Chapter 3

The drops of rain had since subsided, but it was still a freezing night. Nathan sat at a table close to the pool with his PC and glass of juice in front of him. He couldn’t even glance at his drink as he sipped it, not even a glimpse. Nathan had his eyes fixated on his laptop’s screen, seemingly drowsy eyes. There was a spare chair and a glass of juice in front of him.

“You should be gulping some coffee,” Madison said as she took her seat in front of him.

“The last thing I want to do now is to stay awake,” Nathan said to her.

“You are obviously struggling to stay awake,” she said. “I can make you some coffee if you are interested,” she added.

“That would be lovely, Maddie.”

“Maddie?” Madison was surprised by the fondness with which Nathan said her name.

“Isn’t that what they call you? Lila and the other guy?” Nathan asked.

“Yes, but you? It just seems new and unused to me.”

“Well, I can’t be calling you Madison when I can easily call you Maddie,” Nathan said with an awkward, charming smile. “Makes some sense, right?”

Madison just shrugged her shoulders. If he wanted to call her Maddie, it was fine, she had no problem with that.

“By the way, what got you so worked up like this?” Madison asked upon noticing his alternating head movement, a glance at her, then a minute gaze at his laptop screen with a raised eyebrow.

“I just can’t wrap my hands around this?” Nathan said that without even looking at Madison.

“Around what?” she asked with curiosity.

Nathan pushed his laptop some centimeters away from him: “Let me explain. Our technical branch has been trying to come up with a superb Lovers’ Park idea. We need a close-to-perfect idea if we can’t get perfect. The board, well, my grandfather, has rejected all my proposed ideas. I just can’t get it.”

“That’s simple you know,” Madison said to the surprise of Nathan.

“Really?” he asked. “It seems you have a very brilliant idea, huh?” he further said.

“My idea is not in any way brilliant. It’s a simple solution, to introduce to the park what other parks in the city lack.”

“Just that? Because I’ve thought about that already.”

“Not just that,” Madison said.

“Then further enlighten me, Maddie.”

“I thought you were supposed to be business-minded.” Nathan raised a brow to that.

“I’m sorry for the misdirected compliment,” Madison apologized to him.

“Just go on.”

“You make the tickets less expensive, with more quality features than the other lovers’ parks.”

Nathan’s eyes dilated. He couldn’t believe he never thought of this, as simple as it appeared to be conceived.

“You are a genius, Maddie,” Nathan said with extreme excitement and relief. He had almost lost his mind after the third rejection from his grandfather.

“You’re welcome,” Madison said with a quick smile.

“So?” Nathan asked.

“What?” Madison replied.

“You are forgetting something.”

“What could that be?” Madison asked while trying to figure it out.

“My coffee,” Nathan laughed.

“Oh! I forgot. I got carried away with the lecture,” she said.

“Go get it, please.”

“And Maddie,” Nathan called out to her as she was about to go fetch him a cup of coffee. “You did not lecture me,” he said, flipping his finger at her, then toward himself.

Nathan didn’t want to hurt his pride, but deep within him, he knew Madison was a complete reflection of the word genius.

Madison returned with two cups of coffee, one for her and the other for Nathan. Nathan wasn’t too surprised with how great the coffee tasted; Madison ran a coffee shop. Even though they met at Madison’s coffee shop, Nathan had never tasted any coffee made by her.

He stirred it before appreciating her: “This tastes so good, Maddie,” Maddie smiled back, which could be interpreted as a thank you.

“Can I ask you a question?” Madison requested from Nathan.

“With this coffee you made, you can ask me anything,” he replied.

“Why did you opt for a contract marriage?”

“I’m sorry,” Nathan said after spilling the coffee in his mouth.

“You could have gotten any beautiful girl in this city. You are Nathan Westbrook,” Madison continued.

“And who said you aren’t beautiful?” Nathan was trying to switch on the topic.

“Come on, you know what I mean, Nathan.”

“As you said, I’d have gotten any girl. My grandpa doesn’t want any girl. He wants me to be with one with visions, someone like you. That’s why I chose you, Maddie.”

“So you think I have visions?”

“C’mon, Maddie, don’t get ahead of yourself,” Nathan teased her a bit.

“Can I also ask you something, Maddie?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“Why didn’t you just start something new? Let go of the coffee shop and all that. I mean, you’re a talent.”

Madison was silent for a while. It looked like the question hit her hard.

“It was our dream.” Tears rushed down her eyes, but she wiped them quickly, not quickly enough not to be noticed by Nathan.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Nathan apologized.

“It’s nothing; I’m alright.” Just then, the cold appeared more intense. It was already approaching midnight.

“You’ve never loved someone?” Madison asked.

“I have. She was a fairytale character,” he said. “Too good to be true,” he added, after he saw Madison was wondering what he meant by ‘a fairytale character.’

“What happened?”

“You know how it is, Maddie, when you grow up with your childhood sweetheart. You’ll think it’ll never end, but it’s all a make-believe.”

Madison objected, “not all the time.”

“Yeah, I know.” Nathan was in an emotional mood at the moment. It was like there was a lurking memory from his past that was taunting his heart.

“How I wish I…I…” Nathan was stammering, his eyelids were already wet with the saline liquid.

“What is it, Nathan? You can tell me.”

“Goodnight.” Madison was stunned by his closure. She thought they were getting along already. She tried to get more from him, but he abandoned his cup of coffee, half emptied.