Who: Max and Liz What: Another meeting When: Saturday, August 3rd Where: Farmer’s market Status: Complete when posted Rating:
Max was up early every day, weekends included. It sort of came with the territory when one was trying to balance a heavy caseload, exercise, and some sort of life. So it wasn’t any surprise that he’d become something of a regular at the farmer’s market, cooking becoming something of a hobby to help him stay sane.
He’d bought any produce that looked good and found himself with a vegan muffin in hand. Though as soon as he took a bite he regretted it. “Yeah...that was not a good idea,” he mumbled to himself. It just didn’t taste right.
Liz was usually up early, if not for work then simply because she didn’t like sleeping in and losing the whole day in bed. Especially recently, Liz had a tendency to wake up early as a result of her more recent dreams. Dreaming about her mother leaving and her sister dying, so close together put her off the idea of sleep because she didn’t want to relive it or see what her life would be like without either of them. Sure, her and Rosa didn’t really get along well in the waking world, but the thought of something happening to her sister was not something she liked.
Since it was the weekend and she was already up early, Liz had decided to get out and do something besides go to the diner. Her parents didn’t need as much help from her now that she’d helped them hire two new waitresses so she was going to start figuring out her personal life. She had no real plans for the morning, but when she drove by the farmer’s market, she decided to stop and take a look.
She had been walking by a few booths when she spotted a familiar face and she decided to say hi, “I’m guessing that’s not a good muffin.”
“It’s a pretty terrible one,” he agreed, mouth full as he tried to decide whether to swallow the mouthful he had or spit it out. Politeness won out in the end as he swallowed his mouthful and then tossed the rest into a nearby trash can.
“Word of warning, avoid the vegan muffin stand.” A nod in its general direction. “How are you doing, though?”
“Note taken, avoid the vegan muffins.” It was good for Liz that she wasn’t vegan and had never shown any interest in anything vegan, “I’m alright. Mostly just trying to figure out what to do with free time now that I have some.” It being the weekend, Liz had no idea what she was going to do once she left the farmer’s market, but she was sure she could figure something out, “What about you? How’s work going?” She still found it interesting that Max and Isobel had gone into the same field.
“Same as ever,” he shrugged. “The case load is incredible. And there’s a ton of pressure to make plea bargains whenever possible just to keep things flowing through the system.” It rubbed him the wrong way.
“What about you? How is your work?”
“Do you always try to make a plea deal?” All Liz really knew about attorneys was what she’d seen on cop shows and a lot of the time they appeared to try and make plea deals unless the crime the person had committed was especially bad, “Work is good. Lots of science, but I’m a wiz with that, so most of it isn’t too difficult.”
“Not always,” he shook his head. “But it can be a good option sometimes. Especially if it means a reduced sentence for someone who is truly remorseful or who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
He offered a smile. “I’m glad your work is going so smoothly.”
“It must be hard to decide who deserves a plea deal and who doesn’t.” Liz said as they began walking along the path, towards another group of booths, “So do you come to the Farmer’s Market often?” She was suddenly glad that she’d decided to stop to check out the market. It had been awhile since she’d seen Max so this was a nice coincidence.
“Sometimes easier than others,” Max admitted. Sometimes it was quite easy to tell someone to take the deal. Otherwise sometimes he felt they might have been found innocent if they had continued fighting. Ultimately it was up to the client, though.
“More and more. I’m attempting to eat more healthy. I finally realized I’m not a teenager anymore and can’t inhale three cheeseburgers and a pizza in one sitting.” But he grinned at her.
“I think you look perfectly fine,” Liz’s cheeks flushed slightly as she realized how that sounded, but she couldn’t help it. She’d always found Max attractive and maybe if she hadn’t been dating Kyle during high school she might have acted upon those feelings, but as it were there was never a time for anything to come of her feelings, “You know what I mean. And anyway, you’re still young. We’re the same age and I refuse to think of myself as getting old.” She smirked up at Max.
That easy grin widened, Max’s head sucking a moment. “You look pretty good yourself,” he answered. “And yeah, we’re the same age but something tells me you’re gonna still be a knockout when you’re eighty, Liz Ortecho.” She always would be to him, anyway.
Well Liz certainly hadn’t expected that and found herself blushing even more, “Well thanks. I guess we have some time to wait to see if that’s true though.” As flustered as Liz was, she was glad that she’d stopped by the Farmer’s Market cause otherwise she certainly wouldn’t have run into Max, “So, wanna grab a coffee? I’ll even get you a better tasting muffin.”
Head ducked though the grin didn’t fade, Max nodding at the offer. He’d always been crazy about Liz - who wouldn’t be? She was smart, beautiful, passionate...and probably had never thought about him that way.
“Yeah, I’d like that,” he nodded. “But I’ll buy. Especially if you can find me a better muffin. Least I can do to show my gratitude.”
“Fine. You can get the muffins this time,” Liz glanced up at Max as she tried to think about what she could remember was in the area, “I think there’s a cafe around the corner.” Since Liz had had more time to herself recently she had been trying to re-familiarize herself with the area.
This time...that was definitely noted, though of course it was meant as a friendly gesture. Liz was just that type of person. “Lead the way,” he gestured for her to take the first step before falling in-line beside her.
“Do you come to the market often?” They must have just been missing each other if so.
Liz shook her head as they headed out of the area the Farmer’s Market was being held and out onto the street that she was pretty sure led to the cafe, “No, not really. I was up early and trying to figure out something to do, so I was just driving around and thought this looked interesting.” And now she was definitely glad that she had decided to stop. “Is this the only one you go to or are there others in the area?” She was sure there were other Farmers Markets in the OC, but this way she could find out if Max tended to frequent this one mostly or if there were others she might one day find him at. No, that did not make her a stalker.
“There are others but I like this one,” he answered with a shrug. “It’s got a good variety and it’s not too far out of my way. If you play your cards right, I’ll even show you where to get the best tomatoes.” If she played her cards really well, he might even be persuaded to make her something.