...With You
Chapter 1
Madison Wilkes fluttered her eyes open from her sleep. Why couldn't sleep just
last forever? It was only two weeks into the second semester of the year.
Madison was a senior at New York University and May graduation couldn't come
soon enough. Actually, she couldn't complain about anything that NYU had given
her. She had a great job, that even though she was just a student, any graphic
artist would kill to have her position. Madison never bragged about the awards
she won for her designs. She had worked hard for everything that she had, and
for that, she was proud of herself. Getting out of bed to face the world was
always a questionable subject. Madison's life wasn't too complicated right now.
All she had to do until graduation was work in the graphics department, a job
which she loved, and that paid pretty darn well. For being only a senior in
college, she was doing pretty well for herself here in New York. It wasn't that
long ago when she arrived in New York, not knowing a soul, not knowing what
turns her life would take. But here she was, almost two years later and she
almost had it all. Her own apartment, a job she loved, job offers coming in
everyday, a dog that she loved more than anything and a best friend that no one
could have ever guessed.
*~*~*~*~*
Knock, Knock
"Well, I guess this means I gotta get up." Madison said to herself.
Knock, Knock
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Madison screamed to the visitor at the door.
It was Monday. She hated Mondays. There was something about the weekend's end
that was just so depressing. She finally got to the door, and there he stood.
Armed with coffee and bagels, he made his way past Madison, kissing her on the
cheek as he went.
"Ok...I got coffee, I got orange juice, I got bagels, I got cream
cheese..." Carson smiled as he looked sweetly at Madison. "What?"
Madison just looked at him, glowing. "And what did I do that I deserve
this?" she asked.
“Ah…. you were you” Carson said smiling. “Now get over here and eat
before you have to leave for work.”
It was already 7:30 and she hadn’t even got into the shower yet. Yeah well,
breakfast with Carson always came first. “So what are you doing up this
early?” Madison asked.
“I wanted to see you before you left for work.” He answered.
Who needed a boyfriend when Carson Daly was your best friend. Madison always
found it humorous how girls made such a fuss over Carson. But then again, it
wasn’t too long ago when she would probably be considered one of those girls.
Carson lived across the hall from Madison, or as he says, Madison lived across
the hall from him. It’s a power thing, she guessed. But anyway, when Madison
moved in there was always a lot of commotion going on when they were renovating,
it wasn’t long before Carson decided to go over and check out what was going
on. There she was, a raving beauty, even in her ponytail and overalls. Tightly
to her side stuck a handsome looking fellow, who he later got to know as her
boyfriend. Feeling out of place, even in his own apartment complex, he left the
scene where the two lovers laughed as the put the finishing touches on the
apartment. It was just a few days after that when they finally did meet.
**Flashback**
Madison walked out of the apartment, closing and locking the door behind her.
She looked across to the apartment across the hall. It was odd how they never
came over to introduce themselves. Yeah well, she’d deal with that sometime.
Meanwhile, she wanted to get her daily run through central park out of the way.
It was better get it out of the way early because it got so hot during these
August afternoons. The run went on for about an hour when Madison got back to
her apartment. Was it possible that it was getting hotter as August went on?
Sweat dripped off her forehead. As she walked up the stairs to her floor, she
saw a tall familiar man walking toward her. She shook her head. The heat must
being inducing hallucinations on her. As she got closer to the man she realized
that her hallucinations had not been totally false. There he was, Carson Daly,
walking straight for her. Madison’s mind screamed out for an answer of what to
say, what to do, how to act. But her thoughts were interrupted.
“Hey there” he greeted.
Her mind raced for words to say, but nothing came out. She recovered quickly
with a bright smile while looking him straight in the eyes.
“Hi” she said, cheerfulness in her voice.
“Well, that just brightened my day” he said smiling his sweet smile at her.
“You’re Madison Wilkes in 508, right?”
Ok, so now not only was Carson Daly talking to her, but he knew who she was and
where she lived. Things were getting too weird.
“Um, yeah, I am. How did you know that?” she asked.
“Hi. I’m Carson. I live across the hall in 510. Sorry I didn’t come over
sooner, I wanted to make sure you were all settled in first.”
Could she be any luckier? Madison knew that her apartment was great, she loved
it already and she’d only been there a little over a week. But this, this was
definitely a perk that she didn’t expect.
Breakfast went according to schedule, if you could call Madison’s life a
schedule. There was no rhyme, no reason and truthfully, Madison wouldn’t have
wanted it any other way. Living in New York had it’s advantages, and Carson
was just one of them.
"So what are you doing today?" Carson asked.
"Just work, is all I have planned" Madison said "and if it's not
too cold later, I'll probably take Jacey for a walk."
Just then Jacey walked into the kitchen with her ears perked at the sound of the
"w" word.
"Hey Jace," Carson said affectionately to the pooch while scratching
her behind the ears.
"You know she's not gonna let you leave now. She loves when you do
that." Madison smiled.
Carson continued to scratch the big dog. Only Madison would go out a buy a
rottwieler. Madison smiled at Jacey. It was amazing how much a dog could change
you're life. Jacey made it easy to come home in the middle of the night and she
didn't have to worry about security. The dog weighed more than Madison, so there
was a pretty good chance that no one would mess with her as long as Jacey was at
her side. But despite her tough exterior, Jacey was a baby. A little puppy
inside, now and forever.
"Well, Cars, I thank you again for breakfast, but if I don't get going, I'm
going to be late for work." Madison explained.
"I know. I should get going anyway." Carson said.
No sooner did they walk out of the kitchen did Carson notice a familiar picture.
It was one of Madison, Carson, and Chase, Madison's boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend
rather.
"What is this doing out?" Carson asked, worried for his friend.
"What? I can't have a picture of you and me on my end table?" Madison
asked.
"That's not what I mean and you know it. You're not getting feelings back
for him, are you?" Carson asked.
"Oh come on, you know me better than that. He's out of my life, Carson. For
good." Madison told him. The truth however, she didn't know if she could
tell even Carson. Sure she could, but she didn't know if she wanted to. Carson
and Chase weren't exactly the best of friends, of course after Chase's actions,
he didn't have many friends left. Madison's thoughts were interrupted.
"Madd -- he's doesn't deserve you. You're too good for him. You know that,
right?" Carson assured her.
"Yes, Carson…I know. You only tell me this every chance you get."
Madison laughed.
"I just worry about you…." Carson replied.
"I know you do. Now go, get outta here. I gotta get in the shower and get
to work!" Madison laughed.
"Alright, alright. I'll talk to you later. And don't forget, it's you're
turn for dinner tomorrow." Carson reminded her.
"Have I ever forgot? Come on, give me a little credit, Cars!" Madison
joked.
"Ok, Ok…" Carson laughed "it's a date then. I'll talk to you
later."
"Bye. Thanks for breakfast." Madison said while closing the door.
"Your welcome, sweetie. Anytime." Carson said, already half-way into
is own apartment, yet never taking his eyes away from her.
*~*~*~*~*
As the water splashed over her face, Madison thought about what Carson had said
only a few minutes before. 'You're too good for him…' Madison wasn't conceded
when she knew that he was right. And without Carson there to support her over
the past few months, she didn't know what she would've done after the break-up
with Chase.
**Flashback**
"Morning baby" Chase smiled as he opened the door to Madison's
bedroom.
"Babe? Is that you?" Madison said sleepily.
"Yeah. I let myself in." he leaned over her, kissing her sweetly on
the lips.
"Come in her with me" Madison whispered "I don't wanna get up
yet."
Chase kicked off his shoes and curled up with his girl. What more could he want?
He knew their relationship was strong. But was it strong enough to survive the
news that he had to tell her. It had occurred to him to not tell her, but
he knew that he couldn't go on that way forever. He couldn't believe that they'd
been together for almost three years. He thought back to when they started
dating back in freshman year, and now, here they were seniors in college. Dating
had gotten tougher since they went to different schools after their sophomore
year. But after two years, he knew their relationship was stable enough to
survive the distance. He trusted Madison with all of his heart, and she trusted
him. He knew she was safe with Carson right across the hall. Maybe a little too
safe. A few hours passed and Madison began to stir.
"Hmm, hey baby, what's up?" Madison said sleepily.
"Morning…it's only 10 o'clock….you wanna eat breakfast?" Chase
asked.
"Yeah, I'm starving." Madison said.
Ring, Ring
It was Chase's cell phone that he left on the end table in the living room. She
picked it up without even looking who it was. Even before she got to say hello,
a voice on the other end came through.
"Chase baby. Where are you?" a female voice slurred over the phone.
Madison couldn't believe what she had just heard. Maybe she was just reading too
much into it.
"Chase? You there? Baby talk to me, I woke up and you weren't here. Where
are you?"
The phone dropped from her hands.
"CHASE! Get out here!" Madison yelled.
Chase hopped to his feet from the bed. He scampered out to the living room where
Madison gave him a glare that could burn a hole through solid steel.
"What is it, baby?" Chase asked.
"Baby? Baby, huh? Who else gets that title Chase?" Madison screamed,
still shocked from the phone call.
"What are you talking about Madd?" still clueless as to what was going
on.
Madison just stood there not knowing what else to say. She looked down to where
she left his cell phone. She picked it up and realized that the girl was still
there.
"Here, someone called for you. Here -- take it!" Madison handed him
the phone.
Chase was starting to put two and two together. He dreaded taking the phone from
Madison. "Hello?" he answered.
"Chase? Is that you? What's going on? Who was that and where are you?"
the girl inquired.
Chase turned his back towards Madison. Madison just turned around and went
toward the door until Chase's hand held the door closed.
"Where are you going?" Chase asked.
"I'm not going anywhere. You are." Madison answered.
"Madd -- we gotta talk about this?" Chase pleaded.
"Fine." Madison said.
She turned around to face Chase. It killed him to see the look of hurt on her
face.
"So, who is she?" Madison asked.
Chase broke his stare. He couldn't lie to her. They had never lied to each other
before, and if this relationship was going to survive, he couldn't start now.
"Chase?" Madison asked softly.
"Madison, I have to tell you something. I…um...I screwed up. The girl on
the phone was Katie." Chase stopped, he couldn't continue this.
"Chase, I wanna know one thing, and I don't want you to lie to me. Did you
sleep with her?" Madison asked not knowing what else to say.
Chase looked down into his hands. Finally he looked up into Madison's sad eyes.
"Yeah, I did." Chase said, ashamed to even say it.
There were no words left to say. Madison couldn't say another word. Chase was
too ashamed to speak. Madison walked towards the door and opened it.
"Get out - " Madison cried.
"Madison, we have to talk about this. We're too good together to give
up." Chase pleaded.
"We? Really Chase? Is that what you were thinking when you were sleeping
with someone else?" Madison screamed. "Because this, us, was special
to me too. I just didn't show it by screwing someone else!"
"Madison, that's not how it happened!" Chase tried to explain.
"Please Chase, spare me!" Madison yelled.
Madison looked towards the door where Carson stood. She didn't realize that she
never shut the door.
"Chase, man, I think it's time for you to leave." Carson said.
He had heard everything from his apartment and didn't like it one bit. Madison
was a big girl, and he knew she could take care of herself. But he also knew
that she was going to need someone to be there for her.
"Carson, this isn't your fight. I'm not leaving till she tells me
to." Chase snapped.
"Leave." Madison said simply.
"Baby…" Chase said trying to take her into his arms.
"Don't touch me! Don't ever touch me again. Just go…and do not
look back. Do not call me, and do not try to apologize. Because nothing
you would say could change what you did and how your making me feel at this
moment." Madison looked him straight in the eye as she talked.
Chase knew she meant business. He grabbed his coat and his phone and left. Not
looking back, just as she had asked.
As Madison stepped out of the shower she realized how right Carson actually was.
She didn't need Chase any more now than she did on that day only a few months
ago. He was out of her life, and it didn't matter how many times he had called
her in the past few days, she had changed since August. Not only did Madison not
need Chase anymore, she didn't want him. Madison snapped out of
the daze that seemed to be occurring a lot lately. "If I don't hurry, I'm
going to be late for work" she said to herself. She got ready and left the
apartment more refreshed than before. How sweet life was with Carson in the
middle of it.
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