and paused when his eyes landed on Olivia.
"Hi", he said with a small smile before letting himself out.
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Liz stared at the closed door for some time while thinking, where can she hide from Olivia? Well, considering what Olivia saw, there is no safe place on the planet.
"Before you ask anything… make us coffee.", Liz told Olivia and plopped on the sofa in the living room. She might as well face her interrogation with a morning coffee.
…
Olivia scrutinized Liz over the table and two mugs of coffee. "Only a movie? Are you going to sell me again the story how the two of you are only friends and there is nothing going on?"
Liz shook her head in surrender. "No matter what I say, you will not believe me. So how about you tell me what happened."
"Are you sticking to the story that nothing happened? Liz, Max freaking Anderson came out of your bedroom half naked… after spending the night there… with you! And are you going to deny that he kissed you before leaving? Oh, he didn"t really leave-leave, he just crossed the hallway and he will be back in a little over two hours. Am I wrong?"
Liz sipped her coffee while thinking how it does sound bad. Looking at Olivia, there is no way that she is buying the story that they are only friends no matter what Liz says. Unless she reveals that Max is gay, but… even if she says that, Olivia will not believe her. Olivia is absolutely convinced that Max is a lady-killer and there is no way that Liz can change her mind.
Well, it does not matter, does it? She might as well get Olivia off her case.
"Fine. You caught me red handed. We are dating.", Liz said flatly.
Olivia was visibly shocked. "Really?"
"You don"t believe me when I say that there is nothing going on, and now you don"t believe me when I say otherwise. Pick one."
Olivia narrowed her eyes at Liz. "There are few things which don"t add up…"
Liz rolled her eyes. "Enlighten me."
"Why would you date a guy whose behavior you described as despicable? I don"t know you for a long time, but I know that you are a straightforward and an honest person. When you scolded me for glorifying his outrageous behavior for treating women as disposable items, I believe you meant it."
Liz shrugged while thinking that all that can be explained ONLY if Olivia would believe that Max is gay and that his "despicable behavior" is hiding his true nature. But Liz knows that Olivia will not believe that, so… "OK. Anything else?"
"Yes. Going to the point that the two of you ARE dating… Maximilian Anderson does NOT date women."
Liz"s eyes lit up thinking that Olivia is onto something. Finally, the explanation is only one step away! "Is he dating men?"
Olivia grimaced. "No. I didn"t mean that he is swaying that way. When I said that he is not dating women, I meant that he does not build relationships with dinners, outings, flowers, spending time together... those kinds of romantic things. Girls come to him, they spend one night together, have a good time and that"s it. Everyone knows that if he is having a dinner with a girl it"s one time only. Restaurants through the city are having a compet.i.tion who had seen more girls with him." She got her phone out. "Let me show you… there is a site which keeps track of it. They even take photos of them so that they make sure his girls don"t repeat, and restaurants get ranked based on the number of visits…"
The rest of Olivia"s words were a blur for Elizabeth.
Olivia sat next to Liz and handed her the phone.
The page had a t.i.tle: "Unique hookups of Seattle"s greatest playboy". Restaurant names were listed with numbers next to them. There was a poll where site visitors can cast their vote on which restaurant he will visit next, and if Max"s next date will be a blonde, a brunette or a redhead. Thousands of votes...
She found the name of the restaurant where Max took her on Sunday for dinner and saw the number 62 next to it. It was ranked as #11 in the list. Liz reluctantly tapped on the name of the restaurant, and just like Olivia said, Liz saw photos with dates next to them.
Latest entry is a photo of the two of them having a dinner: Max can be seen from the back. His handsome profile is in the view because his head is tilted slightly. His charming smile is directed at Liz whose face if fully visible.
There is a comment section below it:
"Who is Max"s latest squeeze?"
"Never mind who she is, I don"t mind squeezing her when he is done with her."
"To the commenter above: good luck with that. Everyone knows that when Max is done with them, they are not interested in anyone else…"
Liz could not make herself read further.
She gave the phone back to Olivia and walked through the bedroom straight to the bathroom and started a shower.
Liz told herself that it does not matter. Because it"s not true. Nothing happened. They are just friends. And she agreed to be his pretend girlfriend in front of his family because he needs a cover-up for his relationship with Quentin.
They are wrong. All those people are wrong! Max is not Seattle"s lecherous playboy! He does NOT treat girls like disposable items! He is a sweet and caring man who makes her laugh, and watches Jeopardy, and does not take advantage of girls! They are WRONG!
Liz wondered, why is her heart aching? Is it because of that photo which labels her as Max"s one night hookup? Or because of the comment section below? Or because they are smearing his name wrongly? Or because maybe, just maybe, they are not wrong?
Liz remembered that evening and how the staff in the restaurant almost ignored her while being nice to Max. On few occasions when they acknowledged her presence, they looked at her like she is trash. Is it because they saw her as trash? As Max"s disposable item?
Liz felt her eyes burning. No, she is not crying. It must be because of the shampoo which she still didn"t apply on her hair.
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