Giving Notice - Chapter Seven (preview #2)

Making some progress on the chapter, and I've got a pretty good idea what happens next so I'm going to try my best to finish it this week. Work is FINALLY starting to slow down, but of course I'm also on staff for BabyfurCon now so I've been doing writing for them and attending zoom meetings etc. I'm really excited to keep writing whenever I have time though, because we're going to get a lot more Max/Corey/Seventeen time from here out and I love the relationship dynamic those three have together! As always, let me know what you think of how the story is going so far! For frame of reference, I have now written 2/3 as much as the entire length of "The New Job"!

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CHAPTER SEVEN

Max felt so numb. He was curled up in his crib, clutching his knees to his chest and focusing only on breathing. After a long period of cuddling and reassuring Max that everything would be okay, Corey had slipped out of the room to go down to the dining hall and retrieve something for the pair to eat. The distraught canine had barely acknowledged his departure, lost in a miasma of depression and defeat.

Max was startled out of his dark, spiraling thoughts by a knock at his bedroom door. He sighed and took a moment to summon the energy needed to answer the knock. “What is it?” he called out, exasperated.

“It’s Zane, can I come in?” came the reply from the other side of the door.

Max felt a murderous hatred rising in his chest. He climbed out of his crib and flung open the door, fury flashing in his eyes. “What in the actual, all-encompassing fuck are you doing here, Zane?” he glared at the zebra. “Come to kick me while I’m down?”

Zane shook his head awkwardly. “No, I came to apologize for what Marcus is doing. And to try to help. Please, can I come in? If he sees me standing out here, he’s going to kill us both.” The zebra stared at Max with pleading eyes.

“And why the hell should I trust… UGH! Fine, get in here and shut the door,” Max said through gritted teeth. He glared at Zane for a moment, then stepped out of the entry so Zane could pass. The zebra glanced down the hallway to make sure he wasn’t being watched, then hastened into Max’s bedroom.

“Say whatever you came to say,” Max growled impatiently.

Zane nodded. “Look dude, I’m so sorry. Marcus is a prick, and what he’s doing is bullshit. You haven’t done anything to deserve this. I knew he was kind of an asshole, but this is a new low.” The zebra swallowed. “I don’t want to get caught up in this, but it feels like he’s not leaving me much choice. He’s gonna get himself fired and that’s fine, but he’s not taking me with him. I need this job too bad, I’ve got a single mom and two sisters at home I’m helping support.”

Max sighed. “That sucks, and I’m sorry for you. But it doesn’t really help me out of the situation your buddy put me in.”

Zane leaned closer to Max. “No, but I know what will,” he said quietly. “I know Marcus’s lock screen password, he uses the same one for both of his phones.”

Max blinked. With the password to Marcus’s phone, Max might be able to delete the incriminating pictures Marcus had stored to the cloud. Was Zane really offering him a way out of this nightmare? He blinked again.

Just then, the door opened. “I got us some juice boxes and—” Corey began as he entered the room, trailing off when he realized he and Max weren’t alone. “What the hell is he doing here?” Corey slammed the plate of hoagie sandwiches he was holding down on Max’s nightstand and crossed his arms defiantly, glaring at the zebra.

“I just want to help,” Zane said quietly. “What Marcus is doing to Max is wrong.”

“Zane says he knows what password Marcus uses to lock his phone,” Max said slowly. “Which means…”

“...which means if we can get his phone away from him, we can delete the pictures he took!” Corey finished excitedly. After a moment’s thought, the cheetah’s brow furrowed. “Okay. Great idea, in theory. But why do you want to help, Zane? Why should we trust you? Kinda hard to believe you’d betray your boyfriend like that.”

The zebra shook his head emphatically. “Marcus is not my boyfriend. At most, he’s a... friend with benefits. Or at least I thought he was, until he decided to go full asshole. He’s been kind of a dick as long as I’ve known him, but this is too much. I want no part in his blackmail scheme.”

Corey sighed and looked at Max, trying to get a read on his emotions. “Your call, dude,” he said to his friend. “Do we trust him?”

Max’s brain was a whirlwind of thoughts. Zane was offering him a potential way out of the trap Marcus had set. Could this just be another ploy, or was the zebra telling the truth? Max weighed his options carefully. On the one hand, if Zane really did know the password to get into Max’s phone, that still didn’t fix the problem of getting the phone away from Marcus, who would no doubt be steadfastly guarding the leverage it contained. The risk was that if they messed up and got caught, Marcus would certainly and gleefully retaliate.

On the other hand, Max could do exactly as Marcus had instructed, quit his job and go back to his boring life. He would lose everything of the incredible life he’d discovered at StartAgain, but at least he wouldn’t be outed to his parents. But that option would mean giving up his job, his friendships and worse yet, losing his relationship with Stephen. The thought chilled Max to his core.

The golden retriever thought very carefully. He loved his parents, he really did, even if he didn’t feel like he could be himself around them. The thought of his mom and dad looking down on him, judging him, pushing him away… it was almost too much to bear. Almost. But if Max was being forced to choose between his sometimes-strained relationship with his parents or the absolute love and acceptance he had at StartAgain, it wasn’t much of a contest.

Max cleared his throat. “I’m… I’m not leaving,” he said hesitantly. “Fuck Marcus. He’s a bully, and I’ve spent more than enough time being pushed around by bullies in my life. It’s time I start pushing back.” Max found himself trembling a bit as he spoke. He glanced at Corey and at Zane, then he cast his eyes down to his feet. “If he sends those pictures, he’s going to make sure I lose my mom and dad. They will never be able to accept their perverted gay sinner son. But if we don’t do something, Marcus is going to make sure I lose everything else that matters.”

Max turned to Zane, looking him directly in the eyes. “I believe you. I think you really do want to help. So… let’s do it. I’m pretty much screwed either way, but at least this way I can try to fight back. I’m not the same scared Max anymore. My life here this past month has changed me. I’ve learned that I don’t have to be afraid of who I am anymore, and I don’t have to let people walk all over me. So if Marcus wants a fight, let’s give him a fucking fight.” He could feel the fur at his neck bristling, and an unexpected feeling was beginning to rise in his chest; hope.

“Max, you’re sure?” Corey grabbed Max’s paw and gave it a concerned squeeze.

“No,” Max replied with a weary laugh. “I’m not sure of anything, really. But I’m going to fight for my place here, regardless of how it shakes out.”

Zane snorted. “Marcus thinks he has you over a barrel. He was laughing about it after we left. He’s overconfident, and I don’t think he expects you to try anything. But, getting his phone away from him is going to be a problem. He keeps the one with the unlocked camera app on him pretty much at all times. But he’s got that other phone, the one where StartAgain locked the camera. He probably hid it somewhere in his bedroom. If you guys could get to that one, you could still use it to get into his cloud and delete the pictures. Then he wouldn’t have any leverage over you, Max.”

Max nodded. “So, we need to find a way to break into his room when he isn’t in it. We could use Stephen’s master key, it opens pretty much every door in the mansion. But he’s got it with him and he’s out of town right now. He’ll be back tomorrow. I can talk to him then, I know he’ll help.” He reached for one of the hoagie sandwiches on his nightstand. His appetite had returned with a vengeance when his despair had turned into defiance. He took a big bite, and a dollop of mayonnaise squeezed out the side of the sandwich and dripped down his chin.

“What about Seventeen?” Corey asked. “I know we can trust him too. Want me to text him to come here so we can tell him what’s going on?”

Max considered for a moment while he chewed. “Yeah,” he said, swallowing. “I don’t want too many people knowing about what we’re planning, but Seventeen’s a good friend.”

“Meantime, I need to get back. It’ll ruin everything if he catches me down here with you guys,” Zane said. “His password for his lock screen is 8-7-1-2. You need me to write it down for you?”

Corey shook his head. “Texting it to Max now so we’ll both have it saved,” he said as he tapped at his phone’s screen.

Max turned to Zane again. “Look… thanks. I don’t know what else to say. You didn’t have to do this.” He thought for a moment, then extended a paw to the zebra.

“Yeah, I did,” the zebra replied as he shook Max’s paw. “You’re a good guy and a hard worker. And Marcus is a bully, way more than I think I realized. But I’m not a bully, and I love working here. So I’ll help however I can.”

Zane nodded to Max. He stuck his head out of Max’s room to check the hallway, then he swiftly departed.

Corey took a sandwich from the plate and settled into Max’s bean bag chair. “Seventeen said he’ll come as soon as he’s able, he was just about to jump in the shower when I messaged him,” the cheetah said.

Max sat down on the edge of his crib and took another bite of his sandwich. “Corey,” he said when he finished chewing and swallowing, “thank you for helping me deal with all this. I’m sorry I dragged you into all this drama.”

“Pshh, that’s what baby bros are for. We’re going to get you out of this situation. You got real friends here, Max, people you can count on. We’re not going to let you go without a fight, dude.” The cheetah smiled at his friend. “Pass me a juice box?”

“I know,” Max said. “It’s… it feels really good. It’s a feeling I could get used to.” He took a box of apple juice from the plate on his nightstand and handed it to Corey.

“You better, dude, because it’s a fact that ain’t changing,” Corey replied.

*****

A short while later, the pair were joined by Seventeen. Max and Corey spent several breathless minutes catching the gecko up on everything that had happened.

“What an ass,” Seventeen said. “I wish I could say I was surprised, but that guy always did give me all kinds of bad vibes. We are not going to let him get away with this, Max. How can I help?”

Max exhaled a deep, exhausted sigh. “Well, we’re still figuring out the plan. We need to get access to his other phone so we can log into his cloud and delete the pictures he took. He probably keeps it in his bedroom. Stephen is out of town right now but he’ll be back tomorrow, and once he’s home I’m going to explain everything to him and use his master key to sneak into Marcus’s bedroom and look for the phone.”

Seventeen nodded. “We’ll need to make certain he’s being kept busy elsewhere in the mansion so you have time to look. I’ll try to think of a distraction to keep him occupied.”

“We could just punch him in the throat,” Corey said darkly. “I hate this whole situation. God, what a prick! I wish we could just go to management and get him fired, but I know that’s not an option. But so help me, as soon as we know those pictures are deleted I’m going to make sure that bully gets what’s coming to him. Up to and possibly including punching him in the throat.”

“Agreed,” said Seventeen, while Max nodded emphatically. “I can’t believe how many house rules he’s trampling on,” the gecko added. “The whole reason StartAgain works is because we all respect each other. We have to be able to trust the people we live and work with, and Marcus is just… pissing all over that.”

“Well, we can worry about getting him fired after we destroy those pictures,” Max said. “Because if we don’t, I’m going to have to leave. As much as I don’t want to, the only other alternative would be to let him out me and then have to deal with the nuclear fallout from my family.”

Corey shook his head. “It’s not gonna come to that, Max. I know you’ve only been here a month, but… dude, you and Seventeen are honestly my two best friends in the whole world. The three of us are each smarter than that stupid donkey, so imagine what we can do when we put our brains together! We’re going to fix this.” Corey wrapped a fuzzy arm around Max and pulled him in for a hug.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared,” Max said, his throat tight. “But I’ve dealt with bullies before. I know Marcus thinks he’s some kind of big badass, but he’s just a coward on a power trip. I feel better knowing you guys are on my side.”

Seventeen nodded and joined the hug. “Kiddo, you have real friends here, and none of us is going to let you go.”

The three friends held their embrace for a while, and in some small way it really did help Max feel better about his situation. He knew Corey and Seventeen had his back, and that he wasn’t having to face this alone. Max could still feel his voice quivering as he spoke with his friends but, for the moment at least, the feeling of hopelessness was being held at bay.

Before he departed for dinner, Seventeen created a group chat on his phone and added Corey and Max to it, so that the three could continue strategizing over the course of the evening. He gave Max one more reassuring squeeze and then quietly slipped out of the golden retriever’s bedroom.

Corey spent the rest of the evening fussing over Max, trying to distract him from his thoughts. He got the canine changed into a bedtime diaper and pajamas and then found a movie for the pair to watch from Max’s crib.

Though Max appreciated Corey’s efforts, his thoughts were still swirling. So much of his future was at risk and hinged entirely on the plan he had formulated with Corey, Seventeen and Zane. What if I can’t find Marcus’s phone? Max thought. What if he catches me breaking into his room? What if Stephen refuses to let me have his master key when he finds out what I’ll be using it for? What if I do end up having to leave StartAgain and go back to my life at BCU? Try though he might, Max couldn’t see what that future would look like. In the last month, he’d found a life more rich and rewarding than anything he could’ve dreamed of before. Max felt like he was standing precariously on the edge of a cliff; as though the slightest gust of wind could knock him off and into a black chasm.

Sleep didn’t come easily for Max that night. He shifted restlessly in bed and listened to the cadence of Corey’s soft, rhythmic breathing well into the still, peaceful early hours. Occasionally, Max would reach out and give the sleeping cheetah a gentle squeeze, as if to reassure himself that his friend was still with him, that he wasn’t alone.

Eventually, little by little, he felt the tight strain of his neck and back muscles begin to loosen, and his fluttering heartbeat began to slow. At last, weariness and emotion overcame him, gently tugging him down into the dark void of slumber.