Haunted by the past

Her head hurt! That was all that Madeline Newman knew as she felt the bill for her exuberance the night before playing like a tap-dance across the inside of her skull. She didn’t get hangovers, not really. She knew a glass of water would likely assuage the throbbing in her head. Stretching out she groaned, she was naked. She NEVER slept naked. In fact, she usually woke up in various items of clothing that she’d worn to go out.

Still struggling to open an eye, she rolled onto her side, and managed to peel back one set of eyelashes. Even in the darkness of the early morning, she instantly knew something was wrong. For a start she had thick velour curtains in her bedroom, not the sleek blinds that she could see. And the threadbare carpet in her bedroom was a million miles from the hardwood floor that covered the distance to the door she could see in the distance.

Her heart started to race and nausea rose in her throat, she had to ignore the feelings of self loathing that threatened to overtake her. Turning she looked over her shoulder.  The man lying to her right was turned away from her, all she could see was a little of his profile and his dark hair, oh and a beautifully sculpted chest that the duvet didn’t cover.

How could she not remember him? The man seemed absolutely divine.

Closing her eyes she took a few deep breaths, then moved straight into escape mode. She was embarrassed to admit that this wasn’t the first time this had happened. Eyeing her jeans and t-shirt across the room, she then located her underwear. Grabbing all four items, she burst naked out of the door and was rewarded by seeing both a bathroom and her shoes from the hallway.

Less than ten minutes later she was entering a cafe, she needed caffeine.

Stirring her drink, Maddie sighed. She was twenty five tomorrow! No longer could she blame the errors in her life on the exuberance of youth, no longer could she justify coasting along with no meaning, not at her age! Grow up! She could hear her father chastising her, not that she’d spoken to him in a long time, but it had been his favourite comment towards her. Usually she’d argue against everything he said, but today she knew that it was exactly the right sentiment.  

No, as Madeline, sipped her coffee, she realised that not only was she entering the next quarter of a century of her life tomorrow; things were actually going to change. She was about to find a purpose. And the catalyst had been leaving her exceedingly underpaid job of three years as a receptionist at a dental surgery. When she’d taken the job fresh from college it was only ever meant to be temporary, but three years on she was already stuck in a rut.

It had been almost predetermined that Mike the senior dentist would leave his newspaper on her desk; his son was looking for work and had circled a few adverts on the jobs page. It had been purely a case of curiosity that had seen her scan the pages, reading the items circled in red; she’d been intrigued as to what appealed to a teenage boy. It was during this sneaky peek that she’d seen an advert for a PA job, and whilst she had no specific experience, her degree in business management and tourism, really lined her up as the ideal candidate for the fairly local chain of restaurants. It was hardly an a-list job, but it restored the hint of optimism that three years of being unappreciated had driven away.

She applied on a whim, and was amazed to find out she was successful. Whilst it wasn’t like winning the Apprentice she realised that it at least started her on the right footing to achieve the dizzy heights she'd always dreamed of! And Monday, her first day of work was her twenty fifth birthday.

Maddie sat back in her chair; her head still throbbed from the excesses of the previous night. It didn’t get much worse than this, sitting in a cafe waiting for a bus to take her home after another night of random drinking.