Dead-ends

"She isn't my girlfriend," Max stated as he rose from the seat. Unhooking the data cable from the back of the printer and the tower. "Oh, I see," he muttered aloud.

"What's wrong?" David asked, getting to his feet.

"One of the pins has broken off; it's the reason it's not sending the data to the printer," Max said, seeing David's shoulders slumping, knowing he wouldn't be able to print out his report. "Hold on, I think I might have a cable that will work, be right back," he stated, seeing the hope in David's eyes as he nodded when Max walked towards the door. Pulling out his car keys from his pocket and hit the trunk release button on the key fob as he approached the car he drove to work when it was raining and during the winter months. He kept the used and new data cables in his trunk for such a reason since the office staff of the buildings he went to were a tad rough with them, given how it was company property and not their own. Sorting through the cables that were within a box in his trunk until he came upon one that appeared would fit. "Here, see if this one will work," Max said, holding out the cable to David when he answered the door. Seeing the relief flooding his body when the printer fired off and when he sank back into the chair.

"You got it fixed?!" Carly came out excitedly in a very sexy red dress as she was putting her right earring in.

"Yeah, it was the stupid cable; I promise I'll get a new one and get..."

"It's fine; keep it; it was just sitting in my trunk anyway," Max said, trying not to eye how the dress looked on Carly.

"Thanks, man, you saved my butt," David uttered with a smile on his lips as he and Max fist-bumped.

"No problem, don't give whomever you're seeing a heart attack," Max flirted as he left their apartment, seeing Carly's face growing very red before the door shut behind him.

Max made a quick dinner when he got up to his apartment. Watched a little TV until it was around eight-thirty that night before heading off to shower. Pulling out his leather trench coat, he knew it wasn't the time for it yet; he didn't care. Ever since seeing The Crow: City of Angels, Max has enjoyed the feel of the tails of his coat flapping in the wind as he sped down the streets on his bike. Waving to David as he peeked out of his apartment window as he started up his bike. Pointing it towards the biker bar he visits heading off to see if he couldn't score for the night.

Max awoke a little past five the next morning, seeing his partner for the night silently slipping into her clothes that were lining his floor. Seeing her cheeks heat as she turned when she heard that he was awake. Noting how his eyes were watching her dress before she had to rush home to shower and change for her workday. Max knew this was only a one-night stand. He didn't care. He was getting laid; at that point in his life, that's all he really cared about. His cunt of a sister put him off dating the opposite sex. Going through the motions when she crawled along his bed and kissed him goodbye. Promising to call, he kept his mouth shut when she never gave him her number in the first place neither did he. Walking her out, waving to her, as her cab that she had phoned before he awoke, waited for her in the parking lot and returned to his slumber after locking his door.

"Are you heading back to Goldbloom & Sacks?" his boss asked as Max prepped his gear before heading out for the day as he stood in the cage.

"That was the plan unless you don't want me to?" Max retorted, casting his boss a glance.

"And how much longer do you have?"

"Can't say, this company's program is a clusterfuck, so I can't say if it's the server itself or the shit this company puts out that's the problem," Max stated truthfully; what could his boss say to that? It was the truth. After all, the program was atrocious. The only thing that worked constantly was its GUI. Other than that, the user was always on edge, wondering if it would work or if they would be staring at a massive paperweight. "We'll see when I get there," he muttered as he zipped up his bag when he was sure he had everything he needed.

"If you can swing it, milk another day or two out of the place," his boss said as he walked back to his office, not seeing the disgust on Max's face at the thought.

As Max was signing out another car for the day, he heard the front entrance door behind him open. "That's him, Dad?!" The tone of the woman's voice caused Max to lift his gaze, only to find himself gazing at the CEO and his daughter. "Fuck me?!" Max groaned in his mind.

"That's the guy that nearly ran me over," the woman said, pointing her finger at him. Pondering if the Fates were going to be kind to him and release him from having to step foot into that building as the CEO marched up to the front desk.

"Is this true?" the man nearly growled.

"No, see, not my fault; she just walks haphazardly in front of the exit of the parking structure without looking to see if a car, or in this case my bike, which is loud by the way, was coming or not. Don't believe me? Watch the cam footage; it will back up everything I said. Now, if that's all, sir, I have work to do," Max said, taking the keys for the car he had signed out off the counter. "Unless, of course, I'm fired." Max ignored how the woman was just gawking at him. He assumed, and correctly, too, that she was used to getting what she wanted, in this case, Max's termination, also the fact that he wasn't cowed by her intimidating father, who stood at four inches over his six-foot height.

"Maxwell Larson is it," Max looked down as the man pulled on the name tag that he was forced to wear, "I will check the footage; if what you said is what really happened, then no, pray that you haven't lied to me."

"Like her?" Max asked, pointing at his daughter, whose mouth just inched lower at Max's retort. "What will happen to her if she lied, hmm? I'm the one being slandered here; will I be able to determine her fate like you're doing with mine at the moment?" he inquired, standing up for himself, knowing full well it could easily lead him to being fired. Which as you can imagine, Max didn't care one wit at that moment. Noting how the man's jaw muscles clenched and unclenched as both men just stared at one another. "So... is that all I have work to do?"

"Work order," the CEO ordered as he held out his hand to Max. Max just stood there aloofly as the man looked over the paper as the theme song for Flash Gordon played in his head. Don't ask him why it did; it just did. "For now, return to your work, but I will be keeping an eye on you." Max fought from rolling his eyes at the veiled threat. He's dealt with people like him for the past twenty-four years. So he knew the man would never get a rise out of him like he most likely was used to. Max didn't give the man's daughter a second look as he walked past her and out the door.

Groaning aloud as once again his sister was standing there waiting for him. He knew the way; he just didn't comprehend why she needed to be there. Their security guard could have shown him the way if he couldn't walk through their building unescorted.

"Hello, Max, still mute, I see," Darcy greeted, feeling the coldness coming off her brother, remembering what MJ had told her of the look he shot her yesterday.

"Why do you feel the need for dialogue? As far as I'm concerned, our familial ties were burnt and pissed on by you so many fucking years ago. Just show me to the server room and get out of my hair," Max stated, the flash of memory of the first rotten thing she ever did to him flared in his mind.

"Because it irks you, of course," Darcy responded with that same condescending smirk of hers he knew all too well. "You know we have a position opening up soon; we could use a nice janitor," she said in a demeaning tone as she led her brother towards the elevators. "I'm sure if you ask real nicely, I might be willing to put in a good word for you. And while you're here during the nights scrubbing the women's toilets and scrubbing my gem encrust shit off the bowl, I'll be stealing another one of your girlfriends," Darcy taunted from over her shoulder, referencing the conversation he had with their mother.

"Is that the best you can come up with? That's weak even for you; seems that degree you just had to have is going to waste on you," Max retorted, noting how the guard was just looking at him in amazement as he passed. "Why don't you just shove that hand of yours up your ass and really pull a gem out of it this time. Although I wonder if you would even feel it with the amount of time you spend out in the stable with the horses," he spoke, allowing his innuendo to hang in the air. Smiling wickedly at his sister's back, noting the signs of Darcy's frustration at his rather quaint put-down.

"God, I wish Mom would have had that abortion," Darcy seethed as her hand slammed against the call-down button.

"You and me both, at least then I wouldn't have had to put up with a skanky ass bitch of a sister and bitchy ass parents," Max muttered, loving the look on her face as they just stood there. "I just hope and pray you and the cunt never adopt. No one should be subjected to the crap that comes out of your mouth." Max was wearing a smile as they rode in silence down to the server room, which he knew irked the piss out of his sister. Hence his smile just kept getting wider as the seconds passed. "Aw, no kiss, no hug?" he taunted at her back as she walked off once Darcy had let him into the server room.

Pulling out the case that held his Bluetooth earbuds, since he was going to be there for a while he figured some good tunes were in order. Setting out to check how the defrag went after booting up the servers in their safe mode. Walking around, making sure each tower was communicating correctly with the main one as he set out about his task. Rubbing the back of his neck as his feet grew sore due to the hours standing trying to suss out the problem.

"So you got it working," Darcy stated, standing in the doorway, noting the twinkling lights as the servers hummed along.

"Nope."

"But they're on; surely you must have."

"Afraid not, worried that you can't get your giant dildo fetish in for the day?" Max asked, not bothering to look at his sister. Reaching down into his bag and pulling out a disk that he had created to fix the holes in the program the programmers had purposely left in per management's orders. Reaching up and pressing the button to eject the tray, placing the disc in it before pushing it closed. Praying that this would fix it, at least until the program decided to turn to shit once again. Hopefully, by that time, he wouldn't be the one having to do this. Hitting the upload button, knowing it was going to take at least an hour for the program to load. Max decided it was a perfect time for lunch.

"Where are you going?! You're not even done!" Darcy called out to him.

"Lunch or you could take that skinny, bony ass of yours and do it yourself," Max retorted as he climbed into the elevator.

Tossing his drink away before entering the building to finish what he hoped would be the last remaining moments he had to spend in what he's come to call affectionally the seventh circle of Hell. Sighing in relief when his sister wasn't there to greet him as he pushed the revolving door as he entered the building. Walking up to the front desk, politely asking the guards to escort him down to the server room and let him in so he could hopefully finish for the day. Once he was in, seeing the window waiting on him to execute the program. Blowing out a breath, hoping it worked as he clicked on the yes button. Hearing the server shut down ten seconds later, only to reboot in its normal operating mode. Throwing up his arms when it was running smoothly. Ejecting the disk, placing it back into his bag, he then proceeded to pack away the rest of his gear after he had printed out the invoice for his work.

Hearing the elation in the air as he walked along the fourth floor. Hearing telephones ringing off the hook as people hustled to make up for the nearly two days of downtime. His lips got thin as he pressed them closed as MJ got to her feet to bar his path.

"I'm sorry, Max, you can't go in right now," MJ said, seeing that same look in his eyes she had seen five years ago. "She's in a meeting at the moment," she supplied when Max had yet to say a word to her.

"Then tell me who can sign for this so I can get out of this shit hole," Max said, holding up the invoice.

"Only Darcy can; I promise she won't be too much longer. Why don't you wait in the break area," gesturing in its direction, "I'll be sure to send her there once she's done." Looking sadly at Max's back as he headed off in its direction without a goodbye to her. Recounting the conversations with Darcy's parents last night when they had dinner with them. Telling them of the conversations they had with Max yesterday, she did feel sorry for him at how it appeared they wouldn't lose any sleep over cutting ties with their son. Although, given what they repeated of what Max had said to them, she was sure it went both ways.

Max would have thought he was bored out of his mind waiting for his sister to finally show up. Nonetheless, during the wait, he did get two rather attractive women's numbers before his sister decided to finally show up.

"Sign, so I don't have to see your piggish face again," Max stated, pushing the invoice and a pen across the table as he stood.

"Never thought you be so stupid to give up all those millions of dollars," Darcy chuckled, thinking Max cared about that. "Well, don't come crying to me for a hand out when you're broke and destitute."

"How do Dad's hemorrhoids taste with the amount of ass-kissing you do? They have to be mighty tasty," Max countered. "And trust me, I'd rather put a bullet in my brain pan than ask anything from you, so you don't need to worry; your inheritance is safe," he said, folding the invoice and placing it in the front pocket of his bag. "When you're old and grey, and that whore of a wife you have has left your cranky ass, and your lying in your bed all alone. You will hear the sound of my laughter knowing you're going to die alone and your cats are going to eat you since no one, and I mean no one, is going to give a shit about you until they haven't seen you for a month." With that, he left his visibly shocked sister behind and headed back to his office.

Humming to himself as he walked into his office. Signing the car back in and handing the man the keys before heading off to his department. Wondering how soon he would be getting a call from his parents and how much they were going to bitch at him for what he said to his sister. Not that he cared, they made their bed long ago. He knew well enough who they would be siding with. His sister thought he cared about money; he wouldn't be working the dead-end job he's currently was in if he did. No. He would have gone to a fancy school like his sister did and got some corporate job just like his parents wanted. A sinister smile formed on his lips at the outraged look on his father's face when he told them he wasn't going to go to one. All his life, he's made it his mission; well, once he was old enough to know he didn't mean a damn thing to them, to be a constant embarrassment to his family. Max had to say he was having a blast with it, no matter the shitty job he had; that was just the preverbal salt in his parent's eyes. Wondering if it was time to pick up stakes and move since they had finally cut ties with him.

"Get in here!" his boss barked as Max passed his door. "I take it the job is finished?"

"Yep," Max said in a monotone voice as he dropped the invoice on his boss's desk.

"Good. At least you finished it before you got your ass fired," his boss grinned wickedly.

"That so?"

"Yep, and the CEO wants to see you; I can only imagine, hopefully, you'll be getting the boot. How I wish I could be there. So go on, I'll inform him you're on your way up," his boss uttered in glee.

"Or maybe he's giving me your job since all you do around here is bark like a dog and sit on your ass. Now, if you learn how to lick your own junk, I'm so going to sell tickets for it!" Max said as he walked out of the room, not seeing how red and anger-filled his boss's face was.

Max pondered who created elevator music and if they were dead or not. If they were alive he was wondering if he could ask Congress to put the person before a firing squad. Looking up when the elevator stopped on the ground floor; lowering his head as the doors rolled open. Arching an eyebrow when the spitting image of the CEO's daughter stepped in wearing a white lab coat, a red, loose skirt that ended about a few inches below her coat, and a cream-tone blouse. Her red, bordering on the shade of a carrot, hair was held high, yet in an elegant fashion. Her glasses sat alluringly on her nose. Her soft grey eyes held a warm light in them as she smiled warmly at him as she stepped into the cab.

"Can you... never mind," she muttered, seeing the top floor had been selected.

"So, who died?" Max asked, breaking the ice.

"Excuse me?" she stammered.

"Didn't know doctors still made house calls in this day in age," Max said, slyly gesturing at her coat. His eyebrows rose at how sweet her soft chuckle sounded.

"Oh, I'm not a doctor; I'm a dentist," she said with a sweet, alluring smile on her lips.

"Hmm... wonder why my dentist never makes house calls. I feel so ripped off," Max mused, casting her a flirty smile when she chuckled.

"Do you not know who I am?"

"Should I?" Max retorted.

"Do you not go to the company's Christmas parties?" she asked with a curious look in her eyes.

"What and force myself to interact with arrogant, pompous asses on my off hours, not on your life," Max said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Terry Archer, as in daughter of Greg Archer, the CEO," she stated, introducing herself as she held out her hand. Using her maiden name, given if what she thought was going on with her husband then, she would be using it once again very soon.

"Maxwell Larson, you must get your looks from your mother; she has to be one of the prettiest women on the planet to give birth to a gorgeous woman like you," he said, laying on the charm as he shook her hand. Not because she was the big boss's daughter, he didn't care about that; no, it was the simple fact she was indeed a beautiful woman.

"Why, thank you, I'll make sure to tell her that," Terry spoke in a shy tone. Trying to remember if she's ever seen him at the Christmas parties, yet she was drawing a blank. Feeling her heart racing, pleased that someone found her attractive given the state of her marriage. For the past year, she's been feeling less than desired by her husband. She's almost forgotten what sex felt like, given how long Orin hasn't touched her.

"You should; you tell her if she's making any more like you, I want first dibs. Wouldn't mind having such a stunning woman in my life; it might make my days rather interesting," Max stated, seeing Terry's cheeks rapidly heating. He had noticed her wedding ring, and while he wouldn't make a move on her, nonetheless, it didn't hurt to flirt. Now, if it went any further than that, that would constitute cheating in his mind. However, it wasn't every day he talked to a vivacious woman like Terry.

"Stop, you shouldn't say things like that," Terry uttered in a cute tone as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Why? It is true. What's wrong with speaking the truth?" Max asked, noting he only had five more floors to go. Knowing when they stepped off the elevator, he would never see her again.

"You think so?"

"Mmmhmm, wouldn't have said it if it wasn't," Max nodded.

"Or because I'm the boss's daughter," Terry spoke, shooting Max a look. Arching an eyebrow at his snort.