Maverick Effect (Chaper 19)

Maverick was sitting with his back against a tall willow tree.  His legs were stretched out in front of him.  Jessica sat against the tree next to him and Natalie was lying down with her head resting on Maverick’s lap.

  “Maverick?” Natalie spoke, rolling her eyes up to look at him.

  “Hmm?”  Maverick looked back at her with that little bemused smile on his face whenever he knew she was going to ask a wondering question.  Natalie’s version of a wondering question was one that she had been wondering about him for awhile, but it took her awhile to feel it was the right time to ask.  She always had the same kind of tone in her voice when it was a wondering question.

  “How did the whole thing start for you?  How did you get discovered?”

  Maverick smiled, but it was a different smile this time.  It was a sad smile.  He closed his eyes for a few moments.

  “You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”

  Maverick opened his eyes and looked at her.

  “I know that Lee (being Maverick’s nickname for Natalie, taken from the last part of her first name).  I wouldn’t answer it if I didn’t want to no matter what you said.  But in this, maybe you’ll understand a bit more of what makes a man into a Maverick.  It’s not the greatest story, but it should be told.  Let’s go inside though.”

  Maverick slowly stood up and as Natalie and Jessica stood up, he took their hands in his and walked toward the house.

-Damien