Wicked Games

Chapter 18: Abel

I felt kind of bad for lying to her; I told her I was coming to her apartment to check up on her. Really? I just wanted an excuse to come through and see her face again - nobody would ever have to know, though.

I had arrived at Maddie's apartment complex, but I wasn't sure which number her apartment was. I was about to call her, but then I remembered she was probably still in the shower. Not knowing what to do, I decided to stay still.

After about a few seconds, I could hear someone singing 'Sarah's Song' by my man, Ricky Hil. It was very muffled, but could still be heard. It definitely had to be coming from Maddie's house. Following the trail of her beautiful voice, I was led into her living room and kitchen.

I took a small step into her apartment, and my nostrils were filled with her jasmine scent. It was her apartment for sure.

"I'm here." I announced over the running shower water.

"Okay," Maddie replied, "Make yourself comfortable."

After that, she stopped singing. I guess it's because she doesn't like attention.

I decided that I was going to sit in the kitchen area. I pulled out my iPhone from my khaki jacket, and then unlocked the screen to play 'Flappy Bird'; that game should have never gotten deleted.

After a while, 'Flappy Bird' became boring, so I slipped my phone into my jacket pocket. Plus, it would be out of respect for when Maddie finally did come into the kitchen.

Bored, I began to tap my fingers on the countertop, until I saw something white and red in the corner of my eye. Looking properly, I saw an empty white envelope, with the word 'URGENT' written in red. The open letter was next to envelope.

I really didn't like getting into people's personal business, but the word 'URGENT' scared the fuck out of me. Also, the letter was already open, so it's like Maddie was practically inviting me to read the letter.

I looked at the door for a good, hard five seconds, making sure she wasn't going to come in any time soon. But the steady noise of running water reassured me.

I reached out for the letter with my fingers, and then brought to closer to me so that I could read it:

'To Madeleine Francesca da Silva,

it has come to our attention that you have graduated from our University recently. That was two months ago. This means you are six months behind on student loans. The initial fee was £60,000, but as you are six months behind, the new fee is £80,000. It has also come to our attention that you now reside in Toronto, Canada. We do accept payments with the Canadian dollar, but because of currency differences, your new sum is $100,000.

You have 28 days left to pay us.

Yours sincerely,

The Manchester Metropolitan University.'

Shit. I slowly placed the letter back onto the countertop.

Why didn't she just ask me for money? It's only $100,000; it's not like it's going to leave a dent in my bank account. Then again, she might think she has to pay the amount back. I would never force Maddie to pay me back.

I sat in complete silence for a good 5 minutes, contemplating my next move. After I had finally decided on what to do next, I slipped my galaxy design backpack off my shoulders, and I got out my cheque book.

I wrote out 'Madeleine F. S.', 'Abel T.' and '$150,000' out in a blur. The extra 50,000 was for her to spend on herself, of course.

I slowly crept over to her smallest magnolia sofa, and placed the cheque behind one of the furry cushions. I got back to the kitchen island just in time.

The oak door to the bathroom opened, and out eloped Maddie. She was wearing nothing but a loose, pale blue towel around her tanned body, wet curls cascading just below her shoulder, and beads of water ran suggestively down her chest.

Why did she have to look so hot all the damn time?

'God, please make that towel fall right now before I do it myself' I prayed silently to God, 'And also make sure I don't get a boner right now.'

"Hey." she had stated, with a quick, toothless smile.

"Hey." I equally replied, trying with all my might to only look at her face and nowhere else.

Awkward silence. I felt like she knew about the fact I was currently idolising her body, or the fact that I just secretly made her debt-free. I was beginning to imagine scenes of IceJJFish's music video 'On The Floor' in order to avoid getting a boner. Which only made my face scrunch up, and made me cough really weirdly.

"Are you okay?" Maddie asked with concern, outstreching her arms to the sides of my face, and then bringing my face to her chest.

Seriously? I purposely thought of weird shit to avoid getting a boner, and now only a towel was only separating us? Was she some kind of mind reader, and doing this shit on purpose?

"Uhh lo-look, I'v-ve gotta go..." I slowly said, detaching her from my body and making my way to the door, "see you at work?"

I quickly yanked the open, and with that, I left. 'Never again', I thought to myself.