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 Max180 |
Re: Maximus | ||
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Posts: 482 (02/25/08 08:24:59) The General |
A very stupid suggestion. Now go and do some work before I decide to go all Roman general on your ass...as they say in these parts....
And, Uma...your secret is safe with me...[ he winks] [She just grins and dashes off. He won't talk..] Now we are free... |
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uma252 |
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Posts: 827 (03/09/08 05:17:22) The Mistress of the poison pen |
[The next morning, Uma drags a large suitcase into Max's office, knocking tentatively on the open door...]
Maximus? Can I come in? I need to ask you a really big favour...Could I take you up on your offer of a room above the wineshop? I find myself suddenly homeless again... There is a place you can touch a woman that will drive her crazy. Her heart...
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Max180 |
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Posts: 429 (03/09/08 05:22:16) The General |
[he raises his head, contemplates her forlorn figure a few moments and sighs...]
Uma, this is going to start a lot of gossip flying around about us, you know that? Or is that what you're hoping for? Somehow I think there's more to this than you and your latest boyfriend having a quarrel. Come in. Close the door. Take a seat. If you want my protection, then I think I ought to know exactly what is going on in your life. All of it. From start to finish...leave nothing out... Now we are free...
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uma252 |
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Posts: 828 (03/09/08 05:25:21) The Mistress of the poison pen |
[she swallows hard, and does what he says, taking a seat across the desk from him. Skinner is going to go nuts, but Maximus is right. He deserves to know
the truth...and he will never tell...]
Well, it all began with Ben Wade...well, actually, it all began with Max Skinner...Oh dear, this is going to take a long time... There is a place you can touch a woman that will drive her crazy. Her heart...
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Max180 |
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Posts: 430 (03/12/08 01:35:53) The General |
I must be insane to go along with this, but you don't give me much choice considering everyone already believes us to be lovers.
However, I take your point about Wade. He needs watching and I'm fully behind Skinner in that regard. And I also believe you need safeguarding. He is doing the right thing by us and by you. So, will I. You have my support and my promise to guard your secrets. As to my opinion of the relationship, I am sure you are not to be swayed whatever I say. You might, however, be surprised. I rather like the man for all his bombast. There is something solid and courageous underneath - and a will of iron. Skinner is a survivor and he is also a man of his word when he wishes to be. You are lucky to have won his love. He will be good for you. Before you go...there is something I would like you to do for me in return. I want to find out more about a woman called Sophie LeSainte. I need someone she will not suspect to get close to her and find out what are her plans...would you do this for me? Without asking why? Because I will not tell you my reasons. Trust me, that they are very good ones. That is all I can say for now... Now we are free...
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uma252 |
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Posts: 829 (03/12/08 01:45:44) The Mistress of the poison pen |
Sophie LeSainte? That French woman doing over Dino's place? The one who's been knocking about with Terry Thorne? Yeah, I can get close to her. I'll
go and pop in at Dino's to have a look, pretend I came to see him. Then I'll make nice to the pretty lady.
Don't you worry. I shall know everything about her by the end of the day. I have ways of making women talk...you'd be surprised how nice I can be when I want to.... [she smiles and gets up, happy to be able to repay him in some way, although she cannot pretend not to be curious as to his real reason for showing interest in this woman...] There is a place you can touch a woman that will drive her crazy. Her heart...
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uma252 |
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Posts: 836 (03/18/08 00:01:58) The Mistress of the poison pen |
Maximus? Can I come in?
[she waits at the half open door until he beckons her, setting down a set of figures he has been perusing... Sitting down in a chair opposite she smiles, eager to tell him what she knows...] 
I just came back from lunch. With Sophie LaSainte. We talked about this and that and...she asked me about your tattoo. Whether you had four letters tattoed on your upper arm. Why would she ask that, Maximus? All you have now is an ugly scar...she's never seen the scar but she has seen SPQR tattoo...? Who is she Maximus? What's going on? There is a place you can touch a woman that will drive her crazy. Her heart...
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Max180 |
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Posts: 432 (03/18/08 00:07:00) The General |
I wish I could answer your question. [he shakes his head]
She may be someone I once knew. Long ago...Or she may be a very clever con woman....Keep an eye on her for me. Stay close as a friend. Would you do that for me? And would you also remove that top -not here!- and put on one of the winery T-shirts? I don't think that one is appropriate for work. I doubt it's appropriate for anywhere unless you want a line of the wrong sort of customers... [he glares at her, indicating the interview is over...] Now we are free...
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Max180 |
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Posts: 434 (04/11/08 06:12:07) The General |
Sorry, you're never too cautious. I wouldn't want your girlfriend coming to bite my ankles…So? What is this little "sauterie" all about?Girlfriend? [Max pauses...then it dawns on him. So, she's heard the gossip too?] Ah...girlfriend...yes...not tonight...she is....somewhere else...[he adds vaguely, fingering the wine glass thoughtfully, grimacing, ill-at-ease with such moments of emotion...] Sophie...there are things we need to speak of. Things that I believe connect us in ways that you could not know. I think I understand now about your obsession with my figurines - although I doubt you understand it yourself. However, it casts what you have done to me in a new light...I am ready to set it all aside. I want to tell you about myself...and the people here...but I need your assurance that what you hear will remain in confidence between us. For if you use this information in any way to harm the people here...well, let us just say, you know what I am capable of.... Now we are free...
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sophielesaint |
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Posts: 120 (04/13/08 13:06:28) ...La belle dame sans merci... |
<Oh no. A man scared of speaking of his girlfriend. That's a must and it occurs to her that she never had thought him being reluctant to speak about
anything. His body was oozing self-confidence for God's sake! Sophie shakes her head, picks a piece of bread and eats it while listening to what he
says...>
Of course I know what you're capable of... why do you think I always have a Swarovki-Crystal Encrusted pepper spray that cost me my skin bum on me? <When Mr. Cooper finishes his "story" (how could she name what he told her in another way?), her plate is untouched, she has finished the bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon 1993 and she's just mesmerized by what he told her. Some answers have been given but one hundred more questions have arised...> 
So you mean...that all of you come from different periods of time? Just tell me when you come from... 
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Max180 |
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Posts: 435 (04/14/08 03:34:59) The General |
Where I come from? Ahhh...well,that is the part where you come in....
You think what I have already told you is fantastical? Then wait until you hear the rest. Sophie, I was born in 144 AD, according to your dating system. Near a small town called Trujillo in northern Spain. I joined the Roman army when I was fifteen and worked my way to the rank of general...and on my travels I met a beautiful woman called Soraya. That woman was you. And I think a part of you already know that what I say is true...don't you? 
Now we are free...
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sophielesaint |
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Posts: 121 (04/14/08 05:53:18) ...La belle dame sans merci... |
Non, non, ce n'est pas possible…Do you really hear what you're saying? It's impossible! I'm was born in April 1966 in Grasse! <Sophie rubs her nape while thinking out loud> No way I could have lived in your times…there is a misunderstanding…some cosmic knot screwing with you…No…All my childhood was spent in France, many memories can attest that…although I have those dreams…with you in it. But they are just dreams; I've never actually lived them.
<This evening is turning into a nightmare…>
I need some fresh air...
<Maximus is standing behind her, she know that. And
for the first time since she met him, the presence reverberating from him is soothing and comforting…If he touches her, she'll know how his fingers will
feel on her skin, the only tangible thing...>
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Max180 |
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Posts: 436 (04/15/08 17:54:25) The General |
[he stands behind her. The wind blows her hair away from her face as he tilts his head and gentles his hand down her cheek...]
Close your eyes...let your mind run free...remember....how it was... [his voice is soft and low, almost inaudible, a whisper on the wind...] Now we are free...
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sophielesaint |
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Posts: 122 (04/16/08 21:45:06) ...La belle dame sans merci... |
How it was...
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Max180 |
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Posts: 437 (04/16/08 23:21:18) The General |
Uma? [he pulls away] Uma? What has Uma to do with this?
[he pauses as he remembers what most people have come to accept...] Ah....Uma...! Uma is a friend. Uma works for me. That is all. Don't believe everything you hear, Sophie. People are all too ready to make assumptions based on precisely nothing at all... 
This is more than want, Sophie. Do not mistake my approach as just the product of a man's lust...This is fate. A weird and inexplicable act of fate...or may be it is the redressing of a balance that is long overdue...? You still have not answered me. Do you feel it? The weight of the past and the memory of a time before your time...? Now we are free...
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sophielesaint |
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Posts: 123 (04/17/08 05:17:07) ...La belle dame sans merci... |
<As he pulls away, coldness prevades her body. Sophie folds her arms against her torso protect
herself...>
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Max180 |
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Posts: 438 (04/18/08 23:09:06) The General |
It must be possible. For I know you in every way a man knows a woman...and I would know you again...
Now we are free...
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sophielesaint |
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Posts: 129 (05/20/08 12:43:30) ...La belle dame sans merci... |
<Maximus had left for a purpose but he wouldn't tell her why. It was still early, the sun barely up at this hour. Sophie had intended to leave before he would come back into the room. She had never been fond of the mornings when the previous night's passion has been weakened by all the small details the morning light suddenly threw light upon. A conversation was taking place and even if she couldn't understand what was being said, a second later the unmistakable voice of the infamous Uma could be heard… Fleeing through the window had been easy. Leaning on one hand against the house wall to put the strap on her shoes behind her heel it's only when she turned on herself to that…
The dog pursed its lips Another one… It started to growl… With great slowness she took out her cell phone and tried to remember his phone number. Panic started to rise when the dog's growl deepened. In the distance, a phone rang. When Maximus answered, Sophie did her best not shout...> "Call back your dog…now."
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Max180 |
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Posts: 442 (05/21/08 09:13:14) The General |
Lupus....! [he calls the dog's name soft and low; the dog immediately backs away. He has brought up a tray with breakfast for her...His face is
impassive, but his eyes reveal his disappointment at her apparent desire to run...]
I'm sorry. But he is not used to my friends leaving by the window...was it something I did? I thought last night might actually have meant something to you... Now we are free...
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sophielesaint |
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Posts: 130 (05/23/08 02:40:55) ...La belle dame sans merci... |
Last night meant something for me...in a way that was surely different from you... It's just, you left the room without a word and I
thought...well...you know...
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