"A couple of the guys are heading over to The Bishop; you in?"
I'd taken care to keep my desk messy all afternoon. All the better to curate the illusion that I was actually busy. "Ah, sorry," I replied. "I've still got some shit to wrap up here."
Teddy slapped the doorframe. "You sure? Might be nice to blow some of that fat bonus. Maybe find a girl to waste it on?"
I snickered. "Chasing girls at the bar isn't how you end up with fat bonuses. You guys go ahead - I'll catch up if I can."
"Alright boss," he replied. "I'll see you Monday."
He would, but it was 5:15 on Friday afternoon, and I had somewhere to be.
The drive was agony. Even after all this time, my guts still tied themselves in knots at the mere thought of what I was going home to. I chewed my lip. I drummed on the steering wheel. I wiggled my toes in my shoes. None of it helped.
The good news that had burned a hole in my pocket all week didn't make things better. After all, Ted was right; blowing a bonus on some pretty young thing was definitely more fun than tucking it away for a rainy day.
"Sugar?" I called as I let myself in. "You home?"
A flurry of activity from the bedroom answered me as Max scrambled out of bed. "Daddy! You're home!"
Max bounded down the hall with a wide, pretty smile that melted my heart every time. Barefoot and wearing nothing but a lacy bralette and cheeky little pyjama shorts, my bouncy sugar plum threw his arms wide and fell into me.
"Hey cutie," I said, pulling my Max close for a kiss. "I wish you wouldn't call me that. Makes me feel weird."
He looked up at me with a barely contained smirk, all freckles and big green eyes. His ponytail bobbed as he shook his head. "Oh come on," he said, "everyone does it. Besides, you're old enough to be my-"
"Enough of that," I said, pecking Max on the forehead to ward off his little pout. "What are you up to?"
"Well," he said while I kicked off my shoes and hung my coat, "I sent a demo out this morning for a little indie game, so hopefully I get a little work from that."
"Sounds cool," I replied, searching the cabinets for a clean glass to pour myself a drink with. Max was a lot of things, but he wasn't much of a housewife. "What's the character?"
"Oops," he said. "There should be a clean one in the dishwasher." His voice switched gears like it was nothing at all, suddenly taking on a decidedly feminine tone. "Like, she's a total heal slut who heals her teammates through the power of star dust!"
"What the hell is a heal slut?" I asked with a chuckle. The bottle of scotch I kept at Max's place was noticeably emptier than I'd left it. Little scamp.
Wrapping his arms around me from behind, he hugged me tight while I poured. "It's a video game thing," he said in his normal voice.
"I figured," I chuckled. "Come on, let's get comfy."
The invitation to cuddle split Max's face in a cherubic grin and my heart fluttered all over again. "I like the way that sounds," he replied, taking me by one finger and leading me to the couch.
I settled in, kicking my feet up on the cheap sectional I'd bought to replace Max's shitty old futon. He nuzzled in next to me like a house cat.
"Wanna watch something?" He asked, flipping the TV on.
"Sure, but first," I gulped, "we need to talk about something."
Max scrunched up his face. "This sounds serious. Is it about me calling you daddy? Because I don't think I can stop doing that."
I laughed and turned to face him. The winged eyeliner made his stare hard to meet, so I looked at his glossy lips instead. "No, not that. It's just...I got my bonus this week. It's a big one."
His eyes lit up. He knew what this meant: treats. "Like 'take me shopping for new clothes' big or..."
"Or 'pay your rent for the year' big?" I replied.
It took ages to compute. I spoiled Max rotten at the best of times, but voice acting and Twitch streaming hardly covered the things I didn't. "Wait...you're - are you fucking kidding me?"
I grinned like an idiot. "Not at all. I stopped by the office on my way up. You're settled up for another 12 months."
His arms were around my neck before I could react, and he peppered my face with more kisses than I could return until his lips finally landed on mine. "Oh my god, papi, thank you so much!"
"Papi still counts, we're not doing that one either," I laughed. "But you're welcome. You deserve it so much. Anything for you."
He scrambled up into my lap, looking down at me with a semi-serious look on his pretty face. "Anything?"
I was weak, and would have agreed to nearly as much as I'd promised. "Well," I began.
"You'll take me to a work party with you?"
There it was. The big one. "Max, sweetheart-"
"You said anything!" He wiggled his butt on my lap, and I let my weakness carry my hands back for a squeeze.
"We've talked about this though."
"But," he said, leaning in to kiss my neck. I'm sure I don't need to tell you what his advances were doing to me. "You said anything."