Maxine Rogers

Steering to the side in time for the ball of paper to miss him by a few inches, he shook his head at her, although with a smile still present on his lips. He could tell that she was in a fairly good mood, which was impressive, considering how bad she had made her night sound like. Maybe the reason was simple; maybe it was because the two of them had finally been able to reunite. It was hella early in the morning to be up without even having to go to work yet, but even James didn’t find it too much effort to be up, not with Max around. “Maybe you could use the break then. Maybe we both can.” He wouldn’t admit it, as he didn’t enjoy the slow pace of things just yet, but it was probably good for him as well to take a break every once in a while.

Had it not been for her way of quickly smoothing it over, the way she almost choked on her coffee would have been a real hint on that something was up. Maybe if they had spent more of the past three years together he would still have been able to see through her, but right now, he just shrugged it off as nothing. “Yeaah, I hope you’re right. I don’t want anything to do with that dick.” It all was another story he didn’t feel like getting into at the moment, but seeing as he didn’t know a lot of people yet (and even fewer who know about how he felt for the guy), he just had to complain about it to someone. “But yeah, alright, I don’t wanna get into that shit again. I’m in a good mood and I’m not gonna let that prick ruin it. Change of subject, please?”

Max hid behind her cup of coffee, strategically keeping it over her bottom lip to conceal the fact that she knew Rafe, and knew him more than well. Her fingers tapped on the mug anxiously as well as her right leg bouncing up and down, but these were just nervous tics of Max that could be excused with nervous about her audition in a couple hours. “It’ll be alright. You guys are older now, and if he turns out to be a total dick still, then you just gotta show him who’s the most mature out of both,” she quirked an eyebrow, sounding as if she knew, and James knew she was the voice of reason here. Even if she had fits of pettiness where she would stop talking to people just because they ate her microwaveable mac and cheese. It went away fast, though, unable to live with herself and no one to talk to her. “N’aww– do I put you in a good mood?” She grinned, blowing a small kiss his way. “Alright, change of subjects.... Do you remember this girl– the redhead– Jane? The one you thought you liked for like three days and shit? Well, guess what. She’s in jail.”

Helena made an I-guess-you’re-right sort of face, knowing that perhaps she shouldn’t have sounded so surprised that she’d slept with a guy when in LA… or many. She was just excited to hear some spicy gossip from her friend. Her eyes narrowed a little, curious by what she’d meant by ‘it got messy’, but hoped Max would elaborate on that without her having to ask. “You did?” she queried, a little hint to push her along. She squinted her eyes further as Max held the phone up, reading the text message on the display. “Wow,” she bit her lip, wanting to laugh. “Graphic, much? But hey, maybe you want more too,” she smirked at her friend, wriggling her eyebrows. Her interest was certainly sparked further by the mention of him being from Lanford. It only emphasized the likelihood of her statement that Max wanted more. “And hey again, you’re not the only one that got lucky.” Or almost lucky. And Helena wouldn’t exactly call her little get-together lucky. More unlucky.

Max sighed. Had it not been for the three shots in her bloodstream already, she would have gotten a headache to just remember the whole mess with Rafe and the girlfriend (or ex-girlfriend, she assumed). “Someone pretty high key got involved, or I guess I got involved in something– I don’t know. Hollywood business is dirtier than one would imagine,” Max rolled her eyes, then brought them back to the screen of her phone, the text still there waiting to be responded. “Yeah, it’s not like he’s smooth or anything,” she complained, often wondering what in the world had she been thinking the first time he had even made out with Rafe. She wasn’t, most likely. Her last braincells had been drowned in alcohol, or so she excused herself with. “I– alright, it was not the best dick I’ve hopped on, but it wasn’t bad. And I’m so fucking dry, Hele, I would consider sitting on his face, but fucking?” She twisted her mouth, then clicked her tongue as she shook her head. “I’m not sure about that.”

As she played around with the phrase that he had just given out, Philip’s classic smirk began to creep its way onto his lips. The way that it made itself appear this time around was a bit of a twitch at first, which was accompanied by a low chuckle– just one. It was seconds later that the reaction became more of a toothy grin, lifting up the almost empty drink that he had been working on, taking a quick sip. “Yeah, exactly–” He mused, eyes trailing along her frame as he spoke. “A lil’ unreasonable… Go ahead, order what you want.” There was a brief pause, however, as Philip turned his attention towards the tender, “Hers– and then I’ll take another Jameson.”

At the confirmation of ordering what she wanted, Max wondered if this perhaps was all she was after in life, some entertainment and free drinks. She could live off of this, though if she ever admitted it out loud, it would probably make her seem depressed. Which wouldn’t be too wrong either, but denial was the second sweetest thing aside from brandy. She tilted her head then, hair cascading down the side of her face. “I once met a guy who drank Jameson. He was an asshole. Don’t be like that guy,” she said, adding a wink then turning back at the bartender. “Make that two.”

                                   “Maybe, or maybe I’m estimating it just right,” he countered, wiggling a brow, as if challenging her. He’d never be the kind of person who tried to talk people into having kids though—- that wouldn’t be fair, no matter how much he wanted everyone to know how great it actually felt. “Aw, well next time you’re annoying yourself, come annoy me instead— I need grownup company, I’m severely lacking it,” he said, grimacing lightly, though a laugh softened it. “Black coffee coming right up.” He stood from his seat, pulling out his wallet before he glanced down at Mia and then at Maxine. “Keep an eye on her for me? She most likely won’t do anything but sleep,” he promised and headed off towards the counter, putting in their order.

“Oh, my God. You called me a grown up,” Max said with a smile, a hand on her chest as if she were proud and glad about it. “How nice of you,” she rolled her eyes then broke into a chuckle. “Tough job being a full time dad, I see?” She asked, but she already knew the answer. It was more to make conversation than anything else. She was bad at run-intos and the world by now was probably aware of that. Max felt slightly panicked when she was left alone with the baby. She looked deeply asleep, but at the sign of any kind of movement, Max jumped to put a hand on her small body and cooed her back to sleep. She wouldn’t admit it, NEVER EVER, but she felt endeared in that moment, to the point where she even blushed when Adam was back with her. “She... definitely did nothing but sleep.”

An amused smile easily landed on his lips in Max’ presence, seeing as they were both good at mocking each other. It was just a part of what they did, and a part of why they worked so well together. “Greasy? Sounds like you need glasses, because there’s nothing greasy about these curls.” James was what you could probably call a shower-maniac, taking a shower each day. He just hated the feeling of not being fresh, especially so when you were supposed to look your best in front of others; women or clients. “What? Just because we never got down to the fucking, doesn’t mean you’re not still one of my girls, Max.” His words were teasing, but also well-meant. If anything, Max was probably his only girl. The only girl he really let into his life, and the only girl whose back he would always protect. “But thanks. Now every time I see that bra I’ll think of you. And that’s gonna be weird.”

As she started to reply to his actual question, she was, as per usual, not giving much details the first time around. In her defense, he probably wouldn’t have either if it was him. “I don’t know about homey. I miss the city. More stuff going on. Less chance of running into people you used to know.” As he processed his own words, a slight frown entered his face. “You know I ran into that asshole Delgado at work the other day? I wanted to punch his fucking face in.” While Max didn’t know all their history (because that car accident was something he had never managed to share with her), she knew more than enough. “Obviously I couldn’t. I didn’t want to get fired again.” James was so focused on the subject that he didn’t even realize that the reasons behind his change of work had just slipped out. “But knowing he’s in town is reason enough for me to just want to move the fuck away from here.”

“Aw,” Max said dramatically touching the left side of her chest, “think of me while you fuck one of your blondies. I’m so honoured,” she teased, making a ball out a paper napkin she found on the table and tossed it at him. She was in a playful mood apparently so, which was better to the alternative after a rough night where she would barely speak and everything would seem tedious and boring. She then realised she had made the right decision about coming to James, even if he had just woken up. She would find a way to repay him later, send him a cake or something. “Well, I know I would be damn happy if I don’t have to be stuck in traffic ever again, but I know that’s unrealistic,” she sighed, “I’m just cruising the slow life right now. Los Angeles was hectic like nothing else.” 

Max sighed, bringing her cup of coffee to her lips. She had just taken a small sip when James had to mention Rafe, which she had forgotten he knew and was now in trouble, but not really, considering she had signed some sort of discretion contract that would keep her safe from the world to find out. Apparently. She almost choked on her sip, but played it off with just a little cough and clearing her throat. “Oh, come on,” she rolled her eyes, trying to act natural, “you talk about him as if you guys were like... high school kids or something fighting over some chick who blew you both,” Max said, unaware of the actual story behind them two. “It’s not like you guys go to the same places all the time. I’m sure you’ll be okay.”

“Uhhh—“ Helena wasn’t quite sure where to start, actually. Since she’d last seen Max, but come to think of it, that hadn’t been too long ago. “Starting… last week?” She wasn’t even making sense anymore. The drink couldn’t be getting to her that quickly, surely. If forced to describe her own week, she knew there wouldn’t be much to say… lie. For once, there’d be a lot to say, bu the blonde would get to that later. Her attention was caught as instead of providing an answer to her question, Max seemed distracted by a text message. Frowning lightly, she wanted to grab the phone from her grasp and see who it was, but as per usual she had to hold herself back from being meddlesome. “Wait, what?” Helena exclaimed, moving nearer to Max now, eager to hear more. “You slept with a guy in LA? Why do I not already know this… who is he? What’s his name? Can I see the message?” So much for holding herself back. Oh well. Max should know Helena enough by now to know that yes, she was a little crazy.

“What?” Max responded, it was in the turn of her head that she felt the drinks going up to her head almost right away. Maybe she should have actually eaten something before coming over, but now it was too late to regret her decisions. If anything, now she would drink more to make it worth it. “Hele, I was in LA for two years. I slept with too many men in LA,” she said, stating as if it weren’t obvious, but she knew what the blonde meant. She shook her head. “Can’t say much. It got messy, so I had to sign a whole discretion contract or whatever those shits are called so my name wouldn’t come out and get dragged by the whole thing,” she explained, but since she didn’t really have the name saved on her phone, she felt free to show the text. “He wants to fuck me behind bush, apparently... He’s from Lanford, did I mention that?”

There was a bit of a smirk that curled onto his lips while overhearing the little banter happening beside him. But hey– the chick had a point. The prices for these damn drinks could be a little bit easier on the wallet, especially for the slight lack of quality. But, oh well, Philip wasn’t going to fight it. He knew well enough to pre-drink, or take a little hit before waltzing his way into this place. 

“It’s a little unreasonable, sure.” Those were the few words that chose to leave his mouth before turning his head to look over at the other. There was a bit of a shrug that followed, as if to say What can you do?  But of course, his approach was a bit more relaxed at the moment, mostly given the fact that, yes– he was high; features soft, eyes tinted pink. 

“I can cover the cost of that drink for ya, sweetheart, I don’t mind at all–” Dirty money had no issue being spent. 

“Unreasonable? It’s not even top shelf,” Maxine argued further, not even as mad as she was bored and in need of some distraction. Sometimes, most of the times, whining about something as vain as the price of a drink came with something. Either getting kicked out of the bar or getting his drink for free, Max was fair game for either in that moment. She gave a look at the man next to her, familiar features sure, but at this point everyone in fucking Lanford looked familiar, so she didn’t give much importance to that. “Are you sure? It’s, you know, ‘a little unreasonable’,” Max said, using the words and the tone he had used before.

“Fifteen bucks for a fucking drink?!” Max whined as she was reading through the list of drinks in the bar. It wasn’t his regular, normally liking to be as far away from home as she could to avoid judgment from people she could run into during the day, but here she was, too lazy to go any further. “This is a fucking excess, isn’t it? Isn’t it?” She said, turning to her right as if to get the person next to her to back her up. 

A small chuckle escaped his lips then, once again amused by her being overly-dramatic. Was she not woman enough? Max was as much woman as any other, that wasn’t the difference here. But even if she technically had it all — the nice rack, sweet ass and sassy attitude —James didn’t look at her the way he looked at others. She was his friend, and while she was definitely the hottest friend he’d ever had so far, allowing her to step into his home was totally fine; he had seen the mess she had at her place, so of course, it would be no problem for her to see his. “You said it yourself — there’s no one like you. I know you don’t care about my shit.” It was a weird compliment that he said in the nicest way possible, and just how much she decided to take it to heart was up to her. James may generally be good at expressing himself in speech, but he wasn’t really the mushy type. 

For the amount of time Max spent in the shower, James had the apartment for what seemed like himself. Not that he spent his time wisely, only heading back to the bedroom to pull on a pair of sweat pants before heading back to the kitchen, settling down with a cup of the freshly-brewed coffee by the table. His own shower would probably happen later, even though it would sure have been a good way of waking himself up right now. “You’re right — must be a new record.” As the brunette walked back into the room, his gaze landed on her face, though quickly sweeping down over her body. “Nice bra. Saw a girl wearing one just like it a couple of weeks back. Didn’t let it stay on for long, though.” Leaning back in his chair, the teasing smile on his face grew as the memory of the scene played out before his eyes. “But don’t worry, you can keep yours.” Making sure to add the last part, he was confident she would have remarked on it otherwise. “So, you gonna catch me up on what you’ve been up to lately or what?” Wrapping his fingers around the cup of hot coffee, James furrowed his eyebrows as he continued. “Or at least tell me what’s so special about this town, because so far I’m not fucking seeing it.” Lanford wouldn’t exactly have been his first pick if he had been given the chance to choose freely, and while he probably would have been able to get a job elsewhere, this opportunity was just too good to pass on, and with no need for previous references. His old boss would probably not have left him the greatest recommendations, hence the need for a new employer who wasn’t too picky but would still be able to pay good. So far, the work had been decent enough, but living in a smaller town like this wasn’t exactly James cup of tea to begin with.

“Don’t be an ass,” Maxine responded, still drying her hair with a towel she had found under the sink and hoped to God it was clean (it smelled clean and that was enough for her). “I bet it takes a sweet long time to get those greasy curls clean nowadays,” she teased. James’ hair seemed longer than last time– she couldn’t just let that one go. At the comment on her bra, Max didn’t even thought of holding back a laugh. “Yeah, it was on sale. I expect you to see it at least three times this month– thanks for making me feel like just another one of your girls, though. I really, really appreciate that,” she shook her head and slid onto another chair, her own cup of coffee between her hands. She had been wanting this since she woke up in that other dude’s house (she couldn’t even remember the name, which wasn’t a weird thing anymore), and she could have had coffee there had she waited a little longer, but she wanted to save herself the trouble. 

“There’s really not much going on,” she sighed exhaustedly. “Just... you know, rejection, bad decisions... Same old. Turns out having a lead in a TV show doesn’t get you jobs faster,” she shrugged. It was clear she was bitter about something, but it wasn’t like she was doing much to fix it. She had money still, didn’t have to worry for much, so why try any harder? “Who said there was something special?” Max scoffed. “It’s cheaper than the city. More homey and chill too. I don’t know if I could do the city living again.”

“Okay, enough about fucking Montana,” Helena dismissed the topic with a laugh, eager to get the two of them wasted. She wouldn’t call herself an alcoholic, but thinking about it, Helena did drink most weekends… and a couple of times during the week. It was just another thing she had in common with Max, and another reason why they got on so well. Having a lot of time on her hands really didn’t help with the matter, but at least she was trying to find a job. A temporary job, as she did plan on going back to Florida very soon. Procrastination at it’s best. “Ready!” she bellowed, pushing three of the shot glasses towards Max. “Three… two…” Without finishing the countdown, Helena downed all three shots, beating her friend to the punch. “Ha! I win. I win.” She always did love to have something to boast about. “Okay, whilst we wait for the vodka to do it’s magic, tell me what you’ve been up to. I want no gaps.”

Maxine eyed the three shot glasses set in front of her, knowing it was already a very, very bad decision, but like the rest of her life, a bad choice had never stopped her. At the count of three, which was more like two, Helena had already started downing the shots. Max started just a moment later, but her clumsy hands had taken longer to switch between shots and finished almost one full second later. “That was fuckin cheating!” She whined, still cringing as the alcohol burned down her throat and warmed up her stomach. She hated herself for not eating something more substantial earlier but it was too late now. “Gosh, starting when?” Max chuckled. There wasn’t much to tell, really. She was unemployed and even though she’d had a couple meetings and a few auditions, nothing was really closed. She was still getting money from the tv series, which was still airing on TV and would be up on Hulu or something, but she knew it wouldn’t last too long. In that moment, her phone buzzed with a text. She rolled her eyes at the name. “This guy I slept with in LA– he’s in fuckin town and thinks I’m a booty call or some shit. This is it. This is what my sad life has become.”

RAFE: I'm just a poor boy nobody loves me

RAFE: He's just a poor boy why won't she give him a blowie

RAFE: Fair b.

RAFE: I'll give it a quick rinse in the lake?

RAFE: It's pretty dead ngl so imma be a good pal and tell you not to waste your time but know that I'll be thinking of you in the bush.

Max: u r gross

RAFE: Thought you were on the pill...

RAFE: Jkjkjkjk

RAFE: What you actually doing tho

Max: I am, but i won't let that dick in me when i don't know who's had it in before me :*

Max: It's attached to you so pardon the lack of trust