Chapter 12 - The Hijack

Max took a deep breath, letting the cool morning air of spring fill his lungs. He leaned against the SUV, trying to convince himself this was a good idea for the hundredth time.

"Why don't you just call her?" Leo asked from inside the car. "It's been 20 minutes already."

"Just give it some time. We're early anyway...I think," he responded.

"Bro, what if she left already? Fucking call her."

Max was about to tell him to back off, when the front door to her apartment building swung open. He stilled as he saw Emma gracefully walk out with a suitcase behind her. Okay, so he hadn't exactly thought this part through, but now would be a good time to get her attention.

"Em," he called her.

She turned to look at him with a completely confused expression on her face. "Max. What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like? I'm taking you to the airport," he said as if it was the most obvious explanation in the world. He leaned off the car to approach her and quickly kissed her on the forehead. "Allow me," he said taking her suitcase and popping open the trunk of the SUV.

"Uhm...why are you taking me to the airport? I thought you were going to Marbella."

"Change of plans," he shrugged. He hauled her suitcase in the car and closed the trunk. Before she could say anything further, he opened up the passenger door at the front of the car and motioned for her to get in.

She looked at him hesitantly and didn't move from her place. "Are you stalking me?"

"Nonsense. C'mon, sweetheart. You got a plane to catch," he said grabbing her hand and nudging her towards the car seat. "That's Leo, by the way," he said as she sat down and he buckled her in.

She peered over at him in the driver's seat, clearly not understanding what was going on. "Um, hi," she said in total confusion.

"Hey, Emma. Nice to finally meet you," Leo said with an amused expression.

Emma turned back to Max who was still lingering beside her at the door. For some stupid reason, he wanted to see her reaction towards Leo. Most girls swooned at his good looks, but she didn't seem to care. That only made him smile more at her.

"Are you going to explain what's going on, Max?" she asked him.

"In a minute, sweetheart," he said before closing her door and getting in the backseat.

"Just so you know, I got coerced into doing this. Apparently, Max thinks I still owe him a ride to the airport from two years ago," Leo explained to Emma as he drove off.

"Bro, you made me wake up at five in the morning that time. And in case you've forgotten, I helped you out with Mia that day so I don't want to hear about it."

"Still, do you know how hard it was to leave her sleeping in bed this morning? She was wearing one of those baby dolls that drives me crazy," he said looking lost in a daydream.

"God, Leo you're so whipped sometimes. She warms your damn bed every night so get over it."

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but can someone explain what this has to do with taking me to the airport?" Emma suddenly piped in.

"It's not just you. I'm taking both of you to the airport," Leo said.

"Both? Where are you going?" Emma asked, turning back to look at Max.

"We...are going to New York," he answered grinning.

"What? Back the truck up. No way. Absolutely not. You are not going to New York, Max," she said crossing her arms.

"Oh, yes I am," he replied.

"Do you even have a ticket?" she asked perplexed.

"Yeah, I bought it last night. United 9349? Connects in Frankfurt and is operated by Lufthansa?"

"You're on my same flight?! That's why you asked me what airline I was traveling on?" she almost screeched.

"I told him he should've gone Delta direct. It's much better," Leo pointed out.

"This is not happening," Emma said almost to herself and starting to freak out.

Okay, this was definitely not the reaction he was hoping for.

"Max, if Roy finds out about this I'm dead and you're dead...we're both dead! Don't you get that? He'll think we planned it or something."

"He won't find out. Just because I'm going to New York doesn't mean we went together."

"Well, it's a big fucking coincidence. Why are you doing this Max? We just spoke about this yesterday. I have things to do in New York. I have interviews to prepare for...I can't be babysitting you the entire time. Where are you even staying?"

"Em, relax. I'm a big boy. I understand you have your interviews and your brother so you don't have to babysit me. I also have things I wanna do there, people to see...so it'll be fine. I'm staying at the Gansevoort Park."

"People to see? Like who?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, I'm also curious about that one," Leo said.

"Like Mia's sister, her friends. I don't know, I'll see when I get there."

Leo laughed and shook his head. "Really, you're gonna call Teresa up?"

"Stay out of this, Leo. Seriously, whose side are you on?" Max asked.

"Emma's...of course," he responded chuckling.

Emma got really quiet after that and looked out the window. Shit, this was bad. Was it so horrible for him to go to New York? He thought she would be happy about it. She was acting like he had just killed her puppy or something.

"Em..." he said suddenly nervous. She still didn't answer, so he leaned forward in between the front seats to look at her but she was still staring out the window. "Sweetheart, talk to me." He would unbuckle her and bring her to the back seat if he had to.

She sighed and turned to look at him. "If you're really going, I can't stop you...but we have to set up some ground rules."

His entirely body relaxed at her words. "Okay, fair enough. What do you want?"

"First rule is, you do not talk about this with anyone. As far as I'm concerned, you never went to New York. I get that your family knows already, but besides them no one else can know. If people ask you about it, you say you were in Marbella. Got it?"

"Yes, I get it. I wasn't planning on saying anything either way," Max responded.

"Second rule is absolutely no posting things on Facebook, comments, pictures, nothing. Same goes for Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare, Pinterest...whatever the kids use these days I don't want to see it."

"Okay, no social media. What's the next rule?"

"Third rule is no PDA. That includes hand holding, hugging, etc."

Max's face completely fell at that. He didn't like the sound of this rule at all. How was he supposed to be around her and not touch her? Especially if it was just the two of them. "You mean in public right?"

"Yes, I can't risk people seeing anything like that even if it's innocent."

"That's gonna be tough, Em" he sighed. "But fine, I'll try not to. Anything else?" he asked, running his hand through his hair.

Emma opened her mouth to say something but then quickly shut it as a blush crept over her cheeks and she shook her head. What in the world was she coming up with now?

"What else, Em?"

"Well, it kind of has to do it with the third one, but just so we're clear the fourth rule is...no kissing," she said softly.

"What? No way, I can't promise that," he said immediately.

"Max! Are you crazy? So you were planning on kissing me."

"I don't know...maybe," he grinned.

"God, I knew it. That can't happen again, Max."

"So you kissed her already? All right Maxi, I knew you had it in you," Leo chirped in proudly.

"Don't egg him on, Leo. I thought you were on my side," Emma protested.

"Yeah, well you're putting me in tough position here. He should get points for that one."

"No offense, but you're not very good at this whole intermediary thing. Don't ever become a divorce lawyer," she replied.

"Is that what this is? You're getting divorced already? Well that was quick. I think my job is done here," Leo joked.

"So we're all good then?" Max asked hopefully.

"No, Max. I'm not going anywhere with you until you agree to the fourth rule."

"You might as well point a gun to my head."

"Oh please, stop being so dramatic. It's not a big deal."

"Were you not there last time? I know you felt it too, so don't try to act like it's not."

"Listen, Max. This is my freaking trip. You're the one that's hijacking it. So you either agree to my rules or you don't. It's that simple."

"Geezus, woman. Is this the last rule?"

"Yes."

"Will you at least admit that it was a big deal?"

"Will you agree to the rule?" Emma countered.

"If you admit it, then yes."

"God, you're so annoying. Fine," she said almost defeated.

"Fine, what? I need to hear you say it."

"Fine, it was a big deal, alright? Happy now?"

"Very. And yes, I'll agree to your silly rules. Just so we're clear, the rules only apply during the trip. The minute we land back in Madrid it's fair game again."

"We'll see about that, tough guy."

"Beautiful. That was just beautiful. I'm so glad I was able to share this moment with you both," Leo concluded. "Great timing too," he pointed out as he approached the curb side of the airport.

Max rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the ride, little brother," he said clasping his shoulder. He got out of the car as Emma said goodbye to Leo, and went to get the suitcases. When he was done, Emma was standing outside the car clutching her bag tightly and still looking really unsure about the whole thing.

"Let's go, silly," he said motioning towards the airport doors.

She just sighed and mumbled something under her breath, but eventually he heard her light footsteps behind him and chuckled. She really had no choice if she wanted to have clothes for the rest of the week.

Once inside, Max headed straight towards the line for first class. Emma looked at him hesitantly again, and instead of saying anything just shook her head.

Yes, sweetheart I bought a ticket for first class so you're just gonna have to deal with it, he thought. You would think she would at least be happy she didn't have to wait in a crazy line for at least 30 minutes or more. Then again, Emma wasn't like other girls. He would have to be sneaky about upgrading her ticket without her finding out. He had tried doing it the day before, but the bastards kept on insisting they needed her confirmation number in order to do it.

"Welcome to United. Will you be flying together today?" the airline hostess asked as they approached the counter.

"Yes," Max replied as Emma simultaneously said, "No".

"Sweetheart, let me handle this," he said reaching for her passport.

She immediately gave him a death look. "Don't you dare upgrade my ticket, Max. I don't want you spending money on me."

"Who said anything about upgrading your ticket?" he said trying to keep a straight face. God, she was being impossible. "Just give me five minutes, okay?"

"Fine," she said gritting her teeth and stomping off.

"Lovely, isn't she?" Max smiled at the attendant. "Also, I'm going to need you to upgrade her ticket. She's just nervous because it's our first trip together."

She gave him a sly look as she grabbed their passports. He patiently waited and she started typing in a million keys on her computer as attendants usually do. "We don't have anything available for the first leg, but I managed to get her a seat next to you from Frankfurt to JFK."

"Great, thank you," he said slipping her his gold Amex card.

"It's complimentary, Mr. Durant. We wouldn't want you getting in trouble with your girlfriend," she smiled.

"Oh, she's not..." he began wanting to correct her, but then stopped himself from completing that sentence. It just sounded too good. "She's not one to hold grudges, but thanks anyway. I appreciate it."

"Okay, then," she said handing him back the passports with their tickets. "If you can just load your suitcases up here you should be all set."

He did as she told and she wrapped the luggage tags around the handles. "Have a safe flight, Mr. Durant."

Why couldn't all females treat him like that? He shoved the tickets into his back pocket and headed towards a scowling Emma. He needed to do something to change that look on her face, but until then, he was holding onto her tickets until the last possible second. Who knows what types of schemes she was already planning on to get rid of him.