Pure Passion (15 page)

Max

The sight of that black Audi caused an immediate howl from
Lara’s lips, and there was no need to ask why.  I would’ve had the same
reaction, if it had been my dad’s Mercedes.  Lara’s mom came rushing out of the
house the minute we pulled up.  Derek had texted me a while back asking for our
ETA, but hadn’t warned me about the awaiting ambush. 
I’m sure that’s the
way Sandra wanted it.

Lara jumped out of the car and went right to her, apparently
wanting to confront her immediately and nip it in the bud.  Ron walked over to
my car, where I remained planted for the moment.

“Did you guys have a good weekend?” he asked, “I’m Lara’s
dad, Ron by the way.”

“Yes, and hi, I’m Max.”

“Max Hancock. Yes, I’m familiar with both you and your
father.”

“Oh, okay.”

I felt a sharp twinge in my gut from being associated with
my dad.

We simultaneously turned toward Sandra and Lara as they were
having a heated discussion, even though they were obviously trying to keep
their voices down.  We both strained a bit to hear what was going on, but they
were doing a pretty good job of concealing their debate.

The only thing I distinctly heard from Sandra was, “I know
you haven’t been. I can tell by the look in your eyes.”

“Mom, just let it go,” Lara replied, growing increasingly
aggravated by the topic.

“Are you going to get your phone fixed?” she asked more
loudly, as Lara stormed back toward the car.

“Yes, Mother!  Now that I have money coming in, I’ll go get
a new iPhone,” she snapped as she grabbed her bag from the open trunk.

“Just go in and upgrade your phone, honey,” Ron offered. 
“They’ll bill it to my account.”

“Thanks, Dad,” she replied, giving him a hug.

“Do you need me to set up an appointment?” Sandra asked as
Lara walked back up the sidewalk.

“No, Mom, it’s fine.  I need to go get ready for work.  I’ll
give you a call later.”

“After you get a new phone?” she replied sarcastically.

Lara glanced back, giving her a death glare before heading
inside.  The whole exchange reminded me of the tension between my dad and me. 
It was almost as if we couldn’t communicate without getting angry at each
other.  The smallest thing would quickly turn into an argument, which would
leave both of us fuming.  Sandra and Lara obviously had similar dynamics, but
at least her mom had her best interest at heart.  As a gesture of good will, I
gave Ron and Sandra my phone number in case they ever couldn’t get in touch
with Lara.

“So, when did you two move in together?” Sandra asked
sharply.

“Well, that’s not exactly what happened.  I moved in with
Derek to help him finish up the house.  Then, after we were done with the
renovations, Lara moved into the third bedroom,” I explained.

“Well, Lara mentioned she was moving in with Derek and
Hadley, but conveniently left out the fact that you were living here,”   Sandra
said while she glared at me, as if she expected an explanation.

“I’m sorry?  I had no idea that was the case.  Would that
have made a difference?”  I asked, completely confused as to what the issue
was.

“No,” Ron interjected.  “It would just be nice to know who
she’s dating.”

“Okay, but our relationship has just kind of evolved in the
past week or two.  So, you haven’t really missed anything,” I tried to explain.

The look on Sandra’s face was hard to judge.  It almost
looked like she thought I was lying or something.  With nothing left to say, I
grabbed my bag out of the trunk. “It was nice to meet both of you,” I said as I
shut the trunk lid.

“Nice to meet you too, Max,” Ron replied, extending his
hand.

“Take care, Max,” Sandra said quietly as she turned and
walked back to the car.

Well, that was fun.  Thanks for ditching me, Lara! 
Sandra looked like she wanted to kick my ass for no apparent reason.  WTF?

Lara

As I stared out the window, I cringed at the thought of what
my parents were saying to Max. 
Couldn’t they just shut up, get in their car,
and go away?  Mom’s going to ruin everything!

“Your dad’s pretty cool,” Max stated, as he finally came
through the door.

“Yeah, Mom’s another story though.”

“It’s obvious she doesn’t like me for some reason.  Is it
just because I’m living here or what?”

“Yeah, I didn’t tell her there was a hot, single guy living
in the house, so she’s a little irate.”

“That’s understandable.  Your dad seemed alright, though. 
Usually it’s the dad who gets all pissed off, especially when it comes to their
little girl.”

“No, Dad’s like a laid back version of Felix.  I don’t
remember the last time I’ve seen him mad about anything.  Getting mad and
ranting has always been Mom’s role.”

“Alright. Well, thanks for abandoning me out there.  It sure
was a fun way to meet them,” he replied, mixed with as much sarcasm as
possible.

“I’m sorry.  Mom brings out the worst in me.  I shouldn’t
have walked away, but she always drives me crazy.  She still treats me like a
kid.”

“She’s just trying to protect you from the big, bad wolf,
and I don’t blame her.  I have been corrupting you lately,” he said, pulling me
close and giving me that look.

“I wish I didn’t have to go to work,” I confessed, feeling
an instant surge of naughtiness.

“It’s probably best; I’ve got a lot to get done anyway. 
RJ’s guitar is so detailed it’s insane, and I’ve got to start putting together
the content for my web site,” he replied as the tension burgeoned across his
face.

Seeing the sudden change in Max’ demeanor had me wondering
if I had done the right thing by getting Felix involved.  Obviously he had the
ability to get Max some much needed exposure, but at the same time, he expected
Max to quickly turn his passion into a multi-million dollar company.  Each time
the two of them had gotten into intense business discussions, it seemed that Max
came away a little more anxious about everything. 
I don’t want to ruin this
for him.

~~~

My thoughts quickly changed once I got to The Deuce and saw
a Tag McCoy poster hanging just inside the door.  Tag was coming back to town
for his second show, and it was on Saturday night.  Excitement surged through
my veins as I thought about throwing a surprise party for Max in conjunction
with the concert. 
I wanna blow Max’ mind!

I immediately called and left a message for Tag’s manager to
see if I could get them onboard and sent Derek a text.  We had to get the word
out to as many people as possible.  Since Max never checked in on Facebook, it
would be safe to post an invite on there, too.  Between Derek, Hadley, and me,
we could get hundreds of people to show up for it. 
This is going to be
awesome!

Max

With the house completely quiet, I really should’ve put
together some basic content for my website.  But since I was too tired to
think, I decided to start working on RJ’s guitar instead.  Just as I started
marking out the initial cuts, my phone rang, and it was my old buddy J.T.  He
was calling to invite me to a beach party at his house on Friday night.  Since
I didn’t have any plans, I told him I’d be there.  It was only a two and a half
hour drive, but since we always tended to drink too much, he insisted that I
crash after the party. 

Everyone was familiar with J.T.'s legendary beach parties
and raved about them.  They rivaled something you would experience at the
Playboy Mansion.  J.T. had always wanted me to come to one of them, but Celeste
never wanted to go, and definitely wouldn’t let me go without her.  Now that
she was out of my life, I finally had a chance to see one for myself.

“You won’t believe what went on this weekend, bud,” I added,
telling him about our weekend in Ft. Lauderdale, how I met Rick Jurgens and was
going to be on the cover of Rolling Stone.

“No fucking way!  You’re so full of shit,” he said, typical
J.T. response.

“Hey, I’ll send you over the preliminary cover on Tuesday
when I get it.  I’m working on Rick’s guitar right now.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it, dude,” he added. “Why the
fuck would they put you on the cover?”

After telling him the story behind it all, he started to buy
into everything.  J.T. was the type of guy who had absolutely no desire to do
anything in life that required much effort.  He loved just being a rich kid,
casually doing tattoos and partying like a rock star.

“I’m gonna have a famous fucker at my party!” was his
response as he began to realize I was telling him the truth.

Famous. That was funny.  I hadn’t even thought about being
famous.  It was just going to be nice not to have to worry about having enough
money for rent each month.

After getting off the phone with him, I went back to working
on the guitar, and by 1 a.m., had the laminate done for the body and all of the
holes cut
.  I’m easily going to get this thing done by Wednesday night, or
Thursday at the latest. 
Checking my email one last time, I saw that Felix
had sent over a list of several outsourcing firms where I could get guitar
bodies, necks and hardware manufactured overseas. 
Seriously, he wants me to
charge premium prices and then use inferior materials?  Even though I might be
able to cut the cost by 30-40%, it just won’t be the same.  I doubt those
guitars would stand up to 40 years of playing like my Granddad’s did.  He used
the same suppliers the whole time he was in business, and I don’t see any
reason to change.

I went to bed that night irritated, to say the least.  I
kept thinking about what I wanted to say on my website and how
I
wanted
my
business to run.  I didn’t like the fact that Felix was trying to cheapen the
quality and kept telling me that I had to duplicate myself and scale the
business.  When someone ordered a custom guitar from my Granddad, they received
a custom guitar built by him and only him.  That’s what made them so special
and the reason that guys like Tag, and hundreds of other musicians, played the
same guitar for 20 years or more.

When someone orders a Max Keegan Custom Guitar, they’re
going to know that I built it using the same materials and techniques that my
Granddad used.  There will be no one else building these guitars, doing the
graphics, or applying the finish.  I’m going to make this crystal clear on the
website, and with Felix.  By charging premium prices, we’ll still be able to
make plenty of money.  I’ll put a cueing system on the site to handle
backorders, so people know how long the wait will be when they place an order.

Now I feel better about everything.

Lara

As expected, Max was sound asleep when I got home from work. 
That was the only thing I hated about working at The Deuce.  Snooping in his
guitar room, I was amazed to see how much progress he had made already.  The
wood he was using was gorgeous Mahogany, just like the one he made for Tag, but
this one had more curves.  It seemed amazing to me that someone could sit down
with a blank chunk of wood and make something so beautiful in a matter of
hours. 
He’s amazing.  I’m so proud of him.
Since I was exhausted from
work as well as the weekend, I didn’t have any trouble falling asleep.  Any
thoughts of Max, my mom, or the upcoming party vanished the moment my head hit
the pillow. 

I awoke to the sound of Max talking to Derek in the
hallway.  They were talking about a party, so I immediately thought that my
surprise had already been blown!  After getting dressed and doing a quick touch
up on my face, I went down to find that Max was already gone.

“He had to go meet with that web design guy,” Derek informed
me, as he too was just waking up.

“I heard you guys talking in the hallway.  Does he know
about the party?”

“No.  We were talking about J.T.’s beach party on Friday
night.  He called Max last night and invited him.”

“Is he going?”

“Yeah, he didn’t think he had any plans, so he told him
yes.  Didn’t he mention it to you?”

“No, but I got home after he was already in bed.  So, J.T.
throws some pretty good parties, huh?”

“Yeah, that’s a definite understatement.  He throws the
parties that every single guy wishes he were invited to.  J.T. only invites a
few of his rich-guy friends and twice as many hot chicks, so it’s never a
sausage-fest.”

“I take it you’ve been there before?”

“Oh yeah, it was one of the best nights of my life.  J.T.
told the girls that I was a male model, it was a riot.”

Thanks for starting my day off right, Derek.  Now I have something
new to fret.  It will be interesting to see if Max invites me to go along.

No matter how much I tried to avoid them, negative thoughts
played over and over in the back of my mind all day.  I did my laundry, got my
car washed, and even cleaned my room, but my mind kept churning out misery the
entire time. 
God I hate that.

Max got home just as I was leaving for work.  We exchanged a
quick kiss, and I mentioned that I loved his work on the guitar so far.  After
a few minutes of waiting for him to invite me to the party, I gave him a clear
opening by saying, “Don’t make any plans for Saturday night.  I’ve got a
surprise for you.”

“Cool, what’s the surprise?”

“I can’t tell you, but it will blow your mind!”

“Great, I like having my mind blown.”

Isn’t he going to invite me?  I’m sure Derek told him how
hot those parties are, and now he wants to go alone.  It’s not as if I’m going
to stop him or anything.  We’ve only been dating a couple of weeks.  After such
a great weekend though, I can’t believe he would go without me.  We had such a
good weekend together.  Maybe I’m only good enough when no one else is around. 
I really want to lock myself in my room and cry right now, but I have to go to
fucking work.