The Bartender

Chapter 52

Max and I escaped into his car and drove off. As we got on the road my curiosity got the best of me. "So where are you taking me?" I asked.
"It's a surprise. We're a bit behind time, I didn't know the process would take so long."

"Max don't dodge the question, and you know I hate suspense. That's exactly the reason why I still haven't finished reading your latest novel. God that book is full of Suspense." I complained gaining a light chuckle from Max.

"I think suspense is good though, it gets you in your wildest imaginations."

"Oh really, but what if I don't wanna imagine anything? Then what? There's no suspense? Come on Max just tell me where we're going."

"No, and I'm not telling you, so suck it up, baby." For the next twenty minutes, Max kept tossing me around until we came to a stop at a luxury restaurant. The name read Shelby's. I looked at Max and he had a smile on his face.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"I found it a couple of weeks ago. They serve the best Bostonian dishes!" I couldn't help but giggle at his excitement. After he helped me out of the car, we walked into the restaurant with his arm securely around my waist. I hate to admit this but I guess I should have listened to Miley about getting a new dress. Seeing all these classy women made me self-conscious.

My dress isn't bad but, I definitely could have done better. We walked to a receptionist and while Max spoke to her, I looked around the place.

"Hi, I'm here for the reservation under Maxwell Wilders and April Lucas_" The Lady smiled at us before looking into the computer in front of her. "Just a moment." She said.

After a few seconds of waiting, the smile on her face suddenly faded as she looked at us. Max and I were waiting for her to speak out but she suddenly found her manicured nails interesting to figure out.

"Is there a problem?" Max asked.

"Um, sorry sir but your reservation time expired two hours ago." She finally let out.

"Oh come on! We all run late once in a while. Look it's my girlfriend's graduation today_"

"I'm sorry Sir, here at Shelby's we are very particular about our time." Max gradually became frustrated. I could tell by the way he rubbed his index finger against his left brow. It's one of the traits I noticed he did when he was frustrated.

"Look miss, I can add up double what I paid for the reservation, you just have to find my girlfriend here and me a table_"

"Sir I'm sorry but as I said earlier, there's nothing we can do. You can book for tomorrow though."

"_goddamit I don't want it for tomorrow!"

"Max please drop it, we can go somewhere else."
I finally decided to intervene in their conversation which was gradually turning into something more.

"But I wanted today to be perfect."

"It's alright, it's not too late to go somewhere else." I smiled to cheer him up but Max was still frowning.

"Once again we're really sorry for any inconvenience caused sir." The lady said again as we made our way out.

"I'm sorry baby, I just started this day on a bad note."

"Stop being dramatic Max. You know I'm not a picky eater and neither are you, we can eat anywhere."

"Today is your graduation April, I wanted it to be special."

"I already feel special for having you in my life."

"Fine! I'll stop. So what do you suggest now? I have two places in mind but they'll probably also demand a reservation."

"How about we forget about all this since it's almost 3:00 pm, we can grab something at the drive-thru and eat in the car, then I'd like you to meet someone," I started with a small smile tugged at the corner of my lip.

"April you want us to get food from the drive-thru and eat in the car?! It's your graduation today!"

"I know it's my graduation, Max, what matters most for me is that I'm happy."

"Fine, where are we grabbing the food? Wait let me guess, McDonald's_"

"You know it. I'm so loyal to McDonald."

"Oh, you sure are, considering you want to eat there on your graduation day."

"Okay hold it right there now I'm offended. Are you saying McDonald's isn't capable of embracing special occasions? Max that's not fair. Goodness, they have mouthwatering dishes from continental to local_" Max raised his hands in surrender as he started driving towards our new location. He was either chuckling at the fact that I didn't let him trash-talk McDonald's or at how the whole day had tuned out.

After Max and grabbed our order from the drive-thru, we ended up eating at a bare parking lot as we talked about random stuff.
I told him about Mom wanting me to design her gown and he wasn't surprised. He simply said he knows I can do much more than that. That got me emotional. I also asked him if I could borrow his equipment to make it since I haven't started buying my own yet.

Max agreed of course and he even offered me work with pay until I get my shit sorted out. I agreed but I had to focus on making Mom's gown first. Once we had finished eating all the food we continued to sit in the car until Max spoke.
"So, who were you gonna introduce me to?" He asked with genuine curiosity in his voice.

"About that, I haven't forgotten. He's all the uptown, we're riding a cool twenty minutes to get there." I said ironically causing him to become more curious. "It's a he? Well, now I'm super curious." He mumbled as he started the drive uptown.

Max used fifteen minutes to get uptown. It was funny how desperate he wanted to meet this unknown person. As I continued to give him directions he said nothing until he realized we were at the cemetery. At the Saint Louis Cemetery, there was this huge gate at the entrance, and on it was the popular saying ' We were once like you, You'll soon be like us.'

Max looked surprised and alarmed. His mood suddenly changed. "April we are at a Cemetery." He spoke calmly looking into my eyes. "Yeah, the person lives here, come on," I said as I got out of the car and started walking towards the gates. I felt Max trailing behind me until he was now walking by my side.

"Can you tell me who we're going to visit at a cemetery_" Max trailed off once I stopped in front of a headstone that had Dad's name on it. He seemed to have realized why we were here and who we came to see.

A/N
When life gives you lemons, you don't just make lemonades, make strawberry lemonade😀#be that change you wish to see.