"Sorry, I know the place is a bit of a mess."
Caroline hurriedly tidied up the clothes on the sofa while wearing an embarrassed smile. "We're trying to start a business. Max's small cakes are amazing! She's truly a baking genius!"
A few T-shirts and a single sock were strewn across the sofa, but it was mostly underwear. On the nearby table sat a tray of half-finished Red Velvet Cupcakes.
Max leaned against the doorframe, showing absolutely no intention of helping. "Relax, Caroline. He's seen much messier places before—like my life."
Ethan scanned the warm yet humble apartment and smiled. "Trust me, knowing Max as I do, this place is already paradise."
Max and Caroline's apartment looked cozy under the night lights, but that couldn't hide its simplicity.
The air was filled with the sweet scent of cupcakes and a hint of 'horse'—thanks to Caroline's horse, Chestnut.
Ethan couldn't help but ask, "Is that... a real horse?"
"Of course," Caroline said proudly. "He's very therapeutic. It's just... we have to clean up his emotions every day."
Max interjected, "I assume you mean his manure."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, sitting on that "vintage" sofa, Ethan was being enthusiastically hosted by Caroline, who was buzzing around him like an excited Chihuahua.
Max curled her lip. "The first time I brought Caroline here, she walked in and thought I'd been robbed! I told her the place always looks like this."
Ethan smiled as he looked around. "It's quite nice, it even has a yard. Feels like a good place to both relax and do drugs."
Max: "You bet!"
"So, Ethan," Caroline said, blinking her blue eyes as she poured him coffee, "is your Clinic considering adding an Operations Director with a Wharton School brain and incredible charisma?"
Max slumped into an armchair, lazily poking at the yogurt cup Ethan had bought from a street stall. "Wake up, Caroline. He doesn't need a former socialite who would renovate the waiting room into the Palace of Versailles and then bankrupt him."
Ethan smiled gently. "The Clinic is indeed just starting out, and I can't afford an Operations Director for now. But thank you for the offer, Caroline."
"Hear that? What he needs are Patients! The richer the better!" Max turned to Ethan. "Seriously, Doctor, did you come to our slums just to provide some 'Caring for the Health of My Ex-Girlfriend and Her Roommate' community service?"
"I mainly came to see how you were doing." Ethan's gaze fell on Max. "I'm very happy to see you again."
Caroline immediately clutched her chest dramatically. "That's so touching! It's like the opening of a romance movie! Even though our leading man is a Doctor instead of a prince on a white horse—oh wait, we actually do have a horse, even if he lives on the balcony."
"Chestnut is way more reliable than a prince," Max quipped. "At least he doesn't pretend to be a donkey."
Over the next few hours, under the cover of Caroline "strategically" retreating into the kitchen (claiming she needed to research a new cupcake flavor), the atmosphere began to warm up.
They talked about stupid things from med school and weird customers at the diner; Ethan even remembered all of Max's dark jokes about her dysfunctional family.
"Remember when you said you wanted to use my stethoscope to eavesdrop on the neighbors to see if they were fighting or doing some high-intensity cardio?" Ethan said with a laugh.
Max: "At the time, I thought that stethoscope was some kind of sex toy; I had no idea you were a Doctor. And I was right—they were definitely 'exercising,' their positions were just a bit too creative."
"Seriously, Ethan," Max said, her voice dropping as she looked at the man in the clean shirt who stood out so starkly against his surroundings. "You're Your Highness in a white coat now, and I'm still just a waitress running around a diner. We don't belong to the same World."
"The World is what you define it to be, Max."
"Please, that line is way too cheesy."
Ethan looked at her. "In my eyes, you've always been the smartest, funniest, and most resilient girl. You were then, and you still are now."
"Oh god, don't talk like that," Max rolled her eyes, absentmindedly rubbing her sore shoulder with a sigh. "Actually, my biggest dream right now is to get through making a hundred red velvet cakes every morning without needing painkillers."
"Let me see." Ethan naturally sat down beside her, his fingers gently pressing onto her neck and shoulders. His technique was professional and gentle, causing Max to relax in spite of herself.
"You know how to give massages too?" Max asked, somewhat surprised.
"I did a rotation in the Rehabilitation Department at the hospital." Ethan's fingers pressed along her shoulder line, and a faint, almost imperceptible glow of a Healing Spell flashed in his palm.
Max almost let out a moan of comfort. "Wow! Why didn't you give me massages back then? If I'd known you had this skill, I would've never let myself break up with you."
Ethan: "It's not too late to know now."
With the help of Ethan's massage and Healing Spell, Max felt a sense of relaxation she'd never experienced before, as if a breath she'd been holding for too long had finally been released.
"Damn it, Ethan..." Max cursed under her breath, unsure if she was cursing him or herself. "Can you stop being so... perfect? You're making it really hard for me to keep pretending I'm not interested in you."
The next second, she suddenly spun around on the sofa to face him, grabbed his collar, and kissed him fiercely.
The kiss was savage, direct, and carried a desperate "to hell with reality" impulse.
After a brief moment of surprise, Ethan quickly responded to her... The next morning, sunlight streamed through the window onto Max's exceptionally comfortable bed—her most extravagant investment in this humble apartment.
Ethan was already awake, leaning against the headboard with a lingering, sleepy smile as he watched her, the sunlight tracing down her shoulder.
"You know," he spoke softly, his tone carrying a hint of teasing surprise.
"I thought your 'confidence' was a facade, since we've been completely honest with each other before, but it turns out... you're an honest woman."
Max didn't respond. She just opened her eyes a crack, squinted at him for two seconds, then rolled over and wrapped herself tightly in the duvet.
The bedroom door was pushed open softly. Caroline, wearing a makeshift bowtie made from a clean napkin, announced in an exaggerated stage whisper, "Good morning! The apartment's special breakfast service is now open! Featuring crispy-edged fried eggs, cold bread, and my sincere heart of blessings."
"Caroline," Max buried her face in the pillow, "any louder and I'm stuffing you in the oven!"
After eating breakfast in bed, Ethan put on his coat and looked at Max seriously. "We..."
"No." Max interrupted him, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'd prefer it if you just left some money on my nightstand."
"Max..." Ethan tried to protest.
"Let's leave it at that." She tried to maintain her signature sharp expression. "We'll be the kind of friends who... occasionally have dinner together, and you can give me a massage while you're at it. It's better for both of us this way."
Ethan finally nodded and gave her a gentle hug. "Whenever you need me, I'm here."
The moment the door closed, Max lay on the bed, not moving for a long time.
"What happened?" Caroline walked in and asked softly.
Max got up and headed to the kitchen to start preparing the cake ingredients. "I'll keep baking my cakes, and he'll keep saving the World. Everyone has a bright future."