Chapter Three:

The coffee shop was always busy at this time in the morning. Maxie sat in the same corner Matt had been in yesterday. It was isolated from the rest of the tables; almost like it was tucked away and forgotten.

Maxie dialed Lulu's number and held the phone to her ear. It went straight to voicemail, no doubt she was ignoring Maxie's calls, again, "Hey Lulu, it's Maxie. I know I'm probably the last person you want to speak to right now, and I don't blame you, it's just I really need to talk to you about what happened. Please call me back, or don't, but I'm just going to keep on calling until you listen to me." Maxie flipped her phone shut and sighed. That was the sixth message she had left for Lulu today. It wasn't long ago that she didn't give a rat's ass about what Lulu thought of her, but now they had formed this bizarre bond, an unlikely friendship, and she did care, even if she hated to admit it.

"Trouble in paradise?" a familiar voice asked. She whipped her head around and saw Matt standing next to where she was sitting.

"Aww Matt, last time I saw you, you had your head stuck in a trashcan," she quipped, recalling the events of last night.

"About that," Matt said as he slid into the seat across from Maxie, "I want to thank you for taking me to Patrick's. And I also feel like I should apologize for anything I said or did that might have made you uncomfortable."

"Oh, it's not a problem, I'm just glad you didn't puke in my car," Maxie stated very nonchalant. She couldn't help but wonder if he remembered that he tried to kiss her, or he just assumed he was an ass while he was drunk.

"Me too, I have a feeling you would never let me forget it if I did," he joked.

"That's very true," she agreed as she took a sip of her coffee.

"I'm usually never let myself lose control like that, it's just that last night I hit rock bottom, and I thought that getting wasted would numb the pain," he disclosed. Matt didn't know why he was telling her this but he just had to say it out loud.

"Did it work?" Maxie asked.

"If anything it just intensified the pain," he said looking down at his coffee.

She didn't know how to respond. This was not the same, over confident doctor that she had encountered before. She knew how to deal with that Matt, just blow him off and crush his ego in the process. But this Matt was different; he was raw and afflicted.

Just then Spinelli and Winifred entered the coffee shop laughing. After the explosion at the hospital the two seemed to be attached at the hip. Maxie would be lying if she said it didn't bother her, especially since Winifred was the one who got Spinelli thrown in jail. He has a way of easily forgiving people, if only Lulu would follow his example. The funny thing is, it's what she had wanted, she wanted him to move on. Spinelli had obviously found a new object of desire, but it didn't make her feel any better.

"Fair Maximista," Spinelli squealed with delight then turned to Matt, "and Dr. Doom. What an unsought surprise." Matt just rolled his eyes.

"Spinelli," Maxie scolded. At that, Matt took this opportunity to take off.

"As much as I would love to stay here and chit-chat because I know the conversation will be just riveting, I've got to go," he turned to Maxie and flashed that million dollar Drake-smile, "We should do this again,"

"Sure," it was the only thing she could manage to say. How can he do that, she asked herself. Just a moment ago he was a tortured soul and now he's back to his usual presumptuous self. The mood swing boggled her mind.

He put his coat on and swaggered out of the coffee shop. Maxie decided Matt must have been putting on a show for Spinelli, and it was working. Spinelli was bewildered, he attempted to say something a couple times, but the words all came out like gibberish.

He finally got control of his emotions, "Please tell me that you aren't actually considering wasting your most precious time with such a vile and repulsive character that is Dr. Doom." Winifred came back with their drinks.

"He's not that repulsive Spinelli. And it would just be coffee, no big deal," she tried to calm him down. Besides, it's not like they set a date and time, so she could just pretend she didn't remember agreeing to do anything with him.

The three of them sat there finishing their drinks. Spinelli and Winifred were the only ones talking. Maxie caught something about the explosion at the hospital and Jason's name came up, but besides that she had tuned them out. She was too busy wondering if Matt would have left so soon if Spinelli hadn't shown up.

***********************

Maxie had to stop by the apartment to pick up some things. A part of her hoped that Lulu was there so that she could talk to her, but the other part just wanted to avoid her, she probably just needed space. She turned the key and opened the door.

"Hello? Lulu are you here?" she asked as she entered the entryway. Silence.

Okay, she would just grab her things and then go. Maxie walked into her room and straight to her closet. She grabbed the suitcases that were lying on the floor and set them on her bed. Maxie took her favorite outfits out of the closet and placed them in the suitcases. Once they were jammed pack with designer clothes, shoes, and accessories, she made her way to the bathroom and got her make-up bag.

Maxie realized that she was being a little immature about the whole thing, but a part of her still believed that Lulu seriously would try and kill her in her sleep. Well, maybe not, but it was always a possibility, it wasn't too long ago that Lulu was in Shady Brook.

As she was wheeling her things to the living room, she heard the front door open.

*****************************************************************************************

Sorry this chapter is kind of short, but Chapter 4 will be longer.