Her First (8 page)

“I would stay, but I have an early meeting,” Ethan said as he bent down and kissed Madison good-bye.

She was stuffed from all the food she had eaten at Pappadeux.  All the food weighing her down made her want to do nothing more than go lay down.  “I do too. Good night,” she said, closing the door and locking it behind her.

She changed into a pair of red satin pajamas before getting into the bed. She saw the red light on her cordless phone blinking, indicating she had messages. After checking her messages, she dialed Charlotte’s number.

Charlotte picked up on the third ring. “Girl, I’ve been calling you all evening.”

“I had a date with Ethan,” Madison said as she crossed her legs.  “I got your message.”

“You guys are really getting cozy. I told Frederick he had nothing to worry about.”

Frustrated, Madison blurted, “I wish people would stay out of my business.”

“Don’t be getting an attitude with me.”

“I’m sorry. Everything’s been going great with us, but tonight I saw one of his ex-girlfriends and it went downhill from there.”

Madison
conveyed the entire evening, not letting Charlotte get in a word. Finally, Charlotte found an opening and interrupted. “What do you think is in the envelope?”

“It’s probably business related, but he acted suspicious.”

“Or you’re being paranoid.”

“Probably.”

Charlotte yawned. “I need to go. Oh, before I forget. What are you doing Friday?”

“Nothing.  Why?”

“I bought some of your favorite DVDs so stop by the house when you get off.  Let‘s have a girl‘s night in.”

“I’ll have to let you know. I’m moving some of my stuff this wee
kend.”

“I forgot about the move. But let’s make a deal. If you come over Friday, I’ll help you move.”

“Now that’s a deal I can’t refuse.  I’ll be over around seven.”

“Make it eight.”

“Eight it is.” Madison yawned. “Girl, I’ll let you go. You got me yawning too.”

Madison
hung up with Charlotte and climbed under the covers.

I’m surprised
Ethan hasn’t called me,
she thought as she laid there.
I guess I am getting a little paranoid. If he doesn’t call me tonight, I’ll call him tomorrow.

She closed her eyes and went to sleep.

***

The next morning
Ethan stayed in bed longer than usual.

I know I should have called
Madison last night, but after telling her about Sarah and the awkwardness between us; it’s probably best that I didn’t,
he thought
.

After slow poking around, he got dressed. As he looked for his car keys, he spotted the unopened brown envelope he had laid on the counter the night before.

A shocked expression crossed his face as he stared at a picture of a one year old boy with brown hair and a radiant smile. “I wonder if...” he said to himself.  He continued to stare at the picture. “No, it can’t be.”

He turned the picture over and read
Sarah’s handwriting on the back:
Christopher Ethan Campbell.

He dropped the picture and envelope. “This can’t be. Why now?”

He picked up the picture and put it back in the envelope. He tucked the envelope inside his brown leather briefcase and walked out the door.

After getting to the office, he informed Joyce to hold all his calls. He closed his door and contemplated on how to handle the situation.  Hardly getting any work done anyway, he got up from his desk and walked over to the window.  After staring out of it for a few minutes, Joyce knocked on the door. “Can I come in?”

“Sure,” Ethan said as he walked back over to his desk and sat down.

“I know it’s none of my business, but something seems wrong.
Madison called,” Joyce said and then added, “and Sarah has called you about four times.”

Ethan
dropped his head. “Thanks, Joyce. I’ll call Madison back shortly.”

Joyce walked closer towards him. “Is there something you want to talk about?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

“If this has anything to do with
Sarah, you know I want to whip her behind anyway. Say the word and I’ll give her a beat down she’ll never forget.”

A smile flashed across
Ethan’s face for the first time that day. He laughed. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come down to that.”

“I’m serious,” Joyce said before walking out and closing the door.

He leaned back in his chair. “The problem is not going to disappear. I better deal with It,” he told himself.

He dialed Frederick’s cell phone and got his voice mail. “Call me ASAP. I need to talk to you about a situation with
Sarah.”

He hung up and then dialed
Madison’s work number. After three rings he thought her phone was going to voice mail when she answered. “Madison Allen.  How may I help you?”

“I’m so glad you answered.” He sounded relieved.

“What’s wrong?” Madison asked.

“It’s been one of those days.” He rubbed his head nervously. “I called to apologize for not calling last night.”

“No problem. I figured you were tired.”

“I was, but I still should have called.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“How has your day been thus far?”

“Great, but I’m running late for a meeting, so I’ll have to call you back.”

“Call me on my cell,”
Ethan said, disappointed, before hanging up.

His private line rang. He hit the speaker button. “Hello.”

“My man, what’s up? I got your message,” Frederick said, sounding worried.

Ethan
picked up the receiver. “Guess who’s back and trying to wreck havoc in my life?”

“Is
Sarah up to her no good antics again?”

“This time a child’s involved.”

“What the…”

“I told you about her calling. As big as Dallas is, I keep running into her. I saw her last night at Pappadeaux and she handed me a picture of a baby.” 
Ethan pulled out the picture of the baby and began to stare at it.

“Awe man. Is the kid yours?”

“I don’t know. I guess I should show it to Mama and see if he looks like one of us when we were babies.”

“I don’t envy you at all.”

“I finally meet a woman that I want to spend my life with and now this.”

“You sure
Madison’s the one? Anybody who will lie to her family probably can’t be trusted too much either. You sure know how to pick them,” Frederick critically said.

“Trust me.
Madison is nothing like Sarah.”

“For your sake man, I hope it works out.”

“Me too.”

They talked for a few more minutes until one of
Ethan’s other lines rang.

“I have another call I need to take. I’ll call you later.”
Ethan clicked over to his other line. “This is Ethan.”

Sarah
’s screeching voice was on the other end. “Daddy, how are you?”

Ethan
tried hard to control his temper. “What kind of game are you trying to play?”

“This is no game, sugar. You’re a daddy and I’m back to collect.”

“We haven’t been together in over a year.”

Sarah
seemed to ignore his comment and said, “Christopher recently celebrated his first birthday. He’s the reason why I moved back to Dallas. I decided he needed to have a relationship with his father.”

“Until a
DNA test is done, I’m not claiming Christopher, or whatever his name is, as my child.”

“You can fight it all you want, but when the test results come back, be prepared to pay out of your pockets.”

Ethan balled up his fist. “It’s always about the money with you isn’t it?  If he is my child, I’ll make sure you never see a dime or him either for that matter.” He slammed the phone down.

I promised myself I wouldn’t lose control,
he thought as
he stood up and paced the floor.

He picked up the picture and placed it in his jacket pocket.  He then briskly exited his office.

“Joyce, I’ll be leaving for the rest of the day. Take messages, “he said before leaving, “and if anything urgent comes up, call me on my cell.”

Madison’s mind was elsewhere during the entire team meeting. Eddie Bates, the Director of her department, walked in with a petite woman with straight blond hair. Madison paid attention when she looked up into the face of the woman she had almost clashed with a few days before.

Eddie smiled before making the introduction. “Good afternoon. I want to introduce you to one of the newest members of the team. This is
Sarah Spain and she’ll be taking Jack Patterson’s spot. She has over five years of marketing and management experience.”

Madison
sat expressionless. 
I can’t believe this mess,
she thought. 
How in the world am I supposed to work for Ethan’s ex? It’s time to look for another job.

Madison
watched Sarah as she gave more of her background. Sarah’s eyes found Madison and their eyes locked. Madison could tell she was thrown off balance for a minute. Madison smiled. Sarah rolled her eyes and then went back to her professional mode.

I wonder if anyone else noticed how she rolled her eyes at me. 
Madison looked up and noticed Owen looking between her and Sarah.
The king of gossip would see that.

The meeting ended after
Sarah’s introduction.  Madison tried to leave the room without having to come face to face with Sarah.  It didn’t work because Eddie pointed to her and called her name. “Madison, come here please.”

Madison
regrettably stayed behind. Sarah extended her right hand out. Madison had no choice but to shake it. “It’s nice to meet you, Madison. Eddie tells me you’re the best in your area.”

“I try to be,”
Madison said, forcing a smile.

“Put me on your calendar for lunch next week. I’ll email you and we can coordinate the time,”
Sarah said with a fake smile.

“Sure.”

Eddie placed his hand on Sarah’s back. “Unfortunately, I’ll be out of town next week, so I’ll have to take a rain check.” He continued to say, “Sarah, I want to introduce you to one more team.”

“Okay,”
Sarah said as they walked out. She looked back at Madison with the fake smile still plastered across her face.

Madison
wanted to slam the door. Before she could head out the door, Owen rushed in and shut the conference door.

“What was that all about?” he asked.

“I don’t have time for this.” Her voice shook as she spoke.

“I saw how she rolled her eyes at you. She acts like you stole her man.”

Madison used her left hand to move Owen out of the way. “I will not entertain this.” 

She opened the door and left
Owen standing in the conference room by himself.  She made her way to her desk and immediately picked up the phone.  She dialed Ethan’s number as soon as she got to her desk. Joyce informed her that he would be out for the rest of the evening. She tried calling him on his cell phone several times but his voice mail picked up each time.

“
Ethan, this is urgent. Call me at my desk,” Madison said into the receiver.  “If I’m not here, call me on my cell phone.”

She logged on to her email and shot Charlotte a quick email about the new chain of events. She looked around to make sure no one was looking and logged on to Monster dot com and updated her resume.

I’m serious about finding me another job,
she thought. 
There is no way I can work with one of his exes.  I won’t work with one of his exes!

***

Ethan saw Madison’s number on the display but decided not to answer the call. He pulled into his parent’s driveway. He needed to talk to his mother before talking to Madison, or anyone else for that matter.

He rang the doorbell, although he had a spare key. He didn’t want his mom to have a heart attack because of his surprise visit.

An elderly woman wearing glasses opened the door.

“Dear, what are you doing here?” his mother asked.

They hugged and he kissed her on the cheek. “I thought being your favorite son I didn’t need a reason.”

“Don’t let your brother hear you say that.” His mom blushed.

Ethan walked toward the kitchen. “Something sure does smell good.” He picked up the top of one of the boilers.

His mom lightly slapped the back of his hand. “Now you know I don’t like people over my food while I’m cooking.”

Sounding like a little boy, Ethan said, “Yes, Mom.”

“Have a seat and I’ll cut you a piece of cake, then we can talk.”

He poured two glasses of milk while she cut two thick slices of the lemon pound cake.

“Where’s Dad?”
Ethan said as he sat the glasses down at the kitchen table.

“He’s out playing golf. I hope he wins, because when he loses, I have to hear about how such and such cheated.”

Ethan tried to hide his anxiety with laughter as his sat down at the table. 

“You didn’t come over here to talk about the family
,” his mom said, joining him.  She looked him straight in the eyes and asked, “What’s going on with you?”

He reached into his jacket pocket and handed her the picture.

“This is a cute little baby.” She stared at the photo. “Is this your child?”

Ethan
let out a deep breath. “I was hoping you could shed some light on it for me.”

“Now I can do a lot of things, but paternity tests aren’t one of them,” she said shaking her head while staring at the baby in the photo.

“Does he look anything like us when we were kids?”

She studied the photo before answering. “He’s cute, but not as cute as my babies were. I can’t see any resemblance, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

She turned the photo over and saw the name on the back. “Don’t tell me
Sarah is this poor child’s mother.”

“I’m afraid so.”

His mom raised her hand up in the air. “Lord, I told him messing around with her would be a big mistake.”

“I’m sorry, Mom. I hadn’t planned on telling you like this. I didn’t know where else to turn.”

His mom rubbed the top of his hand. “Dear, you can always come to me. Have you gotten a blood test done?”

“Not yet. I’ll contact her and get it done as soon as possible.”

“If this is your child, you know you must do right by him.”

Ethan
looked away. “I will, if it’s mine.”

She got up and from the table and walked over to
Ethan and put her arm around his neck. “I know my baby will do the right thing. If it’s yours, you don’t have to worry about a thing. We’ll make sure he grows up loved.”

“Thanks, Mom. I do have something else I want to talk to you about.”

“I’m listening. I need to check on my food.”  She took one of her cooking utensils and stirred in one pot.

“I’ve fallen in love. I think she’s the one.”

His mom looked over the rims of her glasses. “Is this the one I heard Frederick telling your cousin about?”

“Who doesn’t know about
Madison?” Ethan said, throwing his hands up.

“You know how your brother is.”

“Mom, she’s good for me. I never thought I could feel so strongly about someone after all the stuff Sarah put me through.”

“Have you talked to her about your situation?”

“No.” He took the last bite of his cake.

She cut him another slice and placed it on his saucer. “Don’t let her find out from anyone else.”

“I’ll tell her. But only after I find out whether or not he’s my son.”

“When do we get a chance to meet her?” she asked as she poured yellow flour meal and other ingredients into a bowl.

“Let me check with her and I’ll let you know.”

After talking with his mom for another half-hour,
Ethan knew what he had to do.

“Mom, I’ll call you this wee
kend.”

“You better,” she said as she walked him to the door. He hugged her and kissed her on the cheek before leaving.