Brooklyn - Steve Rogers X OC Spinoff

2 - Maddison

The restaurant was packed when Maddison arrived, it looked like somewhere that cost more for a meal than her rent. She suddenly regretted not taking Jackson up on his offer to pay for dinner. She already knew this place was going to blow her strict budget and eat away at her savings. But she had a plan, scan the menu for the cheapest item and get that, water to drink, dancing is free and head home to her beautiful baby girl.

Maddison was the 2nd coworker to arrive, Sarah and her wife Anna being the first. Sarah was already 1 cocktail in, Anna drinking what looked like a sparkling juice so she could drive the two home. "Anna, you look beautiful!" Maddison said when she saw her. Anna had on a gorgeous black dress, Sarah's was red. But Sarah always dressed up, Anna didn't. So she felt it necessary to make sure Anna knew how phenomenal she looked. Anna blushed, waving a hand to dismiss Maddison. But she ignored her, hugging her coworkers wife before taking her seat. "I'm serious, you look wonderful!" Maddison said again.

"Are you hitting on my wife, Maddie?" Sarah teased, winking at her friend. Sarah was one of the nurses on the Oncology ward at the hospital, and a damn good one at that. Maddison just hoped one day to be half the nurse Sarah was.

"Yes." Maddison teased, winking at Anna when they made eye contact.

"Get your own, Blake." Sarah joked, glaring a not so convincing look at Maddison. Everyone knew Maddison wasn't into women, she just liked to tease. And she loved to hype her fellow girl up when they looked like a snack, as Anna did tonight. Maddison just simply rolled her eyes at her, ordering a water when the waiter stopped by to check on them. She pretended not to notice the waiter scoff at her order, probably already assuming she'd be a terrible tipper. He wasn't wrong, she couldn't afford this place. She felt a little stupid that she was the one that suggested it, but her other coworkers had pushed her to suggest it to Emilia, so she did with the secret hopes that she'd refuse due to the price. She didn't.

Carlie, the nurse practitioner for the Oncology ward was next. Her and her husband Jake. Carlie wore a gorgeous deep blue dress while her husband wore a simple suit. Maddison made pleasant conversation with everyone while they waited for Janet and Emilia to arrive. Maddison was always the talker of the group, but it wasn't by choice. Being the receptionist it was kind of forced onto her. That was one of the reasons she was so ready to finish her Bachelors so she could get a job as one of the nurses, she wouldn't be forced to interact with every single person who walked through the door. She wouldn't be forced to be the extrovert of the group, or she hoped at least. Being a talker was exhausting to her, sure during the day it was nice, but at night when her social battery had worn out? She'd much rather be curled up on the floor with Charlotte while she read or watched mindless TV.

By the time Janet arrived, Sarah was already tipsy and so was Carlie. Maddison stuck to her water, ignoring the waiter being annoyed that she wouldn't order a cocktail. But she saw the menu, the cheapest drink aside from soda was like $12. And it sounded like it tasted awful, so more like $20 a drink if she wanted to enjoy it. Janet introduced the group to her boyfriend, Patrick. He was a sweet guy, he seemed good for Janet who was very introverted. Patrick balanced them out and immediately started conversations with everyone. But after a while, his focus shifted to only talking to Jake. They were rambling on about this season of hockey, or was it baseball? Maddison wasn't even sure. But she heard something about a coach and someone being too old to play another season and tuned them out.

Maddison's phone vibrated in her tiny clutch, making her pull it out to check it. The only people who contacted her was her coworkers, her mom and Scott and Jackson. So she had to make sure Charlotte was okay. Of course, it was Jackson. He had sent her a picture of Scott laying on the floor in only a pair of flannel pajama pants, Charlotte fast asleep on his chest while they watched the news. She knew Jackson turned that on as soon as Charlotte fell asleep, always way too considerate to change the channel from whatever Charlotte wanted to watch. Her spoiled girl already had those men wrapped around her little finger. Luckily so, they were the only men in her life. Maddison's dad walked out on her as a child, so she didn't have a grandpa. And Charlotte's dad walked out as soon as he heard about the positive pregnancy test.