Jogging is a scam.
That was the thought that kept running through her head as she made her daily morning lap around her neighborhood. Madison hadn't slept for more than three hours before her alarm rang at 6 in the morning. She knew she couldn't skip a single morning jog, she knew that most days her physical exercise was the only thing keeping her brain from shutting down on her, and she knew that the second her legs stopped that day, she would collapse onto the pavement. Her eyes were half-lidded even while she ran but she pushed on, knowing that she had to awaken from her stupor or else she wouldn't be able to survive the day ahead.
Susan had decided to let Madison do some work in her firm which meant that she would be able to get an even closer look at the legal work that she was so drawn towards. She should've been excited, fresh, and happy but she felt miserable and dreadful and had to fight the urge to run back to her house and envelop herself in her bed. Even the cheerful voice of Taylor Swift singing in her ears wasn't making her feel any better than a gloomy cloud. As she rounded another corner at the end of the street, she narrowed her eyes at the Walter's estate, her stomach churning at the thought of a particular blond boy. With each passing interaction that she had with him, Madison was starting to understand more and more why so many people disliked Nick. He was arrogant, rude, and thought way too highly of himself and no matter how hard Madison had tried to make him see the similarities in their situations, he rebuffed her every attempt so harshly that she had simply decided to just leave him to his own devices.
He was not a child and Madison did not need to be a coddling mother figure, no matter how bad she felt for him. The look in his eyes whenever Michael made a taunting remark would cut deep into her heart giving a sense of kinship wrought in pain. But Nick would always swiftly squash her compassion when he would throw his inaccurate assumptions of her in Madison's face. Assumptions that she had grown used to but annoyed her just the same. Fate wasn't kind to either of them, she supposed. No matter how much they had begun to despise each other's presence, they were forced together just the same. Even her reason for not getting a good night's sleep was their newest dilemma.
Once the Pierce's had arrived back home from their lunch with Michael and Nick, and out of prying eyes and ears, desperate to gather dirt on the envied family, Madison had called her parents out on their very pushy and somewhat suspicious behavior. Behavior that, at first, they tried to deny but their daughter was smart, a fact that they were not unaware of, so they had to give in, albeit not fully but enough hints for Madison to figure out the whole plan. A plan that she was still in denial of, no matter how clearly it had been presented in front of her inquisitive eyes.
Nick and she were getting pushed together. That much was evident. It seemed that whatever prejudices her parents seemed to have for every single potential romantic partner in the past had been forgotten especially for Nick whom her father used to cheerfully refer to as the 'Good-for-nothing disgrace' after which he would boast about Madison. She didn't know how in-depth her parents had thought their scheme through but if she knew them well, which she did, she knew that they had already decided their destination wedding theme. And the thought made her want to jump off the nearest cliff to an untimely death. But she was not a coward and running was not how she solved her problems. She was a Pierce, manipulation was a born trait. She would play their game for as far as it would make them satisfied and fulfill her wishes and once they had let their guard down, she would drop everything. The idea of dating Nick Walters' was the only thing making her feel unsure about her cunningness but she could not be doubtful in her abilities, not this time, and she would find a way to put a stop to this game before it could get that far.
She huffed out a breath, her eyes grazing over the low brick wall surrounding the enormous mansion, clearly standing out amongst its neighbors due to its grandeur. Her body was now covered in a thin sheen of sweat and as she slowed down to catch her breath, her knees slightly shook as she sat down on the pavement.
Uncorking her bottle of water, she took a huge gulp and her body began to relax. As Madison continued to drink, her gaze wavered back towards the Walters' Estate and she was surprised to see a tall figure stumbling towards the farthest corner of the backyard wall. She stood up, worry lacing her veins before it turned into annoyance at the sight of the person's face. Grabbing her bottle, she jogged over to him.
Nick Walters looked like a complete mess. His clothes were rumpled and sweaty enough to be clinging to his body like a second skin. His deep blue eyes, though angry at the sight of her, were alert and darting left and right and he seemed to be fidgeting where he stood.
Madison didn't say a word when she reached him before he snapped at her in typical Nick fashion.
"The fuck do you want?"
"A lot of things. World peace," Madison began listing the words on my fingers, "Gender equality, ice cream for dinner, a private island-"
He let out a low sound of disappointment and shook his head, cutting her off mid-sentence, "I'm not doing this right now."
"Doing what?" She wondered, innocently, the unassuming expression on her face only deepening the scowl on his.
"This," He gestured towards her, "Whatever this- whatever you're doing."
At her amused look, he narrowed his eyes, "Stop that. Go away."
"I would. But you look really suspicious and I'm close with the family that lives here, I can't just let an intruder sneak in."
"I swear- Do I look like an intruder to you? I fucking live here."
"Really?" Madison made a shocked face, her eyes alight with mischief, "I could never tell."
Nick scoffed, "That's because you're a dumbass."
"My GPA says otherwise."
"Madison, seriously," His tone became serious and somewhat pleading, "Leave me alone. Please."
She stared at him for a second before nodding and handing her bottle of water to him, "Okay. Here, you need it more than I do."
He began to sigh in relief as she turned around to leave before she turned back around making his breath hitch, "Also, if you're trying to sneak back inside, I'd take the south wall, no cameras and you can hide in the patio."
Before he could reply, she swiftly turned around and resumed her run, all the while, a grin enveloped her face.
Now that she had finally relinquished all hope of a friendly relationship with Nick, she could understand the personal gratification that came with making him angry. Madison had figured out what truly ticked him off and she was planning to use that information to her full gain. And now the idea of having to be around him to accomplish her master plan didn't seem as daunting. Neither did her plan of making him pay for what he did to Heidi seem doubtful.
With these thoughts inside her head, she entered headquarters with a newfound skip in her step. Michael's office was empty and his secretary informed her that he was expecting her in the conference room, which brought a frown to her face. She couldn't recall if she had done anything worthy of being called this way and she had to force her nerves to stop from coming to the surface. Maybe he just wanted to discuss her visit to Susan's firm in the afternoon. The thought was little comfort as she made her way to the conference room on the floor above her.
A pit emerged in her stomach and her heart dropped as she opened the door to the conference, prepared to deal with whatever stood on the other side. But the cheerful faces of Michael with her father and an annoyed one of Nick set her into even deeper confusion and dread began to settle in her heart.
"Madison! Come in," Michael grinned at her.
Thomas had a matching grin as he sat on one of the chairs surrounding the huge mahogany table, "We have so much to discuss."
This couldn't be good.