Chapter 37: Walls Built

Maryanne remains silent the entire drive to the penthouse. Her mind refuses to calm down as thoughts about Max and his company constantly run through her brain. Is she really holding him back? If he didn’t have a child tying him down, he could be in Europe or Asia right now negotiating the details for his new companies.
They weren’t dating, and yet she still felt the guilt of responsibility for holding him back from his potential. Is Daniel right?
Max, having not bothered her in the slightest the entire drive, speaks now, his voice gravelly, “We’re here.”
Maryanne is swarmed with memories of the penthouse as she stares up at the high-rise. The pictures that had been texted to her and also the moment of heat Max and she shared the one time she visited the condo. It was the one moment that she was actually vulnerable and almost gave herself to him. Her one second in lapse of judgement. The warring of emotions has caused her to space out and not realize that Max has already exited the car and retrieved Riley.
Blinking several times in order to clear her thoughts, Maryanne shakes her head and follows after Max and Riley. She slams the car door as the winter breeze freezes her bones.
Max constantly glances at Maryanne but does not comment on her withdrawn demeanor right away. “I make sure that a cleaning service comes in once a week. Although it hasn’t been used in a while, it shouldn’t be too dirty or dusty.” He picks Riley up as they enter the elevator, where Max swipes a key card and the metal box begins to shift, going up.
“Thank you,” Maryanne does not know why she is thanking him, but she doesn’t know what else to say. He has not been coming to the penthouse for a while now, since he has been staying at the mansion. It should be a good sign that he has not come here often, though it shouldn’t matter to Maryanne. She sighs as they exit the elevator.
Max leans toward her as Riley runs into the penthouse giggling, “Are you alright?”
Maryanne only nods, refusing to look at him. Has she simply forgotten about their past and that they live in two different worlds? She had been too busy reveling in her emotions and the aura that is Max that she dismissed all that he had done in the past.
He turns away, unbuttoning his jacket, “I’m sorry that tonight didn’t go quite as planned. I had hoped we could have caught a movie, or at least taken a walk in the park after dinner. Running back to my office ended up eating away at too much time.”
At his explanation, Maryanne fights the building emotions in her chest. Her heart twists as butterflies hatch in her stomach, “It’s fine.” Did he really plan such a romantic evening?
Once he had shimmied his jacket off, Max placed it on the coat rack and takes Maryanne’s for her, “Are you really sure that everything is fine?”
She nods and forces a reassuring smile on her lips. She has to pretend that everything is okay, even though she is dying on the inside. “Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I’m not sure.” Max’s brow furrows and his lips tighten into a straight line.
Maryanne watches him for a moment, drinking in every section of his handsome face. His chiseled jaw and manly cheek bones. The deep set, emerald eyes. She makes a decision in that moment. “I’ll put Riley to bed.” As she moves to the little girl, she knows what she has to force herself to do. She must close her heart off to Max. For her own good and for his career. Emotions mean nothing if he was going to lose his career because of her.
Riley pushes Maryanne away, screeching, “No! Me don’t wanna.”
Maryanne’s irritation that is already tightening around her lungs, causes her to snap, “Riley, that’s enough. It’s way past your bedtime.”
As the little girl soon loses all of her energy, Maryanne grabs her hand and heads toward the back of the penthouse, where the bedrooms are.
Max calls after her before she disappears from the main room, “Do you want to have a drink with me after you put her down?”
She pauses at the corner of the hallway. She only glances back at him for a split second, not trusting herself. “I’m not sure. I’m pretty exhausted.”
He tilts his head, his eyes soft. He looks similar to a sad puppy, “Please?”
Maryanne’s heart skips a beat, her mind racing, “. . . alright.”
She hurries off, almost pulling Riley behind her. What is she doing? She just told herself that she is going to distance herself and throw away her feelings for Max, and yet one look from him and they burst like fireworks within her. She shakes her head and opens one of the guest rooms.

>><<

As the two sit next to each other, the electric fireplace crackling with noise, both overlooking the city, Max speaks first, “Maryanne, we have spent enough time together that I can tell when you are upset.”
Maryanne clenches her teeth, “Max, please, don’t press the issue. I don’t want to talk about it.” She sips on her mixed drink slowly, not trusting herself.
He sighs, leaning back against the large couch. There is at least two body’s width between the two of them. “I won’t force you to talk. I wish you would trust me, though.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” she sighs, staring into her cup. “I don’t even know exactly what I’m thinking.”
Max is silent for a moment before asking, “Is it something that my partner said at the office?”
Maryanne’s mind is filled with Daniel and his words. “Not entirely.”
“But partially,” Max urges. His face is now turned towards her, but she tries to hold herself back from looking at him.
“Yes,” she whispers.
Max nods and sips on his glass of whiskey, “I’m sorry that you were subjected to the crude thoughts of the spoiled executives in my company.”
Maryanne shakes her head abruptly, “It’s not your fault.”
“They are my employees though,” he reasons.
“You do not decide what they say.”
He counters, “And yet I feel at fault.”
Maryanne stares into her glass that is still a quarter full. She swallows the lump in her throat. “Max, I’m exhausted.” She wants to sit here with him longer, but she will not be successful in throwing her feelings away if she allows herself to be around him so much.
He sits forward, nodding, but his expression is filled with disappointment. “Oh, yes, of course.”
As she stands, she pauses, facing him, “Thank you for tonight, really. I do appreciate it.”
Max’s voice is rough and filled with tension as he stands and gently brushes her hand while saying, “Goodnight, Maryanne.”