After the Strip · Max & Maven
I Wanted to Be the Person You Went With
Maven sends the exhibition listing expecting a shared plan to begin. Max already has one with the sketch group.
They remember an earlier conversation differently. They did say they should go. They had not picked a day. Establishing that helps, but it does not make Maven’s disappointment evaporate. She wanted to be the person Max went with.
That is more revealing than an argument about the exact jurisdiction of “we should.”
Max keeps her plans and enjoys the outing. Later, Maven asks about it. Her interest is real; so is the small remaining sting. Max can tell her about the afternoon without making enjoyment sound like an offense.
By Sunday breakfast, they have new material. Maven has a Tasha story. Max has a sketch. Their separate lives have supplied things neither could have told the other a week earlier.
They also have a specific plan they both agreed to: breakfast together. There is time for their friendship inside lives that include other people. And, over toast, plenty of room for a completely unnecessary argument.
What specific time together would you like to ask for, without asking someone to give up their other connections?