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"Awww. Stay with me," she cooed at him seductively. "Just a little while longer."
Daniel smirked back and kissed her nose.
"If I don't go now, I'll never get started," he observed and he was right, of course. Madison wasn't in the mood to share Daniel with anyone or anything this morning. It didn't seem to be in the cards though because Daniel scooped her naked body up, carried her back to the bed and tucked her in. Then he pulled on a pair of sneakers and a tee shirt and stood up to leave. He looked so delectable that morning that Madison wanted to gobble him up like a rich slice of cake.
"You sleep a bit more," he told her with a gentle kiss on the forehead. "I'll see you for lunch."
Madison almost pitched a fit to get him to stay with her, but she got distracted by the sight of his ass while he walked to the door. When he opened the door, Gandalf charged in and entwined himself in Daniel's legs. Daniel greeted Gandalf happily and scooped his cat over his shoulder as he left the bedroom. Draped over Daniel's shoulder, Gandalf eyed Madison with that steady stare that unsettled Madison. She could almost feel distrustful wariness in Gandalf's blue stare like an unspoken reproach that was dangerously close to what Rosalina had said out loud the day before and no one seemed to completely disagree with beyond polite platitudes. Was there no one in Daniel's life that was happy about their engagement?
That hint of worry knitted Madison's brow, but it passed quickly when she looked down at her left hand. She grinned a Cheshire Cat grin at the sparkle of her diamond in the morning light. Daniel was all hers, no matter what anyone else said.
Daniel's shoes cruised down the path down to the little cabin behind. The cabin remained the one spot of Daniel's life that Madison had not tinkered with. Every other part of the house had been remade exactly as she demanded, with the enthusiastic support of her girlfriends. Madison had hesitated, uncertain about whether or not she needed Daniel's input or permission, but they reminded her again and again to assert herself and get her way, like a good boss bitch should. It was vital in their opinion to establish that she had the upper hand in the relationship and a makeover of their shared space was the most overt sign that Madison had the upper hand. She was going to be Daniel's trophy wife, after all, so they reminded her that she deserved a trophy life. With that admonition from her friends in mind, Madison had set about a total redecoration of what was now, in her opinion, their house.
Mostly Daniel let her do what she wanted, but a some items had required some special persuasion to procure. A very special few had required petulant bouts of bitchy rage on her part to procure. On cue, one of those items sounded clear St. Andrew's chimes the foyer. Madison had always wanted a grandfather clock since she had been a little girl and heard one chime in a friend's home. When she located this one in a local antique shop and heard it's clear, sonorous chimes, she knew it belonged in her home. She practically danced as she led Daniel over to see it. However, Daniel was uncharacteristically dubious and initially resistant. In fact he did something extremely rare and expressed a small distaste with a remark that the "tick tocks" of the pendulum reminded him of something from an Edgar Allen Poe story.
His resistance took Madison by surprise. Not only did she have no idea who Edgar Allen Poe was, but she had become so accustom to Daniel's quiet acquiescence that his disagreement shook her. It did more than that after she thought on it for a few seconds. It offended her. She couldn't believe that he would dare to deny her anything, and because of that offense Madison didn't hear him express reluctance to get a grandfather clock. What she heard was "I defy you" and she couldn't brook defiance in her man because, in boss bitch terms, that would mean that he didn't love her truly and completely and bend his every thought on making her happy. After all, if he loved her then he would go out of his way to make her happy all the time. Everyone knew that! What if her girlfriends found out about this? More importantly, he had to know she wasn't some frail flower of a submissive house wife in some television show from the nineteen fifties. She was a twenty first century boss bitch and his job was to get on board and recognize that when it came to her wants and needs and hopes and dreams, his job was to make them come true and that right quick.
An offended and irate boss bitch Madison asserted herself and lit into Daniel with a public fury that fairly raised the roof of the little antique shop. Furious at his reluctance, boss bitch Madison launched an all out assault, determined to show him who was in charge right then and there. The proprietor shuffled his feet nervously and the two old biddies in the corner near the antique china clucked in disapproval, however, Madison plunged ahead and loudly let Daniel know that he had better get with the program right away or suffer the consequences.
After ten minutes that were uncomfortable for all the onlookers in the little antique shop, Madison's will reigned supreme and Daniel, his face as blank and inscrutable as ever, dutifully paid cash for the clock and also paid extra for it to be delivered, at Madison's insistence, to their home that very afternoon. On the ride home Madison crossed her arms and legs primly and pointedly stared out the passenger side window to let Daniel know she was not at all happy that he had forced her to remind him of his place. Daniel drove home and obediently let the silence drag.
Later that afternoon when the clock arrived, Madison ordered Daniel to set the time and the chimes while she tapped her foot behind him, arms crossed, and made damn sure it was exactly where she wanted it to be in the foyer. With the task finished Daniel turned and looked at her with his ever placid dark gaze. In response, Madison tossed her head, shot him a smug smile, and pivoted on her heel to march triumphantly up the stairs. A slam of the bedroom door emphasized the point that Daniel would sleep on the sofa for this affront until she decided to forgive him and re-admit him to what she now considered her bedroom.
After that there had been no more reluctance from Daniel about redecoration. Well almost none. After Madison had remade the house into her vision, she set her eyes on the cabin in the back yard. Madison didn't really like the squat little edifice of the cabin, and instead pictured a pool house with a bar in it's place, but Daniel would not concede this point. He didn't exactly fight her about it either though. He just never did anything. When she would bring it up he would stare at his feet and maybe stir at the floor with the toe of his shoe until she let it drop. All Madison really knew for sure was that Daniel apparently had no inclination to change it and his silent evasion was his form of resistance.
She had only been inside the cabin once or twice, and when she had she noted that Daniel seemed nervous about her presence and uncharacteristically fidgeted a bit. He would shoot furtive glances at Madison almost like he expected critical judgment. He would fuss over the objects and when she touched something he would check it's position when he thought she was distracted. It made Madison curious. Daniel was always so stoic and constrained and Madison wondered what it was about this little cabin that was so special.
It wasn't a very large space, but it was the cozy spot where Daniel worked. A large stone hearth faced by a comfortable sofa. During the fall and the winter Daniel always had a fire in the hearth and the glow of the fire highlighted various awards and framed commendations Daniel had received. It had light wine stained hardwood floors, and a broad, thick black and maroon oriental rug covered most of the floor, although it gave the hearth a generous berth. Thick maroon drapes with black fringe framed the four large windows and Daniel would draw them at night to trap the light inside. A bust of a woman perched next to two masks, one smiling and one crying, on a shelf above the door. The sum total of the decor was a slightly stuffy and gothic aura.
The cabin also contained Daniel's private library space. The walls were covered by bookcases stuffed to overflowing with books. Daniel's favorite books were stored by the his desk and they were all bound in leather. Leather bound editions of his favorite books were the one of the few treats he allowed himself and, if possible, he would get them signed by the author. Interspersed with the books on the shelves were various objects; a baseball signed by a baseball player named Cartlon Fisk, some kind of ray gun on a stand which he called a "Phaser", and a heavy piece of metal called a "hilt", but Madison had never seen the sword that went with the hilt.
Daniel worked at a large oak desk which stood off to one side. To his right he had a roll top desk that held various odds and ends in its many drawers. He had two computers in the office. The desktop computer sat on his desk and did not connect to the internet so he could write his books, short stories, essays and papers and edit his photos without fear of hackers. The other glowed with blue LED lights and on that he surfed the internet, did emails and played games. While at the desk he ensconced himself in a large, high backed black chair where he could roll between the two computers or tilt back to stare pensively out one of the four windows.
An even odder collection of items decorated Daniel's desk. He had a set of plain wood blocks that he would stack in various piles while he talked on the phone. An ebony box contained four leaf clovers and a couple of oddly marked rings that were much too small for his fingers. A humidor contained cigars that he smoked on rare occasions, like when he published a story or a photograph, and another topless box contained a pile of oddly colored rocks and a small geode, which showed purple crystals. Finally, a delicate glass case contained a tiny figurine of a fairy girl that played a harp while dressed in a gossamer swirl of purple and pink sat exactly below the screen of the computer on his desk. Daniel told Madison it was his "muse" but she wasn't sure what that meant.
Overall Madison could only say that Daniel was kind of "funny" about the cabin and fairly flinched every time she touched something. Daniel still managed to remain mostly opaque, but his slight discomfort at her presence gave Madison the sense that a very different Daniel spent those long stretches of time in the cabin alone with no one but Gandalf and his art for company. That sense was why she never pushed Daniel too hard to make renovations to the cabin. In the end she settled the non-negotiation with Daniel and opted for a new slate patio to surround the pool, complete with an outdoor bar, a pizza oven, a fire pit and new deck chairs to populate the patio. Besides, he had given in to everything else she wanted, so Madison figured that even a boss bitch could be magnanimous from time to time.
After a bit, music wafted out of the cabin and up to the bedroom. Madison pulled on a track suit as she the first strains of heavy country twang entered through the open doors. Madison rolled her eyes. Daniel's taste in music bored her. He didn't listen to much modern music and definitely didn't listen to anything a person could dance to. Madison preferred the heavy beat of house music, or pop music with a big, fat baseline. Daniel only played rock and roll and country music when he was in the cabin, both of which Madison found dreary.
The music reminded Madison of the one habit of Daniel's that thoroughly annoyed her, which was that he paid attention to the lyrics of a song and discerned the meaning behind them. He had personally spoiled her love for the song "Every Breath You Take" by The Police when she suggested it for their wedding song. She had thought Daniel would be pleased as it was from an era of music he liked and she was pleased because she had always believed the song was about total devotion on the part of a man to a woman. But Daniel had the temerity to tell her that the song was more about stalking than worship and that spoiled that idea and got the song deleted from her Spotify.
Ordinarily, Madison would not have given Daniel's music a second thought, however, the music this morning had a different feel. It had a nearly gospel bent with thick harmonies and emoting voices.
"Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on?
Could it be a faded rose from days gone by?"
"And did I hear you say, he was ameetin' you here today,
To take you to his mansion in the sky?"
As the song rolled lazily through its verses, Madison stopped and cocked her ear to the window. For the first time she could remember, she heard Daniel's baritone voice artfully woven into the tapestry of the song. Daniel was singing and she had never seen or heard that before. Without a second though Madison scampered down the stairs and out the kitchen door toward the cabin. This she had to see.
As she reached the cabin door she paused to make sure Daniel still sang. Then as Daniel belted out the lyrics as the song reached it's crescendo, Madison snatched open the screen door and bounded into the room to catch Daniel in the act. Daniel sat before the computer with his eyes shut and sang along lustily as part of a chorus of voices that emanated from the speakers. It was such an odd and rare display from Daniel that Madison was taken off guard and she suddenly felt as if she had intruded. A nervous giggle issued from her lips and Daniel's eyes snapped open and fixed on her. For a moment he looked like a teenager who had been caught in the midst of masturbation.
"Oh!" he gasped and his hands scrambled on the keyboard to turn the music off. The speakers went silent and Daniel looked down at his hands and it seemed to Madison as though he tried to disappear.
"I'm... I'm sorry," he muttered in a guilty tone. "I didn't mean for the music to be so loud. I'll turn it down."
Madison blinked in surprise at Daniel's apology.
"It's all right," she replied. "I didn't know you could sing."
"Ummmm... well... just with the radio...." Daniel glanced around and seemed to look for a way to escape. His reaction reminded her of something, a memory that she usually kept buried in her mind. She felt guilty that Daniel felt guilty.
"That was great!" she urged in a guilty tone of her own. "You should sing more!"
Daniel shook his head lightly and Madison saw Daniel take a deep swallow. Was the unflappable Daniel actually nervous? Madison took a step towards Daniel, but he stood up suddenly, turned away from Madison and fussed idly something on the bookshelf next to him. Madison stopped in confusion.
"Daniel?"
Daniel turned to face her, his face now in it's familiar blank set. He fixed her with his dark eyes.
"Yes?"
"Are you OK?"
Daniel shrugged.
"Sure I am. You just startled me is all."
Madison gestured to the computer.
"Aren't you going to sing some more?"
Daniel bobbled his head negatively.
"Just a little more? For me?"
Daniel looked at his desk and rested his hand on the keyboard.
"Actually, I've got to do some writing right now," he averred evasively.
Madison frowned. For a moment she had seen something in Daniel, something unguarded and open. It made her curious and stirred something very deep in her memories. Those memories made her throat tight and her eyes well and Madison had to swallow hard to contain emotions she had bottled up for so long.
"Could I just stay here then? While you work? I promise I'll be quiet."
Daniel's hand fidgeted on the keyboard again as if he considered her request.
"OK," he allowed quietly.
"Great!" Madison smiled as she pulled out her phone and sat on the sofa. Daniel had started a small fire in the hearth and it's light played on the sofa like merry little elves of heat. Madison tucked her feet under her and took a sideways glance at Daniel. He sat down softly and tried to fade into the background. His hand went to the mouse and after a few clicks, Daniel began to type in a staccato "tap tap" rhythm.
While Madison scrolled through her social media and "liked" posts and pictures from her friends, Daniel's fingers clicked out a string of words on the keyboard. From time to time Madison interrupted her scrolls and shot sideways looks at him. Daniel quickly became totally engrossed in his project. Whatever was on the screen had Daniel's undivided attention and it seemed that the cabin might blow up and Daniel would not notice until it fell on him.
After a bit Daniel's fingers stopped, and he clicked away with the mouse, presumably to save his work. That done he rocked back in his chair thoughtfully with his left hand on his chin, and his right hand absently went to the other computer to administer a few clicks. Those clicks brought forth a tantalizingly vulnerable feminine voice that oozed enchantment from the speakers.
"I can see we're thinkin' 'bout the same thing,
Yes I see your expression when the phone rings.
We both know, there's somethin' happenin' here.
There's no sense in dancin' 'round the subject.
A wound gets worse when it's treated with neglect.
Well, don't turn now, there's nothin' here to fear.
You can talk to me.
Talk to me.
You can talk to me.
You can set your secrets free, baby!"
Madison wasn't one for lyrics, but the emotion and vulnerability of the words of this song captured her attention. One glance at Daniel was all Madison needed to know this song also had some effect on him. Eyes closed and head bowed, Daniel's lips moved as he silently mouthed the words. Madison's skin tingled with the excitement of discovery.
"What's that song?" she asked in a small voice so as not to disturb the somber and contemplative mood the song spread around the room.
Daniel's eyes came open, though they still gazed trance-like into space.
"'Talk' to Me by Stevie Nick," Daniel answered quietly without turning to face her. "Sometimes it seems that she heard me."
Madison didn't know what to make of that cryptic remark, but before she could ask, the music swept on and Daniel again closed his eyes to listen.
"Dusty words, lying under carpets.
Seldom heard, well, must you keep your secrets
Locked inside,
Hidden deep from view.
Is it all that hard?
Is it all that tough?
Well, I've shown you all my cards,
Well, isn't that enough?
You can hide your hurt
But there's something you can do!
You can talk to me!
Talk to me!
When you're down now!
Talk to me!
T-t-talk to me!"
Madison's eyes stayed fixed on Daniel. If she hadn't known him better she would have sworn that for a moment his eyes welled with a tear.
"Though we lay
Face to face and cheek to cheek
Our voices stray
From common ground where they could meet
The walls run high
To veil a swelling tear.
Well let the walls burn down
Set your secrets free
You can break their bounds,
'Cause your safe with me!
You can lose your doubt
'Cause you'll find no danger here!
You can talk to me!
Talk to me!
When your down now!
You can talk to me.
You can set your secrets free, baby!"
Daniel's eyes blinked rapidly. Madison's mouth came open with the realization that, quite accidentally, she was witness to something very, very private and intimate. Daniel rarely, if ever, showed any emotion and at this cautious and private display she felt a powerful urge to go to him and wrap him in an embrace and tell him it was alright. And for some unknown reason she needed to tell Daniel that she was sorry for... everything.
"Well, I can see that expression when the phone rings.
