Spinelli sat on the couch internally seething at the fickle finger of fate. Here he was – alone again. Left to his cyber world where he belonged. He was The Jackal. That was all he would ever be. He took an angry swallow of his orange soda, which did not provide him the same solace as it used to. Aimlessly he pressed down on random keys, listening to the dings and beeps they created.
He refused to even contemplate what could possibly be taking place at this very moment. His eyes pursued the door. Nope. He wasn't going to consider it. Spinelli was fine. The Jackal was superb. This night was of the highest caliber – A knock cut of his flow of lies. He stood up and moved towards the door slowly.
"Come on, Spinelli!" Maxie shouted through the door. His heart picked up and he tripped over his feet trying to reach her. He swung the door open and stopped to stare at her. "Why did you even lock the stupid thing?"
She breezed past him in a cloud of vanilla perfume. Maximista was wearing a most beautiful dress that showed her sparrow shoulders and a flash of toned calf. Saliva pooled in his mouth and his tongue twisted over on itself. Maxie plopped herself down on the couch ungracefully.
"Gr-greetings, Maximista. How was your --" Spinelli grimaced at the word he knew he had to push out. "How was your... d-date?"
Maxie bent at the waist and rested her elbows on her knees. Spinelli watched her curiously waiting for her answer. She buried her head in her hands and heaved out a giant sigh, and Spinelli sat down next to her worriedly.
"My date was a total ass, and the whole thing was a complete and total bust," Maxie said with a snort. "He actually made me pay for my dinner. And then he didn't even offer me a ride home, so I had to cab here."
"The Jackal prays you're kidding," Spinelli said with wide-eyes.
"Oh oh oh, no! Not kidding. This horrible time cost me a good chunk of money. I only have twenty dollars left," Maxie said with a roll of her eyes.
"What kind of guy does that?" Spinelli questioned.
"The kind that I attract apparently. Might as well get used to it," Maxie said sarcastically as she sunk back into the couch. This was the third horrible date she had been on in the past few months. Spinelli was a smart guy, but not even he could figure out how guys could treat The Blindingly Beautiful One so horribly.
"Oh, come on, Maximista. Things will look up," Spinelli said in an attempt to be cheerful. Of course, it was difficult to be cheerful about the woman you love looking for Mr. Right. Why couldn't he be Mr. Right? Because he was The Jackal, he reminded himself.
"Maybe I just need to lower my expectations," Maxie said doubtfully.
"May The Jackal inquire as to what Maximista's expectations are?" Spinelli asked as he patted her bare knee. Her skin felt so soft.
"I don't know, Spinelli," Maxie said sitting up. "I want someone to love me. You know, just not love me when I'm on my best behavior because let's face it, that won't last long. I want someone who understands who I am without me having to explain it, someone who knows I'm not just some silly fashion girl. I want someone who is a gentleman, but not too much. I mean – I know people have flaws. I don't expect him to pull out chairs or anything. I just want someone who wants to be with me, and won't try to change me."
Spinelli felt as if Maxie's gaze was burning into him, as her blue eyes so often did. In his heart he knew he was all those things. But in his heart he knew she didn't know that. Didn't see him. He was her friend, he was always The Friend.
"What's so wrong with me that I can't find someone like you to love me?" Maxie muttered in a manner that made Spinelli more sure she was talking to herself than him.
"P-par-pardon?" Spinelli squeaked out as his heartbeat fluttered and stuttered.
"You know what I mean," Maxie said shortly. "You're a great guy, Spinelli. You're sweet, caring, a gentleman. Sure, you're a little weird, but in a good way. And no one can question that when you love someone you love them, despite anything and everything. Plus, you're pretty cute."
"Uh – Wha – Cute?"
"Yeah, you're attractive," Maxie said offhandedly. "And I understand why we could never be together. But what tree did you grow off of?"
"What?" Spinelli half-shouted. He had lost control of the volume of his voice. Was Maxie saying she had considered being with him? Giving The Jackal a shot? She thought he was cute? Maximista thought he was... attractive.
"Spinelli, stop fishing for compliments," Maxie said with an airy laugh. "I'm not calling you cute again."
"No – I mean, while The Jackal was most surprised to hear that nugget of information, I meant why do you think we couldn't be together?"
"Why?" Maxie asked with an arched eyebrow.
"The Jackal is a curious creature," Spinelli said with a shrug and shifted in his seat
Maxie look down at her hands, and then at the wall, and then down to her shoes, and then at the coffee table. She looked most uncomfortable at the subject. Spinelli thought perhaps she was thinking of the best way to let him down easy.
"You're just --"
"The Jackal," Spinelli finished for her.
"No! Spinelli, that's not what I was going to say. You're out of my league," Maxie said with an embarrassed laugh.
"What?!" Spinelli asked sure he had heard her wrong.
"God, Spinelli. Shut your mouth, you look like a fish or something."
"I'm o-out of your lea-league?" Spinelli questioned cautiously, sure she would start roaring with laughter at the obvious joke she was pulling on him.
"Yeah. Guys like you – you're supposed to end up with girls like my sister. And you and I – while we're good friends, hell, great friends I know that's all it'll be. I mean sure, I've thought about being with you. You treat me better than any boyfriend I've ever had. But I'm The Bad Blond One and you're Spinelli."
He smiled at the way she said his name. He had never heard anyone say it like that before. Sure, people had said Spinelli and meant just Spinelli or that weird kid Spinelli. But Maxie said it like it was a good thing he was who he was.
"You're not The Bad Blond One. I didn't know you then. Sure, Maximista is self-destructive sometimes and she makes mistakes, but she is a beautiful person. And The Lowly Jackal is hardly out of her league. He would be lucky to have someone like her," Spinelli whispered shyly.
"Too bad you only see me as a friend then. Not that I'm complaining, I love being your friend. I have never had a friend like you," Maxie said as she grabbed his hand and gave it a slight squeeze. "Anyway – I better get home."
Maxie stood up and grabbed her purse. Spinelli was still frozen in the couch, his mind moving faster than it ever had before, and his mind had been quite frantic over the last year. The sound of Maxie dialing her phone jerked him back to reality.
Spinelli stood quickly and closed his hand over hers. He pulled the phone out of her grasp and flipped it closed, throwing it on the couch. Maxie stared at him with questioning eyes.
"Maximista, you're blind!"
"What? Pretty sure I'm --"
"You're blind! I mean no offense, truly. I respect Maximista far too much. But I've... I've..." Spinelli cut off losing courage while looking at her beautiful face.
"You've?" Maxie prompted.
"I've wished to be all you need. I've wished, God, prayed to kiss you again. And while I see you as a friend, I assure you that in my imagination and heart I've seen you as much, much more," Spinelli said. "And now I'm going to kiss you so if I'm reading everything you're saying wrong, if I'm just hearing what I want to hear you better stop me now."
Maxie took a step closer to Spinelli and tilted her face up to his. She met his gaze unflinchingly as he lowered his face to hers. Then finally, finally their lips brushed softly against one another. Spinelli's hands ran over her bare arms drawing her closer and closer until she was pressed flush against him.
Somewhere he distantly thought of the fairytale about kissing a toad and it turning into a prince. But this was far sweeter: this was reality and he was no toad, but a jackal...
The Jackal.