A Beauteous Flower Ch. 09

Determined that Daniel should stop hunting, Madison badgered on mercilessly, but Daniel would not swear off hunting. He just looked down at his feet while she wept and protested and finally Madison gave it up, but not before she exiled Daniel to the sofa for the first time in their relationship. Daniel went without complaint and the next morning he quietly brought her coffee with two Boston crème doughnuts in bed. Along with the doughnuts came a handwritten note of the lyrics of Ciara's "Sorry".

"All I wanna say,

Girl I wanna say,

I'm saying that I'm sorry."

The doughnuts coupled with the words of apology put Madison in a mood for a morning make up, which Daniel quietly indulged with a languid episode of shower sex. After he was properly forgiven, Daniel never mentioned hunting in Madison's presence again.

One of the oddest things about life with Daniel was his work habits. As quiet as Daniel was, he was just that busy and after he got up in the morning, he spent most of the day on one task or another. He scheduled everything, even his time to relax with his hobbies or watch the Red Sox. Madison might have been annoyed at this devotion to schedule if she hadn't quickly discovered that Daniel would drop everything else at her request for his attention. Daniel's schedule was always subject to change if something he considered a higher priority like family or friends demanded Daniel's time. Secure in the knowledge that she was his priority, Daniel's work ethic became a simple curiosity to Madison.

No matter where he went, Daniel always had a pad of paper around him on which he would scribble notes from time to time. He even kept a small pad in each of his cars. He liked to be ready because he said he never knew when inspiration would strike. Sometimes when an inspiration occurred, he got a far off look in his eyes and literally froze in place for a few moments before he scrambled to the nearest pad to scribble on. The first time she saw him do that Madison feared that Daniel had epilepsy or some other kind of seizure disease, but he assured her that he was fine. Every day after breakfast, Daniel would walk about to collect the most recent scribbles off the various pads and head to the little cabin in the backyard.

If he wrote or edited photos, Daniel always worked at his desk in the cabin. Like clockwork, every morning after breakfast he walked down to the little cabin, disappeared inside, and there he stayed until lunchtime, which was always at 1:00 PM instead of noon, although he never explained why. Sometimes after lunch he might go back to the cabin, but other times he didn't and that usually depended on his schedule for the day. However, he might suddenly decide to return to the cabin at any time before 10 PM, which was when he started his bedtime routine. If he ever stayed up past 11 PM it was because he was still distracted by work in the cabin or Madison coaxed him to stay up with her. Madison found that it worked best if she coaxed Daniel before 10 PM. If it was after 10 PM she could still coax him to stay up, but she had to coax more vigorously.

But no matter when he went to bed, the next day started at 5:00 AM sharp or as Madison referred to it "Holy Shit Five in the Morning". Again, this might have bothered Madison, but Daniel seemed to wake up at that time without the use of an alarm clock, so the adjustment was minimal for Madison. Soon she settled back into her routine which was to get out of bed at 9:00 AM... ish... which depended on her schedule with the dance team.

Daniel was also something of a handy man. Not only did he split the wood that they burned in the fireplaces in the house and cabin, but Daniel could fix just about anything. He didn't mind dirt and grime and he was at ease greased up under the hood of a car, or snaking out a clogged drain as he was behind his desk. He even untangled some thin necklaces in the bottom of Madison's jewelry box that she had considered hopelessly knotted together. Quickly Madison realized that her first call for help was always Daniel and she noted that a man who could wear a nice suit and write a book, who could also put on a t-shirt, pull out some tools and retrieve the earring she had just dropped down the drain, was a sexy in a way she'd never considered. The sight of Daniel with tools in his hand rapidly became a turn on for Madison and produced a raft of deliciously dirty fantasies in Madison's mind.

On that front, Daniel continued to prove himself a patient, thorough and generous lover. In short order he intuited exactly what Madison liked in bed and figured out how to get orgasms from her body while he did the things she liked. Daniel let her control that area of their lives and never pushed her to do anything she wasn't comfortable with, which somehow made Madison more comfortable when it came to exploration of her boundaries. Whatever she wanted, all she had to do was ask him and that too was very sexy. Madison did have a few darker desires, like the Red Riding Hood fantasy, but that she saved for a later date. She wasn't at all sure it was time to share fantasies like her submission kink with him because she didn't want to scare him off so early in the game. Besides Madison thought it would be nice to have some new presents to unwrap as time went on.

The only real frustrations she felt with Daniel came down to two; he never wanted to trade on his fame and he was reluctant to talk about his emotions and thoughts to the vanishing point of reticence.

On the fame front, he zealously maintained his artistic aliases and his privacy, and he went out of his way to blend in and be part of the crowd. He never told anyone who he was or used his name to get anywhere or anything. Madison had once asked him why and he thought for a minute.

"I can't pretend a stranger is a long awaited friend," he smirked.

Madison had no idea what that meant, and Daniel didn't elaborate on that comment. He just went about his business and tried to stay as anonymous as possible. That was unless his family or friends needed something, or one of the charities he supported made a request of him and then Daniel would call on the perks and access his fame gave him. Even though he possessed the clout to get anything, go anywhere or meet with anyone with a simple request, Daniel was content to be treated like a regular guy. The locals loved Daniel and would have given him all kinds of perks, but Daniel was always so careful to treat everyone kindly, tip generously and pay full price for whatever goods or services they offered. To Madison this seemed almost irresponsible. What good was it to be famous if he wasn't going to take advantage of it? This was a major barrier to Madison's goal of becoming Mrs. Somebody and she set it high on her list of things to change about Daniel's attitude, if for no other reason than her benefit.

On the emotional front, Daniel was a deep pool of calm. He never got angry or upset or yelled or cursed. He didn't laugh until the tears rolled down his face and the only concern he ever showed was his care to keep Gandalf in the house so Gandalf did not get eaten by a coyote. If Daniel displayed any overt happiness, it was when Gandalf leaned into Daniel's face and gave what Daniel called a "noser", where Gandalf would rub his nose on Daniel's nose. Other than that, Daniel kept it all in check, which, honestly, made him easy to live with. Daniel, unlike everyone else Madison knew, was drama free and that was a strange experience for Madison, who considered drama to be an integral part of daily life. In Madison's opinion a life without gossip and drama lacked spice and she would have to teach Daniel to be a little more attentive to the world around him.

So, life with Daniel was comfortable and quiet and just about everything a girl could want, even if that life lacked the glitz and glamor that Madison associated with fame. She resolved to encourage Daniel's growth in those areas when the time was right, but for now Madison had the life she wanted with the guy she wanted and in Madison's considered opinion it was time to nudge their relationship a little farther down the track. With that in mind, Madison set phase two of her plan in motion; engagement and marriage.