Defining Moments

Chapter Five - First Day

Madison's POV:

I was running late.

It was my first day working at the grocery store and I was running late. I'm never late. To anything.

I got Quinn to start getting ready for school while I went to put together his breakfast and lunch. "Mommy! I'm going to be late for school!" Quinn exclaimed while running into the kitchen. I sigh, frustrated with myself. "I know Quinn. Can you go see if Grandpa can run you to school for me?"

Quinn nodded before taking off towards my Dad's office. A few minutes later, Dad made an appearance in the kitchen to collect Quinn's lunch and Macyn. He kissed me on the cheek, told me to have a good day, and left with the kids.

Now that I no longer had to worry about getting my son to school on time, I just had to worry about getting myself to work on time. I scrambled to finish getting myself ready. I threw my hair up in a ponytail before throwing on a light amount of makeup to make myself look presentable.

Once I was ready, I slipped on my shoes and jacket and left for work.

I was only a few minutes late. Although Milo assured me I was fine, well aware of the fact that I was a single mom, I continued to apologize profusely.

Milo introduced me to Ria and told me that she would be training me that day.

It was actually a lot harder to catch on to the cash register system than I thought it would be. Being a nurse and even a nurses assistant was easier than this. It took several explanations for me to even begin to understand what it was that I was supposed to do.

Lucky for me, customers were very patient. Catskill is a very small town so it was quite obvious I was new.

About halfway through my shift, Milo calls me back to the office. I sit down in the chair in front of the desk, fidgeting with my fingers and even my wedding ring on my left ring finger. I wasn't sure what Milo wanted to talk to me about.

Milo smiles reassuringly at me. "There's no need to be nervous Madison, I'm not going to fire you." Milo chuckles, noticing my fidgeting.

I blush and force myself to relax.

"I just wanted to check in with you and see how you are doing."

I smile slightly. "Oh. It's uh, it's good." I say quietly.

"Any concerns? Questions?"

I shrug. "I'm just still trying to figure out the system but I think I'm starting to catch on."

Milo nods. "Good, well I'll let you get back to work. Let me know if you need anything."

I nod along as Milo speaks. "I will. Thank you sir."

Milo chuckles again. "Please, Milo is fine."

I nod again. "Thanks, Milo." I smile slightly before getting up to leave the office. I'm too in my own head to notice that I almost walk into someone. I look up and apologize, blushing, as I go to step out of the way. "Sorry..."

The woman smiles at me. "That's quite alright." She says. "You must be Madison. I'm Sarah."

I smile at her. "It's nice to meet you." I say, despite not knowing how this woman knows my name. Milo answers that question for me.

He clears his throat. "Madison, this is my wife Sarah."

"Milo tells me you have a son and a daughter." She says.

I nod. "Yes, Quinn is almost eight and Macyn is just over a year old."

"Oh well Quinn is just about the same age as our Theo. We'll have to set up a play date sometime." Sarah said.

I smile. "I'm sure Quinn will love that." I say. It would be good for Quinn to have a friend to play with. He'd been struggling to make friends ever since we moved to Catskill.

Sarah smiled even brighter, if that was even possible. "Excellent! One of these days Milo will have to give you a day off so we can plan something."

"You say that as if I work my employees seven days a week, Sarah." Milo said from behind me.

"I would never insinuate such a thing!" Sarah said sarcastically.

I cleared my throat. "I should be getting back to work." I said before leaving the office and the couple inside it to banter amongst themselves. As I made my way back out I noted that I need to text my dad to make sure he got Quinn from school, reminding him that I wouldn't be home until dinner time.