“Well, amen to that. I missed you. You guys all abandoned Miami. I was the only one that stayed here.” Daya leaned a head on her shoulder.
“I had good reasons for leaving.” Despite her best intentions, Maddie couldn’t stop thinking about the past. She had to hope that it would fade.
“Yeah, I know.” Daya squeezed her hand softly.
“Do you ever miss her?” Maddie hated herself for asking, for wanting to talk about it at all.
“Sort of. The four of us were so close, we spent all that time together, had so many experiences. And they were mostly good ones. But when she left and you guys broke up, it wasn’t hard for me to choose sides. It was bad enough she used us the way she did, but to then act like a victim, I can’t forgive that.”
Maddie nodded. She didn’t want to be reminded of how Sofi had tossed them aside. Something poked at the corner of her mind. A voice mail from Sofi, a message that had turned out to be her last attempt at contact. It was months after the band split, after all the blaming and recriminations had been played out. Sofi was asking—begging—Maddie to call her back, to meet her, to give her a chance to explain. She’d sounded drunk and so unhappy. Maddie had played it to Daya and Daya had told her to just ignore and delete it. It was good advice, and she followed it, but it was something that she had always regretted.
Two boxes were placed on the counter in front of them. The smell of the cheese and the warm dough was mouthwatering. Maddie pushed herself off the stool. She would save a slice for Mateo’s lunch. Mateo loved cold pizza almost as much as she did. Tomorrow she’d go early to Ashley’s and collect her son. He was the light of her life, and right now, she didn’t need anything or anyone else but him.
Chapter Three
Maddie got out of her jeep. She checked the address on her phone and then looked up, taking in the neighborhood. She whistled softly under her breath. This was a very nice house. Probably the nicest she’d been asked to work on. Two stories. No close neighbors and a sweet spot on the ocean at the swankiest end of North Coconut Grove. And Maddie’s own house was barely a twenty-minute drive away, meaning it would be easy for her to go home to Mateo whenever she wanted to. She couldn’t have hoped for a better gig.
She smoothed down her dress, grabbed her briefcase from the front seat, and walked up to the front door. She was never without butterflies when meeting a client for the first time. No amount of singing live in front of millions of people had prepared her for this.
“Hello.” The greeting slipped out before Maddie registered who had answered the door. She held back the smile she’d been intending to offer. What the actual fuck?
“Madison.” Rosa said her name incredulously, telling Maddie that she was just as surprised as she was to see her. She was no longer famous, not the kind of fame that made people stop and stare, but right then, Sofi’s mom was staring at her as much as any starstruck fan. Though maybe with more of an “I’m going to close the door in your face” expression than a request for a selfie.
“I’m here for the design meeting. About the house.” Maddie held up her briefcase as if it would somehow help. “I didn’t know it was yours. They didn’t tell me whose house it w—”
“Mama, is that them?”
Maddie stopped speaking as she heard a familiar voice from inside.
“Show them in and tell them I need a few minutes. I’m on a call.”
Maddie wanted to turn, get back in her car and forget the fact that she’d worked hard to get this commission. She wouldn’t have worked so hard for it if she’d known it was a house belonging to Sofia Flores. If the universe had brought her back to Miami for this, then the universe had a sick sense of humor.
As panic started to creep in, Maddie took several deep breaths. The part of her that knew how much her company needed this job, needed to build its reputation in the city, told her to grow up. Sofi was a huge star and doing this job would mean she could pull in other clients. But the part of her that had taken months getting over the heartbreak of Sofi leaving her urged her to run and not look back.
Rosa looked over her shoulder into the house, and then back at Maddie. For a second, Maddie thought she was going to close the door. Instead, she swore softly under her breath in Spanish—a language Maddie knew well thanks to Sofi—and opened the door wider, nodding for Maddie to go in.
“Through there.” Rosa eyed her coldly and pointed at a door to the left of the hallway. As she entered the house, Maddie wondered if Sofi’s “welcome” would be just as unwelcoming. Regardless of Sofi’s reaction, she should just suck it all up, have this initial meeting, and then assign the actual work to another designer. How bad could one meeting be? They hadn’t spoken to each other in close to five years. Everything had to be water under the bridge by now. And if Sofi wasn’t prepared to have her work on the house because of things they’d done or said in the past, then she couldn’t do a thing about that.
“I’ll be back in an hour,” Rosa called into the house. Maddie noticed the bag on her shoulder for the first time. She was leaving. Whatever it was she was doing must have been important because Maddie couldn’t imagine it was an easy decision for Rosa to leave her alone with her precious daughter.
Maddie walked slowly through the door and into a cavernous room, sparsely furnished, neutral colors, no real personality. A kitchen took up one end—designer, expensive, the cabinets a light gray color. In the middle of the space was a large glass dining table surrounded by twelve high-backed chairs, and immediately in front of her were two cream sofas, each with a matching armchair and side table. Everything looked so clean, so unused. It felt like a show house.
The floor to ceiling windows were the best feature by far, running the length of the room, and wrapping around both corners, letting in a breathtakingly panoramic ocean view.
“Maddie?”
Sofi’s voice saying her name made Maddie’s insides tighten with anxiety. She made herself move slowly, putting down her briefcase and running a hand through her hair before finally turning toward the voice.
“Sofi.” She paused. “Hi.”
“What are you doing here? I mean, how come you’re…” Sofi didn’t complete the question. She seemed as shocked as Maddie felt. She was also jaw-droppingly beautiful. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, her chocolate brown eyes were staring at Maddie with suspicion, and her cheeks had a flush to them that Maddie knew was a sign of anxiety. In the flesh, she seemed more beautiful than her recent photos, but she also looked very tired. It was a cliché, but to be near her again made Maddie feel light somehow, like her feet weren’t quite on the floor. Nothing about seeing her felt real.
She made herself focus, took a breath, and leaned down to pull an iPad from her briefcase. It was enclosed in a case that had the “Madison’s” logo emblazoned across it. She held it up and gestured around the room with her hand. “Your interior designer, believe it or not.”
Sofi was still staring at her, looking a lot like she’d seen a ghost.
“Your people interviewed me, made me send in my portfolio. They’ve asked me to do your remodel. I didn’t know who you were. I mean, I do obviously, I just didn’t know whose house it was. They didn’t say. I didn’t know you’d be here.” Sofi’s silence was making her even more nervous.
“It’s my home. Why wouldn’t I be here? I’ve got to live in it, not them.” Sofi sounded annoyed.
“Look, they just told me to come by here today for an introductory meeting because the client—you—were going away. It was all a bit last minute. It was only when Rosa answered the door that I realized.” Maddie gestured toward the hallway. She’d been there two minutes and the tension between them was already unbearable. This was impossible for them to do. They had far too much history.
“I wanted to fit the meeting in before I left. I’m going to Atlanta tomorrow for the Video Music Awards and then I go on tour. I’ll be away for months. Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia, South America.” She sounded unhappy about it.
“You’re back in Miami?”
Sofi hadn’t offered her a seat, and she hadn’t stopped staring at her.
“Yeah.” Maddie wasn’t sure whether to elaborate. She took in a slight breath, trying to be friendly and professional. “Setting up this company gave us an opportunity to come home finally.” Mentioning the company, her company, put Maddie back in touch with why she was here. Sofi’s house, not Sofi. She cleared her throat.
“The company’s not large, but all my designers are hand-picked and very talented. I always meet the client at the start of any project, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be me doing all the work.”
She’d found her stride again. She wasn’t going to let Sofi throw her off. So what if she was looking like a goddess, even dressed in frayed shorts and a T-shirt. And so what if her never-quite-recovered heart was telling her that she should turn and run. This was business and she’d surprised even herself by how good at it she was. She would take this meeting, give the work to someone else, and then take herself as far away from Sofi as possible.
“As long as I understand what you want, I can match you with the right designer and—”
“Who’s ‘us’? Who did you come back to Miami with?”
“Me and Mateo.” Maddie answered without thinking. She owed Sofi nothing by way of information about her life. But somehow she found herself responding. “He’s my son.”
“Your son?” Sofi raised her eyebrows in surprise. She hadn’t known then. Maddie was disappointed for some reason. She had kept tabs on Sofi, despite telling herself not to. She’d listened to the albums, watched the videos. She’d even kept track of the Grammys.
“I didn’t know you had a son. How old is—” Sofi stopped. “Never mind, not my business, sorry.”
They looked at each other for a few seconds. Sofi seemed sad as well as tired. Maddie had spent a lot of time looking into those eyes, and it was hard not to ask her if she was okay. She just wanted them to be nice to each other, to be friendly. Just that. It didn’t seem like a lot to ask after all this time. She could do this.
“He’s three. We moved back about six months ago. I wanted to be closer to Mom and Ashley, and I needed a hand with the childcare really. I wanted to work, to have a career, but I didn’t want to leave him with strangers. And I missed Miami.” Maddie was talking more than she should, more than she wanted to. She made herself stop.
“Does he look like you?” Sofi’s question surprised her.
“He does.” She couldn’t help smiling. His father had been a one-night stand, one of many mistakes she’d made when the record company dropped her and she was in a partying hard, pity spiral. It was a source of constant happiness to her that Mateo took after her and not his absent father.
“Lucky boy.” Sofi said the words almost to herself as she moved into the kitchen and took a pitcher from the refrigerator. She poured iced tea into two glasses and handed one to Maddie without even asking.
“I’d like you to do the redesign personally rather than match me with another designer. I’m not going to be here and I want to know that I can trust whoever is doing the work.” Sofi stumbled slightly over the word “trust,” and Maddie felt an unexpected rush of feelings, shame mixed with sorrow. “It’s important to me. This place is important to me.”
Maddie was annoyed at Sofi’s arrogance, but more than that, she was annoyed that Sofi didn’t seem to be finding this difficult at all. She’d assumed Sofi had moved on and never given her a second thought, but to have it confirmed like this was hard. Suddenly, the idea of them working together was ridiculous.
“That’s not how it works. There’s usually multiple projects going on at once so it’s impossible for me to dedicate myself to just one.” It wasn’t true. Before realizing who owned the house, she had intended to do this job personally.
“Make it possible. I’ll pay extra if needed. I don’t want one of your people working on it. I want us to agree what’s needed and then you do it. Yourself.” Sofi sounded so serious and so like someone used to getting what she wanted. She held Maddie’s gaze as she spoke, and Maddie hated herself for the way her body reacted to those eyes. The color, the depth, the intensity. She’d never been able to say no to Sofi. Not until she’d been forced to. She shook the memory away.
“I can’t promise that, I’m sorry. It doesn’t matter what you offer to pay. I make my own decisions about scheduling and who works on what. If that isn’t what you want, then maybe this won’t work.” She wanted to do the work, but she didn’t want to cave in. Sofi had treated her like a fool in the past, but this Maddie wasn’t someone she could boss around. She braced herself for Sofi telling her to leave and getting some other company to do the work.
“Okay.” There was a slight pause, and a very familiar biting down on her bottom lip. Sofi had more to say but she was choosing not to. Maddie hadn’t really expected her to give in so easily.
“Let me start by giving you a tour. No shoes please.”
Maddie bent down to remove her shoes, happy to escape the intensity of Sofi’s gaze. She was still completely stunned by the fact that she was in Sofi’s house, and that Sofi—the woman who had broken her heart and stomped all over it—was standing in front of her, looking a lot like she had never been away.
* * *
The house was beautiful—bright, spacious, and built to a high-spec. On the upper floor, just like downstairs, there were the same amazingly panoramic views of the ocean thanks to the way the architect had been so generous with the windows. But it had little by way of a personal touch, or even much of a human presence. Maddie couldn’t pretend she knew the Sofi who had bought this house—they hadn’t seen each other in so long—but nothing about it reminded her of the Sofi she had once loved and understood so well.
“How long have you lived here?”
“I bought it in March.” Sofia frowned. “But I don’t think I’ve spent more than a couple of weeks here. When I get time off, I come home to see my family and I think I imagined them coming and hanging out here, making this seem more of a home.” She waved a hand into the space around them. “But usually I go and stay there. It’s easier somehow. This place feels so soulless.” She ran a hand through her hair and sighed in a way that was very like the Sofi she had known. The familiarity unsettled Maddie.
“It’s a beautiful house. It’s a shame you don’t get more time here.” It sounded trite but Maddie meant it.
“I imagined sitting here reading.” Sofi pointed at the window seat that ran the length of one of the side windows. “Or playing my guitar on the deck, with the ocean in front of me. Maybe having friends over, grilling outside, listening to music and watching the sunset with a glass of nice pinot gris.”
Maddie thought it sounded perfect. Her own house was much more modest than this one, but it was on the ocean and she’d had all the same dreams when she moved in. She almost said it but managed not to. She felt herself blush.
“Like I say, it’s all imagined.” Sofi shrugged and sat on a stool next to the breakfast bar. “Aren’t you supposed to have color charts or drawings or something like that to show me?” The confiding tone had disappeared.
“That comes later.” Maddie pulled out one of the dining chairs and sat down. She made herself look directly at Sofi. It was hard. The tight hot feeling in her chest was not a good thing.
They had spent years together, barely ever separated. They’d been bandmates and best friends. They’d celebrated every award, every chart success. And they had fallen in love, desperately and madly. It had been beautiful, until Sofi had shown her that it had all been a lie. And Maddie had spent the last five years trying desperately to forget her. She closed her eyes, willing herself to stop visiting the past and to focus on the here and now. This was one meeting, maybe two hours, and then they could go their separate ways again.
She opened her
eyes to find Sofi staring back at her intently, her perfect eyebrows raised, a question clearly written on her face.
“I don’t understand. What comes later?” Sofi glanced at her watch and then reached into her pocket to pull out her phone. She cursed softly. “And can we go a bit quicker? I have to get back to rehearsals.”
“I just mean that we usually get a sense of what the client wants in terms of ambience and feel and an understanding of planned utilization, that sort of thing, with the colors and the design options coming later.” Maddie tried to get back into her stride again.
“Utilization?”
“Who lives here, how you intend to use the space, does it need to be child-friendly, that sort of thing.” She opened her iPad. “Can I ask you a few questions?” Maddie logged on as she spoke, not looking up at Sofi.
“Is one of them going to be whether I ever missed you?”
Maddie dropped her iPad. It clattered to the floor and she leaned down awkwardly, almost tipping herself off the chair as she retrieved it. She righted herself, feeling like a klutz, her reaction a complete betrayal of how much Sofi’s question had affected her.
“What?” Maddie had heard her; she was buying herself some time.
“I said—”
“Don’t.” Maddie put up a hand. She swallowed and made herself look at Sofi, holding her gaze. “This is awkward enough, Sofi.” The nickname slipped out and Maddie wanted to face-palm herself. Actually, she wanted to leave. Sofi could find another designer. This was Miami, it wouldn’t be difficult. There’d be a dozen other companies willing to take on this project, and Maddie would rather lose the job than her sanity and self-respect.
“I’m sorry. I thought maybe you’d want to know, but okay, let’s stick to your questions about ‘utilization.’” She said the word like it was distasteful.
Not This Time Page 4