Without Us What Would We Be
An overemphasized clearing of her throat broke the silent workspace of the newly minted McCall and Jackal P.I. Without so much as a second guess Spinelli knew Maxie was the proud owner of the desperate and not so subtle attempt to gain even the slightest acknowledgment from her former best friend.
"Maxie. Might I direct you towards the nearest door?" The throat clearing was soon replaced by foot taping. "Don't tell me. Your tech support at Crimson put you on hold for too long or did they just hang up on you because you continued to talk without listening to a word they had to say" Spinelli jested as he kept his eyes fixed on the tasks that filled his computer screen. He continued to amaze himself with his ability to deny his beautiful blonde one the chance to take a second helping of his already sampled heart.
Despite the fact that Maxie's own heart felt the hurt, her lips couldn't hide the small smirk that was beginning to form when she realized that his response couldn't have sounded better if she were the one delivering it herself. It was almost like a challenge he was daring her to make the next move in their new game of banter. But she bit her lip and kept the bad blonde one inside of her from saying anything she knew she would regret. Instead she decided to meet his simplicity with her own, "Computer's fine thanks," she took a deep breath before continuing, "Look I know you hate me…"
Those three words she used to describe his feelings towards her resonated within him so much so that his fingers could no longer continue their keystrokes. He returned her glance in the same respect he uttered his response, "I don't hate you." But before he could continue his breathe was gone. His attempt to casually make eye contact had given him the opportunity to witness what was standing in front of his desk. Suede skinny healed Mary Janes replaced her 4 inch peep toed Christian Cartolos and her usual vibrant skirt and blouse ensemble was now subdued by an eggshell white A-line hem complete with cap sleeves and bow. By the time Spinelli's eyes finally made it to her face he was stunned to witness her delicate wrist push back a single curl that had fallen from the blonde bunch framing her face as she spoke "Relax I'll be out of your space soon Sam asked me to come."
"The Jackal must inquire as to what the blonde one is wearing in his presence," Spinelli did his best not to stare but her look, everything about her drew him back in, she was simply intoxicating.
Maxie nervously looked down at her outfit smoothing out the pleats that had formed around her stomach. "What about it? I mean hello this is a P.I. office I couldn't just walk in here looking like my usual underpaid overworked fashionista self. Not that this isn't something I wouldn't wear every day because it totally is…designers are getting back into the 40s style it's just a matter of time so I'm actually ahead of the trend." Maxie was stunned; the girl who used to lie as if it were easier than telling the truth was incapable of lying now at all. But her nervous laughter wasn't enough to cover the sound of Spinelli's gulp as he watched her hands trace a path from her toned core to her thighs.
"So? Do you like it?" Maxie bite her lip while showing off the ensemble.
Spinelli shook himself out of his daze and scrambled to find the words that would allow him to appreciate the effort without it being mistaken as an amends. He could feel Maxie's presence quickly closing in on his workspace, a cold sweat rushed over his body mixed with his beloved's undeniable heat leaving him both wordless and paralyzed. Sitting on top of his desk staring at him and willing him to speak was a fantasy he wished was conflict free.
"The Jack— " Spinelli had barely uttered a syllable before Maxie's lips touched his and Sam entered into the room. Relief could not explain the way Spinelli felt, "Fair Samantha!"
Maxie's head snapped around in a look of disappoint and frustration, "Of course." But before her eyes had finished rolling, Spinelli had slipped out behind the desk and towards his partner in P.I.
Through flustered speech Spinelli did his best to shift the focus away from his vixen's latest scheme but with little luck. "Maximi-," Spinelli took a deep breath before continuing, "Maxie and I were just discussing why she was here. Did the fair one request her presence in our office of investigation?"
"Yeah actually I did." Sam looked towards Maxie with an expression that looked as if she was trying to will her thoughts onto her.
Sam continued as Maxie's face broke a smile signaling that her mind meld was indeed working. "I need your help."
"Like borrowing some samples from Crimson since when you get some work a dress or two might come in handy for field work type of help?" Maxie's unassuming voice chimed in.
The easy solution would have been to say yes to Maxie's suggestion but the task she had in mind, which would no doubt be enhanced by a few selections of Crimson's summer line, had less to do with fashion samples than DNA samples. Sam knew she would have to ease in to her request as the usually perky duo had hit a metaphorical speedbump of sorts but perhaps in its own way the task at hand would serve a dual purpose. After pausing a few moments to construct a response Sam continued, "Actually it's going to have to involve the both of you."
Spinelli glanced at Maxie and then back again at Sam. While he was not entirely convinced of the statement's validity he smiled cautiously and returned to his desk ready to hear Sam's request, but not before adding a quip, "Well, the Jackal is certainly interested to see how this request for assistance could possibly involve himself and the Faithless One."
Sam sighed knowing that the task she had in mind would be a difficult sell. "I'm sure you've both heard what happened with Mayor Floyd." She paused waiting to get verbal or nonverbal recognition from both parties. Spinelli glanced at Maxie who returned the look to Sam. Sam continued her explanation. "Alexis thinks that he might have had something to do with his mistress Brianna's death. I didn't really think too much of it until yesterday when I got a call from Brianna's parents. They want McCall & Jackal P.I. to look into her death."
Maxie's face was deep in thought, doing her best to connect the dots and understand why Sam would need her help. Rather than continue to make a useless itemized list in her head she decided to ask. " I'm confused. When I talked to Robin she said that Brianna's death was an accident and her parents are blaming Matt Hunter for everything that went wrong."
Spinelli sat and listened to her voice, it was confident and assertive two traits that he had always admired and desired to display. She was his translator his connection to an outside world that often caste his words off as nonsense or contrived. But the matter at hand was deciphering what Sam had just explained. Being one half of McCall & Jackal P.I. Spinelli felt he should contribute to the conversation, "Maxie is right, the mostly dutiful doc has taken the brunt of the blame for what appears to be a sad twist of fate for the mayoral mistress."
"Look I know it sounds like an open and shut case but this could be huge for us Spinelli. Imagine if we were able to bring some closure in a way that didn't just tell these parents their daughter was found in a hotel shower, dead." Again Sam searched for agreement. "I just can't let this one go. I don't buy that Mayor Floyd has no idea what happened to Brianna."
By this time Maxie had already formed an opinion. She might not have realized it but Spinelli knew that the slight biting of her lip was Maxie's tell. Having noted this Spinelli decided to anticipate and replace the words that might come out of the blonde ones mouth just as they were about to interrupt Sam's commentary. "No doubt the Mayoral mistress was involved in a scandal of sorts but…"
Maxie's eyes narrowed towards Spinelli. He had his own tells and this beginning sentence was all she needed to know that the path this thought would take involved an overabundance of ambiguous words in the hope that it would prevent her from saying what was really on both of their minds. So Maxie decided to beat Spinelli at his own game and interrupt the interruption with the bluntness she had made an admirable and annoying trait throughout her life. "What Spinelli means is how does this plan involve us?" Turning, Maxie flashed Spinelli a small smirk before putting her attention back towards Sam.
"There's a fundraiser for the Mayor's campaign tonight. I need you two to go and see if you can find some way to put a bug on something of the Mayor's or his wife." The request settled in with noise from both parties, something Sam had anticipated as a possible occurrence.
The small office space was not used to the high level shriek let out by Spinelli in protest. It filled the room and then proceeded to bounce off the walls and back into Maxie's ears, just in case she had missed it. "The Jackal would go but isn't this an instance where a 42 regular would come in handy?" Tell number two, Maxie biting her thumbnail a sign that his comment had left her with little to say. Perhaps a small victory and a sign of the damage Johnny's presence had caused between them.
"HA. That's so original Spinelli. Ok you know what I'm not going to even respond to that because I might as well tape record myself since I've said the same thing to you over and over and am tired of apologizing. But this is for Sam, your business partner and your friend and that means you can stand me for a few hours." Maxie felt like her old self again, but in a less self-destructive and more mature way. Protest as she might she was finally seeing what Spinelli did in her, a woman with a heart that wanted to be faithful but with a few lingering kinks to work out.
Sensing the tension Sam decided to intervene, "Look, I don't want to have to put you two in this situation but the Mayor knows who I am from my show and considering my recent history I don't think it would be believable that I would show up at a political function. But Maxie you won't look out of place since you're the daughter of the police commissioner. I'm just asking you to spend a few hours that's all. I need your help. "
The room fell silent for a moment as the collective sigh of both Maxie and Spinelli filled the room. He looked to her and then she to him. What would have once taken no thought at all now needed careful consideration a realization the breakup had made painstakingly clear. But despite this realization both Spinelli and Maxie knew that their priority was Sam and the rest could be put aside. This time a collective yes was spoken by Maxie in the most Spinelliesque of ways, "fear not fair Samantha, we won't fail you," giving Sam hope that perhaps this mission could do more than help her solve the case.
Sam's small smirk was all Spinelli and Maxie needed to reassure them that they had made the right decision. "Thank you so much. I promise this will work." In between the conciliatory statement Sam couldn't help but notice the blank stare that was frozen on their faces. "Maxie why don't you come to my office I need you for a minute." Maxie could feel Sam's eyes searing into the back of her head while she spoke so she begrudgingly uprooted herself from her perch while continuing to devote her attention to Spinelli until his figure disappeared behind a large lettered door. Sam could now speak without distraction or interruption.
"So what are you doing?" Sam asked with a mixture of confusion and intrigue. By this time the two women had made their way across the short stuffy hallway and into Sam's office. Unlike Spinelli's workplace that was filled with a plethora of both useful and useless P.I. gadgets and technology Sam's space was clean yet refined in a way that left it aesthetically pleasing and functional.
Maxie walked past a stack of photographs, which she proceeded to riffle through out of pure curiosity, "What do you mean? I love how you went with this totally modern and sparse look with a touch of hominess. I always wondered how you and Jason could be together but looking around I have to say it makes a lot more sense." She had flipped through the photographs at least five times. The motion of seeing each still was oddly calming so much so that she had forgotten to take her eyes off them during the conversation. Realizing her mistake, her eyes darted up to meet Sam's who had taken a seat in the chair that occupied the pseudo conference room she had created in the middle of the office.
Sam watched as Maxie fell into the chair directly across from her. "I'd say it's pretty obvious what you had in mind when you came here, I mean look at your outfit. Don't tell me you just happened to find this in your closet. I know it's big but come on." Sam couldn't help but laugh Maxie's pure determination was something to applaud.
"Ok I will have you know that it took me a long time to put this together. I researched it and you have no idea what I went through to get it. I went to a thrift shop…that was difficult for me and there are only a handful of people I love enough to stick my hand in a bunch of old previously worn clothes." Without even realizing it Maxie had begun to fold her arms trying to escape the horrible fieldtrip she had only been able to take because she convinced herself that Spinelli would finally see that she was interested in what he liked and put effort into being someone he couldn't resist.
"It's a sweet gesture," Sam interjected, the first words she had uttered since Maxie began to debrief her on her latest quest.
"Exactly, it's sweet and a gesture clearly it had no affect on Spinelli. You know I didn't think that me dressing up as one of his fantasies would totally win him back but I figured it would at least put a dent in the progress." Maxie's frown and disposition screamed her true feelings for Spinelli even if she lacked the ability to express it through her words. At least this time they were witnessed by another instead of being locked away inside Maxie's unable to budge heart. "So obviously it's not what he wants or likes about me. God I'm getting so desperate I even asked Jason for his opinion…"
In utter awe of what Maxie had just confessed Sam interrupted the monologue, "wait, what exactly did you ask him?"
Maxie paused a minute and continued, "Well, I thought at some point in his stiff and emotionally unavailable life that he would be able to tell me what Spinelli really liked about me or at least give me pointers on how to seduce him. I mean have you seen how many women Jason gets, I'm seriously convinced him and Sonny should start some kind of harem or…
Sam's eyebrows raised in shock signaling to Maxie that she had clearly gone too far, "oops sorry. No offense." Sam knew this was just another instance of Maxie's uncontrollable words that appeared when she was doing her best to focus on anything other than the situation at hand.
"It's fine. Honestly most of the time I'm thinking the same thing myself." Maxie was relieved her last statement hadn't angered her one, if not only, remaining friend in Port Charles. "Maybe I'm just a little confused but the last time you decided you needed to win Spinelli back it involved you seducing him and clearly that didn't end well so I have to ask are you just doing this because you want things to go back to the way they were because I don't think that's gonna happen Maxie." Sam paused deciding whether this was an issue she should elaborate on, for the sake of her friend she decided it was and continued, "I gotta tell you Maxie in my experience with Jason or really any guy I've been with you need to actually have a conversation and talk about what's going on. If you don't then you just end up two people sharing a space but living separate lives and once you realize that the damage is already done."
Without noticing Maxie had begun to bite her thumbnail a giveaway to Sam that perhaps Ms. Jones' motives were less clear than usual even if she had not come to that conclusion yet on her own. Sam decided to press the issue a little further, "could you be feeling something for him that you didn't think was possible?" Sam looked Maxie straight in the face and noticed that with every word she grew a little more flustered and red in the cheeks. Despite ones attempts to control it, the human body is the ultimate lie detector, it speaks the truth in ways that while subtle can be both damning and eye opening. "So…" Sam playfully smiled.
Before Maxie had time to censor herself words brimming at the surface poured out of her, "I keep having this dream, about me and Spinelli. We're in the sewer…"
Relationships evolve in many ways but the sewer seemed like the unlikeliest of places. Few could understand how the ugliest of depths could bring out a moment of pure beauty but that moment when Spinelli gave Maxie a rare glimpse of his soul never left her mind. It was the day language was no longer a barrier between the pair; there was nothing to interpret or decipher just plain words that carried so much weight and relevance to what was going on in both of their lives. Maxie could hardly wait for Sam's mind to send a signal to her puzzled face to finish processing the information she had just divulged. But the delay allowed Maxie to answer Sam's question before it had even been asked, the only sure way to continue her streak of honesty especially when she wasn't sure how long the desire to be truthful would remain.
"Long story," Maxie explained, " but just go with it."
Sam conceded realizing it would take longer for Maxie to explain this minute detail than to just allow her to get to the point of the story, "ok a sewer, go on." Sam's posture mirrored that of a therapist, an appropriate position given that dreams were the topic at hand. With Sam's verbal and nonverbal blessing Maxie continued in her quest to understand her sweet sleep dilemma.
"At first I think I'm just remembering the time Spinelli and I went into the sewer to track down the Text Message Killer. I heard this noise so of course I panicked and tried to fit in between the bars of this gate that lowered. I realize I'm stuck and start to yell because the gate is starting to rise and I'm about this close to getting smashed like a pancake but then I see Spinelli. This is where it starts to get weird."
In between Maxie's staggered pauses Sam found herself thinking aloud, "that's not the weird part?"
The comment didn't register in Maxie's mind as she continued her story, "He was there but he wasn't Spinelli. I mean he was but he didn't have his laptop, his hair was styled different, he wasn't talking the same, which is why I didn't recognize him at first, and so I started to worry. He still saved me but he didn't just pull me down into his arms he pushed me against the gate and started to kiss me in a way that made me feel like I was going to be a puddle." She touched her lips savoring this reconstructed reality.
Sam felt as if she was interrupting a private moment as she watched her friend sitting silently for the first time in their conversation. The silence filled the space but said so much and not even the sound of Spinelli's dutiful hacking in the next room over interfered. She began to speak when it became clear that Maxie might be content simply replaying the nocturnal episode in her head rather than figuring out what it all meant. "I'm almost afraid to ask if that was it?" Sam's voice seemed almost hesitant as she asked the question.
By this time Maxie's thumbnail found its way back into her mouth. She had never thought of Spinelli as anything more than her best friend, her essential person but her terms of endearment were slowly being replaced by the idea of something much more permanent and romantic an idea she was beginning to want more than anything. Maxie caught Sam's gaze and returned to her story.
"Then I take a minute to breath and when I open my eyes it's my Spinelli whose hair always looks like he just woke up because he's been up all night researching a lead for Jason and he's speaking to me in his wonderful way that makes me feel so safe and wanted."
Spinelli had barely touched his keyboard since his beautiful blonde had stepped foot in the office. She had done it again, made him lose his composure made him want to step out of the armor he had used to protect his broken heart. But if the metaphorical circle was completed it would leave him in the exact same place, wanting Maxie regardless of the pain she inflicted and the pain he chose to cause himself by letting her back into his life without any change or resolution. Several minutes passed with no sound. While this was not a rarity with Sam around the same could not be said when Maxie inhabited a space. He had done well putting up a fence between them but he couldn't help but want to be where her presence was, a task that would take only steps to accomplish. Whether it was his best idea was not the issue at hand and with that thought Spinelli abandoned his desk and made his way towards his blonde ones voice.
Maxie paused as tears began to form in her eyes. "It was such a relief to see him." She placed her hand near her eye catching the tears before they had a chance to slide down her face. "For the first time it all made sense. I want him, I want to be with him." Her tears had dried and were replaced by a light in her eyes that said everything to Sam. This was a moment Sam wanted so badly for her friend but was afraid would never happen as the cycle always seemed to end in death or departure. "Sam, I don't know how it happened I mean I never saw him as more than a friend he's so different than someone like Johnny who I always fall for." Spinelli had only held a P.I. license for a little over a year but surveillance, in this case glorified eavesdropping, was as easy and archaic of a task as any found in the manual. Unfortunately the course had not prepared him for what to do when you hear the word that cements your fate, "friends." But the Jackal had missed two crucial steps in the process, never blow your cover and never make a judgment until you have heard all that has been said. Without consulting these last steps Spinelli entered into the room privy to an incomplete story and misguided beliefs. While he had let his guard down within the time Maxie had arrived he made no mistake with his words this time, "Maxie after tonight I don't want to see you again."
Next Chapter: Spinelli and Maxie attend the Mayor's fundraiser where more than one revelation is made.