Fated To Love You Forever

Madison recounted the wad of cash in her hand for the fourth time this morning, and it still amounted to nine hundred and ten dollars.

She mentally calculated the estimate of the money she would spend on transport back to London and the miscellaneous expenses, and she breathed in relief when she saw that it would do.

Still she needed to have some cash on her when she got back to London, at least until she managed to get another job. To cut costs, she decided to skip breakfast this morning, and maybe just get a burger or a doughnut and a bottle of water, instead of a full course meal.

Not now though, she would have that when she had stayed at least an hour on the train, so the snack would last her until she got to her destination. Nodding in agreement to herself, she took out roughly fifty dollars and stuffed it safely into her purse.

After Madison packed up her belongings which weren’t so plenty, she lugged her bags outside the motel and hailed a taxi that would take her to the train station.

Feeling nostalgic, as the car drove to the train station, the cool breeze whipping past Madison still couldn’t believe she was finally leaving New York. It almost seemed like she had been here forever, but still she was glad.

Since she had been here she felt like she had not been able to relax, like she was choking and not having any peace of mind at all. Being in London would do her some good, she decided, and again at least she wouldn’t have to deal with the media or the paparazzi.

She would go back to her home in Birmingham, where she could finally walk round in the streets without the fear of someone shoving a camera in her face or tossing a silly question about the past days event to her.

Madison was exhausted and nervous, but she was grateful.

Soon she got to the train station, and looking down at her phone again to check the time, she saw that she had arrived pretty early so she would have to wait for some time before her boarding train would come. Well, she didn’t mind waiting, and this in mind she lowered herself into a chair as she waited.

Letting her mind wander, she was lost in thoughts until she heard, “Madison!”

She turned around in surprise when she heard the familiar voice call out, her eyes roaming through the crowd so she could spot the person. There was quite a number of people around so she had to search thoroughly, and she had almost giving up when her eyes finally sighted him.

It was Alvarez and his little girl who was skipping toward her, and tears started to fill up in her eyes. Alvarez had asked her to keep him updated on the date and time of her departure, and so she had, but she hadn’t expected him to come see her off.

She didn’t expect him at all, but here he was with a warm grin on his face, and her chest squeezed lightly.

As soon as he got to the chair, she stood, launching herself at him in an embrace burying her face in his bulky shoulders.

Alvarez began to chuckle, holding her in a tight embrace, as he whispered, “How are you?”

She pulled away wiping the tears of her eyes and nodding she started to say, “You came…”

He glanced at her weirdly, knowing the line she was going to and cutting her off he said, “Did you seriously think I would let you leave New York, without seeing you one last time? Come on, I literally miss you already. If I could get you to stay here, Lord knows I wouldn’t hesitate to do it.”

Madison laughed at his words, smiling and squatting a little to be on eye level with Ivy, she pulled the small girl her into a light hug, “Hey Ivy.” She smiled, pinching the little girl’s cheeks lightly, as she added, “How are you?”

Ivy nodded, still clutching at her father’s fingers tightly, “I’m fine, thank you for asking. Dad says you’re leaving, but when would you be coming back?”

Madison smiled wryly, sniffing back the tears that were threatening to fall down her face yet again, “Well, I don’t know yet. I have some things to take care of at my place. Maybe when I’m done, I would come visit you again. Is that okay?” She finished asking, and the little girl nodded, moving forward for another hug.

Madison grinned, holding on to her and smoothing out her hair. She was already beginning to feel emotional, and even though she didn’t want to cry she couldn’t help the stray tear that fell down her cheeks.

Clearing her throat, and making sure she was okay, Madison stood. She took out some money from her purse and handed it to Ivy, “Here. Get yourself some candy, or a chocolate bar. Whatever you like.”

She smiled when the little girl thanked her, and then she turned back to Alvarez.

Smiling sadly, she saw the remorseful look on his face, and immediately asked, “What’s the problem?”

“It’s nothing. I’m just a little worried about you, and I miss you already.”

“I’ll miss you too.” She said with all honesty.

“It’s just, I don’t know when next I’ll get to see you. We lost contact for so long, now I found you again after so many years, and then you are leaving. I don’t want to let go of you again. When will you be back Maddie?”

Guilt poked Madison in the chest as she stared at the floor, playing with her fingers for a while.

The silence stretching between them made things awkward, but then later Madison broke the silence by clearing and saying softly, “Alvarez, I need to tell you something.”

When he nodded urging her to go on , she swallowed and began, “I don’t want to promise that I’ll be back, because I’m not sure yet, but I just want to leave first. If things work out in London then I’m not sure if it’d be necessary for me to come back…” She trailed.

“What? Wow, um, I don’t know what to say, Madison. I just don’t want to lose you for years again. I have a nagging feeling at the back of my mind that this might be the last time I would see you.”

She nodded slowly sniffing, “I know, I know, but let’s see how things work out. Just like I said before lest I forget, I’ll pay you back for all your help as soon as I get the money. I promise it won’t take too long.”

Alvarez frowned, “Why are you changing this conversation? Besides we’ve talked about this before Madison. I’ve told you countless times that you don’t need to pay me back. Okay? Still you keep insisting and I know how stubborn you can be. So, fine. But take your time. I’m in no hurry.”

Madison nodded.

Tears stung her eyes as she faced him again. She felt so much guilt for what she was about to say, but she knew it couldn’t be helped, it was the best way to go about all of this.

“Alvarez… I’ve been thinking about everything a whole lot and how much of a toll it has had on me, and I came to a decision.” She paused, her fingers clutching the hem of her jacket, “I think it will be best if we cut all ties, every form of contact. And no, you didn’t do anything wrong, you’ve been so helpful on the contrary, but I really just don’t want anything to do with my past. It has haunted me, for weeks now. And it’s putting me in a terrible place that…”

She saw Alvarez stare at her for a few seconds and then he shook his head, interjecting, “No. Absolutely not, Madison. I understand why you would want to move on from the past, but we’re friends. You’re my best friend, Maddie. You don’t expect me to just say yes to this silly decision of yours. So please… I know the events of the last few days must be taking a toll on you, but you still need to think about this first.”

The pain in his voice brought tears to her eyes, “I’m sorry, Alvarez. I’m not trying to hurt you, but.. this is something I have to do. Something I actually want to do.”

“No, Madison. Please… I won’t allow you do that. If this is about Damien, then rest assured you won’t get to see him at all. I know I’m still in close contact with him, but I promise you don’t even have to see Damien. You won’t cross paths with him, I assure you that. would hate to put a gap in our friendship when we just started to rebuild it. No! That won’t be fair to me, and you to.”

Madison shook her head, the sound of Damien’s name pushing her farther, “I’m sorry… but I already made my decision.” Soft sobs escaped her lips as she began to cry, wiping away her tears, “I-I’m sorry…”

“Please, Maddie-”

The warning sound of the approaching train resounded over and over again, urging passengers to begin boarding, and the rowdy noise cutting through the busy station, made Alvarez to stop speaking.

“Maddie…”

She was silent, tears spilling out of her eyes as she picked up her luggage already bading goodbye, “Thank you, for everything. Thank you…”

Struggling to hold back her tears, she waved to Alvarez and Ivy and then without another word she turned away.

Scurrying off so she wouldn’t miss the train and trying to keep the flood of tears away, Madison’s heart shattered into pieces.

…….

“Want me to keep ’em coming?”

Damien downed another shot, hissing through his teeth when the hot liquid burned his throat. When he slammed the glass back on the table, he faced the bartender and nodded, “More, please give me more.”

“Alrighty then.” The bartender said, expertly mixing up another batch and sliding six more rounds of strong flavored scotch whiskey towards Damien on the table. He picked them up gladly, downing them one after the other as his mind raced.

He had been seated at this bar for almost an hour, and all he had done was drink and drink. He drank because he was tired, because he was confused, and because something bothered him.

Yes, the conversation he and Alvarez had had, just couldn’t get out of his head at all. He couldn’t seem to stop thinking about it, as more guilt racked through him.

All these weeks that had passed, he had let himself bathe in his anger, his pain, and now…

All that occupied his mind whenever he saw Madison these past few days, was to make her suffer. He had longed to see her cry, to see her beg, until she felt drained and empty, and for a while it had felt good, save for the occasionally guilt he felt but managed to wave away each time.

But now… Now, after speaking with Alvarez, he had come to realize something. He had completely refused to give her a chance, to explain herself. He had convinced himself that whatever she was going through was none of his concern, but…

What if he had given her a little chance? What if he had just let her explain, what had happened with her and her family and why she was in this position. He had so many questions about her current situation. Like why she was all the way in New York? What happened that made her parents forsake her?

What if none of it was her fault? Even what happened in the past… Was Alvarez right about him being too harsh on her?

Damien tugged on his tie as he took another shot, raking his hands through his head.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

He was already starting to feel dizzy, but he needed to drink… maybe he would stop thinking so much.

Keep drinking… Yeah, the liquid would make him feel better.

He closed his eyes for a brief moment, trying to get lost in his thoughts, when suddenly he felt someone run their fingers over his jacket.

He opened his eyes, turning around slightly and squinted at the figure who happened to be a blonde woman he did not actually recognize. Her lipstick was so red that Damien felt his stomach churn in disgust, at the sight of it.

“Hey, handsome.” She winked flirtatiously at him, pushing her chair close to him as she placed a hand on her jaw, watching him curiously, “Long night?”

Who was this freaking lady? Damien thought to himself, wishing for her to disappear into thin air.

Ignoring her, he took another shot of his drink. He wanted to clear his head of everything that bothered him. Everything… and determined to do that, he ordered around round of shots, drinking until he felt his knees go weak.

The woman who hadn’t gotten his message, still sitting there, placed a hand over his thigh, trailing upwards as she fixed him with a seductive look, “If you come outsider with me, or to the bathroom rather, I promise I’ll make it worth your while. I will take away your worries.” She whispered in his ears adding, “And if you double the pay, I can be with you all night long.”

Damien stared at her shaking his head as he realized what she wanted, “No, thank you.” He answered curtly.

Her face reddened, and after a few seconds of him ignoring her still not saying anything, she finally got the memo and angrily pushing her chair backwards with a huff, she started to leave. Straightening the short black dress she was wearing, she stormed away, but Damien couldn’t care less.

He felt his eyelids grow heavier as his thoughts went back to Madison, yet again. All the guilt he had been feeling earlier returned, leaving a hot burning feeling in his chest.

He needed to know what went wrong. Now more than ever he was curious, wanting to know why she had been disowned. He needed to know everything, and for him to get that information he knew that he needed to talk to her.

She didn’t owe him anymore, so maybe she might be willing to talk to him. He needed to clear everything up.

Yes! He would talk to her…

He suddenly groaned in pain, clutching his head as pain shot through him, his knees feeling weak and wobbly.

He would find out where she was staying in New York, and they could talk about everything. He had a smirk on his face for a grief second but then something shot through his head, and he paused suddenly… Didn’t Alvarez say she had left already…? And?

No, he shook his head. Madison wouldn’t leave just like that, he was sure and Alvarez was just playing some kind of trick.

She was still in New York, after all hadn’t he seen her just a while ago?

Gulping down the last shot, he made a mental note to ask his private investigator to run a check on her, and find out the exact place she was staying. Finding out her location in New York wouldn’t be too difficult at all, with the resources he had.

“Are you okay?”

Damien squinted up at the bartender who was observing him carefully.

“I think you’ve had a lot to drink for tonight. You’ve been here for a while. You should go easy.” The young man said again, and Damien just waved his comment away.

The bartender was right though, and he had taken to much alcohol, that now he was feeling very weak and disoriented ay the moment.

Sighing, he whipped his phone out of his pocket, punching some buttons and dialed his driver to bring the car around.

It was time to go home!