Melted: A MaxTul AU story

Chapter Thirty-two: Diverging Lines

Max had his whole weekend scheduled out. He was actually going to work on completing the outline for the book and outlines for individual chapters. He was at the point in the project where he needed to start writing more, so he would know what holes there were. He wasn't like other writers who did all their research and then did all of their writing. He had learned the hard way that it was better to start writing before he was away from the source material because sometimes drafting made him think of other questions he needed to ask.

He also realized that he had been repeatedly rescheduling his interview with Tul. He knew he had to do it eventually, he had interviewed everyone else in the family and on the team, but he kept putting this one interview off. It wasn't as if he didn't have questions or he wasn't prepared. He also knew it was more than trying to avoid spending time alone with Tul although that was some of it. 

He opened his calendar. Tul was booked for the Monday after his break away at Hongtai Farm. He thought that would be perfect because he would be fresh from four days of clearing his head.

He called his uncle this morning to tell him that he was putting his phone on silent, but that he would leave it on and face up in case he needed him. His uncle had tried once again to bring up the clothes, but Max just put him off and told him to rest.

He really wanted to hear more about Tul's reaction to his note. He had tried to keep his tone light and not convey how upsetting he found the gift. He didn't want Tul to think he wasn't grateful or that he didn't like the items, but he didn't want Tul to think that he needed to receive expensive things. 

Max didn't ask his uncle about Tul's reaction to the note because he was also mad at himself for the part of him that was delighted by the gift. It wasn't the expense; it was the idea that Tul had spent that much time and effort thinking about him and going personally to his tailor to make the purchase even with everything that was going on in his life. It was something that he was afraid his uncle would pick up on. He didn't need his uncle to go into matchmaking mode, especially not about Tul.

As Max organized his papers to set up for the long work weekend ahead, he allowed him to relax and think about Tul, wondering what it would be like to date him. If this was how it felt just to be his friend, how would it feel to be loved by him? Tul seemed the type who would be super attentive (considering the clothes gift) but strict about any public displays of affection. He wondered if he was the type of person who needed always to have something planned or whether he would like to just hang around the apartment on weekends.

Max wondered, too, what it would be like to come "home" to Tul every night, having Tul come into the kitchen fresh from the shower and get to smell that smell of his, which has now become Max's absolute favorite smell in the world. Just the memory of it made Max's heart swell even standing alone in his own (or rather Weir's) apartment.

Sighing, he realized he needed to wrap up this project sooner than later. In fact, he thought, that other than the interview with Tul, there really wasn't any need to keep going into the office. Yes, he might have to go to the archives every once in a while, but he should probably clear out his desk. If he left things there, it would be too easy to keep going in. He had plenty of material for the chapter on the team, and they were getting into a difficult period right now. The less distractions from them the better.

So he now had a plan for the whole weekend and for the week. On Monday, he'd pack up his desk and maybe even take the team out to lunch to thank them. He'd do some follow-up phone calls on Tuesday. Wednesday, he'd clean the apartment, buy his bus ticket, and pack for the weekend. And Thursday he'd head out. With his next six days mapped out in his mind, Max relaxed and focused on the work in front of him.