Second Chances

Chapter 21

"You sure it’s a good idea for me to come in? Maddie was pretty pissed before." Horatio asked as we made our way to the elevator.

"Fuck it. She’ll get over it." I told him, hitting the button for the 8th floor.

"Alright. Lead the way brother." Horatio replied with a shrug.

"We probably should have just grabbed bottle service at the other bar. It was weird my card got declined here. I don’t remember getting anything today but they said I reached my limit in spending." I told him with a slur as we stumbled a little towards the door.

"Oh well. Let’s tear up some room service and mini bar bottles dude!" Horatio cheered, he sounded as bad as I did.

"Yeah, that’s the spirit brother!" I pulled out my key card and tried to get it into the slot on the door. I guess I had more to drink than I thought. "Maddie. Can you open the door? Me and my friend here are having a lil trouble." I couldn’t help but start laughing. "No? Okay?" I finally got the key in the right way and the little green light on the door glowed indicating it was unlocked and I turned to Horatio. "Let’s do this sh-" I turned my head as I pushed open the door and walked in to see Seth laying on the bed with Maddie asleep on his shoulder, his shirt unbuttoned and Maddie’s hand resting on top of his undershirt-clad stomach, his arm around her, rubbing her back. I stopped laughing immediately as I felt my blood pressure rise at the sight. "What the FUCK?!?!"

Seth looked up from the TV and nodded at me, then Horatio. “Hey Jimmy, Horatio.”

"Seth." Horatio replied as Maddie started rubbing her eyes like she does when she’s waking up.

"Meyers, you have exactly two seconds to.." I shook my head. "You know what? Fuck that, no you don’t." I stepped forward and grabbed Seth by the collar, pulling him away from Maddie and yanking him up off the bed and he let out at grunt as I slammed him up against the wall, my face barely two inches from his. "What THE FUCK?!?"

Maddie stumbled to her feet. “Jimmy what the fuck are you doing?!”

"Dude!" Horatio yelled.

"Why are you in bed with Seth?!" I yelled at Maddie, then turned back to Seth. "Why are you in bed with Madelyn? Seriously do you have to ride my coattails on everything? Update, Late Night and now Maddie?!"

Seth looked at me with a cocky smirk. “One of those three I had long before you.”

"Don’t be a dick, Seth. He’s doing that enough on his own." Maddie said as she brushed past me and went into bathroom, I could hear the water run for a moment and a pill bottle being opened.

"So what? We get in one little fight, I leave for a few hours, and you swoop in to save the fucking day? Did you kiss her? How did my dick taste? Huh?"

"I’m married Jimmy," Seth said, shaking his head. "Unlike you that means something to me."

"You don’t fuckin know me! You don’t know what happened!" I yelled, shoving him back against the wall again.

"Just like YOU don’t fucking know what happened here. Which by the way, was nothing. But thanks, it’s good to know you trust me." Maddie said.

"I know a gin and tonic meant more to you than Nancy! I know that you left Maddie high and dry on a day that you should know to never abandon her on." Seth shook his head. "Don’t abandon her period but today of all days? That’s fucked up. Is getting drunk really that important to you that you would leave when she is clearly distraught? If so you have a bigger fucking problem than me."

"You have no idea how hard that time in my life was for me, so you have NO RIGHT to talk to me like that, Meyers! And fuck you, I’d never abandon Madelyn, you hear me? NEVER. I love her more than anything in this world, with the sole exception of my daughter." I turned to Maddie. "But obviously she doesn’t feel the same way if she’s jumping into bed with her fucking ex who WISHES he were me."