A/N: Another chapter revamped. Dated 7/13/05.

Disclaimer: Same!

Chapter: 4 The New Girl

Max watched the new waitress silently from his perch on the end of the stage. He looked on as she wiped down tables and cleared away used glasses and beer bottles. It was nearly 3 am and the club was all but empty except for a few wait staff, Lou, himself, and of course the new girl. That's how Max thought of her. The new girl. He was not privy to her name yet. He'd meant to ask Izzy, but for reasons he didn't like to think about she and Alex were in a rush to leave tonight. That left only Maria to provide Max with the information he sought. Unfortunately, she and Michael had been in rare form tonight. No sooner had the band finished their last set than Max observed the two of them going at it. Arguing that is. All because some "ho" as Maria described the girl, had the audacity to toss Michael her underwear as they were leaving the stage. After about twenty minutes of arguing, Maria stormed out of the club yelling over her shoulder that Michael should find somewhere else to sleep tonight. As predicted Michael had stormed after her.

This accounted for Max's current predicament. He'd thought about introducing himself to the new girl, but that would be too simple. So there he sat pretending to go over lyrics for the following night. If Lou found Max's lingering strange he kept it to himself. Instead he walked around the club locking up for the night. Meanwhile, Max contented himself with watching the new girl.

He just couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Never before in his life had Max felt such an instant connection with another human being. He'd spotted her the instant he'd stepped on stage. From that moment on, every word he sang was dedicated to her. And after performing for over two hours, Max should be dead on his feet. But he wasn't. Just being in her presence had rejuvenated him, suffused his body with renewed energy. She was in a word, lovely. Max had dated prettier girls, and even sexier woman. But there was just something in her chocolate brown eyes that called to him. His fingers literally itched to run themselves through her dark silky hair. She was petite, he noticed. But not overly so. Just enough for a mouthful. He thought heatedly. As she bent down to pick something up from the floor, Max couldn't help but notice what a great—

"Hey Max," a whinny voice interrupted his stint at voyeurism.

Damn! Max cursed silently as he turned to see Tess Harding standing beside him. What the hell was she still doing here? For that matter, what in the hell had he ever seen in her? About a year ago the band held auditions for a female vocalist. At the time Tess had seemed to fit the bill. Though not overly tall, her curvaceous figure, baby blue eyes, and blonde curls had reminded Max of Satan's own angel. And despite her whiny tones, she could actually sing. So she'd gotten the job. To bad it took Max nearly six months of dating her to find out she was more Satan than angel. They'd broken up several months ago, yet Tess still refused to accept it. Now that the band was starting to make a name for themselves, they loathed to ditch her. However, her constant badgering was of him was becoming tiresome.

"What can I do for you, Tess?" Max finally asked. No sooner had the words left his mouth than he knew he had made a mistake. Judging by the gleam that lit Tess's eyes, she had put her own connotation on his words. The smile on her face was huge enough light up all of downtown Philly.

"What a coincidence you're still here," she simpered. "I came back because I forgot my bracelet." She jingled the charm on her wrist for Max's inspection.

More like she left it on purpose. He thought sardonically. If she'd even left it at all. Max hadn't realized how thoroughly he's tuned out, until Tess tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.

"So how about it?" She asked her blue eyes wide and guileless.

Max should have been warned but he asked anyway. "How about what?" The frown on his face should have discouraged her.

"We go back to my place," she said seductively, "so we can get the real party started. I've even got some coke," Tess whispered, leaning into Max so that her overflowing breasts in a too tiny tank brushed against his arm.

Max flinched in disgust. It was on thing to be a slut, but was Tess now adding addict to her resume? With each dawning day, she was beginning to remind Max of someone else he used to know. Someone he hadn't thought about in years. Or so he'd convinced himself.

"Look Tess," Max fought to speak kindly. "It's been a really long day and I'm beat. I just wanna go home and crash. More to the point, we don't have that type of relationship anymore. Just accept it," he finished quietly.

A look of pure venom crossed Tess's face turning her baby blues into chips of ice. Though she quickly regained her composure and shot Max a fake smile. "Your loss," Tess said, before spinning on her heels to exit the club.

Max sighed in relief as he watched her leave. Something's gotta give. He thought desperately. The situation with Tess was getting downright ugly. Before making his next move though, he would talk it over with Alex and Michael. Maybe they could offer him some insight on how to handle this. Because this thing with Tess had the potential to affect the entire band.

Unbeknownst to Max, Liz had witnessed the entire incident. She'd been well aware of his eyes following her for the past hour. She just hadn't known what to do about it. The last thing she needed in her life right now was more complications. And getting involved with the lead singer would definitely be a complication. Besides that, she was nobody's groupie. It looked to her like he had more women than he knew what to do with anyway. With that thought in mind, Liz quickly finished her task and headed for the locker room. Once there, she grabbed her handbag and headed in the direction of the back exit. She was startled as someone stepped in front of her blocking her path.

Max saw her attempt at a quick escape and decided to head her off. It was a decidedly singular experience. He'd never had a girl run away from him before. Now, as he stared into her doe like eyes, he couldn't help but grin.

"What are you like a stalker or something," Liz gasped, her eyes narrowing in anger as she noted his cocky smile. One of those was he?

"No. I'm Max," he rasped in a sexy voice. "You must be the new girl."

For about a second Liz was absolutely tongue tied. It was a combination of his voice as well as proximity. His body gave off a raw magnetism that made her dizzy. Oh yeah, he was trouble with a capital T.

"Um, nice to meet you Max. But I really gotta go," she said breathlessly, while pushing past him to exit the door.

"But I didn't catch your name," he said, looking like a little boy being denied a treat.

"That because I didn't throw it," she said lightly before stepping out the door. He's not for you Liz. She silently rebuked herself as she headed for her car. He was the kind of guy 50's mom's warned their daughters about. All devil may care attitude and sexy smile. The kind of guy that made your pulse race and your body tingle. The kind of guy that broke your heart.

Max stood there glumly as he watched her leave. Well that was a bust. Wouldn't Alex and Michael get a kick out of this? Being the lead singer of a band, Max was accustomed to women throwing themselves at him. Apparently he had started to believe his own hype. Smiling bemusedly at his own conceit, Max contemplated his next move. After a few seconds he began to whistle contentedly. Because just like the song said, if at first you don't succeed, pick yourself up and try again.

A/N: It wasn't until I started re-editing this story that I noticed how melodramatic some of the chapters are. So, while some chapters will be revamped because of grammatical errors, others will be dramatically rewritten.