Michael: rather occupied at the moment, he does not want to answer the pounding at his door: very irritated, he shouts at the closed door… "GO AWAY! I don't want any!"

Max: totally unfazed by the expected reply… "Michael, it's me. I need to talk to you. It's important."

Michael: takes a deep breath: tries to control his temper: as calmly as he ever is going to get, turns to his guest… "This won't take long." Grumbling as he goes to answer the door… "Max, this had better be a life or death crisis, because if it's not already, it is now." Opening the door… "Make it quick Maxwell, I'm rather busy. So what's up, short version?"

Max: walks into the apartment and immediately realizes he had definitely interrupted something: greets Michael's guest… "Hi Maria, good to see you. Uh, have you talked to Liz this morning?"

Maria: with a very relaxed, satisfied smile her kiss-swollen lips answers… "Hi Max, no haven't heard from her since yesterday. I…uh…been a little occupied since then." Her mood darkens… "Why is something wrong? Did something happen to Liz? Don't tell me that idiot Sean showed his face again."

Michael: he can see from his friend's expression that something did happen… "Maxwell, what happened?"

Max: relieved at finally being able to get everything off his chest {well, maybe not everything} he starts to fill them in on yesterday's events… "Yah, Sean jumped me when I took Liz home last night. He had a knife. Don't worry no harm done… well… nothing I couldn't fix. Anyway, I knocked him out cold right just as Valenti got there. Liz had called him. Right now Sean is in custody for assault with a deadly weapon. I'm fine. Liz is fine. And no Michael, he didn't see me do anything."

Michael: he wants to kick himself: Max was in trouble last night and he wasn't there to protect him: he's the second-in-command and he should have been there: it's his job: very angry at himself, but determined to remain cool… "No harm done then, right? So what's the problem?"

Max: seeing thru Michael's cool exterior… "Uh… well, Valenti decided to do everything by the book which meant calling my parents… uh… to make a long story short… in view of the fact Liz and I plan on… uh… seeing each other again, our Moms have decided it would be a great idea to have dinner… you know, so we can get to know each other. I could use some help."

Michael: very confused by his friend's request… "Exactly what kind of help are you talking about?"

Max: a bit embarrassed to have to ask this… "Uh, I thought if maybe Liz and I had someone else there for…a… moral support, might help. So, I… uh… was wondering what are you doing for dinner tonight? Oh Maria, I know Liz would love it if you were there. So would I."

Michael: wanting nothing to do with this… "Maxwell, not on your…"

Maria: absolutely delighted that her plan worked: she is determined to make certain nothing happens to thwart this newly rekindled romance… "We'd love to. What time should we be there? Oh, where is this little dinner party happening anyway?"

Max: releases the breath that he had been holding… "My house, 6:30… um… you can come over anytime." Notices Michael's thoroughly p*ssed off demeanor, decides he better not push his luck and leave while he's ahead… "Thanks you guys, it means a lot to me, to us…uh… sorry to have just… uh… barged in like this. I still need to catch up with Liz. So, I'll be going. See ya later." As he closes the door he can't miss hearing a very loud explosion coming from behind the door. He smiles when he hears an answering eruption that sounds an awful lot like Maria {hmmm, sounds like Mt.Saint Maria hasn't lost all her steam. Payback is a b*itch sometimes, isn't it Michael?}.