Hello lovelies! Thank you so much for the responses! Just wanted to clear stuff up- Zambia is in southern Africa. Kwachas are their national currency. I went Zambia last summer on a mission trip so the description is not fake! Maddie's experiences are similar to mine, especially later which involves a school. Enjoy and tell me what you think! Also, Merry (Late) Christmas! And happy holidays!
Devangel6- Can I have part of your brain? Honestly, I've been so busy, that when something pops into my mind about this, I just write it down. And I don't think about these things! I'm sorry things are bothering you. . . I came back and tried to edit some information about the "new leads" but remember, this is more of Maddie's story, not necessarily Ana and Christian's. And the main part of this story will be how she fits back in to her family. But I will tell you and hope other readers read this, she was not allowed on the computer, only for school. And they kept moving around so she didn't stay at a school for long except for in France.
The next morning, Maddie woke up to the sun shining on her face. Thank goodness Jen didn't make her start homeschooling until next Monday. She took a shower, a cold one, and got dressed. She realized that she hasn't even looked through the new house. Her room was small, but a good size for her. At the end was Jen and Eric's room, and they even had a guest room. She then saw her small living room that actually was equipped with a large television and even a Wii. How Eric got all this money, blew her mind. A long window seat was to her right, and you could see their small back porch. They had a dining room and a kitchen too. She walked out the door along the dirt driveway, and saw the car. We have a car. . . In Africa. . . She thought. There was a big iron gate that opened with a code, it surrounded the whole property. Well, she was safe.
Are you safe? In her darkest moments, Maddie questioned the real reason of her new guardianship. She was suddenly pulled off the bus that day and, who was it, Mrs . . . . Jones! Mrs. Jones was waiting for me. Were Jen and Eric supposed to get her that day? Was this planned out before? Her parents not telling her what they had in store for her that day, and the just went ahead and let Maddiefind out herself? The memories of her parents made her think otherwise. The bedtime stories as a young girl flood her mind, the love was always shown. Forget it. This is your life.
"Hello!" Maddie turned around, frightened. Jenifer stood there, with the keys in her hand. "I've been calling you name! Why don't we go to the market? See what it's like?"
"Sure." She said. She ran towards the van and hoped in the passenger side. Jennifer and Maddie drove for about an hour until they saw the local streets flooded with vendors. The traveled down the dirt road towards town. Children were playing soccer along the roads, almost anywhere where there was enough room and to poles for a goal. She waved at them. To some people, Africa to them was this poverty-stricken area. Yes, there was a lot of poverty, but when you get to big city like Livingstone or Kitwe; it's filled with malls and nice hotels. There even was a KFC (though the food wasn't fabulous). But Jennifer didn't want to go there. She wanted to go to the market. By herself. With Maddie.
"Jen, are you crazy?" Maddie said as she large crowd of tightly wound people, the men smoking. "Two women, walking through here by ourselves?" And to top it off, they were white. Not saying that that was bad, but if you walk into the market, the people assume you have money, and try to sell their merchandise and cram it down your throat.
"Oh, don't worry. We'll stick together." Jen gave her a smile. Jen parked the car as best as she could, grabbed her hand, and made her way through the market. They didn't really know what was a good price for something, so the smaller amount of Kwacha's was what they bought. After an hour, they decided to return home. Eric was waiting for them at the dinner table, food prepared. "Welcome home!" He said. Jen planted a quick kiss on his lips and went to take her stuff to her bedroom. "Hey Maddie, I have a surprise for you."
She frowned, confused. Her birthday was yesterday. She followed Eric into the living room and her jaw dropped. "A piano?! I thought it would be impossible to find in Zambia!" she cried. It wasn't beautiful, but it fit perfectly in this shabby house. It was a square, run-down, piano. It was the shade of real wood, sanded roughly to perfection. She pressed down on one of the ivory keys. Woah. That needs to be tuned. "I'll have to tune it, but it won't be that hard." She said. "Oh, thank you so much!" She wrapped her arms around Eric's neck.
"You're very welcome, sweetheart." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Come, let's eat, and then you can play it as much as you want."
Maddie nodded and then smiled. "Remember that time I tried to teach you?"
"Oh yes. I will never live that down, will I?" He laughed.
"You couldn't even play 'Mary Had A Little Lamb'!" Maddie giggled, remembering how frustrated he was. Maddie was ten, they were Ireland, and Eric and Jennifer would always try to purchase a cheap, used piano for her to carry on her musical progress.
Eric slammed his hands on the keys. "It's just too hard!" he stood and walked to the corner of the room.
"Eric! It's simple!" Maddie giggled. She thought it was funny that he couldn't get it. Well, music isn't for everyone.
Eric turned and smiled at her. "Do you think it's funny that I can't play?" He laughed. Maddie nodded, suppressing another giggle by biting down on her lip. Eric ran towards her, picking her up in his arms, and threw her down softly on the couch. He tickled her, saying "Is it still funny?" in between her howls of laughter. He stopped tickling her when tears were streaming down her face from laughing so hard. She sat up and tried to catch her breath. Eric pulled her into his arms. As Maddie calmed down, she asked, "Do you want to try again?"
Dinner was surprisingly good for her first night here. As the conversation about their exciting first day, a small unspoken question bubbled in her throat. Don't you dare ask. She couldn't control it, "How did you guys adopt me?"
Jennifer looked up, she was always much more angry when Maddie asked these kinds of questions than Eric was. "Madeline, I've already told you."
"Please, I just want to know." I just want to see if you are telling the truth or not.
"Fine," Jennifer sighed, exasperated. "I've told you, they contacted us, telling us they couldn't care for you, they didn't want to tell you, and so Eric picked you up on the bus. Simple."
Couldn't care for me? They weren't poor, they were filthy rich! "Why couldn't they care for me?"
"Because. They didn't want you, okay?" Jennifer snapped. She was really angry now. Eric laid his hand on top of hers, trying to calm her down. She sighed. "They didn't want you, we did. We wanted to give you love and the best of everything. Have we not done enough?"
"No. You guys are wonderful, it's just. . . Hard for me to understand, that's all." Maddie reached out to take a sip of her water, but her body began to tremble and her arm locked up. The glass fell over and broke.
"Shit!" Jennifer jumped and started cleaning the glass while Eric reached out and touched her face.
"They're happening again." Eric gave her instructions to breathe slowly, and after a while, her body was still. Jen returned with a new glass and some ibuprofen.
"I'm sorry." Maddie said after taking the medicine. She didn't understand why her body would do this, and the fact that they said it was happening again confused her.
Eric shook his head then finally spoke, acting like the episode never happened. "Madeline, do not ask about your old life again. We've told you everything. Do you understand?" he said. She nodded, and Eric smiled. "Go tune up your piano, and play something for us."
Madeline smiled sadly and did as she was told.
Later that night, more questions popped into her head. They told me they loved me every night. And then you say they didn't want me? She clutched onto the picture of her parents, remembering how Pierre had gotten it for her. And how she had to keep it hidden.
"Pierre, I need your help." She asked him.
"Anything, my love." He whispered. Maddie blushed.
"I can't get on the computer at my house. I need you to search something for me." He nodded, telling her to continue. "I need you to print me a picture of Christian and Ana Grey."
Pierre looked confused. "Why?"
"Curiosity." She said.
The next day at school, Pierre stopped her in the hallway. "Madeline. Here you go." He handed her the picture.
Her eyes lit up. "Oh, thank you!"
Pierre ran his hand through his hair. "Madeline, why did you want this picture?" She didn't answer. He continued. "I read something, that their daughter was kidnapped, and her name was Madeline too. They said she had blue eyes and dark brown hair. I just can't shake off the feeling. . ."
"Stop! Please," She pressed her index finger to his lips. "I can't."
Pierre's eyes were suddenly wide with understanding. "Mon Dieu, Madeline, it's you!"
"No! No. You must tell no one." Tears streamed down her face.
Pierre reached and wiped away her tears with his thumb. "No. We have to tell someone. You must go home."
"No! I can't. I just can't! They didn't want me. . ." Why was he making this so hard?
"They said you were kidnapped, they are looking for you-"
"Drop it! Please." Maddie begged. Then she threw herself into his arms, and he held her close, promising to never tell.
She remembered that day. The pain on Pierre's face, torn on what to do. That was the day where she decided to sort all of her old papers, like her contact information. She promised herself that one day, she would call one of the numbers.
Tonight was the night, and she decided that she felt very brave, so she pulled out her old contact information. It was midnight in Kitwe, it was two o' clock in Seattle, and the address says that's where they lived. She pulled out the contact information and skimmed her fingers until she saw a name. She dialed the number and waited. I'm sure they won't answer.
"Christian Grey's office, how may I help you?" Maddie gulped. Holy Shit! She couldn't say anything. "Hello?" The receptionist chimed.
Maddie cleared her throat. "Erm. . . yes. Hi. May I speak to Mr. Grey?"
"May I ask whose calling?" The woman asked.
Shit. . . "I am. . . Shelly Richards, calling from my high school. I would love to ask Mr. Grey a couple of quick questions for our school paper."
"Oh, okay. Even though this wasn't scheduled, he is free, and I'm sure Mr. Grey wouldn't mind answering a few questions. I'll transfer you over." A soft piano is heard, their hold music. Holy shit! What do I ask?"
"Christian Grey speaking." Maddie froze. Daddy? "Hello?"
Maddie searched through her brain, trying to find something to say. She remembered her other photo of her parents: Mr. and Mrs. Grey at a charity event. "Hello. I'm Shelly Richards, a reporter for my high school paper. I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions."
"Well, this was unexpected, but sure. I wouldn't mind one bit." Oh my God. It is Daddy.
"How do you feel about the charity's you are involved in?" Maddie whispered.
"I feel very strongly about them. The ones my parents have started I hold close to my heart called Coping Together. My brother and his wife started an African schooling organization that I also contribute to, and my wife and I have started our own: Missing Children Organization."
A small knot formed into her stomach. "Tell me more about your organization, Mr. Grey."
"Well, about eight years ago, my youngest daughter, Madeline Grey, was kidnapped and is now a missing child. There are no new leads for her kidnappers, but we suspect she has been traveling outside the country. They have posted her missing in some European countries, but there has been no sign of her. Through our determination to find our daughter, we heard about other cases like ours. We started this organization to encourage other parents who have gone through this tragedy through therapy for the siblings, parents, or friends who were involved."
Maddie clamped a hand over her mouth, suppressing a sob. "Pardon me by asking, but, has your daughter returned home?" she asked, her voice cracking.
Christian sighed. "No. No she hasn't."
Madeline pulled the phone away, trying to recover herself from the shocking news. "I'm very sorry to hear that, Sir. I hope she is found. Well, I believe I have all the information I need."
"Well I'm glad you do."
"Thank you for your time, Mr. Grey. Have a wonderful day."
She could almost hear the smile in his voice. "Yes, Miss Richards, to you as well." The line disconnected.
Madeline threw the phone to the ground and sobbed silently into her pillow. I want to go home. She had heard her real father's voice, the first time in nine years. Little did she know, that half way around the world, Christian Grey had a strange feeling about their conversation, as well.
Ahhhh! Crazy! Well, I know it was a little long, but I really hope you guys enjoyed it! And yes. I know that it would be very hard to get an unscheduled phone call with THE Christian Grey and How Maddie knew what to say is a long shot, but this is my fanfic and if I wanted a unicorn to fly through, poof, it would happen! And I also was trying to show you guys, that yes- Jennifer and Eric have been nothing but good to her. They've never beaten her (except for disciplinary whoopings) and have always been kind. So we'll just have to figure out why exactly she was taken. Love you all! Your support means the world! xoxo
PS- go out and see the Les Mis movie! I cried four times! Absolutely stunning!