"You drugged Larkin, didn't you?" Callie fumed, her voice stitching pitches higher and bouncing echoes around the walls of the quiet manor. "Of all the messed up, crazy things that you've ever done, this one takes the cake." Her gaze swerved between Maxime and Leona who were talking when she came in, before landing heatedly on Maxime's amused face.

The smirking culprit.

"What are you getting upset over? You should be thanking me." A bored look stretched out on Maxime's face. With his arms folded, he added. "I know it's messed up but it's what he needed."

Callie scoffed. Her fists clenched in frustration. "Ever heard of the word 'consent'. Because I'm sure he didn't want it."

Leona looked stunned. The dark skinned girl stared at both of them, draping a stricken look at their heated exchange of words. "What's going on? What did Max do this time?"

"I spiked his coffee packs. Big deal." He shrugged. "The guy needed to live a little and it's depressing to watch how wound up he is."

When Larkin mentioned that he was drugged yesterday, Callie wasn't sure if Maxime really did it but a small part of her suspected him. Fortunately, it turned out she was right after all.

Leona made a small choking sound. Shock speared through her face. "What did you put inside?"

"My anxiety pills. The TCAs. They work like magic." His eyes twinkled at the last part.

"They've been giving him side effects, you ass. He's already on enough pills. Mixing all of those together just added to his freaking issues." Callie bit back her anger. The things he was saying made her feel so damn frustrated.

But she wasn't just upset that Larkin had been taking the spiked coffee. The damn pills made her do things too when she took it just once. Callie wanted to scream out her annoyance. That was also the day she had fun with Larkin on his bed. No wonder she didn't feel like herself that day. She was under influence and his meds made her go overboard.

Embarrassment ripped through her at the thoughts of everything that happened that night. Larkin's odd behaviors this past week finally made sense. From the kiss to his flirting, it wasn't really Larkin doing it. It was the damn drugs.

All these while she thought it was something he wanted but Larkin wasn't even in control throughout the time. Callie felt sick to her stomach at the thought.

"Can we just talk about this in calm indoor voices?" Leona tried to say in a hushed tone.

Callie almost scoffed. There was no one around to overhear them. Reneé had taken the day off and even Larkin was on the patio talking to the detectives that took their statements yesterday.

Maxime shrugged again, in a quick gesture. "I don't know why you guys are exaggerating about this. It's just some pills. I bet he got high all the time in college."

Leona groaned. "Of course you'd say that. Classic Maxime. Never taking things seriously. That was so irresponsible of you. What if he did something dangerous or stupid?" Suddenly, she paused to look at Callie. "Did he do something dangerous and stupid?"

"Oh yeah. Plenty stuff," Callie ticked out her fingers, hastily rambling her words through everything she could think of. "Larkin Hammell actually smiled. He started joking around too. I swear I thought I was in a parallel universe. He only left this house because of the drugs you put inside. He got beat up because of it too. And we........" Her words trailed off when she realized what she was about to admit. The memories of his passionate kiss still burned at the back of her head. She could still feel the effect of his warm touch on her body.

Leona's eyebrow raised. "And then we what?"

Forcing down her rising blush, she said. "And we almost got killed. That's what your meds caused. It made him do stupid things. Things that Larkin would never have done on his own."

Things that Larkin would never have done on his own. The realization sunk deeper in her bones. Larkin wouldn't have kissed her without the drugs. Oh God.

Leona whacked Maxime's arm. He jumped up in surprise as she continued to glare at him. "See what you caused. Just pray he doesn't fire you for this."

Maxime protested. "Hey, you can't keep blaming me for this. Anything he did during the week was something he wanted but didn't have the heart to do. It only heightened his emotions. It didn't replace it."

Callie felt a quake in her heart. Did he really want to kiss her or was it just Maxime's excuse for messing up?

Leona sighed, her mouth creasing down. "I sure hope you don't get in trouble for this."

Maxime's eyes sparkled, a glint of hope dancing in the dark brown shade. "So you do care about me."

"Of course, I care." Leona growled, then she began to move to the door. "I swear I don't know what's wrong with you. You're totally out of your damn mind. It's so......" Grumbling out of the dining room, her voice grew more inaudible, the deeper she walked farther away from them.

Maxime's lips curled up. "She's totally not mad at me."

"Uh huh, sure." Callie said unconvincingly. The sweet scent of fresh daises from the table's vase filled her nose and it distracted her temporarily from her wandering thoughts.

Maxime sent her a sympathetic glance. "I really thought it'd help him loosen up a bit. I'm sorry if he behaved out of the ordinary."

"Let's just get back to work." Callie let out a sigh. "I don't think I can face him right now."

"Why not?"

Her heart sank. "It's better you don't know."

"Well if you're feeling guilty about messing up, you could give him pancakes and orange juice. It always works. It's my special 'forgive me' tool." Maxime reassured her, his brown eyes draping with humor.

Callie let out a small, exhausted smile. "I didn't mess up and I've already tried that before."

Maxime quipped. "Well if you didn't mess up then there's nothing to worry about."

Callie couldn't find the words to reply. If only that were true.

"Why's everywhere so loud right now?" A low, silky voice Callie didn't expect to hear, rang through. Her gaze flew to the door, completely shocked to see Larkin entering the dining room. "And why's everyone staring at me like they've seen a ghost?"

With his shoulders falling and chocolate brown eyes glinting, Maxime started to say. "Lark, there's something I need to tell-"

"I already know about what you did. I figured that part out." Larkin sent them a penetrating glance. Callie's eyes caught his calm movements, but this time he wasn't staring at her anymore. His eyes wandered around Maxime's flustered face. "But then again, like I said, your voices were so loud that I could hear everything from the living room. You just helped me to confirm what I already suspected." He nudged his head towards the kitchen door that stood right next to the dining room. "Besides, I only came to get a glass of water."

Maxime winced at his scrutinizing look. His hands trailed through his hair, as he tried to say, "Well, I wasn't trying to harm you or anything. I just wanted you to have fun and relax."

A wave of silence swept through the room and their awkwardness seemed to elevate. Larkin stared at him for a moment and went into the kitchen without a response. Callie and Maxime shared bewildered looks, but then their green-eyed boss returned back with a glass of water in his hand. The glass reached his mouth as he took slow gulps. And then he stopped to look at them and said nothing. Callie couldn't even decipher what was going on in his head. His new emotions had become alien to her.

Callie murmured softly, when no one tried to say anything. "He was just trying to help, I guess. What he did was insane, but Maxime had no cruel intentions with them." Her uncontrollable thoughts swept through the events of the night's attack and lingered around the steamy moments on his bed. She didn't want to think about him but she couldn't help it anymore.

His green eyes finally touched her face. Callie almost forgot how it was like to breathe properly. The smidge of despair in his eyes made her knees quiver. But now, she was too embarrassed to look at him.

"I understand why you did it. I'm your stiff employer with no sense of humor. And you wanted to change that. Though it backfired, you still did something good from the heart." His heartfelt tone seemed to make their jaws drop. As if he could sense their amazement, he stated flatly. "That doesn't mean I'm not pissed about what you did. It's not your right to decide my mood. I'm only letting it slide because it's from a good place. I know you'd never want to hurt me."

Maxime moved towards him and slapped his back affectionately, Larkin flinched at the sudden contact. Maxime's eyes sparkled the way it always did, and his wide, irrepressible grin made Larkin scowl. "That's why I like you. You're a really cool dude."

"Wow. Your hands are like steel bars. That actually hurt." Larkin drew back a breath, his hand twisting around his walking stick.

A round of hearty laugh poured out from Maxime's mouth, his amused spark didn't seem to die down. "You are hilarious, Lark. I take back all the mean things I've said about you in the past."

"I'm not even gonna ask what you've said about me." He mumbled. Larkin took a final sip of the water and dropped the glass on the dining table.

Maxime hunched over, laughing a bit louder. "Smart choice."

Larkin dug his left hand in the pockets of his flannel pants and said. "I just spoke with the police. The thugs were pretty easy to find and they're presently sitting in jail. I don't know how long they'd stay there, but the detective said that the statements we gave, helped the whole thing."

"That's a relief then." Callie gleamed in delight. Finally, her fears were over and those scumbags got what they deserved. The trauma of that night still hadn't escaped her mind but at least, locking them up would help.

Larkin's low grunt caused Maxime's brow to raise. "You don't seem happy about it, Lark."

"I'm thrilled about it. Those bastards deserve to be behind bars. But I'm just thinking about other stuff in my life that needs fixing." His gaze landed on Callie. Her smile froze instantly. Green eyes twisted something deep within her and sent calming chills her way.

Maxime added, with a flicker of a smile. "Well if something needs fixing, then you'd have to do what you can to repair it. If not, you should just throw it away."

"Thanks for the advice, but I'll deal with my problems in my own way." Larkin's rueful look burst through another round of emotions in her. She managed to look away again. Her heart was beating furiously at what Maxime's actions had caused. Though things were already estranged between them, this just made it worse.

★★★

Callie didn't think Larkin was expecting anyone, so it surprised the hell out of her to hear the doorbell ringing. She dashed to the door, pulling it open and found herself staring at the loveliest redhaired girl she had ever seen.

"Hi. Is Larkin home?" Her voice was soft, almost whispery. Orange sunset hues of her hair crashed down her bare shoulders in springy, long curls around her face and the bright, floral sundress she had worn, seemed to capture the light in her clear blue eyes.

The redhead was beyond stunning. But there was just something about her that put Callie on high alert. She looked around her age, maybe a little older but the sweet expression on her face felt too syrupy for Callie to watch. With a stiff tone, she asked. "How may I help you?"

The girl blushed slightly. Callie could see the color rushing to her cheeks and then a pleasant smile played on her lips, making her look like a sunny blue-eyed angel. "Sorry, I should have said who I was first. Hi, I'm Becca. Larkin's expecting me."

Callie almost froze. Becca? His ex girlfriend-that Becca? Her heart flip-flopped and a gust of worry rushed through her. Now, this was definitely unexpected. With an unconvincing, tight smile, Callie pushed the door wider and gestured at the opened entrance. "If that's the case, then come in."

★★★
Dun dun dun. Becca's here. I'm so excited to finally add her to the mix and to shake things up for our star-crossed lovers. 😈😈😈.
Also, Yes, we finally found our culprit. I purposely made it pretty easy to figure out who did it (This ain't no mystery book) and I wanted it to be something that wasn't out of the ordinary for the person to do. (I really love Maxime but he's completely insane😂😂)

Once again, Sorry for the delay.
Xoxo
Jasmine