Chapter 14: Chapter 14

Madison finished preparing her guest's room after only a few minutes as promised so she could attend quickly to him. She was about to walk back to the living room when she found her sisters keeping Dylan company. The three other girls surrounded the celebrity-looking guest, and it seemed Dylan was enjoying the spotlight.

Her sisters appeared to be flirting with a man they had only met tonight, not to mention that Dylan was the son of Madison's employer. With embarrassment, Madison dashed to the living room to scold her sisters. But the presence of the eldest daughter surprisingly went unnoticed.

Was Dylan that charming that Madison had to grab her sisters' attention? She pursed her lips before clearing her throat loud enough for her sisters to notice.

"Oh, hey, Madds!" said Penelope, seated to Dylan's left. She stood and pulled Madison to an occupied space beside her. "I didn't know Mr. Lopez is also funny," the former whispered to the latter with a giggle before turning her head back to Dylan and engaging in the chit-chat.

Madison raised an eyebrow after being ignored. While her sisters enjoyed entertaining the guest, Madison interjected, "Has Mom come back?"

Cassie, seated with Lily to Dylan's right, glanced at Madison and replied, "She's in the kitchen now, Madds." The youngest among the four girls even turned her head to the kitchen, where the clattering utensils were apparent.

Madison knew what Cassie was implying. The former had heard earlier that Ruth was already in the kitchen. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to understand what Madison was conveying. Deliberately giving away a hint of authoritative tone in her voice, she asked, "Aren't you going to help Mom prepare our dinner?"

"We told her we'd help," Penelope replied and explained, "But she shoved us away, saying we should talk with your visitor instead while you're doing something."

"All three of you?" Madison scoffed. "Alright, now, I'm here. Go ahead, help Mom."

"Mom also said she can do it alone," Penelope clarified.

Madison rolled her eyes. While she understood that her sisters were not making excuses, she hated that they let their mother do all the work alone. "Good moms always say that, Penelope. But that doesn't mean they don't need some help," Madison said and stood up without waiting for her sisters to argue.

Afraid that Madison would walk out angry at them, Lily asked, "Hey, where are you going?"

Madison continued to the kitchen without turning around as she sarcastically replied, "To the Atlantic ocean, maybe? I'd ask the sharks to take my sisters. Be right back!" She entered the kitchen, rolling her eyes again to the annoying sound of her sisters' chuckles. But when she heard her mother laughing, Madison stared at Ruth with a frown.

Ruth seemed to have sensed the look on Madison's face. Checking the chicken casserole she was baking in the microwave, Ruth remarked, "I'm afraid your eyes would get stuck for rolling them too much."

Scared that her mother's remark could happen, Madison annoyingly exclaimed, "Mom!"

Ruth was silent for a moment until she muttered, "I can see that your boss is kind, Madison. But, Honey,..." She paused to take the casserole out of the microwave. Madison stared at her mother, who was now putting the casserole on the table. As if calculating how she would continue what she was saying without hurting her daughter, Ruth glanced at Madison meaningfully and took a bottle of wine to the table. Shortly after, Ruth gently cupped Madison's face and finally added, "...That man is your boss. He lives a life that is a lot different from yours. Men like him are better off with women of the same class. I'm just saying that I don't want you to get hurt, Honey. Do you understand?"

The warning and worry in Ruth's eyes freaked Madison out. "No, Mom, I don't understand," Madison replied as she shook her head. "What made you say those words?"

Ruth smiled at her daughter's confusion. Realizing that it was probably too early to remind her daughter to be careful, Ruth refrained from elucidating her point. She caressed Madison's cheek and replied, "You'll understand what I mean one day."

Although she wanted to ask for an explanation, Madison decided not to push it. She hugged her mother and sincerely uttered, "If you're going through a tough time, Mom, we're here for you, okay? We won't leave you." Just when Madison thought she could forget about her mother not making sense, Ruth let go of her daughter to slap Madison's arm.

"What?!" Madison exclaimed. "Now you're hurting me, Mom!"

Bursting into laughter, Ruth explained, "You think I'm the one who's not making sense. Oh, Honey, you sound like an idiot!"

Confusion contorted Madison's face again. "What the hell was I supposed to say? I thought you were worried about something that does not even exist!"

Ruth shook her head while laughing. She could not help but slap her silly daughter's arm again.

"Mom!" Madison rebuked as she stroked her arm, pretending to be hurt. "Do it again, and I'll pinch you!"

The silly threat from her daughter made Ruth glare. "Great! My daughter will pinch me!" she said sarcastically. "Go on then," she challenged while looking sharply at Madison's arm.

Madison flashed a crooked smile and kept a safe distance from her mother. "Never in my life will I dare, Mom. You know how much I love you!"

Ruth was the one who rolled her eyes this time. "Whatever, Madison," she said. Changing the topic, she ordered, "Prepare the tableware so we can eat now. Your visitor must be tired from the trip." Seeing Madison obliged quickly, Ruth shook her head with a smile.

Madison was putting the plates on the table in the dining room when somebody took the plates from her hand.

Seeing that Dylan was helping her, Madison automatically grabbed the plates back from her boss. "Oh, don't bother, Sir Dylan. You sit there and talk to my sisters," she said. Dylan's grip was too tight, so she failed to take the plates. "It's okay. Let me do it, Sir. It seems you like one another," she convinced.

Dylan stared at Madison's eyes. Madison then finally took the plates back. "Are you jealous?" Dylan asked directly.

Madison casually replied, "You must be dreaming, Sir Dylan. Wake up, or you might end up having nightmares." She patted Dylan's cheek and went around the table to put the plates. Inwardly, though, she could not help but wonder what was wrong with her mother and her boss. The two were acting weird tonight. 'Why would I get jealous?' she pondered. 'I could only get jealous if I were his girlfriend, right?'

The questions in her head quickly stopped bothering her when she heard Dylan chuckle. Despite her effort to tell her boss to let her set the table, Madison could only let Dylan put the cutlery beside the plates in the end. Her ears also caught her siblings giggling at the side. Madison cocked an eyebrow at them. But the teasing smiles on their lips fearlessly remained.

"Don't look at me like that unless you don't want me to give you your allowance tomorrow," Madison threatened.

Penelope pouted her lips and frankly commented, "You are funny. You're good at making people laugh, but you rarely join in the fun. No wonder you're single." Although Penelope kept her voice low, Madison scowled. The former could only scratch her head at the latter's unbelievable seriousness at times.

"What are you staring at? Go to the kitchen and help Mom bring the food!" Madison commanded to which her sisters obliged promptly.

When she turned to the table, Dylan was no longer there. He returned from the kitchen holding the casserole platter in one hand and the bottle of wine in the other. Seeing her boss serving them, Madison dashed to him to take the dish and the beverage.

But Dylan insisted, saying, "Let me help, Madison. We're not in the mansion for you to serve me. I'm the one staying here, so I should help somehow." He winked and walked past Madison so that she would no longer stop him.

But Madison could be stubborn at times. As Dylan expected, Madison argued, "But you pay me for working for you, Sir Dylan. Here, we can't afford to pay you."

Dylan approached Madison. His face was so close that she could inhale his breath. "But helping you doesn't mean I'm asking you to pay me, Madison," he clarified and flashed a sweet smile. "All I'm asking is for you to let me show you that I can serve you the same way you do for me. Allow me to take care of you as well, okay?"

He returned to the kitchen after saying those words, leaving Madison feeling her heart going wild. Her hand fell on her chest as a series of questions raced through her head.

'Oh, god. What's wrong with my heart? Why is it like this? Am I going to collapse?' she feared.

"Madison?" Dylan called when he noticed Madison in a daze. "Are you alright?" he asked. Worry was evident in his voice, so Madison nodded her head, albeit the questions lingered in her head.

Madison's nod did not convince Dylan. Seeing her staring blankly, he could not help but worry more about her. "No, you don't look okay. Tell me, how are you feeling? Is there a hospital nearby? What's wrong?" he asked in one breath.

"My heart..." Madison mumbled without her realizing it. Suddenly, she felt Dylan's hands assisting her to sit. She also heard him shouting to call Ruth, who ran to the dining room and attended to Madison in a panic.

Squatting before her eldest child, Ruth worriedly asked, "Honey, what's wrong?" Hating to see Ruth upset, Madison smiled and caressed her face. Ruth held and squeezed Madison's left hand upon finding the other on her daughter's chest.

The other three girls gathered next to Ruth. When Madison did not respond, Cassie, who was fidgeting and teary-eyed, blurted out the same question. "Madds, what's wrong?" She took her eldest sister's right hand and held it, too.

"Mom..." Madison uttered. She looked at her mother like an anxious kid and asked, "My heart suddenly beat loud and fast. I don't know why. Am I going to die?"

Ruth shook her head and tried not to expose her nervousness. "No, Honey, you're not going to die," she convinced, attempting to ease Madison's fear. Trying to be logical, Ruth asked, "How long have you felt that way? What else do you feel?"

Madison could trace the worry in her family's and boss's faces. Thinking that responding to her mother's questions truthfully would make them assess whether she needed medical attention, Madison stated, "Just now, Mom, when Sir Dylan and I were talking." She glanced at Dylan and then at Ruth before adding, "His face was close to mine, and he said he would take care of me too."

Listening to Madison narrating what happened, Ruth immediately understood what was wrong with her eldest child. The worry she was feeling could still be traced on her face. But she shook her head, and laughter filled the dining room as Madison's sisters burst into laughter with Ruth. It seemed they had the same line of thought as their mother. Madison sat there dumbfounded. Her eyes looked up to Dylan, looking for answers. But Dylan's wide smile only added to the enigma.

"Get your shit together, Honey," Ruth blatantly said afterward. "We were so worried only to find out about that. On a positive note, you're not going to die. It's normal for you to feel that way about somebody you like. Maybe we should eat now so you can think straight." She then went back to the kitchen, shaking her head while Madison's sisters held another laugh.

The warning that Ruth reminded Madison of earlier began making sense now. 'It's normal to feel your heart race and throb when you like someone,' Madison repeated in her head. She glanced again at Dylan and thought, "Does it mean... I like my boss?"