Do You Miss Me?

Max had been in her room all afternoon and evening, and it was driving Anna crazy. She and Chris were sitting on the ugly couch, not speaking, with Anna hoping as each second passed that Max would emerge. Anna's right knee was bouncing, and she kept looking at Max's door, wanting so badly to knock on it and scream and cry about how sorry she was, but she remained on the couch, knowing how much Max would LOVE that.

"Anna," Chris said, interrupting her inner turmoil, "don't get upset, okay? I have a question."

She looked at him, puzzled, wondering what could possibly upset her more than the current situation.

"What are you going to do about Wednesday?"

She scrunched her face and looked at him. "What do you mean?"

He put his leg up on the couch and turned toward her. "Your interview?"

Her head shot forward and her eyes widened. "Oh shit! I completely forgot!"

"Really? It's kind of . . . important, right?"

She sat back with a bit of force against the couch. "Not anymore."

"Anna, this is a once in a lifetime thing, isn't it?"

She knew he was right and wondered why she didn't care anymore.

"I guess it just doesn't seem important anymore, not after all of this." She smiled, genuinely unconcerned.

Anna was more than willing to give up her dream to make sure her best friend could return to a comfortable life.

"Anna." They both jumped at the sound of Max's voice. "You have to do your interview."

Max stood there with an irritated look on her face, clearly still not pleased with Anna, but she seemed worried enough about her that she left her "cave" to tell Anna this.

"Max, you don't need to worry about that, all that matters is—"

"How many times am I going to have to tell you that you matter just as much as I do?"

Anna looked back and watched Chris try to hide a smile as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Chris is right, and I won't let you mess this up."

Anna softened her eyes and let a small smile emerge on her face.

"I still think you're a prick for what you did, but that's on hold for now." Max looked directly into Anna's eyes. "Let's finish this."

Anna knew that was her cue to grab the laptop and as she did, Max sat down next to her.

"Max I'm really glad you're—" Anna stopped herself from finishing that sentence when Max shot her an angry grimace.

"Okay! Cool!" Anna laughed nervously. "Let's do this."

Hours passed. Anna's fingers were sore from typing and her eyes felt tired, but she knew she couldn't stop. The interview with Siobhan Wild was days away and she hadn't spent any time at all thinking about it. So much so, she completely forgot about it. Her focus obviously wasn't at 100 percent, but she wasn't getting out of this even if she wanted to. Max would never allow it.

"This would be a lot easier if you weren't staring me down like that," Anna muttered, afraid to look at Max who was sitting two feet away facing in her direction.

"Too bad." Max's words felt ice cold, sending a chill down Anna's spine.

"Okay super," Anna said sarcastically with a thumbs up. "Super duper."

Suddenly, when Anna turned back to look at a photo online of Siobhan Wild, her voice exploded.

"I GOT IT!!"

Max and Chris jumped up, looking at Anna.

"Got what, hun?"

"The interview! The questions!"

Max still looked like she could bite Anna's head off, but chimed in, "And they are?"

Anna squinted her eyes, letting Max know she didn't appreciate her cold impatience.

"Look at this picture." She pointed to the laptop. "Right here by her ear there's a scar. It's hard to see, but I've scanned through at least a hundred pictures and it's there."

Chris and Max looked just as focused as she did.

"Also! See right here," she pointed again. "There's a scar on her wrist going up. I'm thinking she may have had a battle with depression or something like that."

Max and Chris exchanged glances.

"I love it," Chris replied. "Honestly, no one has asked her about any of this? She's a model, surely she had some problems in the industry."

"I went through countless interviews and googled it any way that I could." Anna shrugged her shoulders. "There is no explanation."

Anna's head slowly turned toward Max, anxiously awaiting her thoughts.

"Sounds good." Max got up immediately and started walking to her room.

"You know what, Max?!" Anna raised her voice. "I've had enough of this!"

Max turned back around sharply. "Is that right?"

"YEAH! That's right."

Max continued blinking with no expression on her face as they stared at each other before Anna scoffed, "I am SORRY, okay? I'm SORRY." She started breathing a bit slower, her anger replaced by desperation.

"I hurt you, I understand that, but between my two options I did what I thought was right."

"Look, An—"

"NO! Your father has suffered enough! And GOD does he love you, you should be thankful for that!" Anna looked down, tears welling up at the thought of her own mother's years of indifference. "He loves you so much, Max. His pain was enough for me to know, deep in my heart, I made the right decision."

She sighed and let her hands drop. "I'm sorry that you disagree. He deserved to know. And after all of this? He deserves to get you back." A tear dropped from her eye as Max's face fell.

"I know," Max said with a noticeable sadness in her voice. "But I can't talk to any of you. All he is going to want to know is what happened and I CAN'T do that."

She started crying, her tears looking heavy as they rolled down her cheeks. "I may NEVER be able to do that, and it's not fair to anyone. I'm going to be that depressing elephant in the room every single day, everyone looking at me with pity, and I can't live that life." She shook her head and closed her eyes. "I just can't."

Anna took a few steps toward her and gently grabbed her hands.

"But you don't know that." Anna smiled as Max opened her eyes. "You've made an assumption that may not be true, and you'll never know if you don't try."

Max stood there, sniffling with fear in her eyes, as Anna continued.

"You miss your dad, correct?"

"Yes."

"You miss me, yes?"

"Yes."

"You miss a family who loves you and would do anything for you? Ya know, like build a new house just so you'll walk through the door?"

She smiled as Max smirked, "Yes."

Anna held her hands a bit tighter. "There's only one way to see how this will play out, babe. I know you can do this."

The fear returned to Max's face. "But . . . what if . . . what if I can't?"

Anna looked at Max and gave her a reassuring head nod. "Then I will help you and we will find a way for you to be happy." Anna lifted her eyebrows, hoping for an answer, and Max shook her head up and down.

"I still think you're a jerk."

Anna tilted her head back and laughed. "I think you're a jerk, too."

Before Max walked back to sit on the couch, Anna pulled her into a giant hug. Max's eyes widened, but this time Anna noticed she did not clench her fists. Instead, she slowly placed her hands around Anna.

"I love you so much, Max." Anna's voice trembled.

Max's muscles seemed more relaxed as she took a breath and replied, "I love you too, weird girl from the subway."

They both laughed as they let go of each other.

"Okay!" Max raised her voice. "Get your stubborn ass on the couch and put together an interview."

"Yes, ma'am," Anna replied sarcastically.

Max looked past her. "Chris, are you crying?"

Anna turned around sharply.

"No!" he said, wiping his nose with his sleeve. "That was just so . . . beautiful."

He laughed and sniffled at the same time as the girls looked at each other and giggled. Anna hopped over to him and tackled him with a hug.

"You are so cute, babe!!" Anna yelled, her voice muffled in his shirt.

"You're such a wuss," Max said with a smile on her face as he laughed out loud and shook his head. Max sighed. "But you're our wuss."

A few moments later everyone got up and sat in their now designated seats on the ugly couch. Anna typed away while Chris and Max stayed close.

Max put her hand on Anna's shoulder. "I believe in you, Anna. We both do."