Her First (21 page)

Later that afternoon, Charlotte and Madison sat in her living room talking. Charlotte laughed at Madison’s reenactment of the day’s events.

“Girl, she could say you tried to run her over,” Charlotte informed
Madison.

“I wish she would.”
Madison curled her legs up under her.

“So she never came back to work?”

“Nope. I was waiting on her too. I’m not through with her yet.”

“Slow your roll. Your issue is with
Ethan. You can’t be mad at her because it was not her place to tell you.”

“Whose side are you on anyway?”

“Yours of course. As much as I would love to see a woman like that get what’s coming to her, you need to channel your energy on getting things straight with Ethan.”

“I’m the one who was lied to and here you are taking up for him.”

“I’m your best friend and when have you known me to lie to you?”

“There was this one time, when I asked you about my black sequined sling back pumps.”

Charlotte laughed. “Other than that?”

“I don’t remember.”

After getting Madison to laugh, Charlotte continued, “Ethan lied to you. But he also tried to protect you. He’s not even sure if the child is his.”

“How do you know?”

“Let’s just say a little birdie told me.”

“Frederick?”

“I promised I wouldn’t say, but trust me. Ethan is as torn about this thing as you are. Call him. Talk to him.”

Madison
leaned her head back and sighed. “I can’t. I’m afraid I won’t be able to get pass this if Christopher ends up being his.”

“Do you love him?”

“Yes.”

“Then make a way.”

“I can’t.”

“You can’t or you won’t?” Charlotte asked.

Madison held her head down and closed her eyes.

***

Ethan was working up a sweat in his home gym when his phone rang.

“Hello,” he said out of breath.

“Hi, Ethan, this is Adrienne. May I speak with Madison?” she asked.

Taking his towel and wiping the sweat from his face, he responded, “She’s not here.”

“Do you know when she’ll be in?”

“You need to call her on her cell.”

“Anything wrong?”

“I suggest you speak with
Madison. I don’t mean to be rude, Adrienne, but I was in the middle of a workout.”

“I understand. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Sure,” he said before hanging up.

I’m not going to be the one to tell your family we’re not together,
he thought in his head.
How long will your little charade work now?

He frowned because he knew how important it was for
Madison to save face with her family.  He left his workout room and went and took a shower. While in the shower, he thought of a way to get Madison back. 
If she would only talk to me, I know I can get her to see things my way.

He dried off. After putting on a pair of boxers, he picked up the phone and dialed Frederick’s number.

“Freddie, I need your help,” he said after Frederick answered the phone.

“Your wish is my command,” Frederick responded.

He talked over his strategy with Frederick and felt much better after speaking with him. He knew it would be hard to convince Madison to forgive him, but with Frederick’s help, and he hoped Charlotte’s, his plan might work.

***

“Who was that?” Madison asked Charlotte after she had just ended a phone call.

“That was Frederick,” Charlotte answered truthfully.

“He sure had a lot to talk about. Could it have waited until you left?”

Charlotte smiled. “No, it was important.”

“I’ve done it again,” Madison stated before going on. “I’ve been so wrapped up in my own drama that I didn’t even ask you how things were going with you two.”

“We’re only friends.”

“That’s what your mouth says.”

“I don’t think Frederick is ready for all of this,” Charlotte joked as she framed her body with her hands.

“I see.”

Madison
’s cell phone rang. “Girl, let me see who this is.” She looked at the display. “It’s Adrienne. I’ll call her back from the house phone.”

Charlotte stood to leave. “Let me go. I need to make one stop before going home.”

“Thanks, girl,” Madison said as she walked her to the door, hugged her and locked it behind her.

She dialed Adrienne’s number. Adrienne picked up on the first ring saying, “Girl, where have you been?”

“Hello to you too, big sis,” Madison replied with a chuckle.

“I called you, and
Ethan told me I needed to call you on your cell.”

Madison
curled up on the couch, turned the TV on and pressed the mute button while flipping stations. “We’re no longer together.”

Sounding shocked, Adrienne asked, “What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Do I need to go over and give him a piece of my mind?”

Madison imagined Adrienne confronting Ethan. “No. I can handle it.”

“Running away from your problems is no way of handling anything.”

“It’s how I choose to deal with it.”

“I told you rushing off to get married was a bad idea. Girl, marriage is serious. You can’t up and leave the first time you have a fight. Whatever the problem is, you need to face it head on.”

“How can I?” Madison asked.

“Take it from somebody who’s been married over ten years.” 
Madison started crying as Adrienne continued to talk. “I remember when Edward and I had our first big fight. I packed my bags and was about to move back home, but Mama convinced me to stick it out. I’m glad I did. I know I might fuss and complain, but there’s no other man out there like my Edward. I see how Ethan looks at you. He has that same kind of love.”

“I wish…”
Madison couldn’t finish because of the tears.

“What sweetie?”

Madison almost confessed to her fake marriage, but couldn’t. “I wish it was that easy.”

“I’m here if you need to talk. Call Pam. She was concerned about you too.”

“I will.”

“Love you, girl.”

“I love you too,” Madison said before they hung up. She dialed Pam’s number and Louis answered the phone. “Is Pam still up?”

“She sure is,” Louis said as she took the phone away from his ear.  “Honey,
Madison’s on the phone.” He then placed the phone back to his ear and asked, “You alright over there? Your sisters have been on the phone all night talking about you.”

“That’s what I feared. Tell her to hurry up or I’ll have to talk to her later.”

“Here she is,” Louis said.

“Girl, what’s going on?” Pam said after taking the phone from Louis.

“It’s bad, Pam. I found out something about Ethan and I don’t know if we’ll be able to get past the lies.”

“Hold on,
Madison. Let me go downstairs so we can talk in private.”

Madison
could imagine Louis listening to their conversation. She loved her brother-in-law, but he was as nosy as they come. He was almost as nosy as Owen. The thought made her chuckle.

“I’m back,” Pam said.

“Girl, before I boggle you down with my issues, did you ever confront Louis with your suspicions?”

Pam whispered, “No. I found out he’s been so secretive because he’s planning a Hawaiian vacation as a surprise for me for our anniversary that’s coming up.”

“Wow, that’s great news. I’m glad he wasn’t creeping.”

“You and me both. I feel like a fool for having the thought cross my mind in the first place.”

“Men will do it to you.”

“Yes they will. Now back to you. I’m all ears.”

Madison told Pam more details about what happened. Some things she failed to mention. She left out the comments Ethan made to her about being deceitful herself though. “Now you have it,” Madison said.

“You need to talk to him and get his side of the story.”

“I heard what he had to say.”

“When
Madison gets upset, she says what she has to say and tunes out the rest.”

“You know me don’t you?”

“All your life.”

She hung up with Pam. She dialed
Ethan’s number, but put the phone on the cradle before the first ring.

I’m not ready yet,
she thought as she turned the TV off and went to bed.

When Ethan walked into his office, he was startled to see the back of a woman’s head sitting in a chair across from his desk.

Sarah
turned around and Ethan shouted, “What the hell?”

“Good morning to you too,” she said.

He walked to his desk and picked up the phone. “You have one minute to get out or I’ll be calling security.”

She stood up. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you or else everybody in this office will know your business.”

“Sarah, I could care less at this point.”

“If you don’t want me to file charges against your wife, you won’t do it.”

He hung the phone up. “I’m giving you five minutes.”

“Did she tell you about our confrontation?”

“Yes.”

Sarah
smiled. “You’re lying.”

“Four minutes.”

“I have to hand it to your wife, she’s got some backbone. She had the nerve to threaten me.”

“With due reason I’m sure.”

“I came over here so that we can work out a deal.”

“You and your lame ideas.”

She stood and waved her hand around. “See, if you agree to my terms, I’ll make sure I don’t press charges against your wife for trying to run over me.”

Ethan
laughed. “Now I know you’re out of your mind. Madison wouldn’t do something like that.”

“I have witnesses. So I’ll have my lawyer draw up some papers,” she said as she turned around to head out of the door. 

But before she could reach the door Ethan said, “Sarah.”

“Yes.” Her hair swung over her shoulders as she stopped and turned around.

“Go to hell.”

Sarah
turned her nose up, and walked rapidly out of the room, bumping into Joyce.

“What was she doing here?” Joyce asked with an attitude.

“You don’t even want to know. Hold my calls. This is going to be a long day.”

***

Madison kept a low profile while at work. She re-read the memo she wrote the day before. She printed it off and was on her way to the copier when she saw Sarah walking through the door. She glanced at her watch and thought,
It’s after ten and here she comes strolling in like she owns the world. 
She pretended that she didn’t see Sarah, but to no avail.

“We need to talk,”
Sarah stated.

“I said what I had to say yesterday,”
Madison said flatly as she kept walking. Sarah came up behind her and put her hand on her shoulder. Madison jerked back. “Don’t you ever put your hands on me.”

People began staring.
Sarah tried to talk low.  “We’re both professionals and we don’t need everybody in our business.”

“You don’t want everybody to know you’re a lying trifling b-”
Madison said loudly.

Owen
pulled Madison to the side. “Girl, calm down. You’re making a scene and this is so unlike you.”

“Move,
Owen, I’m just getting started up in here,” Madison said.

“No,
Madison you don’t want to do this,” Owen assured her as he took her by the arm.  They began walking away. Madison could hear Sarah say something in the background.  She turned around and sneered at Sarah. She and Owen continued to walk away. Sarah ran up behind her. Before Owen or anyone else could intervene, Madison did a karate move. She grabbed Sarah’s hand when she placed it on her shoulder and flipped her to the floor.

“I’d advise you to keep your hands to yourself the next time,”
Madison said after brushing her hands together.

Sarah
was about to launch at Madison, but Owen stood between them and said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Onlookers gawked but didn’t try to control the situation.

“Come on, Owen. I’ve had enough of this cow,” Madison said.

As they walked away,
Sarah yelled, “Go ahead and walk. You can run, but you can’t hide the fact your husband is my baby’s daddy.”

Madison
refused to cry in front of Owen or anyone else. She pretended she didn’t hear Sarah. As soon as they got outside in the hallway near the elevator, Owen put his arms around Madison and hugged her. She couldn’t control the tears and they streamed down her face.

“Maybe you should take the rest of the day off,”
Owen suggested.

“I don’t know,” she hesitated.

“Our manager is out of the office today, so it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll cover your accounts.”

“Thanks, you’re a godsend.” She gave him a tight hug and released him.

“I’ll go get your stuff and meet you downstairs,” Owen said.

“I won’t be able to show my face here again,” she said in between sniffles.

“You can and you will.  Now pull yourself together, girl,” he said after punching the down button on the elevator.

She dried her face and when the elevator opened up, she stepped on. Just as the elevator door was about to close she stuck her hand out and stopped it.  “
Owen?” she called out to him. 

When he turned around he looked into the apologetic and grateful eyes of
Madison and before she could start her spiel, let alone finish it he said, “Don’t even mention it.”  With a wink he gave her a reassuring smile as the elevator door closed.

***

Ethan listened to his cell phone messages. He was relieved to hear that the doctor’s office had called. He dialed Joyce’s extension and when she picked up he said, “Joyce, the results are in.”

Before he could hang up with her, she was in his office. “What did he say?” Joyce asked.

“I haven’t called him back yet.”

Joyce ran and closed the door. She walked back over to the desk and pressed the speaker button on the phone. “Dial the number, because I’m just as anxious as you are.”

Ethan pulled a card out of his wallet and dialed the numbers.

“This is
Ethan Campbell returning your call. Your message said our test results were in,” he said to the nurse who had answered the phone.

The nurse put him on hold. Joyce paced in front of the desk.  He looked at her and said, “You’re making me nervous.”

“Sorry,” she said as she stopped and took a seat.

“Mr.
Campbell, can you come into the office tomorrow?” the nurse asked.  “We’ll be able to give you the results then.”

Disappointed,
Ethan asked, “Is there any way you can give me the results over the phone?”

“For something like this, the doctor likes to talk to the party, or parties, involved in person.”

“What about this evening?”

“The doctor has surgery and has cancelled all of his evening appointments.”

Feeling dejected, Ethan said, “Tomorrow’s fine. Give me your earliest appointment.”

He was placed on hold again. Joyce remained quiet.

“Mr. Campbell, we can see you at eleven o‘clock tomorrow morning,” the nurse said.

“I’ll be there. Thanks.”  The phone disconnected and he looked at Joyce. “What do you think?”

“It’s going to be a long night,” Joyce sighed.

He placed his hands behind the back of his head and leaned back in his chair. “Tell me about it. Maybe once this is resolved, I’ll be able to fix things with
Madison.”

“Have you talked to her?”

“Nope. She’s not returning my calls, so I decided to go to plan B.”

“What’s plan B?” Joyce stood up and asked.

“I don’t know. I’m still trying to figure out plan A.” A half-smile crossed his face.