The Last Place You Look
Chapter Three: Never the Twain Shall Meet
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

Notes: I still don't own any of the people or places that I'm writing about. But I do want to say thanks to all my fantastic reviewers. I'm glad to have made so many new friends because of Maddie and Esteban!

"East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet."
-Rudyard Kipling, The Ballad of East and West

So it was that neither Esteban nor Maddie knew what the other had done. Around their friends they feigned disinterest to keep others from thinking they felt in ways which they did not feel. And around each other, both the bellhop and the candy girl grew suddenly shy. For you see, each thought that the other had heard of their accidents, and anytime they saw each other, both would agonize over what the other must have been thinking of them.

In order to avoid these embarrasing encounters, the pair of employees began to avoid each other more and more. But the irony was that neither knew the other had ever done anything, and so neither knew the other was avoiding them for reasons entirely different than those which they supposed...

Esteban leaned his elbows on the front desk counter and stared at Mr. Moseby's guest check-in ledgers, which he had taken up organizing in his spare time. He had adopted this hobby because it would make him look like he was busy so he wouldn't have to talk to Maddie, but so that he could still see her in case she ever wanted to talk to him. He had been afraid to be near her since "The Incident," but that didn't stop him from wishing that she would come to him. The sad thing was this - first, the ledgers never needed organizing. Mr. Moseby's fastidiousness ensured that much. And second, Maddie hardly ever tried to approach him nowadays.

"She must be so embarrassed that a goofy guy like me would like her," he thought sadly. "But I wish she wouldn't be, because I don't like her. If only she would treat me like she used to, I could let her know that."

"Yo, earth to Esteban," he heard a voice say. Startled, he looked down and saw Cody's blonde head staring up at him. He hadn't even noticed the boy approaching,

"Oh hello," Esteban said dispiritedly, as his eyes from flicked up to a point beyond Cody's shoulder, and quickly back down again.

The younger boy saw this happen, and discreetly cast a backward glance in the direction of Esteban's gaze. What he saw was London and Maddie gabbing at the gift counter.

"I thought you said there was nothing going on between you and Maddie," he said.

"There wasn't. And now there definitely isn't anything going on. You know, she hardly talks to me anymore. She barely even says hi. It's like she doesn't even notice me."

Cody clucked his tongue sympathetically. Even though he had tried to shield Esteban from the truth of Maddie's scorn, she apparently had no problem letting him know how she felt. But it seemed to Cody that flat-out ignoring people wasn't like her at all. He was tempted to go and ask her about it, but remembering how she had told him to keep his observations about her and Esteban to himself, he decided to go up to his suite instead.

If he had asked her, he would have found out that she never knew the story of Esteban and the grape juice spill. And knowing this, he would have told Esteban, who would have seen that he had no reason to be afraid to talk to Maddie, and all might have been resolved.

But Cody knew none of this, so he continued on his way ignorant of all the good he might have done.

London was down at the gift counter, busily relating the events of her morning to a tuned-out Maddie. She didn't care that Maddie wasn't listening because she preferred not to have people interrupt her stories.

"He hasn't even said hello to me all week." Maddie thought as London chattered on. "He must really not like me if he can't even treat me normally after finding out I like him. But the worst part is, I don't like him! He ought to know that London never knows what she's talking about. So he doesn't have to be all creeped out about it."

"And then, the hairdryer wouldn't turn on. Can you imagine?" London said, pausing for one of the few times in the one-sided conversation.

Maddie didn't respond. She wasn't even looking at London. She was gazing off into space with a wistful look on her face. London turned to see what she was looking at, and saw, not to her surprise, Esteban talking to Cody at the front desk. Behind her, she heard Maddie sigh.

"What was that for?" the Tipton scion asked, turning to face the other girl. "I thought you said you didn't like him."

"I don't. But it's not like anybody believes me. Esteban doesn't, that's for sure. It's like he won't even look at me anymore."

"Oh," London said softly. Even though she had tried to protect her friend from the truth, Esteban was apparently letting Maddie know exactly how he felt about her. It was actually very sad. And the saddest part was that Maddie kept trying to deny that she liked him, even after she had gone off and openly tried to flirt with him.

"He probably thinks I'm such a weirdo," Maddie said forlornly.

"Don't worry Maddie," London said. "Everybody thinks that anyway!" "Nothing like a little humor to lighten the situation!" she thought.

Maddie shot her a "thanks for nothing" look as London walked away laughing. She didn't know that London was again just trying to be kind to her.

"If Esteban doesn't like Maddie, there's nothing I can do," London said to herself. The way she saw it, making a joke out of the situation might help make it seem less serious, and less painful. She was so concerned with making this joke that she forgot to ask Maddie why Esteban would think she was weird. Even though she already knew (or thought she did), she would have asked anyway, just to be polite.

If she had asked, Maddie would have answered that it was because of her notebook scribblings. And London would have been able to tell her that she never told Esteban about that, and Maddie would have realized she didn't need to be afraid to talk Esteban. In this way, all might have been resolved, just as a simple question from Cody would have helped Esteban.

But London, like Cody, could not have known this, and so she left Maddie to her musings, unaware of all that might have been.