S H E .

               “how you doing, mrs.lewster?” he asked with a smile, sitting at the front desk of the museum as he flipped through the thick textbook he had open on the desk and waited for a new delivery to come in. his parents going missing had made him step up the plate in having to maintain the museum and library, luckily he’s been working at the place since he was 16 to know just how to do so. he continued his conversation with the old woman before she made her way, he smiled at the person across of him. “what can i help you with?”

max couldn’t remember the last time she was in the museum. perhaps it was when her nanny had brought her as a child? she could remember being here at least one time before. once she saw mekhai her smile only grew. she thought it would be much more difficult to find him. but there he was right at the front desk. “what can you help me with? more like what can I help YOU with?” she smiled and held up the bag of food she had in her hand. 

              “i’ve always loved him, you know.” she said with a smile, basking in the openness of their conversation. “he got mad at me once back in high school and i hated it. i didn’t know why but all i knew was, i didn’t like the way he didn’t look my way anymore. even made a stupid little cheer for him at his next game and all i remember is my heart racing when he looked at me with his stupid cocky smile.” she explained as she knew her sister may have not known the full story between her and the specific shaw. “i don’t think they’ll ever be a day, i won’t love him.” she lets out a small giggle, “the new nanny never saw it coming, who knew people could believe hauntings so easily.” val always had a plan and growing up with maxine had always solidified, she tried vying for their father’s attention but always failed and her relationship with their mom was just as messy. “oh you’ll know when it’s begun.” she peers over at her sister and gives her a smile, “and i can actually help you with that since i’ve spent a good amount trying to convince myself that i didn’t love grayson, also trying to force myself to love antonio. as rivera’s we use our brain before anything, we’re wired that way but the heart is pretty dead on when it comes to love. if he makes you happy, i think your heart is telling you something.”

“i know you have,” she chirped, “even when you had yourself convinced i could still see something. call it big sister intuition or something.” max couldn’t always read her sister but she thought she had a pretty good handle on how her sister felt about grayson shaw. “i understand hating them being upset with you, more than you even know,” she chuckled. max couldn’t stand the feeling that eki had hated her for those two months. the idea that he wasn’t happy with her tore her up inside. “i don’t remember that but i’m sure it was adorable.” max didn’t remember it because she wasn’t there. she had always kept a safe distance from val in high school. never getting too involved in whatever her sister was doing. “you really think i’ll know? you know i’ve never been able to read your business intentions. you have always been several steps ahead of me. ” that was the truth. val working for one of her biggest rivals had completely blindsided her. “we use our brain before our hearts, always have always will,” she sighed, “it’s just everything is so complicated. –– loving him isn’t complicated, it comes so easily. but then you add everything else on and it gets complicated.” 

                she’s already surprised on how much she’s told maxine but a little part of her wanted to be able to do this, to open up to her big sister and be normal for once. “i’ve loved him since i was 19, maxine. i get scared, you know, i feel like it could still crumble in my hands but i hate myself less because of him.” she lets the last part slip out and she doesn’t know how she could let it slip but she had hope that one day she’d be able to talk to the other about many things.  “i forget but she didn’t give me anything too scary, it was mediocre at best.  i didn’t discover the good stuff until i was like 11.” val had vivid memories of the woman, remembering the look on her face as she got yelled at by her mother and just smiling at the other.  “it was merely test and all of them failed.” she smiled. “no one is allowed to see that plan, it’s under extreme lock and key.” she watches max with a knowing look and leaned over as she gave her sister a comforting touch, “you once told me to start acting like a rivera and messing up and feeling like absolute shit in personal relationships is very rivera. you think i’ve forgiven myself for leaving grayson after his accident or being the worst type of girlfriend to antonio? there hasn’t be a day i haven’t regret it.” she tilted her head slightly, “but we try and you’re trying. we weren’t exactly raised to understand healthy relationships.”

max attempted to  think back for a moment to a time when they were this open with each other. she couldn’t think of one in the recent past. “you’re not nineteen anymore. you’ve both grown and changed, but not enough to where you can’t still love him,” she sighed. it was almost comical just how similar of situations they were going through. val struggling with gray and max struggling with eki. “i definitely remember when you discovered the good stuff,” she let out a soft laugh. the two of them had spent their entire childhoods practically at the other ones throat. alway vying for attention. “i can respect the plan being a secret. just let me know when the world domination part of the plan begins. that was i know when it’s time to finally give in.” her smile faltered slightly as the conversation turned more serious. “that is the most rivera thing we can do you’re right,” she let out another soft laugh. personal relationships had never been her strongest suit. no matter who it was at some point she had always put work before them, always put furthering her career in front of the people she cared about. max hesitated for a moment. “it’s just –– GOD i’ve spent that past two months trying to convince myself that i don’t feel things for him. that i don’t LOVE him. but i think i still do val. i think i held on so tight that i still love him.”

aj: we’re running plays, it’s important that we have them down so we don’t fuck up during the game

aj: i’ll be done in, like, 30 minutes

max: why are you texting me at practice huh ???

max: are you still at practice?

there was no point in arguing now, he’d lose. antonio silently nodded as she tilted his chin up, grimacing slightly. ‘’if you need anything at all, i got my bag over there to. i should have a few things in there, if.. y’know, you need ‘em.’’ he chuckled weakly, grimacing again. ‘’sorry for trying to fight you on this.’’

her hand rested underneath his chin and she gently moved it so she could get a better look at his injury. “i think you just need to get this cleaned up and you’ll be fine it doesn’t need stitches or anything like that,” she spoke before crossing over to his bag. she grabbed a couple antiseptic wipes before crossing back to him. “you’ve learned to not argue with a rivera, it’s a good lesson to learn.”

“i don’t think there’s a way to measure that. we’ve all got out our shit together it some areas and very much not together in other areas. in some ways we just balance each other out.”

“my mans? if you mean my FRIEND ‘eki i am SO ready for it. don’t get me wrong i think he’s good at what he does, but he’s not better than stanford.”

send  👀 for the moment my muse realized they’re in love with yours.

her eyes were drooping and max could tell she couldn’t fight off sleep much longer. her head rested on his chest and she could feel it moving up and down with every breath he took. max’s eyes glanced around the room they were sharing. she had stolen him away from summer practices for just a few days, so they could have some time just to themselves. her hand gently worked it’s way up and down his side. she tilted her head up to shift her gaze to him and grinned. their eyes locked for a moment and she let out a soft laugh. “hey you weirdo, stop staring at me,” she teased. 

send📱for a voicemail my muse left yours.

“alright ‘khai you didn’t answer me so that means you must still be asleep. which isabelle and i think is GREAT! sooo anyway the two of us already finished up mani pedis and i think we’re going to go shopping now. it’s too late for you to say no, right isabelle? you can’t see it but she’s nodding her head. anyway we’re headed out now, i’ll have her back in a couple hours.”

i don’t ... understand what you mean. they are two VERY different people, and I care about them in different ways. there isn’t just a way to choose or compare them. 

max sat at her vanity finishing up her last touches. she got up from her chair just in time to see the i’m here text from eki. she grabbed her purse before carefully walking downstairs and out of her house –– hoping nobody had seen her so dressed up. once she got into his car she smiled. “wow he got all dressed up and everything, i must be special,” max teased him and placed a hand on her chest. she leaned over to place a quick peck on his cheek, a smile still remained painted on her face. “i ought to start calling you fancypants instead of smartypants.”

– “NOW SHE’S calling me insane! tread lightly, babygirl, you just might hurt my feelings.” he sneered playfully, then, turning away from her in case she swatted at him for the nickname. he let her wrap her arms around him, settling into her space with one of his hips leaning against the edge of the counter – he was pretty sure he had a bruise there as he could feel the slight, dull ache ( from practice or the fight, he wasn’t sure which ). “and what if i’m not in one piece, huh? y’promise you’ll put me back together again?” his voice was a murmur, considering she was close enough to hear him now, a slight, fond smile on his face. “—-you did, but i’d never take a bite of your slice. i thought we had something special.”

“technically i didn’t call you insane smartypants. hurt your feelings? i would NEVER do that. –– again,” max teased him and made a face. she hoped he wouldn’t actually be hurt by the joke, she was testing the waters with him. that’s what the past week had been, just testing the waters and seeing where things went. “i do promise to put you back together. i’ve already done it once before and we both remember how that ended.” she grinned at him. “oh we have something special huh? you’re not just using me because i’ll bring you pizza and give you attention?” it felt so damn good to just be with him again, to feel like she was safe again. 

               “is it bad i wouldn’t be surprised if it was something illegal? i really do love her but i also expect her to do something that will make me have a heart attack one day. hey, i didn’t want my parents to give me everything and i believed it gave me the authentic growing up experience aside from the other things.” he gave her a smile, maxine was the only one who really could relate to him and he remembers being 15 and sitting in on important meetings because his dad believed he need to learn the ropes. he would rather be doing math homework at that point. “i’d love to but my dad’s got me heading up this new project and not to mention finals are coming up plus with cleona and delaney doing their own things i feel like isabella needs to feel that her siblings are still there. she would love that, how about you come with me to pick her up and i’ll have my five minutes with her and you could spoil her to your hearts content and i could maybe get some studying done at home.” he gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze, not caring about how affectionate they were in public. “sound like a deal, ms.business lady.”

“i would hope it isn’t anything illegal. from the limited amount i know about her i don’t know if she’s capable of that. please don’t have a heart attack ‘khai. i get that, not wanting everything given to you. i try to be careful about all of that,” she shook her head as she spoke. max always tried to be conscious of any sort of privilege she had. she had spent her whole life working and had become pretty confident in her ability to separate a good indulgence from a bad one. “oh you’re heading up a new project, mr hotshot? if it’s anything i can help with you know i will. you’ve got some time for finals, just take a deep breath about all of it. i would absolutely love that. you can even come with us to the spa and do work, OR you can stay home and take a nap while isabelle and i have a girl’s day. i know she loves you. but i think she could use a little attention from a big sister.” just being around him made max feel calm. she couldn’t quite figure out why but being close to him gave her a strong sense of security. “ms. business lady? you’re going to have to try a little harder.”