Screaming Infidelities

Robin hated Tuesdays. It was the day that Patrick showed up at Mac's to take Emma for the evening, leaving her alone to dwell on the sad state of her love life. After losing Stone, after losing Jason – she had gotten really good at being alone. Then Patrick had come along and changed all that, and she was stuck dealing with the ramifications of an affair, a crazy ex-girlfriend, and everything else that had defined her life last fall.

She had tried everything to keep herself busy when they had first gotten divorced. She had worked the night shift only to find out that her seniority kept her off of evenings. She had signed up for a book club but never finished any of the books by the time Tuesday rolled around. She had offered to teach a few classes at the learning annex, tried a yoga class, attempted to arrange regular nights out with Elizabeth and just about anything else that she could think of to fill a few precious hours. However, when all of that had failed, that was when she had ended up at Kelly's, sitting at her favorite table in the corner with a book of crossword puzzles and a stack of quarters to keep her company.

Robin wasn't the only one who regularly sought out comfort at the town's favorite cafe. She often spotted many of the regulars their during her weekly visits. She'd watch the Henderson family from Maple Lane eating their brownie sundaes after their youngest son's karate class, the Mitchells from just down the street from Mac having club sandwiches just as they had every Tuesday night for twenty-five years, Mr. Harper from the hardware store picking up a hot turkey dinner like he had since his wife died last year of leukemia. They all had their stories just as she had hers. However, it wasn't those people that most captivated her. Instead, her greatest attention was reserved for one certain computer hacker.

"Hello, Fair Dr. Robin!" Spinelli greeted her warmly as he pulled off his black knit beanie and shook the white snowflakes from his chestnut mop of hair. He slid his silver laptop from his black messenger bag and set it on the table, humming happily to himself as he went into computer mode. Mike didn't even wait for him to order before delivering a pitcher of orange soda and basket of barbecue chips to his table. Spinelli offered him a crooked grin of gratitude before returning his attention back to his computer.

Robin took a long sip of her cinnamon tea and watched the computer maven peck away happily at the keyboard. Spinelli was in here every Tuesday night just like she was, preferring a table facing the door and eating every last barbecue chip Mike had in the restaurant. "What are you working on tonight, Spinelli?"

He smiled at her without looking up. "Still working on the latest portal in the 'Saga of Stone Cold.' I am thinking that this will take the player to an alternate realm where he will become a white knight. I thought that the Valkyrie could play heroine in the level."

It took everything Robin had to bite back a sarcastic remark about the unlikeliness of Carly being a hero, but she knew better. Carly was important to Jason, which meant that she was important to Spinelli. Even more than that, Carly had managed to do something that no other woman had been able to do. She had held onto Jason for nearly two decades and gotten him to be more loyal to her than anyone, even Sonny. It's not like that really mattered anymore. Robin had been over Jason for a long time and now she was working on getting over the third great love of her life. It was funny how it got a little easier every time.

Taking a quarter from the stack, Robin slid from her seat and headed over to the jukebox. With just twenty-five cents, she could transform the cafe into any moment in time that she wanted. If she was feeling nostalgic, she'd pick one of the REM songs that she used to listen to with Stone. If she wanted to dwell, she let Sarah McLachlan be the soundtrack to her pity party. If the day had been hard and she was pissed off at the world, only Alanis could seem to sooth her frazzled nerves. And on the days when everything seemed to be looking up, she liked to listen to Jack Johnson. However, on Tuesdays, Robin only played all the old acoustic songs she used to listen to in Paris. It was the only time she felt like that old version of herself.

The hours went by, and Robin found herself finishing page after page of puzzles. She was comforted by the consistency of Spinelli's typing and the dinging bell of the cafe's door. It was somewhere near ten when she glanced down at her watch again and then around the restaurant to see that it was empty other than herself, Spinelli and Mike. "Honey, do you might locking up?" Mike asked, sliding a key across the table to her. He had a coat thrown over his shoulder and a brown paper bag in his hand. "Carly just called and Josslyn is sick. I want to run some soup by there to see if it helps her sore throat."

Robin had spent countless hours here as a kid, playing behind the counter with Lucky and Emily as Ruby worked her magic in the kitchen. "Sure, Mike, no problem. I'll turn out the lights and lock up when Spinelli is ready to get home."

"Thanks, Sweetheart," he said, patting her shoulder before hurrying out the door.

"Fair Robin, the Jackal can take leave if you need to get home to the Wee One," Spinelli offered, his hands resting on the lid of his laptop as he waited for an answer. Robin shook her head and told him to take as long as he needed, she was enjoying his quiet company. He offered her a genuine smile before ducking his head and returning back to his game. She disappeared back into the kitchen to scrounge up some cookies, sliding a few onto a plate for each of them. When she came back into the dining room, she sat the platter on his table and collapsed into the chair opposite him. Spinelli once again stopped his computing to regard the pretty brunette doctor. "Perhaps the Jackal could take a brief intermission to enjoy some sweet sustenance?"

"Sounds like a plan," she laughed, leaning back in the wooden chair to watch him bite into a cookie. Crumbs spilled from his mouth as he moaned in appreciation. The cookies really were that good. "Can I ask you something?"

Spinelli noticed the serious tinge in her voice. "Of course."

"How do you do it?"

He wrinkled his forehead in confusion. "Do what, Fair Robin?"

"See Maxie with Matt and not want to kill him. How do you see her and not fall apart? I know you love her still, it's kind of obvious. And having Brenda here seems to have you at least a little distracted, but I can't even see Patrick without wanting to kill him – let alone Lisa," Robin exhaled. She raked her fingers through her hair nervously.

Spinelli smiled at her crookedly. "I promise you that the Jackal is far from the cool, calm and collected visage he has put out into the world since ending his non-marriage with the Fair Maxamista," he told her. "I don't like Dr. Doom at all. Having The Divine One here has been a good departure from mourning the loss of the best relationship I have ever known. However, seeing the envy shining in the Fair Maxamista's eyes and watching how passionately she fought with Stone Cold form the virtue of the Jackal. It made me realize that she wasn't quite over me either and that our relationship wasn't as easily forgotten as it first seemed. While we may never have been right for each other in the end, we shared something quite true. Perhaps that is enough."

The wisdom in his words went far beyond his twenty-four years and struck a part of Robin's heart that she kept mostly guarded. While he was most known for his wide-eyed innocence, unyielding loyalty and rambling vernacular, he was also someone with one of the biggest capacities to love that Robin had ever seen. She admired that trait in him and wished that she could open herself up like that. Sitting with him now, she almost felt like it was possible.

"With Patrick, I knew who he was when I married him. I thought that loving me and our daughter was enough to change him," she hung her head. She couldn't believe that she had been so naïve. "Patrick was never going to be the marrying kind. He told me from the beginning that fidelity wasn't his thing."

Spinelli laughed knowingly as he looked across the table at Robin. "Maxie was the same way. She told me that she was trouble, but I know that loving me changed her. I had hoped that it had changed her a little more, but that was probably the beginning of our downfall."

"And the infidelity?" she questioned. "That was the ending?"

He shook his head. "Funnily enough, I was able to forgive that. It was the fact that she couldn't forgive herself paired with the way she made me feel...like I wasn't enough...we just couldn't keep on going on like that," he confessed to Robin. "That's the mistake you can't make. You can't blame yourself for what Patrick did. Let him own his mistakes. You own how you deal with it. That's all that you can do."

"You're a smart man, Spinelli," she smiled genuinely. "Thank you."

With a slight nod and wide smile, he looked down at his watch and saw the late hour. "I really should be getting home. The Divine One is up at dawn for yoga, and the Jackal has taken to going through the morning routine with her. Perhaps Fair Robin would like to join us sometime?"

"That would be nice," she answered as she stood up to follow him out of the restaurant. Spinelli waited as she turned off the lights and locked the front door securely. She would drop the spare keys back by to Mike in the morning on her way to the hospital. "Well, I guess I will see you next Tuesday."

He shifted his bag on his shoulder and nodded agreeably. "The Jackal shall be here." He offered her a small wave before he started to walk away. He stopped suddenly and turned back. "Fair Robin?"

"Yes, Spinelli?"

"Maybe we could go somewhere else next Tuesday," he suggested. "Maybe it's time we both break out of our rut and have a little fun. What do you think? I hear they are offering ballroom lessons at PCU for free. The Jackal is rather light on his feet."

Robin laughed and nodded. "I'd love that!"

"I'll stop by the hospital this week with details," Spinelli promised. "And just for the record, Dr. Love might be a brilliant surgeon but he is not at all as smart as I once thought he was in the ways of the heart."

"Oh?"

"No sane man would ever let you go," he said softly, smiling at her one last time. "Good night, Fair Robin."

"Good night, Spinelli."