Abandoned - Chapter 2 (Maxie & Spinelli, GH)
In the elevator Maxie glanced at Johnny, who was intently watching the numbers change on the display. Her scowl suddenly turned into a mischievous grin and she hit the emergency button. The elevator lurched to a stop, throwing them off balance. Maxi caught hold of Johnny’s arm. “You stopped the elevator,” he stated the obvious.
“Mm hmm.” She moved closer.
“What for?”
“This.” Maxi pulled him into a kiss.
-
Spinelli sat on his bed and cranked up the volume on his iPod. Beethoven’s Symphony Number Five in C minor filled his ears. He shut his eyes and played air conductor for a moment. Then he cracked open his laptop. He had been meaning to download the latest beta copy of Street Killer and now was the perfect opportunity. Within seconds he had the program installed. He fired up the game and stared in hypnotic wonder as the bright colors assaulted his senses. “Wicked!” he laughed.
-
Johnny jerked his head back. “What are you doing, Maxie?”
“Aww, come on Johnny. I won’t bite… unless you want me to. Lu Lu will never have to know.” She nuzzled his neck.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not interested. O-Okay?”
“I’m offering you sex with no strings attached.” She ran her hand down the front of his shirt and over his jeans. He grasped her wrist and gave her a stern look. She stared at him in shock. “You’re seriously turning me down?”
“Look, I know you’re upset right now. But hurting Lu Lu isn’t going to make you feel better.”
“I don’t want to hurt Lu Lu,” she said angrily. "I just want…” She stopped and took a shaky breath, lowering her head in shame.
Realization dawned on Johnny’s face. “You want Spinelli. You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
Maxie stared at the floor, her eyes blinded by tears. “I hate him,” she said brokenly.
Johnny pulled her into a sympathetic hug. “No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do,” she whimpered, weakly pounding her hands against his chest. “I hate him. I hate him. I hate him,” She cried.
-
Lu Lu heard Spinelli laughing upstairs and furrowed her brow. She was about to go up and check on him when he came bounding down the stairs. He got to the bottom and twirled, waving his arms around. She watched with wide eyes as he danced his way into the kitchen. She heard him opening cabinets and moving bottles. He came bopping back into the living room with his arms full of junk food. “Spinelli? Spinelli!” She shouted.
He looked at her as if just noticing her presence. “Oh, Blonde One!” He raised his voice, obviously to hear himself above the music coming through his earphones. “I forgot you were here! Care for some barbeque chips? I’ve got enough to share,” he said with a silly grin.”
Lu Lu eyed him suspiciously. “Are you okay?”
He read her lips. “I’m most excellent! I just fired up the new Street Killer and it literally blows the earlier versions away. The graphics are outstanding! I’ve got it in pause mode, so I gotta get back to it before it times out. Later!” He jogged back up the stairs.
Lu Lu stared after him with her mouth agape.
-
Johnny rubbed Maxie’s arms when she stopped crying. “Feel better?”
“No.” She banged her forehead against his chest.
“Well, I’m not having sex with you, so scrap that idea right now.”
Maxie chuckled sadly. “I’m so sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry about it. I know what it’s like to want to do crazy stuff when you’re upset.” He kissed the top of her head then reached for the emergency button.
The elevator doors finally opened and Johnny stepped out into the lobby. He spotted the two guys who had nearly killed Spinelli earlier tonight. Maxie was about to pass him, when he stopped her. “Get back in the elevator,” he whispered.
“What is it?” She glanced past him and saw two goons talking to the doorman. Maxie gasped and pulled Johnny back onto the elevator and hit the door button.
“You know those guys, too?”
“They were the ones who attacked me in the park!” She pulled out her phone and called Jason.
-
A frantic knock at the door startled Lu Lu. She looked out the peephole then opened the door for Johnny and Maxie. “What happened? I thought you were taking Maxie home.”
“We hit a snag.”
“The two Russian thugs who attacked me were downstairs. I called Jason and he’s on his way over.”
“Should we leave?”
“No. He wants us all to wait here.” Maxie looked around nervously.
“Spinelli’s upstairs,” Lu Lu said.
Maxie nodded. She noticed Spinelli’s journal laying on the coffee table.
Lu Lu followed Maxie’s gaze. “I looked through that. It’s really amazing. Did Spinelli make that by hand?”
Maxie nodded. “He said he wanted to share his knowledge of beauty with me.” She cleared her throat. “Whatever.”
“He’s really upset, you know.”
Maxie shrugged. She heard Spinelli howl with laughter and looked towards the stairs. “Yeah, he sure sounds upset.”
More cheering came from upstairs
Johnny furrowed his brow. “What the hell?”
Lu Lu glanced at the stairs then back at Johnny. “I think he’s... stoned.”
“What?”
“Stoned?” Maxie asked. “Spinelli doesn’t do drugs!”
Lu Lu shook her head. “He used to. You didn’t know him back then but he was a total pothead. A couple minutes ago he came downstairs and the way he was acting definitely reminded me of the old Spinelli.”
Without another word, Maxie ran up the stairs.
-
Spinelli moved his fingers fast and furiously over his keyboard, watching the action play out on his screen. “Yeah! Take that, evildoer! Ha!” His character blew the head off the villain. Out of the corner of his eye he caught movement and soon the scent of Maxie’s orange blossom body spray assaulted his senses. He fought to regain his composure. “I may not have mad skills in the real world, but I totally rule this game!” He announced loudly with a laugh.
Maxie stared at him. In the short time she’d been gone he appeared to have become even more disheveled than usual. His eyes were glazed over and he could barely hold himself upright. His bed was littered with potato chips and candy wrappers. “What are you doing?”
Spinelli couldn’t hear anything over the music. He just bounced his head in time with the orchestra. He refused to look at her. It was better this way. She would leave and then she’d be safe, under Stone Cold’s protection. Just like himself. He had always needed protecting. His eyes stung, but he kept them trained on the game.
Maxie just stood there watching him, her unrecognizable friend, as a tear rolled down her cheek.
-
Jason walked into the penthouse and saw Johnny and Lu Lu. “Maxie mentioned you guys were here, but she didn’t say why. Wanna fill me in?”
Johnny approached him hesitantly. “Lu Lu and I were at Kelly’s when we saw Spinelli duck down the alley. We thought it looked suspicious, so I followed him. It was a good thing I did because he pulled a gun on some of Karpov’s people and nearly got himself killed. I managed to get him outta there, but I guess the men followed us here.”
“Don’t worry about them. They’ve been taken care of.” He glanced around. “Where’s Spinelli now?”
Maxie came downstairs wiping her eyes.
Lu Lu took Jason aside. “Um, there was a situation here earlier. Mac chased Spinelli away from Maxie’s bedside at the hospital, so he took it upon himself to chase Maxie out of his life for her own protection. She didn’t take that very well. She said some harsh things and Spinelli got upset. He’s been upstairs pretty much ever since.
Jason turned to Maxie. “You and Spinelli had a fight?”
She shrugged, but didn’t look at him.
“I’m gonna go talk to him.”
“Uh, Jason?” Lu Lu stopped him. “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.”
“Why not?”
“He’s pretty messed up.”
Just then they all heard Spinelli whooping it up like he was having a party in his room.
Jason looked at Lu Lu like she was crazy. He went upstairs and looked in on his friend. Spinelli hadn’t noticed his presence. The kid was typing like crazy on his laptop, pausing occasionally to snicker at something on the screen. He looked drunk.
“Spinelli?” When he didn’t reply, Jason pulled out his earbuds.
“Hey!” Spinelli snarled. He glanced up at Jason. “Oh, it’s you, Stone Cold. Give me one minute.” He held up a finger then quickly went back to his typing.
“You get that information I asked for?” Jason looked over Spinelli’s shoulder. Instead of a list of Karpov’s contacts, a bloody video game filled the screen. “What the hell is this? Where’s that research I asked for?”
“Research smeesearch,” Spinelli slurred. “Heh heh. Say that three times fast.” He giggled.
Jason furrowed his brow. “Spinelli!”
“Just a minute, I said!” Spinelli was getting agitated. He was now angrily hitting the keys. “Dammit! You made me miss the shot!” He slammed the lid down and picked up his laptop like he was going to hit Jason with it. “Why couldn’t you just wait? I was fifty points away from the next level!”
“What the hell are you raving about? What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with ME? What’s wrong with YOU? Oh, wait. Nothing! You’re the perfect specimen of what a man should be. Unlike The Jackal.” He swung his arms open wide and his laptop slipped out of his hand. “Oops.” He snorted and smiled. “Butterfingers.”
Jason eyed his friend suspiciously. When Spinelli coughed and inhaled sharply, Jason’s face showed concern. He took ahold of Spinelli’s shoulders to steady him and smelled his breath. He sighed and shook his head.
“Maximista was right. You do have pretty eyes.” He giggled.
“Spinelli, where are they?”
“Where are who?”
“The drugs!”
“Drugs? What are you talking about, man? I don’t do drugs.” He snickered. Jason grabbed the front of his t-shirt, startling him. “Whoa, dude! Chill.”
“Jason, let him go!” Maxie shouted.
“Maxie, what are you doing up here!”
“I heard shouting and got worried.” She looked at Spinelli, who was hanging like a rag doll in Jason’s grasp.
Spinelli looked at her with awe. “Isn’t she dazzling?”
“Is it true?” She asked him. “Are you taking drugs?”
Spinelli looked confused. “No! Well, I mean, not technically. It’s all natural.” He coughed and cleared his throat. He giggled, but quickly frowned when he looked up at his mentor’s angry face.
“I told you no drugs in my house!” Jason let go and Spinelli fell back on the bed. “Why, man? You’ve been doing just fine without it.”
Spinelli rolled over onto his side, not wanting Jason and Maxie to see him like this. He suddenly felt ashamed. He buried his face into his pillow.
Maxie walked to the other side of the bed and knelt down. “Why did you push me away?”
Spinelli squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m a menace,” he chuckled. “And your father needs you.”
“Well, I need YOU.”
He hissed. “Yeah, right.”
“It’s true.” Maxie touched his cheek.
He opened his eyes and was captured by her intense blue gaze. “You don’t need me, Maximista. I’m not good for anything but tech support. I can’t protect you.” He paused. “Just like I couldn’t protect Georgie.” He laughed sadly. Then his face crumpled and he broke down. Maxie lay on the bed and held him tightly as he cried. The pain of failing his wise and faithful friend, long buried these many months, had finally caught up with him.
