A Beauteous Flower

Chapter 23 - The Understanding

While she slept, Madison dreamed that she was in a large mansion. Daniel called her, but she couldn't find him. Gradually his shouts faded while she grew more desperate to find him. Finally, she found herself alone in the dark as the cold closed in around her.

"Daniel!"

Madison came awake with a start. Outside the early morning waves lapped gently on the beach and a sea breeze blew in through the open doors. A sheet of paper taped to her nightstand flapped gently and Madison picked it up with fingers that trembled with the sudden cold fear that Daniel had left her at the resort during the night. Madison blinked the sleep from her eyes and read.

"There ain't no gold in this river
That I've been washin' my hands in forever
I know there is hope in these waters
But I can't bring myself to swim
When I am drowning in this silence
Baby, let me in.

Go easy on me, baby.
I was still a child
Didn't get the chance to
Feel the world around me.
I had no time to choose
What I chose to do
So go easy on me."

Madison made a face as she considered the note. Another example of how Daniel left her notes to find. This habit recurred at times in their relationship, and she mostly ignored it, however, this note was odd in tenor. A quick Google search revealed it to be lyrics from "Easy on Me" by Adele. It made her pause for a moment and again consider that maybe, in her anger, she had gone a little too far. Madison frowned into thought.

As she considered, Daniel tippy-toed out of the bathroom dressed in his workout clothes and with his sneakers in hand. Fresh anger flashed in Madison at the sight of Daniel. How dare he enter this bedroom without her permission? Didn't he know she was angry with him and until he apologized, he wasn't allowed to enter her presence?

"What the hell is this?" Madison demanded contemptuously as she shook the note at him. As Daniel's eyes fixed on it, Madison crumpled the note and flung it into the trash can. "And what do you think you are doing in here?"

Daniel froze with his eyes fixed on a point on the floor between them. He didn't look up, and he didn't look down. It was as if he tried to find a crack in the floor through which to escape.

"I came in through the patio doors to get my sneakers and my phone," he responded quietly with a hint of guilt. "I ...."

Madison "tsked" in derision before Daniel could finish.

"Yeah, you wouldn't want to forget your old music for old white men, would you?"

Daniel stared silently down at the carpet and didn't move.

"Well go on!" Madison sneered. "Go run around and listen to your dusty old fart music!"

Under the lash of Madison's contemptuous gaze, Daniel slipped out of the room and quietly closed the door behind him. Again, for a moment, Madison felt regret and wondered if maybe she had overreacted. After all, Daniel still had three days to propose to her. Maybe he planned to wait until the last day for dramatic effect? Maybe she had been too hasty to anger?

But then the thought of her girlfriend's laughter returned and brought with it a fresh wave of vitriol. Madison plunked back down on the pillows, reassured by her self-righteous indignation. Daniel needed a wake up call, and she was well within her rights to give it to him. He owed her this ring.  He was a high value man and she was a high value woman.  She would be his trophy wife in exchange for his provision of her trophy life.  That was the deal.  She had earned that ring and that life, and by God he had better come through. Once again satisfied that she was in the right, Madison began to scroll through her social media accounts to get the latest gossip from back home. With that done, she rose and donned her white bikini and slipped into a powder blue crochet cover up. While she pulled her hair up in a bun, she considered whether to go sit on the beach or by the pool for the day.