Rescuing Madison (Book 1)

Chapter Seven

Madison's POV

I was nervous to go on my date with Jackson. I hung out with him all the time, but this felt completely different. I was suddenly questioning everything. Do I look okay? Does my hair look okay? Does he actually like me? Does he know that I love him? I felt a panic attack creeping up on me, & I had to shake my head a few times to stop my thoughts from consuming me.

He told me that he was taking me to dinner. It was just a casual restaurant, so I dressed in nice jeans & a red top. Red is his favorite color, & I knew he liked this shirt. So, why not wear it on our first date? I looked at myself in the mirror a couple times before I decided that I needed to just sit down & calm down my racing heart.

As soon as I had calmed down, I heard a knock on the door & my heart started racing all over again. I ran to the door & looked out the peephole. Jackson was standing there with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. I opened the door with a huge smile on my face.

"Hey, baby." he said.

I felt shy all of a sudden, but I stepped aside so he could come in. "Hi."

"These are for you." he said, handing me the flowers.

"Are you sure they're not for your other hot date?"

"Oh, right. I forgot." he said, starting to take the flowers from me.

"Hey!"

He laughed. "I'm just kidding, baby girl. You know it's only you."

I felt a blush spread across my face. I turned around & went into the kitchen, grabbed a vase & filled it with water. I put the flowers in it & Jackson walked in. I made sure the blush had left my face before I turned to face him.

"Are you ready to go?"

I nodded & grabbed my purse. When we went outside, it looked like it was going to rain. That made me happy. Rain was my favorite type of weather.

***

We had come to this restaurant multiple times, & it was probably one of our favorites. We usually always ordered the same thing, but we decided to change it up this time. We didn't have to wait too long before we got our food.

Halfway through dinner, I excused myself to go to the bathroom. When I got in there, I looked at myself in the mirror, & it felt like I had had a permanent smile etched onto my face all night. I relieved myself & washed my hands.

When I walked out of the bathroom, I bumped into someone hard enough to smash my nose into their chest. I immediately felt embarrassed. I felt my face redden.

"I'm so sorry." I said, looking down & walking around whoever I bumped into. I didn't want to look at them.

"That's alright, sweetheart." a deep voice said.

The use of the word 'sweetheart' made me look back at him. He was about to walk in the bathroom, but he looked back & winked at me before he entered. I quickly walked away.

When I sat down at our table, a memory came to me. Green eyes looked at me in rage, as I was repeatedly kicked in the stomach. The guy I bumped into had green eyes just like his. He also always winked at me & called me sweetheart. I instantly felt sick. I put my hand over my mouth, as my breath started to quicken.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Jackson asked, taking my hand.

"I s-swear I just saw.." I started, but had to stop. I was seriously going to have a panic attack in the middle of the restaurant.

"Just saw what?"

Green eyes looked at me with amusement as I struggled to breathe.

"I swear I just saw him.."

"What do you mean by hi-" he stopped when he realized who I was talking about. "Where did you see him?"

"I bumped into him when I came out of the bathroom. He called me sweetheart, then he walked into the bathroom."

"I'll be right back."

He got up & walked towards the bathrooms. I wanted to go after him, but I didn't want people to look at me weird. He was only gone for a couple minutes.

"I didn't see anyone in there."

"I know I saw him, Jackson."

"I believe you. I promise. Maybe he already left the bathroom. Do you want to leave?"

"Please."

He got the attention of the waiter & asked for the check. He paid it & we stood to leave. He held onto my waist as we walked through the restaurant & back to his car.

"Maybe I didn't really see him. Maybe that guy just happened to look like him. I mean, a lot of people have green eyes. & Maybe he was just being nice by calling me sweetheart. A lot of people do that, right?" By this point, I was just rambling, needing to convince myself that I hadn't really seen him.

"Madison." Jackson said, grabbing my hand. "It'll be okay."

I didn't say anything to him. I was too consumed by my thoughts. What was I going to do if he was around here? Stop. It had to have been a coincidence. That's what I had to keep telling myself. I couldn't let myself think of the possibility that he was here.

***

That night, I slept over at Jackson's house. I needed to be around him. I had freaked myself out too badly, & my anxiety wasn't going away. I ended up having a couple of nightmares, which was more than normal. I woke up in Jackson's arms both times. After the second nightmare, I couldn't fall back asleep.

I was still bothered by those piercing green eyes, still bothered by the fact that it could have been him that I had ran into. His presence could only mean that terrible things were about to happen. & That's not something I could deal with.