by Lea Michaels
Chapter 5
“Long before it was over I knew I really didn’t like him, so when I got home I sent him a really nice email letting him down easy.”
“Oh, my dear misguided friend,” Ana sighed. “I told you not to go out with that guy again.”
Ana was on the phone cooking a late lunch at the same time Madison was cooking an early dinner. Hearing the homogeneous tones of pans clattering made Madison feel like they were in the kitchen cooking together and she was smiling a genuine smile for the first time in days.
“I know, and I should have listened, but the point is that the next day I get this three-page email back. He tells me how he imagined us growing old together, how he really saw a future for us… all the while I’m trying to figure out how much I do or don’t like him.”
“Three pages, my my Madison you are moving up in the world.”
“He also mentioned how he doesn’t mind that my nose is a little crooked, that he can live with my height, he’s glad I didn’t have a breast augmentation like his ex did, and that I would make a great mother and probably lose the weight right away.”
“You’re joking.”
“I am not joking.” Madison licked the spoon she was using to stir her stew. “By the way you would really like this, it’s delicious.”
“If you had some of my corn bread you’d have the perfect meal.”
Madison made a face then remembered that her friend couldn’t see it.
“We should Skype next time, I miss your face.”
“I miss yours and your crooked nose,” Ana responded.
“Where did that even come from? I don’t have a crooked nose, and I’m very happy with both my height and breast size.”
“Men are the worst,” Ana laughed.
Madison wouldn’t be able to laugh about it so easily if she didn’t have an Ana to tell everything to later.
“Anyway, I’ve decided that I’m done with dating, online or otherwise…I think I’m going to sign up for a marathon or something instead.”
“Right, because it’s either one or the other?” Ana made her thinking hum on the other end of the line. “Actually, I think this is good for you. You seem happier.”
“I am happier,” Madison surprised herself with the words. “But, I don’t think dating has anything to do with that.”
After a few minutes Ana was gone with a clang of a dish and Madison was left to think about what she’d just realized.
~
Later that night Madison settled in to watch something on Netflix. A romantic comedy was not in the cards, a drama could really bring her down, she hated gratuitous violence… She turned off her TV.
Madison changed, laced up her running shoes and headed out for a run. Sunset was the perfect time to run. The midday heat was overwhelming. She put on her headphones and ran to the beat of the music. Each foot fell in tune with the rhythm. This was just what she needed. She made her way through the old city and rounded back to the Trolley Trail. There were always people on it, and it was a straight climb to the top—after which she usually wound around the back roads to make her way back to the old city.
Her muscles felt strong and in the moment she felt perfectly content. The air, her body moving, the perfect rhythm.
When she made it to the top of the trail she stopped and looked around. The smell of trees and dirt was so intoxicating she loathed leaving it behind, but she didn’t like running straight downhill either. Madison stepped out onto the street and began the winding run. The houses here were beautiful, she found herself wondering who lived in them. They must be million dollar houses—or more. Probably stodgy rich commuters from DC, lobbyists who pushed for the NRA, or processed food companies.
Things weren’t really so bad, she would get over the pain of Ben’s lies. She certainly didn’t want to be with him. Now that she knew his real character. It was just the smack of shock and sting of having your world erupt around you. She would even get to like this town, she thought. Madison smiled on her way down the road and realized that maybe she already did.
Chapter 6
Connor surprised himself Monday morning by logging in to the new online account his brother had made for him. He stared at the site for a few minutes, letting his cursor scroll aimlessly down a list of women’s photos. He clicked over to his own profile just looking it over for a long minute, and then he hit the edit tab. He deleted the photos his brother had inserted then uploaded two others that he thought would be a better representation of him.
He read through the laundry list of things his brother had changed about Connor’s actual life. Connor edited his job title to “Sales and Marketing,” which was really just about the truth. He deleted his annual income and left it blank. He deleted his false alma mater and changed the category to read only his highest level of education. That was about all he could do, but it was better.
He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, only that he hadn’t found what he wanted yet. Love seemed like the biggest game of luck and chance. What were the chances that you would meet a person you would want to spend the rest of your life with, then for them to feel the same way about you? On top of that you both had to be open to the relationship at the same time. Statistically it just didn’t make sense that anyone got married—ever.
His parents’ marriage was purposeful. His father brought millions, which had turned into billions, of dollars to the table and his mother’s family had been powerful in Washington for many years. Connor’s father had his eyes set on some sort of political ambition, and it seemed he was pushing Connor to be a connecting piece for him. He had made it clear that he would be very pleased with Connor if he married into a good old Washington family.
Strange as it was, and wrong as he knew his father to be, Connor wanted his father to approve of him. No doubt Émeric felt the same way. They would both probably lose that chance in the next few years but the desire was still there.
As he was sitting thinking about his family and their complicated situation, a message popped up on the screen in front of him.
Madison S. Hi
Madison S. It looks like we’re in the same neighborhood.
Connor was surprised. He didn’t even realize that chatting this way was enabled on his account. Madison…he mulled the name over in his mind, and then clicked on the link to her profile. She was beautiful, as far as the pictures showed, which he knew could be very deceptive.
She had thick natural-looking blonde hair that hung down her back, a sun kissed face, and a smile that seemed genuine. He got a good feeling off her right away. He went to the next photo, she was in running clothes at the end of a race, another darker haired girl stood next to her and they both smiled out at the camera. Connor reopened the message.
Connor T. Hello
He had no idea what to say…mention the weather? Look for things in common? Everything seemed terribly silly at the moment.
Connor T. Nice to meet you
He cringed. This was much harder than he thought it should be. But, what do you say to a complete stranger? I like your photo, maybe it’s love?
Madison S. Do you work in Ellicott City?
He thought for a moment.
Connor T. Yes, I work from home mostly.
That was roughly the truth.
Madison S. Nice! I imagine it would be difficult to get things done from home.
Connor T. It can be
There was a pause, she didn’t appear to be writing anything new and he didn’t know what else to say.
Connor T. Maybe we could meet somewhere? Get a drink?
Too soon? Shouldn’t he have made more of an effort at conversation?
Madison S. That would be nice
Connor T. Tomorrow night?
Madison S. Sounds good, I have to check my schedule so I will confirm later tonight if that suits?
Connor T. Great, I look forward to hearing from you soon.
He sat staring
at the computer screen biting his thumbnail. So, he’d just set himself up on a date…and he didn’t feel weird about it at all, in fact he was excited. He waited for another minute until he saw her message read, offline. Then he logged out, thinking it might not look good for him to just be hanging out online waiting for her confirmation. He would wait a few hours then check back in.
Chapter 7
Madison had just walked in from her run when her phone rang. She brushed sweat off her forehead and the side of her face with the bottom of her shirt then answered.
Madison smiled, “Just couldn’t live without me, huh?”
“You sound good,” Ana commented.
“I just got back from a run.”
“Ahh, the endorphins.” Ana paused, “What are you doing tomorrow night?”
Out of context Madison had to think about it, “Nothing I guess, why?”
“You have to go to the Judges Bench tomorrow at seven.”
“How do you even know about the Judges Bench?” Madison leaned back against the wall. This was strange behavior even for Ana. “What’s happening?”
“You’re going on a date.”
“With who?” Madison didn’t understand, a friend of a friend’s, or someone they’d known from college?
“I thought I would take one more look for you on that dating site…and I found a good one. Tall, handsome, dark brown hair, greenish hazel eyes.”
“I don’t follow. You found the perfect guy? Where? On what site?”
“On your site, I just logged in…”
“You logged in? Did you join just so you could impersonate me?”
“No, I logged into your account—I thought I might have more insight into the right guy for you…and since you were going to cancel it anyway…”
“I don’t understand. How did you log into my account?”
“With your password,” Ana said as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
“How did you know my password?”
Ana was silent and Madison could picture the look she must be giving the phone right now. “It wasn’t hard to guess Madison, you’ve used the same one since the Internet was invented.”
Madison put the phone down and rushed over to her computer and logged in to her account. She scrolled through her messages and found the conversation Ana had had on her behalf. She looked Connor T. over, staring at the three photos he had posted of himself.
She picked her phone back up, “I can’t go on a date with him.”
“Why not?”
“Because…because I just said I was done with dating and I went for a run and it felt really nice, and I think it’s because I decided to stop all this madness and just be myself, by myself for awhile.”
“Be yourself with him…on your date.”
Madison looked back at the screen, he was handsome, and it was only a drink…she could walk there from here, and then walk home when he turned out to be a weirdo.
“Hmm,” Madison was torn and she wanted to be mad at Ana, something that never quite worked out.
As she watched the screen the text box lit up and a message said, Madison S. is writing…
“Ana, you stop it. I didn’t say yes,” she sounded like a petulant child but she didn’t care.
She could actually hear Ana’s fingers over the keys then, as Madison waited, she heard the unretractable click of the enter button.
Madison S. CONFIRMED! I will see you tomorrow night, 7pm, at the Judges Bench.
Madison stared at the screen then logged out unable to look at the screen without freaking out. She’d begun actually feeling nervous and panicky. She hung up on Ana knowing that she would call her back sooner than she wanted to, and that Ana wouldn’t be worried about Madison’s current state of mind.
As soon as she’d logged out she logged back in. She clicked on Connor’s profile again. She looked more closely, examining things that couldn’t possibly have any real relevance. Ana was right about one thing—he was handsome. He hadn’t provided much information about himself. He was in sales—not a good sign, Madison thought—lived nearby, had an MBA…but really he looked far too handsome to be normal. Her text box popped back up.
Connor T. Great. I’m looking forward to it.
Madison read and reread the message a few times, then logged back out.
~
The entire next day Madison thought seriously about logging on and canceling her date. She was too nervous and that was just strange for her. She didn’t get nerves about things of this sort…so that had to be a bad sign. The universe sending her some grand signal to, “cancel now or else.” But every time she pulled up the webpage to log in she closed it just as fast.
After her last appointment of the day, it was five, too late to cancel and still be polite. She didn’t want to be rude, but that was the sort of thing that she got annoyed at other women for saying. But it was only one drink, so she was most certainly making too big a deal out of it. It was practically the same thing as one coffee, only with alcohol.
When she got home she took a shower. Her determination to dress casually and not fuss was soon over ruled by forces out of her control. She kept wanting to stop changing her clothes, as she discarded one item then another, but she couldn’t seem to make herself. Finally she was standing in her bra and panties and decided to put makeup on first then decide.
With makeup on, her go to black dress that hugged her body, nude heels, no jewelry to try and dress it down, makeup, and hair that had been done and then redone, she left the house. She’d had plenty of time to get ready but somehow time had gotten away from her and now she was running late. Madison hated being late.
Walking quickly down the street, turning onto the next connecting block, and finally turning onto Main Street, she kept imagining herself falling face first onto the pavement. Heels were not her strongest choice. They looked good, but she wore sneakers too often to be relaxed in them.
When she got to the Judges Bench she waited across the street for a moment despite being late already.
She tried to look through the glass but couldn’t see anything from her vantage point. A desire to turn around and go back home was beginning to tug at the back of her brain. Her legs overrode her brain and she began across the street anyway. Her hand was actually shaking a bit when she reached for the door and she was feeling truly annoyed at her body for being so unpredictable. She knew herself so well under physical duress, but apparently dating was out of her wheelhouse.
The door took a bigger push then she’d expected so she wasn’t as subtle walking in as she’d hoped to be. When she turned around from the door, she saw him. She knew him immediately from his photos and she also knew that she would have noticed him regardless of their date. His gaze was fixed on a beer in front of him. She wasn’t sure if she should be happy or upset that he’d ordered before she’d arrived. As she walked over she made the executive decision that she really didn’t care.
“Connor?” She was working her best confident person impression.
“Hi!” he said as he stood.
If his natural good looks weren’t enough, he was also tall just like Madison liked her men.
“It’s so nice to meet you.” He held out his hand and she shook it as if they were there for a business meeting.
Madison smiled and Connor smiled back. After what seemed like minutes, they both sat down arranging themselves physically and trying to escape the awkwardness of what to say next. When she finally was able to get a good hard look at him, she was absolutely enamored. His model looks were only complimented by his closely cut dark brown hair, greenish hazel eyes and the shadow of his beard was an added touch she loved.”
“I ordered a drink,” Connor stated the obvious. “What can I get you?”
“Oh,” she was used to buying her own drinks on these sorts of dates, it was one of the basic rules she’d made for herself. “I’ll have a vermouth cocktail.” The negotiations h
ad begun immediately inside her head. She would let him pay, then she would get the next round, or she would let him pay and she would get the next date. Of course that was jumping ahead a bit much.
Connor ordered the drink and both watched the bartender make it without saying a word.
“You live close by?” she asked after she’d tried her first sip. Alcohol went through her quickly and she was immediately thankful for it.
“I walked over,” he said. He hadn’t thought about his living situation so he hadn’t prepared anything to say, he didn’t know where he would find a fake address and he’d never thought he would need one.
“Me too,” she said smiling.
“I’m surprised I’ve never seen you here,” he thought of all the dinners he’d had sitting in just this spot.
“I haven’t been here before.”
“That would do it,” Connor looked into her face. She was really incredibly pretty. The length of her jaw, the frame of her face, her coloring. Her body mesmerizing, a bit too mesmerizing. He had to force himself to focus on her words and not pay attention to the rest.
“Actually you do look familiar to me,” she said, taking Connor by surprise.
The blood began to rush from Connor’s face. This was exactly what he hadn’t wanted. He just wanted a few dates, a little bit of time to cultivate something that wasn’t built on his inheritance. Or at least something where he could know without a shadow of a doubt that it had nothing to do with money.
“We’ve probably run into each other before. Ellicot City can be a small town sometimes,” he hoped that he was right.
“Hmm, do you belong to Belvedere Health & Fitness?” she asked.