Taste of Love - By Stephanie Nicole Page 0,12

the best presentation he'd ever seen, it wasn't as hideous as she had made it out to be. Something had her on edge lately, and Austin wasn't sure what it was. She hadn't been herself for the past couple of weeks. Her face was pale, and the dark circles under her eyes had become a permanent fixture.

He looked over to the dessert station, where she busied herself with a Baked Alaska. He could see her face redden as she prepared to yell at the sous chef for something else.

Austin quickly rushed over and grabbed her arm, telling one of the guys to take over for a minute. He guided her into her office and shut the door behind them.

"I'm not trying to tell you how to run your business, but you need to lay off a little bit. You've been riding them pretty hard lately," he said. He watched as she crossed the room and sat behind her desk. She reclined as much as her chair would allow and started rubbing her temples.

"Is there something wrong? Anything that you want to talk about or anything I can help with?" he asked her, now as a concerned friend, rather than an employee.

Madison just gazed at him with a blank expression. "You know I expect perfection," she said, her voice dull.

"It's more than that, and you know it. What's going on? What's bothering you?" he asked her, his tone laced with worry. He went and knelt beside her, taking her hand in his.

It was just what Madison needed to push her over the edge. Her resolve softened, and she broke. The tears streamed down her cheeks, so suddenly that it was as if someone had turned on a faucet inside her.

"I don't know," she sobbed. "It's like I'm a completely different person sometimes, like something inside of me snaps, and even though I hear myself being harsh and unreasonable, I can't stop it."

Austin took a tissue from the box on her desk and handed it to her. She used her free hand to dab at her eyes and nose.

"I'm scared, Austin. What if I'm becoming schizophrenic or something? I don't want to be known as the crazy lady with multiple personalities," she told him, with a seriousness that made his heart ache for her.

Austin pulled Madison into a tight embrace. "Shhh... sweetie, you don't have multiple personalities. There has to be some sort of reasonable explanation for this," he soothed, rubbing her back. "Don't hit me, but maybe it's just a bad case of PMS?"

Madison pushed him away, ticked that he would even suggest it. The look on his face was priceless though, and made her want to laugh through the tears.

She thought about it for a minute. It had been a while since her last cycle, so that could very well be what it was. She wasn't the kind of woman to keep track of something like that. She tried when she was in high school, but it was so erratic that she gave up. It was one area of her life that she wasn't able to control and schedule, so she tried to put it out of her mind and not pay any attention to it.

"Maybe you're right. I've just never felt this out of sorts before." She grabbed another tissue and blew her nose.

"Well, at least I finally got to hug you," Austin teased.

Madison smacked him, finally laughing. "I feel better already. And thanks for making me feel a little less crazy."

"Hey, what are friends for?" He kissed her cheek softly, then they headed back to work.

"Cameron honey, when are you leaving to tour the country?" Bunny asked her son as she talked to him on the phone.

"Well, the dates aren't set in stone yet because the album isn't finished, but most likely in about a month and a half or two months. Why?" he asked, almost not wanting to know the answer.

"I know you hate it when I do this, but there is this absolutely delightful woman that I want you to meet. I think you two would be perfect for each other, and don't worry, she runs a successful business and it keeps her quite occupied, so she won't be complaining about your touring," she told him.

"Mother! Do you remember what happened the last time you arranged a date?" he asked, not wanting to get into it with her again over Alexandra Lee. They had a pretty explosive argument two days after that date, mother upset at