15. Madison #2
“Good massage?” Alfie asked.
“I think I just transcended time and space.”
He smirked as the limo started moving again. When we stopped this time, we were outside a gorgeous hotel in the heart of Mayfair.
“This is Claridge’s,” Alfie said as we climbed out of the limo. Uniformed doormen waited by a revolving door, ready to welcome guests. “They’re famous for their afternoon tea.” He swept Kenna and me inside, out of the chill, and my stomach growled in anticipation.
As we wandered to our table, I took in the high ceilings and sparkling chandeliers.
Fresh flower displays adorned the round tables.
We took our seats, and while I shrugged out of my coat, a tiered silver stand with an assortment of finger sandwiches, buttery scones, and tiny cakes appeared on the table.
I blinked, and the staff produced fine china cups and a steaming teapot.
Kenna giggled as a staff member poured her tea and helped her pick a selection of tasty treats. Everything smelled delicious, and I was feeling positively pampered.
“Alistair said you hadn’t yet tried a scone with clotted cream,” Alfie noted, filling his plate.
I stared at the spread before me, and for a beat, I couldn’t help feeling overwhelmed. Hesitantly, I took a scone and added it to my plate, then turned to Alfie. “Jam first or cream?”
Alfie made a small squeal of delight. “I have so much to teach you.”
We finished tea, Kenna was given a box of mini macrons tied with a ribbon to take away, and then we headed back to the limo and across the city again. Kenna closed her eyes briefly, slumping against me as she caught a quick post-tea nap.
“So do you like working for Alistair?” I asked Alfie.
He nodded. “I like the unpredictability of it. Look at today. In what other job would I get paid to play tour guide like this?”
“I suppose it does make for an exciting nine-to-five.”
“Plus Alistair’s always been really good to me,” Alfie continued. “My mum got really sick a few years back. It’s just me and her, so I had to leave work to care for her full time. I tried to resign, but he wouldn’t let me. And the whole time I was away from the office, you know what he did?”
I shook my head.
“He just kept paying my salary.” Alfie sighed. “The tabloids would never even be capable of understanding the kind of man he truly is.”
“It was bad here, huh?” I said. “During the trial?”
“During and after,” Alfie said, waving his hand. “It was a mess. The board had no trust in him, and it showed in everything they did. With every tabloid headline, it just got worse. There was nothing else he could do other than leave to protect his family.”
“And the police really have no idea where Jessica is?”
Alfie snorted. “My guess is she hopped a flight to a place where she could bide her time on a beach until everyone stops looking for her.”
“I just don’t get how she could have left Kenna behind,” I said, looking down at the little girl. She’d quickly become one of the bright spots in my life, and I’d only known her a little over a month.
“Some people are just cruel,” Alfie said.
“And others…they might not be brazen enough to hurt someone directly, but they don’t hesitate to enjoy other people’s misfortune.
Alistair and Kenna both deserve so much more.
I was honestly glad when he picked up and left London.
I think it’s the best decision he could have made. ”
“You didn’t fancy coming up to Scotland with them?” I teased.
He laughed. “I would have if there was no other option. But as always, Alistair was very reasonable.”
“You should come visit. I think you’d like Braeburn. It’s very…scenic.”
He snorted. “Is that your way of telling me there isn’t even a Starbucks?” He shot me a cheeky grin. “Well, maybe I could handle roughing it for a few days.”
I laughed at that. With or without a Starbucks, how could living in a castle ever count as roughing it?
We stopped outside another building. This one didn’t boast the same historic features as the others, instead looking like some modern warehouse. I nudged Kenna awake, and we headed inside. There were exposed brick walls, polished concrete floors, and a private showroom of designer clothing.
“What is all this?” I asked.
“Your Cinderella moment,” Alfie teased, pulling a dress from one of the waiting clothing racks.
Kenna flitted to the sparkle like a moth to a flame.
“This is where you complete your transformation.” He tucked the dress away.
“Alistair wants to take you two out for dinner tonight. Hair and makeup will be here shortly.”
“Oh my God,” I whispered. Was this what it felt like to be a celebrity?
Before Alfie could say anything else, we were greeted by two stylists. Cheryl took Kenna off to look at outfits. Veronica held her hand out to me.
“You can call me Ronnie,” she said, tugging on my arm, spinning me in a circle as she sized me up. “How do you feel about a little off-the-shoulder number?”
“I guess…good? I mean…” I laughed, delirious. “I don’t really dress up like this.”
She grinned. “Oh, I’m going to have fun with you.”
She pulled dress after dress from the rack faster than I could blink.
Then she whisked me into a changing room.
I paraded in and out of the room over and over again for the next half hour, standing on top of a platform in front of a bank of giant mirrors.
Sometimes Kenna joined me, spinning around in crinoline skirts and ruffles.
Alfie whistled, clapping for each number.
“Now the pink one!” Kenna declared, rushing back into her fitting room.
“I really do like the blue sparkles,” I called.
“No, I want pink!”
Of course she did. I stepped back into the changing room myself, and Ronnie zipped me into a turquoise number that felt like a second skin. I ran my hands over my front, loving the silk.
“Mm-hmm,” Ronnie hummed. “I think this might be the one.”
I stepped out in front of the mirrors again, and Alfie’s jaw dropped. “Girl, you look lush.”
“I hope that means nice,” I said, twisting to check out my backside. It had never looked so good. Quality tailoring was doing it all sorts of favors, but I also believed that sprinting all over the castle was doing wonders for me.
“It means drool-worthy.” He bowed down to Ronnie. “You continue to make magic, my queen.”
She waved him off, then checked a notification on her smartwatch. “Oh, the hair team is here. I better let them in.”
“I’ll come with you,” Alfie said. “I have some ideas I want to run by them.”
I took the moment alone to twist and turn in front of the mirror, appreciating the sight of myself in a dress I’d never be able to afford in a million years.
Wanting to preserve the moment, I pulled out my phone and snapped a photo.
I fired it off to Emily with a text. Want to bet this dress cost more than my parents’ house?
Holy shit! It’s gorgeous.
My phone rang a moment later. “You look friggin’ hot. Where are you going, the Oscars?”
“I have no idea, Em. It’s been a wild day.” I told her everything, from the moment we stepped onto the jet until now.
“And has he kissed you again?”
“No,” I mumbled. Admittedly, I was a little disappointed about that. But today had made me feel so special, it was hard not to swoon at the thought of Alistair.
“You sound happy,” Emily mused.
“I am. Happier than I’ve been in months, honestly.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Just…”
“What?”
“I want to make sure you’re enjoying all this princess treatment for yourself, not because you think you have to change into someone fancier to please him. Even if he is a sexy Scottish recluse with a castle and private shoppers and whatever.”
I hummed in response.
“I know how you get, Mads. For your parents, for your boyfriends. Tripping over yourself to try to be exactly what they want.”
She was right. I always went all in, giving everything, and at the end of the day, my feelings, my wants, my needs went by the wayside.
“It’s fine to play dress-up for a day,” Emily continued. “Just remember you’re also the person who enjoys adventuring in a van where showers are harder to come by. Anyone who doesn’t love all of you doesn’t deserve any of you.”
I smiled, appreciating her protectiveness that I knew always came from love.
And the reminder not to put myself into a situation again where I invested everything only to be disregarded.
“Trust me,” I assured her. “I’m not jumping through any hoops or bending over backward or…
” A smile caught my lips as I studied my reflection, twirling once.
“Really, Em. It’s the other way around this time.
I couldn’t even imagine a day as amazing as this in my wildest dreams. Alistair’s the one making a real effort here. ”
“Good,” she said. “He should. Because you deserve it.”
I ran my hand down the silk fabric, lip caught between my teeth.
Emily was right. I did deserve it. And it felt nice to not be the only one trying for once.
More than nice. After everything I’d been through emotionally these last few months, this felt amazing and I intended to enjoy every moment, which was, of course, the dangerous part.