Madison

I hear some strident and boring music piercing my eardrums and taking me away from my beauty sleep. I open my eyes and realize it’s the alarm clock in my phone.

I get up, do my hygiene, and put on a long-sleeved dress to go down and have some breakfast. Should I call Noah? I don’t think so. He’s probably reviewing the talking points for this afternoon.

I make my way through the hotel and go to the main dining room for some breakfast, I’m starving. I go back up and email Rebecka, copying the other Board members, about the club improvement I wrote down. I reply Harriet, Alyssa, and I thank Cheryl. The hour goes by and I get distracted. I’m startled by the ringing of the room phone.

“Hello.”

“Good morning, Madison. Would you like to have lunch with me?”

“I’d love to, Noah.”

“Great. I’ll be waiting at your door in 10 minutes. And, because of the time, I don’t think we’ll get to go back upstairs to get ready to leave.”

“Okay.”

To accompany him in his appointment, I brought a tight black blazer with red details in the pockets. Black high-cut tailored pants and a transparent shirt over a top, both pieces in red. A black scarpin with red soles completes my work outfit. I fix my hair in a way so that half of it is tight in the back and the rest is loose. Then, I apply a light makeup, eyeliner and mascara just to give it a pop, some lip gloss, so I don’t get dry lips, and I’m ready!

I get my purse, fill it with my toiletries and leave the room to find Noah and his charming smile on the other side. We’re escorted by bodyguards, and I still don’t understand why they’re necessary. His house is filled with security guards, but there’s never anyone following him, at least not that I’ve seen. At the club, security is more cautious when the guys are there and, depending on the day, Rebecka calls some extra bodies to be around.

I made the mistake of looking at him and I saw that he was staring at me, with a wicked smile. He runs his tongue through his teeth and goosebumps run through my body. This man will be my downfall. As soon as the doors open, I quickly get out to get some fresh air. I just realized that Noah gets to me more than he should, and it fucking scares me.

We sat at the most private table in the place and placed our order. I look everywhere, except at him. I guess I’m afraid he’ll see that I’m crazy about him and he’ll turn me down, or worse, he’ll mock me, like away. If he’d mocked me 20 minutes ago, I’d be fine. I’d even have some fun with it. But, now, not anymore. Not coming from him.

“Is there a problem, Madison? You’re very quiet.”

I give him my best yellow smile.

“It’s nothing...”

“I want to thank you for the days you worked at the Courthouse. You’ve surprised me,” no, baby. You’re the one who surprised me!

“There’s no need to thank me. Like you said the other day, I was just doing my...”

He raises his hand, stopping me.

“Nevertheless. You could have made things difficult and made my life hell, but you didn’t. On the contrary, you were dedicated, and you brightened up my life in many ways,” he gives me a naughty wink. Okay, I’m tired of hiding it, just throw me over the table, tear my clothes off and go for it, Handsome.

“Thank you for everything, Noah. I loved working with you... all.”

He smiles. He disarms me. He devastates me... Fuck!

We finished our lunch and rushed to his appointment. On the way, while Noah was concentrating on his papers, my thoughts went to Cheryl, and this time I managed to smile at her victory. She deserves her Happily Ever After, we all do, by the way.

Harvard’s main auditorium was completely packed, I believe most people are law students wishing to admire the Honorable Judge Noah Lancaster. I was escorted to the front row and him, to the stage. As soon as he went up those steps, the whole place gave him a standing ovation. My heart overflowed with such pride.

First, the headmaster spoke briefly, handing the microphone to Noah, who began his amazing speech about the Society’s responsibility when combating violence. Two hours went by debating the role of each one in the fight against crime, against domestic violence, and the most intense section, gun control, Noah is a fierce advocate for it.

In the end, Noah was applauded by his conviction and commitment to society. I hadn’t seen someone speak with such passion about their work in a long time. Everyone wanted to shake his hand and take pictures with him, that’s when I finally understood why the bodyguards were there. I was sitting there, just watching from afar.

Sometime after he got off the stage, people were still around him. His gaze met mine and his smile warmed my heart. I greeted him from afar, only moving the mouth, to mimic ‘Congratulations’. Noah moved away from them and came towards me.

“Are you alright? Did they take good care of you?”

The team responsible for our visit, who was practically stalking us by the way, answered for me. My phone rang, at the same time, he started talking to someone, turning away from me, but still holding my finger. I answered Alyssa with excitement until...

“Madison? No way.”

I turn around and I’m the one in disbelief. Laurine, Frederick’s bitch cousin, the one I caught fucking him in our house. I hang up the phone without saying goodbye and let go of Noah’s hand. I try to stay calm, but my past comes flooding back to me, ruining my good mood.

“Laurine, how are you?” I uncomfortably ask.

“I am very well,” she shows me her wedding ring, “I married Dereck. He’s a lawyer here in Boston, working at one of the most important Law Firms around here.”

She managed to become even more ridiculous than before: wearing her blond hair like my Grandma, dressing like my mother, doing everything to cover up her dark past and her shameless character. A tall, thin and wobbly man comes towards us. Laurine says, “My dear, that’s Madison Harver. Madison, this is my husband, Dr. Dereck McRoy.”

“Nice to meet you,” I greet the poor guy.

“The pleasure is mine, Madison. Where do you know each other from?” he asks his wife.

“Remember that story I told you about my cousin Fred? About his fiancée freaking out? That’s her!” the bitch shamelessly says, pointing at me.

“I freaked out after I caught him cheating on me in our own bed,” I say, looking at bitch, who turns pale.

Then, she drops the bomb that ruined my day.

“Did you hear about your father? Oh, sorry, I forgot that you’ve been out of their lives. Well, your father had a heart attack about a month ago.”

Right then and there, my world begins to crumble. Noah turns to me and puts his arm around my waist, staring at me, worried.

“What’s wrong?” he asks. Then, he looks at the couple in front of me, turns to me and caresses my face with the back of his index finger, “You look pale…”

I close my eyes to gather myself.

“Noah, these are Laurine and her husband Dereck...”

“Dr. Dereck. He’s a lawyer in one of the best Laws Firms in Boston,” the skank interrupts me.

Her husband reaches out to Noah in awe. Derek looks at him as if he was a rock star.

“Your Honor Noah Lancaster. God, it’s an honor to meet you. I’ve been trying to participate in one of your lectures for quite some time now. I only got in today, at the last minute, because someone backed out.”

Noah squeezes his hand, smiles, and looks at me with curiosity.

“Laurine is my ex-fiancée’s cousin.” He doesn’t understand right away, so he stares at me as if he wanted more information. Then, he connects the dots and smiles. He kisses my head and tightens his grip around my waist.

Her husband doesn’t stop talking.

“The price for a table at the Ceremony is steep, still, Laurine and I talked and decided that it would be a good use of our savings. Still, the waiting list is huge.”

“We can fix that. After all, my wife’s friends are my friends too,” he signals the guy in charge of getting whatever Noah wants. Being rich is something else. “I want to put them on my table Saturday night.”

The guy gets embarrassed and says, “That’s impossible, Your Honor. Perhaps on a nearby table?”

Noah smiles.

“Yes, that would be fine. Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we still have a lot of appointments and we wish to get some rest. Nice to meet you.”

Noah takes me away before I could say goodbye, but I wanted to come back, I wanted to know more about my father. The tears start falling like a waterfall and, along with it, my self-control. Noah holds me close, the car comes out of nowhere to get us out of there. He sits beside me and holds me tight, as if he could protect me from what was going on.

“Madison, I need to know what’s going on, my angel. Please, Maddie, tell me.”

“M-my father...”

He holds me tight and runs his hand on my back, trying to calm me down. Little by little, my tears go away. Noah caresses my hair, kisses my head and waits until I’m in a condition to talk.

“Feeling better?” he asks.

I clean my face with the handkerchief he offers me.

“Thank you... and I’m sorry for the scene. Laurine told me that my father had a heart attack a while back,” at this point, I feel lost, and alone. I stare at the landscape that rushes quickly through the car window.

“Chris, I need information about someone.” I turn to Noah, who’s on the phone. “Since your team is faster than mine and you have good contacts, I need you to do it for me. I want to know about the health of Madison’s father,” he looks at me, “What’s his full name, Maddie?”

“Harry Harver.”

“Chris, Harry Harver. Ok. I owe you one, man.”

He hangs up and hold me tight.

“Thank you!”

“You don’t have to thank me,” he dries the remaining tears on my face, “I could never see a woman cry. And witnessing your sadness, Madison, made me desperate.”

We were silent the rest of the way, but he didn’t let go of my hand for even a minute. We went up to our rooms, I was heading toward mine, but he pulled me towards him.

“You’re not going to be alone, Madison,” Noah looks at his watch, “We still have over 2 hours before the dinner. Come on, let’s get some rest.”

We go into his room, and he takes off his suit jacket and opens his shirt. I look away from his body and take off my blazer, opening two buttons of my shirt and sitting on the bed. Noah comes towards me, wearing just his pants and my desire wakes up, screaming for him. I try to keep my cool and I grab the TV’s remote, but the movie that starts playing doesn’t help.

He pulls me by the hand and, when I stand up, Noah opens the remaining buttons of my shirt, throwing it aside and leaving me with only the top. He bends down, takes off my shoes, and kisses each one of my feet. Finally, he takes off my pants and puts them next to the shirt. He pulls the covers back, points me to lie down, then, he covers me.

He lies down beside me, but over the covers and puts a lock of hair behind my ear. His gestures aren’t sexual, which is a shame. His affection and care right now are messing with me, a lot, it’s making me feel things I didn’t want to, things I shouldn’t... As if he could hear my thoughts, he says:

“I want nothing more than to be inside of you. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything as much as I want that right now. But it wouldn’t be right, Red. You were shaken by the news about your father, and thankful that I spoke to Chris about it. I don’t want to take advantage of your fragile state and, much less, I want you to have sex with me only out of gratitude. If, after all this, you still want to be with me, I’ll be here waiting.”

“How can you be so perfect?” I trace his lips with my thumb.

“I really am, huh? My parents have a big part in this,” he says, laughing, “Rest up, my Princess.” His cell phone rings and he reach for it, “Talk to me, Chris. Yes. Okay. Could you repeat everything to her? Thanks brother.”

Noah hands me the phone.

“Hi, Chris...”

“Hi Princess. How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay...”

“Madison, your father had a mild heart attack two months ago. He underwent surgery, that was successful, and his recovery was impressive. He went home soon after, and the team that was caring for him said he’s alright, there were no complications.”

I let out my breath, feeling relieved, and the tears start flowing again.

“Thank You, Chris. I don’t know how I can repay you...” a hiccup escapes me.

“You just need to be okay and stop crying. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes...” How can this evil-faced man be so sweet?

“Noah will take care of you now. Take care, Princess.”

“Thank you. See you soon.”

I hang up and hand the cell phone back to Noah, who turns me around and hugs me from behind, wrapping his arm around my waist and kissing my hair.

“Now go to sleep, Madison. Get some rest.”

I’ve never felt so protected, so cared for. I don’t remember anyone doing something like this just for being my friend. I fell asleep with a thought in my mind: here, in Noah’s arms, I feel at home.

I wake up feeling wonderfully well and am gifted with the sight of Noah wrapped in the towel, with his hair wet, watching the view of the city. I could contemplate him forever. I get up, reach for my pants and put them on.

“I didn’t see you wake up. How are you feeling?” he asks, coming toward me.

“I’m good. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me,” I point to the door, awkwardly, “I’m gonna go, I have to get ready for the dinner.”

He looks at the phone and says, “You still have forty minutes.”

He comes over me, puts his arms around my waist, pulling me towards him. I automatically wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. I feel him, getting hard underneath the towel and it fires me up. Then, reality slaps me in the face. I move away from Noah.

“I’m so sorry, Noah. It’s just...”

“It’s just...?”

I turn around, with my things in my hands, and say, “You have a girlfriend...”

Noah glues his body to mine and his hands caresses me, making my body shiver and a groan comes out through my teeth. He kisses my neck, squeezes my breasts and my thoughts are increasingly illogical. He bites my earlobe and says in my ear, “There’s no more Carly. It’s just you and me, Red,” he slaps my butt, “Now, go get dressed. We’ll talk about it later.”