A Dish Best Served Cold

AUTHOR: Kakia
RATING: R
SUMMARY: When Tess gets angry, she gets vulnerable.
DISCLAIMER: Not mine.
DEDICATION: To all those dreamers who write stories about how Max and Tess are married and Max and Liz sleep together without a glance ofthought to how Tess feels.

"Thank you." Tess Evans stepped into her apartment building and smiled at the doorman. He was a nice guy. Someotimes a little too obvious about his evident crush on her, but a nice guy nonetheless.

*Home, sweet home,*

she thought as she got into the elevator. Miami had been nice, but she was glad to be back in New York...the wonderful town that never slept. She stepped into the apartment. She *adored* this apartment. It was modern and chic, and the high rent wasn't an issue. Not with Max getting paid hundreds of thousands as a doctor, and her making even slightly more as a lawyer.
There were no dishes out on the table. Amazing. Max must have actually washed them after eating last night. The man was a miracle. Tess picked up her dropped suitcases and walked down the hall toward the bedroom. She opened the door and set down the bags on the red carpeted floor. She loved this carpet. Red had always been her favorite color, and having it all over the floor of her bedroom was bliss. She looked up to see Max's beautiful form. He gave out a small contented sigh, and rolled over.
And she saw the woman next to him.
"What the hell?!" she yelled, waking them up. Her brain started to buzz. No. No. No. This wasn't happening.
Liz. It was Liz Parker. Max's old high school sweetheart. The girl for whom he'd laid his, his best friend's, and his sister's lives on the line in sophomore year. Liz who'd left Roswell right after graduation, giving them only a college name. Tess had allowed the heartbroken Max to cry on her shoulder for two years after that, despite the fact that she'd wanted to shake him up and kiss the shit out of him and make him forget the name Liz Parker. Finally, he'd opened his eyes and realized that Tess was there, and they'd been together ever since.
Max sat up, protecting Liz, and the small brunette peeked out from behind him.
"Tess!" he exclaimed, surprised.
She would have laughed at the triteness, if it hadn't been happening to her. It was just like the movies. It was just like the fucking *movies*! Tess moved closer to the bed, threatening.
"What the *fuck* is she doing here, Max?"
Having a sleepover. Liz Parker came over to the apartment for a fucking sleepover, right?
Liz started getting dressed behind Max. He tried to cover her, but Tess could easily see the hickeys all over Liz's body. Max must have fucked the girl's brains out last night. Tess hoped they were sore as hell. She swore she would never let Max's mouth touch her again. Those filthy lips which whispered soft lies to Tess and then sucked the hell out of Liz Parker's breasts.
Max spoke.
"She--we--I love her, Tess. I can't lie. I love her with all my heart--more than I ever loved you."
Fucking bastard. Fucking lying, cheating scum. She picked up his jaw--made him look her in the eye. Then she slapped him. Liz gasped.
"Don't hurt him!" the little brown-haired Marcia Brady exclaimed. Tess scowled.
"Get the fuck out of my apartment, Parker." Unless the girl wanted a handprint to match Max's on her cheek, or Tess wanted murder charges placed against herself, it was wise advice. Apparently, Liz didn't agree.
"It's Max's," she stated simply.
She was about two nudges away from snapping and murdering them both.
"I pay half the rent." She turned to Max, a decision made. "I'm leaving. Fuck her again, for all I care. Tie her to the wall and bang her up. Enjoy the apartment while it's still half yours, Max. We're getting a divorce."
"It's about time," Max retorted, pulling Liz close to him. "I've just about gotten fed up with your bitchiness and whining." Her blood boiled over as he kissed Liz softly. Fucking *bastard*. After all she'd done for him... She realized that anything she'd ever cared about in her life was a waste. Except her job. Her job, saving innocent people from harsh punishments. Too bad she wasn't a divorce lawyer--she'd rip Max from everything he owned, right dwn to his favorite pair of green socks.
She walked out of the apartment, carefully closing the door behind her. No slamming--she didn't want to damage *her* property.
The elevator came too slowly, but it arrived.
"Take me to Floor 1," she barked at Jean-Claude. His face was confused, but he didn't say anything. Everyone knew not to talk to Tess when she was angry, and she had never before been so upset.
*Ding*. Tess walked out of the elevator and across the hall to 11C. She unlocked the doorand oushed it open.
He was sitting at the table, eating a bagel. When she walked in, he looked up and grinned.
"You could have knocked."
She marched over and slapped him twice, once with each hand. It actually felt good. What kind of sick person was she?
"Tell me you didn't know. Fucking *bastard*." Okay, so she was going insane. She'd earned it. He would forgive her.
Michael Guerin looked at her quizzically, before rubbing his cheeks.
"Ow. What happened?" She pointed up, towards her own apartment.
"Swear to me that you didn't know that bastard was screwing Liz Parker." His mouth dropped.
"Liz? As far as I knew, he hadn't seen her in years!"
"Yeah, well, she's half-dressed and upstairs in *my* bedroom, if you want a turn." She really shouldn't have been so harsh. He hadn't done anything wrong. Except being a member of the male species. And Max's best friend. To her shock, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She stepped back, a reflex she had built up over the years to anyone's touch.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Comforting a friend in pain?" he guessed, as if he were so sure it were the wrong answer.
She laughed. She couldn't help it.
"Um...comforting a friend in denial?" he guessed again.
She kept laughing, for not other reason than to hold her out from crying for as long as possible. She couldn't stop--couldn't breathe, and finally, the tears came. Gushed.
Michael embraced her again, and this time she leaned in to him.
"I hate him," she sobbed, hiccuping through the words. She had never cried so fiercely. Never. Not even the night after Nasedo had raped her for the first time, a punishment for disbeying his orders. "He-he told me he loved her more than he ever loved me."
He squeezed her tightly.
"Well, Maxwell was always somewhat thick. Unable to recognize a good thing if it came up and bit him in the ass."
She hiccuped again as a new batch of tears erupted. This was the sweetest man in the world. She'd definitely come to the right place.
"I hate him. It hurts so much, Michael. It hurts so much!"
He pulled her closer.
"I know, Tess. It's going to be all right. I promise."

"That *bastard*!" Kyle exclaimed over the phone. "I'll kill him!"
It was nice to get support. Being in a family must have had some advantages, she'd always figured, otherwise, why did people do it? And here was her advantage.
"Are you getting a divorce?" he asked. Support was good, yes, but was this overconcern? She didn't know--and frankly, she didn't give a damn. Because she was loved, and she didn't need Max Evans to love her.
"Of course," she told him. Like she'd react any differently. Like she'd forgive him. Liz would have, she was sure, but Liz was mentally unbalanced.
"Listen, Tess, you want to hurt them--get Maria as your lawyer," he advised. Maria. Right. Her step-sister. The divorce lawyer. The Sheriff and Amy had been so proud of them...both lawyers.
Liz's best friend, she realized with a cold jolt.
"Would she do that?" Tess asked him, her voice full of doubt and almost cracking. Michael, from behind, squeezed her shoulders. God, she hated getting so much sympathy. Being looked at as so...helpless.
"Of course she would," Kyle insisted. "She's your sister. And you were cheated on. She loves defending people who were cheated on." She felt a surge of evil satisfaction. It was wrong, but then--was Max screwing Liz in *her* bed right? An eye for an eye, right? "I'm driving up," Kyle informed her. All the way from Delaware? She didn't protest. Why should she--he wouldn't listen and she didn't want her to.
"Call Maria. Where are you--Michael's place?"
"Yeah." Nothing more than that. There was nothing more to say. "I'll see you." And just to be selfish, "Hurry."
They hung up, and she turned to Michael.
"He's coming. Do you have room for him, or should he stay with Maria?" Who lived across town, in a brownstone in the village. Her husband, Andrew, was a flithy rich brain surgeon.
"We have enough room, if he doesn't mind the couch," Michael replied. Right, because this was a two-bedroom. And Tess was staying there until she could legally kick Max out of their place.
"He said I should get Maria as my lawyer. Do you think she would, Michael?" He shrugged.
"I don't know...you can never tell with Maria." And he, having been her boyfriend all throughout high school, would know. "She'll be conflicted, yeah. But you have a good chance."
Suddenly, it hit her. No, it wasn't such a great, big, surprise thing. But it would hurt them in the worst way possible. Yeah, she would feel bad for using everyone. But she wouldn't be causing anyone harm...anyone who didn't deserve it, anyway.
"Okay. Thanks." She hugged him, then picked up the phone again.
"Maria?"


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