The entire Wednesday afternoon Madge is brimming with excitement. She gets through work no problem and hums along to the songs of the station during her break. Finnick is just wrapping up his segment, and he's going to be out soon too.
And apparently happiness is a rare occurrence for her, because her friend gives her a skeptical look when she hands him his cup of coffee.
"Why are you like this today Madgelene?"
"Hmm?"
"You seem chipper."
"I am chipper," she nods, not even bothering to call out his ridiculous nickname.
"And why is that?"
"My friends are getting engaged today," she admits, needing to tell anyone. Finn doesn't know them, it's not like he can do anything with the information, except maybe announce it on public radio.
"That's amazing, congratulations on the engagement…?" he jokes, and Madge just about slaps him.
"Hey, can't you just let me be happy today? Second hand happiness is the best. Low stakes."
"Okay fine," he gives up, putting up his hands in surrender. "Speaking of second hand happiness, I think there's something that would make you really, really happy."
"Setting you up with Annie?" she guesses casually.
"How did you know? Yes, exactly."
"I don't think she's looking for something like that right now, Finnick," Madge puts lightly, trying hard not to draw quotes from the exchange they shared last week.
He scrunched his eyebrows and tilts his chin. "Looking for something like what?"
"Like… a relationship."
"Does she think I'm weird?"
"No," she insists. "She doesn't. I think she's just not used to anyone being so…"
"Forward?"
"Sure," Madge shrugs, taking another sip of caffeine. "Forward. That's actually a good way to put it."
"Forward isn't a bad thing though," he tries to reason to himself, and Madge shakes her head in agreement.
"Yeah, no it's not. I just don't think she's used to that." Annie isn't used to guys bringing her tea out of the blue, but Madge thought it was a nice gesture. But this whole wing-woman thing is out of control and she feels like she's in middle school. Finnick just needs to talk to her and ask her out, being direct is always the way to go with these things. "Honestly Finn, you should just ask her to lunch or something."
"You're right," he nods, as they start to walk out of the recording studio. "But you'll still keep watching out for me right? If she shows any signs?"
Madge rolls her eyes, but the crazy thing is he might be serious. And if Finnick Odair is serious about being this nervous, she better get used to Annie Cresta being the centre of their conversation for months to come.
She works until a bit later than usual, and by the time she goes home to change, eat a light dinner and begins to walk over to the venue it's almost 8:30 already.
Redwood is on the 20th floor of a downtown office building, and when Madge finds her way up the elevator and towards the back window of the bar, she lets out a sigh of exhaustion. The view is beautiful though, it's just far enough from the ground to truly admire all the lights but still close enough to see the humans, walking and bustling about underneath her.
She's the first one here naturally, but Gale should be on the way soon. He's picking up the flowers while she talks to the people in the kitchen about the food they'll eat. They're keeping it light, mostly just snacks to accompany the drinks. Thom and Delly couldn't be too hungry anyways after a big dinner.
Her phone buzzes in her clutch so she gazes down. It's an email.
From: Dad
To: me
Subject: Fwd: Hawthorne-Undersee Custody Forms
Madge doesn't even bother to open it. She marks it as read and sends it to the archives.
Her parents have been berating her with legal support, unwarranted nonetheless, for full custody over Dakota. But Madge doesn't want full custody. She doesn't think she could ever do that to Gale, nor can she truly raise a child on her own. It's absurd, so she ignores it. They won't meet in person anytime soon anyways, so at least for now she can just keep deleting her father's emails.
He means well, mostly would just like to see his daughter be independent. He has the legal connections to family lawyers, being one himself, and thinks he has a duty. Madge isn't sure she can say the same about her mother though, she's never liked Gale and probably never will. Even when he made a perfect impression in her opinion back in college, apparently it wasn't good enough. Her mother thinks Gale needs to be out of her life, maybe she's right, but this isn't the way at all.
She turns her phone on silent and exhales quickly, trying to concentrate on the menu she's supposed to be ordering from.
The waiter comes over and Madge points to a couple of appetizers that sound appealing. "Could we just get these four and make the servings big enough for about ten?"
He nods and thanks her, walking away just as someone comes up from behind her and squeezes her shoulders. Madge jumps and swivels.
"Madge!"
"Rory!"
"Hey," the young Hawthorne smiles. He gives Madge a warm hug and she's caught off guard, she hasn't seen him a while and barely recognizes him with the dark framed glasses perched on his nose. Clearly college is treating him well, there's a joyful vibe to him that she didn't see back when he was an angsty teen.
"Hi, wow, I didn't know you were in town."
"Yeah, I've been on break this week and figured that I had to visit." His school not far, just a couple towns away on a classic picturesque campus. Unlike Gale and Madge, whose school was right in the middle of the city. "You look really good."
"Oh, thanks," she responds, remembering the simply navy blue dress she'd put on for tonight's party. "Are you staying at a friend's?"
"I am. I figured that the three of you have your hands full at home, it'd suck to intrude."
Madge nods deliberately in response, agreeing to the farce. It's Rory that it's hardest to lie to; he's smart and he's close with Gale in a way that the other siblings aren't. And it might just be in her mind, but sometimes his voice is skeptical, almost as if he's accusing her.
"Um, well Gale just went to the florist…"
"I know, that's why I'm here. I helped him carry the flowers in," Rory points out, gesturing to a couple of bouquets sitting behind them. That makes total sense, so Madge shakes her head at how unintuitive she's being.
Then, Gale walks in, carrying one last bouquet and absentmindedly gazing at his phone. He's already dressed in a suit for tonight, and when he gets to her and his sibling, he put down the device. "Thanks for the help, Ror."
The young man shrugs. "No problem."
"Are you sure you can't stay for the party?" It's an empty offer. They both know that if Rory stayed for the party, that would just cause all kinds of problems. And Madge doesn't feel like lying the whole night through in front of her friends.
"I'm sure. I gotta go meet some friends, but please tell Thom and Delly that I said congratulations."
"I will," Gale nods, hugging his brother tightly and patting him on the back. "Bye."
"Bye, man. Bye, Madge. Good to see you."
"You too, Rory," she smiles politely, and Gale's brother saunters away, leaving the two alone. For a second Madge considers asking him about Rory, how he's doing, but she decides against it. Talking about Gale's family always has to be delicate, and Madge doesn't want to argue. Not tonight, because tonight's about Thom and Delly. "That's a lot of flowers."
"Thom said that Delly likes Carnations," he tries to justify, but there are three full bouquets of beautiful flowers, and they both laugh for a second. At least he bought the right kind of flower, Madge thinks, and Delly's always been a more is more kind of girl anyway.
So they put up the tacky sign wishing the couple congratulations, near the back corner of the bar where the waiters didn't mind. It's a bit silly, but Madge misses these kinds of get togethers and is glad that their having one tonight.
"Did you come straight from work?" he asks after a while, when they've finished everything. They're just waiting on everyone else to get here.
"No, I went home to change and stuff first," Madge nods. "What about you? Which sitter did you call?"
"Taryn? You know, the daughter of my neighbour just a couple doors down."
"Oh yeah, she's nice." They tend to share the same babysitters so that they can cross-reference each other on who's good and who's not.
"Mhm. I picked up Dakota from school and then Taryn came over. KoKo seemed happy about spending a night with someone who wasn't me," he jokes, and Madge rolls her eyes. "But I think they'll have fun."
"Good," Madge nods. "Even when I leave her for just a night, I still miss her, you know?"
"Yeah, and then we each do a week," he points out scoffing. They both love Kota and wish they could have her around more often, but this is the best they can do. It has to work, and it does.
Johanna arrives after about 20 minutes in a full dark and grungy ensemble. Her eye makeup is smudged out deliberately, and it shows off her hazel eyes and contrasts her bright hair.
"I brought champagne!" she exclaims, holding up the heavy bottle. Madge laughs and sets it down on the table, giving her roommate a hug.
"Thanks Jo."
"No problem. I saw some of Thom's friends downstairs, Leevy and Bristel? They should be coming up any minute now."
And they do. Soon, the whole group has gathered, chatting excitedly and sipping on cocktails waiting for the newly engaged couple to arrive. Madge mostly sticks around Jo, looking around anxiously to make sure that people are enjoying themselves.
"Will you calm down?" her friend asks. "Everything is perfect. You did a good job."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," she reassures, looking around the area to find something to compliment. "The flowers are beautiful."
"That was Gale, Jo."
"Whoops," she retracts, and Madge rolls her eyes. Jo's expression softens a little bit and she smiles. "I know you've been obsessed with this whole thing for almost a week, and it shows. Delly's going to love it, you know?"
As if their friend's name summoned Delly herself, Gale speaks up to the table. "Guys, they're coming up now. Thom just texted me. Let's be quiet until they come around the corner."
So everyone shuts up, but the constant buzz of chatter from the rest of the bar persists. Madge can't wait to see Delly and look at her smile, but turns out they hear her voice first.
"Babe, we really don't have to stay if you don't want to, we could just go home."
"No, I want to. I need to show you something."
"Thom, I-"
"Surprise!" everyone shouts, and Delly just about staggers back. Her smile is already ear-to-ear, and she clutches onto Thom in excitement. They share a look, one that words can't describe, and he kisses her on the forehead with an arm draped around her waist.
Madge runs up to her best friend and hugs her tight, gazing at the ring on her finger and tries not to cry. "Congrats, Dell."
"You guys were all in on this?" she asks in disbelief. "I can't believe it."
"I wanted to talk to you about it so badly," she admits with a chuckle. "I'm sorry."
"What are you apologizing for?" Delly asks unbelievingly. "It was beautiful, he got down on a knee when we were sitting on a bench in the park, when I was flipping through my bag and didn't notice."
"We think it was the one we sat on during that first date," Thom adds, coming up from behind her and snaking two arms around her. "But neither of us could remember."
"It didn't matter anyway," she insists, looking up at Thom, who's closely gazing down at her. Delly can't stop beaming while he peppers her face with kisses, so Madge places a hand on her friend's arm.
"Well we have some snacks coming soon if you guys are hungry, but please order a drink or something, okay?"
"We will, thanks Madge," Thom nods, and with that she reverts back to just conversing with the rest of the people, letting the newly engaged couple share a couple of moments.
Most of the people here she knows. A couple of Thom's friends are Gale's friends too, so she recognizes Bristel and Leevy from a couple of court meetings years ago. It's only slightly awkward that they reside in the same social circles these days, but it's not really a problem. They're both adults after all, it's not like either of them would stop being friends with these people.
She chats absentmindedly with two of Delly's colleagues who work alongside her at the boutique. It must've been hard to work alongside her and never mention it, or maybe that's only a problem for Madge. She's awful when it comes to keeping secrets.
Johanna pops the bottle of champagne and everyone cheers. It's a perfect night for celebration, so Madge decides to stop deciphering everyone's fun levels and takes a flute for herself.
"It's real champagne. Like, from the region of Champagne," Jo insists happily. "Isn't it so much better?"
"Tastes expensive," she nods in response. "Even though we can't tell the difference."
Jo snorts. "That's true. In that case I should've just bought the cheap shit."
Everyone has more to drink. It's social and good, and even when Madge switches to water after her second drink, she's having fun and that's good.
Soon the instrumental jazz feels a little loud and intrusive, so Madge feels like getting some fresh air for a second. She tells Jo she'll be right back and walks away from their corner, walking towards where she predicts a washroom might be.
She wanders the halls of the venue aimlessly, sort of seeking the washroom but sort of just looking to get away from the crowds of people. Before she rounds the corner, Madge heard two familiar voices murmuring from further down, so she pauses to eavesdrop.
"I just don't get it. I say this to Madge all the time, you guys seem perfect for each other." It's Delly of course. She's pretty obviously tipsy, saying things to Gale that she wouldn't normally say.
A warm chuckle follows Delly's words, a chuckle that could only be him. "I don't know, it's complicated. Cliché, but true."
"Complicated how? You guys have a kid together, you would make such a pretty family," Madge's friend giggles. "But also, Madge isn't happy. I know you could make her happy."
"What do you mean she's not happy?" He sounds like he's worried and concerned. Madge knows it's more for Dakota than it is her own well being.
"You know. She's just not happy. Her job is a fucking bore, all her dates are a bust. Half the time she's unbelievably busy with Kota and the other half of the time she's bored out of her mind. Maybe if you two got together, it would alleviate most of those issues..."
"That's not how it works." It's not. Delly's honest words about her life hurt, they really do. But Madge knows that they're true, she just didn't realize how transparent she was about her dissatisfaction.
"But why?" Delly insists, and Madge almost laughs audibly at how much whiney Delly sounds like her four year old daughter.
"Because we've been through too much shit for the equation to add up anymore," he puts simply. Madge can't see his face, but she knows he's sad, but trying to seem passive about it. That's how he always gets when their relationship comes up, so does Madge. It's uncomfortable to talk about, but it's done, it's something they should take lightly. They need to for Dakota's sake.
Gale pauses and he thinks, and usually Delly would try to fill the silence and add on more words but Delly always becomes more pensive and more inquisitive when she's had a couple glasses of wine. "You know we used to play this game," she hears. "In college, just a stupid thing Madge and I would do in my last year, when everything was good. Casual, but really good."
"What was it?"
"I don't know, I called it the love game. We would say that we loved things about each other, like, 'I love your shirt,' or 'I love your humour' or 'I love the way you kiss me.' Sounds dense I bet, but we'd say shit like that all the time, back and forth until one of us got dangerously close to saying the actual words. I love you."
"How did that start?"
"I don't know. I probably let the world slip one day, and Madge thought it would've been best to cover it up by making it humorous."
"She'd do that."
Gale chuckles. "Yeah. She would."
Madge's heart hurts just remembering that time in her life, when her biggest problem was not believing Gale Hawthorne could really be into her, that he could ever want to utter those words that are echoing down the hallway right now. They were fooling around, not dating but still meaning something to each other that was more than friends. The game was a way of teasing and challenging each other, it kept them on their toes.
Gale continues. "Anyway, I remember wanting to say it. Everyday, more and more, and I know that I loved her, I still do in a lot of ways. She hasn't changed enough for me to stop loving her. But I always think that maybe if we hadn't made a game out of not saying it, and if I had just spat the words out when I felt them, things would've been different for us."
"Just because of a game."
"Yup. I told you it would sound stupid, but it would've stabilized things. Long distance would've been easier."
"You think she would've trusted you more?" Delly ponders.
"Yeah of course. She thinks I'm heartless," he chuckles. "Maybe I am, that's probably why her parents despise me."
He's dead on. Her mother thinks he's some kind of jerk robot programmed to ruined Madge's life, and her dad thinks so little of him that he thinks Gale wouldn't care if Kota was taken away from him. Madge doesn't bother defending him anymore, it only leads to more lectures on how Gale uses her and exploits her emotion. It's not helpful, Kota needs her dad around to teach her all the things Madge can't. Gale is smart and handy and confident, and Madge couldn't exude less confidence if she tried.
"But hey," she hears him offer with a change in tone. He definitely wants to change the subject, understandably. "You're fucking engaged, Cartwright. Congratulations."
"Thanks so much, Gale," Delly responds. "For this, honestly."
"Oh, this was all Thom's idea, don't credit me at all," Gale jokes, and then Madge decides to walk briskly away, not bothering to eavesdrop on their small talk. She needs to find a washroom, or somewhere quiet - to breath and just be alone for a second.
Finally she walks into the sleek washroom and stares at herself at the sink, hands propped on the counter. Her hair is mussed and her makeup is slightly smudged just from socializing the whole night through. She wonders why no one ever tells her these things.
Madge didn't know that Gale still thought about those things - the things they said in college, the things they didn't say. They've been a team, a platonic group trying to work together for so many years that she doesn't even remember what it was like when they weren't platonic.
But in a way, it's coming back to her. The way they used to smile at, flirt with, kiss one another. They were such different people back then, so concentrated on each other and barely anything else. It was naive but she'd never been more happy. Maybe that's what made their relationship so hard when Gale graduated, they couldn't be together as much anymore and started focusing on other things.
It was so good, the two of them, but Madge doesn't usually let herself get nostalgic about it for too long. She probably hasn't stopped loving Gale either, the Gale she knew in college at least. But they're different people now, like he said, and there's no way to go back. Madge wouldn't want to.
She wipes her eye makeup a little bit and dabs her forehead gently with a napkin, trying to make herself presentable again. All she wanted was some fresh air, but instead she got winded with nostalgia. Funny how these things turn out.
Madge wonders if Gale feels it to, clearly he thinks about their old relationship sometimes but she wonders if he misses the feelings ever so often like she does. She thinks not; both of them are so preoccupied with Kota, work and dating that it only ever really hits her when she's really lonely or bored. But Gale is never really lonely, never really bored, it's problem just a memory refusing to budge.
But she'll never know. Not at this rate, so she takes one final look in the mirror and walks back out to the party.
A/N: Stuff is happening, what do you guys think? I had this chapter written for a while now, and I'm curious as to what you guys think about Gale & Madge's surpressed feelings for each other.
Please leave a comment if you have time! Thanks so much for reading and I'll see you guys next week. 3