"Taking out work frustrations?" Madeline threw one more hard punch then steadied the bag.
"Something like that, overbearing boss stuff." Bennet let out a hearty laugh in response to her sarcastic remark.
She smiled as she wiped her sweaty forehead. She tried to be coy and lean against the bag forgetting that it moves and practically fell at Bennet’s feet. She jumped back up quickly before he could reach his hand out to steady her, trying to play it off while feeling like a full blown idiot.
"I didn’t realize you worked out here." She said casually as she regained her posture. Acting as if she hadn’t noticed him a few weeks earlier.
"I usually workout in the morning," he said. "But when I have early meetings or my trainer is booked I’ll fit it in wherever I can." Madeline arched her back a little to relieve some tension she was feeling.
"You know, I don’t want to be “that guy” but I can tell you how you can fix that back pain you’re feeling." She gave him a questioning look but he walked behind her and put his hands on her waist.
“It's in your stance. Keep your feet like you had them but instead of just punching with your arm, lean into the punch." He said as he guided her body forward to show her.
"Now throw a punch with your right arm," she could feel how close he was to her body, his chest almost touching her back. "Now lean into it," he said as he leaned forward with her. Trying to focus on what he was actually saying, she continued to try a few more times and had to admit his technique worked.
“You're letting your back absorb the shock so by leaning into it your whole body absorbs it." She felt almost lightheaded when he stepped away from her.
"Thanks, I’ll put that into practice. Oh my friend is here so I have to get to my lesson." She walked as fast as she could over to her ring where Jazmine stood with a deer in headlights look on her face. “Don't ask." Maddie said matter-of-factly. “Let's just get on with the lesson, huh Damon?"
All through her lesson Maddie tried to keep her focus on what Damon was saying but she couldn’t help but try to steal glances of Bennet’s sweaty, rippling abs and thick, muscular arms…
"Maddie come on I need you to focus, this next drill is pretty complicated." Damon’s patience where wearing thin with the amount of time's he’d said this exact phrase tonight. Madeline readjusted her focus and squared up her shoulders, ready to execute the next set of drills.
"Sooo you going to address tonight orrr?" Jazmine was fishing but she could tell Madeline seemed frustrated.
“It's nothing Jaz honestly. He was just showing me how to avoid hurting my back. We’ve been working together a lot more since I’m handling some of his major accounts at the firm. Please don’t read into it. Trust me a he’s not into me, he’s out pf my league, and on and on." She tried to sound unbothered but her response was a little terse. She wasn’t even sure why she was in a mood…She was frustrated more than anything. Frustrated that she was so affected by Bennet, frustrated that she couldn’t seem to get him out of her head and frustrated she was having to spend so much damn time around him!
Madeline explained to Jazmine that she was just feeling overwhelmed with work and overly tired from long nights, hoping her excuse of an apology would keep her friend at bay.
"Listen Maddie you don’t need to explain yourself, I get it." She gave her friend a warm hug outside of the gym and they both headed their separate ways.
Madeline decided to skip the train tonight and walk the 15 blocks home, she didn’t even seem to notice the January wind whipping past her. She knew a call to her brother would cheer her up.
"Hey lil sister I was just wondering if the earth had swallowed you up!" Her brother went on about how little he’d heard from her and how it wouldn’t kill her to call her big brother now and then.
"Chase I know I’m sorry…you know how it is though, just graduating and trying to establish yourself. How are you? How’s Denver?" They spent time catching up and filling each other in on their perspective lives.
Chase was a real-estate developer in Denver, one of the fastest growing cities in the US so he was never not busy and he had recently got engaged so any spare time he did have was spent wedding planning.
“How's Michelle? Drowning you in invitations and color schemes yet?" Maddie chuckled.
"She actually text me a few of her dress choices the other day and she looked so beautiful. You better not screw this up Chase!"
Chase let out a long groan "Uhhhh yes. I mean I am beyond thrilled that she wants my input but my god I didn’t realize how much went into planning a wedding! I told her money isn’t an object and to just hire a damn wedding planner but she insists she wants to do it herself. I’ll never understand you women." He joked.
Although they were born and raised outside of Chicago, Chase had moved to Denver when Maddie went to college at North Western and their mother had lost her battle with breast cancer several years previously. He had felt (with much convincing from Maddie) that with her in college it was finally an ok time for him to move to Denver to be with his girlfriend and her family.
"So when are you coming back to Chicago?" Maddie asked as she walked the last few blocks toward home.
"When the winter is over! If I can avoid ever dealing with that shit ever again I’ll die a happy man. It was 64 here today" he bragged.
"Trust me I’m jealous! Listen Chase I’ll call you back later or in the next few days, there’s crazy sirens in my neighborhood so I can’t really hear you. I love you and miss you like crazy, tell Michelle I said hi!" Maddie hung up the phone as she rounded the corner to her apartment only to realize the sirens were for her building!!
"What?! What’s going on?" Maddie said to nobody in particular as she pushed her way through a few people that had gathered. "Excuse me sir what’s going on? This is my building!" She asked to the policeman walking past.
"Well ma’am the building is on fire" he said with clear annoyance.
"I can see that but what happened? I live here, can I go grab some things?"
“Ma'am I’m going to have to ask you to please stand behind the barricade," he said as he motioned her to move.
After several attempts to get an answer on what happened from someone, anyone…Maddie decided to give up and text Jazmine, “I'm coming over, it’s an emergency. I’ll explain when I get there."
"OH MY GOD!" Jazmine grabbed Maddie in a tight hug. "So they didn’t tell you anything?! Ugh I’m so sorry! I mean what if you’d been home?!! I don’t even want to think about it!" She said almost in tears.
"Jaz I’m ok, honestly I’m just exhausted and I feel terrible that I have to ask to stay with you and Ethan. I just want to take a shower and crash." She pulled Jazmine’s arms off of her and took her coat off.
"Trust me Ethan won’t care, he'll just be happy you’re ok plus he’s on call at the hospital all week so you don’t need to worry about being in his way." While Maddie showered and de-stressed, Jazmine made up the couch and laid out some pajamas for her.
Madeline put on the borrowed pajamas and fired off an email to Bennet. "Good Evening Bennet, I apologize for the late notice but I had an unexpected emergency tonight and will not be able to come into work tomorrow. I will have my cell phone with me for anything urgent and will be sure to make up for any work that I will be missing. Thank you for your understanding, Madeline." Thank god tomorrow was Friday so she hopefully would only need to miss one day. She placed the phone on the table beside her and closed her eyes for some much needed sleep.
Madeline had just begun to fall asleep when her phone blasted in her ear. She reached over without opening her eyes and silenced the phone, rolling over in protest. Seconds later the phone’s shrill ringtone rang again. Maddie groaned aloud as she looked at the screen seeing a number she didn’t recognize.
"Hello?" She squeaked out.
"Madeline? Hi I apologize if I’m waking you but it’s Bennet. Is everything ok? I just got your email." His voice sounded strained, as if he were genuinely
worried.
"Oh hey, yeah sorry I didn’t recognize your number." She stammered as she sat up and tried to get her bearings.
"My building caught on fire tonight and I wasn’t able to enter my apartment. I’m staying with a friend temporarily until I get clearance from the fire department to enter and assess the damage of my stuff." She apologized again for the abrupt time off request but insisted it wouldn’t impact her performance.
"Madeline I am not worried about that. I just wanted to make sure you were ok, your email seemed urgent with little explanation so naturally I was concerned." He elaborated on about how she could take off as much time as she needed or work from home and that if she needed anything at all he would be more than willing to oblige.
"Thank you Bennet, I honestly appreciate your concern and kindness. I’ll stay here for a while and I’ll be back in the office Monday hopefully and if not I will definitely take you up on the offer to work from home, I don’t want to miss any deadlines."
“You're more than welcome and I’m just glad you’re ok, that’s the most important issue." His voice seemed to drop an octave as he continued on, “I'll let you get back to your rest. Be a good girl and have sweet dreams. Goodnight Madeline."
Chapter 6
The weekend was mostly a blur of phone calls to the city trying to determine if and when she would be able to pick up some items from her apartment. She was basically at square one with zero answers and little hope of getting any.
“Listen Maddie, I know you’re stressed out but why don’t we go for a run on the lakefront to get your mind off things. Most of the city offices are closed so you can’t do anything more and you’re just going to sit and stew in here.” Jazmine sat on the edge of the couch rubbing Maddie’s back as she wallowed.
“As much as I want to continue being pissed off that actually sounds like a good idea…as long as I can borrow your clothes. After our run though I need go shopping and pick up a few things unless you’re ok with me borrowing your panties.” She said with a small laugh.
“Great idea, I draw the line there. I’ve been wanting to go check out some of the spring stuff coming out anyway. Ok let’s get ready and go freeze our faces off on the lake!” Jazmine jumped off the couch and scampered back to her room to find clothes for Maddie.
Maddie didn’t seem to notice the wind burning her face as she picked up the pace and pounded out the miles. The water was choppy today but the crashing waves had a nice calming lull and helped to drown out the traffic of Lake Shore Drive.
“Would you please slow down! Jesus, you get in a zone and just haul ass!” Jazmine was bent over gasping for air with her hands on her knees. “Just give me a minute, I feel like my lungs have slipped into the seventh circle of hell.”
“Hey you’re the one that said let’s go running! It’s actually really helped so thank you for braving the tundra and keeping me company, I know running isn’t your thing so it means a lot that you suggested it.” The girls linked arms and finished the last half mile with a brisk walk.
“Thank you!” Maddie smiled and rubbed her hands together as the waiter set down her plate of mile high avocado toast.
“You get way too excited about toast with avocado on it you know that?”
“This place has the absolute best! The bread is so thick and the avo is always perfectly ripe!” She tucked into a large bite and leaned back in her chair letting out a loud groan. “This is better than any sex I’ve ever had, true story.” Jazmine just laughed and shook her head.
The girls spent the rest of the day popping in and out of shops on Michigan Avenue picking up some essentials for Maddie, along with some new and sophisticated work outfits she was super excited to wear.
“What do you think about this one?” Maddie had stepped out of the dressing room in one of the knee length dresses she had picked out. It was a soft off white with a small black and gold bow around the waist. The gold zipper was exposed down the back as well, outlined in black. She spun on her heels, looking for Jazmine’s feedback.
“Wow! Maddie that is gorgeous! I mean, you really fill it out in all the right places which makes it look even better. I feel like your butt has gotten so perky and round with boxing and your arms look amazing!” Maddie’s cheeks flushed a bit as she smoothed the material over her waist.
“Geez thanks, man you really know how to make a girl feel great.” She winked at Jaz as she spun around again to look at this new perky booty she spoke of. She had always been a bit on the thin side but Jaz was right! She was starting to look a lot more womanly over the past year and she was loving it.
By the time the girls had returned to Jazmine’s apartment it was dark and almost dinner time. Ethan was at the stove when they entered, making something that smelled delicious.
“Hey there I was wondering where you were, I hadn’t heard anything all day.” He said somewhat under his breath to her as she leaned in for a kiss.
“Oh, yeah I went running with Maddie and then shopping since she can’t get anything from her apartment yet.”
The first few days at Jaz’s and even the first week or two were fun, like an extended sleepover almost. That being said, Maddie could tell she was overstaying her welcome. She had witnessed a few uncomfortable fights between Jazmine and Ethan that could only be attributed to the added stress of her presence.
She had finally been able to get back over to her apartment to pick up some things but every day she was feeling more and more guilty for being in their space. The city had told her it would only be a few more weeks…that was three weeks ago. She was starting to think it might be best she find a month to month apartment to rent just so she could get out of their space.
Chapter 7
The last several weeks living with Jazmine had turned from fun to stressful. She loved her best friend but the saying about not living with your best friend was a saying for a reason. She always felt underfoot in their one bedroom apartment, she shared the couch with their dog and Ethan’s crazy on call schedule as a resident at Rush University Medical Center was really screwing with her sleep patterns. Not to mention they were a couple that had recently moved in with one another so she felt she was really cutting into any alone time they had if she was home. She had been spending extra hours at the office, going in early, staying late and hanging out at Starbucks just to avoid hearing her friends have sex.
Thankfully Maddie’s apartment wasn’t damaged by the fire but because the building was a hazard site she couldn’t return to living in it until it was cleared by the fire department and there was little to no hope of getting an answer on when that would be. She closed her eyes and rubbed her neck, she’d kill for a massage right now.
"You have been staying here late quit often. Seems kind of sad for a Friday night. Still staying with your friend?" Bennet leaned against Madeline’s cubicle wall.
"Oh hi, yeah what gave it a way?" She said with a broken smile. "Is it a problem that I’m staying late? I don’t want to be interfering with alarms or anything."
Bennet laughed as he motioned toward the elevators with his head, “Let's go grab some dinner. I have a proposition for you."
Maddie nervously gathered her things and followed Bennet to the elevator.
"Hey how do you feel about pizza? I could honestly just go for pizza and beer." He said as he loosened his tie.
"Yeah, yeah that’s fine with me. Do you have any special toppings that you prefer?" She realized how lame that sounded once it came out of her mouth.
"Actually, funny you should ask because this has been a point of contention in the past when it comes to sharing pizza. I’m a mushroom and pineapple guy. I know it so-"
Before he could finish Maddie interrupted "Those are my favorite toppings!" She said way too excitedly.
He laughed loudly, grabbing his stomach. "Well that is the first time I’ve seen you act excited about something Miss Strickland! I’m glad we agree on pizza toppings, I knew I saw something in you." He said with a wink.
“We’re here," he said as he put the car in park.
"Never been to this pizza place before," she said nervously as she grabbed her bag.
“I'll explain inside, come on." He said as they entered the elevator. When the elevator opened it was clear they were in the penthouse…Bennet’s penthouse!
"Pizza will be here shortly, I ordered it before I left the office. You want something to drink?" Bennet threw his keys on the massive kitchen island and walked to the fridge as he removed his coat.
"Why am I here again? Where am I actually?" Madeline looked around the massive penthouse in confusion.
"This is my house, beer?" Bennet opened his beer and took a long drag. He opened a second beer and walked over to Maddie.
"Relax Madeline, I’m not a serial killer." He handed her the beer and walked over to the living room. Windows stretched from floor to ceiling along the entire length of the wall. The view was spectacular…a view of Lake Michigan in front and the twinkling lights of the city on either side.
Madeline took a sip of the beer as she timidly followed Bennet. "Please put your stuff down, here let me." He took her bag from her and helped her out of her coat.
"So why am I here?" She tried to ask casually.
“Let's sit down." He pointed to the couch in the middle of the room. The room was large and open concept but still felt warm and inviting. Bennet reached over to a remote and pressed a button; the fireplace behind them suddenly danced alive with flames. He had removed his tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons on his white oxford, exposing his tanned skin a bit. Maddie took a sip of the cold beer, pretending not to notice as Bennet reclined on the couch and rolled up his sleeves in such a casual manner.
"Ok so before you shut me down just hear me out. I know the situation of living with your friend is not ideal and you don’t know when you’ll be back to your place so my offer is…you could stay here." He took a long drag of his beer and ran his hand through his hair…something she noticed he did when stressed or agitated.
Resisting Her: Who knew innocence could be so tempting Page 3