Her First (10 page)

Madison tried to avoid Sarah the remainder of the week as much as possible. She ended up taking work home and only spoke with Ethan by phone or via email. She was emailing him when Owen snuck up behind her.

“Boo,”
Owen said.

She almost jumped out of her seat. She hit him with her hand. “Don’t you ever do that again,”
Madison said.

“Sorry. You’ve been in your own little world. I was wondering if you were available to go with us to happy hour.”

“I’ll pass. I’m hanging out with my best friend tonight.”

“What does Charlotte have that I don’t have?”

“Free food and my favorite movies,” she said in a serious tone.

“Can I tag along?”

“No, silly, this is ladies night. Meaning no men.”

“Your loss, baby.” He tugged on his collar.

“I’ll get over it.” She laughed.

“See you on Monday.” He turned to walk away.

Madison looked at the clock. “You’re leaving already?”

“Yeah, I need to run to the bank and the post office beforehand.”

“Be safe. Have a good weekend.”

“You too.”

Soon after Owen left, Mya passed by her desk carrying her purse and laptop. Madison asked her, “Are you going to happy hour too?”

“No. Didn’t
Owen tell you?”

“Tell me what?”
Madison asked.

“Me and some friends are going to Las Vegas for the wee
kend.”

“Have fun.”

“I plan on it,” Mya said before walking away. She turned her attention back towards the computer and read Ethan’s response:

We’ve
only known each other a short time, but I will do whatever I can to make you happy. I know you’re an independent woman and you’re not accustomed to depending on a man for anything, but I’m here for you. You’re becoming my best friend and I hope one day to be your REAL husband. I love you and there’s no turning back from this journey we’re on. Have fun with Charlotte. I’ll be over tomorrow to help you move. I can’t wait (smile).

She read it several times before responding:

Ethan, you always know the right things to say. Thank you again for being my “knight in shining armor.” I wouldn’t be able to get through this ordeal without you. As I mentioned in my previous email, work is work. I’ll deal with it. I’m on my way out the door now. You know how bad Friday traffic can be. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning. I don’t have much stuff to bring because I know it’s only temporary. I wish…well, I won’t say what I wish, but know that I care about you too (smile).

Madison

After hitting the send button, she logged off her computer, locked her desk and grabbed her purse. She stood up to leave and accidentally bumped into Sarah.

“Oh, I’m sorry,”
Madison said while catching her balance.

Sarah
said, “No problem. I came over to say congratulations.”

“For what?”

“I found out you and Ethan are married.”

Madison
stuttered, “Who told you that?”

“A little birdie.”

“People need to mind their own business.”

Looking down at her ring,
Sarah commented, “I don’t know why I didn’t figure it out earlier. Your ring does sparkle.”

Madison
moved the hand with the ring out of view. “This is nothing.”

“I see why you wouldn’t want to talk about
Ethan now.”

Madison
tapped her foot on the carpeted floor. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to get out of here.”

Sarah
moved out of her way. “By all means, I don’t want to hold you up.”

As
Madison walked out the door towards the elevator, she heard Sarah say, “Have a good weekend.”

She is getting on my last nerve,
Madison thought. 
Now I wonder who’s been discussing my personal life with her. All I need is for her to blow my cover.

***

Ethan walked straight to the bar. He ordered a Heineken and waited for his brother to show up. He watched the interchange between the women and men. He laughed to himself as he saw men being turned down by provocatively dressed women.

“Excuse me,” said a tall curvaceous woman as she accidentally bumped into him, spilling some of her drink on his shirt.

“You’re excused,” he replied.

“Why don’t I buy you a drink to make up for it?” she asked as she flirted.

“That’s okay. Thanks for offering though.”

She batted her eyes and got close enough to him so he could see her cleavage. “You sure?”

He cleared his throat and stepped back. “I’m sure.”

She twisted away.

He was watching her walk away when Frederick came up behind him. “I see you’re not dead. She was hot.”

He gave Frederick a brotherly hug. “What’s up? I’m cool on that. I have a woman.”

“That’s right you’re an old married man,” he joked.

“Hey man, I didn’t see you standing there,” Ethan said to his friend Steven who was standing behind Frederick.

Steven was short and athletically built. He had a cute baby face and was often mista
ken to be younger than his thirty-three years. They gave each other a tight handshake.

“Man, I’ve been doing my thing. I heard you were tied down now,” Steven said.

He looked at Frederick. “I’m enjoying life. How’s the force been treating you?”

“I’m a sergeant now. I saw your brother speeding on Central Expressway earlier today and he invited me to join y’all.”

They laughed, ordered drinks and talked throughout the night over the loud music..

Madison went straight home from work, showered and changed into a comfortable pair of black jeans and a t-shirt. She put on her black Nikes and headed to Charlotte’s.

“Somebody must be having a party. I can’t find a parking place anywhere,” she said to herself as she parked several houses down.

She rang the doorbell and turned her back towards the door, waiting on Charlotte to answer.

“Hey girl, you’re a little late,” Charlotte said.

Looking back at the crowded street, Madison said, “Girl, I had the hardest time finding a parking place.”

Charlotte hugged her and led her in. “Come on in.” She grabbed
Madison’s hand and led her to the living room.

“It’s awfully dark in here,"
Madison stated.

“Wait here and I’ll turn the light on.”

When the lights came on, all Madison could hear was thunderous voices yelling, “SURPRISE!”

A shocked expression went across her face. “What is this?” she said.

Adrienne and Pam hugged her. “We didn’t get a chance to give you a shower before you got married, so we decided to give it to you now.”

She stuttered, “But…But…you didn’t have to.”
Emotions swamped Madison and tears fell down her cheeks. “I don’t know what to say.”

Janice spoke. “Don’t say anything.  Enjoy being the lady of the hour.”

Madison needed to get some space. “Char, come with me for a minute.” She looked back in the room at her sisters and her sister-in-laws and a few of her sorority sisters. “I’ll be right back. I need to pull myself together. I love y’all.”

She heard them say, “We love you too.” She grabbed Charlotte’s arm and pulled her into the kitchen.

“Charlotte, why didn’t you warn me?” she whispered.

Charlotte tried to remove her arm, but
Madison had a tight grip. “I couldn’t or it would have ruined the surprise.”

“No kidding, Sherlock. You and I both know this isn’t right.”

She jerked her arm away. “Look. You wanted me to help fool everybody and that’s what I’m doing. What was I suppose to do when your sisters asked me to help them plan this?”

“You could have told them NO.”

“How would that have looked if your best friend didn’t want to throw you a shower?”

“Any excuse would have done.”
Madison turned away and pouted.

“Look. For two hours pretend to be overjoyed and enjoy the attention.”

“It’s easy for you to say.”

Charlotte crossed her arms and leaned back. “I did warn you about lying.”

She rolled her eyes. “Now is not the time to remind me.”

Pam walked in the kitchen. “Are you okay? We didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“I’m fine. Just overwhelmed at what you ladies have done for me.”

“Come give your big sister a hug.”

She hugged Pam and glanced over her shoulder at Charlotte with a “what am I going to do?” look.

When they walked back into the living room, Adrienne said, “Let’s get this party started.  Let’s play a few games, eat, and then open some presents.”

Janice placed a tiara on Madison’s head. “You get to wear this.”

Madison
smiled.
I’ve pretended thus far, so I might as well enjoy it,
she thought.

Adrienne tried to get everyone’s attention. “What game do y’all want to play first? We have charades, taboo, and
Pictionary
.”

“How about charades?
Madison’s good at that game,” Charlotte said with a smirk on her face.

Madison
cut her eyes at Charlotte. She stood up and asked, “Who’s on my team?”

The ladies teamed up and started up a game of
charades. As they were winding down from playing charades, the doorbell rang. Charlotte was gone a few minutes and walked back into the living room. “Ladies, the food is here. I’ve set everything up in the dining room.”

All
fifteen of them walked towards the dining room with Madison and Charlotte lagging behind.

“Char, I’m sorry for earlier,”
Madison told her best friend.

She wrapped her arms through
Madison’s. “You’re forgiven. I know you’re under a lot of pressure.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“Are you having fun?”

Madison
laughed.  “Believe it or not, I am. It’s weird.”

“Good. Now don’t ask me to do this for you again.”

As they ate, the women asked Madison about Ethan. She tried to sound enthusiastic, like she was heads over heels in love.

Who am I fooling? I am in love with him,
she reminded herself.

She tried to dodge some of the questions, but Adrienne wouldn’t let her drop them.

“When are you selling your place?” Adrienne asked.

“We haven’t decided. For now, we’re living between the two,”
Madison responded.

April commented, “If I were you, I would rent it out. Never know when you might need something to fall back on.”

“Y’all need to stay out of her business. If she wants to sell or keep it, that’s her business,” Pam said as she sipped on her frozen strawberry daiquiri.

“Thanks Pam,”
Madison said.

Charlotte rang a bell. “Ladies, we’re going to move this party back into the living room. It’s time to open up the presents.”

“Come on, girl, this is the fun part,” Janice said to Madison, hurrying her along.

Charlotte pointed for
Madison to sit in the chair surrounded by gifts. Teary-eyed, Madison sat and said, “Before I open these gifts, I want to thank you all for everything. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

Adrienne wiped tears from her eyes. “Girl, open up these gifts.”

“Okay,” she said as Pam handed her the first one.

Madison
read the card. “This is from April.” She carefully opened the beautiful floral wrapped box. She held up a black-laced teddy with some garter belts. She blushed. “Oh my.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Charlotte said.

Every gift she opened was either a piece of lingerie or a couple’s bath set.

“Chocolate body paint. Now what am I suppose to do with this?”
Madison asked.

“If you don’t know, give me my gift back,” Janice said.

“Ugh. I can’t imagine you and my brother,” Adrienne said, shaking her head.

They all laughed.

The doorbell rang. “I wonder who that is,” Charlotte commented.

“The party’s almost over,” Pam said with a sneaky smile on her face.

Charlotte left to answer the door. Charlotte walked back in, just as they finished placing the gifts in the corner.

“Ladies, I have another announcement to make,” Charlotte said.  All eyes were on Charlotte. She hit the button on her stereo and yelled, “Let’s get this party started.”

A song by Justin Timberlake began to play and two handsome, well-built men dressed in fireman uniforms walked in.

One of them spoke out. “I heard there was a fire in this room.”

Adrienne fanned herself and said, “Yes, and it’s right here, baby.”

In beat with the music, the dancers removed pieces of their uniforms. Each of the ladies took turns dancing with them.

The tallest one made his way to Madison. “Can your man put your fire out like this?”  he asked her.

He took off his g-string and swung it around.
Madison shrieked and put her hand to her mouth. “Oh my goodness.”

Charlotte laughed. “Girl, enjoy yourself. I told you I’m only doing this once.”

Madison got up and danced as they sandwiched her in. “If you tell anybody about this, I’ll deny it,” she yelled.

The ladies gave away some dollars and then sent the dancers on their way.

“This was so much fun,” Madison commented as everyone helped her put all the nice gifts in her car.

“I’m glad you had a good time,” Charlotte said.

She hugged everybody before getting in her car. “Thank y’all again.”

She drove home feeling elated, yet sad.