Drive to Survive

Chapter Thirty-Four

After Brad had enjoyed his fair share of teasing, he took Max through his workout paces while Dylan watched on. They had enough space to run a series of HIIT exercises in the outdoor area and within no time, Max had worked up a sweat and Dylan was enjoying the view. She filmed some content on and off but she mainly sat back and relaxed in the sun.

At one point, Brad set him off on a series of plank hold variations and while Max got on with that, eyes locked on the stopwatch in front of him, Brad wandered over to Dylan and perched next to her.

"You alright, darling? Must have been quite a weekend for you."

Brad's never-ending care and kindness made her smile, "I'm good, thank you. Obviously a little nervous about any fall-out but I'm happy."

"Good. That's all that matters."

"Um- Brad?" She turned to look at him, hands coming to the ends of her hair, "You- uh, you don't think less of me for being with him, do you?"

"What? Of course not!" He exclaimed, an incredulous look on his face before it softened as he understood what she was saying, "Hey, I know you guys haven't had an easy start. Max did wrong by you but he knows that and he's been beating himself up about it for weeks. He made a long, long series of mistakes but I know him well enough to know they truly were mistakes."

Dylan nodded as he continued to speak.

"You have a huge heart, darling. I always knew you were going to forgive him and I would never ever think less of you for being that way. I would hope nobody does, because it's just a testament to your lovely self."

"Thank you, Brad." She sighed, relieved at his reassurance.

He gave her a quick side hug then jumped back up to continue with Max.

Towards the end of the workout, Max's phone began to ring and he jogged over to where Dylan was sat, reaching into his rucksack and pulling out the phone. He frowned slightly when he saw the caller ID and swiped across to answer, bringing it to his ear.

"Yeah?"

Dylan couldn't hear the other end of the line but Max's eyes were on her as he spoke.

"Yeah, she's here with me right now."

She bit her lip, realising she was the topic of discussion.

"Is that necessary?"

"Right. Okay, yeah, be there in a sec."

He put the phone down and Dylan looked at him, the query in her expression. He reached down and pulled her up off the floor, a slight grimace on his face, "Christian wants to see us."

"Oh God." She groaned.

Even though Dylan had been warned by Christian himself that a meeting would be needed, the idea of actually doing it today sent dread throughout her body. She wasn't mentally prepared for it; she'd barely figured out her wishes herself so she wasn't ready to have them drawn up into an HR contract.

"You good?" Brad asked, joining the pair.

"Christian. HR. Gotta go now." Max said bluntly, reaching for his rucksack.

Brad looked at Dylan's miserable face and laughed, pulling the young girl into a tight hug, "You'll be fine, darling! Don't look so down-hearted, they're not monsters."

"Save me." She whined, her face smooshed against his shirt.

He released her, bending down to her level and speaking quietly so Max couldn't hear them, "You really think he's going to let anyone say anything bad to you?"