by Jade Winters
Threading an arm around Madison, Darcie lay while she recovered, content to feel the rise and fall of Madison’s breathing as it slowed, and listen to her heart pounding in her own chest.
When Madison lifted her head, her eyes had lost the post-orgasmic cloud, instead possessing a mischievous glint.
‘You are such a tease. I thought it would never end.’
‘You’re welcome,’ Darcie said, self-doubt forcing her to wonder if she had taken the teasing too far even while Madison’s lazy smile made her grin in return.
Suddenly, Madison’s happy face was in front of her, kissing her on the lips.
When they parted, Darcie felt warm, sweet breaths waft over her face as Madison whispered. ‘Time to get my revenge.’
Chapter Eighteen
Madison lay on top of the bed remembering the last three days. They had passed by in a blur— a whirling, head-spinning blur. The days had been spent working, with the two women examining in detail how the hotel was being run and making plans for what changes could be made to ensure that the problems they were currently facing could be avoided in the future.
Madison smiled as a vision of Darcie animatedly explaining her ideas and ways of tackling the issues they faced came into her mind. Darcie hadn’t changed one bit, she was still the ambitious yet overwhelmingly compassionate person she had been all those years ago. Madison’s thoughts turned to the evenings they’d spent together. The scrumptious meals, the moonlit walks on the soft beach and the passionate, sweaty nights in bed. Each morning they’d woken up exhausted but ready to step back onto the merry-go-round.
Three days of bliss, away from the stresses of business for at least some of the time. This was their last full day, they would be leaving the following morning, and Madison wanted, somehow, to make this last day special.
Madison rolled onto her side, watching Darcie as she slept peacefully, her eyes under her eyelids making a small flash of movement from time to time.
Madison hoped it was her that Darcie was dreaming about.
Her eyes slowly roved over the sleeping form in front of her, seizing the opportunity to take in every inch of porcelain skin she could see. It was beautiful, as pure as driven snow which, given where they were and the oppressive heat outside, was an unlikely comparison but that was what came to her mind, the soft curves of Darcie’s shoulders like two snowdrifts, freshly blown by winter winds into a shape, so pleasing to her eye she could do nothing but smile at the woman lying beside her. The woman she had lost but had now found.
‘You look like your mind’s somewhere else.’
Darcie’s croaking morning voice dragged Madison back to the present moment.
‘I was just—’
‘What?’ Darcie placed her hand over her mouth to cover a yawn. ‘Day dreaming?’
‘Hmm, yes.’
Darcie peeked up at her from one eye. ‘What was so amusing? You were smiling like you had some sort of secret.’
Despite herself Madison smiled again.
‘See you’re doing it again.’ Darcie pointed at Madison’s curved lips. ‘It’s God-knows-what o’clock in the morning and you’re grinning like a Cheshire cat. What’re you thinking about?’
‘I’m just happy, that’s all.’
Darcie groaned and pulled the covers up over her shoulders. ‘Me too, now can I go back to sleep please? It’s too early to be this happy.’
‘Sorry. I forgot you weren’t a morning person,’ Madison said.
She would have felt hurt if the two of them hadn’t had a similar conversation each morning for the last three days, and if she didn’t remember Darcie being exactly the same all those years ago. All those lost years ago. She felt a brief moment of sadness at that thought.
Gentle rhythmic breathing from Darcie’s side of the bed was Madison’s cue to get up.
Once she had taken a shower and had followed her normal morning routine she felt moderately human, and capable of taking a few minutes to plan out the day she had an idea of treating herself and Darcie to.
Madison booted up her laptop while she squeezed and patted her hair dry before tossing the towel over the back of the chair in front of the dressing table. She sat on the chair and looked at herself in the mirror. Even when she was wearing make-up she still thought she could see the scar on her face. The scar that had, in a strange way, led her to Darcie’s heart in the first place. Sitting in front of the mirror with her naked skin reflecting the golden sunlight that was starting to shine in rays through the blinds, she ran her finger over where the scar had been.
She still saw that scared girl with the livid scar looking back at her from time to time, but the reality was, there was nothing there now apart from one tiny lesion that was barely visible. That part of her had been wiped away, erased as though it had never existed, and yet she was thankful for it because it had led her here, with Darcie, to paradise.
Darcie rolled over in the bed, gave a snuffle and a loud snort, then settled back to sleep.
Well almost paradise, Madison thought with a glance at the mound now occupying the centre of the bed.
A beep sounded from her laptop. Opening a browser, she had a quick look over the emails she had waiting for her, and seeing nothing that demanded her immediate attention, she minimised that window and set to work.
An hour later, and her job for the day was complete.
A walking tour around the historic old town.
A sumptuous lunch at a beachside Thai restaurant.
An afternoon at the hotel’s own luxury health spa and finally dinner at La Gritta for which she had to pull strings and name names to get a table.
It would be, she hoped, a day to remember. Satisfied with her industrious start to the day, she clicked on her email folder to check all of the reservations were confirmed. Just as she was about to shut down the programme a beep sounded, and an email popped up in her inbox. It was from her business email address and the header was titled Urgent and flagged red.
She looked at the screen, her mouse pointer poised over the message.
‘What are you doing?’ A sleepy voice croaked from the bed.
Madison slid the pointer down and clicked on the power icon to shut down the computer.
Nothing could be that urgent.
***
The day had been as good as Madison could ever have hoped. Sitting on the hotel bar terrace, watching the sunset over the wide expanse of beach and calm blue sea, she sucked on the straw in her cocktail, then let out a huge sigh of contentment and leant back in her wicker chair.
‘You OK?’ Darcie put her drink down on the table, wiped her condensation dampened fingers on her shorts, and turned to Madison with a look of slight concern etched on her face.
‘Yeah. I’m fine I suppose.’ She sighed again.
‘What’s up? Come on. You know you can tell me anything.’
‘Oh, it’s nothing big, don’t worry. It’s just that normal feeling you get when you know that this is your last day on holiday and you really don’t want to head back to reality.’
‘I get that. This is such a beautiful place. The idea of getting back to the grindstone in all London’s miserable weather is pretty depressing.’ Darcie grinned over at Madison. ‘We still have one more night though.’
Madison stole a glance over at Darcie as she sucked on her straw again with the grin still plastered on her face, crinkling the corners of her eyes.
That look certainly held a promise of an interesting night to come.
Madison flashed her memories of the previous couple of nights through her mind. One overriding thought filled her brain. She had barely been able to keep her hands off Darcie the whole trip, and she thought Darcie had felt the same, but the ten-year gap had brought with it a certain maturity, a certain knowledge of themselves and what excited them that they hadn’t had when they were in the foster home.
It was almost like they had both grown up and become adults, with adult feelings and experiences that made sex even
better than she ever imagined it could be in the time they had spent apart.
Only almost. At times Madison still felt a joyously childlike pang at just being in Darcie’s company.
When Darcie turned back to her, still doing her Cheshire Cat impression, Madison couldn’t stop herself from joining in. The infectious joy in Darcie’s face worming its way past the hint of sadness she was feeling that the trip was about to end.
‘You want to go for a walk on the beach?’ Madison asked.
‘You know, much as I would like that, I’m going to say no. That tour this morning wore me out. The speed that tour guide moved at was incredible wasn’t it?’ Darcie slipped her foot out of her sandal and massaged it gently.
‘She did seem to want to get around quickly. Maybe she had a hot date to get to?’
‘More likely she had to get home to give the kids lunch.’
‘I prefer the hot date theory.’
‘Ah, yes. That’s you, Madison.’
‘What’s me?’
‘Ever the romantic. Wishing a hot date on the poor girl when all she really wanted to do was get home, feed the kids, walk the dog, tend to her ailing parents, and put her feet up for a while.’
‘I know. It’s true. I just like to think that people have fun in their lives.’ Madison smiled at Darcie. ‘Like we are.’
‘We are, it’s true but it isn’t reality is it? Take us. Here we are sipping cocktails on a beautiful island. That’s the dream, because tomorrow reality kicks in and we will be back home, having to trek around a supermarket to stock up on groceries and throwing our holiday clothes in the washing machine to wash away the sand.’
Madison grimaced. ‘Talk about spoil the moment.’
‘Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had an amazing time and I couldn’t wish to have spent it with anyone else. All I’m saying is that reality has to bite back sooner or later and our being together won’t be tested nearly as much when sipping cocktails as it will be by whatever happens next in the real world.’
‘Is that what we are?’
‘Sorry?’
‘You said “our being together”. Is that what we are? Together?’
Darcie didn’t answer immediately. Madison watched as she took a long suck on her straw, finishing her drink in one go, and rinsing the fruity flavour around her mouth.
‘Is that what you want?’ Darcie’s eyes flickered towards Madison as she put her empty glass back down on the glass-topped table and started to twirl her straw in the brightly-coloured receptacle.
‘It’s what I’ve wanted ever since the day you left the foster home.’ Madison swivelled to face Darcie.
Darcie looked at her for a few seconds then she said, her voice slightly slurring, ‘OK, full disclosure time. When I wrote...’
A long pause.
Madison leant in, her brow now furrowed. ‘Wrote to…?’
‘To you.’
‘You did? When? I never received anything from you once you left.’
Darcie looked up into Madison’s eyes. ‘You’re kidding right?’
‘Why would I be kidding? Do you know how hurt I was that you just up and left without saying goodbye?’ Madison blinked back the tears that welled in her eyes. ‘You nearly broke me.’
‘I nearly broke you?’ Darcie said incredulously. ‘Madison either you’ve had a memory lapse or you’re trying to wind me up. If you didn’t receive my letters how can you explain the one you sent me telling me about… you and… Bette?’
‘Bette?’ Madison frowned, not quite understanding Darcie’s allegation. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’
‘Oh Jesus, are you seriously going to deny that I’d barely been gone five minutes before you fell into Bette’s arms?’
Madison narrowed her eyes. ‘Is this a joke? Because if it is, it’s really not funny.’
‘Are you saying you didn’t write to me telling me not to contact you again because you were with Bette?’ Darcie attempted to steady herself from falling back by placing the palms of her hands behind her.
Madison waited for a few moments to give herself time to get herself together. The accusations Darcie was levelling at her were so outlandish she couldn’t think of a reasonable reply.
‘Do you really think I would do that to you? To us?’ Her words drifted away in the muggy evening breeze.
‘Are you saying you didn’t?’
‘You’re damn right that’s what I’m saying?’ Madison said, eyes wide and incredulous. ‘I can’t believe you’d think that lowly of me.’
Darcie gave a slight shake of her head, eyes downcast as the realisation hit her square in the face. ‘Bette obviously wrote it, didn’t she? And like a fool I believed her.’
‘Look at me, Darcie.’ Darcie slowly raised her downturned face. ‘I would never have been with Bette. Ever. Not back then and not now. I have never lied to you and I’m not about to start now, so believe me when I say this. Whatever she wrote in that letter was a complete lie.’
Darcie nodded slowly. ‘I believe you. I thought I’d lost you, Madison. It broke my heart.’
Madison slid her chair forward to get closer to Darcie, then lifted her chin with her forefinger, her eyes meeting the glistening eyes that were the one remaining physical thing that showed her that Darcie was the girl she lost all those years ago.
‘I thought I’d lost you too. But listen, we’ve found each other now. Whatever happens, we have had this time, and nothing can take that away from us, reality or no reality.’ Madison paused for a moment. ‘I think it’s probably time to stop drinking cocktails and go to our hotel room. I think you need to get some sleep.’
Darcie sniffed then nodded with a small smile. ‘I think maybe you’re right. I’ve had one too many. Booze always puts me on a bit of a downer, sorry.’
‘Don’t apologise, I’m glad you told me. It explains a lot about your behaviour when we first met again.’
‘I was too proud to confront you at the time.’
Madison helped Darcie to stand, they linked arms and, slightly unsteadily, made their way towards the hotel. ‘I would never have done something like that to you, Darcie. You should have known that.’
Darcie mumbled something inaudible as Madison held her by her waist and headed back.
Bette would pay for what she had done. Madison didn’t know how. Not yet anyway. But one day she would pay. Of that she was certain.
***
Back up in the room, Madison sat Darcie on the edge of the bed, stepped over and flicked the switch on the kettle. She absentmindedly turned on her mobile phone, then sat beside Darcie on the bed.
‘You feeling any better?’
Darcie’s head was down, her eyes closed, but she nodded slightly. ‘I think a good night’s sleep will sort me out.’
Madison giggled when Darcie slurred the word sleep. Darcie managed a lopsided smile.
‘Do you need me to help you get undressed?’
‘Nah, I’ll be fine.’
The rumbling of the kettle as it boiled stopped when the switch clicked off. ‘I’ll make you a coffee then.’
‘I’ll just have a lie down. Hopefully the room will stop spinning then.’
Madison got up and made two cups of coffee. She took one and set it on the table on Darcie’s side of the bed. As she set it down a hand reached out and held her wrist.
‘Thanks, Madison. I appreciate it,’ Darcie said, slurring again.
‘It’s only a coffee.’
‘No. I mean for today. It’s been a great day.’
‘Somehow I don’t think you’ll remember most of it in the morning.’
The crisp white pillowcase beneath her head creased as Darcie’s eyes closed.
Madison’s mobile phone beeped. She ignored it and reached down for her cup, lifting it to her lips and taking a sip of the steaming liquid.
Her phone beeped again.
Madison carefully pulled the crumpled covers over the fully-clothed body lying on the bed, then leant down,
kissed Darcie gently on the temple and whispered into her ear. ‘Sweet dreams.’
The phone beeped twice more.
‘Bloody hell, leave me alone.’ Madison muttered under her breath. She walked over to the chair, sat, and picked up the phone that was so stridently demanding her attention.
She pressed a key and the screen lit up. Sliding her fingertip across the screen she clicked on the email icon.
The screen populated with a list of messages, each with a red flag next to it. She clicked on the first message, leant back, and sipped her coffee as she read.
When she finished reading the first sentence, her cup fell from her hand and crashed to the floor.
‘Oh, God no,’ she said, leaning back in her chair with one hand covering her tear-filled eyes.
Chapter Nineteen
Darcie jolted awake at the sound of a voice over the intercom and for just a moment, couldn’t quite work out what was going on. Her first thought was that she was on an aeroplane on her way home. Turbulence. That would explain the nausea she felt in the pit of her stomach. It was only when she opened her eyes that her mind chugged into a higher gear and events from the previous evening came back to her. Oh shit! How drunk was I? And what the hell did I say to Madison? Then she remembered. Coming clean about the letters she wrote and finding out that it was Bette’s cruel streak that had kept them apart, not Madison betraying her. Things could have been so different, if only…
The room was still dark with just a sliver of light, which was enough for her to make out the empty space beside her. She pressed her palm on the sheet and frowned when she realized it was cold to the touch. Which meant Madison hadn’t slept there. If she had it would have been a while ago. Flicking the light on, she looked around the room with alarm. There was no sign of Madison. No clothes, no make-up on the dressing table. It was only once she looked beside her that she noticed the piece of headed notepaper, neatly folded in two on the side table. Darcie reached over delicately, picked it up, and read it through, quickly coming to full consciousness, although still with the mother of all hangovers pounding her brain.