Melted: A MaxTul AU story

Fifty-Two: Useful People

Max texted Tul before the taxi had even completely merged in traffic.

"Ice Cream Sundae."

"Come to garage near exit D3."

"Bring passport if you have it."

Max hoped they wouldn't need passports. He didn't have his. He remembered a time when he always carried his passport in a hidden pouch underneath his clothes because he was never sure when he would have to quickly leave a country, but that had been when he worked for Kuhn Bagnet. Nowadays, he left it locked up at home.

He ran towards the elevator, taking the stairs next to them down to the garage. Fortunately, he had his messenger bag with him, which only had his tablet and nothing else, so he was able to fit the box in there. He hoped that Tul would see his message. He texted both Prin and Ann just in case.

Neither Tul nor Prin saw the message. They had both been finishing up when Prin got a call from his counterpart on another team about a client question. He didn't think it would take long, so he hurried off. Tul had told him not to worry about taking anything since no one was left besides Tul and Ann.

Tul had packed up his bag but stepped out to one of the terraces to sit on what he called the "bench of lessons" for some fresh air before having to be in his car, battling the traffic home. He had started doing this for a couple of minutes at the end of every day, an idea he learned from therapy but hadn't really used before.

His therapist had said it was a good idea to take a couple of minutes at the end of every day to detach—to put everything away, phone, tablet, laptop. This disconnecting was to make a clear break between the workday and the rest of his life. Frankly, Tul hadn't really seen the need before because he hadn't been that busy with work nor had he ever been as invested in work as he was now.

He liked coming here because it was the same spot where Max had warned him about Tor, and he had been angry. He hoped that he wouldn't ever forget the lessons he learned from that first conflict with Max, which is why he called it the bench of lessons. It was also a place where he could relax and think about Max and what he wanted to share with him when he got home. Tul knew that it was really Max's connection to this spot that allowed him to let the day go. Coming out here had become such a habit that Ann knew exactly where to find him when Max called her.

Still, Tul was surprised when Ann showed up with a concerned look on her face. Even though they all knew where he'd be, no one ever interfered with his time here. Even Prin left him alone when he went to his bench, so he knew something important must have happened for Ann to be up here now.

"Ann, what is it?"

"Max just called me. He said to tell you that there's an ice cream situation and to look at your phone." Ann didn't know what it meant, but she had never heard Max's voice sound the way he had on the phone. She knew his history, so she didn't ask any questions. From the look on Tul's face, she could tell that he understood more than she did. He jumped up to run off, but she caught his arm.

"Tul," she quickly responded, not letting go of his arm out of fear that he'd run off and not hear what she had to say.

"Tul, don't run. Max warned me that you'd run off. He said that he wanted you to be quick but that it was just as important not to draw attention to yourself. He said that you needed to go to office, check the messages he left you, but that you needed to act like you're going to the bathroom and then take the back stairs. Do not look around like you think you're being watched. Go towards your car, but then act like you've gotten a phone call and go where he told you to go in his text."

So, Tul and Ann returned to the office together. When they appeared, Prin immediately asked if he had heard from Max, having just seen the messages Max had left on his own phone. Tul nodded. Ann said, "Max called me, too, when he couldn't get in touch with either of you."