Her First

by Mckenzie, Diamond

  “What are your plans for today?” Ethan asked while pouring a cup of coffee.

  “Nothing,” Madison replied.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Why does something have to be wrong with me because I choose not to go to church?” she said with an attitude.

  “Hold up, I didn’t mention anything about church. I just asked one simple question and you’re going off.”

  Madison knew she owed him an apology, but instead of apologizing she said, “Have a good time at church.”

  “Why don’t you go to church with me today? Besides, it’ll give you a chance to meet my folks.”

  She thought about it and agreed. “Give me about thirty minutes.”

  ***

  Ethan was proud to walk into the Tabernacle Baptist Church with Madison on his arms. She was dressed in a light purple double-breasted designer suit. The sleeves were feathered and she wore matching heels. Her purse was the same color. Ethan’s dad was a deacon and Ethan noticed him sitting near the front of the church. His mother was sitting on the front pew.

  It was crowded, so the usher directed them to seats near the back where they enjoyed the sermon. After the sermon, his cousin sang a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace. He looked to his right and saw tears flowing down Madison’s face. He handed her the handkerchief in his pocket and whispered in her ear, “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she said between tears.

  After service, they waited out front for his parents to come out. He greeted some of his relatives and other church members and introduced them to Madison as they waited.

  Some of the single women weren’t too friendly.

  Madison enjoyed the service, but if one more woman turned their nose up at her, she would not be held accountable for her actions.

  These heifers are crazy, she thought. They shouldn’t be coming to church looking for a man anyway. If he wanted y’all, he would be with y’all. Now get to stepping.

  She put on a fake smile and continued to shake her head at what seemed like appropriate moments as Ethan talked.

  I hope his folks hurry up and come out, she thought, because my feet are killing me. I don’t know why women like to torture themselves. All because we want to look cute and I know I must be looking real good for the women to act jealous and not even know me.

  Ethan called her name a few times. “Madison, this is my mom, Belle Campbell.”

  “Oh I’m sorry. I don’t know where my mind was,” Madison said as she reached her hand out for a handshake.

  “Give me a hug,” Mrs. Campbell insisted.

  Ethan’s mom hugged her.

  “This is my dad, Frank,” Ethan said as he gestured towards a six feet three inch bronze complexioned man with similar piercing gray eyes as Ethan’s.

  “I’ve heard so much about you,” Frank said as he shook Madison’s hand.

  “I hope it was all good,” Madison stated as they walked down the sidewalk.

  “Any woman who can put a smile on my baby’s face is alright with me,” Ethan’s mom said.

  “I’m not a baby,” Ethan said.

  “You’re my baby,” his mother insisted.

  Ethan blushed.

  Ethan’s parents invited them over for dinner and they accepted. Madison got a chance to speak with his mother in private as Ethan and his father retreated to the den. Madison attempted to help with dinner, but Ethan’s mother motioned for her to have a seat.

  “Madison, Ethan tells me you’re originally from Dallas. Where are your parents from?”

  “They’re from this little town in Louisiana called Mansfield. It’s about twenty miles south of Shreveport.” Madison wiped the perspiration from her forehead when Belle turned away.

  “Never heard of it, but I’ve been to Shreveport to the casinos.”

  “I’ve been to Vegas a few time times but don’t frequent the casinos in Shreveport,” Madison informed her.

  “I shouldn’t be going, but the sounds of those machines can be addictive.”

  Madison nodded her head in agreement. “You sure you don’t need any help with anything?”

  “Sit down. I would hate for you to get your pretty suit dirty.”

  “That’s what cleaners are for.” Madison stood up, took off her jacket and placed it on the chair. “Now what do you need me to do?”

  Belle had a pleasing look on her face, and handed her a knife. “You can cut the potatoes for me.”

  “Will do.”

  Belle told Madison stories of the mischief Ethan and Frederick often got into growing up. It was hard for her to imagine Ethan being a chubby little kid. Her maternal instincts kicked in and she yearned to have a child, Ethan’s child.

  Ethan walked in. “How are my two favorite girls?” he asked. He kissed his mom on the cheek and attempted to open up a pot. His mom smacked him on the back of his hand. “Ouch.”

  “I told you I don’t like anybody over my stove, while I’m cooking,” his mother scolded.

  Looking like a dejected little boy, Ethan said, “Yes ma’am.” He paused before saying, “Dad and I are going to the store. Do we need to bring something back?”

  “Not that I can think of,” Belle responded.

  “Ladies, we’ll be back,” Ethan said before winking at Madison.

  She smiled at him and went to the sink and cleaned the potatoes before placing them in a pot. She tried to figure out which knob to turn for the front burner.

  “I got it, dear,” Belle said. “Once these potatoes get done, I’ll make the salad and we’ll be ready to eat.”

  Although dinner went well, Ethan sensed his mom wanted to ask him something. Madison’s ring sparkled brighter under the dining room light than he remembered. They were getting ready to leave out when his mom pulled him to the side.

  “Son, is there something you want to tell me?”

  “No, Mom.”

  “You’re not messing with a married woman are you?”

  “Of course not. You raised me better than that.”

  “I hope not. Madison’s nice and all, but I don’t condone extramarital affairs,” Belle sternly said.

  “She’s far from married.”

  She hugged Ethan and he bent down and kissed her on the cheek. “Call me later,” she said.

  “I will. I better go before Dad talks Madison’s head off.”

  Ethan rescued Madison and they waved at his parents as they pulled out of the driveway.

  “That was nice,” Madison commented.

  “Yes, it was. Did my mom say anything to you?” he asked.

  “We talked. Why, what’s up?” she asked.

  “She made a comment about you being married.”

  Madison held up her right hand. “I guess I should have taken the wedding ring off. Sorry.”

  “Everything’s cool. She knows we’re not committing adultery.” He laughed.

  She wiped her forehead. “Whew. Good. I would hate for her to think I was messing around with her son.”

  “Her son wished you were though.” He looked over at Madison and smiled.

  “Wishful thinking. And please keep your eyes on the road.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  ***

  When Madison turned in for bed, she reflected on the weekend events. She wanted to believe her life was going well, but internally, she struggled with the idea she was living a lie.

  How I wish Ethan and I met under better circumstances and not in the middle of a lie, she thought. I wish he were my husband. I see how he interacts with his family, my family. I know he cares about me or he wouldn’t have agreed to live this lie. I don’t know how much longer we can live like this. He deserves better.

  Tears streamed down her face as she pulled the covers over her head.

  Chapter 34

  “I heard you were at church yesterday with Madison,” Joyce said to Ethan the following morning while they sat in the company conference room.

  “Did your sources also tell yo
u that we had dinner with my parents?” Ethan asked.

  Joyce sat down in a chair next to him in the conference room. “No. How did Aunt Belle like her?”

  “If you must know, they got along great.”

  “Good. I like her too. I think she needs to stop playing games though.”

  Ethan was about to comment, but some of his other co-workers began to pile into the conference room.

  After the two hour meeting, Ethan avoided Joyce by rushing to his office and closing the door.

  He checked his messages and returned a few phone calls.

  “Hi Madison, sorry I missed your call,” he said through the phone receiver as he left Madison a voice message. “I’ve been tied up in meetings all morning. I’ll be working in the field this evening, so if you need me, call me on the cell.”

  After leaving a message for Madison, he unplugged his laptop, placed it in the carrying case, made sure he had his cell phone and left the office.

  He was barely in the car, when Joyce rang his phone.

  “Yes, Joyce,” he said sounding exasperated.

  “Now this could be business, while you’re answering your phone with an attitude.”

  “I know you.”

  “Ha. Ha.”

  Ethan tried to sound annoyed, but couldn’t. “I’m sorry. You can’t help being a busybody.”

  “I’m offended,” Joyce chuckled.

  “Bye, Joyce.”

  “Bye.”

  Ethan drove through the drive thru at Mickey D’s and ordered a super-sized number three. He ate in the car as he drove to a potential client’s site.

  His cell phone rang as he pulled up into the parking lot. Ethan recognized the number as Sarah’s. After the call went to voice mail, he turned the ringer off.

  He took the last sip of his drink before popping in a breath mint. He blew his breath into his hands, and after being reassured his breath smelt fresh, he turned the engine off, grabbed his briefcase and walked to the office building with confidence.

  ***

  Madison suppressed a yawn as she and eight co-workers sat in the conference room listening to her manager go over the past quarter’s budget in their weekly Monday meeting. She threw a piece of paper at Owen to wake him up. She laughed when Owen almost jumped out of his chair.

  “That concludes today’s meeting. I’ll be sending out an email with this information,” her manager stated.

  Everyone was filling up the room. Madison lagged behind. When she walked out the room, Sarah was walking by.

  “I was wondering where you were. I’ve been sending you emails and I decided to walk over and see you in person,” Sarah said to Madison.

  Madison continued to walk towards her desk. “We just got out of a forecast meeting. I haven’t had time to check my email today,” she said.

  Sarah lagged beside her. “There’s something I really need to talk to you about.”

  “Can it wait? Because I have a conference call I’m late for,” Madison stated as she placed her notebook on her desk and sat down.

  Sarah looked annoyed. “Sure. Let’s do lunch tomorrow.”

  Madison pulled out the keyboards and typed in the screensaver’s password. She logged on to her email and opened up her calendar.

  Sarah stood, tapped her foot and waited for Madison’s reply.

  “Tomorrow’s not good. How about Wednesday?”

  “It’ll have to do.”

  Madison pretended to be oblivious to Sarah’s mood. “Anything else? I need to log on to this call.” She picked up the receiver and dialed nine.

  “No. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Madison said as Sarah walked away out of earshot.

  She placed the receiver down. She picked up a piece of paper out of her inbox and began skimming through it. She dialed the number on the paper after placing the headphones on.

  The phone beeped to indicate to the others someone was entering the call. Owen walked by and attempted to get her attention. She placed the phone on mute.

  “What’s up?” she asked.

  “Sarah is on the war path. Word has it, she’s about to fire Smitty. You know he’s been here for twenty years!”

  “Dang it. Hold on, Owen.” She signaled him with her hand. “Yes. We’ll be sending out reports on the ninth of each month going forward,” she added to the call.

  Owen mouthed the words, “Call me” before walking away.

  She nodded her head to indicate that she would.

  After getting off the call, she scrolled through her email. She deleted the messages from Sarah. From what she could tell, they were not business related, so she didn’t feel obligated to respond. In fact, they looked like chain emails.

  Owen sent her an email asking her to call him.

  She dialed his extension. “Owen, tell me what’s going on?” she replied after he answered.

  “Smitty was told he could either resign or he’ll be asked to leave,” Owen informed her.

  “But he’s close to retirement.” She opened and closed emails as she spoke.

  “Yea, I think you’re right. He said he’s spoken with his attorney and they’ll have to fire him before he ever quits. Apparently your girl was brought in to do some housecleaning.”

  “Interesting.”

  “He’s not the only one getting the ax. Somebody from our department is too, but nobody knows who yet?”

  Madison stopped checking her email and gave Owen her undivided attention.

  “Are you sure? You know how rumors get started.”

  “Yes, and apparently Sarah made a recommendation to our manager from her own observations.”

  “I bet she has,” Madison half-heartedly said.

  “You’re not worried are you?” Owen asked.

  “Of course not,” she lied.

  She looked over her shoulder to confirm that no one was coming up to her desk. She logged onto Monster dot com and performed a job search.

  Owen whispered, “I’m about to update my resume just in case. I don’t trust any of these people up in this place.”

  “Neither do I,” Madison said before hanging up the phone.

  ***

  Ethan greeted Madison with a kiss as he unlocked the door and let her in. “How was your day?”

  “You don’t want to know.” She paused before walking upstairs.

  “I ordered pizza, so it should be here any minute.”

  “Okay,” she yelled from the top of the stairs.

  A few minutes later, the doorbell rang and it was the pizza delivery guy. Ethan took the pizza and tipped him.

  He grabbed two plates and some napkins and placed them on the coffee table in the den.

  “Ethan,” Madison yelled from the dining room.

  “I’m in here,” he said.

  He noticed the form fitting pair of red shorts she was wearing. They accented all of her curves. The t-shirt was a little snug and he could see the imprint of her breasts.

  Ethan immediately felt uncomfortable. “Madison, please dress more appropriately,” he begged.

  “There’s nothing wrong with what I have on.” She sat down near him.

  “From my point of view there is.”

  “Get over it.”

  “What’s with the attitude?”

  “I don’t have an attitude. You’re the one who made a comment on what I was wearing.”

  “Look, Madison. I didn’t mean to offend you. Take what I said as a compliment.”

  “It didn’t come out like that.”

  “The problem is my libido is strained and when you walk in wearing something like that.” He glared at her top and said, “It puts me in a very uncomfortable position.”

  She took a slice of pizza out of the box and placed it on her plate. She picked up a piece of pepperoni and ate it. “Oh I see. Sorry.”

  “No apology needed.”

  Ethan opened up a package of parmesan cheese and sprinkled it on top of his three slices of pizza.
“I hope you like pepperoni and Italian sausage.”

  “I do.” She took another bite.

  After they ate in silence, Ethan asked, “What happened at work to have you come home in such an uproar?”

  “It’s a four letter word.”

  He had a puzzled look on his face. “You got me.” He held his hand up.

  “T-A-R-A.”

  “Dang, what did she do now?”

  “I found out today she was actually hired to come in and do an assessment on the employees and make recommendations on who to keep and who to fire.”

  “And?”

  “And, that mean’s my boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend is in control of whether I have a job or not.”

  “She wouldn’t do anything like that.”

  Madison seemed agitated. “So you’re taking up for her now. I thought you despised her.”

  “Grant it. She’s not one of my favorite people in the world, but I can’t see her jeopardizing her job by firing you.”

  “I wouldn’t put anything past her. To think I did her a favor by babysitting her little bastard,” Madison said with a feeling as if she had been used.

  “Woe. Calm down, Madison.”

  “I’ll calm down when I’m good and ready. I’m going to bed now.” She stood up.

  “It’s only eight o’clock.”

  “And it’s midnight in some parts of the world.” She angrily left the room.

  Ethan didn’t know what to do, so he sat and watched her storm out of the room. A few seconds later, he heard the bedroom door slam.

  I guess I’ll call it a night myself, he said, shrugging his shoulders.

  He took the empty pizza box and threw it in the kitchen trash. He placed the dirty dishes into the dishwasher, poured some lemon-fresh dishwasher liquid into the sprout and turned it on. He then grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator, turned off the downstairs lights and headed to his bedroom.

  ***

  Madison knew she owed Ethan an apology for acting the way she did the night before. After waking up early after tossing and turning all night, she got dressed and went downstairs to cook a big breakfast. She made note to stop at a grocery store because the food supply was getting low.

  She mixed up several items, including cheese, and poured it into a bowl. She cracked a few eggs and made two omelets. She drank her fourth cup of coffee before putting on a fresh pot.