Madison swallowed nervously, her heart pounding as she hurriedly ran after Alvarez.
She silently prayed that whatever had him in such a mood, was not as bad as she had already begun to imagine, because a lot of different scenarios had already started to play out in her head.
Deciding to hear from Alvarez first before jumping into conclusions and giving herself a heart attack, she walked faster to get to him, and soon she sighted him.
He was just about to go into his bedroom, and she caught him on time.
"Alvarez!" She called out, making him pause in his steps, as he turned to look in her direction.
He frowned, a bit surprised to see her, she could see it in his countenance but that was the least of her worries now.
Already out of breath from racing so fast after him, she finally got to where he was standing, and exhaled in relief slowly.
"Madison... What's the matter? Did something happen in the kitchen?" He asked, panic already obvious on his face.
She shook her head quickly, "No, no, nothing happened." When he had visibly relaxed, she faced him fully and said again, "I'm here to see you."
"Me?" He frowned.
Madison shook her head, "Yes, I want to talk to you. I saw the look on your face when you walked through that door, and I immediately sensed that something was wrong. What's the problem? Talk to me...and don't even dare try to deny it too. I have a feeling that it has something to do with me and... Just talk to me Alvarez, and leave nothing out." She warned, ignoring her pounding heart and the voice in her head that kept telling her this was something really bad.
The fact that she still had the feeling that it had something to do with her, made her curiosity much worse.
No, there was no need to jump into conclusions, she chided herself. She needed to hear from him first. Maybe he was just having a bad day, and here she was being jumpy about everything.
Madison decided that she should be more supportive, after all she was his friend before she was his guest, but still he had to tell her what the matter was.
"Oh..." Alvarez finally replied after some time, bringing his hand to his forehead and rubbing hard on it, "It's nothing, Madison. Work was just really stressful today."
"Alvarez..." Madison said in a warning tone.
She had known Alvarez long enough to decipher and differentiate when he was telling the truth, and when he was lying.
And right now though, as she was clearly seeing, he was lying, and blatantly at that.
"Don't give me that. I know that's not it. Something's the matter, I can read it on your face. So please talk to me...I'm worried about you, really worried."
Sighing, Alvarez raked his fingers through his hair.
"It's Damien." He finally said after a few minutes, and she nearly reeled back.
Damien? Just as she'd feared, and now her breath caught in her throat as thoughts flew into her head.
No, no, no! She shouldn't panic, it could be something else, but what Alvarez said next was the last straw that broke the camel's back.
"He found out... about everything. As expected he isn't too happy about it. Apparently, pictures of us leaving that motel are all over the internet. I think he must have seen them there. We got into a huge disagreement at work this morning. He knows you're here, in my house. And he threatened to fire me if I don't have you out soon." When he finished, he let out a loud sigh adding, "But it's okay, you don't need to worry about anything."
He finished but Madison wasn't listening to the rest of his statement, or his assurance.
Instead she had her hands bunched around her chest as she stood still, a tear escaping her eyes and rolling down her cheeks.
This was the very thing she had feared...the very scenario she had dreaded, and it was all playing out right before her eyes.
Damien had found out she was staying here, and now she had gotten Alvarez into trouble.
The tears continued to fall uncontrollably and her hands shook violently, unable to stay still. She wondered if she was cursed. Maybe that was it, because she was yet to understand why she always became a problem to the people around her.
Alvarez had only tried to help her, and not get himself into trouble of any kind, but just see... She had also managed to put the one person who still cared about her in trouble, and that aside Madison knew within herself that she couldn't stay here anymore.
She had overstayed her welcome, and Damien's intrusion in the matter was a stark reminder to this deathly pull.
Taking a hand through her packed strawberry bun, Madison started to imagine what would happened if Alvarez was fired just like Damien had threatened, and she she shuddered from the thought.
His family...his pregnant wife and little Ivy. What would become of them? The fact that they would be trouble all because of her was too much to bear, and she let out a soft almost inaudible whimper.
No. She wouldn't let that happen. On no account could it come to that.
Trying her best to wipe her tears away she sniffed, clearing her throat, "Alvarez, I'm really sorry for putting you through so much trouble. I shouldn't have even called that day, I should have dealt with my problems. I should have known that something like this would happen. I'm truly sorry, it wasn't my intention. But I'll rectify that now." She said, trying to keep her voice steady and not let herself break down in tears again, but her voice was wobbly.
Alvarez waved away her comment, taking a step close to her and staring at her intently and with something akin to pity, "It's okay, Madison. You don't need to worry about any of that. Okay? I'll sort it out."
As Madison began to shake her head profusely, he placed a hand on her shoulder, steadying her as hr continued, "I understand why you're worried. But trust me, you don't need to think about any of that. I have never thought of you as a burden, and I never will. So please...I'll handle this and—"
"No!" Madison stopped him, cutting through his speech, and the pain in her voice evident, "No, no, no. The answer is no, Alvarez. No, not anymore..." She trailed off, her heart clenching, "I can't keep living like this."
"Madison please..."
She shook her head vehemently, "No." Unclenching her fists slowly, she looked up at him, "I'm leaving first thing tomorrow morning. I already put you in trouble, and I'd be damned before I let it happen again."
His face fell, and his disappointment was stark clear but she was not going g to change her mind.
"But Madison...what will you do? How will you take care of yourself? I can't let you just go out there not knowing if you'll be okay. Please don't do this to me."
"I called my mom earlier this afternoon." She said ignoring his talks, "We talked for a while and I explained the situation to her. After she listened, she promised to send me some money for food and a motel. That will do me for a while, I guess before I get my feets back."
Alvarez didn't look convinced but there was nothing he could do about it, "Are you sure about this?"
Madison nodded more confidently than she really was, when she was actually crumbling into tiny little pieces inside with the lies she was already spewing.
There was nothing she could say though and she was done letting Alvarez hang her on apron strings, getting him into trouble just because he wanted to help.
He had already done too much, and she would never forget that.
"What about the paparazzi?" He suddenly asked, "Your face is basically all over the media at the moment. Is it safe for you to be out there all on your own? Please think about this...at least if you're here I'd be able to keep an eye on you and make sure you're safe."
Madison had momentarily forgotten about the paparazzi, but she decided she would be able to handle it.
So shaking her head, looking at him defiantly with a small smile she said, "I'll be as discreet as possible. Stop worrying, Alvarez. You should know you can't protect me forever."
Alvarez swallowed, a pained look on his face, "What will you do then, when your money finishes?"
Madison shrugged even though she was feeling anything but indifferent, "It's New York, I'm sure I'll be able to find a few jobs, however menial. And if I work hard enough, I'd be able to save up enough money to pay for the dress and then they'd finally leave me alone. I would then save up and leave for London. Everything would work out well, I'm a tad bit positive."
Alvarez didn't look like he wholeheartedly agree with her, but he didn't comment. Instead, he reached out to squeeze her hand.
Madison forced another smile again, suddenly remembering something she had to ask.
"Could you maybe...talk to Damien for me?" Her heart squeezed as she said his name, but she ignored that brief tinge and swallowed a huge lump of saliva after it.
Alvarez frowned, "Why?"
"Just help me plead with him to give me a little more time to pay for the dress. Three weeks... four at most but before the next month I promise. I just need more time to work so I'd be able to clear the debt."
"You know you can always stay here, Madison. I still think you should stay..." Alvarez began, but she shook her head.
Finally he sighed and said obligingly, "Okay, I'll talk to him."
Madison smiled weakly, moving forward and widening her arms to embrace him, "Thank you..." She whispered, unable to stop the tears from falling this time, "Thank you...for everything. Thank you for all the trouble you had to go through, because of me."
He tightened his arms around her as he quietly patted her back, and as she pulled away, wiping her face, a voice rang from the kitchen.
"Honey, Madison, dinner's ready!"
Offering a sad smile, Madison faced him, "I think we should go."
"I need to take my bath, and get dressed. I'm sweaty and all..." Alvarez said with a small smile, and she nodded, walking away from him and back to the kitchen to continue helping us wife set the dining table.
All the while, as she walked she struggled to keep her tears at bay the entire time, trying her best to be strong.
She had to be strong.
.......
Damien settled down on an ottoman in his bedroom, reaching up to undo his tie.
He had just gotten back from work since he left this morning and he was exhausted, both physically and mentally.
As he took off his shoes, he first moved toward his wine cabinet, grabbing up one of the glasses and emptying some of the dry gin out of the bottle.
Raising it to his lips, he emptied some of it in his mouth, liking the feeling it gave as it burned his throat.
Placing the cup down on the drawer, he took off his shoes first and then his shirt. This done, he took another sip from his glass his mind wandering.
His mind went to Alvarez and he sighed. Through out the day he had been feeling guilty about everything that went on between them that morning, and he didn't anyone to tell him that he had gone too far by threatening to fire him.
It was a low blow, and it was uncalled for too, but But more he thought about Madison's involvement in all this, the more he decided that maybe he shouldn't feel so guilty after all.
Maybe Alvarez would come back to his senses after this confrontation. Because right now it was obvious that he wasn't thinking straight. So yes, he had no reason to feel so guilty.
Everything that he was doing, and everything going on was for the best.
After he had assured himself, wiping every other thought from his head, he walked to his drawer, swiftly opening the bottom and dipping his hand in for his pack of cigarettes.
As he started to withdraw his hand, his eyes flitted to a strange white paper turned over.
Flipping it over curiously, he sucked in a sharp breath immediately almost dropping the photo when she saw it was a picture collage of himself, Alvarez and Madison.
He should have know it was a picture of her, because he still had their photos together, treasuring every moment he spent with the only woman he had loved.
Now though with the events going on, pain squeezed in his chest as he continued to stare at the picture.
The three of them were all smiling, and he remembered the memory just like it was yesterday his thoughts wandering away...
Flashback, 2011... 11 years earlier.
"Maddie!" Damien tried his best to whisper, as he tossed another small pebble to her window.
When a few minutes passed and nothing happened, Alvarez tapped him, whispering, "I don't think she's coming today. I heard Mr Connor's voice earlier this morning when I came over to remind her. Maybe he didn't leave for his golf game after all."
Damien sighed, his face falling as he turned away with a scoff, "Let's go.. before someone sees us."
As they started to walk a few meters away, they heard the window open, "Were you two really going to leave without me? Tsk, tsk, tsk." Madison giggled, clambering out of the window, dropping down the house with the help of the trees nearby and apologizing for the delay.
Walking over to them, she hugged them in turn, blushing as Damien leaned in for a quick kiss.
"Let's go, let's go." She whispered and they all tried to giggle as quietly as possible, as they escaped or sneaked out rather from the backyard and down to the part of town where they usually met.
On the way they got ice cream, and talked while they thought of what they were going to do today.
"Hey!" Damien protested as Madison suddenly tossed a spoonful of cold ice cream at his face.
As he laughed, trying to wipe it away, Alvarez tossed another spoon at him moving backwards as he and Madison burst into a fit of laughter.
"Oh, the game is on," Damien smirked, scooping a handful and running after them as Madison squealed.
At the end of it all they were all covered in ice cream walking down the street.
Damien had his hand across Madison's shoulders though, licking of the creamy pudding from her face and sneaking kisses here and there while Alvarez jokingly mocked them.
"Ooh! Look at that! A photo booth." Madison squealed, gripping them both and before they could even say anything, she dragged them off toward the booth.
The attendant gave them a weird look seeing the way they were all scattered, looking jumbled at the same time but Madison didn't seem to care.
"We're literally covered in sugar, Maddie. Oh stop this!" Damien complained although he still stared at his girlfriend in admiration, the smile on her face adorable and making her look more then gorgeous at the same time.
"The fuck we are." She laughed, making them all sit down, "We'll take lots of photos and then compile them into one big one." Madison grinned.
After much persuasion, they finally took lots of pictures and his favorite picture was the one where Madison was licking the ice cream clean off the corner of his lips...
They had kissed passionately after, not caring about the looks from the photographer or Alvarez.
Lost in the love they had for each other, it was enough.
End of flashback... (Current day- Damien's bedroom.)
Damien struggled not to let the tears which burned at the back of his eyes fall.
He was stronger than that, he thought but as he continued to stare at the photo, pain shot through every fibre of his being and he let out a soft whimper.
All of a sudden he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist and he realized it was Kathrine, due to the scent of her heavy perfume he had become accustomed and instantly his muscles froze and his jaw ticked angrily.
What was she doing in his house, he wondered. And why hadn't he even noticed?
She was wet, he could feel the water drip from her body and it was evident that she had just stepped out of the shower and he was too lost in his thoughts to notice.
"Who are those people?" He heard Kathrine ask, and realizing that he still clutched the photo in his hand, he quickly put it away, tucking it away safely into the confines in his drawer.
"No one you have to worry about." He replied curtly, turning over to face her.
"Are those your friends? Or your distant family members? I've never seen any of those photos, can I see them?"
Damien gritted his teeth, and although he had no desire whatsoever to sleep with her tonight, he leaned forward, kissing her neck, wanting to take her mind of the photo, "I think there are other things we can do instead of asking questions."
When Kathrine's eyes lit up with desire and anticipation, he forced out a smile, and reaching out, he tore the towel wrapped around her off and tried to hide his irritation by leaning in for a kiss.
He carried her bridal style and gently placing her on the bed to which she responded by moaning and pulling her fingers in his hair, he took to work.
"My mother called some day before, she invited me over for dinner and personally requested that I bring you along." He told her, unzipping his pants quickly.
"Really? I'd loved to attend. I need to get close to that woman." She smiled widely even when Damien had no idea what that meant, and blushing she said again pulling him close, "Let's concentrate on here, right now."
Damien ripped out his pants, snaking his around around her waist, and in no time he began to pleasure her.
.......
Thanks for reading. 💕