Chương 12
She hated Madison in that moment.
Not because Madison was wrong.
Because she was not entirely wrong.
“I don’t know,” Evelyn said.
Madison stared at her.
“That’s the first honest thing anybody has said to me all week.”
Evelyn’s voice hardened.
“Don’t turn my failure into permission for yours.”
“I’m not.”
“You poured water on him.”
“I know.”
“You laughed when you thought he couldn’t answer back.”
“I know.”
“And I ran when I recognized him.”
Madison looked down.
“Yes.”
Evelyn stared at the mirrors.
Two women reflected endlessly between them.
Neither looked impressive.
“What do we do with that?” Madison asked.
Evelyn folded her arms.
“I don’t know.”
Madison gave a faint laugh.
“Great.”
“I’m a salon owner, not a priest.”
“That’s probably for the best.”
They sat there another forty minutes.
Nothing was solved.
Madison admitted she had asked Brooke and Ashley to describe Adrian as threatening.
She insisted she had not asked them to lie.
Evelyn told her that was technically true and morally useless.
Madison became angry.
Evelyn became angrier.
At one point they argued about a fundraiser from four years earlier.
At another, Madison complained that everyone had ignored the fact that the cup originally contained melted ice and not “filthy water,” as one website had reported.
Evelyn stared at her until Madison said, “I hear it.”
“Good.”
“Stop saying good.”
That made both of them laugh.
The laughter felt wrong.
It also felt human.
Before leaving, Madison asked, “Am I allowed back?”
Evelyn considered her.
“Not as if nothing happened.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Do you want me as a client?”
“No.”
Madison flinched.
Evelyn continued.
“But I don’t know if banning you because the internet wants punishment teaches anyone anything either.”
“I don’t need to be taught.”
“That may be your central problem.”
Madison put on her coat.
At the door she stopped.
“Will you tell Adrian what I said?”
“Some of it.”
“Why?”
“Because some of it concerns him.”
“Tell him I’m sorry.”
“You already told him.”
Madison touched the door handle.
“No. I told him I was sorry I misunderstood.”
Evelyn waited.
Madison stared through the glass.
“I’m sorry I thought I needed to know who he was before deciding how to treat him.”
Evelyn watched her.
“Tell him yourself.”
Madison nodded once.
Then left.
Adrian did not agree to meet her.
Not immediately.
He received three requests through Evelyn.
He declined all three.
On the fourth, two weeks later, he said yes.
They met in the lobby of the building at three in the afternoon.
No lawyers.
No friends.
No cameras that either could see.
Madison arrived early.
Adrian arrived exactly on time.
She stood when he approached, then seemed uncertain whether standing was strange because he remained seated.
He noticed the uncertainty.
“So,” he said. “We’ve already made this awkward.”
Madison almost smiled.
“Apparently.”
She sat on a bench opposite him.
For several seconds neither spoke.
People moved through the lobby.
A courier signed a tablet at security.
Two salon employees came through carrying lunch.
One recognized Madison and looked away.
Madison noticed.
Adrian did too.
“I’m not going to ask you to forgive me,” she said.
“Okay.”
“I had a speech.”
“I’m glad you reconsidered.”
“I didn’t. I forgot it.”
“That may be better.”
She looked at him.
“I’m sorry.”
He waited.
“I’m sorry I poured water on you.”
He nodded.
“I’m sorry I assumed you were poor.”
He said nothing.
“And I’m sorry that being poor would have made me think I could treat you worse.”
A security guard crossed the lobby behind her.
Madison watched Adrian.
He looked tired.
That surprised her.
Not wounded.
Not triumphant.
Just tired.
“I believe you’re sorry,” he said.
She exhaled.
“Thank you.”
“That doesn’t mean I trust you.”
Her face tightened.
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
“I’m trying to.”
Adrian’s hand moved once over the wheel rim.
“Why did you tell Brooke and Ashley I threatened you?”
“I didn’t say you threatened me.”
“You asked them to say they felt threatened.”
Madison looked away.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was scared.”
“Of me?”
“Of what would happen.”
“So you tried to make me partly responsible.”
“Yes.”
The answer came quickly enough that he looked at her.
Madison’s mouth trembled, but she controlled it.
“I’m not going to make it sound better.”
“Good.”
She gave him a look.
“Evelyn says you do that too.”
“Do what?”
“Say good when you don’t know what else to say.”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“She complains a lot.”
“She does.”
The smile disappeared.
Madison took a breath.
“Are you going to sue me?”
“I haven’t decided.”
Her fingers tightened together.
“Okay.”
“Would it change your apology?”
She looked at him.
“No.”
“Would it change whether you tell the truth?”
A pause.
“I hope not.”
“That’s not a great answer.”
“It’s the honest one.”
He nodded.
Madison looked toward the security desk.
“Charles filed for separation.”
“I heard.”
“Of course you did.”
“Evelyn told me.”
Madison laughed softly.
“She tells everyone everything now.”
“No. She told me because she thought it explained why you were unraveling.”
“I wasn’t unraveling.”
“You poured water on a stranger.”
“Fair.”
She rubbed her palms together.
“Everyone thinks this is why he left.”
“Is it?”
“No.”
“What is?”
“Years.”
Adrian understood that answer.
Madison continued.
“He said the video made him see something he had been pretending not to see.”
“What?”
“That I’m kind when kindness is cheap.”
Adrian looked at her.
Madison stared at the polished stone floor.
“He said I’m generous when people are grateful and vicious when they inconvenience me.”
“That sounds like something a husband says after rehearsing it.”
“He had apparently been rehearsing for a decade.”
Adrian did not answer.
Madison looked up.
“You don’t have to comfort me.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Good.”
They both smiled faintly.
Then Madison became serious.
“I want to pay for your clothes.”
“No.”
“The shirt was ruined.”
“Yes.”
“You said you liked it.”
May you like
“I did.”
“Then let me replace it.”
