Author's note: Dang, this game is hard to write for, but it so deserves stories.
Miserable Misdial
Unbelievable, a month's worth of research and proposals and so-called successful meetings and the big shots fired down Madison's plan for creating her best book ever. Too plain pictures her ass. How much fuss taking great photographs brought on.
She should've saw the blow coming but she had kept holding out that her ideas would eventually come to fruition with her execs. Madison had bottled up so much hope that the slightest crack would instantly shatter the delicate vial. Well, there was one solution to alleviate her depression and that required the phone, a tissue, and a swig of hard liquor.
Hmm, the day was bright. Way too early to get hammered. A guilt-free fat slab of some expensive cake ought to substitute. She had to go out for that.
Starting with a call, Madison was going to invite Lucy over and wail. Lucy had been a temporary assistant at the office which gave Madison the chance to chat up a female who was her age. A good part of the company had older employees and while they were friendly enough, Madison wanted someone who could relate to her current daily trials. Lucy fit the description well, offering tidbits of her struggles at being a temp. Madison couldn't wallow to Ethan. He was still trying to piece his life back together with Shaun and wanted space for the moment.
Having sobbed for a solid hour, Madison felt stuffed up but coherent. Her movements were slow and careless and that's how she wanted things today. She picked up her cell phone and flopping on the couch she jabbed her speed dial. Her finger slipped on the button but she heard dialing so she got the right number.
Three rings passed before the phone picked up. "Hi, Norman Jayden speaking."
Madison sat halfway up on her elbow in surprise, recognizing the lilting accent. That was not Lucy. It was the voice of someone from a time of terror in her life but wasn't a terror himself. At least, she thought so from their very brief meetings during the Origami Killer investigation. All that happened a scant month ago. She forgot Jayden's number was in her phone's memory. Flummoxed, Madison didn't know what to answer.
"Hello?" the familiar man said. "Anyone there?"
She got voice back into her body when her brain stopped churning through her horrific experiences her mind was beginning to replay. "Sorry, I have the wrong number. I didn't mean to bother your work."
Madison's thumb slid to the hang up button when she heard, "Ms. Paige?"
No hanging up so fast. Madison held the phone to her ear properly. "Jayden, hi. Yeah, it's Madison. Sorry I called. I have the wrong number as I said." He wasn't her intended recipient for her complaining and she had to be reserved until she got the right person. She cleared her throat, feeling self-conscious when her croak sounded like it was stuck in a paper bag.
"It's all right. Your call has given me a break from a stack of files." Jayden sounded like he had worked for hours.
A substantial silence lingered, the two strangers debating who should say something. Jayden tentatively asked, "Are you ok?"
Madison sniffled, not meaning to. "I'm fine. Something is in the air."
There was another lapse of speech, this one longer than the previous. "Do you want to talk?" Jayden asked as though she hadn't spoken.
Madison milled that request in her head. It was a nice offer and he sounded free. Why hang up and dial again when she wasn't sure if Lucy was in or not? Still, Jayden was more of an acquaintance than anything else and whining seemed inappropriate. But, he was more coolheaded than Lucy and maybe he really could help. "You're busy, aren't you?"
"I'm almost off for a lunch break. We could meet somewhere. You know the police station, right? There's a cafe down the road on the south side. You can't miss the yellow sign."
Too good to be true, a sounding board. Madison couldn't resist. "Sure, that's fine. Um, thanks for your offer."
A chuckle sounded. "No problem. Meet you in half an hour?"
Madison looked down at her rumpled clothes, a far cry from being presentable in public. "Sounds good. See you then."
Once she hung up, Madison looked around the room. She needed a new shirt.
No doubt, Jayden was going to think she was unstable. What was she thinking, talking to a profiler who steeped in the intricacies of the psyche? Well, if he interrogated her, she'd leave.
Opening the door to the bustling bistro, Madison checked out the diners. At a side table, staring out the window sat Jayden. Only a quarter of his face could be seen, but Madison easily picked him out from the rest of the dining crowd. As he observed the walking world go by, his fingertips tapped on the tabletop in a beat. The scene was a juxtaposition: a well-dressed man in a business suit and combed hair listening to a tune rolling around in his mind, bobbing his head to it like a kid with headphones on.
Mad, here's what a camera is all about. Preparedness meant a camera was always in her bag. The best photos were typically random and on-sight. Her hand reached for the zipper of her purse.
Madison shook her head of silliness and stopped. Sugary delight, she was here for that and not a photo shoot.
Moving towards Jayden, his thoughtful gaze turned friendly as he spotted her. He smiled and Madison caught the touch of uncertainty in it.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Jayden." She slipped into a padded chair across the table from him.
"Hi. Norman is fine, Ms. Paige."
"And Madison is fine, Norman." She felt a shaky grin form. She couldn't recall addressing him by first name yet.
Jayden twined his fingers together, his imaginary song over. The gesture was oddly placating. "Is this place doable? It's not much but I couldn't think of another restaurant in such short notice."
A rush of guilt hit Madison. Taking Jayden out of his busy life solving crimes, it was a sin to halt such important work. "No, it's great. If there's dessert I'm good."
Relief lit his eyes. "It isn't bad here. Shall we order?"
Two waiting menus sat to the side of the table. Madison reached for the top one and so did Jayden. Her hand blocked his and she felt the tap of his larger hand on hers.
"Eager to pick?" Jayden joked lightly, relenting the top menu to her.
"The world can't get in the way of a girl and her stomach." Madison quipped and her stomach did a flip at his angled mouth so casually directed at her.
"We can't forget the boys, either. We've got stomachs." Jayden skimmed a page.
"Right. All-you-can-eat meals. What was I thinking?" Madison was starting to like sitting here.
A waitress came over and they placed their orders. Madison picked out a double-layered iced slice of cake and Jayden got a bowl of beef soup and a bun.
After their orders were taken away, a silence settled between them. A tether for either person to reveal their day.
"Is FBI life going well?" Madison figured the basics were a good start to jump over the awkwardness she felt.
Jayden tilted his head from side to side. "It's a little slow now that the Origami Killer case is over. The case took up a lot of resources. While being bored is not my idea of progress, I'll make an exception this once. What an exhausting ordeal. It was murder." Jayden chuckled half-heartedly at his wording. "You know what I mean."
"I hear you. Journalism has its up and downs. After the Origami Killer case was solved I had to find a decent story to write about. Bending of truth required in extreme cases. People love rumors." Admitting her woe aloud reminded Madison of her plight and why she was here. She didn't want to delve into the topic yet.
"Goddamn gossip stories. Can't people trust facts?" The sharpness of Jayden's small outburst took Madison by surprise. He wearily rubbed his eyes, which Madison noticed upon closer inspection were rimmed with red.
Not sure if she overstepped bounds, but taking the plunge anyway, Madison asked, "Are you tired? You seem worn out."
Jayden moved his hand away from his face. Her observation preoccupied him and he glanced off to the side. "Yeah, I do feel frazzled. I'll adjust soon to getting more sleep."
The guarded way his words came out made Madison wonder if fatigue was Jayden's main contempt about his job. But why wouldn't it be? Profiling wasn't exactly a leisurely skip through the park. It was vigilance and digging through information day in and out.
Madison inquired about absolutely random things to hear anecdotes for that she created on the spot. Weather choices. The history of his favorite color. The most aggravating person he worked with and what kind of pie they deserved in the face, although she pretty much knew the answer to that question before it left her mouth. Jayden's animated replies kept her attention that their food came in no time.
Jayden took his turn to ask her about the seemingly irrelevant. Favorite pizza. How long clothes should dry in the dryer for optimum results. Whether plaid should be outlawed as a clothing pattern of choice. Madison laughed so much more than she expected that she wondered how meeting Jayden for drinks didn't happen sooner.
Food consumption went easy for Jayden. Madison forgot to dig into her cake until she saw Jayden very pointedly eying it. He nodded at her plate. "Is your dessert not up to par?"
She blankly stared at the brown on white next to her fork. When she saw the slab of crumbly confection, reality came tumbling back. Madison said awkwardly, "I, uh..." and when Jayden's empty bowl came to view she finished, "...waited for you so I could share."
There came Jayden's crooked grin. He was really enjoying himself. "How considerate of you to think of my dessert needs."
Madison pushed her plate forward. "You said it's supposed to taste fantastic. Let's see if you're right."
Jayden looked at the offering, pondering, then his green eyes studied her. He didn't say anything else before he picked up his fork and sampled. He made an approving noise. "Whatever is bothering you, is it serious?"
"Bother? No, it's nothing." Hearing him ask her outright unnerved Madison. She had been set on dumping her frustration onto him when she agreed to meet on the phone, but after the good mood Jayden brought her up to, throwing at him all the anger of her career hiccup didn't seem right.
But the inquiring way Jayden watched her and the tilt of his chin made Madison reconsider. Maybe not dump all her baggage. Just open it a tad. "A preposition I had to convince my superiors about for weeks flopped. Things had seemed great until I found out today that I wasn't getting my break."
Madison finally dug into her dessert to keep from babbling on. Jayden remained mute as he ate, a contemplation she saw before coming back. Viewing it from the front instead of a profile had a blowback she had no clue what to make of. Jayden was putting extensive brain power to her problem despite barely knowing her.
Jayden sighed. "I'm sorry your day didn't bring better news. I think you'll get your second chance. You made it really close, right? All your determination, all the prep. Doing everything wasn't a waste if you're able to do it again someday."
He was right. Madison did get farther in negotiations than she dreamed of when she initially approached the bigwigs. Madison felt funny at hearing Jayden's praise. She was always so focused on the results. She tucked some stray hair behind her ear.
Fiddling with his spoon, Jayden turned it over, his attention divided between it and Madison. "It's going to sound strange, but thank you for accidentally calling me." He flushed a little at the throat.
Madison shrugged nonchalantly, like she did this kind of thing on a regular basis. "My doctor gets a couple rings from me when I want to chat about my stove problems."
"Well, if I misdial a number and catch you my mistake, you won't hold it against me?"
Was that a glint of hope in his expression? FBI guys had a knack for the poker face, wearing it when they wanted. Madison tried it out herself while intrigue bubbled within her. "I'll raise hell and file a report for harassment."
Jayden put down his dining utensil and smoothed his tie which had slipped forward. "Then I'll be sure to intercept that report." His bemused eyes flicked to the watch on his wrist. "I should be getting back to work."
Disappointed, Madison nodded and canted her head. "Thanks for lending me your free break."
Jayden stood, removing his leather wallet from inside his jacket. He dropped a few bills on the table. "My treat."
"Thanks. Again. Have a good day, Norman."
"Good luck, Madison."
Jayden walked away and out the door. Madison decisively poked her fork into her cake and took a big bite. A grin came automatically.
This was the best dessert she had in ages.
- THE END -