The Hollywood Mission (6 page)

Max smiled. It wasn't every day you met people like Linden, and even if he was a little pushy, life always seemed so much better when he was around.

‘Max.' Her dad rubbed his hands together, both nervous and excited. ‘I'd like you to meet your stepmother.'

He stood aside from her bedroom door like a gameshow host revealing the major prize. Max straightened her clothes and pushed back her hair for the millionth time.

A long, slender hand appeared from around the door frame decorated with rings of gold and diamonds. Suddenly what Max was wearing felt all wrong. She wanted to run to the bathroom and pretend she wasn't there, but it was too late. The woman stepped into the room. A golden light surrounding her tall, elegant body. Max felt like a fish pulled out of the sea. She gulped and gawped and wished someone would throw her back. How could her dad have had a daughter with so little charm, so little elegance, devoid of any skerrick of style? A fashionless, bumbling …

‘Max?'

Her eyes flicked open and she tried to focus on where she was.

Big bed. Fluffy pillows. Strange room.

‘Max, are you awake?' A voice came from the other side of the door. Then she remembered. She
was at her dad's home in America and she'd fallen asleep on her bed.

She sat upright and wiped the line of dribble from her mouth. ‘Come in.'

Her dad poked his head in and offered her a giant grin. ‘I thought it'd be nice if you two met before everyone else.'

Max felt as if she was about to meet the prime minister and had forgotten to put clothes on. She wanted to warn her dad that it'd be better if the whole plan were aborted. She could already imagine the disappointment on her stepmother's face as she took one look at her dishevelled excuse for a stepdaughter.

But then she walked into the room.

Max tried hard not to stare and to keep her mouth from falling open. Her stepmother was tall with long dark hair and wore a pair of faded jeans and a T-shirt.

‘Hello, Max. I'm Mee Lin. I am so excited to finally meet you.'

She held out her hand. Max stared at her and said nothing. A few awkward moments passed where no one knew what to say. Finally her dad broke the silence.

‘Ah, Max? Are you okay, honey?'

Her head jerked towards him and then back at Mee Lin. ‘What? Yes. Fine. I'm Max.' She took Mee Lin's hand and shook it vigorously.

‘Lovely to meet you,' Mee Lin stammered as Max kept shaking.

‘I think that'll be enough for now,' her dad interrupted.

Max noticed she was still shaking Mee Lin's hand and instantly let go.

‘We'll be leaving for the restaurant in about half an hour, but before we do that, Mee Lin has a present for you.'

‘It's just something small.' Her voice was like silk. ‘I hope you like it.'

She held up a pink dress with embroidered flowers, a lace petticoat and matching bag. They were hideous. Max begged her face not to show it.

‘It's great,' she lied. ‘Really … great.'

The only other time in her life she'd worn a pink dress was while working undercover during a Spyforce mission
³
, but then she had the excuse of saving the world. She tried to think positively. At least she wouldn't run into anyone she knew.

‘We'll see you downstairs in half an hour?' Her dad kissed her on the forehead and they both turned to leave. Max smiled and waved but when they'd gone she slumped back onto her bed with the dress slouched across her lap like a piece of deflated fairy floss.

‘Why couldn't I have acted like a normal person?' she said out loud.

‘It's part of your charm.' Linden appeared beside Max and even though he'd just had a shower, his hair struggled not to look like the head of a toilet brush.

Max held up the dress. ‘Could this be any more ugly?'

‘Only just, but look at it this way, you'll only have to wear it once,' he said encouragingly. ‘Shame it has to be in one of the glamour capitals of the world.'

Max put as much scowl on her face as it could handle.

‘I'll see you downstairs.' Linden figured now was a good time to leave Max alone and left the room quickly.

Max looked at the dress. It was awful, but it wasn't the dress that she was worried about. Mee Lin was beautiful and had the elegance of a princess.
Max sighed. She'd happily wear pink for the rest of her life if it meant she could get through the night proving to Mee Lin she hadn't inherited the clumsiest stepdaughter in the history of the world.

When they drove up the long, lamp-lit drive of the restaurant, which looked more like the rich home of someone very important, Eleanor leant into Max and whispered, ‘We were told about this place. It's supposed to be one of
the
restaurants in LA.'

‘Great.' Max slumped beside her aunt in her pink embroidered disaster.

Valets slid through the night air as if they were on rollerblades, holding doors open, taking coats and parking cars.

‘Here we are,' Max's dad announced. ‘This place has food that's a thrill ride for your tastebuds. Who's in?'

Everyone eagerly stepped out of the car except Max, who was busy trying to work out how to tell her dad she'd have more fun if she stayed where she was. Nothing came to her, so she dragged herself out and prepared to be as discreet as possible. She picked up the pink bag which snugly held the Matter Transporter and stuck close behind her dad, who, to Max's horror, was just about the most well-known person there.

‘Hey, Bill, how's it going?'

‘Bill, good to see you.'

‘Looking good, Bill.'

Her dad smiled and said his hellos as Max did
her best to become invisible. They wound their way through candle-lit tables, around bubbling water features and across a small wooden bridge over a gurgling stream.

‘Very famous people often come here,' Ben said quietly in Max's ear. ‘If you're lucky you might see someone you recognise.'

‘Yeah, that'll be really lucky.' Max slouched even more.

When they finally reached their table, Max leapt into a chair sheltered by an enormous palm. All she had to do now was hold off going to the toilet and hardly anyone else would see her.

After they'd ordered, Max's father launched into another one of his stories that had everyone laughing and wiping their eyes and made Max momentarily forget her paranoia. Until she noticed Mee Lin staring at her.

‘Max?'

Please can I say something intelligent, Max silently pleaded. ‘Mmmm?'

‘Can I tell you a secret?' Mee Lin's voice was low and dangerous. This was the part where she told Max she was a loser and that the only way to explain Max's relationship with her father was that she was adopted.

‘I was so nervous about meeting you today. I'd heard so much about you and I worried that when you met me you'd be disappointed.'

Disappointed? Nervous? Was she crazy?

‘Your dad thinks you're perfect and he's prouder of you than any dad I know.' A warm smile spread over Mee Lin's face. ‘He's your biggest fan, and I'm afraid I've become one too.'

Max blushed an immediate hot pink as her dad grabbed a glass and clanged his spoon against the side.

‘I'd like to make a toast.' Her dad loved giving speeches. ‘This is one of the happiest days of my life. I have two old friends with me who I've waited far too long to see. I've met Linden who I'm told is one of the finest young men I'll ever meet — and that must be true because he laughs at all my jokes — and I'm with Mee Lin, one of the kindest, gentlest, most talented people I know.' Max saw her dad look at Mee Lin and soften.

‘But that's not the best part. I'm one of the luckiest fathers in the world to have Max in my life. From the day you were born, I couldn't imagine ever loving anyone more. You'll always be the most important person in my life.'

‘To Max,' Ben chimed in.

Max shrank into her seat. She loved her dad but why, like Ben, didn't he get that she hated having a fuss made over her? After the clinking of glasses had finished, her dad had something else to say. ‘Linden and Max, we need a few more extras in the film we're making and I was wondering if you'd like to help out.'

Max had just taken a bite of her bread roll. ‘Wou won uh woo aa in a wilm?'

Her dad frowned.

‘Let me help,' Linden offered. ‘You want us to act in a film?'

‘Yep.'

Max finished the rest of her mouthful. ‘That'd be … I'd love … if you think …' She tried to control her mouth but was failing miserably.

‘I think that means we're in,' Linden translated.

Three waiters appeared beside them and began serving their food.

‘Your dad was right,' Linden said to Max after his first bite. ‘This puts a whole new spin on the word taste.' But just as he finished speaking, Linden thought he saw something strange.

‘Max?'

‘Mmm?' Max was concentrating on her lobster claw that was slipping around in her hands.

‘I know this is going to sound weird, but I think there's someone here you know.'

Max's eyes followed Linden's finger as he pointed to a large fish tank and the wavering features of someone standing behind it. At first she thought it was just some kid with a fixation for teasing fish, until her brain kicked in and told her otherwise.

‘No. It can't be.' Her hands involuntarily squeezed the lobster claw so hard that it flew from her fingers and landed in the soup of a man sitting at the next table. He looked at Max accusingly.

‘Sorry,' she winced.

An immediate bustle of activity rose around them as Max's dad and Ben apologised to the man and waiters instantly appeared to clean up the mess.

Max looked back at the watery kid who was sniggering as Linden tried to come up with an explanation for what they were seeing. ‘Maybe it's a leftover from the Nightmare Vortex and you're just facing another of your fears.'
⁴

Max wanted to believe that, but the wobbling figure behind the fish tank motioned her over. ‘Wait until I get my hands on him,' she simmered.

‘It's your friend from Hollingdale, isn't it?' Linden asked.

Max's head ricocheted towards him. ‘He's not my friend.'

But Linden was right. As the others were settling down after the soup incident, the wavering figure of Toby Jennings poked his smirking face around the tank. Max desperately struggled to stay calm.

She stood up and grabbed her bag. ‘I have to go to the bathroom,' she announced a little more loudly than she intended. ‘Can you come with me, Linden?'

Her dad looked at her with concern. ‘Are you okay, honey?'

‘Yeah. Fine. Great. Linden?'

Linden reluctantly lowered his fork to his plate, worried that he'd never see his dinner again. The pink lace of Max's dress swung vigorously behind her as she made her way to the fish tank.

‘What are you doing here?' she asked menacingly as her hands flew to her hips.

Toby's eyes ran up and down Max's outfit. ‘Don't you think we should ask the big questions first, like what are you doing dressed like a raspberry marshmallow?'

Max's head filled with images of Toby being carried away by a giant snow eagle and dropped off the nearest snow-covered mountain.

‘I'm here visiting you,' he said.

‘You just happened to be in America, in the same restaurant as me?'

‘Actually, I went to your dad's house first and after I explained I was a friend of yours, they told me you were here.' Toby had an arrogant grin that Max wanted to wipe from his face and flush down the nearest toilet, but Linden was worried about something else. ‘How did you get here?'

‘That's the best part.' Toby paused for maximum effect. ‘I used Max's Time and Space Machine.'

Max's mouth dropped open. Linden leant across and closed it so she could tell him it wasn't true. Max rifled through her bag. ‘That's impossible because …' She saw the block of wood where the Matter Transporter should have been. ‘How …?'

‘Is that your dad?' Toby asked as if he hadn't just ruined her life.

Max couldn't answer. Her head was too busy with her new reality kicking out the old one.

‘I'd like to meet him.' And off Toby strode before Max or Linden could stop him.

By the time they made their feet work, Toby had reached the table and was already introducing himself.

‘What are the chances of that?' Max's dad was chuffed that she had run into a friend. ‘How long have you two known each other?'

‘It feels like all my life,' Max sneered, wishing her world was still Toby-free.

‘I'm here with my parents on holiday,' Toby lied.

‘What a coincidence.' Then Max's dad had an idea. ‘Max and Linden are going to be extras in a film I'm directing. Would you like to join them?'

This was turning out way better than Toby had hoped. Not only had he travelled halfway round the world using a machine he hadn't known existed, he was standing in the middle of a posh restaurant in Hollywood being asked to be in a film. The best part, though, was the look of horror on Max's face.

‘That is, if it's all right with your parents.'

‘They'll love it.' Toby smiled angelically. ‘They're always encouraging me to have new experiences.'

Max watched the whole thing as if it was some twisted nightmare. Her life usually could be divided
into two categories: the times when Toby was in her life and therefore making everything a misery, and the times when he wasn't. This was supposed to be one of the times when he wasn't.

‘Great!' Max's dad beamed as if he'd just granted his daughter's most long-standing wish. ‘Here's my card. Get your parents to call me if they have any questions.' Max's dad reached for a notebook. ‘Tell us where you are staying and we'll pick you up.'

‘No!' Linden and Max said a little too forcefully.

Ben and Eleanor frowned at their peculiar behaviour.

‘His parents can drop him off at the studio.'

Now it was Max's dad's turn to frown.

‘Okay. Done. We'll see you outside the studio gates at 7 a.m.'