Chapter Thirty-Two
Madison
A full week had passed working without Max, and I was starting to think that perhaps he had done the right thing. He obviously didn’t want to be with me, or even work with me, and it made it easier to deal with if he wasn’t attached to my side. I didn’t get along with everyone as well as I did with Max, but I made an extra effort to at least try and become friends with them. I was determined to find friendship where I might not have before. Maybe I had just never gotten along with anyone because I hadn’t tried before. I didn’t have the need to find friends when I was with Max, but because of that, I had probably missed out on a lot of opportunities. I doubted I would ever get as close to anyone as I had with Max—I had learned my lesson there—but it would be nice to make more friends now that he was out of the picture.
I was sitting at the café with Thomas now. He was similar in age to me, and out of everyone in my team he was the one with the best sense of humor. Thomas, like Max, seemed to see me as just one of the guys, and I appreciated that. He also had a very serious girlfriend which meant that there was never going to be anything between us. That, too, made me happy. I’d spent the morning going over work with him and when he’d asked if I wanted to grab a coffee of coffee I’d said yes.
“I’ve got to say, Madison, I was surprised that you agreed to go for coffee with me,” he said as the waitress came by with our cups. I liked mine strong, but he had opted for the milkiest looking coffee I’d ever seen. I’d teased him about it and said that he might as well just heat up a cup of milk. I liked that I could tease him without him taking offense. I hated nothing more than having to watch my words in front of people.
“Surprised? Why? You know I love my coffee. And that coffee in the office is awful.”
He chuckled. “Well, yeah, I guess. But you don’t usually go out with coworkers. You’re normally all business.”
“What if I’ve come here because I want to talk business with you?”
“Are you?”
I laughed. “No. I’m definitely not here to talk business; I think we’ve done enough of that all week. I just thought it would be nice.”
“Well, it is. So, can I ask you a personal question?” he said.
“Already? Wow, you don’t mess around.”
“It’s not that personal. But I wanted to know what happened with Max. And I’m not the only person that’s dying to know. I’ve heard a few people ask. The two of you were so tight, and then suddenly you’re not even on the same team as him. Something must’ve happened.”
I sighed. I wasn’t surprised at the question. I was actually more surprised that it had taken a full week for someone to ask me about it. I knew that everyone wanted to know. I stared into my coffee cup, swirling the coffee around and trying to think of the right answer. How could I possibly explain that Max had once been into me, but had changed his mind and cut me out of his life? I wasn’t ready to get that personal with someone I hardly knew, no matter how nice Thomas was.
“I guess you heard that argument between us.” I cringed at the memory of me shouting at Max in front of everyone. It was so unlike me to air my dirty laundry like that in front of a crowd. I was sure that everyone had spoken about it for days afterward.
“Yeah. The whole office heard that. Out of everyone at the station, the last two people I would’ve ever expected to have an argument like that would be you and Max. I didn’t even think the two of you knew how to fight.”
“Same here. It was definitely our first one, and probably our last. And between you and me, I have no idea what happened. I guess he just got sick of being around me or something. The whole thing was pretty traumatic, and maybe he just wanted a clean cut.”
He frowned. “You don’t seem to really know why he doesn’t want to be partners, though.”
I shook my head. “I don’t.”
“Well, that’s frustrating.”
I laughed. “Tell me about it. I hate not knowing things. I guess he just . . . wanted a change.”
“His loss. Honestly, the two of you had something great going, and if he can’t see that, then he’s the one that I feel sorry for. And he’s moved to a department that’s so different from him. They’re a great group of guys, but they’re very different from Max. I don’t think he’s going to be happy there at all.”
I nodded. “I thought the same thing. But like you say, his loss. We have a great team, and he’s the one that is missing out on all of this.”
Surprisingly, I had a good time with Thomas. The two of us got along better than I thought we would. It wasn’t the same as it had been with Max, but it had potential. He was a nice guy, and very easy to be around, and I had a feeling we might actually become friends outside the workplace. I was glad that I had least given it a shot. I wasn’t going to mope around the office missing Max all day. He had made his choice, and I wasn’t going to let it get to me. I had also met Thomas’s girlfriend, and she was lovely. She was the type of woman I liked to be around because she wasn’t jealous or suspicious. She would have no problem with me going for coffee with Thomas because she would know that Thomas had eyes only for her.
“We should do this again,” Thomas said as we stood up to leave.
I smiled at him. “Yeah, I’d like that. And I’m sorry if I wasn’t, you know, approachable before.”
“Nah, you were. I just didn’t want to ever break up you and Max.”
“There’s no such thing as me and Max,” I said sadly.
As we got back to the station, the chief called me back into his office. He smiled when he saw me and told me to take a seat. He went to close the door behind him, and I wondered if everything was okay.
“Sorry about that. I took a small coffee break,” I said.
“With Thomas? Yeah, that’s fine. That’s good, Madison. I’m glad to see that you’ve made other friends here. People like you. They respect you.”
“They do?” I asked. That was news to me. I didn’t think people gave me much thought at all. I assumed I was just one of the numbers. And without Max, I was probably in their minds a lot less than before.
The chief chuckled. “Of course, they do. It baffles me that you don’t know that. Although I guess that’s what makes people like you. You don’t go around flaunting your popularity. And before you say anything, you are popular. In fact, the reason I’ve called you in is because I have some news for you.”
“News?” I asked. I was still feeling flushed from the compliments. It was always nice to be told by your boss that people liked you.
“I’d like you to head the new narcotics team,” he said and beamed at me.
“What? Are you serious?” That was a big responsibility and definitely something that I never thought I’d be asked to do. When I had first started as a cop, everyone had looked at me as if they couldn’t take me seriously. I was just a young girl who wanted to be like a boy, and I figured everyone would always see me that way. But the chief had asked me over all the men in the office, and I couldn’t help but feel like I had just accomplished something huge. I knew he wasn’t doing this because he felt sorry for me either. The chief only ever did something that he believed strongly in. It was one of the things that I loved most about him.
“Is that something you’d be interested in?” the chief asked.
“Are you kidding me? I would love nothing more than to do that. Yes, I am more than interested. I am so flattered. Thank you. That’s a huge honor.”
“I’m glad you said yes,” he said, and I couldn’t believe that he would even think I could’ve said no. “You’re perfect for the job. I honestly couldn’t think of anyone better than you. Now, I want us to do some major reshuffling here, which means I want you to put your team together.”
“I get to put the team together myself?” I said in excitement. The day was just getting better and better.
“Of course. I want you to make sure you have the right team. I can choose one for you, but it won’t be the same. I know you will make the right choices. So, give it some thought. I’ve organized a conference meeting for this afternoon. I know it’s soon, but I’d like us to get started as soon as possible. Does that give you enough time?”
“Absolutely. I’ll get right onto it.”
“Great, welcome on board, Madison. And I’ll see you this afternoon in the conference room.”
I made my way back to my desk, feeling elated at the news. I was so glad that something good was finally happening in my life. I needed this after everything I had been through. At least now I’d have something productive to do with my time. It wouldn’t take long for me to forget completely about Max Aarons. I sat down at my desk and got out a sheet of paper. I pulled up all the names of the staff on the computer and scrolled through them. It didn’t take me long to figure out exactly who I wanted on my team. I paused slightly when I got to Max’s name. I would’ve taken him in a heartbeat. He was perfect for this job. But he had made it clear that he didn’t to work with me, so I moved past him and continued to scroll through the names.
Just before four that afternoon, I made my way to the conference room. I frowned when I saw that Max was headed straight towards me and quickly hurried my step. He got to me before I had a chance to disappear into the room.
“Madi, could I have a few minutes of your time?”
“Sorry, Max. I’m about to go into a meeting.”
“Yeah, I’m going to be in the meeting too. I think we all are. But I just need five minutes.”
I shook my head. “I’m heading the meeting. So, I need to go in now.”
“You’re heading it?” he said. He seemed surprised, and I felt a moment of smugness take over me.
“I’m heading it,” I said and pushed past him before he had the chance to say anything else.
I waited until everyone was inside and stood at the front with the chief.
“Thanks for coming here today everyone,” the chief said. “Now, as some of you might know, we’ve decided to do a lot of reshuffling and restructuring here. So, with that in mind, I’d like you to meet the new Head of Narcotics, Madison Hayes.”
Everyone clapped and then laughed as I took a bow.
“I have asked Madison to put together her very own team, which is why she has called you all here today. Madison, if you’d like to take over.”
I stood up and said my hello to the team, and told them how much it meant for me to be in this position. I thanked the chief too for feeling like he could trust me. Then, I got out my notebook, and I began to read the names of my new team, asking them each to come up one by one. I saw Max standing at the back of the room, watching me, and I pretended not to see him.
“And our final team member is Thomas Leery,” I said and beamed at Thomas as he walked up to me. He gave me a high five, and we all chuckled. “And that’s it. Welcome aboard,” I said. I looked around the rest of the room and smiled. “The chief will be letting you know what other changes are ahead, but for now, this is the first new team, and I have a good feeling about it.”
I waited at the front of the room while everyone made their way out and I felt proud of myself for how I had handled everything. People kept coming up and congratulating me and telling me that I deserved to get the position. It was nice, and I felt happy again for the first time all week. When I saw that only Max was left in the room, I started to walk out, but he stopped me.
“Can we talk?” he said.
“I’m busy, Max.”
He nodded. “Well, congratulations. I think the chief did the right thing by choosing you. You’re definitely the right person for the job.”
“Thank you. He told me just this morning. I’m very happy.”
“Madi, can we talk?”
I sighed. “Go on. What do you have to say?”
“Can we . . . can we go for dinner?”
“What? No. You can talk now if you want to.”
“You’re distracted, and I know you have a million things to do right now. And I really need more time than just a few minutes. Please, can I take you for dinner?”
“Max, I don’t think so. You’re the one that chose to leave the department. Not me.”
“I know. But I didn’t mean I wanted us to stop being friends.”
“Oh yeah? Could’ve fooled me.”
“Come on, please, Madi. Just one dinner. And I promise you that if you’re not happy, you never have to see me again. But just one dinner.”
Not seeing Max wasn’t going to be easy. We might not have been in the same department, but we still worked near each other.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“I’m not going to stop asking you. I will ask you every single day until you say yes.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “God, you’re so annoying. Okay, fine, dinner. But something quick.”
“That’s fine. Something quick. I promise. I’ll pick you up at seven tomorrow.”
“No, I’ll meet you there,” I said. This was not a date, and I wanted to make that very clear.
“Okay. That’s fine,” he said. “I’ll text you the details.”