~Mithzan/Max: After Sky Media~ (Discontinued)

Chapter 10

*Ellie's POV*

(A/n: didn't reach the goal, but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging!)

After the awkward encounter with Max, I finished the 'Do Not Laugh' with the guys, me winning since I didn't laugh at Adam's Pun joke, which literally just annoyed me to no end. I went back to my station and looked at my e-mail, trying to figure out which video I had to edit next on my list. One from Barney, two from Adam and one for Office Antics.

"Need help with that?" a voice behind me said. I spun my chair around to face to owner of said voice, my eyes meeting with Max's for the thousandth time since I started working here, once again scaring the absolute crap out of me.

"Stop doing that!" I gasped, placing my hand over my heart.

"Doing what?" Max asked me innocently. I rolled my eyes and turned my chair back around to face my desktop.

"You know very well, what! Stop scaring the fudge out of me every time you come to the offices! It's quite annoying, you know." He chuckled behind me and pulled up an extra chair next to mine.

"I don't think I will, it's fun." I whacked his arm as he continued. "Anyways, I'm being serious now. Do you need help with editing all of these videos?" he asked me. I looked at his out of the corner of my eye as he pulled out his laptop. I shrugged and put two of the videos on a different flash drive and gave them to him.

"Sure, thank you, Max." I smiled gratefully. He nodded and smiled back and took the flash drive from my hand, plugging it into his computer and starting to edit them.

We started talking and I learned about how his experience was when he worked at the offices, what it was like living with Ross and Tim, and what it was like for me to be Adam's sister. We had learned a lot about each other by the time I had gotten started on my second video.

"What is it like after you left the offices?" I asked him out of curiosity. He sighed and looked up at me, his feet on the edge of my desk as he leaned back in his chair.

"Honestly, it's hard."

"Which part? Not working with your friends, not having as many people around you, or..." I trailed off, taking my eyes off of my computer screen to face him. He sighed and shook his head.

"Neither of those. It's the response to me leaving that is stressing me out. There's the fans that are supportive, which is great, but then there are the fans who aren't so understanding."

"Meaning?"

"Well, there's the kinds that keep hating on me for leaving...then there are the fans that make me feel bad about leaving. Those fans don't seem to understand that 'Mad Max,' doesn't exist. They don't want to admit it. In fact, some of them have almost convinced me to go back, but I don't see myself coming back."

"Max, it's your choice. None of the fans should have an effect on how you see your job. If you wanted to leave, you could leave. It's not their life, it's yours. Live it how you want," I told him. He nodded, deep in thought. A tiny smile tugged on his lips at my words.

"Thank you, El." He said. He took his feet off of my desk and leaned forward, kissing my cheek for the second time today. I could feel my face flush a dark red as I looked at him.

"I've never heard of you doing that before," I whispered. He chuckled.

"Because I never have in front of other people before."

"I'd like to have know you when you worked here," I said, still in my hushed tone.

"I'm the same as I was before and after Sky Media. People just can't that."