7

With her modeling start, Maddie had started a partial portfolio of her favorite pictures. She had also shared a few with her friends and favorite relatives. Her aunt in Seattle got one, and her cousin in California commented she looked like an heiress out there named Sharpay Evans. A picture each also found their way to both Zack and Cody. Cody received a different shot from the newspaper ad, but Zack received a separate advance shot from the Super-Blonde campaign. Upon seeing it, Zack was all-quiet. There she was… Maddie in the blue costume and red skirt with that red cape and big red "S" across her chest. She looked as if she were hovering with her long blonde hair swaying around and her cape flapping behind her. She was beaming ear to ear with her arms crossed before her. She looked the happiest she had ever been. To Zack, she really was a comic book superhero brought to life.

"Are you still looking at Maddie in that ad?" Cody looked at his brother.

"She looks so hot!" Zack was worshipping her all over again. "You know…." He tapped his brother on the shoulder. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that they…." He paused over the indiscretion of what he was about to say. "Padded her a little bit."

"I don't think so."

"Look," Zack made an odd face to try and convince his brother. "I've seen Maddie in just about everything. I know her body. I know how she looks. She looks a bit… endowed in the ad."

"I don't think so." Cody could not believe they were discussing this. "I think it's just the costume paying attention to her… accoutrements." He looked for a much better word.

"I know how to find out." Zack turned from the front entrance and raced over to the source of his infatuation. His eyes began checking her out as she unwrapped new packages of candy bars and candy for her shelves. Zack was looking at her with another of those odd looks.

"Hi guys…" She beamed to them. "What's up? Did you like my pictures?"

"Maddie, " Zack looked to his brother and back. "Uh, Cody and I were just wondering… you know, about your picture. It seems that you… I mean, by the look of it, it seems…. Did they…. Something about it…." He hedged and hemmed trying to say what he was thinking.

"What Zack is trying to ask…" Cody interrupted. "Is there anything about it not real?"

"Well, I should say so…" Maddie responded. Zack and Cody's jaws dropped in shock.

"I'm wearing blonde hair extensions!" She confessed, looked around and whispered over the counter. "It's not all my own hair!" She flared her eyes ashamed.

"Oh yeah…" Zack stepped back embarrassed. "That's what I was thinking!"

"No, it wasn't." Cody responded. "You thought…" Zack popped a napkin into his brother's mouth to shut him up and pushed him off that risk the chance of offending the girl that he loved. Wandering over, Moseby looked at Cody with the mouthful and wished for the same thing full time for both the boys. Turning round once, he turned to his favorite candy counter girl.

"Maddie," He hugged her for the good luck. "Congratulations. I hear this ad campaign will be big. I guess you'll be leaving us soon to cover other offers." He paused thinking of her as a daughter. "May I be the first to say, I'll miss you…"

"Thanks, Mr. Moseby, but I'm not really leaving." Maddie reacted happy, but not excited. "I've got a bit more extra money, but… my Super-Blonde contract is pretty exclusive." Maddie moped. "It prohibits me from taking any other professional modeling jobs for five years."

"I'm so sorry."

"But think of all the offers I'll get while I'm waiting!" She cheered out loud. Moseby cheered briefly with her then quickly regained his decorum to maintain his usual image as the strict but disciplined Tipton manager. They looked up together at the sight of London coming down the elevator. London and Maddie locked eyes on each other. Under barely audible tones, Moseby encouraged the blonde one to make up with the distracted heiress and silently glided away. Maddie tossed away her empty boxes from the stocked candy and pretended to be distracted.

"So…" London inched closer and closer…. "What're you doing here? I thought you'd be off… modeling." She made quotations marks with her fingers around the word "modeling." Whether she was being sarcastic or trying to cast aspersions to Maddie's appearance was indiscernible.

"I signed a pretty exclusive contract that prohibits me from modeling for anyone else." Maddie answered.

London looked at her confused and uncertain of the big words she was using.

"I can't model for a while due to a paper I signed." Maddie clarified for the kindergarten-impaired.

"Oh!!" London reacted, and stood by unsure how to act. Maddie freshened the mints in the lobby and refilled her magazine racks. When she stood, London was standing before her.

"London, I need to apologize to you." Maddie humbled herself. "Corrie confessed to be the one trying to sabotage me. It turns out that Mr. Pryde is her uncle. She's been trying to become a model herself."

"Yeah…" London posed a bit while rolling her eyes. "I probably ought to apologize myself." She took a deep breath. "You know, Maddie, when I get around Portia and Constance and the normal girls, well…."

Maddie made a face at the "normal girls" crack.

"We get so used to insulting each other that, well…" London continued. "I still catch myself doing it when I'm talking to you. The difference is… those girls aren't my friends. You are."

"You're my friend too, London." Maddie and London hugged. As they hugged, Arwin came over touched by their emotion. Crying and bawling, he removed his glasses to dab the tears from his eyes, hugged them too then went on with his business drying his eyes and blowing his nose.

"So…" London giggled a bit. "We're friends again." She shined her adorable smile. "Hey, why don't you take all that money you made and take me to dinner?!" She reacted excitedly.

"I can't." Maddie returned to her post. "I put it all in a savings account for college."

"Maddie…" London smiled at her naiveté. "Money isn't for saving… it's for spending!! Come on, let's hit the stores!" She grabbed Maddie by the sleeve of her hotel uniform and pulled her from the candy counter. Moseby looked at the sight of them heading out; London dragging Maddie out against her will. A brief sigh and a roll of his eyes, he called up his niece to see if she'd substitute at the candy counter.