Chapter 2: One Fine Day

Madison sat on the bed trying to get her head around the phone call she'd just had, the lawyer had barely get a word in edge-ways, he explained he was fully aware of Madison's past and that she was seeking a divorce and assured her it was already in hand, Madison just sat on the bed throughout the entire call, her mouth gaping, how did this man know about Drew and the violence and more importantly that she wanted a divorce, a fact she had only herself found the courage to tell Drew last night. How could anyone know in this remote small town, her confusion was disrupted by the phone ringing;

' Hello?' Madison answered cautiously; maybe it was the know-it-all lawyer calling her back,

' Miss Stokes, hello my name's Tina, I'm calling from West and Bingham estate agents regarding some property viewings'

' Oh… I didn't book any'

' We received an e-mail with a list of properties you wished to view, but if the information's wrong I am truly sorry to have disturbed you', Madison thought about it and realising she couldn't stay in a motel forever decided to look, she had no money but what harm is there in just looking?

' No, no I'm sorry it completely slipped my mind, erm… when are you available to show me round?'

' How's 3pm sound?'

' Great, where shall I meet you? I don't know where your offices are but I'm sure I could find them with a bit of help'

' Oh don't be silly I'll pick you up from the motel, the properties are all in the same area so we wont have to keep driving around town'

' Great I'll see you at 3 then'

' Ok great you have a nice day now'.

Madison didn't get long to start thinking of excuses she could give Tina for not wanting any of the properties, that didn't involve her uttering the words " sorry Tina got no cash", the phone rang again seconds after she'd hung up from her conversation with Tina,

' Good morning Miss Stokes, my name is Gerald Brown, I'm calling from the national bank of Louisiana, just a call to confirm your appointment with us today at 1pm'

' Appointment?'

' Yes to discuss you accessing your new account with us, the money's all been transferred its basically just us handing over your card to you and getting you to sign a form to say you received the card and account details, very straight forward, the difficult stuff's been taken care of'

' Oh ok I'll see you at 1 then'

' Have a good day Miss Stokes'

Madison couldn't believe this where could the money have come from, her parents maybe, though they hadn't spoken in years so that was unlikely. She looked at the clock it was 11:30, she decided to take her time getting ready, it was so easy to relax in this small town where everyone had a smile and a kind word for you, there was no fear, no panic, just calmness.

She stood in front of the bathroom mirror and for the first time in a long time, she took in her appearance properly and not just for the sake of checking out the latest bruises Drew had given her, she was pale, and her hair felt like straw, Drew had insisted, quite forcefully, that his wife be a blonde, when Madison had refused he had threatened to pour household bleach in her eyes, so she had no choice but to sit under his watchful gaze while the peroxide burned her scalp and turned her mousy brown hair yellowy-blonde. She'd always hated it, well, she thought, since I apparently have money the hair's the first thing I'm gonna fix, she pulled her hair over her shoulder, she hadn't realised how long it had gotten, it easily reached down to her butt but the ends where awful, a cut and colour are definitely in order she thought. She showered trying to ignore the old scars and bruises that seemed to coat her skin, and dressed in the nicest clothes she had, a pair of jeans and a simple white shirt, she pulled her damaged hair back into a bun and walked out of the musky motel room. She had asked for directions and pulled up outside the bank with 10 minutes to spare; when she walked in a small, fairly elderly man greeted her,

' Good morning Miss Stokes, very nice of you to be on time, I do like punctuality in people, such a rare trait these days, where are my manners I'm Gerald Brown, we spoke on the phone '

' Nice to meet you Mr Brown'

' Oh please darlin' call me Gerry'

' Ok erm… Gerry how did you know who I was?'

' Bon Temps a small town Madison ain't much goes on here that the locals don't know about, and it's easy to spot a new face'

After 20 minutes with Gerry Madison instantly trusted him, he was a kind old man they spent a while discussing his family and his latest grandchild before getting down to business;

' Well if you'll just sign here Madison the account is all yours' Madison scribbled a signature making sure she put Stokes instead of Cole as her surname,

' How much exactly is in my account Gerry?'

' Well let me just look it up and see…you have $1,500,000 currently in your account, it's a lil' short cos your lawyers fee has already come outta it but a good amount, don't spend it all on shoes and clothes I know what you girls are like' Madison couldn't help laughing at his joke through her shock.

She sat in her car staring at the bank statement, she couldn't believe it, all that money was hers, but where the hell had it come from?

Time escaped Madison and before she knew it, it was 2:30; she drove back to the motel and just as she pulled up a lady with short auburn hair pulled up,

' Madison' she called out, ' hey I'm Tina you ready to go check these places out?'

An hour later Madison was sitting in the office with the estate agents signing a contract, she now owned a house, well almost there was still the boring legal stuff to get through, but she couldn't believe it, Tina took a phone call half way through the meeting and mouthed the words "your lawyer" to Madison,

' Well your lawyers informed me that there's a separate bank account with money for a house so that's that, you now own property Madison, welcome to Bon Temps'.

Madison was in shock as she sat outside enjoying the sun on her skin, two bank accounts one set up specifically for house buying, the rest for her, she wished she knew who her generous benefactor was so she could thank them.