A Beauteous Flower Ch. 09

Chapter 9 - The Incursion, the Co-habitation and the New Roommate

*****

Madison saw to it that things moved quickly after that night. Daniel had ticked all the boxes that she and her girlfriends had deemed most important. He was good-looking, successful and in love with Madison. In their estimation, Madison had captured Daniel's heart and that was well and good, but now it was time for boss bitch Madison to get down to business. Now Madison's sole purpose in life became to get Daniel locked down and off the market as soon as possible. With that goal in mind, boss bitch Madison launched her plan to integrate herself into every aspect of Daniel's life.

Madison's first move was to satisfy her jealous bone and insure there were no other woman in Daniel's life. To confirm this, she petulantly demanded access to Daniel's phones. Daniel shrugged and gave them up without protest. Madison immediately memorized his passwords and then maniacally scrolled through his photos and contacts with a CSI focus. In the end she was a little surprised and a little disappointed to find exactly nothing for her to get snippy about. A man's phone and social media were supposed to be an endless source of little violations that a boss bitch could pitch a fit over without the serious need to end the relationship. Madison needed to hoard those little violations as ammunition in any future conflicts, but even Daniel's browser history was vanilla to the point of dull.

Apparently, Daniel, unlike every other person Madison had ever met, would go days without so much as a peek at his social media feeds and simply deleted hundreds of emails, photos, DMs, friend-requests and the like without even a once over. Madison, who could not go twenty minutes without a check on her various feeds, was amazed and asked Daniel how he could be so cavalier about his social feeds, especially since he was famous. Daniel simply shrugged and said that ninety percent of the attempted contacts he received weren't worth his time. He didn't elaborate any further, and Madison was amazed, but reassured.

Daniel did in fact have two cell phones; a black phone and a red phone. Daniel's black phone was for what Daniel termed "public access" and he gave that number out to business contacts and other people he knew but wasn't particularly close with. He always left it on vibrate and it buzzed constantly with texts and phone calls. He had a strict "leave a message" approach when it came to calls and texts on the black phone and never answered it unless it was by appointment. Most of the texts and voice mails people left were summarily deleted without so much as cursory attention. Every couple of days he would compile a list of noteworthy messages from that phone and then block time out of his day to answer those he deemed important enough for a return contact.

On the other hand, for his red cell phone Daniel had the ringer turned up to maximum. It contained the contact information of Daniel's close friends and relatives and every one of them had their own special ring tone. The number for Daniel's red phone was a jealously guarded secret among those special few and they never sent him texts. If a person's contact information was on the red phone, their call would command Daniel's full and undivided attention on demand and Daniel tried hard to answer whenever it rang. Within their first few days as a couple, Madison had seen Daniel end a business meeting to take a red phone call from his sister. If he missed a call from one of his red phone contacts, Daniel would not rest until he called them back.

Madison immediately put her contact information into the red phone and selected the chorus from "That's my Girl" by Fifth Harmony as the ringtone. Just to be extra sure, she dialed the red phone's number and smiled in satisfaction as Fifth Harmony loudly proclaimed to the world:

"That's my girl!

That's my girl!

That's my girl!

What you wait, what you wait

What you waiting for?

That's my girl!

That's my girl!

That's my girl!

That's my girl, that's my girl!

That's my girl, that's my girl!"

With that Madison was confident that no matter where Daniel went, when she called him every female within earshot would know he was most definitely off the market. From there Madison quickly inserted herself into other aspects of Daniel's life.

Her next move was to integrate herself into Daniel's home. To that end, Madison began to spend every night she could at Daniel's house where she obsessively placed clues to warn potential female interlopers, real or imagined, that Daniel was in a committed relationship with another woman. Within two weeks, she had seeded every surface in the bedroom with earrings and other jewelry, planted feminine hygiene products in the medicine cabinets and vanities of every bathroom, hung a spare purse on the back doorknob, and left two mismatched pairs of cute, pink ankle socks on the dryer in the laundry room. Before a month was out, Madison had clearly marked Daniel's house as her territory, which laid the groundwork for the ingress of her big-ticket items like clothes and shoes and furniture and houseplants. Soon Madison had secured the bureau in the bedroom for her clothing and had appropriated more than half of the walk-in closet.

At the same time, Madison began a furtive, but insistent campaign to have sex with Daniel in every single room in the house. It took about three weeks for her to coax him into some of the areas he didn't use much. Much to Madison's personal delight, the project included the pool, but excluded the basement because it was unfinished and dusty down there. The only concern Madison had was that the neighbors might see them when they had sex on the balcony off the bedroom, but she insisted, and Daniel politely obliged her. Doggie had always been Madison's favorite sex position anyway, and she especially enjoyed the leverage the steel railing gave her as she bent forward and enthusiastically shoved herself into Daniel's thrusts.

Finally, the preliminaries were over, and they had christened every room in the house. Most of Madison's stuff had made the trip to Daniel's house and the few items that remained at the apartment comprised less than a trunk load. All Madison had to do was pack them in her car and drive over to Daniel's house and she would be fully moved in.

However, before she could make that final trip, something had to happen, and that something was Daniel's invitation to move in with him. Her primary goal was virtually accomplished, as Madison spent five to six nights a week at Daniel's house, but without an invitation, Madison could not complete the final step.

This was a touchy thing and the key to the next step of Madison's plan. Madison wanted to establish herself as Daniel's live-in girlfriend so she could fully integrate herself into Daniel's social life and, more importantly, begin to execute on the list of redecorations and renovations she had in mind for what would then be "their" house. That's why the invitation was so important and without it, she would still just be Daniel's girlfriend with no rights or privileges to redecorate or renovate.

At the root of this problem was the fact that, once Madison had determined to fast track their relationship, she had skipped a step or two. Truth be told, Madison might have kind of neglected to consult Daniel on a few topics. For example, she might have accidentally forgotten to have a conversation with Daniel to ascertain whether wanted a live-in girlfriend, and, if he did, whether he wanted Madison to fill the role of his live-in girlfriend. It was a minor oversight on her part at first, but over time it became significant enough to put an annoyingly large crimp in her plans.

So, that little pile of Madison's belongings sat in a few boxes on the floor of the apartment and waited for Madison to scheme up a way to get a green light from Daniel for the final step. Unfortunately for Madison, no matter how she hinted or plotted, Daniel kept silent on the matter. Dejectedly Madison settled in for a final siege and waited for an opportunity to present itself.

*****

"Ice cream?"

"Yeah, I know a great little place."

Madison looked dubious. She was still uncomfortable about eating in front of Daniel, and she had just had a full meal at her favorite place for Chinese food. Besides, she wanted to get home as soon as possible and get in Daniel's pants before he got distracted by his work.

"Besides my best friend Burt is there and I want you to meet him."

Madison smiled and immediately warmed to the idea of ice cream. Daniel wanted her to meet his best friend and that was a good sign that their relationship had progressed. She had already introduced Daniel to her friends and frankly she was impatient to meet his friends. To her it was a public declaration that they were a serious couple and several consultations with her girlfriends caused Madison to consider it a necessary step forward in her relationship with Daniel. In more direct terms, it was about time.

"OK!"

A few minutes later they pulled up in a parking lot in front of a little shack of a place topped by a sign that read "Ice Dreams". A line of people stood in front of the window to order, and clots of people stood around a window at the side of the shack where they picked up their orders. It was a pretty plain crowd, and Madison scanned for someone who could be Daniel's friend. Immediately Madison's eyes landed on a huge mountain of a man dressed in a black robe and a pointed wizard hat. A short-cropped beard and a gnarled staff completed the outfit as the wizard sipped on some flavor of a large milkshake.

"Oh my god!" Madison snickered into her hand.

"What?"

"That guy!" Madison smirked and pointed. "What a loser!"

Daniel smirked in the direction of the wizard man.

"That's my buddy, Burt."

Madison did a double take and her judgmental smirk faded in the shadow of her faux pas.

"Really...?"

Daniel's smirk at Madison.

"Yep. Burt was my roommate for my last two years in college. Now he's my accountant."

"Oh."

Madison bit her lip and cast about for a recovery. She had just called Daniel's best friend a loser. There was no way to tell how many red flags she might have just raised in Daniel's mind. Madison knew girls who had caused good relationships to go down in flames over much less. Madison shot a sidelong glance at Daniel to try and read his thoughts, but, as usual, she could not read anything from his face.

"Burt LARPs in the park every Friday with his group, "The Acapella Adventurers". His character is called Macedon Starborne and he's a wizard."

Daniel chuckled a bit.

Yeah, he's a wizard with numbers and with magic."

"LARP?" Madison ventured cautiously.

Daniel nodded without condescension.

"Live Action Role Play. They pretend to have mythical adventures. You know. Like Dungeons and Dragons only with costumes."

Madison definitely did not know what Daniel was talking about, but she smiled and nodded anyway. In her estimation she was on thin ice as it was, and she did not want to risk further insults to Daniel or his friends with awkward questions. Daniel winked at her.

"But don't worry. He's a white wizard. He also sings the bass parts when they do gigs."

Madison nodded uncertainly. The whole situation seemed fraught with strange people and strange vocabulary. She wasn't sure what "acapella" meant or what a white wizard was. More to the point she was desperate to move past her potentially deadly gaff as quickly as possible. It was as vital that Daniel's friends approved of her as it was for her friends to approve of Daniel. Fortunately, her friends all thought Daniel was a great catch. Unfortunately, it seemed that she had unwittingly gotten off on the wrong foot with Daniel's friends. She prayed Daniel did not tell Burt about what she said about him. That would lead to instant tension and, potentially, a serious roadblock on the path to transform Daniel's house into their house. Madison resolved to be more careful in the future.

Daniel took her by the hand and led her over to his friend. As they neared him, Madison was struck by how exceptionally large Burt was. Daniel was six foot one, but Burt was at least six inches taller. He was barrel chested and heavily muscled, and his robe made him look even more massive. Next to the burly oak tree of Burt, Daniel looked reedy as a willow.

"Hail and greetings, Master Wizard!" Daniel greeted his friend. "What news bear you?"

Burt turned to Daniel and smiled warmly while he unfurled a monstrous canned ham of a hand to Daniel.

"Hail and well met, sir! The forces of darkness are vanquished yet again. The realm shall pass a safe and quiet night."

Daniel clasped the offered hand and pulled his friend in for a hug. They laughed fraternally together and thumped each other on the back. Madison held her breath in anticipation of mortification.

"Looking good, Burt!" Daniel admired as he stepped back. "New robe, I see."

Burt held out his arms to the side and did a turn like a giant helicopter.

"The very latest in Wizard Errant style," Burt beamed in a soothing bass voice.

Daniel turned and faced Madison.

"Burt, this is my girlfriend, Madison. Madison, this is my best friend in the whole world," Daniel stopped himself and turned to Burt with a small nod of apology. "My apologies, good wizard. My best friend in ANY world; Burt."

Burt extended his giant hand, palm up while he removed his hat and bowed slightly.

"I am honored to make your acquaintance, my lady. Daniel's poor description of you does not begin to do you justice."

Madison placed her hand in Burt's giant paw. His grip was gentle and welcoming. Daniel had obviously told Burt about her and that was a good start as long as Daniel didn't out her moment of judgmental jocularity to Burt.

"It's nice to meet you, Burt!" Madison intoned brightly with her best smile. This first impression was one of the most important ones she would ever make so she dug in and did her level best.

Burt released her hand. He did not seem the least bit self-conscious about his appearance, even though Madison could hardly believe that he could wear that costume in public. He looked like a movie extra that had wandered off set. Daniel tugged at her sleeve.

"Let's get some ice cream."

"Well..." Madison considered how to refuse politely because she didn't want to look like a pig in front of Daniel. She wasn't ready for him to discover her sweet tooth and her predilection for Oreo cookies and milk at midnight just yet.

"You must try some!" encouraged Burt around a pull at his milkshake. "It's the best around!"

"OK," Madison agreed for the sake of form. "Just a small one."

After a brief term in the queue, Daniel ordered his ice cream. Madison scanned the list for a low carb alternative and quickly settled on a no-fat pistachio kind of flavor even though the picture didn't look very appetizing to Madison. What she really wanted was a big vanilla milkshake, but again she didn't want to be piggy in front of Daniel, so she went with a single scoop of the green pistachio ice-cream-like substance called "No Guilt Green". Once they had their orders, Daniel took her hand, and they wandered back over to Burt.

As they approached Burt, a few of the children around the ice cream shack finally got up the courage to approach him. As they gathered around him curiously, Burt knelt down to their level, and finally one little tow-headed blonde girl worked up the courage to speak to him.

"Are you Gandalf?" she asked reverently.

Burt smiled at her benignly and shook his head.

"No, my lady," he purred in his great deep voice. "I am Macedon Starborne, a wizard from the realm of Xyrial; at your service.

Burt made a bow to the little girl, and she had to lean back to avoid the point of his hat. She giggled and reached out a timid hand to touch Burt's hat. Burt held still and let her stroke the fabric and when she finished, he cocked his hat back on his head with a flourish. Then he snapped his fingers and a small little yellow flower appeared in his hand, which he offered to the little girl. Her eyes went wide with wonder, and she muttered a "thank you" as she took it. At this the other children crowded closer, and for the next five minutes Burt did sleight of hand magic to make coins and small trinkets appear as if from thin air. Eventually almost every child within range had some small token from the wizard and the knot of children straggled away to rejoin their parents. Only one little girl remained with a sad little tear on one of her cheeks. Burt fixed her with his big ponderous gaze and gave her a gentle smile.

"And what can I do for you, young lady?" he asked in a voice of grave concern.

"My cat," the little girl began and then the tears started to flow in earnest. "My cat, Velvet. She... she died."

Burt's eyes showed deep sympathy and he reached out a massive paw and wiped her cheek.

"I want my cat back," she sniffled to him. "I miss her so much."

Burt wordlessly pulled her into a hug as she sobbed out her sorrow to him. For a man of such massive size, Burt was amazingly gentle, and he shushed lightly to her.

"Can you bring Velvet back with your magic?"

Burt looked into her eyes and let her see the deep empathy there. He gave a single small negative shake of his head. The little girl sobbed loudly, and Burt enfolded her in another giant hug to let her cry it out. Madison frowned a bit at Burt's approach to the situation. Then she noticed how Daniel had edged around the crowd and put his arm around the shoulders of another woman. Madison's jealous bone sparked to life.

Suddenly, Madison found the whole scene weird, and it peeved her. She hadn't wanted to come here. All she wanted to do was spend time with Daniel and now they were stuck with this sideshow while some wacko in a wizard's hat performed side show magic for the entertainment of a pack of urchins. Her mind seized on the concern that If word of this fiasco got out, she might become a laughing stock on the team because she was pretty sure none of them would be involved in anything so... strange. And now Daniel had the temerity to hug another woman in her presence? Madison frowned in distaste and an evil tendril of anger twisted in her stomach.

Eventually the girl's tears subsided in Burt's arms and she calmed down. Burt held out his hand and snapped and a chain with a small heart pendant on it dangled from his fingers. The little girl hesitated and then took it from him. In thanks she wrapped her arms around Burt's thick neck and then turned to go. That's when Madison noticed the woman slip a note into Daniel's hand. Jealousy swamped Madison as Daniel looked sympathetically at the woman and nodded. Did Daniel just get her phone number right here in front of Madison? Madison was incredulous with jealous ire and resolved to find out what was up as soon as possible, but even boss bitch Madison didn't dare make a scene at that moment. Full of slow burn indignation, Madison tried a spoonful of her ice cream in hopes that it would soothe her a bit. However, she found it so tasteless and dry that she couldn't bother with another spoonful. The taste of bad flavor only added to her pique, and she made a face and shook her head.

"What's wrong?" Daniel asked.

"This is awful," she replied with a puss on her face and held the cup of ice cream out at arm's length like it was poisonous.

"Oh,"

Suddenly Madison's ire had what she viewed as a legitimate target. Daniel had brought her here and some random woman had openly flirted with Daniel right in front of her and he didn't put a stop to it. In fact, he'd taken her phone number right there in front of her. What would her girlfriends say if they found out about this? She adopted an indignant look as Daniel took the extended cup from her hand. Madison clapped her hands together as if she had brushed off some dirt and let her disappointment show on her face.