Chapter Twelve
Taylor stirred in his sleep, pulling Madi tight against him. Madi opened her eyes slowly, blinking against the sunlight filling the room as her eyes adjusted. She took a mental note of their position. Madi was on her right side, against Taylor, who was on his back. Madi was on top of Taylor's left arm, and that was the one that was holding her. His other arm was out of the covers, hand hanging off of the bed. Taylor's left leg was draped over Madi, and his other was bent, also out from under the covers. She smiled, eyes going to the spot on the wall where her prized possession was, or had been. She pouted for a secong. Hoping Taylor was a heavy sleeper, she slowly and carefully slid out from under his leg, and off of his arm. At the edge of the bed, she watched Taylor roll over and reach for her in his sleep. She held her breath, touched. Going to her closet, she pulled her clothes for the day and went into the shower to get ready.
Taylor woke when the shower came on. He decided for a less awkward factor, that he stay where he was until she was done. Not being able to go back to sleep, he glanced at the clock. It was almost ten. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd gotten to sleep that late. He spotted the tv remote next to the clock and reached for it.
When Madi got out of the shower, she heard the tv on. Pausing to listen, she heard the weather being given. she continued drying off, then smeared rose smelling lotion all over herself, then got dressed into tight fitting flair jeans and a soft baby pink tank top. She did her make up, and parted her towel dried hair. She didn't blow dry it when she didn't have to. She brushed her teeth and checked herself over once more before taking a deep breath and opening the door to her room. And there he was, splayed out over her rumpled bed in his pajamas, propped up on pillows, channel surfing in his tousled hair. Her knees almost melted. For support, she leaned against the door jam and gave him a winning smile.
"Good morning." He looked her up and down.
"Morning, Madi." His voice rought from sleep. He smilied, wishing he could just undress her again. She crossed the room in front of the tv to her closet and put her pajamas away and towel in the dirty clothes hamper. She sat on the edge of the bed.
"Are you hungry? I was thinking of making pancakes or waffles or something." She looked at Taylor, who was grinning at her. "What?"
"You forgot to do your hair."
"Oh, that. Yeah, it's better to let your hair air dry." She pattd it, and knew she looked funny now, with a big wave of wet hair by her eyes, but later it would calm and give her hair some body. "It'll look better in an hour."
"Okay, well, waffles is the magic word. I'll do tricks for waffles." Madi laughed at him smiling.
"Really?"
"Oh yeah."
"Well, then I'll go make them and you can do your tricks on a full stomach."
"Sounds great. I'll shower then." She nodded, then started to rise.
"Towels are in the cupboard next to the sink. The opposite pantry is the laundry."
He nodded. "Thanks." She went into the kitchen and started getting ready to make waffles.
"Mmm. Smells good." Taylor came up behind Madi standing at the counter and wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.
"Hey." She brought a hand up to caress his cheek. "I'm almost done."
"Can I help with anything?"
Suprised, Madi said, "Yeah. You can go through the fridge and take out the strawberry jam, butter, syrup and whipped cream."
"Strawberries and whipped cream?" He nuzzled her neck.
"Is this one of your tricks? 'Cause it's working."
"Not a trick, talent." He said, smiling into her ear. She turned around and into him.
"How about this for talent?" She kissed him hard, from all the left over, simmering passion from the cab two days ago that had been teased too many times. He hesitated, then let her kiss him. When she pulled her mouth away, she had to do something to prevent herself from jumping on him when she saw the smoldering heat and emotions in his blue eyes. She turned and checked on the waffle in the iron.
"That was talent." Taylor said, voice husky. "Wow. I didn't know- I've never- okay." He took a step back, letting her go. "I'll just get that stuff now." He hoped she hadn't noticed that he was as hard as a rock. It was then he was suddenly glad that he'd decided not to go with his skinny jeans this morning. Opening the fridge, he began searching for the listed items. Over his shoulder, he looked at her. She was taking the waffle out of the iron and adding it to the pile on a plate in the microwave. She was so beautiful. And passionate. With his head back in the fridge, he thought about the kiss. This one was a lot different than the ones they'd shared in the cab. Those were hot, definitely, but this one was possessive, needy and giving all at once. With the items in his arms, he closed the fridge with his foot and went to the table. Yes, he would tell her tonight.
After breakfast was cleared, they decided to go for a walk to the nearby park. Sitting on a bench, watching the kids play, Taylor said, "Let me show you a trick. I still owe you. Bet you didn't know I could do this." He picked up three meduim sized rocks and began to juggle. Madi laughed, amazed. "Hey. Pick up another one and throw it to me." She did as he asked, and tossed him another. He smoothly added the rock in. "One more." Again, she repeated her task.
"Impressive. You are right, I didn't know you could do that." He smiled, then stopped juggling. Tossing the rocks back on the ground, he leaned back on the bench and put his arm around Madi, and stretched out his legs, crossing them at his ankles. "So Tay, tell me about the first concert of the Albertane tour."
He laughed. "Serious?"
"Yeah. Your first major tour playing for sold out arenas."
"Since you put it that way..."
They sat on the bench talking until the street lights began to appear in the growing twilight. The kids on the playground had gone through the ages, from toddlers early in the day with their moms to elementary kids around four, and now, junior high and highschool groups playing basketball and hanging out. On Taylor and Madilynn's walk home, Taylor asked about her first concert, Hanson or not.
"Oh, it was a Hanson concert. I was almost fifteen. I remember it was a couple days before the show, and the radio dj was tormenting us with the details. I have it all on tape at my moms house. Anyway, when they announced that it would be an all ages show, and at the Mall Of America in the parking lot, that was the only time I've ever hyperventilated." She laughed, slightly embarrassed. "Anyway, I called all my friends, and nobody would go with me, so I had to BEG my mom to let me go by myself. She finally caved, but I didn't get there until last minute, when the gates opened. So I thought for sure I'd get a crappy seat, but since I was by myself, it was a lot easier to find one seat then two next to eachother. So I managed to get about fifth or sixth row. I took a lot of pictures, but the camera was lame and didn't have a zoom. Anyway, so then after the show, a lot of people had cleared out, but then I saw a bunch of girls over by a fence that had been covered. So going to investigate, killing time, I got to peek over a copule times, and got to see Zac tossing a- frisbee or football, I don't really remember. I think it was a frisbee. Anyway, then you guys disappeared into a trailer, then you guys came out again and waved to us before you got into your van. By then it was almost dark, and my mom finally came."
"So Zac would have seen you ten years ago."
"Probably. We were really blocked, so he might not have seen us, just heard a bunch of girls screaming, so he'd wave."
"Awesome. And your next Hanson concert?"
"That was in Milwaukee of '98, the Albertane tour. I had to go with my sister, mom and the "significant other". My mom had bought the tickets for my birthdy, so they were really crappy seats. As a matter of fact, we didn't even have seats. We were clear on the grass in the back, but I got one of everything at the merch table. You guys were ants, and I had to watch the screens. I couldn't even have the best time because everyone else thought I was lame."
"That's too bad."
"Then my next was in '04, for the Underneath tour. Brenda came with me for that one. She was four months pregnant with her first kid, so we'd tried to use that to get us good spots, but no such luck. We were closer to Jessi at the merch table than you guys. It was still the best show so far, even though I had barely begun to listen to the Underneath album. Then Vegas was the second best day of my life, like I had finally been rewarded for my persistance, for front row making up for all the crappy seats."
"I'm glad it worked out the way it did."
"Me too. But I feel like I was ready to meet you when I did. If I'd met you before, I couldn't have guaranteed that I'd be completely normal. There would have been a chance that that hidden, repressed teeny would have come out." She laughed. "But at Vegas I knew that I could be normal, cool and confident because I was finally at peace with who I was."
"Funny how we change, huh?"
"Yeah, but it's all been for the best, I believe." They entered Madi's apartment. Taylor closed the door behind him, and pulled on Madi's arm to bring her agains him.
Looking into her eyes, he asked, "Is there a chance that that hidden repressed teeny would come back?" Madi studied him wondering if she said yes that he'd back away, or if he was asking as a joke.
"Well," she said slowly, "only about a two point four chance, and that's only if the right buttons are pushed." He laughed.
"Alright." He seemed satisfied with that answer. She didn't like these pop quizzes of his.
"So are you hungry?" She asked.
For you, he thought, but instead he said, "Lets order Chinese or something. You don't have a job anymore, so let me take care of this one. Tomorrow we'll go out. Is that okay?"
"Sure. I won't object."
"Great. Phone book?"
"Number four on the speed dial." She grinned.
"Terrific." A half an hour later, they sat on the sofa with forks, soda, and an array of open Chinese take out boxes on the coffee table in front of the tv watching the Phoenix Suns versus the Miami Heat in Phoenix.
"I love the Suns. They kick so much ass!" Madi told Taylor during the half time commercials.
"I am amazed." Taylor told her, smiling and shaking his head, sending his hair swaying.
"What?"
"A girl who likes sports, eats junk food in bed, sleeps in on a weekday and is beautiful?" Madi rolled her eyes.
"Funny man. Oh look!" She pointed to the tv as it played a commercial for tomorrow nights game in Phoenix versus the Jazz.
"You want to go?" Taylor asked, excited to go to a live game, regardless of the teams playing.
"I would love to! Do you?" She asked, bracing for the possibility that he might not want to go to a basketball game. But then he did say he wanted to go out.
"For sure!"
"Really?!"
Taylor laughed. "This is totally reversed. I'm supposed to be the suprised one."
"I can get good tickets."
Taylor looked at her, narrowing his eyes. "How, and how good?"
"How good? Center court, fourth row behind the Suns bench. How? My sister is engaged to a Suns player." Taylor's mouth fell open. Madi giggled. "I can use their seats any time I want." He staired at her for a good minute before thoughts began to form again.
"So then, why aren't you engaged to a basketball player, since you live so close to the stadium?"
"Oh, I dated a couple, but mostly they're so full of themselves, it's hard to compete with their egos. And I live here because this was my sisters place before she moved in with Marcus."
"Banks?"
"Yeah."
"Oh my god, Mackie's gonna die! He loves Banks."
"Well, if they're ever over here at the same time...I'll give Mandi a call tomorrow."
"Mandi?"
"Amanda, Madilynn, Mandi, Madi."
"Awesome. So you dated some pro ball players?"
"Yeah, but don't worry. They've got nothing on you."
"Oh really? They certainly make more than me."
"It's not always about the money," she quoted Taylor himself. "And besides. Most of the basketball players don't look good up close and personal. They just intimidate you with their height and professional status. But you, you just- damn." She smiled, shaking her head into her box of chicken fried rice.
The game returned, so they cheered on the Suns.
"Is it weird to see your future brother in law on tv?" Was that another pop quiz question?
"It's cool. I'm glad my sister's happy." He nodded again. At least that time she didn't have to watch her step.
It was nine o'clock by the time their dinner mess was cleared. Loitering in the kitchen, Taylor asked, "So what do you normally do in times like this?"
"Before bed?"
"Yeah."
"Whatever. Tv, books, internet. I've even known to be seen cross stitching once in a while." She smiled. "What about you?"
"On tour, we'd be getting ready for a show. Otherwise, it's music." He said softly. She could see in his eyes that he missed it. She could feel his sadness when he said it.
"Which reminds me," she said, leaving the kitchen, "come on." She motioned for him to follow her. She led him into the spare room, and into the closet. Moving and setting stuff on the bed from the floor, she pulled out her suprise. "Close your eyes." She looked over her shoulder to make sure his eyes were closed. She lifted it up and then pulled out a big box. "Open." His eyes grew wide, and sparkled.
"You have a keyboard!"
Madi laughed. "Yeah. It was my sixteenth birthday present from my mom when I was trying to teach myself how to play 'MMMBop'." She smiled. "When all my stuff was moved, this came with. I hadn't even thought about it until I saw how much you missed music."
"It's great Madi. One of the best. That's the stand?"
"Yeah."
"Did you ever teach yourself to play 'MMMBop'?"
"Not even with the actual book with all the piano parts. I'm not like you that way. After a while, I switched to this." She pulled out a tambourine and a triangle. Taylor burst out laughing.
"You're freaking awesome!"
"I figured since I'd mastered the flute, started the trumpet, and took drum lessons, piano wouldn't be so hard."
"Drum lessons?"
"Also Hanson inspired. In my senior year of high school, my friends and I started a band-"
"And you played the triangle, right?" They both laughed.
"Because I was sooo cool. But I played the drums. We'd have writing sessions, and to this day I SWEAR the jingle for the Goldfish crackers was stolen from us." Taylor was laughing hysterically. "But we never made anything else, so we covered Lit's 'My Own Worst Enemy'. We almost played for our school once, but as we were there for soundcheck, we chickened out. No one's mentioned it since." Taylor ran his fingers over the keys, smiling, like he was caressing a lover. Too bad it wasn't her, she thought.
"Can I try it or will the neighbors be pissed?"
"Probably not nearly as pissed if you played instead of me." She took the stand out of the box and set it up. Taylor put the keyboard on it like it was his baby. "We'll just keep the volume down." She moved the keyboard over a little so the cord could reach. Taylor moved over too, and positioned his fingers over the keys, waiting for Madi to turn it on. Looking into eachother's eyes, he begas to play the first bars of 'MMMBop'. A soft smile came over his lips.
"Come sit, and I'll show you how." She blinked back tears as she sat.
Chapter Thirteen