6 Flashing Lights

30 minutes went by swiftly. 

As soon as the time was up, Maddison took a deep breath and left the room with all of her belongings. She was startled to find two people waiting for her. 

"Miss Maddison, are you ready to leave?" the elderly man asked. 

"Would you like to eat something before you go, miss?" the younger lady asked. 

"Thank you, but no need. I'm ready to leave," She replied with a smile. 

"Very well, please follow me, Miss Maddison," the elderly man beckoned her. 

She followed silently behind him as he led her to the door. After putting on her shoes, the elevator arrived. The elderly man guided her in and pressed the ground floor for her. The entire time, he kept a polite smile on his face. The younger lady did the same, never far away. 

"The cab Master Elias called for you is waiting at the entrance of the building. We've instructed the security guards to help you to the car," The elderly man instructed her. 

"Thank you," Maddison said gratefully. 

She wasn't expecting things to be arranged in such great detail. Just as the doors of the elevator were about to close, the elderly man stopped it, startling Maddison. 

"Apologies for startling you, miss. One more thing, I suggest you put on a pair of sunglasses. It can be very glaring. Very bad for your eyes. We look forward to seeing you again, Miss Maddison. Have a great rest of the day."

With that, the elderly man removed his hand from the elevator doors, allowing it to close. Maddison was a little confused by his words at first. She glanced at the floor numbers descending in value, wondering if she should take his advice. 

"No harm in that," she whispered to herself. 

Conveniently, there was a pair of sunglasses prepared for her in the pastel pink shopping bag. She put them just as the elevator reached the ground floor. Even through closed doors, she could hear a commotion going on. 

"What on-" Before she could finish her sentence, the doors to the elevator opened. 

A myriad of flashing lights blinded her. Lucky for Maddison, she already had the sunglasses on. Paparazzi with high-powered flash and cameras were everywhere. More than ten security guards were attempting to fend them off. 

"Miss! Miss! Please follow me," One of the security personnel said to her. 

"Miss Maddison! Miss Maddison! Are you a gold digger?"

"Is it true that you slept with billionaire Elias King to get back at your ex, Hugo Anderson?"

"Maddison! Our viewers want to know! Was Elias King good in bed?"

Maddison did her best to ignore all of them. She walked through the crowd with her head held high, refusing to take any questions. No answer she could give would ever clear her name. So, what was the point?

The security guards opened the cab door for her. She thanked them with a nod and got in at once. 

"Cassy's Bakery and Cafe on Pine Street. Thank you."

As the cab drove off, Maddison laid back in her seat as she sighed in relief. She glanced at the window, watching the paparazzi and their cameras fading into the distance. Just when she thought she'd finally escaped, she realized her horrible day had only just begun. 

Maddison bit her lip, wondering if she would still have her job when she reached the cafe. She'd been working there for the last five years and was an outstanding employee. She was always the first to arrive and the last to leave. 

Being the head baker was one step closer to Maddison's dream of owning her own bakery one day. Though the work was grueling and her boss, Cassy, was horrible, she had a supportive team that always had her back. 

However, it was likely that nothing could save her now. 

As soon as the cab pulled up in front of the cafe, Maddison wanted to run away. However, she was no coward. She was going to face the music head-on. 

"No payment needed, miss. Your cab fare was already paid for," The cab driver explained. 

"Paid for?" Maddison asked in confusion. 

"Yes, the butler who booked it already paid me five hundred, he said the extra was for my troubles," the cab driver smiled. 

Five hundred dollars for a cab ride?!

That was the first time Maddison had ever encountered something like that. The rich sure operated differently. Even though Hugo was rich, he wasn't as wealthy as Elias. Perhaps there were still different levels of wealth amongst the rich. 

"Alright then, thank you," Maddison thanked the driver and was about to get out of the cab when he stopped her. 

"Miss, I will wait here for you. Just in case uh… you need to go elsewhere," the driver said with a wink. 

His offer caught her by surprise. 

"But I don't have that much money to offer you, mister," Maddison blurted out without much thought. 

"Oh, that's alright. No extra charge," He quickly explained, "To be honest, I felt bad for taking so much money. So the next ride will be on me."

She smiled gratefully, thanked him, and got out of the cab. Maddison didn't even have time to breathe. As soon as the paparazzi caught sight of her, they immediately turned their attention to her. 

Maddison knew she only had one chance, she ran straight into the cafe and closed the door behind her. The flashing cameras were still going off. Even through the glass door, she could hear muffled voices, asking her question after question. 

Just as she turned to walk towards the kitchen, Maddison felt someone slap her across the face. The force of the impact sent her tumbling to the ground in shock. The stinging pain reminded her of the slap she had suffered at the hands of Lizzie Taylor. 

"You have a lot of nerve showing up here!" Cassy, the bakery owner, yelled at Maddison. 

Her face was red with anger. Maddison clenched her jaw as she got up on her feet. For years she had suffered under Cassy's hands. She didn't want to leave the cafe because of her co-workers, and because the job paid well. 

Maddison glanced at the kitchen. She could see her co-workers peeking through the door. They were signaling her to stay strong. She was grateful for their support, but she knew it wasn't enough. 

"I'm sorry Cassy, I-" 

"No, I don't want to hear anything you have to say! You've disrupted business, bringing the paparazzi here. I never expected you to be a gold digger, Maddison Lane. But I guess when you have no parents to teach you-"

That was her last straw. Maddison saw red. 

She raised her hand and slapped Cassy across the face.