My Love Until the Last Goodbye (Mary and Maximus)

[Months Ago, The Maldives]

"Come on, Dad! Hurry up...!" Paul said as they arrived at the airport and his father made his way through customs.

"Paul, wait, just let me sign this and we'll go. If that girl's already waited this long, I'm sure she can wait a few more minutes..." Maximus replied, rushing to catch up with his son.

Maximus and Paul were staying on the same cluster of islands where Alden had rented out an entire villa for their trip.

Paul didn't wait for his dad. He just dropped his bags in the room and headed straight out to meet Nadia.

Maximus, with no other choice, decided to change clothes because of the heat. Between changing and heading out to look for his son, he quickly found him sitting in the lounge.

"Paul? What are you doing here?" his dad asked, puzzled.

"Leave me alone, Dad..." Paul said, staring into space.

What caught Maximus's eye was the glass in Paul's hand.

"Paul! What the hell are you doing? You're not old enough to be drinking. Since when do you drink?"

"Since today, dammit!" Paul snapped.

"Watch your language, Paul! You're not talking to just anyone I'm your father. Now tell me, what happened?" Maximus said, caught off guard by his son's attitude.

Paul finally looked at his dad. His face was streaked with tears.

"She didn't love me. She didn't wait for me. She's already with some other tourist..." he said before taking another sip of his drink.

Maximus watched as his son's face crumpled. It was obvious he had no clue how to handle alcohol. He was drinking something amber-colored-probably whatever he found first.noveldrama

Any other dad might've scolded him or taken the drink away. But Maximus just placed a hand on his son's shoulder, gave him a couple of pats, took the drink from him... and tried it himself.

"This isn't how you drink this," Maximus said, heading to pour a proper one. "If you're gonna drown yourself over a girl, you better do it right. But listen-just once. After that, it's wipe the slate clean and move on."

Maximus dumped the drink. He got another glass, added a few ice cubes, and poured in a small amount of whiskey. Then he poured himself a slightly stronger

one.

Maybe it wasn't the best decision, but in that moment, he knew the only thing to do was to sit with his son and talk-man to man.

"Here... Now, are you gonna tell me what happened?" Maximus asked as he made space for himself on the couch next to Paul.

"You're not gonna yell at me?" Paul said, still not believing it.

"For what?"

"For... this?" Paul said, glancing down at the drink in his hand.

"You think that's the worst of it? After a nearly 11-hour private flight that cost us a fortune, you left me stranded at customs, I show up at the hotel and you're already gone... That's a whole list of crimes, kid," Maximus said, taking a sip of his own drink.

Paul, watching him, took a sip too. To his surprise, it tasted a lot better than the last one.

"How is it? Better?" Maximus asked.

"Way better..." Paul admitted honestly.

"What happened, my son? What happened with Nadia?" Maximus asked gently. Paul leaned back against the sofa.

"I went to see her, like I told you. But she wasn't alone... There was someone else there. A tourist, I think. He wasn't from around here his language wasn't even close. He was older than me... but..."

“But what?” Maximus asked, already bracing himself for the answer.

"She was with him, Dad..."

"I see..."

"She was undressing in front of him... Nadia didn't wait for me. I wanted to marry

her, Dad..." Paul said, eyes filling again.

Maximus knocked back his drink and leaned into the sofa.

"What did you do after that?"

"I called her name. They both turned around. She was practically naked. The guy was way older than me... older than her too. He started yelling stuff Loouldn't understand, and she just said, 'Get out!' and pointed at the door.

"I didn't stick around. I ran back to the hotel as fast as I could."

Maximus wrapped his arm around his son and pulled him close, kissed his forehead, and said, "It's gonna be okay, son. This is part of life. Not everyone is good. Not all of us are good.

"Sometimes, without meaning to, we do things we regret for the rest of our lives," Maximus said, remembering the moment that led to the downfall of his marriage with Mary starting all the way back on their honeymoon in Santorini.

"How do you know that?” Paul asked, turning to look at him.

"Because I did something to someone once-someone innocent... All in the name of the love I thought had for your mother. I hurt someone who was really young and maybe could've been something reat" Maximus said, his voice low and honest.

"What? You and Mom weren't always together?" Paul asked, clearly confused.

“No, Paul. Before I married your mother... I was married to someone else. She was a good girl, a few years younger than me..." Maximus said as he got up to pour himself another drink.

"Tell me!" Paul said, eager to know more.

"Paul... I don't think that's a good idea," Maximus replied, regretting bringing it up.

"Come on... I need to know the dumb things you used to do before I existed. What were you like when you were my age?" Paul asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Paul..."

"Please, Dad!" the boy said, clearly interested.

Maximus, seeing that his son was now distracted from what had just happened, poured the drink and sat back down.

"What do you want to know?" he asked, already thinking through how much he could actually share.