YOUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION
CHAPTER 1
Matt was at Jakes when Lulu took a seat at his table. He glanced up at her and was about to tell her that he wasn't in the mood for company but she cut him off.
"Don't bother saying it, I can tell from the look on your face you would rather be alone."
"So why are you still here, Lulu?"
"Misery loves company and you, Dr Hunter, are feeling miserable just like me," she said before taking another sip of her beer.
Matt leaned back in his chair and watched her, wishing he could wipe that smirk off her face but he knew she was right. He'd been through a rough day dealing with patients and worrying about Patrick and Robin. To top it all, Maxie had shortened their date so that she could become Spinelli's main muse again, even though she denied that she doing exactly that.
Matt asked, "We both know why I'm down in the dumps, so why don't you tell me what's bothering you?"
"It's been a few days since Dante and I decided to take a break from each other, and I'm done sitting alone in my apartment for another night. We just haven't been the same since the whole Brooke Lynn thing."
Matt looked at her, confused. "Sorry, I had no idea you guys split up. I thought that Brooke drugged Dante. That guy loves you. There's no way he can still be fooling around with her now."
"Nobody really knows we split and he's not cheating on me. But ever since then, things haven't been the same. The stuff with Michael, Sonny and going off to Ireland to help Lucky has made me think about how much life has changed lately and I just need some time to figure things out. We both do."
"It makes sense. I hope you find what you're looking for," said Matt.
"Me too. So I take it Maxie left your date early tonight?"
"Yep. Sometimes I don't know why I keep waiting around for her?"
"Maybe it's because you know that together, you guys could be great," answered Lulu.
"Maybe. But I can only wait so long and right now, my patience is wearing thin."
"Fair enough. So how about a toast? To us and our misery!"
"I'll drink to that," said Matt as he raised his bottle to meet hers.
CHAPTER 2
Maxie was on her way to see Matt at the hospital. She felt really bad about ruining their date last night and wanted to apologize to him personally. Also Matt wasn't answering her calls which made her nervous that she had blown things with him for good. She knew that she took Matt for granted; he was one of the few people who called her out on her crap and still stuck around. She wasn't ready to lose him which was why she had to make things right with him now.
When Maxie stepped off the elevator, she was caught a little off guard by the scene taking place before her. There was Lulu calling for Matt and when he turned around, he greeted her with one of his signature smiles. Lulu handed him one of the coffees she had and the two of them were engaged in a light-hearted conversation.
Maxie still hadn't moved since she first saw them. She couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of jealousy when she saw how comfortable Matt and Lulu were around each other. She quickly pushed that thought out of her head when she reminded herself that Lulu was in love with Dante.
Meanwhile Lulu had spotted Maxie and called her friend over to join her and Matt. Maxie pulled herself together and joined them.
"Hello guys. What a surprise seeing you two together," said Maxie keeping her eyes on Matt.
"Maxie," greeted Matt without any feeling. Maxie was quick to notice that he didn't give her the same smile he had greeted Lulu with and he seemed eager to get away from her.
He proved her right when he turned to Lulu and said, "I better get back to work. Thanks again for the coffee and last night. See you soon."
As Matt walked off, Maxie asked Lulu about why Matt was thanking her for last night. Lulu didn't pick up on the jealousy in Maxie's voice.
"Matt and I had a couple of drinks together last night. We were talking about our lives and just getting to know one another. He's a really great guy but I guess you already know that. I don't know why you keep him hanging by a thread."
"I...um, shouldn't you be with Dante?" Maxie asked changing the topic.
"No, we kind of broke up a few days ago. We need some time to figure out what we want."
"I'm sorry to hear that. But surely this is just temporary. I mean, you and Dante love each other. Surely, that's all that matters?"
"I don't know. We will just have to wait and see. Anyways Maxie, I got to head back to Crimson, you coming?"
"No, I miraculously managed to get Kate to give me the day off. I'll see you later," replied Maxie.
Once Lulu was gone, Maxie took a minute to wrap her head around what just happened. Matt was avoiding her, Lulu and Dante had broken up and now Matt and Lulu had become buddies. Somehow the last part bothered her more than it should; after all it was good that her friend and her new boyfriend were getting along. Maxie convinced herself that she was overreacting and decided to do focus on why she came to the hospital in the first place – to make things right with Matt...
CHAPTER 3
Matt was doing rounds at the hospital but his mind was still on his run in with Lulu and Maxie. He was happy to see Lulu. They had fun last night after they moved on to other topics besides their misery. As for Maxie, he was conflicted about what to do about their relationship. He was still upset with her for ditching him again last night. He didn't know why but Maxie had the ability to draw him back to her with very little effort yet she was totally unaware of it. So he was trying to prevent that from happening by avoiding her. He knew it was a bit childish but he couldn't help it, he needed to feel like he had some control in their crazy relationship.
A few hours later, Matt was surprised to see that Maxie was still at the hospital and Liz said that she refused to leave until she spoke to him. In the waiting area, Maxie was reading through some work she needed to finish before the next issue of Crimson. Matt watched her for a little while before he decided that it was time to deal with her. Silly as it may seem, he knew that this was her way of trying to apologize to him. So he went and took a seat next to her. She was so engrossed in her work that she didn't realise he was there until he spoke.
"I thought you had an office where you can do this," he said referring to her work.
Maxie jumped in her seat. "Jesus Matt! You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Well good thing you're in a hospital," he said with a smirk, "I heard you wanted to see me, so what do you want?"
"I know that you're still upset with me over last night and I wanted to apologize."
"What makes you think that I'm upset with you?"
"Oh I don't know. Maybe it's because you haven't answered any of my calls and couldn't get away from me fast enough this morning," she said.
Then she added in a barely audible whisper, "Plus you didn't give me one of your cute smiles like you gave Lulu."
Matt couldn't believe what he just heard, Maxie sounded like she was actually jealous of Lulu. He couldn't help laughing at that but quickly stopped when he noticed the hurt look on her face.
"Look Maxie, there was a time when I admit that I was interested in dating Lulu but she chose Dante. Since then I haven't thought about her romantically. We are just friends, so you got nothing to worry that pretty little head of yours," said Matt with a reassuring smile.
Maxie was relieved but she couldn't help adding, "But things have changed now, Lulu is single again and you don't want to be with me anymore after last night."
Matt let out a sigh as he carefully contemplated his next words, "I do want to be with you Maxie. I know that sometimes you get carried away in your own little world but I also love that part of you. That's what makes you, you. But sometimes it gets to me, like last night, when I was right there in front of you but all you could talk about was how you had to protect Spinelli from Brenda until eventually you left to see him. I know that you will always love him but sometimes I would like to be the one who has your undivided attention. If I'm not going to be enough for you, you need to let me know so that I can move on."
Maxie was about to reply but was interrupted when Matt was paged to see a patient. He asked her to think carefully about what she wants. Before he left, they agreed to meet later for dinner at the Metro Court.
CHAPTER 4
Maxie arrived at the Metro Court and immediately spotted Matt at one of the tables. She was pleased when he complimented her on how good she looked. She had been through her entire wardrobe before deciding on a blue mini dress with matching sandals. She wanted to make a good impression and judging by the look on Matt's face, she succeeded. By the time it was time for dessert, neither of them brought up their earlier conversation. Matt was avoiding it since he was afraid that this might be their last date while Maxie avoided it because she didn't want to ruin the good time that they were having now. However Maxie's mood changed when she spotted Lulu heading towards their table. Once again Maxie couldn't help feeling her jealousy rise up around Lulu and Matt despite the rational part of her brain telling her that nothing was going on between them.
Matt noticed that Maxie was not really paying attention to their conversation and followed her gaze to see what had caught her attention. He was a little surprised to see that Maxie was staring at Lulu who was approaching them. He could see that Maxie was still insecure about the Lulu thing but she was trying to be nonchalant about the whole thing. Just before Lulu got to them, he woke up from his seat and offered Maxie his hand to come with him while also summoning the waiter. A confused Maxie took his hand while he quickly sorted out the bill. By this time Lulu had reached them and greeted them.
"Oh Lulu, it's so good to see you again. Sorry we can't stay and chat, we were just leaving," said Matt.
"That's okay. I'm here with Dante and I saw you guys. We patched things up and are back together. It turns out that we were both miserable without each other. Anyway, I just wanted to stop by and say hi. You two enjoy the rest of your evening," said Lulu.
Once Lulu was gone, Maxie finally spoke up, "You didn't have to do that, you know."
"Do what?" asked Matt even though he knew exactly what she was talking about.
"Get rid of Lulu just because you think I'm still insecure about her."
"I don't know what you're talking about. Now are you coming with me to get dessert or what?" he asked, flashing her one of his alluring smiles.
Maxie rolled her eyes and followed him out of the restaurant.
They ended up sitting on the docks enjoying ice-cream. Spinelli just happened to walk past them and after an awkward exchange of greetings, he continued on his way. Matt figured now was as good a time as any to finally talk about the status of their relationship.
"So...have you decided whether you still want to give our relationship a shot or am I just wasting my time?" he asked.
"I have done a lot of thinking today and have finally made up my mind. Spinelli is always going to be extremely important to me and ...," but she was cut off by Matt.
"And you are going back to him. It's okay Maxie, I get it, we're done," he said getting up to leave, "I guess I better get you home now."
"Hey! Wait a minute. Don't I at least get a chance to finish what I was saying?" demanded Maxie, a bit angry with him now.
"What's the point? I don't need to you to sugar coat your reasons for dumping me. I knew what I was getting into when I got involved with you, so you don't have to feel bad."
"The point is I'm not dumping you."
Matt was stunned, "You're not?"
Maxie took his hands in hers, looked him in the eyes and said, "I'm not. I want to be with you Matt and no one else." She then pulled him into a passionate kiss to show him exactly how she felt about him.
When they finally pulled apart, Matt finally felt like he had Maxie Jones's undivided attention. Sure there was bound to be other bumps to get past in their relationship but he knew that together they could handle it.
Maxie eyed him lustfully and said to him, "I think it's time you take me home with you Dr Hunter."
Matt didn't need to be told twice...
THE END