CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
NATALIE
"You called my MOTHER?"
Natalie was completely flabbergasted at the sight of her mother sitting in Kate's living room when she walked in the door. "I know you said you wanted to talk, but you mentioned NOTHING about flying my mother out here!"
"Nat, please calm down," Kate said. "I called your mother before I said what I needed to say to you and she insisted on coming. Honestly."
The shock still on her face, Natalie slowly took a seat across from her mother and Kate. "What is this about?"
"Natalie, sweetheart, you know I love you. Kate and I both do. And I know that--well, maybe in your own way, you thought you were doing the right thing by trying to keep yours and Taylor's relationship intact,
but--sweetie, it's over. It is. And I know you're hurting and I know you're devastated, but chasing after him is not the answer. He's made his decision. He wanted to end the marriage."
"Crashing a random high school reunion is not going to solve anything," Kate added. "It will probably make things worse."
"Make things worse? I can't get him to talk to me, what else am I supposed to do? Don't I get to tell MY side of the story?"
Natalie's mother sighed, exasperated. "Sweetie, your side of the story is what got you divorced in the first place. You signed the papers. Why didn't you say anything then?"
Natalie's jaw dropped. She was hurt. She couldn't believe this. Kate and her mother ganging up on her. They were supposed to be on HER side! "I can't believe this. The two of you--you're taking up for him. You think I'm a monster! Keep in mind, he left me to go shack up with that little New York City slut! I SHOULD have gotten him for adultery! After he, what, we were going to renew our vows? He was going to try to make it work? He didn't leave me for faking some stupid little pregnancy, he left me for HER!"
"No, Natalie. He left you because you lied to him. You did it to him twice and have been lying to him for ten years. That's a pretty big deal," her mother said.
"He was going to STAY! We were going to renew our vows and he was going to STAY!"
Kate shook her head, sadly. "He wouldn't have been happy. He loves her, Nat. He's loved her his entire life. It's THERE. Would you really want to be in a relationship that his heart wasn't in?"
"He spent ten years with me! Ten of them! If he loved her THAT much, he could have left me a long time ago! But he didn't. He stayed with ME. And that counts for something."
"Maybe it did at one point," her mother said. "But people change. They change every day. And obviously your time is up now. I don't agree with what you did or how you handled it--or are handling it now. But what's done is done. And it's time to stop obsessing over it."
"Why are you even HERE, Mother??"
"I am here to take you home," her mother said sternly. "To stop all this foolishness and take you back home to Atlanta. There's nothing left for you here."
"Kate is here! My neice and nephew are here, they're my god children!! How can you say I have nothing left??"
"Natalie," Kate said quietly. "I think it's best. To keep you from causing any damage to yourself or to Taylor. Seriously, think about your actions."
Natalie was furious. Now Kate was trying to get rid of her, too. Choosing the Hansons over her life-long best friend. Natalie didn't care anymore. She was going to have her way, one way or another. "I was INVITED to that reunion tonight and I am GOING. And there is nothing either one of you can do that's gonna stop me."
With that, Natalie was out of Kate's house.
__________________________________________________
MEL
Mel's heart fluttered when she heard Taylor's voice from downstairs. "I'm here!"
"I'll be down in a second!"
She didn't know why she felt so giddy. Maybe it was the novelty of him picking her up for a date, she didn't know. She looked at herself in the mirror one last time, happy with her dress selection. It was a dark red, satin, sleeveless dress with a knee-length lace overlay of the same color. The sheer lace was long-sleeved and hung a couple of inches to her knees past the satin underneath. The dress hugged her snug in what she hoped were all the right places. With it she wore black, suede, platform pumps. No jewelry required. Her dark hair fell in loose curls down her back.
As she walked out of her bedroom, Mel suddenly stopped. "Go wait in the foyer," she called down to Tay.
"What?" He called in disbelief.
"Just do it! I don't want you to see me walking down the stairs, it feels stupid. Like this is some cliché prom night or something."
"Well if you think about it, it technically kinda is," he responded.
"Tay!"
"Okay, okay, fine," he said.
Mel descended the stairs to an empty living room and smiled with relief. It was in her foyer that her heart stopped.
She had seen Tay in all forms of attire. Jeans, t-shirts, tuxedos, swimwear...all of it. She was no stranger to his many styles. But tonight--good lord, tonight. He wore nothing she hadn't seen him in before. He was dressed simply. More simply than she had expected, actually. He wore black dress pants, black sport coat, dark blue button-down shirt, few buttons unbuttoned, no tie. There was just something about him that took her breath away. It wasn't how the shirt made his blue eyes pop. It wasn't his perfectly-tailored coat. It
wasn't his perfectly-coiffed hair. He was--HERS. He belonged to her this time. This was their first official function in public TOGETHER, not counting Drew's going-away party. Not that a high school reunion in Tulsa, Oklahoma necessarily counted as officially "coming out." But it was the fact that here was this gorgeous, beautiful man standing in front of her, smiling like an idiot, and he was with HER. She felt herself blushing a little.
"I'm kinda feeling the red," he said, looking her up and down, still smiling.
Mel smiled shyly. "Thank you. Do you think I'm over-dressed? I think I should change--"
"No no no," Tay said, catching her arm. "No. If that dress comes off now there'll be no replacing it."
Mel smiled deviously. "Is that a promise?"
He returned the expression. "Do you REALLY want to go tonight? Cause, uh, I can think of a few better things to do involving that dress..."
"I like how you made my life easier by leaving off the tie."
"We should really get out of here."
"I agree."
Tay was such a gentleman that night, it made Mel fall in love with him all over again. He held her hand as they walked to her Jeep. He opened the car door for her and held her hand as she got in. He started to close
the door for her when she realized where she was. "Hey, wait. What are you doing?"
"Um, I'm going to get in the car."
"In my Jeep? You're driving MY Jeep."
"Well yeah, I figured you'd want to take this tonight instead of mine."
"But...you're driving my Jeep..."
Tay smiled and kissed her, mindlessly putting her seatbelt over her shoulder for her. He kissed her lips and he kissed her cheek. Between kisses he said, "We could sit out here all night debating this but I can think of more fun things to do in this thing if we're just going to sit out here."
"Okay, fine. Just don't wreck it."
Tay was smiling as he bounded into the driver seat and put the key in the ignition. Mel looked at him incredulously. "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"
"Did what?"
"You just wanted to drive my Jeep. You've been itching to drive it since I bought it, haven't you?"
He narrowed his eyes at her, mockingly thinking of a way to object. Instead he said, "Well fuck yeah I want to drive it. It's a nice Jeep. You keep a damn death grip on your keys so I swiped them off the table in the foyer just now." He buckled his seat belt. "You should really find a safer place to keep your keys."
Mel glared at him as he backed out of the driveway.
Thankfully his driving didn't put her on edge for too long because Drew started texting her. Mel was disappointed she couldn't get in town early enough to get ready with her. Her current text read, "People are staring at me like I'm crazy, dressed up like I am. Did my face on the plane. Leaving the airport now, coming straight to the hotel."
Mel sighed. "Drew's just now leaving the airport. It sucks she couldn't get in town any earlier. She's gonna meet us there."
"Now that you've spoken to her you can put your phone right there in that console," Tay said. "We're not doing this phone thing tonight."
Mel gaped at him. "Excuse me? After you!"
Tay had a hard time keeping his eyes on the road as he looked over at her. "What do you mean, after me?"
"Well if you're going to ask me to leave my phone in the car I suggest you follow your own rules. Don't ask me to do anything you wouldn't do."
"I--I don't--I don't keep my head in my phone like you do. It's, like, constant with you."
"I think it's only fair," Mel said, putting her phone back in her clutch.
"Okay, okay, fine," he said. The Jeep swerved as he fished his phone out of his pocket and dropped it in the console. "There. Okay?"
"Both of them."
"What? No! The other one is business!"
"Really, Tay? What's going to happen in the next four hours that Ike or Zac could desperately need to get ahold of you, knowing you have plans tonight?"
"Uh, well...the--the studio could burn down."
"And the one phone call specifically to you is going to just magically put the fire out and restore the building?"
He looked at her and back at the road then back at her again. "It could."
"Out with it."
Tay sighed and the Jeep swerved again as he fished his other phone out of his other pocket. He dropped it in the console with the other one. "There. Happy?"
"Well no, I'm not happy, this was YOUR idea," Mel said, dropping her own phone along with his. "I didn't want to do it. You made me."
Taylor glared at her.
"You better watch the road. You're gonna get pulled for drunk driving."
"No I won't," he responded. "Deputy Dog is at the Hyatt."
Mel began to laugh. "Deputy what?"
Tay shook his head. "Nothing."
Walking up to the hotel, Mel's nerves were shot. Completely shot. She didn't know if Drew was there yet, she had no idea what to expect--and what she didn't expect was the cat call whistle that rang out when they walked past a group of three men with beers in their hands.
Tay stopped and turned around. "Hey, buddy, where's your wife?"
The guy laughed. "Hell, I don't remember!" The other two laughed with him.
Mel turned around to look at them, recognizing the three goons instantly. They were nicknamed the Three Stooges in high school for a reason. Matthew Farmer, the one standing in the middle doing all the whistling, was the biggest stooge of them all. "Matthew Farmer," Mel said, looking up at him and smiling.
"Shit!" One of the guys whispered.
They straightened themselves up and Matt cleared his throat. "Hey, Melody Banks, how the hell are ya?"
"I'm great, how are you?" Mel responded sweetly. "You in the mood to reminisce a little, Matt? About the good old days? You know, since we're at a reunion and all?"
"Uh, I don't find it completely necessary. I mean, not if you don't want to."
"Oh I want to," Mel said. "You remember that one time, at the homecoming game, when a little birdie--a really loud birdie--wanted to spread rumors about a certain someone's best friend and didn't know when to keep his mouth shut?"
"Uh, those games are kinda vague in my memory now. You know, too much beer over the years," Matt laughed nervously. His friends were silent.
"Let me refresh your memory about how a tiny little girl put you on the ground in front of god and
everybody--"
"Okay! Okay, I think we've had enough reminiscing for now--"
Mel wasn't finished. "Did you know I used to be a cop? NYPD. Did you know I carry--"
Mel's fun was over when Tay caught her as she bent over, instantly knowing what was about to happen. "Mel," he hissed at her. "What the hell are you doing? Are you carrying?"
She turned her back to the three guys to talk to Tay privately. "So what if I am?"
"Why the hell did you feel the need to bring it? Are you crazy? You can't take that thing in there! You and I are going to go to the car right now and you are going to lock that thing up tight in the glove compartment! No cell phones, no guns!"
Mel looked up at him and smiled. "You're so cute."
He looked around over her head and then back at her. "I'll be even cuter once we get that gun out from underneath your dress."
Mel blushed a little. "Well. No man's ever said THAT to me before. Usually it's the other way around."
Tay rolled his eyes as he tried to fight back a smile.
Walking past the guys to the parking lot, Matt stopped them. "Look, Mel, I'm sorry about earlier, okay?" Then he reached out and shook Tay's hand. "No hard feelings?"
"No problem," Tay said, graciously.
As Tay and Mel found the parking lot, they heard Matt call out, "MMMBop!" The other two goons laughed with him.
"That's it. I've had enough!" Mel whipped around to walk back to them when Tay hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her back.
"Leave it alone, Mel," Tay said. "It's not worth it."
"But he's so damn rude!"
"I don't care. I get it all the time. Hell I get MMMBopped so much sometimes I even MMMBop at myself in the mirror. It's crazy, you'll never understand it. Look, we'll just ignore them and not let them ruin
tonight, okay? They're not worth it."
"Tay, we can't even get in without being heckled. I'm already exhausted and we haven't even entered the building yet. Is this what it's going to be like all night?"
"It could be. Do we care? I mean, we're here together. All I care about is you and how I'm not going to be able to keep my hands off of you tonight."
Mel smiled up at him. "It does help that I'm with the sexiest man here..."
"See? We'll be the sexiest couple here tonight. We should, like, win an award or something."
Mel giggled. "Didn't I already tell you how adorable you are?"
"I think the word you used was cute. But synonyms are welcome."
"Okay, okay. Let's get this gun off my leg and do this thing."
"You'll have a gun on your leg again before morning, that's a promise," Tay flirted.
"You just keep on..."
Walking back to the hotel was more peaceful the second time. The stooges had gone inside and the party was starting within minutes. They were stopped at a table outside the doors headed by former student council
members. All female. Mel saw the instant stars in their eyes as they walked up. Yes, yes, Tay was incredibly dreamy. But did they have to be so obvious?
Mel vaguely remembered them, but as a group she didn't hang out with. Of course they greeted her as if they'd practically been sisters back then. "Mel, you look so fabulous, you haven't changed a bit!" They
gushed at her.
Mel wanted to roll her eyes but she kept her composure. "Um, so, are these necessary?" she asked, referring to the gaudy stick-on nametags.
One girl looked up at her regretfully. "They are. They're required for entry into the ballroom."
Tay was already sticking his nametag onto his jacket. That didn't take long. Another girl was writing Mel's out with a confused look on her face. "So...is this Banks, Bradshaw..." she then looked up between Tay and Mel. "...or Hanson?"
Every time. Every single time. "Uh, Ban--"
Then Tay interrupted her, muttering, perhaps a little louder than he had meant to, "Well if you 'accidentally' wrote Hanson on it I wouldn't have a problem with it..."
Every female at the table, including Mel, stopped to stare at him. Mel closed her eyes and prayed quietly. "Oh Christ..."
One of the little blondes finally spoke up. "Uh-oh! Is that marriage proposal I hear?"
Taylor blushed and Mel wanted to crawl in a hole and die. If this was a precursor of what tonight was going to be..."Banks. It's Banks, my name is Banks."
As the girls 'awwww'd' and such, Tay finally said, "Yes, ladies, she is correct, it is Banks." Then he winked at them. "But ask her again in a couple of years."
The girls giggled as they walked away from the table and Mel's blood was swiftly rising in her cheeks. As they stepped into the ballroom, she asked, "What was all that about?"
"Well--I'm proud of you. I want everyone to know that you're mine."
Mel smiled, her heart melting. "They already know."
He smiled sheepishly, looking around. "I know..."
Mel then ripped his nametag off of his jacket and off of her own dress. "We are not wearing these stupid things."
"Why not? Hell sometimes I pray someone would need a nametag to learn my name."
"They're not necessary and mine will ruin my dress." She ripped them up and put them in a nearby garbage can.
Hooking her arm in his, the couple walked into the room. As expected, the room was full already. As further expected, everyone stared. Whispered. Some even pointed. Mel was mortified, but proud at the same time. "Oh my god, everyone is staring," Mel murmured to him. "I don't see how you do it."
"Sometimes it's awkward," he said.
"What am I supposed to do now?"
"Find someone and say hello. Once we start socializing things will go back to normal."
"I need to socialize with a bartender."
"Whatever gets your party started."
As they walked over to the bar, talking began to pick up again and Mel assumed the initial shock of Tay's presence had worn off. Neither one of them could ignore the flashing of the cameras, though. "At least my
paparazzi hides in bushes and shit," Mel said. "I don't see how you handle it."
"Stick with me, yours is coming, trust me. If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me."
"Ha ha."
Suddenly the room fell silent again. The flashing of the cameras stopped. It was eerie. Even Tay glanced over at Mel in question. The two of them turned around from the bar to see what had caused the sudden silence.
Drew had arrived.
_____________________________________________________
NATALIE
"You called my MOTHER?"
Natalie was completely flabbergasted at the sight of her mother sitting in Kate's living room when she walked in the door. "I know you said you wanted to talk, but you mentioned NOTHING about flying my mother out here!"
"Nat, please calm down," Kate said. "I called your mother before I said what I needed to say to you and she insisted on coming. Honestly."
The shock still on her face, Natalie slowly took a seat across from her mother and Kate. "What is this about?"
"Natalie, sweetheart, you know I love you. Kate and I both do. And I know that--well, maybe in your own way, you thought you were doing the right thing by trying to keep yours and Taylor's relationship intact,
but--sweetie, it's over. It is. And I know you're hurting and I know you're devastated, but chasing after him is not the answer. He's made his decision. He wanted to end the marriage."
"Crashing a random high school reunion is not going to solve anything," Kate added. "It will probably make things worse."
"Make things worse? I can't get him to talk to me, what else am I supposed to do? Don't I get to tell MY side of the story?"
Natalie's mother sighed, exasperated. "Sweetie, your side of the story is what got you divorced in the first place. You signed the papers. Why didn't you say anything then?"
Natalie's jaw dropped. She was hurt. She couldn't believe this. Kate and her mother ganging up on her. They were supposed to be on HER side! "I can't believe this. The two of you--you're taking up for him. You think I'm a monster! Keep in mind, he left me to go shack up with that little New York City slut! I SHOULD have gotten him for adultery! After he, what, we were going to renew our vows? He was going to try to make it work? He didn't leave me for faking some stupid little pregnancy, he left me for HER!"
"No, Natalie. He left you because you lied to him. You did it to him twice and have been lying to him for ten years. That's a pretty big deal," her mother said.
"He was going to STAY! We were going to renew our vows and he was going to STAY!"
Kate shook her head, sadly. "He wouldn't have been happy. He loves her, Nat. He's loved her his entire life. It's THERE. Would you really want to be in a relationship that his heart wasn't in?"
"He spent ten years with me! Ten of them! If he loved her THAT much, he could have left me a long time ago! But he didn't. He stayed with ME. And that counts for something."
"Maybe it did at one point," her mother said. "But people change. They change every day. And obviously your time is up now. I don't agree with what you did or how you handled it--or are handling it now. But what's done is done. And it's time to stop obsessing over it."
"Why are you even HERE, Mother??"
"I am here to take you home," her mother said sternly. "To stop all this foolishness and take you back home to Atlanta. There's nothing left for you here."
"Kate is here! My neice and nephew are here, they're my god children!! How can you say I have nothing left??"
"Natalie," Kate said quietly. "I think it's best. To keep you from causing any damage to yourself or to Taylor. Seriously, think about your actions."
Natalie was furious. Now Kate was trying to get rid of her, too. Choosing the Hansons over her life-long best friend. Natalie didn't care anymore. She was going to have her way, one way or another. "I was INVITED to that reunion tonight and I am GOING. And there is nothing either one of you can do that's gonna stop me."
With that, Natalie was out of Kate's house.
__________________________________________________
MEL
Mel's heart fluttered when she heard Taylor's voice from downstairs. "I'm here!"
"I'll be down in a second!"
She didn't know why she felt so giddy. Maybe it was the novelty of him picking her up for a date, she didn't know. She looked at herself in the mirror one last time, happy with her dress selection. It was a dark red, satin, sleeveless dress with a knee-length lace overlay of the same color. The sheer lace was long-sleeved and hung a couple of inches to her knees past the satin underneath. The dress hugged her snug in what she hoped were all the right places. With it she wore black, suede, platform pumps. No jewelry required. Her dark hair fell in loose curls down her back.
As she walked out of her bedroom, Mel suddenly stopped. "Go wait in the foyer," she called down to Tay.
"What?" He called in disbelief.
"Just do it! I don't want you to see me walking down the stairs, it feels stupid. Like this is some cliché prom night or something."
"Well if you think about it, it technically kinda is," he responded.
"Tay!"
"Okay, okay, fine," he said.
Mel descended the stairs to an empty living room and smiled with relief. It was in her foyer that her heart stopped.
She had seen Tay in all forms of attire. Jeans, t-shirts, tuxedos, swimwear...all of it. She was no stranger to his many styles. But tonight--good lord, tonight. He wore nothing she hadn't seen him in before. He was dressed simply. More simply than she had expected, actually. He wore black dress pants, black sport coat, dark blue button-down shirt, few buttons unbuttoned, no tie. There was just something about him that took her breath away. It wasn't how the shirt made his blue eyes pop. It wasn't his perfectly-tailored coat. It
wasn't his perfectly-coiffed hair. He was--HERS. He belonged to her this time. This was their first official function in public TOGETHER, not counting Drew's going-away party. Not that a high school reunion in Tulsa, Oklahoma necessarily counted as officially "coming out." But it was the fact that here was this gorgeous, beautiful man standing in front of her, smiling like an idiot, and he was with HER. She felt herself blushing a little.
"I'm kinda feeling the red," he said, looking her up and down, still smiling.
Mel smiled shyly. "Thank you. Do you think I'm over-dressed? I think I should change--"
"No no no," Tay said, catching her arm. "No. If that dress comes off now there'll be no replacing it."
Mel smiled deviously. "Is that a promise?"
He returned the expression. "Do you REALLY want to go tonight? Cause, uh, I can think of a few better things to do involving that dress..."
"I like how you made my life easier by leaving off the tie."
"We should really get out of here."
"I agree."
Tay was such a gentleman that night, it made Mel fall in love with him all over again. He held her hand as they walked to her Jeep. He opened the car door for her and held her hand as she got in. He started to close
the door for her when she realized where she was. "Hey, wait. What are you doing?"
"Um, I'm going to get in the car."
"In my Jeep? You're driving MY Jeep."
"Well yeah, I figured you'd want to take this tonight instead of mine."
"But...you're driving my Jeep..."
Tay smiled and kissed her, mindlessly putting her seatbelt over her shoulder for her. He kissed her lips and he kissed her cheek. Between kisses he said, "We could sit out here all night debating this but I can think of more fun things to do in this thing if we're just going to sit out here."
"Okay, fine. Just don't wreck it."
Tay was smiling as he bounded into the driver seat and put the key in the ignition. Mel looked at him incredulously. "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"
"Did what?"
"You just wanted to drive my Jeep. You've been itching to drive it since I bought it, haven't you?"
He narrowed his eyes at her, mockingly thinking of a way to object. Instead he said, "Well fuck yeah I want to drive it. It's a nice Jeep. You keep a damn death grip on your keys so I swiped them off the table in the foyer just now." He buckled his seat belt. "You should really find a safer place to keep your keys."
Mel glared at him as he backed out of the driveway.
Thankfully his driving didn't put her on edge for too long because Drew started texting her. Mel was disappointed she couldn't get in town early enough to get ready with her. Her current text read, "People are staring at me like I'm crazy, dressed up like I am. Did my face on the plane. Leaving the airport now, coming straight to the hotel."
Mel sighed. "Drew's just now leaving the airport. It sucks she couldn't get in town any earlier. She's gonna meet us there."
"Now that you've spoken to her you can put your phone right there in that console," Tay said. "We're not doing this phone thing tonight."
Mel gaped at him. "Excuse me? After you!"
Tay had a hard time keeping his eyes on the road as he looked over at her. "What do you mean, after me?"
"Well if you're going to ask me to leave my phone in the car I suggest you follow your own rules. Don't ask me to do anything you wouldn't do."
"I--I don't--I don't keep my head in my phone like you do. It's, like, constant with you."
"I think it's only fair," Mel said, putting her phone back in her clutch.
"Okay, okay, fine," he said. The Jeep swerved as he fished his phone out of his pocket and dropped it in the console. "There. Okay?"
"Both of them."
"What? No! The other one is business!"
"Really, Tay? What's going to happen in the next four hours that Ike or Zac could desperately need to get ahold of you, knowing you have plans tonight?"
"Uh, well...the--the studio could burn down."
"And the one phone call specifically to you is going to just magically put the fire out and restore the building?"
He looked at her and back at the road then back at her again. "It could."
"Out with it."
Tay sighed and the Jeep swerved again as he fished his other phone out of his other pocket. He dropped it in the console with the other one. "There. Happy?"
"Well no, I'm not happy, this was YOUR idea," Mel said, dropping her own phone along with his. "I didn't want to do it. You made me."
Taylor glared at her.
"You better watch the road. You're gonna get pulled for drunk driving."
"No I won't," he responded. "Deputy Dog is at the Hyatt."
Mel began to laugh. "Deputy what?"
Tay shook his head. "Nothing."
Walking up to the hotel, Mel's nerves were shot. Completely shot. She didn't know if Drew was there yet, she had no idea what to expect--and what she didn't expect was the cat call whistle that rang out when they walked past a group of three men with beers in their hands.
Tay stopped and turned around. "Hey, buddy, where's your wife?"
The guy laughed. "Hell, I don't remember!" The other two laughed with him.
Mel turned around to look at them, recognizing the three goons instantly. They were nicknamed the Three Stooges in high school for a reason. Matthew Farmer, the one standing in the middle doing all the whistling, was the biggest stooge of them all. "Matthew Farmer," Mel said, looking up at him and smiling.
"Shit!" One of the guys whispered.
They straightened themselves up and Matt cleared his throat. "Hey, Melody Banks, how the hell are ya?"
"I'm great, how are you?" Mel responded sweetly. "You in the mood to reminisce a little, Matt? About the good old days? You know, since we're at a reunion and all?"
"Uh, I don't find it completely necessary. I mean, not if you don't want to."
"Oh I want to," Mel said. "You remember that one time, at the homecoming game, when a little birdie--a really loud birdie--wanted to spread rumors about a certain someone's best friend and didn't know when to keep his mouth shut?"
"Uh, those games are kinda vague in my memory now. You know, too much beer over the years," Matt laughed nervously. His friends were silent.
"Let me refresh your memory about how a tiny little girl put you on the ground in front of god and
everybody--"
"Okay! Okay, I think we've had enough reminiscing for now--"
Mel wasn't finished. "Did you know I used to be a cop? NYPD. Did you know I carry--"
Mel's fun was over when Tay caught her as she bent over, instantly knowing what was about to happen. "Mel," he hissed at her. "What the hell are you doing? Are you carrying?"
She turned her back to the three guys to talk to Tay privately. "So what if I am?"
"Why the hell did you feel the need to bring it? Are you crazy? You can't take that thing in there! You and I are going to go to the car right now and you are going to lock that thing up tight in the glove compartment! No cell phones, no guns!"
Mel looked up at him and smiled. "You're so cute."
He looked around over her head and then back at her. "I'll be even cuter once we get that gun out from underneath your dress."
Mel blushed a little. "Well. No man's ever said THAT to me before. Usually it's the other way around."
Tay rolled his eyes as he tried to fight back a smile.
Walking past the guys to the parking lot, Matt stopped them. "Look, Mel, I'm sorry about earlier, okay?" Then he reached out and shook Tay's hand. "No hard feelings?"
"No problem," Tay said, graciously.
As Tay and Mel found the parking lot, they heard Matt call out, "MMMBop!" The other two goons laughed with him.
"That's it. I've had enough!" Mel whipped around to walk back to them when Tay hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her back.
"Leave it alone, Mel," Tay said. "It's not worth it."
"But he's so damn rude!"
"I don't care. I get it all the time. Hell I get MMMBopped so much sometimes I even MMMBop at myself in the mirror. It's crazy, you'll never understand it. Look, we'll just ignore them and not let them ruin
tonight, okay? They're not worth it."
"Tay, we can't even get in without being heckled. I'm already exhausted and we haven't even entered the building yet. Is this what it's going to be like all night?"
"It could be. Do we care? I mean, we're here together. All I care about is you and how I'm not going to be able to keep my hands off of you tonight."
Mel smiled up at him. "It does help that I'm with the sexiest man here..."
"See? We'll be the sexiest couple here tonight. We should, like, win an award or something."
Mel giggled. "Didn't I already tell you how adorable you are?"
"I think the word you used was cute. But synonyms are welcome."
"Okay, okay. Let's get this gun off my leg and do this thing."
"You'll have a gun on your leg again before morning, that's a promise," Tay flirted.
"You just keep on..."
Walking back to the hotel was more peaceful the second time. The stooges had gone inside and the party was starting within minutes. They were stopped at a table outside the doors headed by former student council
members. All female. Mel saw the instant stars in their eyes as they walked up. Yes, yes, Tay was incredibly dreamy. But did they have to be so obvious?
Mel vaguely remembered them, but as a group she didn't hang out with. Of course they greeted her as if they'd practically been sisters back then. "Mel, you look so fabulous, you haven't changed a bit!" They
gushed at her.
Mel wanted to roll her eyes but she kept her composure. "Um, so, are these necessary?" she asked, referring to the gaudy stick-on nametags.
One girl looked up at her regretfully. "They are. They're required for entry into the ballroom."
Tay was already sticking his nametag onto his jacket. That didn't take long. Another girl was writing Mel's out with a confused look on her face. "So...is this Banks, Bradshaw..." she then looked up between Tay and Mel. "...or Hanson?"
Every time. Every single time. "Uh, Ban--"
Then Tay interrupted her, muttering, perhaps a little louder than he had meant to, "Well if you 'accidentally' wrote Hanson on it I wouldn't have a problem with it..."
Every female at the table, including Mel, stopped to stare at him. Mel closed her eyes and prayed quietly. "Oh Christ..."
One of the little blondes finally spoke up. "Uh-oh! Is that marriage proposal I hear?"
Taylor blushed and Mel wanted to crawl in a hole and die. If this was a precursor of what tonight was going to be..."Banks. It's Banks, my name is Banks."
As the girls 'awwww'd' and such, Tay finally said, "Yes, ladies, she is correct, it is Banks." Then he winked at them. "But ask her again in a couple of years."
The girls giggled as they walked away from the table and Mel's blood was swiftly rising in her cheeks. As they stepped into the ballroom, she asked, "What was all that about?"
"Well--I'm proud of you. I want everyone to know that you're mine."
Mel smiled, her heart melting. "They already know."
He smiled sheepishly, looking around. "I know..."
Mel then ripped his nametag off of his jacket and off of her own dress. "We are not wearing these stupid things."
"Why not? Hell sometimes I pray someone would need a nametag to learn my name."
"They're not necessary and mine will ruin my dress." She ripped them up and put them in a nearby garbage can.
Hooking her arm in his, the couple walked into the room. As expected, the room was full already. As further expected, everyone stared. Whispered. Some even pointed. Mel was mortified, but proud at the same time. "Oh my god, everyone is staring," Mel murmured to him. "I don't see how you do it."
"Sometimes it's awkward," he said.
"What am I supposed to do now?"
"Find someone and say hello. Once we start socializing things will go back to normal."
"I need to socialize with a bartender."
"Whatever gets your party started."
As they walked over to the bar, talking began to pick up again and Mel assumed the initial shock of Tay's presence had worn off. Neither one of them could ignore the flashing of the cameras, though. "At least my
paparazzi hides in bushes and shit," Mel said. "I don't see how you handle it."
"Stick with me, yours is coming, trust me. If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me."
"Ha ha."
Suddenly the room fell silent again. The flashing of the cameras stopped. It was eerie. Even Tay glanced over at Mel in question. The two of them turned around from the bar to see what had caused the sudden silence.
Drew had arrived.
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