Chapter 32
Zach
When I woke up, I slowly opened my eyes, fearful that I wasn’t going to see Madison’s beautiful face in front of me. But, to my surprise, she was still there, curled up with her hands under her face and sleeping peacefully. I watched her as she dreamed, her face soft and content. She hadn’t woken me in the middle of the night, and I hoped that meant she didn’t have any nightmares.
She was absolutely stunning with her curled hair and fair skin. When I saw her walk into the hall, I almost dropped to the floor, thinking I could run across the room and scoop her up right there. She looked absolutely stunning in her sparkling, backless, yellow dress, and as always, I instantly wanted to ravish her body. However, the way things played out were a bit of a surprise to me, but I was more than happy to play into the burning heat between us in the back office of the building. I would never look at that place the same. That was for sure. The image of her body sprawled across that desk would forever be etched into my memory. As I laid there staring at Madison, she began to stir, her eyes fluttering under her lids. She opened them slowly and looked over at me, a smile pulling at her lips.
“Good morning,” she whispered sleepily.
“I was scared that you would be gone again,” I said sheepishly.
“Aww,” she replied, reaching up and running her hand through my hair. “I promise that I will never go anywhere unless you say so.”
“You’ll never hear me ask you to go,” I replied, leaning forward and kissing her lips. “You want to go get some breakfast?”
“Yes,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I didn’t eat last night because I was so nervous. I’m freaking starving.”
I pulled myself from the bed and jumped in the shower, washing the night off of me before coming out and handing Madison a dry towel. She smiled as she walked past, going in and closing the door. As I dressed for work, putting on one of my nicer suits and favorite ties, I thought about how amazing it felt to have her here with me in the apartment.
I stepped in front of the mirror and stared at myself, seeing a completely different man than the night before. The bags were gone from under my eyes, and the look on my face was that of a happy man, free from worry and comfortable in his life. What a change that just one night and one woman can make. I looked down at the time, realizing we were up earlier than I thought. It made me happy that we would have time to sit and eat breakfast together. When I walked out of the closet, Madison whistled, and I smiled at her, realizing she had found some of the clothes she had left here before. She looked adorable in her rolled up jeans, oversized sweater, and heels from the night before. Her hair was curly and cascaded over her shoulders.
“You ready, sexy man?”
“Always,” I said with a wink.
We went down about three blocks and had breakfast at a small café. I sat across the table from her, wondering how I got so lucky. She picked at her cream cheese and bagel, seemingly lost in her thoughts. I reached over and ran my hand over hers, bringing her attention back to the present.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” she said with a smile. “I was just thinking about how last night was the first full night’s sleep without nightmares I have had since everything happened.”
“That’s great,” I replied. “See, I told you that you would eventually start to feel better.”
“I think you play a big role in that,” she said, smiling.
“I hope that I continue to do that,” I replied.
We smiled at each other and finished our bagels, grabbing more coffee to go. We rode toward the gallery, sitting closely, watching the beautiful blue skies emerging above. It was the perfect day, except for the fact that we both had to go to work. When we pulled up out front, I kissed her deeply, watching as she climbed out of the limo and walked toward the front doors. I could see Sarah greeting her with a hug and a smile, and it made me feel better, knowing there were people there that cared for her, especially if I couldn’t be there.
Once she was out of sight, I nodded to the driver to continue to the offices. After all the work we had put into the auction, I had purposely not scheduled any meetings for the day. And I now realized with Madison back in my life, I might actually be able to get some work done. Being caught in my brain, missing her, pining over her, and constantly beating myself up had pretty much been my routine for the last week or so.
When I got to the office, I went in and straightened the mess I had left it before. I cleaned up the keyboard, took out the trash, and made my space more workable. I opened my emails and began going through them one at a time, answering every single person back. When that was done, I pulled out the files that I had been neglecting and set up meetings for the following week. I couldn’t believe how many clients I had put on hold because I was down in the dumps. That wasn’t like me at all and just showed even further how Madison affected me, good and bad. I picked up my phone and flipped to the text screen, asking Madison if she wanted to meet for lunch in two hours. She said yes, to pick her up out front like the gentleman that I was. I laughed at the message, shaking my head and nodding as Hudson walked through the doors.
“Hey there,” he said, walking over and sitting down in the chair across from me. “Well, you look like you’re in a fantastic mood today. I saw you even answered back my emails from last week. So, what gives? I didn’t see you after you disappeared from the speech. Did you find some hot chick and hook up?”
“As a matter of fact, I did,” I said, laughing. “She is the light of my world.”
“Wow,” Hudson said, looking at me strangely. “That was fast.”
“Madison came to the event,” I replied, chuckling. “We worked everything out.”
“Thank God,” Hudson said with a sigh. “I was really getting tired of watching you walk around like a zombie. You were so grumpy and mopey. I was starting to think an intervention was in order.”
“Oh, come on,” I said, shaking my head. “I wasn’t that bad.”
“Yeah, okay,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Alright, back to work. I just wanted to make sure it was actually you replying to the emails.”
“It was me,” I said cheerily.
Hudson rolled his eyes and shook his head as he walked out of the office. I watched him walk by the windows into the hallway and laughed as a small smile moved across his face. He hadn’t meant for me to see it, but it was there, and I knew that deep down, he really wanted me to be happy, even if that meant I wasn’t going to be his wingman anymore. I went back to work, finishing the cleanup project I took on when I came in. I was ashamed of myself for letting things get so far behind, but I guess I couldn’t be perfect forever. I had been on top of my game in this company since day one, and though Madison took a toll on me there for a minute, I wouldn’t have asked for anything different. The pressure my mind put on me showed me just how much I really loved that girl. She had become the part of my life that I cherished the most. It used to be my work, my company, and Hudson, but now, she had slid right in and taken that top slot.
I was more than excited when lunch time came around, knowing I would get to see Madison and have some quiet time in the middle of the day. I had planned out the entire rest of the day to ensure my mind didn’t wander. I pulled up in front of the gallery and got out, figuring we could walk across the street to the deli. She was more than happy to see me, and my heart felt content, knowing she was feeling the same way as me. We ordered our sandwiches and sat down in the corner. She was happy but really quiet, and I put down my food and took her hand.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “I’m just having a hard time deciding what to paint. Like I’ve been staring at the thing for hours.”
“Well, what helps you in these circumstances?”
“I don’t know.” She laughed. “I’ve never been in this situation before.”
“Try to relax, then,” I said. “Eat your lunch, think about how handsome I am, and I’m sure it will come to you.”
“Right.” She laughed. “You are so helpful.”
“I do what I can.” I laughed.
The rest of lunch, she was more talkative, like my joke alone had brightened her mood. She talked about the place and the different tools she had at her disposal. Honestly, all of it went right over my head, but I listened and smiled intently, wanting her to know I was there, even if I didn’t quite understand. To be honest, her enthusiasm was infectious, and it reminded me of when we first opened our offices with the company. We were in a small shop on the East Side, not a high rise, just a shop on the street. Our logo was on a banner for opening, and we really didn’t know when we would actually be able to afford a sign. The place was small, tiny even, and had enough room for two desks. No one ever came in because it wasn’t a retail establishment, but sitting at my desk with my laptop, looking out the glass front, built an excitement inside of me that was half my motivation in those days. I could see the suits walking along with their leather briefcases, going to their corporate jobs in the same building we ended up in. Sure, I could have afforded the same stuff as them, but I would have felt like a scammer, using my inheritance to trick people into thinking I earned it, so I carried the same old briefcase and wore the same five suits every week. Funny thing was, when I finally made it to the top, I kept carrying that old briefcase, at least until Hudson snagged it and put it in a case at the front. It was our first finger printing system, and he felt it should be memorialized.
I smiled at the thought but went back to my conversation with Madison, knowing with that kind of excitement and drive, it wouldn’t be long until her dreams became a reality. I didn’t know how it felt to creatively be stumped. I was a technology guy, but I did know how it felt to be standing at a precipice and not know which way to turn. There was no advice I could give her that would create her next masterpiece, but I knew I could stand by her, listening and showing her that it could be done.
When I walked her back to the gallery, she hugged me and went inside, into a world that was completely different than the one I was in. I thought about how amazing it was that we could have these polar opposite lives, but when the day was over, we intersected, and it was the best damn part of the day.