It's the weekend in the city of Townsville. Madison woke up feeling different than usual. She was not the same old Madison from before; low self-esteem, dreading life.
Madison looked confident and determined, as though she had a new lease of life. Overnight she found a new purpose.
She convinced herself in her mind, 'Today is the birth of the new Madison Smith. I will make my mark in the Smith household. I may not know how. I don't care how. Whether I do this alone, or I have help, I will be at the top of DreamSmith and the whole Smith family will either apologize for their past actions or fall by the wayside.'
Madison proceeded to take a hot shower and change into a hot red halter top with denim skinny jeans. In all reality, Madison had a sexy hourglass figure that can make most girls her age go green with envy; but because of the constant teasing and bullying from her sisters, she gradually lost confidence in herself and how she looked.
Today was different. With a reaffirmed mindset, Madison appreciated the 22-year-old young blonde woman looking back at her in the mirror. She was ready to begin her secret mission.
Madison took her bag and placed her tablet and car keys inside. She had wanted to begin drawing up designs for the Quinton Consortium in her room but decided against it. She did not want her work to be seen and stolen by anyone in her family. Going to a quiet place outside the Smith household was a better option.
The rest of the family were already in the dining room having their breakfast. Madison decided not to join them. That means she had to come up with an excuse.
"Morning everyone. I'm not joining you for breakfast today. I have a breakfast appointment with my friends at a nearby neighbourhood shopping mall." greeted Madison.
"Pfft. Oh yeah sure. Enjoying yourself while we are hard at work with the Quinton project. Go ahead, you're a useless leech anyway." mocked Mason.
Madison ignored Mason's remark and stepped out of the house; no ounce of regret, no remorse was shown on her face as she closed the door.
"Did you all see that? How rude of her." exclaimed Madam Louise. "Raymond, send our driver to follow her. I want to know where she's going and what she's up to."
"Yes mother." replied Raymond.
Meanwhile, Madison drove out of the Smith household in her family's BMW. She was on her way to the shopping mall when she caught sight of a familiar vehicle appear in her rear view mirror.
'That's our family Mercedes. Someone must have sent the driver to track me down. What should I do?' thought Madison.
Almost immediately, Madison had a bright idea.
She saw up ahead that there was a traffic stop. The traffic light turned yellow. In three seconds, it will change to red. Madison took the chance, went full throttle, and managed to beat the red light.
The family driver, seeing the red light on, stepped on the brakes immediately. He could no longer follow Madison. By the time the traffic light turned green again, Madison's car was out of sight.
'Phew. That was a close call; but now where do I go?....Oh I know.....the business district. The cafes there are open on weekends.' thought Madison.
Without a second thought, she drove straight to the business district.
It was a wise choice on Madison's part. On usual weekends, the business district is mostly deserted. Nobody wants to work on weekends. As such the business buildings are quiet and most shops are closed as well.
The cafes remain open on weekends to cater to shoppers from the BDT mall. A few shops in the mall did open on weekends as well.
Madison drove into the BDT mall and parked her car there. She then exited the mall and went to the nearest cafe she saw.... incidentally, a Starb*cks.
After ordering her cup of coffee and a bagel, she proceed to sit at a well-hidden corner of the cafe. That would be a safe spot from prying eyes; and she could start drawing her designs for the Quinton Consortium projects on her tablet.
'I think should start with the BDT mall exterior.' thought Madison. 'I've already seen the current exterior while driving here. Might as well start from there.'
Madison was creative when it comes to interior and exterior design. She remembered seeing the requirements stated by the Quinton Consortium with regards to the mall design.
In one hour, she was already halfway done with drawing the new exterior for BDT mall. That was when she heard the cafe door open.
Madison decided not to pay attention to the door opening, nor did she look up to see who entered the cafe. She was too focused to complete her designs for the BDT mall.
At the same time, a man and a woman entered the cafe. The man proceeded to greet the counter staff.
"Good morning, Steph. As promised, this cafe is my new favourite hangout. You look well today!"
"Thank you, sir. Oh, and thanks for the big tip you gave me the other day. My boss was stunned when I explained that to him. Thanks to you I got promoted to team leader." replied Steph the counter staff.
"That's good to hear, Steph. Keep up your good work and I'm sure you'll make manager someday."
The man's voice started to gain familiarity to Madison. Still, she couldn't quite figure out where she had heard the man's voice before.
Steph replied, "I hope I can become manager someday. Until then, your usual cappuccino? Under the name Derek?"
'Derek?'
The mention of that name stopped Madison in her thinking tracks.
'Derek? As in my foster cousin Derek?'
"You know me too well Steph. Oh, and one Americano for my friend here. Name is Amanda."
Now Madison was certain. She looked up towards the counter.
Sure enough, standing at the counter was her cousin Derek; but who was that lady beside him? Who's Amanda?
Whatever the case, she was overwhelmed with emotion see her cousin once again. She couldn't help it anymore.
"Derek! Brother Derek! Over here!"