Martijn
I nearly sprint back to the hotel room on streets illuminated by lamps at each corner. It's late. It must be nearly midnight. All traces of my sadness are gone. I don't need any girl who sleeps around and tries to get with multiple guys at once.
I shove the key card into its slot and the tab above the door blinks green. I shove the door open, almost tripping, and flip on the lights on the wall that my hand rams into.
Empty.
How? is my first thought, followed by a feeling of sheer panic shooting up from my feet to my heart.
Where is she? "Madi?" I call, slamming the door behind me. She's probably just in the bathroom.
I walk into the bedroom and knock on the closed bathroom door. No answer. I push it open. Empty.
I almost ransack the apartment, checking everywhere, making sure she isn't just hiding somewhere, waiting to scare me.
Shit. Shitshitshit. It's late, too, later than I thought. Twelve thirty. And she's in a country she's never been to before.
I tug my phone from my pocket, momentarily distracted by several texts and even a missed call from Elise.
"Martijn, please call me. You have no idea how sorry I am about what happened. I was going through a hard time"
This text is preceded by several of a similar caliber, and I simply text back "If dating me was the "hard time," then I completely understand."
I swipe back on the screen to find text messages between Madi and I. We haven't texted since our first kiss. My hand drops slackly with my phone in it, my thoughts clouded by that memory, by the feeling I had when I kissed her for the first time.
I had wanted to do it for so long. She was just so... attractive, and I was drawn to her like a magnet. I wanted to see what it would feel like to kiss a girl like her.
When it finally happened, it felt like what it would be like trying to kiss a flame. Absolutely electrifying. And I wasn't satisfied by the one kiss. I thought I would be, but I never was. I just wanted to keep kissing her and kissing her.
I'm brought back to the present by my phone buzzing. I grasp it tighter, peering at the screen, hoping so hard...
It's just Elise again. "Please, Martijn."
She's just trying to get my attention. I swipe back to my texts with Madi and quickly type in Dutch "Hey Mad Dog, I got home and haven't seen you, are you okay? I can come get you if you need me to. I'm really sorry for ditching you at Spinnin. Please just let me know if you're alright."
As soon as I send it, I kick myself. Dutch, Martijn, really? I retype the text in English and send it.
I glance at the clock on the wall even though I'm clutching my phone in my hand. Twelve thirty-five. Time is passing so slowly.
I feel panic rise inside me again, and I resist the urge to check the hotel room again for her.
In a sudden moment of genius, I grab my wallet and sprint out of the room, slamming the door behind me. I race down the stairs when the elevator doesn't come immediately, and speed over to the front desk.
"Hey," I begin in English, and the man behind the desk frowns at the foreign greeting, tapping his coworker. "I mean -" I stammer in Dutch. "I speak Dutch, sorry. Do you have any rooms for message 377?"
The man chuckles. "For a native speaker, you don't have great vocabulary."
I almost growl at him. "You know what I mean. It's urgent."
The man clicks through his computer for a moment before looking at me again. "I don't have anything for you, Mr. Johnson. I'm sorry."
I roll my eyes as he calls me Madi's last name. "Okay, thank you. Please let me know if you get anything."
The man nods politely. "Good ni-"
"Whatever," I mutter, stomping towards the stairs.
I call it and pull out my phone, tapping Madi's name and then Call before holding it up to my ear. It rings and rings, and eventually I hear a very high-pitched voice say "This is Madi J! Leave me a message... or don't!"
I climb the three flights of stairs, smiling wistfully at young Madi's voice and attitude.
I unlock and open the door, shut it behind me, and sink down onto the couch. Now that I've exhausted my options for tracking down Madi, I can't help but feel hopeless. And heartbroken.
I realize that no girl has really done that to me before. Broken my heart. Elise is the first one. I feel a little bitterness seep into my heart because of the fact that she was the first girl I loved. Yeah. I loved her. I never told her, and now I'm glad I didn't.
Hearing her tell me she loves me and knowing she was using those words as a weapon with which to conquer me nearly shattered my heart.
In the silence I recall that I was sitting on Elise's bed, kissing her, in her bed, only a little while ago. I stand up, brushing nothing off myself, suddenly feeling repulsed, disgusted at where I and my clothes have been.
In the empty hotel room, I tear my clothes off myself and carry them to a window, cranking it open and chucking them out into the night air. I watch them fall slowly into the canal below, where they disappear from my sight.
Naked, I walk to the shower and clean myself with as much soap as I can lather.
Once I'm done, I sink back into the couch and lean my head back onto the cushions.
I don't know what to do. I don't want to sit here and think about either Elise or Madi.
I'm suddenly aware of how exhausted I am. I had a busy day, I think. No I fucking didn't! I'm Martin freaking Garrix and I think that was a busy day? Good thing I have my contract back since I'm becoming a total baby.
I'll just rest for a few minutes.
*******
I'm startled awake by footsteps. I sit up so quickly, fists formed, ready for whoever's ready to fuck me up.
And it's that motherfucker. I don't know his name, but I'm surprised to say that I'm happy to see him.
Or, should I say, who he's got with him.
He's just opened the door (with Madi's room key, I assume?) and is helping her get into the room, his arm wrapped around her waist. My nostrils flare and I growl. The boy's head jerks up at the sound, and he sees me standing (threateningly) in the center of the room.
He jumps, almost knocking Madi, who I've never been so happy to see. "Oh, thank god," he says in Dutch, "Hey, man. Can you give me a hand?"
"Yes. What kind of question is that. Get away from her." I suddenly realize the state she's in. She seems half asleep. Shit. She must be drunk, or drugged, or something. What if this guy was just hoping I wasn't here when he brought her here? I swat him away, wrapping one arm around Madi's slim waist and another around her knees, sweeping her up bridal style.
"Heyyy... It's DJ Martyyy!" She slurs. Thank God she's conscious, although I could do without what she just said in front of the idiot still standing in my hotel room.
"She's had a lot to drink." The idiot speaks.
"Yeah, cause you're a fucking idiot whose plan to get a girl drunk so you could get in her pants fucking backfired. Idiot."
"It's Bastian. You know, she told me you weren't her boyfriend, and I don't care, so please don't think that I do," he says sincerely, "but it sure seems to me like you are."
"Okay, Sebastian. You have no clue the fuckery I've had to deal with today, and unless you want me to make you feel a little bit of what I'm feeling," I threaten, holding up a fist on the far side of Madi's body, "You should leave her with me and get the fuck out of my hotel room."
That seems to shut him up.
He hands me her phone and purse and turns on his heel and leaves, slamming the door behind him.
I toss her stuff onto the couch and carry her into her room, laying her carefully on the mattress. I pull off her shoes and set them next to the bed, and start pulling the duvet cover on her. "Marty," Madi says, giggling, and I smile at her expression. I can tell she's still drunk, but she looks just adorable. I recall her voicemail and my smile grows. Even though me seeing her feels very anticlimactic in comparison to how I felt earlier, I'm overjoyed at seeing her. Especially since she's safe and here with me.
"Yeah, Mad Dog, it's me. DJ Marty," I say, playing along.
"Will Dee-Jay Mar-tay play me a song cause he's got his music back?" she asks, almost shyly, as if she's asking too much of me.
I smile, kneeling beside the bed so I'm at her eye level. "Sure. What song?"
She sits up suddenly, then presses the heel of one hand against her temple at the movement."Woooo I'm dizzyyy!" Then, abruptly, "Marty I gotta take a shower. Will you help me shower pleeease?"
I nearly blush at the request. That feeling I get about her is back. She's like a flame and I want nothing more than to get burned by her.
"Uhm, no. When you're sober you should ask me again, okay?" I joke and wink. Godammit, now I'm thinking about us doing that.
"Oh my... Marty! Stop hitting on me!" She says, her pitch getting higher and higher.
I can't help but laugh at her. "How much did you have? You are so drunk!"
Her jaw drops, and her eyes widen. "What?" I ask, confused. "What is it, Mad Dog?
"How did you know I'm drunk? I was pretending so well that I wasn't!"
I laugh a full laugh at this, throwing my head back at this. I shake my head, still laughing, and when I look back at her, she's leaning up on one elbow, her head tilted the tiniest bit to the side, and I can see something in her eyes. It's much clearer because she's inebriated.
"What's up, Mad Dog?" I ask, still chuckling.
"You."
I look down at myself. "Nope. You're wrong this time, sweetheart."
I meet her eyes again, and she's blushing. She stretches out a hand and boops my nose. "Youuu called me sweetheart. You're funny, Marty."
I laugh again, my heart fluttering at her affectionate, if not clumsy, touch. "Hey, since when do you call me Marty or DJ Marty, by the way?"
"I told you I googled you and I know eeeverything about you! I saw DJ Marty in aaall his glory!" She says, stretching her arm in an arc on "all". "Plus, if you have a nickname for me, I figured I gotta have one for you. And when I was drrrrunk, I thought of it!" She finishes proudly.
I laugh again. "What do you mean, 'when you were drunk'? You're still drunk!"
Her eyes widen again, but a smile teases her lips. "SHHHH MARTY!" She says loudly, pressing one finger to my lips. I have to resist the urge to kiss it, settling for biting my lip when she retracts her hand.
Madi's eyes are fixed on my lips. "Quit it," she says, not moving her gaze from my mouth.
"Quit what?" I ask, but I feel like I know the answer.
She ignores my question. "DJ Marty, if you're not gonna sing to me, can you at least play me a song?"
"Yeah, Mad Dog. I'm gonna get you some water and then I'll sing you any song you want." I stand and stretch my knees, going to the bathroom and filling a cup of water from the sink. I turn the sink off and leave the bathroom. I nearly drop the cup of water.
Madi is standing in front of me, and she's lifted her shirt above her head. She's wearing a different bra this time. This one is dark purple, and there are straps laced between the cups, accentuating her cleavage. Her hair falls over her shoulders, shielding her neck and only part of her chest from my view.
I blink and try not to gape. I turn away, handing her the cup. She takes it, casually downs it, and walks towards me. "Uhm, Madi?" I ask. "What are you doing?"
"I'm taking a shower!"
I sigh and grab her stunning, bare shoulders. "Okay. Now we're just talking in circles. Get into bed and for the love of God..." I mutter the last bit, avoiding looking at her and scanning the room for her shirt. "...Where the hell is your shirt?"
She looks around too, seeming confused. "Awwwww, man! I lost it!"
I can't help but laugh at this as it seems ridiculous, but I can't see it anywhere. I give up. "Here," I say, stripping off my own shirt and pulling it over her head and down her torso.
"Oooooh. I am wearing, DJ Marty's shirt! What a good day." She proclaims, and grabs my shoulders, stands up on her tiptoes, and kisses me full on the mouth.
My eyes widen. I can't help it. What the hell is happening? Just as quickly as she'd initiated the kiss, she breaks it and jumps into the bed, sitting with my shirt bunched up around her middle. I can't help but admire her, and with the faint taste of her lips on mine. She looks so good in my shirt.
She reaches under the shirt with both hands in the back, then fiddles in the front and a moment later reaches into one shirt sleeve and chucks something at me. I catch it and see that it's her bra.
Madi throws her hands straight up in the air. "Ta-da! Okay, now I'm ready for bed." She leans and falls straight over into the pillows, her giggling muffled by the pillows.
"Now you can sing me a song!" She says, pushing them away from her face and holding a hand out to me.
I take it and she pulls me towards her. I climb into the bed, and she pushes me so I'm behind her, laying down. She settles in the crook of my body and looks expectantly up at me.
I don't know what to do. I didn't realize she wanted me to sing to her. I pause. What the hell, honestly. The odds of her being able to recall this without me reminding her are slim to none. In my mind, I page through a few songs I have samples of, and choose one.
"If I told you this was only gonna hurt, if I warned you that the fire's gonna burn, would you walk in, would you let me do it first... Do it all in the name of love..."
I continue singing, and so quickly and subtly I hardly notice, Madi's body twitches and she's asleep, her breathing calm and even.
*******
Author's Note: In this chapter the character Martijn sings part of a song, "In the Name of Love," which was written and produced by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha, among others. All credits for the creation and production of this song are placed where they are due, and the representation of the song in this story is used only for fictional plot purposes.