"No."
"Maddie."
"I had juice. Lots of juice."
"Juice."
"Yep."
"You're lying."
"I'm not!"
Vivian's eyes narrowed.
"What happened last night?"
"Nothing."
"Something happened."
"Nothing happened!"
"Then why are you being weird?"
"I'm not being weird. You're being weird."
"I'm your aunt. I know when you're hiding something."
Madison grabbed her water.
Drank half of it.
Anything to avoid this conversation.
Vivian waited.
Patient.
Terrifying.
Finally Madison set the glass down.
"Okay fine. There was an... incident. At the bar."
"What kind of incident?"
"The Brandon kind."
Vivian's expression darkened.
"That little shit showed up?"
"With his new fiancée."
"His WHAT?"
"Yeah. Jessica. Model. Perfect. Blonde."
"He proposed? Already?"
"During my set."
"During your... are you fucking kidding me?"
The fury in Vivian's voice was almost comforting.
"Nope."
"What did you do?"
"Finished my set. Then got drunk."
"Good."
"Is it though?"
"Better than keying his car. Which was my first suggestion."
Madison smiled despite everything.
"I know."
They sat there for a moment.
Then Vivian reached across the table.
Squeezed Madison's hand.
"You're better than him. You know that right?"
"I'm trying to believe it."
"Believe it. Because it's true."
Madison nodded.
Blinked back the tears trying to form.
'Nope. Not crying in a diner.'
Vivian seemed to sense she needed a subject change.
"So back to this K-pop thing."
"It's not K-pop."
"Whatever. Are you going to have to learn Korean?"
"What? No. Why would I?"
"Because AUREYA's a Korean company."
"But the American division will be in English."
"Will it though?"
"Yes!"
Vivian grinned.
Clearly enjoying this.
"Because I've seen you sing LUMEN songs."
Madison groaned.
"Don't start."
"You have no idea what half those words mean."
"I looked them up!"
"After singing them phonetically for weeks."
"That's how language learning works!"
"And the K-dramas."
"What about them?"
"You sit there so focused. Rewinding scenes to hear the pronunciation."
"That's called being cultured."
"That's called being obsessed."
"I'm not obsessed."
"Kai says you're delusional."
"Kai's a jerk."
"He says no Asian guy would ever look your way."
Something flickered in Madison's chest.
A memory.
Green eyes. Dark hair.
'Well joke's on Kai.'
She kept her face blank.
"Kai can mind his business."
Vivian laughed.
"I'll tell him you said that."
"Please do."
They finished eating.
Vivian paid.
Like always.
They stood to leave.
Madison felt lighter somehow.
Like talking about the Brandon thing helped.
Even if she couldn't talk about the Ethan thing.
They walked back toward the hotel.
The sun was starting to set.
Painting the sky in oranges and pinks.
Vegas looked almost pretty like this.
Almost.
They reached the hotel entrance.
Vivian turned to her.
"You know I'm proud of you right?"
Madison's throat tightened.
"Yeah?"
"Always. No matter what you choose."
"Thanks Auntie."
They hugged.
Long and tight.
When they pulled apart, Vivian had that look again.
The knowing one.
"But seriously. How did you know about the audition?"
Madison's brain stuttered.
"What?"
"The AUREYA audition. How did you know about it?"
"I... it was posted. Online."
"Was it?"
"Yeah. On their website."
Vivian pulled out her phone.
Tapped a few times.
Scrolled.
"Huh. That's weird."
"What?"
"AUREYA hasn't announced any auditions. Not publicly."
Madison's stomach dropped.
"They haven't?"
"No. In fact the only news about them lately has been LUMEN's tour."
"Their tour?"
"Yeah. They were in Vegas for two weeks. Just left yesterday."
'LUMEN was here. In Vegas. For two weeks.'
Madison's mind raced.
Ethan was the CEO of AUREYA.
Which managed LUMEN.
So he would've been here.
In Vegas.
For their tour.
Which meant he was at the Blue Moon Lounge because...
'Oh my God. Was he scouting? Was he watching performers?'
Was their whole encounter planned?
No. It couldn't be.
He'd seemed surprised when she tied him up.
When she propositioned him.
Hadn't he?
Vivian was still looking at her.
Waiting.
"So how did you know about the audition, Maddie?"
Madison swallowed.
Her mouth felt dry.
Think. Think think think.
"I... someone told me."
"Who?"
"A friend."
"What friend?"
"Just a friend. From the bar."
"The bar where Brandon humiliated you."
"Yeah."
"And this friend just happened to know about a secret AUREYA audition."
"I guess?"
Vivian's expression was unreadable.
"Maddie."
"Yeah?"
"You're a terrible liar."
"I'm not lying."
"Yes you are."
"Auntie..."
"Did something else happen last night?"
"No."
"Something besides Brandon."
"No!"
"Because you're acting really weird."
"I'm not!"
They stared at each other.
Madison's heart pounded.
She couldn't tell her.
Couldn't tell anyone.
Those were the rules.
No one could know.
Not friends. Not family.
Especially not family.
Finally Vivian sighed.
"Okay. Fine. Keep your secrets."
Relief flooded through Madison.
"Thank you."
"But when you're ready to talk, I'm here."
"I know."
"I mean it."
"I know."
Another hug.
Shorter this time.
Then Vivian headed inside.
Back to her office probably.
Running the hotel.
Being successful and beautiful and put together.
Everything Madison wasn't.
Madison stood there for a moment.
Watched the sun finish setting.
Pulled out her phone.
Stared at the text from Ethan.
[By the way, your knot tying skills still need work. Might want to practice before the wedding. - E]
Her thumb hovered over the keyboard.
She should text back.
Say something sarcastic.
Tell him to shove his marriage proposal.
Or maybe...
Maybe say yes.
Her phone buzzed.
Another text.
Same number.
[Clock's ticking, Madison. I don't like to be kept waiting.]
✧ω✧ω✧ω✧
Author's Note Ó╭╮Ò
So... I do have a question that I hope a feedback is gotten.
How do you see the chapters so far? Do they lack emotions? Does it feel disjointed?
Please your feedback will be most welcome so I know how to redo my chapters at it's initial stage