Ethan watched her as she twisted towards the front door. She and Madison almost bumped into each other. Ethan let out a breath of air when he saw Madison smiling as she walked towards him. He gave her a tight hug.
“Hi, sexy,” he said as he held the door open for her.
“Hi yourself,” she said, being careful to pull her skirt down when she sat. After he was behind the driver’s seat pulling off, she continued to talk. “I couldn’t wait to get out here to see you. I almost didn’t make it when this woman almost ran smack into me when I was coming out to meet you.”
“Really? You’re okay right?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m fine. Sad part about it, she didn’t even say excuse me.”
“Some people are rude like that.”
“Anyway, how did your meeting go?”
“Let’s just say, celebrations are in order.”
“Cool. That’s my man.”
“What would you like to eat for lunch?” He turned into what was known as restaurant row.
“So many choices. How about Outback Steakhouse?”
“Steak it is.”
After pulling into the parking lot, he found a spot near the door. Before getting out the vehicle, Madison commented, “I love this song. Is this his latest?”
“Yes, I picked it up last week.”
Ethan walked around and opened her door. “And you’re just now letting me know about it. Tsk. Tsk.”
As they walked towards the restaurant, he said, “I’ll make you a copy.”
“I want the original.” Madison batted her eyes at him as he opened the door.
“I’ll think about it.”
Before she could respond, a hostess spoke, “How many in your party?”
“Two,” Ethan answered.
They followed one of the waiters to a table. As they sat, Madison commented, “This place is still crowded. I thought by going to lunch at one, it wouldn’t be.”
“Seems like everybody else had the same idea.”
They enjoyed the rest of their lunch, taking time to flirt in between bites. On the ride back to Madison’s job, Ethan turned up the music. As he drove, he watched Madison sway to the smooth sound of the music.
When he dropped her off, it was hard saying good-bye. They stood outside the passenger door. He cornered her in. “I wish you could play hooky for the rest of the day.”
Glazing into his eyes, Madison didn’t say anything, instead she took her hand and put it on the back of his neck and pulled his mouth onto hers. “That should hold you until tonight.”
Ethan was left standing, watching her sashay into her office building. He re-adjusted his pants and got in his SUV.
Chapter 16
Madison glanced at the clock. It was after six and she had been trying to decide on an outfit for at least an hour. She finally decided on a pair of red slacks, a white satin blouse, and a matching red jacket. She threw on her red pumps and made sure her Mac make-up was intact.
She was putting on her lip gloss when the doorbell rang.
“I’m coming,” she yelled.
Ethan stood with a bouquet of red roses when she opened the door. “These are for you,” he said.
“Thanks. How lovely,” she said while taking them and smelling the fragrance.
“Red is your color,” Ethan said as they walked to the living room.
Madison placed the roses in the center of her coffee table. “These roses are perfect.”
“Just like you.”
She nervously laughed. “I wish.”
“Come here.” Ethan wrapped his arms around her waist. “To me, you are.”
Madison was nervous. She could feel the sweat under her armpits. “Hey, we better get going. My stomach’s been growling for the last hour.”
He hesitated before releasing his embrace. “I’m hungry too, but not for food.”
She picked up her keys and her mini-loop bag. “You can stand in that one spot if you want to, but food is calling my name.”
Ethan followed her out the front door.
***
On the ride to the restaurant there was light conversation as The Oasis, a Dallas radio station, played in the background. About fifteen minutes later they arrived at their destination. For a weekday, the popular seafood restaurant was packed. They were immediately seated, but had to wait a few minutes before a waitress came to their table to take their orders.
“Have you decided on what you want to order?” Ethan asked.
Without looking up, she replied, “I should know what I want, since me and my friends come here all of the time.”
“I know. Frederick and I used to hang out here every Sunday after church.”
Madison lowered her menu. “I bet y’all did.”
“What do you mean by that?” Ethan asked trying to sound innocent.
“Everybody knows that Friday nights and Sunday evenings, men and women come to scout out the opposite sex.”
“Is that why you and your friends hung out here?”
“Of course.” Madison grinned and lifted the menu to hide her face.
Before Ethan could retort, a waitress stopped at the table. “Would you like to order an appetizer first?”
Ethan looked in Madison’s direction. She put her menu down and ordered. “I would like the Blackened Oyster and Shrimp Fondeaux.”
“Good choice,” the waitress responded. “And you sir?”
“I’ll have an order of your Louisiana Seafood Gumbo,” Ethan ordered.
After writing down Ethan’s order the waitress asked, “Would you like to order your dinner now or do you need a few more minutes?”
Ethan and Madison said in unison, “I’m ready.”
They all chuckled. Ethan spoke first. “Ladies first.”
Madison picked up her menu. “For dinner, I would like the Shrimp Etoufee, and can you bring some extra garlic bread?”
“I sure can,” the waitress cheerfully said before looking in Ethan’s direction.
“I’ll have what the lady is having and can you bring us a picture of iced tea?” he said.
“Your tea and appetizers will be right out.”
They handed their menus to her. After the waitress walked away, Madison stated, “I told you I was hungry.”
Ethan laughed. “Yes, you did. I thought I could put away some food.”
“I need to go to the ladies’ room. I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll be right here.”
The waitress brought the appetizers and tea out while Madison was gone. Ethan was busy looking in the direction of the restroom and was caught off guard when someone came up behind him and put their hands over his eyes.
“Guess who?” asked a familiar voice.
Ethan removed a soft pair of ladies hands from his eyes. Sarah walked around and took a seat at the table. “We have to stop meeting like this.”
“I’m on a date, so you might want to remove yourself from that chair.”
“Oh, I saw your date. That’s the same lady I saw earlier at the place I interviewed. I should have known when she almost ran into me without even bothering to say excuse me that she was racing out to see you.”
Ethan glanced in the direction of the ladies’ room. “She’ll be back in a minute, so please leave.”
“Not without a proper introduction I won’t.”
“Sarah, why are you doing this? I’m beginning to think I’m being stalked.”
“No, I’m not stalking you,” she laughed. “You’re full of yourself aren’t you?”
Ethan moved around in his chair. “Either you leave now or I’ll have them escort you out of here.”
Sarah shook her head. “You wouldn’t want to make a scene would you?”
Irritated, Ethan responded, “I want you to leave me the hell alone.”
Sarah stood up, reached in her purse and dropped an envelope on the table. “When you get a chance, take a look at these. Trust me, you’ll be calling me.” She bent down and kissed him o
n the cheek. “Tah. Tah.”
She walked away as Madison was walking back towards the table.
Before Ethan could say anything, Madison asked as she sat, “Who was that woman I saw kissing you on the cheek?”
Ethan stuttered, “She was no one.”
Madison had a concerned look on her face. “Really now?”
“She’s someone I dated in the past.”
“She looks familiar too,” she said with a puzzled look on her face.
“She has one of those faces,” Ethan stated as he lifted the hot gumbo to his mouth.
“This is bitter,” Madison commented before opening two packages of Equal and adding it to her tea. She took another sip. “Now that’s better.”
“I’m surprised you’re dropping the subject without asking questions,” Ethan commented.
Madison took a bite of her appetizer. In between bites, she responded, “I’m waiting to see if you’ll willingly volunteer additional information.”
“She’s not worth discussing.”
She wiped her mouth with her napkin. “I hear you.”
“Seriously.”
The waitress brought out their food. “I can take those if you’re through.”
“Put this in a to-go plate if you don’t mind,” Madison said.
“Okay,” the waitress said as she took her half-eaten plate.
The waitress placed the main course in front of them.
Madison could tell Ethan was doing his best to avoid making eye contact with her. Ethan is acting guilty about something, she thought. It’s more going on here. I’ll give him until the end of the night to tell me about that woman.
Madison tried to ignore the dryness of her and Ethan’s conversation as her patience wore thin. She couldn’t enjoy her meal. “Ethan. You have two minutes to tell me who she was or I’ll leave you sitting here by yourself.”
“And how would you get home?” he replied.
“Oh, it’s like that.” Madison stood up.
“Sit,” Ethan demanded as some of the restaurant patrons sitting next to them looked on. “Please.”
She sat and tapped her fingers on the table. “I’m waiting.”
Ethan reached across the table for her hands. She ignored his gesture. “Where should I start?”
“The beginning,” she remarked as she crossed her arms.
“To make a long story short, Sarah and I dated for about two years. I was blinded by lust for a minute. My family and friends saw right through her from day one. She was a drama queen to the fifth power.”
“And what else?”
He took a drink of tea before continuing. “She tried her best to manipulate me into buying her everything she could get her hands on.”
“Did it work?”
“At first it did, because I wanted her to be happy. After awhile, it became draining emotionally and financially.”
“I can imagine.”
“She stayed in the stores so much that I felt like I had stock in the galleria. But anyway, that’s not what broke us up.”
“It sounds like enough to me,” Madison said rolling her eyes, not at Ethan, at the situation.
“What broke us up is the way she treated people and her dishonesty. In my face, she would pretend to be sweet, but behind my back, she’d say nasty things to my family and friends. When Frederick told me how she acted towards him, I thought he was jealous, but then I began to see things for myself.”
“Wow. She sounds like a character."
“I began having suspicions that I wasn’t the only one in her life when she went from calling me all of the time to only calling me when she needed some money.”
“A red flag,” Madison sarcastically said.
Ethan ignored her comment. “I didn’t get proof she was seeing someone else until after we broke up and I got my credit card bill.”
“Bomber,” Madison threw in there, shaking her head.
“You’re really not making this easy for me.”
Madison sat her glass down and looked him directly in the eyes. “Why should I?”
“Touché. My suspicions and her attitude were enough for me to end the relationship. She cried, begged and even lied and told me she was pregnant to stop me from ending the relationship.”
“She had some serious issues.”
“And she still does.”
Madison paused for a moment as Ethan awaited her response. “Thanks for telling me everything. I’m sure it was hard.”
Ethan smiled and felt relieved. “It wasn’t hard. I just like leaving the past in the past.”
The waitress came over and gave them empty cartoons to put their uneaten food into. Ethan paid for their meal. When they were getting ready to leave, the waitress came up behind them.
“Sir, you left this envelope on the table.” She handed him a small brown envelope.
“Thanks. I forgot all about it.” He took it and put it in his jacket pocket.
“What is it?” Madison asked.
“Nothing. It’s something I need to look at later.”
Madison didn’t say a word. She walked out the door, with Ethan right behind her.
Chapter 17
“I would stay, but I have an early meeting,” Ethan said as he bent down and kissed Madison good-bye.
She was stuffed from all the food she had eaten at Pappadeux. All the food weighing her down made her want to do nothing more than go lay down. “I do too. Good night,” she said, closing the door and locking it behind her.
She changed into a pair of red satin pajamas before getting into the bed. She saw the red light on her cordless phone blinking, indicating she had messages. After checking her messages, she dialed Charlotte’s number.
Charlotte picked up on the third ring. “Girl, I’ve been calling you all evening.”
“I had a date with Ethan,” Madison said as she crossed her legs. “I got your message.”
“You guys are really getting cozy. I told Frederick he had nothing to worry about.”
Frustrated, Madison blurted, “I wish people would stay out of my business.”
“Don’t be getting an attitude with me.”
“I’m sorry. Everything’s been going great with us, but tonight I saw one of his ex-girlfriends and it went downhill from there.”
Madison conveyed the entire evening, not letting Charlotte get in a word. Finally, Charlotte found an opening and interrupted. “What do you think is in the envelope?”
“It’s probably business related, but he acted suspicious.”
“Or you’re being paranoid.”
“Probably.”
Charlotte yawned. “I need to go. Oh, before I forget. What are you doing Friday?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“I bought some of your favorite DVDs so stop by the house when you get off. Let‘s have a girl‘s night in.”
“I’ll have to let you know. I’m moving some of my stuff this weekend.”
“I forgot about the move. But let’s make a deal. If you come over Friday, I’ll help you move.”
“Now that’s a deal I can’t refuse. I’ll be over around seven.”
“Make it eight.”
“Eight it is.” Madison yawned. “Girl, I’ll let you go. You got me yawning too.”
Madison hung up with Charlotte and climbed under the covers.
I’m surprised Ethan hasn’t called me, she thought as she laid there. I guess I am getting a little paranoid. If he doesn’t call me tonight, I’ll call him tomorrow.
She closed her eyes and went to sleep.
***
The next morning Ethan stayed in bed longer than usual.
I know I should have called Madison last night, but after telling her about Sarah and the awkwardness between us; it’s probably best that I didn’t, he thought.
After slow poking around, he got dressed. As he looked for his car keys, he spotted the unopened brown envelope he had laid on the counter the night before.
A shocked ex
pression crossed his face as he stared at a picture of a one year old boy with brown hair and a radiant smile. “I wonder if...” he said to himself. He continued to stare at the picture. “No, it can’t be.”
He turned the picture over and read Sarah’s handwriting on the back: Christopher Ethan Campbell.
He dropped the picture and envelope. “This can’t be. Why now?”
He picked up the picture and put it back in the envelope. He tucked the envelope inside his brown leather briefcase and walked out the door.
After getting to the office, he informed Joyce to hold all his calls. He closed his door and contemplated on how to handle the situation. Hardly getting any work done anyway, he got up from his desk and walked over to the window. After staring out of it for a few minutes, Joyce knocked on the door. “Can I come in?”
“Sure,” Ethan said as he walked back over to his desk and sat down.
“I know it’s none of my business, but something seems wrong. Madison called,” Joyce said and then added, “and Sarah has called you about four times.”
Ethan dropped his head. “Thanks, Joyce. I’ll call Madison back shortly.”
Joyce walked closer towards him. “Is there something you want to talk about?”
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“If this has anything to do with Sarah, you know I want to whip her behind anyway. Say the word and I’ll give her a beat down she’ll never forget.”
A smile flashed across Ethan’s face for the first time that day. He laughed. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come down to that.”
“I’m serious,” Joyce said before walking out and closing the door.
He leaned back in his chair. “The problem is not going to disappear. I better deal with It,” he told himself.
He dialed Frederick’s cell phone and got his voice mail. “Call me ASAP. I need to talk to you about a situation with Sarah.”
He hung up and then dialed Madison’s work number. After three rings he thought her phone was going to voice mail when she answered. “Madison Allen. How may I help you?”
“I’m so glad you answered.” He sounded relieved.
“What’s wrong?” Madison asked.
“It’s been one of those days.” He rubbed his head nervously. “I called to apologize for not calling last night.”
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