Her First (7 page)

As he laid across his California king sized mattress layered in navy blue linen, Ethan decided to put his plan into effect. He planned on spending most of his free time with Madison. He sat up and picked up the phone from his nightstand and dialed her number. He laid on his back, waiting for her to answer.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hi, Sweetie.  Are you all settled in?” he asked her.

“I sure am. Actually, I was about to call you.”

“Perfect timing.” His stomach had butterflies.

“I need to move some of my stuff over there as soon as possible.”

“Your attitude sure changed quick.”

“I had some unexpected visitors
yesterday and let’s just say they convinced me you were right.”

“Good. How about this wee
kend? That’ll give you a few days to get your things together.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Ethan sat straight up in bed. “What are you wearing?”

Madison
laughed. “Don’t even try going there with me.”

“Now whose mind is in the gutter? I was only looking out for you.”

“Um huh. Tell me anything.”

Ethan
dropped the bass in his voice. “Did you miss me?”

He could hear her giggle and it turned him on.

“Did you miss me?”  Madison teased.

“Yes. I thought about your kisses and the way your body felt
undermine ALL DAY LONG.”

“Prove it.”

“Madison, don’t play. I’ll be over there before you can hang up the phone.” They both laughed.

“All you have to do is answer one question and you’ll be off the hook.”

Ethan smiled. “What dear?”

“What are you wearing?”

He sang, “I have my t-shirt and my boxers on.” Neither could stop laughing.

“I need to get some sleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“I knew you couldn’t hang. The t-shirt did it to you didn’t it?”

“No, it was imagining you in those boxers. Bye.” She hung up.

Ethan placed the phone on the nightstand, turned over, and went to bed with a smile on his face and his manhood at attention.

***

Madison showered and as she got dressed, she couldn’t stop singing one of Katy Perry's new songs. “This is going to be a great day,” she said as she grabbed her purse and laptop and headed out the door.

Traffic was much, much lighter than usual as she drove to work.  And today she seemed to make it without getting caught by a single red light so it only took her thirty minutes instead of the usual hour to get to her job.

Few people were in the office when she arrived. She went into the lunchroom and started the coffee pot to make a fresh pot of coffee.  While she waited, she attempted to get a health bar out of the vending machine, but it got caught on one of the claws and wouldn’t drop. She tried beating on the machine to release the bar.

“Do you need some help with that?”
Owen asked as he entered the lunchroom.

Frustrated,
Madison grunted and responded, “If you don’t mind. It took all of my change.”

Together they shoved the machine in different directions until the bar fell down.

Owen wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Girl, that better be the best bar you’ve ever eaten.”

“Thanks. I owe you one. I’ll treat you to lunch next week.”

She poured them both a cup of coffee and they walked to their desks.  Owen looked around the room. “I guess we’re the only ones here.”

Madison
looked at the clock. “It’s only seven thirty. People will start piling in here soon.”

Owen
acted as if he wanted to linger, but instead he said, “I have a report to finish before nine and I didn’t get all of the information I needed until last night.”

“I hate when that happens. Then they get upset when you don’t have it ready for their weekly meeting.”

“I know. When I win the lottery, everybody up here can kiss my...” He took his right hand and patted his right butt cheek as he walked away.

“
Owen, you don’t have it all,” she said out of his earshot.

Madison
went through her emails. She had an e-greeting from Ethan.  After opening it, she picked up the phone and dialed his office number.

“Hello,” he answered.

He barely got his words out before she blurted out, “You’re the sweetest man I know.”

“I see you got my email.”

“Yes and it made my day. I can meet you around one for lunch,” she responded to the question in his e-greeting.   She picked up her pen and doodled on her yellow steno pad.

“Okay.  I’ll swing by and pick you up.”

“Then I’ll see you a one o’clock.”

“Okay. Bye, Sweetie.”

“Bye.”

Madison
was still holding the phone with a glazed look in her eyes when Mya stopped by her desk.

“I remember those days,” Mya said, gazing off as if reminiscing.

“Oh. Hi Mya,” Madison said.

Mya sat on the edge of
Madison’s desk. “Owen told us about the ring.”

A smile crossed
Madison’s face. “I knew he couldn’t hold it for long.”

Mya reached for her hand so she could get a good view. “Girl, I know my diamonds, and
he spent a mint on this one.”

Madison
looked at her hand at different angles as the sparkle from her ring radiated. “You think so?”

“I know so.” Mya stood up. “I’m running late for a meeting, so I better go.”

After Mya walked away, Madison admired the ring Ethan had given her, and for the first time really felt as if she was actually married. 

Girl, you need to snap out of it. You’re beginning to believe the hype you’ve been dishing out.

The rest of the morning went by fast. Ethan met with his clients and sealed a multi-million dollar sale. Because of the signed contract he now possessed, North American Telecom would be handling all of the fast food chains phone communication in several states. His commission check for next month would be huge. He smiled as he drove to Madison’s job.

While waiting at a red light, he reached over to the passenger’s seat and took a CD out of its case. He was feeling upbeat, but he wanted to set a romantic mood when he picked her up. He put on the latest
Robin Thicke CD.

He picked up his cell phone and dialed her number.
Madison picked up on the second ring.  “Hi, I’m parked in the front,” he told her.

“I’ll be right down.
” She grabbed her purse and sprinted toward the elevator.  She couldn’t wait to see Ethan. After hanging up with her, he got out of his SUV and put his briefcase and some other items in the back seat. As he closed the back door, a beautiful petite woman with flowing blond hair walked over to him. He almost closed the door on his hand.

“
Ethan, fancy meeting you here,” she said.

Ethan
’s mouth stood wide open. “Sarah?”

“In the flesh.” She twirled so he could observe how her two-piece navy blue suit accented the curves of her body.

“What are you doing here?”

“I have an interview for a management position at a company in this building. What are you doing here?”

“I’m meeting someone for lunch.”

“Whoever she is, she’s one lucky lady.”

The last thing Ethan needed was for Madison to walk up and see him this close with one of his ex-girlfriends. “I’m the lucky one,” he commented. He glanced at the door several times to see if Madison was coming. “I don’t want to make you late for your interview.”

Sarah
winked. “Oh, I won’t be. I’m always early. Good thing too, or I would have missed seeing you.” She handed him a card. “Here’s my number if you ever want to catch up.”

“
Sarah, like I told you before, we don’t have anything else to talk about.”

“Oh but we do.” She looked down at her watch. “I’ll be in touch.”

Ethan watched her as she twisted towards the front door. She and Madison almost bumped into each other. Ethan let out a breath of air when he saw Madison smiling as she walked towards him. He gave her a tight hug.

“Hi, sexy,” he said as he held the door open for her.

“Hi yourself,” she said, being careful to pull her skirt down when she sat. After he was behind the driver’s seat pulling off, she continued to talk. “I couldn’t wait to get out here to see you.  I almost didn’t make it when this woman almost ran smack into me when I was coming out to meet you.”

“Really? You’re okay right?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m fine. Sad part about it, she didn’t even say excuse me.”

“Some people are rude like that.”

“Anyway, how did your meeting go?”

“Let’s just say, celebrations are in order.”

“Cool. That’s my man.”

“What would you like to eat for lunch?” He turned into what was known as restaurant row.

“So many choices. How about Outback Steakhouse?”

“Steak it is.”

After pulling into the parking lot, he found a spot near the door. Before getting out the vehicle, Madison commented, “I love this song. Is this his latest?”

“Yes, I picked it up last week.”

Ethan walked around and opened her door. “And you’re just now letting me know about it. Tsk. Tsk.”

As they walked towards the restaurant, he said, “I’ll make you a copy.”

“I want the original.” Madison batted her eyes at him as he opened the door.

“I’ll think about it.”

Before she could respond, a hostess spoke, “How many in your party?”

“Two,”
Ethan answered.

They followed one of the waiters to a table. As they sat,
Madison commented, “This place is still crowded. I thought by going to lunch at one, it wouldn’t be.”

“Seems like everybody else had the same idea.”

They enjoyed the rest of their lunch, taking time to flirt in between bites. On the ride back to Madison’s job, Ethan turned up the music.  As he drove, he watched Madison sway to the smooth sound of the music.

When he dropped her off, it was hard saying good-bye. They stood outside the passenger door. He cornered her in. “I wish you could play hooky for the rest of the day.”

Glazing into his eyes, Madison didn’t say anything, instead she took her hand and put it on the back of his neck and pulled his mouth onto hers. “That should hold you until tonight.”

Ethan
was left standing, watching her sashay into her office building. He re-adjusted his pants and got in his SUV.

Madison glanced at the clock. It was after six and she had been trying to decide on an outfit for at least an hour. She finally decided on a pair of red slacks, a white satin blouse, and a matching red jacket. She threw on her red pumps and made sure her Mac make-up was intact.

She was putting on her
lip gloss when the doorbell rang.

“I’m coming,” she yelled.

Ethan stood with a bouquet of red roses when she opened the door. “These are for you,” he said.

“Thanks. How lovely,” she said while taking them and smelling the fragrance.

“Red is your color,” Ethan said as they walked to the living room.

Madison
placed the roses in the center of her coffee table.  “These roses are perfect.”

“Just like you.”

She nervously laughed. “I wish.”

“Come here.”
Ethan wrapped his arms around her waist. “To me, you are.”

Madison
was nervous. She could feel the sweat under her armpits. “Hey, we better get going. My stomach’s been growling for the last hour.”

He hesitated before releasing his embrace. “I’m hungry too, but not for food.”

She picked up her keys and her mini-loop bag. “You can stand in that one spot if you want to, but food is calling my name.”

Ethan
followed her out the front door.

***

On the ride to the restaurant there was light conversation as The Oasis, a Dallas radio station, played in the background.  About fifteen minutes later they arrived at their destination.  For a weekday, the popular seafood restaurant was packed.  They were immediately seated, but had to wait a few minutes before a waitress came to their table to take their orders.

“Have you decided on what you want to order?”
Ethan asked.

Without looking up, she replied, “I should know what I want, since me and my friends come here all of the time.”

“I know. Frederick and I used to hang out here every Sunday after church.”

Madison
lowered her menu. “I bet y’all did.”

“What do you mean by that?”
Ethan asked trying to sound innocent.

“Everybody knows that Friday nights and Sunday evenings, men and women come to scout out the opposite sex.”

“Is that why you and your friends hung out here?”

“Of course.”
Madison grinned and lifted the menu to hide her face.

Before
Ethan could retort, a waitress stopped at the table. “Would you like to order an appetizer first?”

Ethan
looked in Madison’s direction. She put her menu down and ordered. “I would like the Blackened Oyster and Shrimp Fondeaux.”

“Good choice,” the waitress responded. “And you sir?”

“I’ll have an order of your Louisiana Seafood Gumbo,” Ethan ordered.

After writing down
Ethan’s order the waitress asked, “Would you like to order your dinner now or do you need a few more minutes?”

Ethan
and Madison said in unison, “I’m ready.”

They all chuckled.
Ethan spoke first. “Ladies first.”

Madison
picked up her menu. “For dinner, I would like the Shrimp Etoufee, and can you bring some extra garlic bread?”

“I sure can,” the waitress cheerfully said before looking in
Ethan’s direction.

“I’ll have what the lady is having and can you bring us a picture of iced tea?” he said.

“Your tea and appetizers will be right out.”

They handed their menus to her. After the waitress walked away,
Madison stated, “I told you I was hungry.”

Ethan
laughed. “Yes, you did. I thought I could put away some food.”

“I need to go to the ladies’ room. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be right here.”

The waitress brought the appetizers and tea out while
Madison was gone. Ethan was busy looking in the direction of the restroom and was caught off guard when someone came up behind him and put their hands over his eyes.

“Guess who?” asked a familiar voice.

Ethan removed a soft pair of ladies hands from his eyes.  Sarah walked around and took a seat at the table. “We have to stop meeting like this.”

“I’m on a date, so you might want to remove yourself from that chair.”

“Oh, I saw your date. That’s the same lady I saw earlier at the place I interviewed.  I should have known when she almost ran into me without even bothering to say excuse me that she was racing out to see you.”

Ethan
glanced in the direction of the ladies’ room. “She’ll be back in a minute, so please leave.”

“Not without a proper introduction I won’t.”

“Sarah, why are you doing this? I’m beginning to think I’m being stalked.”

“No, I’m not stalking you,” she laughed. “You’re full of yourself aren’t you?”

Ethan moved around in his chair. “Either you leave now or I’ll have them escort you out of here.”

Sarah
shook her head. “You wouldn’t want to make a scene would you?”

Irritated,
Ethan responded, “I want you to leave me the hell alone.”

Sarah
stood up, reached in her purse and dropped an envelope on the table. “When you get a chance, take a look at these. Trust me, you’ll be calling me.” She bent down and kissed him on the cheek. “Tah. Tah.”

She walked away as
Madison was walking back towards the table.

Before
Ethan could say anything, Madison asked as she sat, “Who was that woman I saw kissing you on the cheek?”

Ethan
stuttered, “She was no one.”

Madison
had a concerned look on her face. “Really now?”

“She’s someone I dated in the past.”

“She looks familiar too,” she said with a puzzled look on her face.

“She has one of those faces,”
Ethan stated as he lifted the hot gumbo to his mouth.

“This is bitter,”
Madison commented before opening two packages of Equal and adding it to her tea. She took another sip. “Now that’s better.”

“I’m surprised you’re dropping the subject without asking questions,”
Ethan commented.

Madison
took a bite of her appetizer. In between bites, she responded, “I’m waiting to see if you’ll willingly volunteer additional information.”

“She’s not worth discussing.”

She wiped her mouth with her napkin. “I hear you.”

“Seriously.”

The waitress brought out their food. “I can take those if you’re through.”

“Put this in a to-go plate if you don’t mind,”
Madison said.

“Okay,” the waitress said as she took her half-eaten plate.

The waitress placed the main course in front of them.

Madison
could tell Ethan was doing his best to avoid making eye contact with her.
Ethan is acting guilty about something,
she thought.  
It’s more going on here. I’ll give him until the end of the night to tell me about that woman.

Madison
tried to ignore the dryness of her and Ethan’s conversation as her patience wore thin. She couldn’t enjoy her meal. “Ethan. You have two minutes to tell me who she was or I’ll leave you sitting here by yourself.”

“And how would you get home?” he replied.

“Oh, it’s like that.” Madison stood up.

“Sit,”
Ethan demanded as some of the restaurant patrons sitting next to them looked on. “Please.”

She sat and tapped her fingers on the table. “I’m waiting.”

Ethan reached across the table for her hands. She ignored his gesture. “Where should I start?”

“The beginning,” she remarked as she crossed her arms.

“To make a long story short, Sarah and I dated for about two years. I was blinded by lust for a minute. My family and friends saw right through her from day one. She was a drama queen to the fifth power.”

“And what else?”

He took a drink of tea before continuing. “She tried her best to manipulate me into buying her everything she could get her hands on.”

“Did it work?”

“At first it did, because I wanted her to be happy. After awhile, it became draining emotionally and financially.”

“I can imagine.”

“She stayed in the stores so much that I felt like I had stock in the galleria.  But anyway, that’s not what broke us up.”

“It sounds like enough to me,”
Madison said rolling her eyes, not at Ethan, at the situation.

“What broke us up is the way she treated people and her dishonesty. In my face, she would pretend to be sweet, but behind my back, she’d say nasty things to my family and friends. When Frederick told me how she acted towards him, I thought he was jealous, but then I began to see things for myself.”

“Wow. She sounds like a character."

“I began having suspicions that I wasn’t the only one in her life when she went from calling me all of the time to only calling me when she needed some money.”

“A red flag,” Madison sarcastically said.

Ethan
ignored her comment. “I didn’t get proof she was seeing someone else until after we broke up and I got my credit card bill.”

“Bomber,”
Madison threw in there, shaking her head.

“You’re really not making this easy for me.”

Madison sat her glass down and looked him directly in the eyes. “Why should I?”

“Touché. My suspicions and her attitude were enough for me to end the relationship. She cried, begged and even lied and told me she was pregnant to stop me from ending the relationship.”

“She had some serious issues.”

“And she still does.”

Madison paused for a moment as Ethan awaited her response.  “Thanks for telling me everything. I’m sure it was hard.”

Ethan
smiled and felt relieved. “It wasn’t hard. I just like leaving the past in the past.”

The waitress came over and gave them empty cartoons to put their uneaten food into.
Ethan paid for their meal. When they were getting ready to leave, the waitress came up behind them.

“Sir, you left this envelope on the table.” She handed him a small brown envelope.

“Thanks. I forgot all about it.” He took it and put it in his jacket pocket.

“What is it?”
Madison asked.

“Nothing. It’s something I need to look at later.”

Madison didn’t say a word. She walked out the door, with Ethan right behind her.