Barclay Davis - The Beautiful Truth, Part One
Ever since Frida kissed him for babysitting her daughter Angela, Max's head wasn't screwed on right. He spent the week walking around not thinking straight, and his eyes unfocused. Not even when he was teaching his students was Max all there. It even affected him in his sleep, as Max was thinking about Frida when he was awake in bed, and dreaming about her when he was asleep. It showed on Max, as the week progressed, as his eyes got all bloodshot from the lack of sleep it was causing him.
And with Frida, Max got more squirrely. He hemmed and hawed everytime Frida approached him to talk, which ended up leaving Frida confused. As the week progressed, it got to the point where Max was ducking Frida again, everytime he saw her.
After arriving at Danforth on the Friday of that week, Max immediately saw Frida in the hallways. She wasn't looking at him, so he quickly ducked into a nearby empty classroom in order to avoid her. After a couple of minutes waiting, Max peered out to see if Frida was still there. When he didn't see her, he breathed a sigh of relief and started leaving the classroom. But he didn't get far, when he heard a familiar voice.
"Morning Max." Frida sweetly said to Max as she was behind him, which caused Max to let out a huge startle scream.
"Muh-muh-muh...morning Frida!" Max said awkwardly. "I'm-I'm-I'm-I'm..." Max was rather jittery talking to Frida. He then said "I HAVE AN IMPORTANT MATTER TO ATTEND TO!!!" and then bolted away from a confused Frida.
Later on during lunchtime, Max went to get his lunch from the faculty lounge. He had grabbed his stuff from the fridge when, after turning around, Frida was standing there.
"Why won't you talk to me, Max?!!" Frida said, as Max freaked out having seen Frida stand behind him, looking at him.
Max started panicking as he continued hemming and hawing at Frida. He finally said, "I...I...I've just been very, very busy this week, Frida. I haven't had time!"
"Why? You've always made time with me before!" Frida said, quite upset from the tone of her voice.
"Yeah, but...it's just..." Max said nothing at that point. And after what seemed like forever finally said, "I HAVE ANOTHER IMPORTANT MATTER TO ATTEND TO!!!" and then scurried away from Frida again. And Frida went from being concerned to being very upset, and on the verge of crying.
All of which did not go unnoticed.
***
Just before lunch was over, Max had come out of one of the boys' washrooms he had used, rather than the one in the lounge, in case Frida was still there. But he didn't get far when he heard a rather loud voice shouting at him.
"EDWARDS!!!" Said the voice behind Max. After another startle scream, Max turned around to see Vice Principal McGilligan coming up to him with a rather stern look on his face.
After a sigh, Max said "Hello Mike, what is it?"
"Edwards, what the hell is wrong with you?" McGilligan barked. "You've been walking around here this week like a nervous cat in a dog pound!"
Max responded, "Mike, I'd love to explain my problem to you. But it's rather personal, and I doubt you'd understand."
"What's not to understand?" McGilligan said. "You're infatuated with Miss Olsen!"
Max did not expect that from McGilligan, and said "...Whuuut?"
"Don't talk to me like I'm some idiot, Edwards!" McGilligan said. "Everyone here knows about you and Miss Olsen hanging out together in this school, like you're one of the kids here. They talk about you two behind your backs. More so now, since Miss Olsen talked to the other hens about you looking after her little girl, this past Saturday!"
"Frida's still talking about that?" Max said, surprisingly. He found that rather amusing. He chuckled a bit and told McGilligan, "Well, that sounds quite adorable. You probably heard Frida tell them that her daughter asked if I could be her new daddy."
Max chuckled some more, but McGilligan reacted to that info with his mouth puckered open, exposing his teeth, and giving Max a huge bug eyed stare at him in shock. Max stopped laughing when he saw McGilligan's look and, still smiling, told him "Adorable......isn't it?!!"
After a moment, McGilligan told Max, "Edwards, I'm going to do something that I've never done since you've began teaching here at Danforth High. I'm going to give you some advice. Edwards...you really need to ask Miss Olsen out. Now!"
Max was quite surprised by McGilligan's response to him, and said "Huh?!! Why are YOU giving me advice all of a sudden, Mike? All these years, and you've never given me ANY advice. Why now?"
"Because I happen to like Miss Olsen." McGilligan said. "She's showing herself to be an outstanding teacher. Plus, she's a charming young lady, and because...I don't want you to spend the rest of your life filled with regret."
"What do you mean by that?" Max asked.
McGilligan starts explaining. "My high school years were spent going out with a young girl, named Sandra. She had flowing red hair, beautiful green eyes, and the sweetest personality you'll ever meet. Sandra was my first love, Edwards. We were inseparable. But she hated the idea of me enlisting in the Marines. She wanted me to go to college with her, get married, and raise a family together. But I told her being a Marine was all I ever wanted to be. So she gave me an ultimatum. It was either the Marines or her...I don't need to tell you what happens next, Edwards."
"No, of course not." Max told said. "I think I know."
McGilligan continued. "After finishing high school, I quickly enlisted with the Marines, went to boot camp, and served my country as a United States Marine. But when I came home to see her again, I found out she met a guy in college, got married to him, and remains happily so to this day. Too bad for me, Edwards. But I have no regrets making that decision. It was the ONLY decision for me!"
Max responded. "Mike. Being a Marine is what you always wanted to be. It's how you identify yourself as. If you're comfortable with that decision, then you really SHOULD have no regrets about it."
"Point taken, Edwards." McGilligan told him. "...But I've always thought, more than once...what if I had chosen her? How different would my life had been had I chosen love? Would I have been...happier? I never met another woman, Edwards, and probably never will. Guess Sandra will remain the only love of my life."
"Gee Mike, that sounds kinda sad, the way you put it." Max told him.
"Yeah well...that's why I'm telling you to go to Miss Olsen, right now Edwards." McGilligan told him. "Otherwise, you live to regret it. Badly, for the rest of your life."
Max just stared right into McGilligan, and then started chuckling at him, saying "Mike, this is me we're talking about here. Max! The Hapless Hopeless Max Edwards! The guy holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand, and a kick me sign on my ass. I know how this story unfolds, Max meets girl, Max falls for girl, Max goes out with girl, something stupid and or bad happens, and I go back to my place with my pride swallowed and my head between my tail, the bitter end! It's like clockwork! So why would I expect a different outcome with Frida? I know exactly how that'll turn out! What other fate could it be?"
After looking at Max for a moment, McGilligan answered, "How about the fate that's holding you back...until that right girl shows up. And that right girl is right now!"
Max just stood there with a stupid look on his face. McGilligan started turning away from Max and told him, "You do what you want, Edwards. I just hope, for your well being, you choose wisely." Then walked away from him.
Max just stared into space for a moment, and finally told himself, "NAH! What the hell does he know?" And goes on about his day.
***
Mid Friday afternoon, and Gail went into the women's washroom in the faculty lounge to check her makeup. While she was in, she heard crying sounds coming from one of the stalls.
Out of curiosity, Gail took a quick peek to see who was crying. Through the space between the door and the stall, she saw Frida sitting on the toilet in tears. She went to get some toilet paper to wipe her eyes with, but had trouble tearing off a piece, until she just pulls a big wad of toilet paper out of frustration and cries into it.
Gail backed away from the stall, quietly so as not to let Frida hear her. She then opens the door to the lounge and flags Abigail to come in, quietly. After Abigail sees Frida crying, both ladies look at each other. Gail then knocks on the stall door, loudly to get Frida's attention.
"Frida!" Gail shouts. "We know you're in there, girl. It's us, Gail..."
"And Abigail!" She speaks. "We hear you crying in there, and we're concerned for you."
"I'm perfectly fine! Really, I am." Frida says, rather unconvincingly. "Now, GO AWAY AND LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" She cried out as she continued crying. Gail and Abigail both looked at each other, and decided to take matters in their own hands.
The two ladies then bust the stall door open, to see Frida's eyes and cheeks all red and watery from all the crying she did, and started speaking to her.
"Ok Frida, out with it!" Gail said. "What's eatin' you girl?"
"Yeah Frida." Abigail chimed in. "You look sadder than a hound dog that missed out on hush puppies!"
"I told you, I'm fine! It's nothing." Frida said, again unconvincingly.
"Frida..." Gail told her. "No one sits alone in a bathroom stall crying their eyes out over nothing."
"Yeah Frida," Abigail said. "Please tell us what's wrong. We're you're friends, we wanna help."
Knowing they're not taking her word, Frida finally tells them her problem. "Alright then...it's Max!"
"MAX?!!" Gail and Abigail both shouted, then turned to look at each other.
Gail then spoke out. "Ok Frida, you tell us what that boy did to you, and we'll straighten him out, good!" She said while punching the palm of her hand with her fist, menacingly.
Abigail interjected in a back and forth between the two. "Did he touch you in an inappropriate manner?"
Gail: "Did he try to physically assault you or intimidate you?"
Abigail: "Did he make lewd comments to you about you and your daughter?"
Gail: "Did he call you the B-word?"
Abigail: "The C-word?"
Gail: "The S-word?"
Abigail: "The ADT-word?"
"...ADT? I've never heard that." Gail told Abigail.
Abigail answers "Well, it's a thing from back home in rural North Carolina. It stands for..."
Just then, Frida screams at the two of them. "STOP IT, PLEASE!!! BOTH OF YOU!!! You don't understand, Max hasn't done ANYTHING to me!" And in a weepy voice says "...and that's...kinda the point!" Frida then bowed her head into the bed of toilet paper she rolled out and continued crying.
Gail and Abigail didn't understand what Frida had said to them. After looking at each other, Abigail spoke. "Frida...what are you talking about?"
Soon, Frida dries her face off with the toilet paper and tries speaking. But she was having a difficult time telling them, with her breath and lips quivering. Soon, after waiting what seemed like forever, Frida finally, and meekly, told them:
"...............................................................................................I'm in love with Max."
Gail and Abigail's response to that:
(Only they managed to merge themselves with that take!)
After looking at her, and at each other, they speak out.
Gail: "AlrightAlrightAlright, lemme see if we have this correct...this is Max Edwards you're talking about, right?"
Abigail: "Max Edwards, the shaggy haired skinny guy who teaches history here at Danforth?"
Gail: "Max Edwards, the shaggy haired skinny guy who keeps a talking crab as a pet slash roommate?"
Abigail: "Max Edwards, the shaggy haired skinny guy who thinks every woman on the planet wants nothing to do with him?"
Gail & Abigail: "THAT MAX?!!!"
Frida nodded her head and told them "...yeah...that Max."
Gail and Abigail slowly turned their heads to look at each other. And then, proceeded to cheer and scream and whoop it up, while dancing a little jig together.
Frida took offense to their reaction, and told them: "Why are you two acting like that? I'm serious here, I'm hurting badly inside!"
Gail then picked up Frida off of the toilet and told her, "Oh Frida honey, we're not laughing AT you hilariously, we're laughing FOR you, joyfully!"
Abigail: "Do you have any idea what this means, Frida?"
Gail: "Max finally has someone who genuinely loves and cares for him!"
Abigail: "And someone who's absolutely perfect for Max!"😁😁
Frida wasn't buying it. "What good is ANY of that?" Frida said, still emotional, "I've been trying to get Max's attention all week, and he keeps hiding and avoiding me! Why doesn't he understand how much I ache and feel for him?"
"Because it's Max!!!" Gail and Abigail say in unison.
Frida didn't quite get what they were saying. Gail continued. "Frida, you need to understand. Max is a very stubborn individual. He's absolutely convinced no woman will ever love him."
"I LOVE HIM!!!" Frida screamed, as she burst into tears again. "I love him so much and it's killing me that he's not seeing it!"
"Of course you do, honey." Abigail softly told her, as she clutched Frida's shoulders and continued. "And we're gonna help you get Max!"
Gail: "And the first thing you need to know is that if you wait for Max to come to you, you'll be waiting forever."
Abigail: "So you need to go to him, in a way that only a man can appreciate."
Gail: "And that means using your feminine charms on Max."
Abigail: "And once you do, he'll be putty in your hands."
"Really?" Frida asked them.
Gail: "Of course! Men love it when their gals get all sexy and seductive on them. It makes them feel special."
Abigail: "My Elvis gets all excited when I curl up on him."
Gail: "Same with my Elvis, I start flashin' my lashes at him, and the next thing you know, we're smashin' it."
Abigail: "And with your natural beauty and charms, you'll have no problem landing Max!"
Gail: "But to guarantee that, you first need to prep yourself up for him."
Abigail: "So that you can be one hundred percent certain he'll be taken of you."
Frida wiped the tears off of her face and told them both "...how do I do that?"
Gail and Abigail both hold up a curling iron, a hairbrush, a hair blower, hairspray, and a makeup kit, and shouted "LEAVE IT TO US!!!"
They then grab Frida by her arms and placed her right on a chair to do a quickly makeover of her. Gail was working on Frida's hair, using the curling iron and some hairspray to help make it stand out more wavy like. Abigail worked on Frida's face, applying mascara, eyeshade, rouge, and lipstick on it. After what seemed like forever, they were done.
Gail goes up to the mirror and says "Ok Frida. Take a look at the new and improved you!" Abigail then guides Frida to the mirror where she sees her hair all big and wavy from the curling iron and her face all painted up beautifully.
Frida was surprised by what she saw in her reflection. "Oh my!" she blurted. "Is that supposed to be me?"
"Yup!" Abigail told her. "That's you beneath all that foundation and hairspray."
"Oh my!" Frida says again. "I don't think I recognize myself in there!"
Gail said, "That's cuz we turbocharged your good looks to make you more appealing."
Abigail: "Now you're going to need a cattle prod to keep all the men away from you."
Gail: "Because the only man you want and need is Max Edwards."
Abigail: "And there's no way he can resist you now, Frida!"
Gail: "So all you have to do is go right up to Max."
Abigail: "And smother him with your love!"
Gail: "It's up to you now, Frida."
Abigail: "You're all ready for Max!"
Frida was still taking in the work Gail and Abigail did on her. But she quickly grew confident with it, and said "Yeessss. Yes I am!...But are you ready for ME?...Maaaax?"
***
Frida was soon out the door, and strutting her stuff down the school halls, attracting attention wherever she went. Students, teachers, everyone couldn't take their eyes off Frida. Some of the boys left their desks to go see the hot looking Frida, only to have them all herded back in by McGilligan - who then zooms on Frida himself.
Frida was loving this attention she was getting from everyone around her. Yet it didn't matter to her, because she's all dressed up for one man and one man only - and he was in his classroom marking test papers to get out of the way for the upcoming weekend.
Max was sitting at his desk, looking rather studiously. He didn't notice Frida sticking her head inside his classroom to see if he was there. While marking his papers, Frida started sneaking up behind from Max's left side, close to the blackboard. She kept very quiet while he was busy, nearly blowing it when Max surprised her by loudly saying, while looking upward to his right, "No Calvin, George Washington Carver was not known for chopping down a cherry tree!" Frida quickly gained composure, as Max was scribbling something down then going back to the front of the page to count the total. She crept up close enough to touch him, and was ready to pounce on him, when the PA system went off.
"Would Ms. Olsen please report to the front desk, immediately, please? Ms. Olsen, please report to the front desk, immediately, please?"
Both Frida and Max looked up to the right, where the class speaker was located, to hear the announcement. Max, not even sensing Frida's presence, went back to counting the total on his student's test. Only to have him start all over again after he forgot where he left off. Frida was completely unsure of herself, She started leaving to see why she was needed. She got near enough to the door, and quickly turned to leave. Max, thinking he heard something, turned to his left to see what it was. Frida had left without Max knowing she was just near him.
After a moment, Max just shrugged his shoulders and went back to marking his test paper again. Only to forget where he left off again, which got Max so pissed off he smashed his head on the table, making him go, "Ouch!" He adjusted his glasses that he was wearing, turned his paper back to the front and started again. "ONE!...TWO!...THREE!..."
***
Just after four, and Max put on his denim jacket, strapped his business knapsack on his back, put his cap on his head, and left the school for the weekend. He walked right out the front door of Danforth High with his hands in his jacket, and not a care in the world at the moment. Both Gail and Abigail spotted Max leaving the school, from a second story window. They both looked confused and concerned. And quite pissed off!
Max usually walks home on a Friday afternoon, rather than take the bus, because it allows him some peace of mind. And to pick up some items on the way home, like groceries or a quick bite to eat. He had just walked past the fish market, where he picked up Victor, and saw a sign on the door that said they were closing their doors for good. It surprised Max, and was quite disappointed that another Barclay Davis icon has bit the dust.
Soon, Max was back inside his apartment. "Victor, I'm home!" Max said when he entered. But there was no response. Max kept calling his name, even going so far as to scream "Vic-TORRRRR!!!" but there was still no response. This has Max worried because whenever Victor's unresponsive, it usually means he's up to something. After looking around his place, left to right, Max starts scratching his head, saying to himself, "Now where'd that little bug scurry off to?" After saying that, Max looks at the kitchen table, where he spots a piece of paper, folded into a tent, with his name on it. He picks it up, and opens it to read.
After reading the note, a big smile grew on Max's face. He put some music on.
Unbuttoned the top of his jeans, and plopped down on his sofa with his hands resting behind the back of his head, and his legs crossed over enjoying the peace and solitude. And as Max is lying there, he's thinking to himself - for this rare moment given to him - life is pretty good!
Coming up: Barclay Davis - The Beautiful Truth, Part Two