Lost in You

Chapter 40 - Meredith

My phone keeps ringing and wakes me up from my sleep. I stumble to take the phone. 8 am... Jesus! Who is calling me a day after Christmas this morning. 20 missed calls?! I pull my hair out of my face. I was sleeping at 2 am last night, binged Netflix with Mads.

Before I can check the missed call, there is an incoming call. Michelle Rae. Shit! Nothing good will come if the PR called you in the morning like this.

"Hello Michelle..." my voice is still heavy

"Thank God you pick the phone, Mer! Do you know where Madeline is?" opposite to mine, Michelle is wide awake.

"Um... yeah she is with me here in my apartment. What's wrong?"

"Thank God. I'm in front of her apartment. I tried to reach her but she wasn't here"

"Yeah. She's with me, and I think she's still sleeping." I walk to the living room. No Madeline. She is still in her room.

"Look. There is news about Ethan. We will work on it. Please tell Mads to not react to this in public okay. Ethan is incommunicado. We are trying to reach him from Hall China."

"What happened?" I ask her when someone knocks on my door. I look at the peephole. Ian. I open the door. Ian looks grim.

"The paparazzi got a picture of Ethan walking to the strip club last night." Michelle says and my eyes widened. "What???"

"Yes Mer. That's why we need to reach Madeline. We don't know how she will react. But we hope she can stay put. We will check on it."

"I know Mich. I will tell her. She is still sleeping I think"

"Okay... and tell her to contact me. So I can coordinate with her directly later"

"Sure" we end up the call. I sit on the couch. Ian looks at me. From his face he already knew the news.

Ian shows me the news. It was just Ethan walking together with 3 chinese people to the strip club. It's not like Ethan walked with a woman or a woman draped her body around Ethan. I exhale, it doesn't mean anything.

"Do you think she will be alright?" Ian asks me. I shrug and give him back his phone.

"Well back to her social media celebrity life I think she knows sometimes the paparazzi just exaggerate something. But.. um... as a girlfriend, it still hurt to see your boyfriend at that kind of place. Even though the picture shows nothing" I shrug.

Ian looks at me deeply. He knows I refer to the one he was photographed with Jemima. Before he can say anything Madeline comes out from her room. She smiles at us. She hasn't seen the news. "Morning C. So early! You missed her that much?" she teases Ian, but Ian doesn't respond to her tease. "Are... are you okay?" she looks worried.

We told her the news and suddenly she bolted, ran to the toilet and vomited.

"Madeline!" I run to help her. Mads says she needs some privacy, so I leave her reluctantly. She comes back to sit with us on the couch. She looks awful. I give her a drink. "Drink!" I order her and she does what I say.

After we talked to Madeline she told us she wanted to take a shower. I let her go, because I know she needs to clear her brain. I look at Ian, he exhales "I'll find my cousin and bring his ass home" he says under his breath.

***

Madeline said she wants to go back to her apartment. I disagreed but she was so stubborn. So I let her go, and asked her to call me when she arrived.

Ian takes me to his Malibu mansion. "I prepared a Christmas gift for you. I was planning to take you last night."

I smile to him "sorry, I couldn't let Madeline alone in her apartment crying her heart out loud"