Chapter 102: Chapter Twenty-Four: The Fast and Fierce and Forever-2

I grinned, feeling a surge of affection for the old man who’d been my only family in the last decade of my life. “He’s tough but he’s a great judge of character.” “That doesn’t help me, Max, considering my character, especially when it comes to women, doesn’t recommend me at all,” Luke said, sighing. “As long as he can see you’re different with just one woman now, you’ll be okay in his books—I think,” I said. “You’ll be fine. You’ll get along with Gramps.” I could hear Luke blow out a breath and fidget for a moment. “I’ll do my best.” When I hung up, Zoe piped up from the depths of her big, fluffy pillow. “I have some stuff you can take for cramps.” “I don’t have cramps but I have a grandfather sitting outside my apartment for a few hours now, possibly interrogating my boyfriend and dicing him up until he’s down to nothing,” I said as I scavenged around for some of the new clothes I got last night so I could change properly. I didn’t care to do a walk of shame when I didn’t even get shameless at all. Zoe’s messy reddish blonde head pulled out from under her pillow like a turtle coming out of hiding. Despite being slightly haggard, she made a pretty turtle. “Your grandfather is here? But Alex was going to pick him early this afternoon…” She looked confused for a minute before expertly landing a hand on her cellphone amidst the clutter. She blinked at it and then squinted at the screen. “Oh, fuck,” she groaned before tapping furiously on the phone. “You give Alex one task in all this party-planning and he goes and messes it up.” I paused for a moment there as the implication of Zoe’s statement dawned on me. But before I could butt in, she started rattling off on the phone. “Rizzo. Why is Max’s grandfather already at her apartment ages ago? I thought you were picking him up from the airport at four!” Jillian groaned and pressed the back of her forearm over her eyes. “Can we please not scream the house down? My head already feels like it’s being jackhammered.” I ignored Jillian and watched the animated expressions on Zoe’s face as she went from being irritated to confused to stunned and back to being irritated again. After a short exchange she hung up on Alex and rolled her eyes at me. “Alex said your grandfather refused his offer to get flown out here. He booked his own flight and told Alex he’ll just meet up with us at the party later.” “Why are you telling her about the surprise party?” Jillian blurted out. Zoe swatted her hair away from her face. “Because you already gave it away.” She looked at me wryly. “Yes, there’s a birthday party for you later.” “Where?” Because seriously, my place was as cramped as a shoe box. “Luke’s penthouse,” Zoe answered. “Because he’s pushy like that. I had it all planned out but he decided to move the entire damned thing. He spent the whole afternoon yesterday hounding me on the phone about it. It’s a lot of work but he doesn’t care because he probably has event-planners at his beck and call.” My eyes got watery, and not from the hangover, as I stared at the two bleary-eyed women with wild hair who’d shown me more friendship than I’d ever known in my entire lifetime. “You know you didn’t have to, right? But thank you anyway,” I said before I lunged at each of them for a quick hug. Jill patted me on the shoulder. “You deserve good things, Max. You’ve got to let them happen to you.” Zoe grinned and hugged me back tightly. “Jill’s right. And I think you already know it too.” After that, I headed for the bathroom to pop an Advil, splash some water on my face, gargle some mouthwash and tame my hair into a scraggly ponytail. Wearing a new shirt and jeans, I lugged my stuff down and out of Zoe’s high-rise condo and took a cab back to my apartment. I got off at Cleo’s where I looked around for my grandfather and Luke but there was no sign of them. I got myself a nice hot cup of coffee and a ham and cheese croissant to help my headache and walked the short distance to my apartment. Lo and behold, the two most important men in my life were sitting on the front steps, each drinking a cup of coffee and chatting—a little too seriously but at least they didn’t appear to be hostile with each other. “Gramps!” My screech drove needles into my head but I ignored it as I hurried toward my grandfather. He was not a very tall man but he was strong with a broad build from years of working in the farm when he was much younger. His skin was tanned and wrinkly, his thin hair a bright silver in the mid-day sun. He looked up, his dark eyes, hooded with age, lighting up and crinkling at the corners as he flashed me a rare smile. But my grandfather was much too formal of a man to sweep his granddaughter up in a hug, even when it had been over six months since he’d last seen her. He pulled himself up to his feet, stepped around his small overnight bag and waited for me with his hands clasped together over his stomach. But I was a different Max from the one who left home half a year ago. I was freer with my emotions, knowing their price and willing to pay them if it meant I could collect precious moments like this with people I cared about. Luke had gotten up too and stood beside my grandfather but I merely handed him my coffee to hold before I threw my arms around Gramps and squeezed him tight for a hug. “I missed you, Gramps!” I said before finally stepping back to get a good look at him. “I can’t believe you came all the way to see me!” It was the first time I’d ever seen my grandfather blush but then we’d spent years not talking too much about how we felt. He was a reserved man who did not talk about his emotions and that had just always been his way. When I lived away from home, all he required was a quick call once a month to see how I was doing and if I needed anything. There were no I-miss-yous or anything of that sort. It would be a bit of change for him, to deal with a more expressive Max, but he would just have to get used to it. “Alex called out of the blue to say he and your friends were arranging a birthday celebration for you,” Gramps said. “He wanted me to come. I didn’t have much going on so I thought I’d make the trip and see you. And see how you’ve been doing.” His brows drew in as he studied my face. “I must say though that if you’re spending weekends drinking too much to not remember them, you’re not doing well.” I laughed and winced again when my head throbbed. I glanced at Luke who was smiling sheepishly and just shook my head. “This is the first hangover I’ve had in my entire life, Gramps, so I don’t think you have to worry. It was just me and couple of girls and I think Zoe just got a bit overgenerous with the amount of vodka she was splashing on our cocktails.”