They remembered the wonderful massages and face cleansers. Kelly was standing on a chair putting the spaghetti noodles away. “Thank you so much for today Madison. It was so good to be so relaxed. Too bad I have to go to work tomorrow. What are we doing tomorrow night, though?” Madison answered, “Well, I thought that we could just watch movies and veg because on Tuesday night I have that big surprise for you. Big, big, big, big big!!! You have to be home by 5:00 on Tuesday night. You hear me? Can you get off from the hospital? You gotta or else it won’t work, okay?” Kelly smiled at her friend’s excitement. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be home, but I wish you would tell what we’re going to do.” Madison shook her head, “Nope, we can’t tell you.” Madison put a hand over her mouth quickly, “I, uh, mean I can’t tell you.” Kelly walked closer to her friend, “Madison, are you planning a surprise for me with someone else? It’s Austin, huh? You two planned something when you went to the movie, didn’t you?” Madison shook her head, “Wrong, wrong. I won’t tell you. Just wait for Tuesday. “ Kelly gave up trying to figure out what Madison was keeping from her and asked what she was going to do tomorrow. “Sleep late and go shopping and just check into rehearsals, come home and cook us dinner. Cool?” Kelly finished putting the groceries away and walked out into the living room and sat at the piano. “Yeah, I’ll be home and I’ll expect dinner ready from you. Hey, did you know that my parents know Kevin’s family really well? How crazy is that? I found out when I talked to them the night after the club. Maybe my mom can hook us up or something.” Madison smiled as her friend started playing piano. It was a beautiful melody. Madison watched her friend get lost in the song and she said goodnight, but Kelly didn’t answer. Madison walked up the spiral staircase and through the trap door. She changed into her pajamas and washed her face. She hopped into bed and pulled the covers up close. It was cold, but she soon warmed up. She fell asleep to the sounds of Kelly’s piano playing.
An hour later Kelly stopped playing. “I’m so tired. I’ve got to go to bed tonight because of work tomorrow.” She called Riley and he followed her into her bathroom. Kelly changed into pajamas and jumped into bed. She hadn’t even noticed that Madison had gone to bed. Kelly fell instantly asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Monday morning, December 7, Kelly’s apartment…
Kelly got up at 5:00 because she couldn’t sleep. She changed into running clothes and went to the task of waking up her sleeping dog. “Come one boy. Get up!!” Riley finally got up and followed Kelly into the entryway. Kelly pulled on her polar fleece and clicked Riley’s leash on. The two opened the door and headed out into the snow. As Kelly made her way into town she noticed all the lights on in people houses and began to think about how they would wake up with somebody next to them and she woke up every morning alone. She wished just once that she could wake up in someone’s arms. “Oh, whatever. Like that’s going to happen.” She finished her run and headed back to her apartment. It was snowing so hard that she could hardly see and was glad that she was done. Kelly and Riley made their way up the slippery stairs and into the silent apartment. Kelly knew that Madison wouldn’t be up for a long time. Riley ran into the apartment and into Kelly’s room. He jumped up on the big bed and buried himself under the covers. “Oh, good. Wet dog in my bed, now I’ll definitely have to change my sheets.” Kelly made her way into the bathroom and took a hot shower. She got out and dried off. She pulled on her scrubs and white doctor coat. She pulled her wet hair up into a high ponytail and braided it. She put on her glasses and walked into the kitchen. Kelly picked up her phone and walked into the piano room. She sat down on the bench and dialed her parent’s number. Kelly knew her dad wouldn’t be there because he was still in Japan, but she knew her mom would be there. After a couple of rings someone picked up. It was her father. “Dad? What are you doing home? I thought that you were going to be back in a week?” Dan Riley answered, “I couldn’t stand to be away from your mom. Missed her too much. That and the fact that we finished the meeting early. How are you?” Kelly smiled. “I have had so much fun with Madison. We’ve done lots of stuff. I got you a Christmas present a couple of days ago.” Her dad chuckled, “Is it the tradition present? I look forward to your choice of ties every year.” Kelly smiled, “You’re right Dad. It was your tie I got. But anyways, I was wondering if you had sent the plane tickets for me yet?” Her dad answered promptly, “Today, I will send them out. I have the day off. Your mother and I are going to start decorating just a little. Okay?” Kelly smiled and answered, “Oh, that’s fine. Just save something for me to put up. Definitely save the star on the tree though.” Her father answered, “Of course I will. I’ll get your mother on the phone. Kate, Kate. It’s Kelly. Pick up the phone.” Kelly heard her mother pick up the phone. “Hi dear. How are you?” Before Kelly could her answer her father said, “You women will blab forever, so I’m just going to get off now and go and take my shower. Bye Kel. Your tickets should be there in a couple of days. Love you.” Kelly said, “Bye Dad, love you too.” Her father hung up and then Kelly answered her mom’s question. “I’m good. I’m having a good time with Madison. She keeps me busy and cooks dinner all the time, so I guess that’s good. I’m excited to come home. Real excited. Oh, Madison and me and Austin went out to dinner a couple of nights ago and it was fun, but Austin was acting all weird again. I don’t know what to do with him. Too weird. But other than that, things have been great. I have to go to work all this week, but tomorrow night Madison has set up a big surprise for me as she calls it. She keeps slipping up and saying ‘we’ when talking about it, so I think that she is planning the surprise with Austin. Maybe that’s why he’s acting wacked. I’m looking forward to it. And then Wednesday night is Madison’s show…” Kate Riley smiled as she thought about tomorrow night, “You should have fun with them. Or her, whatever.” Kate knew that Madison and Kevin had kept the surprise, she just hoped that Kelly would make the effort to come home from her busy work to get ready for the show. “You better be on time.” Kelly was confused, “How did you know that I had to be on time? Ma, do you know something? Geez, everyone knows this secret except me.” Her mom laughed at her daughter, “Well, you better get on to work. Have fun tomorrow night. Call me when you get a chance, but your dad and I are pretty busy with church and all the Christmas bazaars this week, so maybe we’ll just get in touch when we pick you up from the airport. We’ll all be waiting.” Kelly was confused once more, “Who do you mean we all? Just you and Dad right? Gramps and Grandma aren’t coming are they?” Kate Riley realized that she had almost spilled the beans. “Uh, no. Just your father and I. Well, talk to you soon or see you at the airport. Love you. Oh, wait. Please call back and tell about your night tomorrow and on Wednesday. I’d love to hear about it, okay?” Kelly promised she would. The two kissed the phone and Kelly said goodbye and hung up. She got up from the bench and hung up the phone on the receiver. Riley followed Kelly into the kitchen and sat patiently by his bowl to be fed. “I didn’t forget you boy. “ Kelly picked up his bowl and fed him. She gave him a kiss on the nose and left for the hospital.
Madison woke up a couple of hours later and walked down the spiral staircase. She found Riley on the leather couch. “Riley!!!! Off the couch. Now boy.” Riley reluctantly got off. Madison sat down right where Riley had gotten off. He glared at her and fell back asleep on the floor. Madison picked up the phone and dialed Brian’s number at the hotel. It rang a couple of times and then a sleepy voice picked up. “Hello?” Madison smiled and said sexily, “Hi babe. Good morning.” The voice spoke up again, “Yeah baby, yeah!!!” Madison was confused, “Brian? Is that you?” Madison heard the phone drop and mumbling. “Nick, you dork. Give me the phone.” Madison heard the phone pick up again. This time it was Brian. “Hey girl. Sorry about Nick. How are you?” Madison smiled, “I’m good. Just got up. This is our last rehearsal before the show today. It’s in a couple of hours. How are you?” Brian answered, “Well, as you can see and hear I just got up too. Me and Nick stayed up last night playing video games. We have our first show tonight so we staying in the rooms tonight just resting. Fun, huh?” Madison laughed, “It’s better than having to hang out with a whole bunch of snotty models.” Brian got quiet for a second, “Hey Nick, leave for a couple of minutes man. Nah, you didn’t do anything. I just want to talk to her. I’m sorry. Madison, whenever you talk about being a model or being around models you never seem happy. Why?” Madison started slowly, “Brian, I’m not happy. I’m lonely and tired. All I do is party and well, party. My parents hate me and think that I’m loser. But other than that, I’m fine.” Brian smiled at the sound of her voice but kept questioning, “If you don’t mind me asking, why do they hate you?” “I … well.. My parents are pretty well off and they always had it for me that I’d become a doctor or a lawyer of something. Well, I didn’t. My parents sent m to college and that’s where I met Kelly and Everett. Those two turned out to be doctors, and that just wasn’t my thing. I graduated and everything, but Versace saw me and now I’m the promotions model. I mean, god, is it that bad to be six figures selling your face?” Madison and Brian laughed at her last comment and continued talking for awhile longer. They both hung up feeling more complete than they started.