Until It's Gone

Part One

Maria Maximilliana (Maxie) Jones stared sadly at her best friend,Damian Millhouse Spinelli,standing with Allisha Dawson,his new girlfriend. Allisha was a model for Crimson magazine and she and Spinelli had met a few weeks ago during one of her photoshoots at the MetroCourt hotel. Spinelli had went to visit Maxie at work and bring her some lunch when he bumped into Allisha,he'd mumbled apology after apology and bent to pick up what had been dropped. The two had begun talking and had bonded immediatly over their love of old movies and Shakespeare. In that time,she had seen Spinelli less and less what with a new girlfriend and his new job in the FBI,a job he had had since a little bit before the Crisis near the end of January. Maxie could fully admit that she was jealous of Allisha,something she felt horribly guilty for. Shouldn't she be happy for her best friend? Happy that he had found someone to love,someone who made him happy? He deserved that. Instead,she was pissed,thinking he had chosen some other girl over their friendship. It was selfish of her. Almost as if she believed that Spinelli belonged to her and only her.

She watched as Spinelli kissed Allisha's lips gently,sweetly before standing up and walking torwards her. Maxie straightened in her seat,becoming more alert as she pasted a smile on her lips as he came to stand infront of her. "Hey Spinelli!" She said with fake happiness.

Spinelli gave her a tentative grin,stuffing his long fingered hands into the pockets of his jeans. Things had been...difficult between them. Strained was more like it---especially since he'd begun to date Allisha. He was trying to move on from Maxie,a girl who would never love him like he wanted her to. He hadn't wanted their friendship to become like this though,so strained and awkward. "Hey Maximis---Maxie. How are you." He asked her,changing Maximista to Maxie at the last minute.

Maxie frowned a little when he called her by her name instead of Maximista but shook it off. "I'm good Spinelli. What about you?"

"I've been good. Allisha and I are going to go back to the Penthouse to relax and watch a movie. We wanted to know if you would like to join us." Spinelli offered hopefully. Perhaps he could get his friendship with Maxie back on track.

The blond fashionista let out a silent groan when Allisha glided over,swinging her hips from side to side as she wrapped an arm around Spinelli's waist and rested her free hand against his chest possesively. "No Spinelli. It's alright. You and Allisha have fun though."

Spinelli let out a sigh. "Okay Maximista." He told her sadly,slipping and calling her by the nickname he had given her.

Allisha frowned and began to kiss her boyfriend's neck to get his attention back on her. "I'm ready for our date Damian." She told him with a pout on her full lips,giving him a seductive look with her blue eyes.

Maxie wrinkled her nose in disgust at Allisha's antics.

"Goodbye Maxie." Spinelli told her softly,smiling crookedly as Allisha snuggled into his side and they walked out the door into the cold air.

She watched them leave,tears stinging her eyes before she threw money onto the tableto pay for her food and hurried to her car. She drove at a fast speed to the apartment she shared with LuLu and Johnny and hurried inside. Her blue eyes landed on Johnny and LuLu snuggled on the couch and she rolled her eyes,not saying anything to them as she ran into her room and slammed the door shut. She lay on her bed,tears falling from her eyes as she stared down at the framed picture of her and Spinelli with baby Emma Drake that she held in her hands. How was it that she hadn't realized what she'd had until it was gone? Spinelli was amazing and yet....she had denied the love she held for him in her heart and now she was full of regret. Why did she always screw up? Why couldn't she have realized her love for Spinelli before Allisha came and stole him away from her? She rolled over and began to sob into her pillow,shoulders shaking. She didn't hear her bedroom door swing open and closed. LuLu walked over to the bed and sat at the edge,resting a soothing hand on her back.

Maxie turned over and threw herself into LuLu's arms,sobbing into her frienemie's shoulder. "LuLu. Why couldn't I realize how much I loved Spinelli?" She croaked out. "Why---why was I so stupid?"

LuLu sighed softly,running a hand through the crying girl's short hair. "I don't know Maxie." Inside though,she was bursting to tell Maxie how much Spinelli loved her and how he was only dating Allisha to get his mind off her because he saw Maxie as the unattainable goddess. But she wouldn't betray her friend's secret. It wasn't her's to tell.