TITLE: A Dish Best Served Cold
AUTHOR: Kakia
RATING: R
SUMMARY: When Tess gets angry, she gets vulnerable.
DISCLAIMER: Not mine.
DEDICATION: To all those dreamers who write those Happily-Ever-AFter stories about how Max and Tess are married and Max and Liz sleep together, without a glance of thought to how Tess feels.
The phone rang in Max's apartment. He unburied his face from Liz's hair and rolled over to pick it up. "Hello?"
"Max!" exclaimed a voice. It was Isabel, Dear Sister Isabel who never, ever called him. She knows. No, but she didn't sound mad enough to know. Or maybe she was taking his side. He was, after all, her brother. "Alex and I are in town...we just flew in last night. Vacation, you know?" Hmmm. And would that be the middle-of-the-week vacation that was so famous?
"Hmmmm," he mumbled. Liz stirred beside him. "How are you two?"
"Just fine." Oh, she knew. Her voice was much too cheery not to be putting him on. "And how are you and Liz? Asshole."
So she did know. "Listen, Iz, I know you don't understand, but I love Liz. I really do."
"Oh, I bet you do." Whatever that meant. "Hey, Max, turn on your radio. Z100." She hung up.
He'd never listened to the station before. It had always seemed phony and fluctous--playing whatever everyone else liked. But he turned it on, forgetting that Liz was still asleep.
"-a special dedication of 'Another Dumb Blonde' by Hoku, from Tess Evans to Dr. Max Evans," one of the DJs said. Dedication. What the hell? What was that song? He'd never heard it.
"Sounds like somebody's mad," another one replied. Oh. The DJ laughed as the music started.
Ouch. She was mad. Or maybe she wasn't--it was hard to tell. He wondered what he thought about it. It wasn't that he had wanted to hurt her, really, but this was the easiest thing to do. And Tess was strong--she would survive.
That's all right, that's okay, I never loved you anyway
That's all right, that's okay, you never loved me anyway
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hello, this is 95.5 PLJ. Would you like to dedicate a song?"
"Yes. I would like to dedicate 'You Outta Know' by Alanis Morisette to Dr. Max Evans from Tess Evans."
'Cause the love that you gave that we made
Wasn't able to make it enough for you to be open wide
And every time you speak her name
Does she know how you told me you'd hold me until you died
Until you died, but you're still alive
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"This is 103.5, KTU, and we have a dedication here from Blaque's 'As If' from Tess Evans to Dr. Max Evans. Maxie, watch out for your woman!"
"What did you do, kid?" George asked. George was one of the senior doctors in the office, and had taken Max under his wing the day Max had arrived. "Tess must be really mad. I heard another of those dedications on Q104 while driving in." George drove to work every day. It was slightly bizarre, but the man was attached to his Mercedes, Which was also slightly bizarre, if you thought about it.
"Oh, we're just having a little...argument," Max lied. Maybe Tess liked to make their marriage issues public, but he wasn't that cheap. "She's sort of worked up right now."
As if
I'm ever gonna take you back
As if
It's ever gonna come to that
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tess was giddy as she walked into Michael's apartment. Everyone at the firm had heard at least one of her dedications, and she had made about ten friends today. Her boss had been extremely impressed, and her colleagues, envious. Nobody had shown any sympathy, of course--but what did she expect, working in a firm full of lawyers?
"Kyle!" she squealed. He was there! Sitting at the table, talking to Michael. And Maria, who'd reculantly accepted to be her attorney.
"Tessie!" he replied, standing up to let her hug him. "Are you all right? Did that asshole hurt you?"
She knew there was a reason she'd missed him. For someone who had never been a brother before she'd come along, he was doing a pretty good job now.
"I'm fine," she replied. Well, she was fine now. Thanks to the pint of coffee ice cream Michael had force-fed her last night and the day at work.
Coffee ice cream. Her favorite. She bet Max didn't know that.
She looked hesitantly at Maria, who looked miserable. Poor girl. She had to choose between her best friend and her step-sister...and she had chosen to go against her best friend of almost 20 years.
"I'm sorry, Ria," she said softly.
Maria looked up. "Sorry? You didn't do anything."
There was a knock on the door, and they all looked at each other. It could have been Alex and Isabel...
Michael rose and walked over to the door, Tess on his heels. He opened it, and she was shocked to see them. The Jerk and The Robot. Great. Just the two people she ever wanted to see again in her life.
"You're not welcome here," Michael told them coldly, and her heart leaped. Her heart leaped--what was it thinking? What the hell right did her heart have to go off and do whatever it wanted, whenever it wanted?
Max ignored him, and looked inside the apartment. "Is there some kind of party here?" Bastard.
"Yes, an Anti-Max-And-Liz party," he retorted. The angel. "So please, be on your way."
"Maria?" Liz asked in her new breathy voice. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm showing support for my sister," Maria replied, obviously trying to destroy any remnants of emotion left in her. Tess' heart, if not broken already, broke for Maria.
"But-but me?" Liz's eyes were wide as little brown pellets.
"What about you?" Maria challenged. "You're not a part of my life anymore."
"And Tess is?" Liz demanded. "Why? You used to hate Tess! Remember when she kissed Max, that time in 10th grade? You never let up on her for that!"
Maria glared at her. "That's right. And if I got that mad when a near-stranger kissed my best friend's boyfriend, imagine what I felt when I found out a near-stranger had fucked my sister's husband."
If Tess' heart had leaped when Michael had jumped to her defense, it was doing cartwheels and flips now. Who would have guessed that loyalty would feel so good?
Liz's bottom lip shook. Just slightly, so that it was barely noticeable. But it was there. "Stranger? You consider me a stranger, Maria? I'm your best friend!"
"You're not my best friend," Maria replied harshly. "I haven't seen you in eight years--our paths have grown apart. Did you know that I'm married, Liz? My husband's name is Andrew Greene and we live in a beautiful brownstone in the village. I'm a divorce attorney, and I'm Tess' divorce attorney. Do you know why, Liz? Because she's my best friend. Not you. Did you know that nobody had called me Maria in five years?"
Liz looked taken aback, and Tess wasn't sure whether to cry from happiness or laugh at the expression on her rival's face.
"Liz who was my best friend is not the girl standing in front of me," Maria continued. "The Liz I knew would never have slept with a married man, no matter how romantic he was and no matter how much she hated his wife. For that matter, the Liz I knew wouldn't disappear for eight years and then be surprised when the hole she'd created closed up. It's the natural order of things, Liz. We got over you. Now get over us and leave."
AUTHOR: Kakia
RATING: R
SUMMARY: When Tess gets angry, she gets vulnerable.
DISCLAIMER: Not mine.
DEDICATION: To all those dreamers who write those Happily-Ever-AFter stories about how Max and Tess are married and Max and Liz sleep together, without a glance of thought to how Tess feels.
The phone rang in Max's apartment. He unburied his face from Liz's hair and rolled over to pick it up. "Hello?"
"Max!" exclaimed a voice. It was Isabel, Dear Sister Isabel who never, ever called him. She knows. No, but she didn't sound mad enough to know. Or maybe she was taking his side. He was, after all, her brother. "Alex and I are in town...we just flew in last night. Vacation, you know?" Hmmm. And would that be the middle-of-the-week vacation that was so famous?
"Hmmmm," he mumbled. Liz stirred beside him. "How are you two?"
"Just fine." Oh, she knew. Her voice was much too cheery not to be putting him on. "And how are you and Liz? Asshole."
So she did know. "Listen, Iz, I know you don't understand, but I love Liz. I really do."
"Oh, I bet you do." Whatever that meant. "Hey, Max, turn on your radio. Z100." She hung up.
He'd never listened to the station before. It had always seemed phony and fluctous--playing whatever everyone else liked. But he turned it on, forgetting that Liz was still asleep.
"-a special dedication of 'Another Dumb Blonde' by Hoku, from Tess Evans to Dr. Max Evans," one of the DJs said. Dedication. What the hell? What was that song? He'd never heard it.
"Sounds like somebody's mad," another one replied. Oh. The DJ laughed as the music started.
Ouch. She was mad. Or maybe she wasn't--it was hard to tell. He wondered what he thought about it. It wasn't that he had wanted to hurt her, really, but this was the easiest thing to do. And Tess was strong--she would survive.
That's all right, that's okay, I never loved you anyway
That's all right, that's okay, you never loved me anyway
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hello, this is 95.5 PLJ. Would you like to dedicate a song?"
"Yes. I would like to dedicate 'You Outta Know' by Alanis Morisette to Dr. Max Evans from Tess Evans."
'Cause the love that you gave that we made
Wasn't able to make it enough for you to be open wide
And every time you speak her name
Does she know how you told me you'd hold me until you died
Until you died, but you're still alive
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"This is 103.5, KTU, and we have a dedication here from Blaque's 'As If' from Tess Evans to Dr. Max Evans. Maxie, watch out for your woman!"
"What did you do, kid?" George asked. George was one of the senior doctors in the office, and had taken Max under his wing the day Max had arrived. "Tess must be really mad. I heard another of those dedications on Q104 while driving in." George drove to work every day. It was slightly bizarre, but the man was attached to his Mercedes, Which was also slightly bizarre, if you thought about it.
"Oh, we're just having a little...argument," Max lied. Maybe Tess liked to make their marriage issues public, but he wasn't that cheap. "She's sort of worked up right now."
As if
I'm ever gonna take you back
As if
It's ever gonna come to that
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tess was giddy as she walked into Michael's apartment. Everyone at the firm had heard at least one of her dedications, and she had made about ten friends today. Her boss had been extremely impressed, and her colleagues, envious. Nobody had shown any sympathy, of course--but what did she expect, working in a firm full of lawyers?
"Kyle!" she squealed. He was there! Sitting at the table, talking to Michael. And Maria, who'd reculantly accepted to be her attorney.
"Tessie!" he replied, standing up to let her hug him. "Are you all right? Did that asshole hurt you?"
She knew there was a reason she'd missed him. For someone who had never been a brother before she'd come along, he was doing a pretty good job now.
"I'm fine," she replied. Well, she was fine now. Thanks to the pint of coffee ice cream Michael had force-fed her last night and the day at work.
Coffee ice cream. Her favorite. She bet Max didn't know that.
She looked hesitantly at Maria, who looked miserable. Poor girl. She had to choose between her best friend and her step-sister...and she had chosen to go against her best friend of almost 20 years.
"I'm sorry, Ria," she said softly.
Maria looked up. "Sorry? You didn't do anything."
There was a knock on the door, and they all looked at each other. It could have been Alex and Isabel...
Michael rose and walked over to the door, Tess on his heels. He opened it, and she was shocked to see them. The Jerk and The Robot. Great. Just the two people she ever wanted to see again in her life.
"You're not welcome here," Michael told them coldly, and her heart leaped. Her heart leaped--what was it thinking? What the hell right did her heart have to go off and do whatever it wanted, whenever it wanted?
Max ignored him, and looked inside the apartment. "Is there some kind of party here?" Bastard.
"Yes, an Anti-Max-And-Liz party," he retorted. The angel. "So please, be on your way."
"Maria?" Liz asked in her new breathy voice. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm showing support for my sister," Maria replied, obviously trying to destroy any remnants of emotion left in her. Tess' heart, if not broken already, broke for Maria.
"But-but me?" Liz's eyes were wide as little brown pellets.
"What about you?" Maria challenged. "You're not a part of my life anymore."
"And Tess is?" Liz demanded. "Why? You used to hate Tess! Remember when she kissed Max, that time in 10th grade? You never let up on her for that!"
Maria glared at her. "That's right. And if I got that mad when a near-stranger kissed my best friend's boyfriend, imagine what I felt when I found out a near-stranger had fucked my sister's husband."
If Tess' heart had leaped when Michael had jumped to her defense, it was doing cartwheels and flips now. Who would have guessed that loyalty would feel so good?
Liz's bottom lip shook. Just slightly, so that it was barely noticeable. But it was there. "Stranger? You consider me a stranger, Maria? I'm your best friend!"
"You're not my best friend," Maria replied harshly. "I haven't seen you in eight years--our paths have grown apart. Did you know that I'm married, Liz? My husband's name is Andrew Greene and we live in a beautiful brownstone in the village. I'm a divorce attorney, and I'm Tess' divorce attorney. Do you know why, Liz? Because she's my best friend. Not you. Did you know that nobody had called me Maria in five years?"
Liz looked taken aback, and Tess wasn't sure whether to cry from happiness or laugh at the expression on her rival's face.
"Liz who was my best friend is not the girl standing in front of me," Maria continued. "The Liz I knew would never have slept with a married man, no matter how romantic he was and no matter how much she hated his wife. For that matter, the Liz I knew wouldn't disappear for eight years and then be surprised when the hole she'd created closed up. It's the natural order of things, Liz. We got over you. Now get over us and leave."