Dirty Maverick (The Maxwell Family)

by Alycia Taylor

  I looked at chief. “Sorry, I don’t mean for this to be awkward for you, it’s just that I wasn’t expecting to come in today to find my partner of many years running away from me. It doesn’t exactly leave me feeling very good. I was hoping to come in today and immediately get back to work just as before.”

  “I understand,” the chief said although I could see that he looked very uncomfortable. “But I want you to know that we will set you both up in departments that will work for you. Madison, if you don’t want to work here, I completely understand.”

  I shook my head. “No, I want to stay here. There’s no point in us both jumping ship. I happen to like it here very much. It’s a great department. I’d like to stay here.”

  “Great, and is there anyone you want as a partner? Or anyone you don’t want?”

  I’d never had to give this any thought, so I had no idea what to say. As far as I was aware, I would never have to look for another partner.

  “I honestly don’t care,” I said. “Really. I can work on my own if I have to. But if you want to give me another partner, that is fine too.”

  We spoke a bit more about the situation, with the chief trying to come up with ideas and Max chiming in every now and again. Every time Max spoke, I looked at him in disgust. No matter what had happened between us in the safe house, there didn’t seem to be a need to cause problems at work because of it. If Max really wanted to end things between us, he could’ve done it in a much better way. I realized now that the old Max was back. The new Max would never have done something like this to me. The old Max was a lot harder, a lot less emotional. He was officially back to the personality that he had before the shooting, and he didn’t seem to care that he was hurting my feelings. I had always known this day would one day come, although I hadn’t realized it would be so brutal. Finally, when I could take it no longer, I stood up and wiped my palms on my trousers.

  “Okay, I think I better get back to my desk. I have a lot of work to catch up on, and I really want to get started. I need to sit down and just get through all the paperwork that’s been piling up. Sadly, it’s not going anywhere unless I see to it. Thanks for letting me know about the changes. Just keep me posted on what happens. I’ll let the two of you finalize everything.”

  I quickly walked out before either of them could stop me and made my way to my desk. I was fuming, and I knew that if I sat there any longer, I was only going to explode. Max came out moments later. His face was slightly pink from what had happened, and I was surprised to see him heading straight towards me.

  “Uh, Madi, do you want to talk?” he said nervously.

  I laughed so loudly I noticed a few heads turned my way. “I think we’ve spoken enough.”

  “Look, this has nothing to do with you. I just wanted to be somewhere else for a while. To clear my head. That’s all. You don’t need to take this personally.”

  I stood up and glared at him. More heads turned towards us. People weren’t used to Max and me arguing. When we did, it was only in jest, but they could probably see that we were not joking.

  “You’re a coward, Max,” I said and heard someone behind me gasp.

  “I’m a coward?”

  “Yes, you’re a coward. We’ve worked together for years, Max. We were partners. And I clearly remember us saying that we would be partners for life. Promises like that might not mean anything to you, but they mean everything to me. You don’t just throw something away just because you’re too afraid to be honest. Well, I hope you enjoy working in your new department, and I hope you enjoy your new partner. Now, if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”

  “I . . .” he started. His face had now turned an even deeper shade of red. It probably didn’t help that everyone was looking at him.

  “I’m busy, Max,” I said. I looked up at him. “Please go.”

  And just like that, I knew that anything we might’ve had between us was gone. The old Max was back, and he was even worse than he was before. We might not have been together before the shooting, but we were still partners. Hell, we were at least friends. Now, we were nothing.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Max

  I was sure that I had done the right thing by moving into a different department. It had been a little embarrassing having Madison shout at me in front of everyone, but I’d gotten over it. More than the embarrassment, I did feel bad about walking away from one of the best teams ever. I may have done it for a good reason, but that didn’t make it any easier. As usual, Madison was being a hard ass about it and didn’t seem to want to give me the time of day. I tried talking to her once more, but she told me that she had nothing to say to me.

  My new department was different from what I was used to. The team was nice, but they seemed to have no sense of humor whatsoever. People had always told me that I had no sense of humor either, but that was because they never got the chance to know me. Madison had always known that I was constantly joking around. I just seemed to have a very different sense of humor to most people. She got me. And, over time, the other team members had gotten to know me too. We had always had a good laugh together. I was hoping that it would be the same with my new team, or that it would at least develop over time.

  But five days in, I still found them to be the most boring people that I had ever met. They were whiny, and stiff, and thought that the jokes I made were in bad taste. I tried to explain to them that the job was tough and that sometimes the only way of getting through the day was by making light of the situation. But none of them agreed with me. They said that it was disrespectful, and I knew that there was no getting through to them. I thought of going back to the chief and asking him for my job back, but every time I imagined Madison laughing at me and telling me that she knew I couldn’t make it without her. I would simply have to grin and bear it. Maybe it just needed time. A week was probably not long enough to really get to know people. The chief had also given me a fairly high-up position, and I suspected that my new team was not too happy about that.

  I was just finishing up in the conference room, which was a room shared by all the departments, and about to head back to my desk when I saw Madison. Her head was down, and she was typing something furiously onto her computer. She always had such a serious look on her face when she was busy, and she’d bite down on her lip in concentration. Madison was one of the hardest workers I had ever met in my life, and despite what had happened between us I couldn’t deny that truth. I stared at her and wondered if she would talk to me. After all, it had been a week since the incident, which was plenty of time for her to calm down and realize that I hadn’t done it with a malicious intent. I walked up to her desk and immediately smelled her shampoo. I hadn’t realized what a strong smell of vanilla it had always been, but now that I wasn’t around it all the time, it hit me quickly. My knees felt week at the smell of it, and I tried to push away the memories of her and me together. I’d gotten pretty good at doing that lately.

  She looked up and seemed surprised to see me standing there. For a brief second, I could swear I saw a look of kindness on her face. But it changed very quickly into something that could only be described as a smirk.

  “Max? I’m busy. What’s up?”

  I sighed. “I was thinking of going out to get a cup of coffee. You know how horrible the stuff is here.”

  She lifted up a paper cup from her desk. “Somebody went to collect coffees not so long ago. So, no need for me to get anymore. Anyway, I’m too busy to go out. But you go and enjoy yourself. There’s a new café across the street that everyone is raving out.”

  I thought about trying to convince her, but I could see that she was in no mood to talk to me. I walked away without saying anything else and made my way back to my desk. The moment I arrived, one of my team members said that we were going out for the day and he needed me there. I grabbed my coat and headed out, grateful to have something to take my mind off everything.

  But being busy at work didn’t seem to be working for me. It wa
s a tough day on the job, and it didn’t seem to help that I didn’t get along with the other members. The job had been a lot easier when I actually enjoyed spending time with my partner. Now, though, the minutes seemed to drag, and the day seemed to last forever. When I finally got back to the station, I was exhausted, and I couldn’t wait to get home. It was late, and I was tired, so I decided to head straight to the coffee shop and get myself a cup before going home.

  The café was nice and reminded me a little of the Italian café where I’d enjoyed the best pastrami sandwich in the world. I wondered if Madison had come here and thought the same thing. I scrolled through the menu and sighed sadly when I saw that they also offered pastrami and cheese sandwiches. I decided to order one and take it home along with my coffee. I wasn’t in the mood to cook anyway. I took the coffee and the sandwich and headed home, ready to start my Friday night alone.

  The moment I got home, I heated up the coffee and the sandwich, both of which had gotten a bit too cold on the drive home, and made my way to the living room. I took a sip of the coffee and grimaced. It wasn’t all that much better than the coffee from the office. Whoever said the coffee was good had been lying to Madison. Although maybe she was just saying that so that I’d go there and have a bad experience. I looked at the sandwich, hoping it would be the redeeming part of the meal, but just one bite told me that I was sadly mistaken. It was okay, but it was nothing like the one I had enjoyed a few weeks ago. I put the coffee aside and finished the sandwich regardless. I had nothing else to eat, and the sad piece of food seemed to suit my mood anyway. When the phone rang, I jumped up in fright, and then felt my heart rate increase at the thought of it being Madison. Of course, it wasn’t her. Instead, it was Xavier. I was still grateful for the interruption.

  “Ah, it’s good to hear from you,” I said. “It’s been too long.

  “I’ve been meaning to call all week. What’s it like being back at work after all this time? You must be so relieved that you’re not in that safe house anymore. That must’ve been driving you mad. I know how much you like to be at work. Crazy bugger.”

  “Ah, it’s okay. It’s pretty exhausting, though.” I stifled a yawn as I said that.

  “Yeah? Wow, I didn’t expect you to say that.”

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “Well, that’s the first time I’ve heard you ever say that about your job. And I know that you’ve been exhausted many times before. Maybe you’re still in recovery. Maybe your body still needs to relax a bit more. Is this not too soon to go back to work?”

  “Nah, I don’t think so. I had a checkup with the doctor a few days ago, and he said that I was doing well. He didn’t seem to mind that I was back at work. After everything that I just went through, this is not much stress at all. I think he knows that me staying at home will make me more stressed than me going to work.”

  “That’s true. So, why are you exhausted then? Is there something going on or is work just busier than before?”

  “I was transferred to a new department. I guess I’m just taking some time getting used to it. I don’t really enjoy working with the new people, that’s all. Maybe I just need some time to warm up to them, or for them to get used to me. It’s only been a week. But today was particularly tiring.”

  “What? Why would the chief put you in a new department? That doesn’t make any sense. Surely you should stay where you are. I thought you got along well with him.”

  “Oh, I do. He wasn’t the one that moved me. I was the one that requested it.”

  “Uh, why would you do that? You’re wonderful at your job. You actually requested to change departments? Why?”

  “I just wanted to be away from Madison. I figured this would be the best way to do it. I mean, we can’t avoid the fact that we work together. We’re going to see each other all the time no matter what. But at least now we don’t have to see each other every day.”

  “And why exactly would you want to do that? I thought the two of you got along well? I thought you were friends as well as partners?”

  “We are, and we do get along well . . . at least, we did. It’s just . . . ah, Xavier, I don’t know anymore. I just don’t want to mess things up for her. She’s been put through so much because of me. Everything was my fault. And we got shoved into that safe house because of me. I’m not sure why she and I even ended up together the way we did.”

  “Maybe because you like each other?” he suggested.

  “You told me yourself to be careful with the whole thing. You said that Madison wasn’t looking for anything from me and she didn’t want to ruin our working relationship.”

  “Well, yeah, I know. But it’s pretty obvious that the two of you care for each other. I think more than either of you are willing to admit. But you can’t just be with her and then pull away from her without any explanation. Hell, I’m not the best when it comes to relationships, but even I can see that it was a shitty thing for you to do.”

  “No, it wasn’t,” I said in defense. “I was only doing what was right for the two of us. Now there doesn’t have to be any awkwardness between us because we don’t have to work together. I’ve simplified things.”

  “I have to disagree. I think you’ve made things a lot more complicated than they needed to be. Tell me something, Max: do you miss her?”

  Do I miss her? Do I miss waking up to her in my arms? Do I miss her lips against mine? Do I miss laughing with her day and in day out? I sighed.

  “Yeah. I miss her so much.”

  “Then what the hell are you doing here? You need to make things right. Don’t let years of friendship just fall away just because you think you are doing the right thing, or because you don’t want to get hurt. This is crazy, Max. This isn’t like you at all. I thought you liked to fight for things?”

  “I do!”

  “Well then, what are you waiting for? Fight for her.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Madison

  A full week had passed working without Max, and I was starting to think that perhaps he had done the right thing. He obviously didn’t want to be with me, or even work with me, and it made it easier to deal with if he wasn’t attached to my side. I didn’t get along with everyone as well as I did with Max, but I made an extra effort to at least try and become friends with them. I was determined to find friendship where I might not have before. Maybe I had just never gotten along with anyone because I hadn’t tried before. I didn’t have the need to find friends when I was with Max, but because of that, I had probably missed out on a lot of opportunities. I doubted I would ever get as close to anyone as I had with Max—I had learned my lesson there—but it would be nice to make more friends now that he was out of the picture.

  I was sitting at the café with Thomas now. He was similar in age to me, and out of everyone in my team he was the one with the best sense of humor. Thomas, like Max, seemed to see me as just one of the guys, and I appreciated that. He also had a very serious girlfriend which meant that there was never going to be anything between us. That, too, made me happy. I’d spent the morning going over work with him and when he’d asked if I wanted to grab a coffee of coffee I’d said yes.

  “I’ve got to say, Madison, I was surprised that you agreed to go for coffee with me,” he said as the waitress came by with our cups. I liked mine strong, but he had opted for the milkiest looking coffee I’d ever seen. I’d teased him about it and said that he might as well just heat up a cup of milk. I liked that I could tease him without him taking offense. I hated nothing more than having to watch my words in front of people.

  “Surprised? Why? You know I love my coffee. And that coffee in the office is awful.”

  He chuckled. “Well, yeah, I guess. But you don’t usually go out with coworkers. You’re normally all business.”

  “What if I’ve come here because I want to talk business with you?”

  “Are you?”

  I laughed. “No. I’m definitely not here to talk business; I think we’ve done e
nough of that all week. I just thought it would be nice.”

  “Well, it is. So, can I ask you a personal question?” he said.

  “Already? Wow, you don’t mess around.”

  “It’s not that personal. But I wanted to know what happened with Max. And I’m not the only person that’s dying to know. I’ve heard a few people ask. The two of you were so tight, and then suddenly you’re not even on the same team as him. Something must’ve happened.”

  I sighed. I wasn’t surprised at the question. I was actually more surprised that it had taken a full week for someone to ask me about it. I knew that everyone wanted to know. I stared into my coffee cup, swirling the coffee around and trying to think of the right answer. How could I possibly explain that Max had once been into me, but had changed his mind and cut me out of his life? I wasn’t ready to get that personal with someone I hardly knew, no matter how nice Thomas was.

  “I guess you heard that argument between us.” I cringed at the memory of me shouting at Max in front of everyone. It was so unlike me to air my dirty laundry like that in front of a crowd. I was sure that everyone had spoken about it for days afterward.

  “Yeah. The whole office heard that. Out of everyone at the station, the last two people I would’ve ever expected to have an argument like that would be you and Max. I didn’t even think the two of you knew how to fight.”

  “Same here. It was definitely our first one, and probably our last. And between you and me, I have no idea what happened. I guess he just got sick of being around me or something. The whole thing was pretty traumatic, and maybe he just wanted a clean cut.”

  He frowned. “You don’t seem to really know why he doesn’t want to be partners, though.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t.”

  “Well, that’s frustrating.”

  I laughed. “Tell me about it. I hate not knowing things. I guess he just . . . wanted a change.”