Just Another Peek

Clint clenched his fists as he peered over Madeline’s shoulder. He forced himself to breathe in and out through his nose. How dare she...how dare she betray him like this?!

But he supposed it was on him for trusting her in the first place...maybe. Probably not.

After all, it wasn’t like he started dating her right away. That would be incredibly dumb, especially after she deserted him for another man two years ago. Yeah, she didn’t know Clint knew about the other man, but he did. Unlike dear Madeline, he wasn’t dumb in the slightest. He was, however, forced to wallow in his anger and injured pride when she denied him his right to a relationship. The only reason he didn’t go after her was that they had only gone on two dates. Which was hardly enough time to forge a strong, unbreakable chain between them. Clint would have only driven Madeline off more if he had been...persistent.

It still stung awfully, though.

But as luck would have it, they chanced upon each other in the market a month ago. After a nice, informative chat, he learned that she had gotten dumped, which came as no surprise to Clint. If she deserted a man like him, who else could actually want her? And perhaps Clint should have just left her behind at his favorite coffee booth, much like she did to him. But he remembered how he felt when she rejected him after two very nice dates, and he decided that he wanted her. It didn’t help that Clint’s taste in girls was admittedly rather picky, so he hadn’t had too much luck in...the romantic department.

And Madeline, for better or for worse, was exactly his type.

So he asked her on another date, and then another, and then another. Luckily, Madeline had her head screwed on tight this time because she agreed to go on their third date. And not long after that, they easily became a couple without him...tipping his hand.

But Clint now saw that they became a couple too easily. That he should have limited Madeline’s freedom earlier. That he should have convinced her not to write anymore, or at least stopped her from hiking with some girl named Casey. That he should have seen Madeline had just been using him for free food and jewelry.

Because why else would she be looking at pictures of her and another guy on her laptop?!

Clint looked around in the small cafe and saw that the only employee had just gone into the back. He and Madeline were the only customers.

...It was probably still too public to risk disciplining her here. It was very tempting, but unfortunately, there were dumb and nosy people out there who didn’t know the difference between actual violence and honest discipline.

With that said...Clint could probably afford to get a little...loud. Madeline was cheating on him after all. That waitress should understand that much.

“What’s on your screen?” Clint asked, his socially acceptable kind tone completely gone. Madeline turned around and blinked at him. She didn’t even attempt to hide what was on her laptop.

Ah, so she was going for the innocent gambit. The thought that Madeline believed she could fool him only got him angrier.

“Oh, just pictures of my friend when we-”

“Don’t toy with me,” he spat out. “That’s your boyfriend, isn’t it? You’re cheating on me, Madeline!”

“No, I’m not. You are just overreacting,” Madeline answered calmly as she stood up. “And I preferred to be called Mad.”

Clint’s vision went completely red. She did not just…

“I call you what I want to call you!” he exclaimed as he raised his hand and swung.

Only for Madeline to stop his hand with her forearm before he could slap her.

“Wax off,” she said with a wide smile. Clint could only blink.

“What-”

“Why the shocked face? Or did you really expect me not to learn basic self-defense before I dated an abuser?” Madeline interrupted him, still wearing that awful, wide smile like he was the victim.

“A-Abuser?” he growled, not thinking of anything else but how he needed to regain control of her quickly. “You stupid, delusional thot! If you think a little discipline is abuse, then…”

It took him merely a second to grab her arm and squeeze it. Hard.

“You just wait until we are at your place,” Clint continued. Then he smirked. “You have enough food for me to stay there for a couple of days, don’t you?”

But instead of acting afraid, as she should have been, she just stared at him coldly. Clint opened his mouth as he made to force her out of the cafe.

“Is that a threat?” Clint turned around and saw a man coming towards them from the direction of the employee entrance.

He was wearing a police uniform.

“No, officer!” Clint said as he quickly let go of Mad’s arm. “This is just a misunderstanding. You see-”

“Save your excuses. I saw and heard everything,” said the police officer as he brought out handcuffs. “Put your hands behind your back. You are under arrest for assault and battery and threat of domestic abuse.”

Clint could only stand there in shock as he mindlessly let the police officer cuff him. He glanced at Madeline, who was grinning from ear to ear. Then his eyes went to the pictures on Madeline’s laptop, and his eyes widened when he got a better look at the boyfriend.

“You...set me up?” he asked. Madeline’s grin became so wide that her teeth showed. “With your affair partner?!”

“Close. We set you up along with my ex-boyfriend,” Madeline said as the waitress appeared by her side, with an equally proud smile. “You know, the one I said mutually broke up with me? The one who is my hiking buddy? The one named Casey?”

“I am more of a man than you by the way,” the newly-named police officer added with a smirk. Clint growled as he glared at Madeline.

“When I get out-”

“Which won’t be for a long time,” said the lady waitress as she walked behind the front counter and took out a...crystal ball? “Not only did I record the whole thing on my phone, but according to my trusty crystal ball here, the other girls that you hurt will find the bravery to testify against you in court. And since the judge will be a woman...to put it bluntly, dear, you’re toast.”

“...Are you serious? Who even are you?” Clint asked. She couldn’t be serious...she actually believed in that stuff? And why the heck was she involved?

“My name is Madame Sylvie, dear, and I am very serious,” she replied. “I am a fortune teller, and thankfully, I have a food permit because customers do occasionally want tea.”

“We just changed some stuff around to make you think that this was a cafe,” Madeline added. "We knew you would have trouble saying no to local stuff like this. Especially when taking pictures here could boost your social presence. Or did you really think that us bumping into each other at that coffee booth was a coincidence?"

Then Madeline's smile finally dropped as her eyes narrowed.

"You're not going to hurt anyone else ever again, Clint," she said.

Despite his wrists already chaffing inside the blasted cuffs, despite the audacity of the whole situation, Clint couldn't help but laugh right in Madeline's face.

“You know, Madeline, I always knew you were dumb, but this takes the cake. Did your fortune teller friend tell you that I was bad news or something? That the only way to bring me down was to become some kind of vigilante? Wow, that is just rich. What is even richer is that you could have become a decent person if you had just trusted me. Leaned on me. Now, because of your friends...you’re crazy. And there is no coming back from that.”

Clint smirked, only for that smirk to drop when Madeline genuinely chuckled.

“Oh, Clint, I’m an author,” Madeline said, stepping closer to Clint so that her face was only a few inches away from his.

“I’ve always been crazy.”