05th
December 2009
A rock and
a hard place
Maxine
thought she had that whole Corey/Magic mess
figured out. Corey was a no go while Magic was,
pretty much everything she wanted.
Professionally, Mr. Magic knew what he wanted
and went for it. He was always making plans.
He was always looking to the future. And in
their personal life, he was as dedicated as
she wanted him to be. In fact, she had him wrapped
tightly around her little finger. She knew it,
and she liked it.
And just to make sure, she’d test him
ever so often.
“Just last night, I did it again, Ari.”
Maxine was in the kitchen of her split-level
apartment barefoot, and wearing a tank top and
short shorts. She tested the pasta, then glanced
into the oven. The chicken was just about done.
Ari leaned against the cabinets as Maxine made
her way from the refrigerator to the sink with
a handful of vegetables.
“Maxy, you’re evil. Why do you do
that?” It was almost funny the way Maxine
baited her boyfriends.
“Dunno,” Maxine shrugged. “I
guess I just have it in me.”
Maxine was doing what was innate to Maxine.
Every single boyfriend that she ever had, had
to be put through “the test”—and
not just once, but over and over again until
they finally caught on.
“So he was telling me how much he loves
me and wants me in his life long-term, and I
just said: ‘I can’t be with you.
Right away, Ari, the light just went out of
his eyes.”
Maxine looked up from shredding the lettuce
to glance over at Ari, who spotted a hint of
smugness in her expression.
“I told him I didn’t love him that
way, and that he couldn’t tell anyone
about our relationship because we didn’t
have one. I told him as far as I was concerned,
we were just friends. It was like I’d
taken the air out of him.”
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