ʀᴇᴅ sᴛʀɪɴɢ ᴏғ ғᴀᴛᴇ; ᴍᴀx ᴠᴇʀsᴛᴀᴘᴘᴇɴ

8.

GUESS WHOSE BACK- me with another chapter and Daniel with his sexy ass smile 🕺
—
The welcoming atmosphere of Evry was recieved pleasantly by the two after a flight that triggering.

"Welcome." The lady at the cafe greets them with a soft smile.
It was a small town so most of the cafes and restaurants were spilled onto the streets. The air was clear and smelled of fresh produce because of all the open markets.
Max closes the menu with a small thud and looks up at the waitress-an older lady.

"I'll have a black coffee and-"
"No."
The lady interrupts making Max's eyes snap towards Grace who struggles to hold in a laugh.
"Do you mean you're out of black coffee?"
Grace's question earns a enthusiastic nod. She looks at Max with raised eyebrows.
"Oh okay. Then I'll have a Green tea-"
"No."
"How about just a milk tea?" He tries,hopefully, but the lady puts both of her hands out making them into a X
"Then just bring me whatever you have. A drink and something to eat." He hands the menu back to her with the little patience left in him.
"Okay. You?" The lady turns to Grace.
"Ill have what he's having."
The lady nods and runs inside the restaurant.

"I can't believe-" max starts
"No." Grace cuts him , trying to keep a straight face.
"I'm this close to killing somebody." He announces , holding his fingers a centimetre apart.
Grace laughs , reaching for his hand and slapping it down.
"It's a small town. I'm curious about what we will get though."
"As long as it's eatable."

"So the temple is called Pagode- Khànn- ahn." Max says taking out his phone.
"It's 20 mins away from here."
Grace acknowledges the information with a nod before looking thoughtfully at Max.

"What?" He asks keeping his phone aside as the waiter comes in with their food.
They both hum in satisfaction as the smell of beef burgers fills their nostrils- accompanied by cold drinks.
"It's 9am." Max picks up the drink with a churned up face.
"It's 5pm somewhere."
"That's used for - never mind. What were you going to say earlier?" Max asks taking a bite of the burger, Grace follows.

"We've found the temple but what are we going to do?" She looks at Max.
She knew nothing about the man. Apart from the fact that he was afraid of losing. And all he knew about her was that she was dying.
That certainly wasn't enough for the universe to be satisfied with.
"Let's call Adrien when we reach there."

"He won't pick up." Max pockets his phone , shrugging at Grace.
She's looking around in awe as the temple is styled in a traditional architecture. Flowers of all sorts are placed throughout the pathway up to it.

"Here we go." Max interrupts her gazing around , stepping infront of her.
They both enter the temple. There's a few other people but it's mostly empty with a open back, giving a beautiful view of the lake below it.

"What should we do?" Grace looks back at him, biting her bottom lip in frustration.
"I don't know - just , come here."
He interlaced their hands and closes his eyes, she does the same.
"Grace , I know you." He gasps out.
"Max, I know yo-"
"Excuse me!"

They both jump back, pulling away from each other.
A guy stares back at them with curious eyes.
He's dressed in a long white robe, and has a well maintained beard. Maybe in his 40's- Grace notices.
"What are you both doing?" His French accent spills into his otherwise perfect English.
"Letting the universe know we know each other." Grace huffs at Max's explanation.
"He means-"
"I know what he means. Follow me."
Grace looks at Max whose already following after the gentleman.

The man stops near the balcony at the back. It's quiet with only the sounds of running water.
"Hold hands." He orders.
"Now you look at him and you look at her."
They both do exactly what he says. Grace checks off getting married from her bucket list-
"Now tell eachother something meaningful about yourself." He turns to leave but both Max and Grace are so immersed in their eye contact that by the time Max turns his head, the man is nowhere to be seen.

"You first." Max says.
Grace complies , thinking of something.
"I- I'm lonely." She admits , looking around to see if anything changed.
Max straightens up, noticing the glisten in her eyes. He clears his throat before taking a deep breath.
"I don't have a good relationship with my father." He bites his tongue , glancing around.
"Nothing is happening."
They let go of each others hands and take in their surroundings.
"Maybe nothing's supposed to happen." Grace acknowledges.
"Huh?"
"How do you feel? - after telling me?"
"I mean- it feels good to admit it to someone."
Max scratches the back of his head.
"Same. And that's it. That's what the universe wants."
"Whatever you say." Max says , starting to make his way back to the path they came from.

Tears pool in the corners of Grace's eyes as she walked the Dutch try to make his way down the stairs.

The realisation of what he had just shared hit both of them. Max's bottom lip quivered as hoovered himself to the side of the stairs, letting people pass him. Grace caught up to him, placing a hand on his back.

He jumped a little but didn't look at her. He felt her through the way she rubbed his back soothingly. He shook with a jolt of emotion that sent him down to his knees.

Grace sat next to him as he cried into his hand. She offered him some tissues as he finally looked up at her with tears rolling down his cheeks only to find her in a similar way. She sniffled pursing her lips together.

"You wanna talk about it?" She asks , as max discards the now used tissue.
"You want to hear me whining?" He scoffs , looking down at his hands.
"No. I want you to trust me enough to never say "whining" again when you're simply talking about your feelings."
Max's eyes settle on her face. Everything about her screamed how sincere she was. Some people were open books.

"My dad. He always had unrealistic expectations of me." He starts , looking ahead.
"He never let me be a kid. When I achieved what he wanted , he discarded me. He never said that he was proud of me , j- just simply vanished. Like I never existed to him."
Grace holds his hand as he starts fiddling them.
"It's his failure, not yours."
She smiles in a way that makes max want to believe her.
"Don't waste your time dwelling about someone who doesn't deserve it."
"He's my dad though."
"He's not if he never acted like it. Just because he's blood , doesn't mean he desrves to be treated like family. You don't owe him anything Max"
she squeezes his hand , making him subconsciously get used to her hold.
Such so that when she pulls away he almost wants to pull her back into him.
"You have a way with words. Anyone ever tell you that?" He lightens up , staring at her.
"I've been told."

"That thing you said - about being lonely-"
"We don't have to talk about it."
"Yes ,we do. You can't just always be the listener."
That seems to stem her protests.
"Iam an only child- so I have like zero social skills." She tucks some of her hair behind her ears.
Max learns that she does so whenever she's nervous.
"I struggled to make friends. Everyone told me with time I'll learn but here iam;24 years old with one friend and mostly dependent on my parents- and a brink away from death but whose counting ." She shrugs , smiling.
Tears collect in the corner of her eyes.

Max gives up , pulling her into him. He's thankful that he listened to the little voice in his brain because she latches herself onto him, letting tears fall on his shirt. Unknowingly, he does the same.

People eye them as they both cry in each others embrace - letting the universe know that they were aware of each other. More deeply than they thought.
—
FYI- I'm not the greatest speller so if I butchered the temples name - i blame ice spice🙋‍♀️