Chapter Seventeen
We pulled up in front of Bella Nepal after our silent commute. Max handed the valet his keys and walked around to my side of the truck to get my door. As he helped me down from the truck, my hand remained intertwined with his. I couldn’t help but think this was one tiny stab he had for Seth, walking into the restaurant with my hand in his.
The food was Italian, and the fragrance of the place was amazing from the moment we opened the door: a sweet tomato, garlic and basil scent. Amanda and Seth were at a table in the far back corner. When they saw us, both looked up and waved us to them. Introductions were easy, since Max and Amanda were the only two who hadn’t met yet.
Amanda nearly glowed, and I guessed that this might be her first real interview. After the waiter had taken our order and brought drinks, Amanda started, “Seth told me you really don’t want to be interviewed and you’re only doing this as a favor to him, so I had to swear that I wouldn’t ask you anything that you weren’t okay with. Rather than take the chance of falling out of Seth’s good graces,” she paused and glanced in Seth’s direction, “I typed up fifteen questions. You can strike through any five that you don’t want to answer, and I won’t bat an eye. Or if there is a question you think others may want the answer for that isn’t on the list, I’m okay with ad-libbing as well.” She had a genuine sincerity to her. If the circumstance of our dinner were not a precursor to an interview, she and I would’ve hit it off naturally.
“Well, thanks, I’ve never actually been interviewed for anything before, so hopefully I won’t come off like the village idiot.” We all laughed together.
Conversation throughout dinner remained easy among Seth, Amanda and me; Max stayed quiet for the most part, only participating if one of us asked him a direct question. After dinner was over, I was surprised when Seth said, “Hey, Max, you feel like stepping outside for a minute for some air? Lauren and Amanda can chat about the interview.”
Max must have sensed my sudden tension, because he reached under the table and put his hand on my knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Okay, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to walk around for a minute before dessert.” The two got up before I had the chance to protest.
Amanda was oblivious to my concern and handed me the sheet of paper she had mentioned earlier. All fifteen questions seemed benign, none giving me any reason for alarm. I handed the sheet back to her and told her that I didn’t have objections to any of them. After retrieving the paper, “Off the record, can I ask you a question?”
“Okay, but I may not answer it.”
“I know you and Seth were an item up until the shooting. What happened with the two of you? Are you just taking a break from each other?” Her question threw me off guard briefly, but I recovered quickly, since her question had nothing to do with our interview. I wondered if she got this impression from Seth? Maybe that’s what he thought? A breather - as if at some point we would pick back up. If I couldn’t make him understand, I knew I could make it clear to Amanda.
“No, it’s not a breather. Some people, no matter how hard they try, are never meant to be more intimate than friends. I love Seth with my whole heart, and nothing will ever change that, but my love for him will never grow into a romantic connection. I wrongly tried to fit the square peg in a round hole for years. After the shooting, the only thing that changed was the realization that we weren’t compatible that way.”
“So that look I see on Seth when he talks about you?” Amanda looked to the table when she asked this question, maybe out of embarrassment? Maybe concerned about my answer?
“Seth had a hard time accepting it at first, but it’s been months. I think he’s ready to invite someone new into his heart. This is the first time Seth and Max have been alone together, and assuming they both come back from their walk in one piece, I’ll know he’s ready.”
Her seriousness disappeared when she asked, “So, Max is a real hottie. How’d that happen?”
It felt strange to be so open with a near stranger. “He was the paramedic who treated me at the restaurant.”
“Yeah, but there’s got to be a story there. Near death experience, right?”
“Max is amazing. He’s got a heart the size of a Volkswagen. He’s had his share of tragedy in his life – but doesn’t wear it on his sleeve, you know? He’s got a weird way of showing it – but I know he cares for me a lot.”
“What do you mean a weird way?”
“You know I broke it off with Seth after the shooting, right?” Amanda nodded that she knew this much. “I wanted to start seeing Max right away, but he wanted to give me a chance to change my mind about Seth, maybe to get over him. He took a job out of state for a few months. At the time I was really pissed, but looking back I think it kept me from feeling guilty about what I’d done to Seth. It kept me from flaunting Max in front of him and making the whole situation worse. Weird right?”
“So you and Seth never tried to reconcile?”
“Square peg in a round hole: you don’t have to keep trying to know it won’t fit.”
Turning over my response in her mind, she opted to abandon the subject entirely. Amanda looked at the sheet of paper and said the camera crew would be set up at 7:00 in a private room upstairs. “I really appreciate you giving me an interview. My boss was ecstatic when I called and told him this morning. He’s going to be in the room just to make sure I don’t blow it. Outside of journalism school, I’ve never actually interviewed anybody.”
I was right. “So when did you graduate?”
“Well, I haven’t graduated yet. I’m a summer intern at the station. This fall I’ll begin my senior year.”
“So you’re a year younger than I am?”
“I graduated high school at seventeen, so I’m only twenty now.” This made me feel much better, like we were somehow on a much more level playing field.
I felt hands on my shoulder and looked up to see Max standing behind me. I smiled and he leaned into my ear and whispered, “I’m glad we came.”
I sat back in my seat and picked up the dessert menu. The curiosity of what the two had discussed was nearly unbearable. Not wanting the direction our evening was going to revert, I kept my curiosity to myself. The four of us all ordered dessert, and conversation that had been limited to three was suddenly easy among the four of us. When the check came, Amanda took the bill, “This one’s on my boss.”
As we stood up from the table, Seth announced, “We’re going to let you two do your thing while Max and I take a walk. Give us a call when the interview’s done.” I couldn’t help but give a grateful smile, because they both knew how much I was dreading the next fifteen minutes, and neither wanted to add to my anxiety.
Once we got upstairs, I was outfitted with a small microphone while a guy named Alex was adjusting lighting above two overstuffed chairs. He had a monitor pointing toward us that let us see how we looked on camera. Amanda and I both did a quick once over, and we were ready. Her boss was a friendly older gentleman. He must have sensed that we were both nervous and gave us a few words of encouragement before he took a seat behind the camera.
Amanda looked directly into the camera and introduced both herself and me to the viewers and began, “Lauren, three months ago you single-handedly foiled a robbery attempt at the Tasty Burger on Main. How have you been since then?”
“I’ve been good. This is my senior year of college, so most of my time has been much more focused on getting through my classes and graduating, rather than on the robbery.”
“During that robbery you were shot in the leg. Have you had any problems, or are you back to one hundred percent?”
“The pins come out at the six month mark, the rod they put in will be there forever, but I can walk okay without crutches. I can’t run a marathon or anything yet, but for the most part, things are back to normal. The bullet did a lot of damage, and the doctors told me i
t may take up to six months to recover, so I was thrilled when I was healed enough to be crutch-less after just three months.”
“Have you gone back to work yet, or are there too many memories to face at Tasty Burger?”
“Actually, I’ve talked to my manager about getting my job back after graduation in a couple weeks. It wouldn’t have been possible to work with crutches, so up until now, it really wasn’t an option. I’m not scared to go back or anything. Everyone made a much bigger deal of the event than it actually was.”
“That’s really humble of you. One question has been on everyone’s mind since news broke of your heroic actions. It is my understanding that you were suspicious of the shooter before he made his way to the counter. You were so suspicious that you convinced a coworker to go inventory the freezer for her safety. When the shooter became agitated, you jumped over a counter to stand in front of a child. Is that really how it happened?”
“When you say it like that it sounds like something out of an action movie. Everything happened so fast that I just reacted to the situation; I didn’t exactly have a plan.”
“If you had it to do over again, what would you do differently?”
“I would’ve made sure I gave the child a boy toy instead of a girl toy with his meal.” I could see confusion on her face and realized she probably didn’t know about this and figured I’d better explain so I didn’t cause her to go off script. “The customer in front of the robber was a mom with a young son. I was distracted by the suspicious man when I assembled the little boy’s meal and put in a girl’s toy by mistake. Unfortunately, the little guy came back to the counter and interrupted the robber. Maybe the robber would have just taken the food and money and run, but he was upset that I was trying to appease the child and ignoring him.” Amanda snickered under her breath. This was something she had not been aware of.
“Have you had any contact with others that were in the restaurant that evening?”
“The people I worked with have all called and e-mailed, and the little boy’s mother sent me a wonderful card. In all, I received nearly three hundred cards and letters during my recovery. I was grateful that people went out of their way to acknowledge my actions; some of the notes were very moving.
“In addition to the shooting three months ago, I’ve been told that yesterday you helped apprehend an accused murderer. How did that happen?”
“I didn’t actually help apprehend or anything. I was at the mall with my friend Rachael and I was concerned about a person she was talking with, so I phoned the police.”
“Suspicious how?” This wasn’t one of Amanda’s questions, and I was not prepared to answer this one.
I paused a few seconds longer than I should have and could see that Amanda was more closely carrying on a conversation with me than she was actually reading from her script. Her face looked apologetic for throwing me a curve ball. “He was my age and was driving a really nice car, and I just felt something wasn’t right.” Oh crap, that was the wrong answer. Now everyone would think I am psychic or something. I followed quickly with, “You know how sometimes people for no reason make you nervous? This guy made me nervous.” That sounded better, but I was now wishing the interview was over. How many questions had it been?
I could tell this response tempted her to dig deeper. I was hoping she would stick to the script. “When did you find out he was a murder suspect?” Thank goodness, she was back on track, and, if I remember right, this one was near the end.
“After several police cars came to the parking lot.”
“How would you describe yourself, lucky or unlucky given these two events?”
“I would say I am very lucky. The robbery could have gone very badly, but given the circumstances it went remarkably well. The incident at the mall, I’m not certain my friend and I were in any real danger, so I wouldn’t classify that one as lucky or unlucky.”
“The suspected murderer, you don’t believe he was dangerous?” My response had waylaid Amanda.
Trying to smooth over my answer, “Innocent until proven guilty right? He didn’t have a weapon and wasn’t threatening my friend or me. He just happened to be in a car that was assumed stolen. I’d rather wait and hear the facts before I jump to any conclusions.”
“Lauren do you…”
I cut her off before she could get her question out, “Amanda, are we at ten yet?” She looked to her boss and he nodded yes. “I’m sorry, Lauren, I was so surprised I sort of went off the plan, let me just close the interview on camera and we’ll be done.”
She took a few seconds and then looked away from me and directly into the camera, “Lauren, you are absolutely correct. I believe we’ll all be paying attention to this case to see what the suspected murderer is charged with. I’d like to thank you for your time and your candor tonight. We’re glad that your recovery was so quick, and I think everyone watching is glad that your most recent brush with danger was less troublesome. This is Amanda Lewis from WCSC Channel 4.” Two seconds later the red light above the camera stopped blinking, and I knew we were done. The man who had helped me get the microphone on in the beginning came back and removed it from my shirt. Amanda’s boss leaned in and was talking quietly with her. I couldn’t hear what he was saying but could see her face light up.
She leaned in as the cameraman was packing up the equipment and her boss was heading for the door, “They’re going to lead with this interview tonight on the eleven o’clock news! Can you believe it?”
Amanda and I were down the stairs, through the restaurant and on the street within minutes. Max and Seth were waiting for us on a bench just outside the door. Both looked up and seemed to be pleased that we were done. “So, was it painless?” Seth asked me the question but his focus was fixed on Amanda.
“It was okay, but I’m glad it’s over with,” I responded honestly.
Max reached over and took my hand and asked, “So, what do you want to do now?”
“I have school tomorrow, so probably not too much else.” Max nodded and reached his free hand out to Seth. “It was really…enlightening tonight. Thanks.” My heart began to race, wondering what that meant.
“See ya, Max. Be ready at seven-thirty tomorrow, Lauren, I’ve got an early class.” Was this really happening? Seth and Max had bonded and were what, pals? Pals were better than arch enemies, but Max’s enlightening comment rekindled my curiosity.
While I was tossing around the possibilities, Amanda reached over and gave me a quick hug, and whispered, “Thanks again. This was great!” Max handed his tag to the valet, and we walked down to wait for the truck.
Once we were in the truck and on our way, Max reached over my shoulder and pulled me over to him. The curiosity was nearly overwhelming, but I was determined not to ask. He must have known this because his expression was smug, and he didn’t say a word. If I could get him talking, he might share some of his conversation with Seth, but if he didn’t say a word, I would just ask Seth in the morning.
“So, did you have a good time tonight?”
He squeezed my shoulder, “Sure…I was with you.”
His eyes were fixed on the road. I prodded again, “What did you think of Amanda?”
Without a change in tone or a look in my direction, “She seemed very nice.”
“She stayed to her script for the most part. If I had to do an interview with someone, I’m glad it was her.”
“Seth was really stoked that you were doing this for him.”
“I think only one answer threw her for a loop.”
Max finally glanced my way but not for any length of time, “Which one was that?”
“I told her I thought the murder suspect wasn’t exactly dangerous, and she seemed surprised.”
Now he finally looked at me, “What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. I’m not convinced that Rachael and I were in any real peril yesterday.”
r /> “What? I thought he tried to shove you guys in the car or something? Yesterday you were convinced he was a serial killer. What changed your mind?”
“I thought about it, and even though he creeped me out, I don’t think we were in any real danger. I wanted to meet with him at the jail, but Officer Johnson about had a melt-down when I suggested it.”
Max’s body tensed, and he took his arm from behind me and put it on the steering wheel. “What do you mean you wanted to meet with him? Why would you want to do that?”
Obviously I hadn’t shared my thoughts with Max. Given his reaction, I decided to keep my plan to myself. “I wanted to talk to him, ask him what happened.”
“Lauren, this is the guy who just strangled a married couple, ransacked their house, stole their car, and tried to abduct you and Rachael yesterday. He’s not really a bad guy? I get that you are always looking for the good in people, but be real…Why would you want to meet with him?”
“I just wanted to ask him some questions.”
“I don’t want you to meet him.”
“Max, you know I care for you, right?” Max kept his eyes on the road but nodded. “I’m not trying to be a jackass, but that’s not your call. You’re welcome to share your opinion with me, but tread lightly when it comes to telling me not to do something.”
I watched the street lights pass the truck faster, and I could hear the engine of the truck humming louder. Max stayed silent until we pulled in front of my house. As I reached for the door, he grumbled, “Not so fast, Sweetheart. Is it so wrong for me to care about you and want to keep you safe?”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t care, I just want you to understand that who I meet with, and under what circumstances, is my decision. You are a part of my life,” albeit a huge part since four days ago, “but not the entire thing.”
Max’s expression tightened, he inhaled deeply, leaned into me and spoke so softly it sounded as though there were sugar in his voice. “I think you are too close to the problem to make a rational decision. In the interest of your safety - and my sanity, I would ask that before you make arrangements to go see the murderer, you call me first. Is that too much to ask?”
I reached for the handle, opened the door and leaped down to the sidewalk. I turned back around with the door still open and faced Max, “Probably not.” I’d better not say anything more. I didn’t want to lie to him, and I really didn’t want to tell him I’d already planned to go see Paul tomorrow.
Max climbed out his side of the truck and walked around to my side. “I’m off again tomorrow. What do you want to do?” Still not wanting to lie to him, but certain that full disclosure could only lead to a full-blown fight, “I’ve got plans with Rachael after my morning classes. I can come by around dinner time?”
“Sounds good. Call and let me know if you want me to pick you up from your house or Rachael’s.” Max leaned down and kissed me goodnight.
I walked up our sidewalk and the few steps to the front door. I looked at my watch and it was just past nine. Rather than call Rachael, I decided I’d send her a text. It read: “Need 2 C U B4 class. Meet me N SU @ 7:45.”