Chapter 9
Madison watched Dante walk away from her. She wanted to call him back but knew she shouldn’t. She had settled on a design and should work on that instead of pine over Dante. Besides, she would see him soon.
Madison was stunned when Dante had told her to pack a bag. She couldn’t believe he had meant it when he said he would have her over to his place. It made her heart speed up and showed her that he was someone she could trust.
He hadn’t said an exact time, but she assumed he would come back sometime before tonight to pick her up and bring to his place. Or maybe they would just leave together from the club. She was excited to see his place and to spend more time with him.
Things were feeling different. Different in a good way.
She didn’t have any personal dating experience to go off of, but it had been like they were more than just friends who slept together.
She was falling harder when she needed to be focused on other things like her designs and Henry.
And there was the fact that she didn’t want a relationship that led to marriage.
She wasn’t getting married or having kids.
Which was why what her and Dante had was perfect.
She felt terrible, she hadn’t seen Henry in two days. They had talked on the phone, but she had been busy with making and cutting out her pattern. She knew he understood and she would go see him today since she would be at Dante’s for the weekend.
Madison hadn’t visited Henry on the weekends as she reserved that time for Dante. She was unsure of what she would do now that they were going to be together every day.
But, with only two months left before fashion week, she would need to focus.
****
Madison knocked on Henry’s door.
“Hey. I didn’t know it was you. I thought you were a guest. Why didn’t you use your key?” Henry stepped back to let Madison pass
“I know we have each other’s keys for emergencies. I don’t want you to think I would come in your home whenever, because I have a key.” Madison walked into the living room.
“It’s no problem, that’s what I gave it to you for. To be able to let yourself in when you come to visit me.” Henry shut the front door and followed Madison.
“Oh.” Madison hadn’t interpreted it like that, and she hoped Henry wouldn’t just come into her apartment whenever he wanted. “Well, you might be doing something and might not want someone to walk in on you.” Madison sat down on the couch
Henry sat in the wingback chair across from Madison. “Is that the case with you? You haven’t been around to see me as of late.” He looked at her with quiet directness.
“Yeah, and I’m sorry. I decided on a design for the competition and have been focused on that. You know I want to win.”
“Of course I do, and if you do, your salary will help all of us out.” He leaned back in the chair and stretched his legs out.
Madison frowned. She was confused and hurt. Did he only care for the money that she gave him and didn’t care if she won the competition because she was good at what she did, it all concerned what it would allow her to do for him?
“Yeah, that’s true, but aren’t you going to look for a job after the surgery since you’re in remission?”
“Well, I don’t know.” He shifted in his seat. “There is nothing that I could do to make the same amount I made playing ball.”
“True, but every little bit helps.” Madison sat forward.
“That’s what I’m saying. Your sign-on bonus for winning will help out.”
“You or me?”
“Both of us and Dad too.”
“I planned on saving that.”
“How could you do that when we need it? I’m starting to think you don’t care that Dad and me need your help.” Henry leaned forward into her space.
“No, no. That wasn’t what I was saying. I just need to have a cash cushion in case something comes up.”
“I don’t think you need the whole ten thousand.” Henry didn’t back down.
“Well, I hoped to get a car—” Madison shrank back.
“Why get a car when public transportation is so much cheaper.” Henry leaned back.
“You have a car.”
“Yeah, but I’m used to driving myself around, I wouldn’t be able to wait on anyone else’s schedule. But you’re used to it. Why change? It would help you save more money.”
“Right.” Madison picked up her phone at the notification ding. “I have to get going to catch the bus back to my place to meet my model.” Madison stood.
“Ok, well, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Henry continued to stay seated.
“Oh, I’ll be busy this weekend and won’t be able to come over.” Madison picked up her bag.
“No problem, I can stop by your place.”
“I won’t be there. I’m going to be staying with a friend.”
Henry cocked his head. “Sabrina?”
“No. Another friend. One you don’t know.”
“Is this friend a guy?”
“Why?”
Henry stood and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I know you don’t have a lot of dating experience. I don’t want you to end up hurt, by some guy who takes advantage of you.”
“Right, well, I gotta go or I’ll miss the bus and be late.” She leaned over to give Henry a hug and then turned to leave.”
“Madison, before you go, do you have some cash you can spare?”
“I only have some hundreds I was going to put in the bank.”
“Great. I’ll take two.” Henry held his hand out.
“Sure. Here you go.” Madison closed her wallet and walked out and softly closed the door behind her.
To him, she was a wallet to get money from.
Did he even care? To her, they had become close, but now she it seemed as if he was only close with her wallet.
She shouldn’t have given him the money, but that would be selfish to keep it for herself.
She knew Henry was used to so much more based on the money he earned playing ball. Of course he would miss things like eating out and going to shows. What right did she have to stop him?
****
Madison went to meet her model Becky. They had talked and texted to set up a meeting time, but it was the first time they would meet in person.
They would meet at Madison’s place. Since Madison didn’t have a car and was doing everything out of her apartment, it was easier and more convenient to meet there instead of carting everything to the fashion house and back.
Madison went to answer the knock at the door. “Hi.”
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” Becky held out her hand.
“You too. Come in. Thanks for being willing to come to me.” Madison shook it and opened the door wider.
“Yeah, no problem, I don’t mind.” Becky walked inside.
“Well, I would like to get started with the latest measurements. I got them from your agency, but I like to do my own.” Madison closed the front door and locked it.
“No, problem. Where would you like to do it?” Becky looked around.
“I do my designing at my kitchen table, so let’s go there.”
“Ok.” Becky followed Madison into the dining room.
“Let me pull the blinds, and then if you can take your shirt and pants off, I’ll get the measurements. I do have part of it cut out so I’m going to pin it on you too if that is ok?”
“Sure.” Becky set her things on the countertop
“I like to leave a large border so I can take it out if I need to and still have fabric without needing to insert a panel.”
“I’ve never worked with a designer that has done that before.” Becky removed her top and bottom
Madison was light and bubbly at being called a designer and hung her tape around her neck.
“What’s that smile for?”
“No one has ever called me a designer before. It feels nice.” Madison grabbed her notepad.
“Not even your family?” Becky held her arms out to make a T with her body.
Madison remembered her conversation with Henry and measured Becky’s arms.
“Oh, you guys don’t get along?”
“No, we do. They, well, my mother doesn’t see it as a good career.” Madison measured Becky’s neck.
“My parents at first weren’t too crazy that I wanted to be a model, but they’ve become more supportive. I don’t know how I would have done this competition without them being there for me.” Becky turned to the side.
“Yeah, it is hard.” Madison’s mind turned to Dante and how he supported her last night when she told him her dreams.
“You don’t have anyone?”
“No, I do.” Dante believed her designs were good.
“Is it a guy?”
“Yeah, it’s not serious though.” Madison wrote the latest numbers down next to the ones the agency had given her.
“But you want it to be?”
“I wish it could be, but it’s not our deal.” Madison hung up the muslin she had cut out and placed pins in to hold the design together.
“Oh.” Becky made a face.
“Oh no, did I poke you?” Madison pulled the pin out.
“No. It’s just I was in a relationship like that and it ended.”
“Not well?” Madison poked herself on the next pin.
“Well for me. I wanted more, but he didn’t. But my family has been great, and my girlfriend reminded me that you can never turn a booty call or friends with benefits into more than what it was, but you can ruin the friendship.”
“Oh.” Madison rubbed her finger where the needle had pricked her skin.
“That’s kind of where we were at. I can’t be happy for him when I see him with another girl, so our friendship suffered. I don’t know if it will come back, and it sucks because he was a great friend.”
“Yeah.” Madison looked down at the ground.
“So enjoy it while it lasts, but know that it will end. That’s the one thing I wish someone would have told me. Maybe then we would still be friends.”
Becky had given Madison tons to ponder. Madison pulled another pin out of her pin cushion.
“What else do you like to do for fun?”
Madison finished up, and they talked shows they had watched and things they wanted to do after the competition was over. It had been nice, and she believed she could call Becky a friend at the end of it.
For some of the projects they had worked on for the fashion house, the models had been super hard to work with.
Some of them had lived up to the high maintenance stereotype, so it was refreshing for the final project to get a model who didn’t think she had to be demanding as a requirement.