Chapter 92: Chapter 92

TWO DAYS LATER

Madison slowly walked out of the bakery, with Gina by her side.

Her chest felt heavy and painful that for a moment she began to reconsider, what she’d just done but she tossed the thought aside.

There was no going back. There was no use for regrets of any kind. This was the best decision for her, and she was going to stick by it.

After all, she would regret it more than ever if she didn't leave right now, so she had too.

Some hours earlier she had handed her resignation letter to her manager, making her leave look very permanent. He had looked very surprised as expected, but he asked no questions, but that she was even going to oblige him if he asked.

On the other hand she felt broken. She had worked so hard to get to this point, only to leave everything behind again.

She had been comfortable for a while, making new friends, and even proving that she was a good employee. Most importantly, she had earned her spot as one of the dedicated and patriot employee in this bakery.

This was the first job that had proved to be excellent for her. One of the best, if not the best job she’d landed in all her months of job hunting. Plus she had met a lot of nice people.

This was the perfect example of the beginning of the life she had imagined for herself. A good job with a nice paycheck, a peaceful home and good friends, but just when she had been on the way to getting that, and enjoying her life blissfully once and for all, everything was getting ruined.

Blinking, she recalled how she had bade the few friends she had made at the bakery goodbye before she left, and she could see the questions in their eyes and at the ends of their lips but she just couldn’t divulge anything at all.

Madison felt so sad, she tried not to let it show but no matter how much she covered her feelings it just wasn’t enough.

"So… how far have you gone with your preparations? Where did you decide to move to?" Gina asked, moving closer to Madison and nudging her from her thoughts.

Madison was startled for a few seconds but then she quickly regained her composure, and began to tell Gina everything she was planning to do.

"I have a third class plane ticket to Australia. I decided to go there instead. One of my mother's cousin’s lives there, and luckily I'm still in touch with her. So I spoke to her about it and we agreed I would stay with her, until I'm able to find a job, get the hang of the country and just get a new place to stay. Hopefully, that will be soon, because I really don't want to be a burden to anyone."

Gina nodded, her eyes dimming sadly and she wishing her luck as they continued to discuss.

As they continued to walk and talk, they soon got to the grocery store, which had become overtly familiar to the both of them. This was usually the spot, where they parted ways whenever they left the bakery together, and now it was time to bade goodbye still.

Facing each other, the two women smiled reciprocatingly and leaned in for an embrace.

Disentangling and wishing her good luck, Gina then waved at Madison and crossed the road, walking into the street that would lead her home.

Madison headed off to the other direction, thinking of all her travel plans. She was trying not to get overwhelmed from all the planning but it was getting harder. She just wanted to get everything over with, but the pain of abruptly leaving continued to tug at her heart.

She had really liked the job at the bakery and her friends. Work was the only place where she felt a sense of normality, but now that had been taken away from her, and she had to face yet another harsh reality of life.

If she even tried to wonder why her life was this way, she would waste her time thinking hopeless lots and it was getting very tiring at this point.

Sighing, she continued to walk down the road, shaking her head slightly to disperse the waning thoughts away from her head.

As she took a turn in the road, she suddenly paused, her feets freezing all to eagerly. An eerie feeling had suddenly come over her, and a prickling sensation came over her back.

She had felt like this before, and it was disturbingly familiar. It was the way she felt when she was being stalked.

Madison quickly swung around, her eyes darting around the streets to see if anyone was watching her, but it was clear save for a few people on the other side of the road.

Her heart had already begun to pound furiously as fear gripped her. She tried to reassure herself that she was just being paranoid again, and overthinking everything, but Madison had this deep feeling in her gut.

She was sure someone was watching her. But where had they gone? They couldn't have just disappeared into thin air. So where were they? She needed to see a sign maybe, but she saw no one.

She also realized that the area she was in was kind of lonely, and it heightened her fear all the more.

As she clamored back into the road, she continued to search with her eyes for anyone watching her, and increasing her steps, she began getting more scared with each passing second.

The feeling in her stomach refused to go away as well, and she hated this.

Finally, seeing that she just couldn't take it anymore, she decided to stop a taxi.

She was almost close to her home, but she didn't want to take any chances by trekking all the way, and if she took a cab, it would make her feel more secure.

The cab she had hailed stopped in front of her, and without even wasting any more time, she took one last look around, and quickly climbed in.

Giving her location to the driver, he immediately nodded and starting the ignition the vehicle quickly zoomed off.

…….

Damien nodded, as his private investigator explained some things out of the documents that lay scattered over the table in his hotel room.

The investigator had just arrived from Kettlesworth early this morning as planned, and they quickly began to go over the documents Damien had wanted to look through once again.

As he began to ask something with regards to the papers splayed about, his phone suddenly rang.

First, he checked the caller ID, wanting to know who was calling and when he saw who it was, he excused himself for a moment and moved to the balcony to answer the call.

"Hello, Alvarez.” He smiled, speaking into the receiver, and sharply the two exchanged pleasantries.

When they were done with the greetings, Alvarez proceeded to update him on the company in New York and how things were going in the security department. Damien nodded, promising to look into everything once he had the chance. After the business talk was finalized, Alvarez brought up something else.

"And how are things with Madison? Is things looking positive between you both?” He asked and Damien sighed heavily.

He had been so broken after his last encounter with Madison, and now more than ever he needed someone to talk to. And who better than his best friend?

Alvarez had been understanding, telling him to give her some time and that he understood why she was angry, but with the way things were going, Damien was already loosing hope. Hope that he couldn’t get through to her anymore.

"I'm not even sure. I don't… I don't know, man."

"Have you found the time to go talk to her again?"

Damien's chest clenched painfully.

Thoughts and conversations about Madison only brought up doubts and regrets, and made him keep wishing for impossible things like going back in time to change everything.

After a few seconds, he sighed and then answered, “No. I wanted to give her some space. I know it was a lot for her to take in when I just laid everything out on her, so I’m deciding to give her time to think things through. I don't want to overwhelm her you know. Going after her like… I… Not to worry after a while, I'll go back to talk to her again."

As he finished, he closed his eyes briefly as he was subtly reminded of her reaction when she saw him the last time.

The moment began to replay in his head, and the look in her eyes was enough to show him how much he had hurt her. He longed to take her in his arms and wipe all that pain away. But how? She had made it clear that she didn't want to see him again.

He had already planned to go see her after some time, but he still had his doubts that she would even want to see him. He said that with so much conviction, but in truth he was getting tired.

Maybe he did deserve this treatment after everything he had done to her. He deserved it all and so much more.

“I understand where you're coming from, man.” Alvarez began and added, “I… I don’t even know how to say this but what if it's too late already?"

This question! This was also one of Damien's biggest fears. That it was too late. That nothing he did would change the way she felt about him, and the fact that it was of his own making, made everything so much worse. The fact that he would live with this regret his whole life knowing that he had lost the love of his life, due to stupid decisions he’d made would haunt him for life.

Damien rubbed the back of his neck.

"I don't know. Maybe it is… maybe not. I'm just so tired, but at the same time I can’t even think of giving up. You know, I can't get her out of my head at all. All I think about is her and how sorry I am for everything I did. The stupid decisions I made, haunts me day and night and I just don’t know how to make it stop. I feel like a fool for losing someone I cared and still care about so much. I-I just want to make everything right between us. I need her back. I want to apologize to her, and work so hard so she can believe that I truly am sorry and that I'll never hurt her again. But… I… I don't know how."

Alvarez was silent for a while as though he was thinking about something, “Ermm you know what?”

“What?”

"I'll talk to her."

"W-what?" Damien was surprised, “Talk to her about what? On behalf of me? No man…”.

"Yes, and don’t even tell me to stop. I'll talk to her regarding this issue, I promise you. Then whatever her response is, I'll relay it to you. Maybe she'll be more open with me, she has always been. I don't know but I'll try, and I have an inkling that something positive might come out of it."

Damien exhaled not in relief, but in hope rather.

Alvarez was right. As much as he wanted to feel a bit jealous, it was true that Madison always listened to Alvarez. Even back in the days, most times it was always Alvarez’s word against his, and at first it’s felt frustrating but he’d learnt how to live with it.

Maybe now, this might just work. This underrated feature might just be the way for him.

Thanking his best friend profusely and secretly hoping that Alvarez would be able to get through to Madison, Damien then proceeded to bid his farewell.

They talked for a little while longer, and then they bade each other goodbye.

Ending the call, Damien took a few minutes to compose himself, and then walked back into the suite to resume his meeting.