A girl, a guy and an office job.
Maxine is just your average 20-something who has no idea how she ended in Scranton, Pennsylvania or Dunder Mifflin for that matter. All she knows is that she there now, and the one bright light in dark place is the...
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The memories that were flooding Max's was overwhelming as stood in the hall of the high school. Today, her, Pam, Michael, Oscar, and Daryl had to attend the local career fair to scout summer interns and Max was dreading having to ruin some kids life, "gotta piss," she told her team, before quickly walking as far away from them as possible before Pam or Michael could speak and ruin her life in some way that they haven't yet. "This fucking job," she mumbled to herself, staring into her lifeless eyes through the mirror as the sound of vomiting echoed through the almost empty bathroom the smell bothering Parry.
She closed her eyes, trying to breathe instead of throwing up. "Look, you little parasite," Max told the baby as the stall door opened, "I'm gonna need you to make this easier for both of us and calm down."
"What?" a girl no older than 17, said from behind her, obviously disheveled.
Max chuckled lightly, moving over, "sorry, I was talking to my, uh, thing," she told the young girl, pointing to her stomach, almost afraid to refer to her baby as a baby because of the fear she had from her first pregnancy.
The girl nodded, her hand touching her own stomach, "I think I have on of those too," her voice absolutely crushed before quickly breaking into tears. Without thinking, Max hugged the girl, she knew what feeling lost and helpless was like and didn't want her to experience it alone.
"Let's talk," Max said to her quietly, they both needed it."
_
Max and the girl who was named Lakhia, sat in the floor of the bathroom together after they both shared a big cry, "I found out last week and I, I don't know what to do, you know? I feel like I don't have a choice."
"You always have a choice, Khia even when it feels like you don't." Max told her, "do you know your options?" she asked her honestly, growing up in a black household, there were certain things that she was taught to believe but if she had the education then that she did now, so many things would've been different for her.
Khia shook her head, terrified of what life as a teen mom was going to be like, "my dad's a pastor and—"
"This moment right here," Max said, motioning around them, "is about you, not your dad or you family, just you okay?" she told the young girl, "I know it might seem hard or selfish to only think about yourself right now but you being okay is the most important thing."
"I'm so scared," Khia said, her voice shaking, "are you?"
"I'm petrified," Max told her honestly, speaking about how she feels truthfully for the first time, "but I think that's normal. Can I ask you something?" Max asked her after a moment of silence, Khia nodded, "do you want the thing?"
She shook her head, "no," she told Max, wiping a tear, "I've known since I was 14 that I never wanted children. I have 4 other siblings, all younger than me and my parents are always so busy with their jobs and the church that I'm left to raise them, and I refuse to do that forever...I just can't." She whispered finally to herself, "what about you, Max, do you want the thing?"
She nodded with a small smile, placing her hand over her small yet slightly visible bump, "when I was 20, in college," Max told her, the words hard to get out, "I, uh, got pregnant with a baby, a little girl named Eliana; I only had her for a week before she took her last breath," she breathed deeply, telling the story that only a few people knew about, "worse pain I've ever felt in my life. After she had died, I promised myself that I would never put myself through that again but then about 5 months ago, I just knew that I was pregnant, I could feel it in my heart. As scared as I was, I knew this, my baby was something that I needed. It's my rainbow and I know there's going to be gold at the end."
_
"Call me at any time, okay, I mean it," Max told Khia, handing her a business card with her information on it.
"Thank you," Khia told Max, the feeling of hopelessness that she'd been feeling for a while washing away now that she had a plan, "seriously." She said, hugging Max before walking away and becoming one with the crowd of teenagers. It wasn't too long after that, that they headed back to the office where Jim, Andy, and Kevin where cracking open cold ones.
"I closed it!" Jim exclaimed happily to Pam, the smile he was giving her making Max sad. He might have hurt her but that didn't stop her from loving him, no matter how much she'd tried.
"Yes!" Pam said happily running into Jim's arms and kissing him.
"Want one Max?" Andy asked a beer in his hand.
She shook her head, a small sad smile on her face, "nah, I gotta get home but uhm, I'll see you guys Monday." She told him, before quickly walking out of the office, unaware of the longing stare from Jim. He wanted so bad for her to be in his arms, but he didn't think it was possible after what he did to her.
_
"So, Toby is finally leaving and honestly this is great," Max told the camera with a wide smile, "like the guy is hella weird, the way he acts around Pam is off-putting and you didn't hear this from me but I'm pretty sure he killed a guy."
_
"How far along are we as of today?" Angela asked Max happily.
"21 weeks, and it's been kicking my ass," she told Angela, she'd been tired and fatigued a lot more lately and her ankles were aching! Her phone started buzzing, "I gotta take this call." She told Angela before quickly running into the breakroom, unaware of Jim and Pam's presence, "hello?" she said quickly, seeing the couples reflection in the mirror, "shit," she mumbled.
"Hey, Maxine, this is Joanne at Luxury homes and I wanted to let that the Hader family accepted the offer—"
"Oh, my gosh!" Max gasped.
"Congratulations, you are now a homeowner," Joanne said, "I will fax you the paperwork, and you can move in hopefully by next month, talk to you later."
"Wow," Max mumbled, goosebumps, "I'm a fucking homeowner." She said proudly, leaving the breakroom. Jim and Pam who were once happy about their own accomplishments were faced with the betrayal of Max.
"We should get back to work," Jim said leaving Pam, the guilt that he'd been trying to hide now coming out in full force.
