The Unexpected Journey Part Two

Chapter 24

Maddie paused for a moment, thoughtful and introspective, before she looked up to Harry. "What do you think?"

Harry offered a smile of support and shrugged his shoulders. "I think this one is completely your decision."

Maddie nodded, having known he would say that. Chewing on the corner of her lip, she looked up to Isaac. "Who would do it?"

"Andrew Bradley," he answered without missing a beat. "We've had him on the inside before, he's very good, and I think the two of you think of him as a friend."

"We do," Harry spoke up as Maddie nodded her agreement. "Have you asked him?" He looked to Isaac, his thoughts drifting to the conversation he had with Andrew what felt like forever ago.

"I did," Isaac replied. "In a completely unofficial way, just to gauge his interest."

"And?" Maddie lifted her eyebrows, unaware of Harry holding his breath across the table.

"And," Isaac softened even further as he remembered. "He said he'd be honored, Ma'am, that if you wanted him to do it, he'd be honored to do it."

"Okay..." Maddie nodded, Harry let out a breath, his lips curling up into a smile. "Okay. I'm going to think about it a little bit, talk it over with my family. I'll get back to you?"

"Of course Ma'am."

"Now..." Maddie adjusted in her chair, sitting tall. "How about the official stuff?"

"Ma'am?"

"You know...work," Maddie waved her hand. "What do we have coming up?"

"Well," Isaac resisted the urge to look to Harry and instead met her gaze. "Your schedule is clear Ma'am."

"Clear?" Maddie blinked her eyes in confusion. "For how long?"

"Indefinitely."

"Indefinitely?" The tone of Maddie's voice shifted as she repeated his words. "That...isn't what we discussed. We were going to scale back..."

"And we have."

"We were going to scale back a little!" She retorted with a huff of breath. "I assumed I wouldn't have anything this week, but surely next week..."

"No Ma'am," Isaac held her gaze, held his ground, as he delivered the news he had known wouldn't be well received. "We've pushed pause on your engagements for the time being."

"We?!" Maddie could feel her skin flush warm and red as her eyes shifted across the table to her husband. "When you say 'we'..."

"This wasn't me," Harry was quick to shake his head, quick to throw his hands up in surrender, having known this was exactly how this would go down.

"Then who was it?" Maddie turned back to Isaac who was lucky enough to sit in the hot seat on this one.

"It was The King, Ma'am."

"The..." Maddie started her rebuff but her words trailed off. "The King?"

"Mmm," Isaac nodded. "And he was clear that if you wanted to...take the piss out of someone about it..." He couldn't help the curl of his lips as he quoted Charles. "I was to direct you right to him."

"To Charles," Maddie lifted her eyebrows.

"Yes Ma'am," Isaac smiled. "He said he'd be more than happy to discuss it with you."

As Maddie sat back in her chair, contemplating what Isaac had just said, she looked across the table at Harry who was chuckling to himself. "You think this is funny."