The One Who Stole the Sky

Banquet Night

The following days blurred together, and tonight Max found himself preparing for the reveal of the piece he and Charlie had been working on for what felt like forever.

Liesel would attend too, as she was invited by Herr Getz as Max's plus-one guest. She slid pearl earrings into her ears in exchange for her white, dangling earrings. Her hair was rolled into uniformed waves doused in her hairspray she barely used; it was only for special events. Her outfit included a bishop-sleeved, turquoise dress and white heels. As she worked on her makeup, she thought of her very own celebration she would be having for her own accomplishments. Surely getting published and being sold in every bookstore would call for a party, even if it was only her and Max. In time, she thought, in time. She remembered the first banquet she attended with Max and it made her smile. But this was different. There was someone else, someone involved that Liesel already despised without ever meeting.

There was a knock on her doorway.

"Liesel, are you ready?" Max stood there, all in black, staring at her.

"Yes." Liesel got up from her chipped vanity and followed Max out the door, down to the lobby, to wait for a taxi. Liesel broke the silence after standing around quietly for a few minutes.

"I hope I am good enough. I try for you, to be someone I'm not." Liesel stared out of the glass the front lobby was made of, watching people tend to their daily routines.

"Good enough? Liesel I don't quite understand." Max squinted and pinched his face, taken back by her comment.

"I'm not exactly the refined lady you should be taking to these things. It isn't my place and I can feel it when I see all of the women that I don't fit in." The first time Max showed off his friend in public, it went horribly wrong. There was speculation that Liesel was his mistress, and the printers used this rumor to bring in a little extra money. It lasted for two months until it was finally dropped for a film star's suicide. But it weighed heavy in his heart still to attract dirt to her name.

"Liesel, why must you always act so serious and sad? You are a fine lady as you are. Don't worry too much, now. We both come from an outside world. Me a Jew and you descending from Communist activists- well, all of Germany couldn't hate us anymore, yet here we are stealing the spotlight from under their noses." Max's lighthearted joke on a manner so sensitive impossibly made both of them laugh a little.

"Oh, there's a taxi." Max calmly waved it down. He opened the door for his meek companion on the curbside before walking around the outside of the car to find his seat within. Charlie was to meet them at the banquet, as Max felt close proximity between her and Liesel would lead to an unnecessary gravity early in the easy evening.

Passing through the city was something that kept them in a solemn silence, as veterans and the homeless inhabited the sidewalks and bridges. It was difficult to look out the window at the starving children specifically, so their eyes typically wandered about the car and even to each other when thoughts became dim. Like prayer in church, they dedicated moments of silence to those less fortunate lurking right outside of the taxi's door.

"I am excited for you, Max. I cannot wait to see what you and Charlie have prepared for the banquet. I'm sure it's just the right thing to welcome the warming weather." Liesel rubbed the gathered fabric of her dress between her fingers, making the area damp with perspiration.

"It is a very bright painting, and I feel like we should not have a problem ensuring a buyer." This was especially important to the both of them, as Liesel recalled the charitable act Max committed at the previous gallery banquet.

"It's a larger piece as well, something that will draw attention immediately." Liesel wondered if it could trump Pablo Picasso's rising fame in Spain, or if the painting would end up at an estate sale years from now.

The taxi slowed in front of a different museum as Liesel's heartbeat pounded rapidly with anticipation. They both thanked the taxi driver and tipped him whatever they had to offer (they didn't carry much money outside of the house for a fear of being mugged). Max held open the door for his guest, and upon entering, found Herr Getz standing as a centerpiece in the lobby.

"Welcome friends! Ah, Liesel, good to see you again." He waddled up to Liesel and greeted her with a kiss on her cheek. She still didn't know exactly what his job was. All she knew was that he secured freelance opportunities for Max, and so she liked him for that.

"Please, follow me; I will show you to your table." The chubby man waved his sausage-thick fingers for Liesel and Max to follow. Weaving through tables of the snobby and the proud, the Jew and orphan were assigned to the corner table away from the main crowd.

"I understand you are not keen on being around others, so I situated you over here." Herr Getz's cheeks were shiny, oily lumps of skin that widened when he smiled, which he did often.

"I am keen on being around people I already know." Max pulled out a chair for Liesel and took this time to get a good look of the room. It was nauseating. The cologne, the perfume; the pompous and the pampered gathered here. He subconsciously covered up a run on his tie.

"My friends call for me in the lobby, but I am sure I will be seeing more of you later in the day. After all, the banquet has just begun!" Diligently, Herr Getz left the room and steered towards the lobby where he planned on welcoming the guests still trickling in. Max took his seat across from Liesel only to find how convenient both of their seats were situated. They were far away from the crowd, sure, but they got the perfect view of incoming guests. Max leaned in close; he drew Liesel near him.

"I know how we can have fun passing the time." He nodded once in the direction of the doors that connected the lobby. Liesel's face twisted with a childish humor as she knew what Max was thinking.

"There is to be nothing fun here, who are you, a young criminal?" Liesel raised her voice and mimicked the woman who had made her appearance through the doors. The lady had tilted her nose to the air and forced a fake smile to the young caterer. Max snorted a small, closed mouth snort.

"You better scram, boy, before I finish this silver plate of hor d'oeuvres and this bottle of wine and these fine meats and-oh, dear I've bloated so much from my gluttony I cannot properly punish you." Max made a circular shape with his fingers and held it up to one eye to pretend that he was wearing a monocle. Though neither were drunk, they were drunk off of a jubilant time; making utter nonsense and jokes that were not funny.

"Oh, here comes another. 'Oh, look at me! I'm all done up. . .'" Max immediately hushed Liesel's start of a bratty remark.

"What is it? I thought we were having a fun time?" Liesel pouted that the lighthearted child's play was over so soon. It wasn't, it couldn't be? No, it was, Max had squinted and examined the person ten times. It was Charlie in a provocative, red dress and overly done hair. There was embarrassment welling up in Max for his partner. She was all alone and was heading directly to their table which they left looking like a child had been let loose upon it.

"That, Liesel, is Charlie."