From max to max

Part 3: The post office

"Get the box labeled 'paper'!'" a seemingly simple enough task for the new cadet.

Max repeated the words to himself as he walked down the street to the post office address.

He walks in the door, ringing the little bell. Looking around, he could see a pickup counter, a mailing station, and some benches to wait on. He walks up to the counter.

"Excuse me, I need an order for 'paper'?" he says. The employee nods. "Of course, sir." She goes to look through the boxes.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Max looked curious. The door opened and in walked a tall teenage looking dog guy with brown fur and dorky clothes.

The dog walked up to the counter, standing beside max. "I need an order for 'parker', please. "Yeah, yeah, hold your horses, I'm workin' on it!" the employee said.

The dog glances to max. "Hey, how's it going?" he asks with a smile. Max blushes a tiny bit. "U-uh, it's going good..." he replies. "cool." the dog says, then turns away.

Max watches as he walks over to the waiting area.

He took a deep breath, then walked up to him. The dog noticed, turning around. "Hey man, you got a stamp?" Max asked. The dog looked at him weird, but nodded. "Uh, sure." he reaches into his pocket and pulls it out, handing it to max. Max smiles. "Thanks!" the dog nods. "No problem!"

Just then, the employee places two boxes on the counter. "Okay, Parker and paper, got 'em right here."

Max then sprints to the counter, picking up what he thought was his box and running out.

On his way back to the police station, he couldn't stop thinking about that handsome stranger...

Later, He walks back to the commissioners office, carrying the box. "Hey commish!"

The commissioner looks up and smiles. "Max, you're back!" Max smiled. "I got the box!" He places it on his desk. "Good job." The commissioner said. He then looked at the box.

He frowned. "Max, this is the wrong box." Max opened his eyes. "What..?" The commissioner shows him the label. Max reads it.

The label said "parker."

Max's face falls. "Oops."

The commissioner sighs. "Oh well... It's no big deal. you just have to take this one back and get the right one."

Just then, The door opened. Both of them looked to see who it was.

Max's eyes went wide when he saw It was the dog man from the post office.

Max's heart beat faster as he walked up, holding a box. "Hey there, I think our packages got mixed up." the commissioner looked up to him. "Is yours for parker?" the dog nods. "I'm guessing you got that one?" the commissioner nods, and the two switch boxes. The dog smiles. "Thank you." the commissioner smiles as he holds the right box. "No problem."

The dog laughs. "I wonder how they got mixed up." The commissioner looked to max. "Well you can thank this little guy for grabbing the wrong one." the dog laughs, looking to max. "Oh hey, I remember you! You're that guy that needed a stamp!" Max laughs. "Oh yeah!" He looks up to him. "I never got your name." the dog says. Max smiles "Oh, I'm max!" He sticks his hand out. "Nice to meet ya, I'm sam." he responds, shaking it. Max giggles. "Sorry for accidentally taking your box." Sam smiles. "It's fine, at least we got them switched back." they let go.

Max then looks to the commissioner. "So, that box is for a pi of yours, right?" he asks. The commissioner nods. "Yes." Sam looks to the commissioner. "Wait, you guys have pis?" the commissioner nods. "We have all kinds of investigators here." Sam smiled. "That's cool." he looks at the ceiling. "I've always wondered what it would be like to be a detective.

The commissioner smiles at him and max. "Well, You know, we're currently looking for new cadets for our freelance program, would you be interested?" Sam tilts his head. "Freelance program?" the commissioner nods. "Yes. Have you seen the fliers around town?" Sam shakes his head. "I'm afraid not."

Max remembers something, then reaches in his pocket and hands Sam the flier he still had. "Here, I kept mine!" Sam takes and reads it. As he does, a small smile makes its way across his face. "Wow, that sounds like fun! When can I join?" he asks, looking at the commissioner.

The commissioner hands him more sign up forms. "Right now." Sam smiles and gets a pen. When he was done filling out forms and answering questions, the commissioner thanked him and put the sheets away.

He then looks at both of them. "Now, Since you two are the only ones that have signed up so far, it means you're gonna be working together." max blushes a bit. Sam smiles. "Cool!" The commissioner gets a notepad and pen. "Now I need both your addresses." Sam nods. "Sure. Mine is the apartment building at 1004 holly road, room 305." the commissioner writes it down. "Got it." He then looks to max. "And yours?" Max looks a bit shy.

"Well... I don't really have one yet..."

Sam and the commissioner look confused. "What do you mean?" Max looks to the side. "Well, see, I just arrived in the city today... and.. I don't really have anywhere to live yet..." the commissioner nods. "I see..." he looks to the side too. "Well that might be an issue..."

Sam suddenly gets an idea, smiling. "Hey! He could stay with me."

Max blushes more. The commissioner smiles. "Really?" Sam nods. "My apartment might not be huge but I'm sure I have enough space for him. Besides," he laughed. "When my parents were helping me get set up, they accidentally ordered a bunk bed by mistake." the commissioner smiles. "Well that's convenient!"

Sam then looks to max. "What do you say? Wanna live together and be detective buddies?" Max thinks. Getting to work and live with his cute and funny guy sounded awesome!

He smiles widely. "Can't think of a reason not to!"