“I have no idea. I should probably get out of here. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be here so late.”
“Don’t apologize. I really love what we came up with.”
Mads and I had worked and re-worked her song until it was a masterpiece. We played around with drums, horns, and strings until we both agreed. I’d never worked with anyone with an ear for music composition like her.
“And now that I know what time it is, I’m tired,” I said.
“Don’t you hate when that happens? Your tiredness doesn’t register until you know what time it is. I’ve stayed up clear into the next day trying to perfect a song, and as soon as I looked at the time, I would crash.”
We laughed.
“Let me get out of here and get across town before all the yard sale people be out causing traffic.”
“Okay…”
Madalee started shutting down all the equipment while I gathered my things. I’d made myself comfortable by changing out of my work clothes into a t-shirt and basketball shorts I had in my gym bag in the car. I was also comfortable with Madalee. It was amazing how much we had in common, from our taste in music genres to our favorite artists. We disagreed on the best bass player of all time. I said Bootsy Collins from Parliament. She chose James Jamerson, who played on most of the Motown hits, but we agreed to disagree because they were both great.
“Hey, Ty…”
“What’s up?”
“You don’t have to drive all the way across town right now. Why don’t you stay here on the pull-out couch and get a couple hours of sleep? I wouldn’t want you falling asleep at the wheel. I would feel horrible. Especially when I took over your choir class,” she teased.
“Wow!” I laughed. “I thought we’d moved past that.”
“I don’t remember having a move past it conversation,” Madalee said with a smirk. “Seriously. You know there’s a full bathroom in here. I have brand new toiletries so you can refresh after you wake up.”
“I couldn’t impose…” I started, but a massive yawn stopped me from finishing my sentence.
“It’s not an imposition,” Madalee giggled. “And you’re tired, so please get some rest before you leave.”
“Alright, thank you.”
“No problem. The covers and sheets are clean. I change them out once a week, even though I haven’t slept out here in a long time.”
Placing her hand on the doorknob, she turned to leave. I closed the space between us and put my hand on the door to stop it from opening.
“Mads…” I said into her ear.
“Yes?”
“I didn’t realize they promised you the music teacher position when I accepted the job. I’m sorry they gave it to me instead…”
“It wasn’t your…” she began.
“Let me finish. It wasn’t my fault, but I’m sorry it hurt you. I’m sorry I didn’t clear the air sooner.”
“I shouldn’t have held on to that for so long,” she said.
“Let me make it up to you.”
“You don’t…” she started.
Wrapping my free hand around her waist, I pulled her closer and softly kissed her neck. She turned around, facing me.
“Stay here with me.”
After wrapping her arms around my neck, she said, “You know I don’t like you, right?”