A Room With A View

Chapter Thirty-Three - Madeline

October 16th, Monday

Madeline watched as Alina pushed a lettuce leaf to the side of her plate. Alina had devoured the fries and her hearty sangria, but the side salad didn't seem to be doing it for her. Len sat on her right, elbow slung across the back of her chair.

"So," Len drawled, "what's your answer? Is there a guy or not?"

"Yes," Madeline said.

Len's eyes widened in shock. Madeline knew that Len had been expecting a no. After all, Madeline was known to go back and forth from rehearsal to her cozy apartment. She wasn't usually up for much else.

"Who?" Len spluttered.

Madeline smiled slowly. She looked around at the mismatched chairs and small vintage tables of Café Clark until she met Dennis's eye across the room. She wiggled her fingers at him.

"Dennis. We're getting married next Wednesday. Will you come?"

Len leaned back in her chair, clearly disappointed. "Of course Mads wouldn't have a date. She never goes anywhere."

Madeline felt stung. She was usually too busy. Plus, she had just gotten back from Australia last week. When was she supposed to have found a date?

"Leave it," Alina said. "Mads will find someone soon enough. And he'll whisk her away to an even better café—like the one at the Met."

"You're obsessed with the Met," Len said. She was in a snitty mood. Madeline would have to pull her aside later and ask what was up.

"It's just romantic," Alina said, her eyes lighting up. Madeline smiled.

"And your—"

"Why don't you get us some coffees?" Madeline said, cutting through whatever Len was going to say. She had a hunch that it wasn't going to be nice.

Len sighed heavily and stood up, dragging her feet toward Dennis. Len was technically working the evening shift, but the place was dead. Madeline was off, but Café Clark was an easy spot to meet both Len and Alina for dinner. It was also near the subway, so it would only take Madeline fifteen minutes to get to her audition at 9:00pm.

When Len was a safe enough distance away, Madeline turned toward Alina. "I want to thank you, by the way, for what you and Len did," she said, a bit uncertainly.

Alina waved her off. "Mads, you've already thanked us a thousand times over for the rent. And honestly, it's not a big deal. You would have done the same. Besides, we know you're such a saint that you'll feel guilty enough to pay us back one day. We're just going to wait until you're a filthy rich actress and then we're going to charge an exorbitant amount of interest."

Alina sucked the dregs of her sangria through her straw.

"Okay. I just want you two to know--"

"We know it already." Alina smiled warmly at Madeline. "We know. We're just thrilled that Colin's going to be okay."

Before Madeline could say anything else, Alina changed the subject.

"Rewinding, is there a guy?" Alina asked. She had given up on the salad. Her fork was placed in the dead center of the plate, begging to be picked up by the waiter. Who happened to be Len. So the half-finished salad was almost guaranteed to sit in that same spot until closing time.

Madeline let out a breath. "No," she said finally. "I'm just so tired of searching for someone. I just want to be found."

Alina stilled. "Is that a line from Sunset at the Cove?" she asked.