Max
Max Peckham is a man's man. He is what some say to be, good looking, smart, some would say funny, others wouldn't. He is hard-working, has a good job, and is pretty much exceptionally good at whatever he set his mind to, with the exception of love.
Tiffany and Max were at one time, in love. He was a romantic. He bought her flowers and candy for no reason other than his true love for her. He made dinner whenever he could, and most of the time it was palatable. He helped around the house and wasn't a slob. And the sex, whenever the college sweethearts found time, was great. Lots of foreplay, with lots of kissing, it was just the way the Tiffany wanted it. Plain, but effective.
Max had graduated from police college with flying colors. He had many good job offers, but they agreed upon one in particular, and he accepted the best offer of a job that was thrown his way. A few weeks later, he and Tiffany moved to Denver with dreams and plans to make a beautiful life together. Two kids, two cars, two dogs, and travel, lots and lots of travel, but after just under two years on the force Max noticed a posting. It was for a position on the force as a detective. Beside the posting was the pay scale and the increments of the raises that accompanied the job. Max was obsessed. The money alone would help them realize their dream of owning a house. It was all he could or would talk about.
Becoming a detective in a market saturated with hundreds of other cops was hard work. It took countless hours of work and study. But just like all the other things in Max's life, once he had put it in his mind, everything else became a blur that fast forwarded past him.
The telltale signs of a declining relationship escaped him. Coming home late and finding that Tiffany was out with her friends. More and more time away from home to be with her friends, or that she had driven out of town to her parent's home without an invitation for him to join her. Going out for dinner after work and not bringing him anything home or even offering to do so. They were signs. Signs that were overlooked. It was poor detective work for sure.
As Max got closer to the finish line, things at home got worse. Small fights broke out over the littlest things. Tiffany became loud and aggressive, while Max shutdown. There was never a winner in any of their battles.
After another of his famous 12-hour shifts, on a cold, slushy November night, Max made his way home. He had stopped at Yang's on the way home and picked up a bottle of Mondavi and bouquet of daisies, Tiffany's favorite. Hopefully it would calm the wrath that he knew he was about to face.
The elegant old 8 story brick building was very clean, and it was in a good part of town. Max loved walking into the foyer area. The smells of old wood and the scents of what the other tenants were cooking, always made him smile. Today, the elevator floor was coated with slush and mud, more so than usual. The walls still had the thick cushioned blankets that covered and protected the oak veneer from being damaged during a move. Still no clue.
The hall had a light blue felt covering to save the carpet from damage and it stopped directly at the door to his apartment.
When Max flipped the switch inside, you didn't need to be a very good detective to figure out what had gone on during the day.
Gone was most of the furniture, all the dishes. The bedroom set. The...well fucking near everything. The only things left were Max's camping equipment, his stereo equipment, his television, his clothes, along with his personal belongings and the engagement ring that he had given Tiffany. The ring that at one time had meant the world to them both.
Tiffany did have the decency to leave behind a letter, a couple of towels, some food and a few beers, but even after searching for 15 minutes, the remote for the T.V. was nowhere to be found.
The next two weeks were hell. Max refused to write his exam. He no longer wanted his dream. Nor did he want Denver. With a glowing letter of reference from his Captain, Max was offered a position on the other side of the country. Thinking that a change was all that he needed, he accepted a job with the Clearwater P.D. in Florida, but just looking at him, you could tell that his life was coming apart at the seams.
Caleb
Caleb Jones has had a string of bad luck that dates back 6 or 7 years.
Caleb was or is a good-looking guy. He was a star in high school. At 6' 5" tall he was a very good basketball player. He had great hands and court savvy. He could see the plays unfolding, often before the other teams had time to react. But basketball wasn't Caleb's dream. No, that was saved for football. All Caleb ever wanted in life was to play ball just up the highway for his beloved Seminoles.
That dream came true. Caleb's high school team won the state championship. His teenaged star was on the rise. Caleb had his choice of schools. Florida State was one of them.
Unfortunately, he received limited playing time during the first 5 games of the season, but in the first quarter of the sixth game he got his big chance.
The nationally televised game had millions of viewers. Among them were the 70 some odd people gathered at the Jones house to watch the game.
Caleb had a day to remember. He ran back an interception for a touchdown. He single-handedly shutdown Syracuse's passing game, and that went into the record books and can never be taken away from him, but like any cruel joke, there was a very shitty punchline waiting.
With just over 2 minutes left in the game, the defense was already celebrating on the side lines. Caleb's mind was on too many other things, and the game wasn't one of them. The Seminoles were running the ball. They were just killing time. There were no plans to run out of bounds and stop the clock, but the RB noticed a hole down the side and tried for the first down.
Every player on the field had dreams just like Caleb's. They all wanted to play well enough to make the big show. Earn millions of dollars. Fast cars, fancy houses, pretty girls. The outside linebacker for Syracuse was the same. He was playing until the final whistle. He saw a chance to make a big play, and he took it. His shoulder propelled the Seminole running back into the air. Their bodies hit a mass of Seminole defensive players standing on the sidelines, off field.
The Jones family would remember the screams of their son for years to come. The combined weight of more than 400 lbs crashed into Caleb's leg. The blown-out knee and torn up ACL and three different surgeries ended his season, his playing career, and his dream.
S
Caleb found out the hard way that scholarships have a strange way of disappearing if you don't have good grades and when your playing career has ended. It wasn't the school's fault. Caleb never had good grades. He refused to study, he was a star and stars don't study. They get the hordes of football groupies to do their homework for them, but those pretty little things only do that, and the other things to which he had become accustom, for the guys on the team.
So, having sailed through high school on his unenthusiastic performance, and the lies of teachers who were football fans first and teachers second, Caleb's low grades and lack of desire, led him down a path where he ended up working at a Captain Hook's corner store.
The Jones family had strong moral values. His parents were deeply involved in the church and tried to lead their eldest son down the right path, toward a better place, but Caleb just couldn't get his act together. Over the next four years after college, he hopped from job to job. He was charged with a series of minor offenses, nothing serious, drunk and disorderly, possession of marijuana, driving with a suspended license. All minor charges, but big enough that background checks were made on a young black man hoping for a better job, they almost always eliminated him from contention and consideration.
Caleb was a hard luck guy.
Until Kayla entered his life, Caleb thought that at 24 years old, his best days were behind him. Kayla worked hard. She wanted a better life for herself and those that surrounded her. She very aware that it took hard work at get the things that she deemed important. After 6 months of dating, she had Caleb signed up at St Petersburg College, and after 30 months of hard work, Caleb graduated with a degree in Sustainable Construction Technology.
With a newfound vigor in his life, things were looking up. A girlfriend that he hoped would soon be his fiancée, and a degree that enabled him to apply for a number of jobs that would pay much more than the going rate of minimum wage. It would appear as though Caleb's life was on an upward swing.
Strange intersection.
Making the long move cross country between the holidays hadn't been what anyone would call, ideal, but Max settled in and after two days of orientation he started fresh on January 1
st
. A new year. A new job, and hopefully a new life.
The first month sped past. More and more tourists visited. All of the sunseekers came down to Florida and Clearwater in search of the famed sun and sand. The beach, heat and bikinis were easy enough to get used to and by the time March break was in full swing, so was Max. He knew the area. He knew the routines and he knew his job.
