Maddie
Monday morning came and it was the same as every week, wake up, go to the BNB, cook breakfast, clean, go home, work in the office, have lunch, I didn't have clients on that particular Monday so I decided to head to Canadian Tire to pick up a few things for the BNB and studio. Walking through the isles I nearly ran right into someone. Typical me though shopping with my head busy thinking of what I'll do next. The thing was though I didn't nearly walk into just anyone, no it was Matt Davis again. Shy, I barely looked at him, I just kept my head down and quietly said sorry.
"Hey, it's Maddie , right?" Matt asked me.
"Uh, yeah, hi, I didn't think you would remember." I responded like an idiot.
"Of course, I remember you, I was actually going to call you tonight." Matt said
"Really? Why?" I couldn't help sounding shocked.
"I wanted to know what you are doing on Friday?" Matt asked
"Working." I answered still confused
"Well, do you think your boss would give you the night off so I could take you out to this charity event at the Roselawn?" Matt said while giving me that charming smile he has.
"Let me see (I paused trying to remember if I booked any clients in the evening or any events.) yup she'll give me the night off (I laughed at myself, Matt looked at me concerned for me) because I'm my own boss, I own a B&B and Photography studio." I tried to recover from the failed attempt at being funny.
"Oh ha ha, okay I'll pick you up at 6 here text me your address" Matt handed me a card with his number on it then walked away. I stood there shocked by what had happened. Matt just asked me out, Matt Davis just asked me out. I look around to see if someone is going to jump out and tell gotcha but I'm the only one in the aisle. I quickly finish my shopping so I can go home and check my schedule to be absolutely sure I don't have anything or anyone booked. Lucky for me I am wide open for Friday. The only problem now is surviving the week.
It's finally Friday and I wake up so excited. Head to the BNB to start my day the same as every day. Only today when I got home I headed to the shower. Then to my closet I know I have a cocktail dress in here somewhere. Finally, I found it in the very back. It's beautiful but simple just like me. I lay the dress on my bed then head into the bathroom, I put huge rollers in my hair to curl the bottom, I let them stay there to air dry while I look up nice eye makeup on YouTube. I hate all the tutorials and just do my best with a more natural look. I blow dry my hair to help it dry faster. I have one session to shoot then I have time to fix my hair and change.
Finally, time to leave, Matt is here to pick me up. He looks stunning. I still don't know why he asked me in comparison. I'm a one and he's an eleven but I'm grateful and excited. I'm feeling sexy in my dress, it's lime green on the inside with this vibrant blue on the outside. The neckline is this loose swoosh so not only do you see the green on the inside, you also see my cleavage. Up the left side is a slit right up to my mid thigh and it ruffles down the slit. When we arrived at Roselawn, the building was as beautiful as I remember. Matt takes my arm as we walk in. Inside everything is so elegant. All the decor is black and white, crisp and clean looking. All the tables have white table cloths, the chairs are covered in black with a white bow. The ceiling has crystals hanging from it. Even the centre pieces on the tables are stunning, they are these rustic looking lanterns with a wreath of white flowers around them. We find our table and take a seat.
"Can I get you a drink?" Matt asks
"Oh yes please, I'll have a glass of Riesling or a Coors light in the bottle." I reply, not sure what drinks will be available. I take a seat looking around the room. Matt returns with our drinks, it's a wine kind of event. We cheer and both take a drink.
"So, do you want to walk around? I hear the grounds are beautiful." Matt offers his hand to me. I take it and we walk outside through this beautiful garden which leads to a pathway and I quickly recognise it's the trail I take to my pond. We don't take the trail; we turn down a different path leading us to this gazebo. Matt sits and pulls me onto his lap.
"So, tell me Maddie what's a girl like you do on a Friday night normally?"
I giggle at his question; he doesn't even know what kind of girl I am. "Well I have a bad habit of working too much, but I'm trying to change that. Tell me Matt when you're not out at parties what are you doing?" I ask him, also implying I know who he is.
"Well normally something like this." Matt reaches up, grabs my face and pulls it to his, kissing me feverishly. After a few minutes of making out, I pull away to catch my breath. This is not something I do often. Before Matt could move in again I stood up and started walking again. We headed back inside for a refill and to sit for dinner. The food was amazing. They served a beautiful garden salad with fresh berries, delicious chicken breast full of flavour and a side of grilled vegetables. For dessert we had chocolate cake which Matt thought was cute to feed to me. Then licked the icing off my lips with a kiss. Things were going so well. Matt excused himself, I sat alone at the table, I decided after several minutes I would use this time to freshen up and use the bathroom. While in the stall two women came in talking so loudly it was hard not to listen to them.
"Oh my god, Matt Davis is such a good kisser." One woman says
"I can't believe you made out with him, he's like 30 and doesn't he have a date tonight?" another woman asks
"Yeah, but did you see her, Matt can do so much better." "And that's you"
The women laugh and leave the bathroom. I open the stall door, wash my hands then head to find Matt. What a slime ball, I should have known better, he does have a reputation. I head back to our table which he's of course not at, head out to the garden and find him in the exact position we were in just a few hours earlier.
"Are you freaking kidding me?" I yell at Matt, who stops kissing this girl to look at me.
"What? It's not like we're dating sweetie." Is his response.
"No, you're right we're not, but you did bring me here or did you forget that only a few hours ago I was sitting there with you." I'm so mad.
"Oh hunny, you didn't think he actually liked you, did you?" the bimbo on his lap says.
"I just wanted to think he was ready to improve his standards, but clearly I thought wrong." I reply with a smirk, looking her up and down. Matt finally stands up.
"Look Valerie"
"It's Maddie" I correct him
"Look Maddie , you and I are from completely different worlds. I felt bad at your party. I heard all you do is work. Like how fun even is that? So, I thought I would take you out and let you live a little." He continues
"So, what, I'm some sort of Charity to you?" I yell I'm livid now
"Exactly" Matt answers
"Fuck you!" I scream before storming away.
Fuming mad I storm off down the very familiar trail hoping to escape to my hidden pond. Maybe I can hide out long enough to be able to leave without seeing him again. As I turn onto the dirt road, I can hear someone following me. I really hope it's not anyone from the event. I kick off my heels as I run and start to sprint. Crap I think the person is on a bike. It's gaining on me. The bike pulls out around me stopping me in my tracks. My heart is pounding until I follow the bike to the rider to the face, the face of someone I know.
"Hey are you okay?" he asks
Still in shock of who he is and how he followed me I can't speak. I just nod yes slightly.
"Okay well, here's your shoes, I'm not going to hurt you, why do you look so shocked? And why are you running in the woods dressed like that?" he asks me and I don't know if I can talk. It's been years since we've seen each other, but I feel all the same feelings as when I left for school.
"Maddie, you do remember me, right?" he asks me while still holding my shoes. I shake my head to snap out of it. I grab my heels, put them back on then look at him.
"Sorry yes Tyler I remember you, very surprised to see you out here." I finally answered him.
"Me? You are aware you're out here in the woods in a gown and heels, right?" he replied with a smile while looking me up and down.
"Yeah about that, I was at Roselawn for an event, but I um had to get out of there." I say looking at the ground.
"So, you thought you'd come here into the woods?" Tyler seems confused
"Right, umm, kind of, there's this place out here I like to come to, it's hidden and perfect for thinking." I answer
"Well by all means, show me the way." He says moving out of the way and motioning me forward with his hand. I smile and do just as he asked, leading the way. As we walk, we start to catch up a bit. Talking about what we've been doing since grade 12. Tyler's been across the country working, no family, no girlfriend, no one to really hang out with. Here's the thing, remember how I used to have a massive crush on a boy named Tyler. Well that boy grew up and he is even more gorgeous now. His tousled brown hair, baby blue eyes, huge smile with perfect pearly whites. He still dresses the same with the loose fit jeans, large t-shirt, but it looks good on him. The more we talk the more I remember all the reasons I liked him.
"Um so it's just down this trail, well it's kind of a trail, what will you do with your bike?" I ask suddenly not wanting him to leave.
"No worries I'll stick it here in the bush, no one will even notice it. Are you going to be okay in those heels on this terrain?" he answers with a question as he does just as he said and lays his bike in the bush. I stop for a moment and remove my heels and leave them with his bike. We head down the trail when we reach the pond, I throw up my arms like I'm presenting the place to him. Tyler looks around, then hops up on the dock. I let him look around while I take my usual seat with my feet hanging over the edge. I wonder what Tyler was really doing out here and why he followed me. Also, why did he move home, when did he move home, why didn't he come to my party? And how does he not have a girlfriend? So deep in thought I jump when I hear Tyler's voice right next to me.
"so, do you want to talk about why you ran out on (looking me up and down) a formal event or do you just want to sit here? I'm not sure how this works."
"Oh, well, if you want to hear it. Matt Davis asked me out, do you know him? Well it turns out he's a huge dick that actually only uses his penis to think. He called me a charity case because all I do is work. I mean he's not wrong I have worked my ass off, but guess what I have two successful businesses that I created what does he have? Two successful doctors' checkups. (I am rambling because I am so mad) I should have known I should have realized before that people like him would never be into someone like me." Tyler cuts me off "what? Someone smart, talented, beautiful, hardworking, stops me anytime when I get to the right reason. Funny, caring, wild, incredible, cute when she's mad." I playfully push Tyler away from me. "Okay, point made, you can stop now." I say laughing.
"Maddie if he doesn't see how amazing you are then he's the loser. I've been back all of one day and I can already tell you're something special." Tyler tells me so sincerely. I can feel my cheek heating up. I can't take all the attention. I stand up, unzip my dress, wiggle out of it then run and jump into the pond. When I surface, I see Tyler standing now, staring at me.
"Come in the water is swimmable." I holler up to him without a second thought. Wading in the water watching as he undresses to his boxers and jumps in. my mind is instantly racing, I'm swimming in my bra and thong on and just invited my life long crush to join me. Before I have time to think any further Tyler surfaces right in front of me.
"You're still wild at heart, aren't you?" Tyler asks, I just smile and laugh.
"Some things never change." I answer, then splash him and swim towards the other side of the pond. I climb out to a set of rocks, look back at Tyler who is treading water, watching me intently to see what I'm doing. What am I doing? Clearly wanting to draw attention to myself. I walk to the edge of the rocks and cannonball in again. Splashing Tyler. I surface expecting him to be near me but he's not. I look around the pond searching for him.
"Up here." I hear Tyler's voice. I looked up to where I was just standing. There he is smiling at me. He turns around then does a backflip off the rock. When he surfaces, I swim over to him.
"Show off" I say laughing. We swam around each other for a while, no talking, just watching each other.
"Hey want to race back to the dock?" Tyler asks me with a sly smile. I swim closer to him, stretch my arms out towards him which he grabs to pull me closer. As soon as I'm close enough I push on his shoulders to dunk him under water then start swimming as fast as I can to the dock. I don't look back, don't even worry or think about where Tyler might be. I finally touch the dock, look around fully expecting Tyler to be there waiting, but he's not. I look around but don't see him. I pull myself out of the water to see better, where is he. I'm a little panicked and I start screaming his name. "TYLER, TYLER, fuck, where are you? TYLER" scanning the pond one more time about to scream his name, someone grabs my waist "BOO" I jump and squeal. I hear him laughing. I turn around and slap him.
"You scared me, I thought something happened to you."
Still laughing he replied "Nope I was just messing with you, but serves you right for cheating."
I cross my arms and fake pout, then sit on the edge of the dock again.
"For the record it wasn't funny."
Tyler sits beside me, leans towards me and whispers "For the record you're cute when you're scared too." I shake my head. Okay Ty time for some answers about tonight.
"Hey can I ask you something? Why were you following me tonight?"
"How do you know I was following you?" Tyler asks in return.
"Well technically I don't for sure, BUT no one ever comes here and the road's a dead end so ..." I just stare at him hoping he'll tell me. Tyler stares out at the pond while he answers "Well I like to come out here and ride my bike through the trails, reminds me of out west kind of. But then I saw this beautiful girl running into the woods in a gown and thought something might be wrong. Turns out I know the beautiful girl so I thought I would offer you some help. Is that a bad thing? I want to help you?"
Suddenly feeling very exposed, not just because I'm sitting here in my bra and thong but because all my old feelings, that natural flirting has come back in full force. Not looking at him I answer quietly
"No, I'm glad you helped. I'm having a way better time. I just didn't think anyone else knew about it out here that's all."
We continue to sit here looking out at the pond as the sun starts to set. Wait there is a way better place to watch the sun set. I stand up, Tyler looks at me and stands also. "Get dressed, I want to show you something." I say
We both are back in our clothes and I head back to the road, Tyler follows. I stop and grab my heels for the road. I lead him to a clearing where we can watch the sun set. The trees part perfectly exposing the sun as it fades away. As we walk to the clearing we don't talk, I keep trying to get a glimpse of him but every time I look at him, he is looking at me. We finally made it to the clearing. I take a deep breath as I take in the view.
"Isn't the picture perfect?" I ask, still staring at the sunset. Tyler answers from behind me "I always thought so."
Is he talking about me or the sunset? I'm not sure. I turn to look at him and he is smiling, I smile back. There it is again the shameless, mindless flirting. I turn back towards the sunset; Tyler comes to stand beside me. He asks "So what now?" as he rocks back and forth on the balls of his feet. I look at him surprised by the questions. What does he mean? Now? Nothing, now I go home and forget about tonight because the event sucked and this with Tyler was a dream and nothing more. It's not like anything will happen, nothing ever does. This is what we do, we flirt, we act like we could be something but then reality sets in and we go back to our separate lives. Tyler looks at me blankly. So, I finally answered. "So now we walk back, you get your bike and I call a cab."
I turn around to head back then stop suddenly realising I left my purse and phone in the ballroom. I don't have a flashlight. I turn to face Tyler "Can I use the flashlight on your phone? Mine is still in the ballroom."
Tyler reaches into his pocket, pulls out his phone "Yeah sure" he turns on the flashlight and hands it to me.
"What are you gonna do about your stuff?" Tyler asks me
"I know I'm not smart , I just wanted to get away from Matt and the entire scene. But now I guess I'll have to go back in there to get it." I answer, Tyler doesn't say anything, so I turn around and start walking out of the woods back to the road. Tyler follows just as when we came in, walking down the road I can't stand the silence again.
"Hey Tyler, remember when we played basketball together as kids? I always thought you were so good. Do you still play?"
"Oh yeah I remember that year, I also remember how aggressive you were, didn't you whip a boy to the ground fighting over the ball?" Tyler replies. Laughing as I remember the game. "oh yeah Jessie didn't we have to pause the game because he was crying?" We both laugh at the memory when Tyler answers my first question. "I play pick up now, nothing special. What about you?"
I make a face as I answer "Uh No . . . Well like I would shoot hoops but like I haven't played a game with a team in years."
We arrive at the spot where Tyler's bike is, I give Tyler his phone back. "Thanks for tonight, I had fun." I start walking back to the garden of the Roselawn.
"Hey Mads, wait up." Tyler hollers to me so I stop, turn around, he is jogging to catch up.
"Uh do you maybe want to dance?" he asks, not really making eye contact, which is okay because I'm sure my face is saying what the heck. All I can say is "Pardon?"
Tyler looks down at his phone, next thing I know this slow song starts playing, he turns up the volume then slides it back into his pocket and takes my hand pulling me in close. He wraps both hands around my waist. I wrap my arms around his neck and rest my head on his shoulder. I'm not sure what or why we are doing this, but I have to admit I like it. I feel like we are back in high school dancing like this. Just as I think it Tyler grabs one of my hands in his and now this feels more like adulting. However, his other hand reaches further around my waist pulling me in tighter, then moves lower and lower resting slightly on my ass. The song ends but I don't let go right away and neither does Tyler. Almost naturally at the same time we pull apart. I look up at him.
"Thank you, that was really sweet of you." I turn to walk away, not sure what else to do. I release his hand when he squeezes it, not letting me go. I stop, looking back at him then at our hands. He moves his fingers so they interlock with mine. Tyler pulls me with him as he heads to go get his bike. But because I'm me I need to know what's going on, so I ask.
"Ty, not that I'm complaining because I'm not, but what was/is all this?" I gesture to our hands. We keep walking hand in hand as he replies. "Because you deserve to be danced with. You look amazing and I thought it would be fun."
Blushing I turn to look into the night's darkness. Quietly I say "Thanks"
When we reach his bike, I realise he needs two hands in order to push the bike back, so I pull my hand away from his. He looks at me.
"you need both hands for your bike." I will explain my actions.
"Oh right, do you want me to walk you home?" Tyler asks quickly, his voice sounds a little desperate or concerned or something.
"Let's just get out of the woods first." I answer
We walk back to the road, Tyler walking beside me we reach the garden, I stop awkwardly
"So, I guess I'll see you around town now that you're back? I had a lot of fun tonight, thanks for listening." I say as I turn to head towards the building.
"Yeah so here's the thing Maddie , I don't think you should have to face Matt alone, let me go with you, then I'll leave you alone." Tyler says as he walks with me. I keep walking, not sure what I want, I definitely don't want him to leave, and it would be nice not to have to face Matt alone especially if he has some bimbo with him.
"Mads, did you hear me? Are you cool with that?"
"Oh uh, are you sure?"
"yeah I want to, you're in the gown already, and you deserve to be in there having fun."
"I know but I'm a mess, I was just going to sneak in and out so quickly."
Tyler is resilient, "Come on you look beautiful, let's go show Matt what he's missing."
"What the hell, I have nothing else to lose. Come on." I pull Tyler towards the door. He holds it open for me and we walk in, I speak directly in his ear as the music is blaring. "My table was right over there; my stuff should be there still."