New Day, New Plan

By:  M. J. Cogburn and C. E. Krawiec

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Inside his quarters, Max got the light turned on and then closed the door.  He stood for a moment, blinking slowly as he surveyed the small living room then turned the light off and by memory, made his way down the hall to his bedroom.

By the time that he made it to his room, he'd taken off his shirt.  He reached out and tapped the light switch and blinked when the light came on.  He stopped in the middle of his bedroom, unbuttoned his pants, and then got out of his shoes and then his pants.  After he sat down on the bed, he pulled off his socks then sighed as he looked over at the clock.  Making sure that his clock was set for 4:30, he stood and went to his bathroom. 

Stripping off his underwear, he reached down and turned on the shower.  Stepping into the hot spray, he showered, then grabbed a towel and began to dry off.  As he looked at himself in the slightly foggy mirror, he grinned at himself as he finished drying off.  Placing his towel back on the rod he had gotten it from, he turned and grabbed his toothbrush and brushed his teeth.

Once feeling completely clean, he maneuvered back into his bedroom. Sauntering over to the wall, he flipped off the light then headed toward his bed.  Once on his bed, he snuggled down into his pillow.   Humming and rubbing his face on the smooth fabric of his pillow, he smiled as a certain redhead floated into his thoughts.  "Tala..." he muttered softly, "I'll be... seeing you tomorrow."

PART ONE

The alarm beside Maxwell Robinson's head rang a bit too loud to the Englishman's ear.  He quickly reached over and found the snooze button and silenced its squawking, irritating sound.  As he rolled slightly back onto his side his head throbbed and he moaned heavily.  "Damn," he murmured wondering why he had decided to pull such a stunt on a day when he had to get up and work the next morning.

Not worrying about it for the next few minutes, Max nestled his head on his pillow and quickly fell back asleep.  When the alarm once again made its presence known, Max frowned as he realized he couldn’t hit the snooze button again.  He moaned once more as he reached over and turned off the alarm.

Cursing several times as he sat up, he placed his head in his hands which were propped up by his knees and tried to let his stomach settle before he had to get up to shower and shave then go to work.

'Work with a hangover, great!' he thought to himself as he massaged his temples gingerly.  'I just hope I don't throw up.  That at least would be a plus in this situation.'

A few more moments passed before Max managed himself to his bathroom and into a shower.  He showered, shaved and brushed his teeth then started toward the door as his mind went to one thing that had caused him such grief - Tala.

Even as he shut and locked the door behind him, Maxwell Robinson wondered if he had been suckered in.  There had been times in his life when he'd felt that way and he was never wrong.  His gut was always true to itself and yet, he couldn't help but wonder how that redhead had done it to him.  Even as the young Englishman tried to analyze the situation, he felt a presence beside him at the elevator and turned slightly to see who it was.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Elsewhere on the bachelor men's level, another of Lothos' many subjects was awaking after a quiet night's sleep.

It didn't happen often, but Andy Stockwell awakened a full fifteen minutes before his alarm clock that was set to go off at five fifteen a.m.  Glancing over at the glowing red numbers on the digital clock, he closed them again. However, he knew immediately that he wasn't going to get those extra minutes. He was wide awake there was no sense kidding himself.

Getting out of bed, Andy made short work of getting a quick shower and putting on work clothes and boots.  He made a half-hearted attempt at making the bed, and even picked up the clothes he'd shed the night before and tossed them in the laundry hamper.

In the kitchen, he went to make some coffee then, glancing at his watch, changed his mind and headed for the front door.  "I've got a few extra minutes, so I'll stop and get some breakfast at Joe's," he murmured under his breath as he locked his door before heading to the elevator.

As he walked briskly along the hall, Andy couldn't help feeling like he had really made good points with Tala the evening before.  A niggling in the back of his mind tried to slip in a small wedge of guilt where the pretty redhead was concerned... Max is dating her... but he brushed it away.  "No," he murmured to himself firmly.  "He wants to date her, but the lady hasn't decided one way or the other."  So engrossed was he with his inner conversation with his conscience, Andy didn't realize who it was standing beside the elevator as he approached it.  Sparing a glance at the guy, a bit of 'uh oh' slid through his thoughts, but he didn't let it set the tone.  No need to invite trouble where none had presented itself.

"Morning, Max," he greeted his fellow gardener with a bit of a smile.  Checking the time on his watch again, he commented, "Looks like we're both early birds this morning."  As the elevator arrived and the door opened, Andy allowed the other man to enter the car ahead of him.  Following him into the elevator, he pushed the button for Level 2.  "I'm going to get some breakfast at Java Joe's before work.  Join me?" he asked as the elevator car began to ascend.

Maxwell Robinson slid a look over toward the other gardener and swallowed carefully thankful that his stomach didn't roll over and empty itself at the mere mention of food.  "Coffee sounds good, but I'm not so sure about the food.  I, uhm, well, tied one on last night and to be frank with ya, I'm not feeling so good."

Andy frowned and looked at his friend for a moment thoughtfully.  "Company for coffee is better than sitting alone.  Think your stomach can handle the sight of my plate?"

"I hope it can, but if it doesn't, I'll do my best to aim the other way.  How's that?" Max asked with a slight grin.

Returning the grin, Andy said, "Deal.  But if you spoil my breakfast in any way, pal, you're paying for it."

Max's grin widened as the car came to a smooth halt and the doors slid open.  Exiting the car, he started automatically for the direction in which Java Joe's Cafe, one of the most popular coffee shops in the complex, lay.  Looking around when Andy caught up to walk beside him, Max quipped, "That caveat of yours, however, does not include the effects of dirty looks."  Both chuckled at that, blending with the quick moving flow of other early morning workers in search of a caffeine fix before heading to their respective jobs.

Once inside the almost crammed full cafe, the guys threaded their way toward the only empty booth to be seen, at the far end of the little establishment.  Five more minutes passed before a waitress with a nameplate with the name "Becky" imprinted on it appeared beside their table.

"What'll be gents?" she asked matter-of-factly, her smile a bit harried.

Considering the crowd and the limited time he and Max had, Andy didn't waste time with small talk.  "Two coffees," he ordered. "Do you have any danish this morning?"

Becky, busy scribbling on her order pad, replied without looking up. "Same as usual - apple cinnamon and blueberry."  She just nodded when Andy said, "I'll have a blueberry danish."  When Max didn't say anything, she looked at him. "How about you, sweetie?  You want a danish or maybe a nice hot sticky bun?"

Max's stomach twitched warningly at the mention of the pastries. "Just coffee for me," he said.

"Okay," the waitress responded. "I'll be back in a minute," then disappeared in the direction of the counter lined with customers on one side and the other two waitresses working busily behind it.

Leaning back slightly in his chair, Maxwell regarded his friend carefully.  They normally talked about everything under the sun, but now that they were both after the same red-head, Max wasn't sure exactly how he could broach any topic without it going back to that certain lovely specimen they had eaten with last night.

"Are you ready for work this morning, honestly?  I mean, we have no idea what's going on.  With the weather how it's been, we probably won't be going outside too much.  I heard that the weather was to drop below freezing today."

Andy smiled.  "Yeah, I heard that too. I'm not too worried about what they want us to take care of today.  Today, I feel like I can do just about anything that they throw at me."

"Really.  Why's that?" Max asked conversationally as the waitress came back with their coffee and set it before them.  He took a sip of the black liquid thankfully then looked over at his friend with a quizzical expression on his face.

After adding a couple of packets of sugar and cream to his coffee, Andy took blew gently on the hot brew then took a careful sip.  "Umm," he sighed.  Setting the cup down, he shifted his focus to the blueberry danish that had been set before him, picked up his fork and cut bite.  Impishly, he pretended to offer the bit of pastry to his friend.  "Sure you don't want a bite, Max?  It's warm and really good."  Chuckling when Max's nose wrinkled a bit and he flapped one hand at him, saying, "I'll pass, thanks. Unless you want extra 'topping' on that danish."

Max watched his friend enjoy the bite of his danish then, as he was taking another swallow of his coffee, paused at Andy's comment. Responding to it, he watched Andy over the rim of his cup as he drank some more of his coffee.

Popping another bite of the blueberry danish in his mouth, Andy chewed quickly then swallowed before answering.  "After a great night last night... with Tala and you... and Quint, and a good night's sleep..." He paused to take an expansive deep breath and blow it out then grinned at Max. "I just feel like I've got the world by the tail this morning.  So, whatever the boss has in mind for us this morning...bring it on. I'm rarin' to go."

Max couldn't help but grin at his friend's explanation.  Licking his lips, he raised the coffee cup to his mouth and drank a bit more of the warm brew before he looked over at Andy.  With a sly grin, he asked, "I must be a good conversationalist if you are in that good of a mood, huh? Or..." Max couldn't help his smile growing as he thought of the woman that they were with last night.  "Or is it Tala?"

For a moment, the two men were quiet before their eyes met and almost simultaneously, they both responded to the question that was asked.  "Tala."

The laughter that spilled out between the two of them made others in Java Joe's turn toward them and they immediately calmed it down and chuckled softer before Max looked back over at Andy and held his coffee up in a small toast as he reached over and slapped his hand on Andy's arm.  He realized in that moment that whatever happened, whoever she ended up with, that they weren't going to let their friendship go down the drain over a woman.  "Whatever happens, man... we have a long road ahead of us."

Andy nodded then took another swallow of coffee before holding his cup toward Max again.  "And may the best man win," he quipped, the grin on his lips now twinkling his eyes.

Max grinned broadly as he lightly touched his cup to Andy's proffered cup. "I always do," he said then finished the last of his coffee.

Andy snorted the grin still in place. "Thanks, you're right. I do always win."  While Max was spouting something, Andy's glance fell on his watch and he got up out of the booth.  "We better get a move on.  We do not want to be late."  The comment was more than enough to erase most of the levity from Maxwell Robinson's thoughts.

Getting up quickly, he paused just long enough to look around for the waitress. Catching her eye, he called, "Check."  When Becky reached the table, Max took the check she handed him, glanced at it as he reached into one of his pants' pockets.  Pulling out a couple of bills, he handed them to her.  "Keep the change," he told her.

"Thanks," the waitress smiled at him then turned to tidy the table for the next customer.

"I echo that," Andy said as he hustled along behind Max as they escaped the coffee shop.  "My treat next time."

Hurrying through the bustling crowd toward the elevators, Max brushed the offer off with a wave of his hand.  "Forget."

"No, I mean it," Andy reiterated as they crowded into an elevator. "Next time, I buy you breakfast."

Max started to brush it off again then an impish thought crossed his mind.  The elevator car stopped and the doors opened and the crowd of top level workers pushed out.  The young Englishman's grin widened as he glanced over at his friend hurrying beside him.  "Tell you what, Andy," he said wickedly as they reached the entrance to the Gardening Department and pushed the door open.  "If you really want to pay me back..."

Going with the moment, Andy said promptly, "You name it."

Grabbing his time card and clocking in, Max returned it to its slot as he watched the other man mimic his action. "If you wanna pay me back, make me a promise."

"To what?" Andy said, now playfully suspicious.

"To be my best man when I marry that pretty redhead."

Andy laughed at his friend, gave him a playful push, then said, "Yeah, yeah, sure, Max.  Whatever you say." 

For a moment, the two of them rough-housed each other through the next door then found a quick seat as they met the gaze of their supervisor.  Chuckling, the two men sat and elbowed each other for a moment before they settled down and began to hear what they were going to be assigned for the day.