CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
MEL
Mel and Jason sat on opposite beds, facing each other. A small smile crossed Mel's lips. "I'm glad you're here," she said quietly.
Jason smiled warmly. "Me, too."
"So, um, what floor are you on?
"Just right above you."
"Oh. Okay. Well that's not far..."
Jason stared across at her, intently. "Listen. I'm about to do something. And I don't want you to freak out about it, I don't want you to over-analyze it and I don't want to discuss it afterward. I'm only doing it because I think you need it."
Mel's body stiffened immediately as he sat beside her on the edge of her bed. She wanted to object. She wanted to say no, to push him away, to run, to kick him out of her room. She didn't want this. She couldn't want this. She felt like she was a prisoner of her own emotions. She felt like--
He gently placed a hand on her cheek and brought his lips to hers and he kissed her. It was the most tender he had ever kissed her. She hesitated before kissing him back, slowly giving in to him. He opened his mouth and found her tongue and deepened their kiss. He kept it together, never once breaking rhythm. He kissed her slowly, carefully. With purpose.
Mel had just begun to relax and accept his kiss when his hand left her cheek and slowly traveled down her body. She tensed up once again and widened her eyes, breaking their kiss. She opened her mouth to speak but Jason beat her to it. "Shh. Trust me."
She tried to relax. She had never not been able to trust him before but this was the first time he'd ever actually gone back on his word...and she couldn't totally say she was disappointed. Pulling her t-shirt up off of her pants, he unbuttoned and unzipped her, and then slowly slid his hand down the front. When his fingers found her, he whispered again, "Trust me."
He began to massage her as he kissed her lips and she didn't know what to do with herself. Her mind screamed at her to end it. End it now! Her heart had absolutely no opinion. Her body craved more. She
found herself wanting to let go, little by little, when soon logic finally reached her brain and she reasoned that since he had already gone to the trouble, she might as well just let it happen. Besides, who did she have
to worry about now anyway?
To give him better access, she stripped herself from the waist down and when he inserted his fingers inside her with ease, chills ran down her spine and she released a quiet moan into his mouth. His hand never wandered and his mouth stayed on hers. He worked her up with purpose, as if he had a goal.
Suddenly he broke their kiss and grabbed her by her waist, moving her with ease into a straddling position in his lap. He continued with her just as he had before, keeping his mouth on hers and keeping his hand between her legs. He alternated inside and outside of her and it slowly began to drive her mad. Mel let her hands begin to wander on him and her mouth desperately traveled to his ear and neck. Jason stopped what he was doing and sucked in a breath, laughing seductively. "Okay, now. Okay. Let's not get too carried away here." He took her by the hands and placed them gently on his shoulders and then kissed her lips again.
"Stay right here. Just let me..." He took her in his mouth once more and slid his fingers deeper inside her. "Relax," he said breaking their kiss once more. Mel obeyed as he started to feel better and better inside her. Her hips began to rock to the rhythm on his hand and he grinned, a devilish grin. "That's it," he whispered. "You're getting there..."
This wasn't enough. Frantically, she ignored him and her hands flew straight to his pants underneath her and began unbuttoning them. Now it was Jason's turn to look up at Mel in shock. "Uh, wait. This wasn't
supposed to go that far..."
"I don't really give a shit," she said, locking eyes with him.
Helping her release him, they couldn't get each other's shirts over their heads fast enough. Skin on skin, she hovered over him and slowly slid herself on him, savoring how rock hard he was inside her. Her head fell
back for a few seconds as she found her rhythm on him, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist to hold her in place.
Mel brought her head back up and wrapped her arms around his neck and then hooked her forearms up over his head, her upper arms braced on his shoulders so that she could ride him harder. With his head in her arms, her face hovered over his and they watched each other, feeling each other's hot breath as she rocked her hips with a faster rhythm on top of him. Her hands lowered and she found fistfuls of his hair as she jerked his head back and commanded his mouth. She kissed him hard and she felt his arms wrap around her tighter, holding her closer to him.
She broke their kiss because she felt that she was quickly losing control. As she concentrated on fucking him, Jason's tongue teased and traced her neck, heightening her arousal to levels almost unheard of.
And then somewhere, somehow, underneath her body, she felt Jason's body give up in defeat. He completely relaxed himself and leaned back, bracing his hands behind him on the bed and she rode him all the way home,
nearly screaming in ecstasy when she came. He followed soon after and after her breathing had calmed down, she found herself still upright on top of him, her hand on the back of his neck, a mass of his hair clinched inside her small fist. She looked at him in amazement, entirely surprised with herself. She had completely dominated him. Practically diminished him to nothing--completely used him solely for his dick. She felt
relieved. She felt loose.
She felt magnificent.
To her surprise, Jason smiled at her. "Uh, well then. I was only going to give you an orgasm. You know, help relieve some tension..."
"Well I had one, didn't I?" Mel retorted breathlessly.
He laughed lightly and nodded. "Yeah, you definitely did."
"When you think about it, it didn't really matter how it happened, right?"
"Um...how can I argue with that logic?"
Mel narrowed her eyes at him. "We're not supposed to be discussing this."
"Oh. Right."
"But thank you. Really. I think I kinda did need it."
Jason laughed a hearty laugh. "Glad I could be of service to you. You know, you totally treated me like I was some kind of whore just then."
Mel grinned as she got up off of him to let him up. "You liked it."
"I absolutely did."
Jason and Mel got up and began to redress themselves. "So, look, I took it upon myself to make dinner reservations for us tonight," he told her. "I hope you don't mind. I know you've been carrying a lot on
your plate lately and I just figured it'd be helpful if someone took the reins from you for a moment."
Mel smiled at him. "You really are the best, you know that?"
"Oh, but wait, there's more," he joked with her. "Drew and Gerard are coming, too."
"Drew and--Drew's here????"
"According to her flight schedule she should have arrived at least half an hour ago."
Mel squealed with excitement and threw her arms around Jason's neck. She realized that this was the most emotion she had expressed in over a month. Then she thought about what he said and pulled away. "Wait,
Drew...and Gerard? Are they--?"
"No! Fuck no!" Jason chuckled. "It's totally not like that with them. We're all just friends meeting up for dinner."
Mel smiled, satisfied with his answer. "Okay. Now leave my room so I can get ready!"
Jason was tying his hair back with a hair tie as Mel saw him out. As he walked out of the door, they both noticed Taylor at his own door across the hall, about to go inside. Tay looked across the hall from Jason and then at Mel. From behind him, Mel could see Jason's fingers begin to move at his side as he looked back at Tay. "Jason," Mel whispered, lightly touching his wrist.
Hesitantly, Jason's hand relaxed. He turned around and kissed her cheek. "I'll be back here in half an hour." Glaring at Tay as he passed, Jason made his way down the hall and toward the elevators.
Mel and Tay were both frozen, staring at each other from across the hall. Suddenly, Mel felt guilty. The bad thing about being able to let her guard down with Jason so easily was that it took longer to build it back up each time.
The pain that was written all over his face was unmistakable. He looked trapped. Lost. Confused. Devastated. He looked like the way she had felt for the last month. She wanted to feel sorry for him, but the thought of Natalie being right behind that door kept her from feeling anything. He had chosen his wife. What was done was done. She didn't owe him anything anymore.
With this realization, Mel silently and carefully closed her door on him.
__________________________________________________
ISAAC
Isaac and his brothers, along with their wives, had all received their drinks and ordered dinner when Ike spied curious activity several tables away in his direct line of vision. With Taylor sitting directly at his right, he
knew it would only be a matter of seconds before he saw it, too.
Jason gave Tay a run for his money, that was for sure. Not that there was much running going on these days. Tay still seemed to pine away, while Mel preferred to stay away. It was easy to figure out who the smart one in
that equation was. And now she was being seated across the room in a red cocktail dress with her dark hair flowing down her back. Surely this was a coincidence that everyone had chosen THIS swanky restaurant to have dinner in. It had to be. Everyone was too tired to go anywhere so it was easier to just eat at the hotel restaurant..
At their round table, Nikki sat to Ike's left, then sat Zac, Kate, Natalie, Tay, then himself. Ike was debating whether to get Tay's attention or not, as his head was endlessly in his phone while his wife and Kate chattered away about who knew what.
Too late. Nikki already spilled the beans. "Wow, she looks beautiful! Are they dating now?"
Ike's body stiffened, not knowing where to go from that statement when he glanced over at Tay, who's head had instantly jerked up at Nikki's observation. The pain in his eyes at the sight was obvious. Ike's heart went out to his brother but he couldn't exactly blame Mel, either. Tay had left her in a position where she had no choice but to move on with her life. And as much as he loved his brother, he was going to have to accept it.
He watched Tay watch them. Jason looked completely comfortable, dressed in a white shirt, buttoned halfway down his chest, an open black blazer and a pair of black dress pants. Ike had seen Jason and Mel walk in
together and he had to admit, they made a pretty fantastic-looking couple. He knew Taylor knew it, too. They sat in a small, low-backed, wrap-around booth that stood alone. Jason got in first and then let Mel sit on the
end. They sat close together, Mel's right elbow resting on the table as she and Jason communicated with each other in full animation. Or so Ike assumed. Jason was grinning from ear to ear at her, but Mel's entire torso turned toward him and her back was to their table so Ike had no way of knowing what Mel's expression was. The table was close enough to see what was going on but not quite close enough to hear their conversation. Unless they laughed. Which they did a lot. At one moment, as they talked, Ike caught Jason lock eyes with Tay for a split second. Then he grinned at Mel and continued their conversation. Mel never once turned around, making it obvious that Jason hadn't told her he'd seen them. Ike sat back against this chair, realizing what was going on here. It was obvious that Jason knew everything and now he was engaging in a silent war with Tay. Puffing his chest out. Swinging his dick around. Use any expression you wanted, that's what it so obviously was. And if Ike knew his brother, when it came to Mel, Tay would be more than happy to take part.
He looked over at his brother. Taylor didn't seem as comfortable in his own skin as Jason did. Maybe it was all the stuff he was going through lately? Tay sat there in his full suit, tie and all, tugging on his tie a little bit. Ike thought his brother looked pretty sharp when he dressed up. But Ike knew there was only one opinion that meant anything to him and she hadn't even noticed he was in the room yet.
And then what to his wandering eyes should appear? Ike spotted Drew approaching the table in her own black cocktail dress with...Gerard Cline in tow? Wow this night just kept getting better. He knew the polite thing to do would be to go speak to them. However, he wasn't the one--
Again, too late. Nikki was already on the prowl. "I'll be right back, I have to go say hi. I haven't seen Drew in so long!"
As Nikki left the table, Zac's head whipped around to follow and Ike knew he had spotted Drew. More importantly, Drew with Gerard. Neither of his brothers had a hand to play in any of this and they both knew it. Zac turned back around and glanced a knowing glance at Tay across the table. It was pretty sad when you had a mutual, unspoken understanding over something like this.
Ike looked down at his glass and shook his head as she took off and Taylor stared after her in horror. It was only when Nikki got up from the table when Kate and Natalie noticed and had stopped their conversation.
Everyone watched Nikki hug, greet, and shake hands with Mel, Jason, Drew, and Gerard. Ike couldn't help but beam with pride at his wife and thanked his lucky stars that he had married such an amazing woman. Before
they knew it, Nikki was leading them over to their table.
At the same time a server had shown up to check on them and Ike heard Tay murmur to her, "I need a double scotch on the rocks. Please make it fast."
As she bounded away, Nikki was saying, "Everyone, look who I found!"
Zac stood to shake hands with Jason and Gerard and made small talk with them. Ike and Tay also stood and greeted the men--well, Tay greeted Gerard. Ike could feel serious tension between Tay and Jason. You
could have cut it with a knife.
Tay's drink arrived as Ike and Nikki talked filming with Drew and Jason and as Zac thanked Gerard for coming to the benefit. Tay raised the small glass to his lips and didn't even flinch at the punch of the alcohol as he let
it ease down his throat, emptying it at least halfway. Ike wasn't sure if he should be concerned about this or just let it go. Ike observed Mel as she was silent, standing beside Jason, not doing much more than smiling or
shaking her head. She subtly slipped her hand into Jason's, obvious that she wasn't quite ready to stand on her own yet and that the support system she had chosen stood at a hulking 6'4" with long hair and a powerhouse smile. Ike glanced at Tay inconspicuously, spying Tay's eyes locked on their hands as he turned up his glass once more.
And then, out of nowhere, Natalie released the demons of hell with only a few light-hearted words. "Mel, I just want to say, you look absolutely fabulous tonight and I think you and Jason make the most perfect couple. I honestly think there is no other couple out there that look as great together as you two. I'm so happy for you guys!"
The entire table fell silent. You could have heard a pin drop. Even Kate looked shocked at her best friend. Ike's eyes instantly went from Mel to Taylor. The blood drained from Tay's face and he looked helplessly trapped.
"Well somebody's sure secure in her position," Nikki whispered into Ike's ear.
Mel clamored for words. "Um, thank you, I--I mean we didn't--I--"
"What she's trying to say," Jason interjected. "Is that we're not ACTUALLY a couple. I mean, we COULD be-" his eyes instantly locked with Tay's. "--but for now we just support each other."
Natalie looked genuinely confused. "Um, I'm not trying to pry--and it's totally none of my business by any means--but why not? It would be a shame to see a potentially fantastic relationship go to waste."
Taylor drained his scotch.
Everyone waited for it. Everyone expected it. This was it. This was the big moment. It was going to come out right here and now for the world to see. Ike braced himself.
However, instead of Mel seeing red as he thought she would, she simply stood there in shock, like a deer in headlights. She was speechless. Ike didn't know whether to be proud or concerned for her.
Jason let go of Mel's hand and shoved his hands into his pockets. "You're right. It is absolutely none of your business. How Mel and I feel for each other is a completely private matter. However if inquiring minds MUST know, she's dealing with some things right now and we're playing it cool. IF she's able to let go of it--" he locked eyes with Tay once more. "--then we may explore our options. But for now, I just support her because that's what friends do. Does that satisfy you, sweetheart?"
Natalie had nothing else to say.
Jason glanced behind him and smiled back at the table, sliding his arm around Mel's waist. "Well, looks like our drinks have arrived. It was good to see everyone. I'm looking forward to seeing you again at the benefit tomorrow night." He shook hands with Ike and Zac. Taylor didn't even move from his seat. He nursed his second scotch that Ike hadn't noticed was delivered. Jason gave him a nod. "Taylor."
Tay's eyes locked hard on Jason's. "Jason," he said curtly.
And at that, Jason and Mel went back to their table. Tay watched them walk away as he turned up his glass once more.
Drew and Gerard hung out for another moment before rejoining Jason and Mel. Natalie finally noticed Tay's drinking and said to him, "Honey, why are you drinking like that?"
"Drinking like what?"
"You're on your second drink already and we haven't even gotten our food yet."
"The food will soak it up, I'm not worried about it."
"Is there something wrong with you?"
"What? No. No, I'm fine."
"You're not fine. And you were completely rude to everyone, you didn't say a word."
"I didn't have anything to say."
"Well. Whatever you say." Then she addressed the rest of the table. "Anyway, I kind of feel bad delving in to their personal lives like that. I guess I deserved that response from Jason, it really wasn't any of my business. They just seem so good together, though."
"I don't see it," Tay said, finishing his drink.
"You must be blind," Kate interjected. She looked back at the other table then back at Tay. "Look at her laughing with him, she looks completely happy."
Taylor laughed sarcastically as he watched himself swirl the ice around in his glass. He drained the rest of the drink and set his glass down. "Well I don't like the guy."
"You don't have to," Kate said.
"Excuse me?"
"She may be your friend but she's the one who has to like him. Not you. But you have to respect that she likes him."
Taylor narrowed his eyes at her. "I have to do no such thing."
"What don't you like about him?" Natalie asked. "You should be glad that your friend has finally found someone who makes her happy. He's great for her. He's nice and he obviously cares about her. And hell, I mean, look at him. He looks like he just stepped off the cover of a romance novel--"
Tay's hand fell loudly onto the table, vibrating the nearby silverware. "Well goddamn, Natalie, why don't you go and marry him, then?"
Natalie was taken aback. "WHAT?"
"I hear you talk about him all the time with Kate. Finding ways to wedge his name into conversations with me. You're obviously hot for him, just go throw yourself at him like everybody else does, I'm sure he
won't reject you."
Once again, that table was silent. "Taylor, what is your PROBLEM?"
Zac cut a hard glance across the table at Natalie. "Maybe he doesn't like listening to his wife incessantly gushing over another man."
"Zac!" Kate scolded.
"I was just trying to be nice," Natalie defended herself.
"My problem is, I didn't fucking come to dinner to talk about everyone else's sex lives," Tay spoke up.
"Sex lives?" Ike butted in, puzzled. "Nobody said anything about sex..."
Natalie was getting up from her seat. "Excuse me, I'm going to the ladies' room."
She was visibly upset as Kate stood up to join her. She cut eyes at Taylor. "Nice going, Tay."
When the two women were out of earshot, Tay ran his hand through his hair and let out a breath. "Tay, what was that outburst all about?" Ike asked.
With his forehead still in his hand, he muttered quietly, "Mel's room is across from mine."
Zac's eyes widened across the table as he leaned in. "Are you serious?"
"Yes. I saw Jason arrive and then I saw him leave. Adjusting his clothes. The whole thing was so fucking obvious. And he obviously knows everything that's going on because I swear if Mel wasn't there to hold him back, he would have finished me right there in the hallway. And right there, at that moment, I probably would have just let it happen. You guys, I'm so seriously fucked up right now. I'm not sure how much longer I can do this."
Ike didn't know what to say. But leave it to his wife to know when to jump right in. Her hand reached across Ike and rested on Tay's arm. "Taylor, honey, you do whatever is in your heart. Don't let anyone else's
opinions of your decisions affect what makes you happy. You do whatever it takes to make your heart whole again. And whatever you decide to do, just know that if nobody else has your back, at least I will. I am on your
side, okay? And I'm sure your brothers are, too."
Tay turned and looked at her and managed to creak out a small smile. "The reality is, if I did what I really wanted to do, I would be a complete bastard and I couldn't live with myself on account of that child. If she
wasn't pregnant, that would be Mel sitting beside me right now and Jason wouldn't even be in this building."
"Yes he would," Zac said.
"Well maybe he would, but it wouldn't be like this."
"So you're going to choose to be miserable over this baby," Ike said.
"Are you saying I should break up my family before it starts?"
Everyone was silent. Nobody had a real answer for him. Nobody wanted to say out loud what they were really thinking. Ike let out a breath. "So we're back to square one?"
"I don't think I ever even stepped off of square one," Tay answered.
________________________________________________
DREW
"Wow, I just love these little get-togethers," Drew said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Never a dull moment with the Hansons."
Mel glanced up at her as she sipped her wine. "I know that bitch did that shit on purpose. I just know it."
"Don't worry about her," Jason said. "In a few months she's going to start feeling self-conscious about her looks while you're still walking around her husband looking gorgeous as ever. She's trying to get her jabs in now while she can still squeeze into a size six."
Mel and Drew looked at each other across the table, eyes wide. Then they burst out laughing.
"Well, then," Gerard said. "Didn't know I would be witnessing such catty behavior tonight."
"Trust me, neither did we," Drew said. Her nerves were shot. Her phone was vibrating like hell. She knew Zac was texting her. She just knew it. But she couldn't bring herself to answer. She felt like it would be rude if she did so she jerked it off the table and shoved it into her clutch. This wouldn't be the only time she would see Zac this weekend. She decided she wasn't playing these games in front of his wife anymore. It was just too awkward.
When the server came around, Drew was the last to order--except that she didn't order. Gerard rattled off his order and some kind of chicken dish for her and sent the server on her way. Drew stared at him in shock.
"Did you just order for me?"
Across the table, Jason and Mel glanced at each other.
"Did you not like what I ordered?"
Drew gaped at him. "I don't even know what it is!"
Gerard smiled calmly. "You'll love it, I promise."
"Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Here's what's NOT going to happen. I appreciate you coming with me to this benefit and having dinner with me and such but you are NOT going to start doing...this. Like, ordering for me and shit and making all the decisions. I am my own woman. I know what I like and I know what I want. I don't need you, or any man, to dictate the way I live my life."
"Who's dictating anything, love? I simply ordered food..."
"Yeah but food leads to...to...well it just leads to all sorts of shit and I don't need you thinking you can just order my life around every time we get together or something."
"Uh-huh," he nodded. "Drew, I understand that you're a little on edge tonight. I can see that. But I just spent three and a half months with you, directing you, and eating a lot of food with you. Trust me, if I say you'll like it, you'll like it. Give it a chance before you make a further ass of yourself."
Drew straightened in her chair and her blood boiled. She looked across the table at Mel and Mel looked back at her. And then she raised an eyebrow and subtly shook her head. That was code for "leave it alone, let
it go." Drew was livid. How dare he treat her this way? How dare he suddenly think he was in control of her and then say she was making an ass of herself? Maybe she was only fascinated with him when she watched
him work. Maybe he really was an asshole in real life.
Drew felt her phone vibrating in her clutch and, finally annoyed with it, excused herself to go to the restroom to see what obscenities Zac had sent to her this time. In the doorway to the bathroom, she found Zac standing
against the wall. "NOW you read your texts," he said.
"I actually didn't read them, that's what I was coming to the bathroom to do. I didn't want to be rude."
"Oh...so now I'm rude for texting in front of people?"
"Well, it IS rude."
"Where did this holier-than-thou attitude come from all of a sudden? Once upon a time you were no better than me. Now you ride home from Ireland on some high horse? What the hell is that all about?"
"I'm not going to stand here and listen to this," Drew said. "I don't know what your problem is but work it out and then get back to me."
She turned to leave and Zac caught her arm. "Look, okay. I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry. It's just--well you haven't really said anything about what I said that night..."
"You said I could respond when I was ready."
"I know. I know I did. I just--I mean you show up with Gerard and--"
"Gerard and I are just friends. That's it. I'm not even attracted to him that way. You're gonna have to give me time to sort this out. You can't fault me for being cautious with you being married and such, you know. There's a lot going on there that needs to be considered. We can't just run off into the sunset."
"I know."
"But I care about you. And god knows I want you. But I think we just need to start being a little more careful about this, okay?" She kissed him gently on the lips. "Don't throw in the towel just yet. I need to figure myself out, too."
Leaving him there, she returned to her seat at their table. Soon after, their food came and Drew stared down at her plate. It appeared to be some kind of sliced chicken breast with some kind of sauce and vegetables. It looked disgusting but it smelled amazing. She glanced over at Gerard, whose eyes were on her, elbows on the table, fingers laced together. "Well it's not going to hurt you," he said.
Cutting herself a piece of chicken, she put it in her mouth and her taste buds danced. She was impressed. Once again, Gerard didn't steer her wrong. She glanced over and him and he was smiling at her. "Well?"
She swallowed and smiled at him. "Okay, fine. I apologize just this once for my outburst. But let's not make this a habit." She looked across the table at Mel, who was pushing food around on her plate. "Are you okay?" Drew asked her.
"I'm fine," Mel answered listlessly. "Just not really that hungry."
Jason looked over at her, confused. "Just a little bit ago you said you were starved."
"Yeah, well, the moment's over."
It caught both Drew's and Jason's eye when the party of six several tables over stood to leave. Zac and Tay both looked over at them as they left the restaurant. Mel never once noticed. Suddenly, Drew looked on in
horror as Jason said to Mel, "Hey, I need to get out of here for a second."
Mel let him out and Jason started for the door. Drew was panicking and she didn't know what to do. She didn't want to alarm Mel but she felt like she really needed to follow Jason. So she did the quickest thing she
could think of. She jerked her phone out of her clutch and pretended she had a call from her agent. With that, she hurried out the restaurant door just in time to see Jason approaching Taylor. "Hey, man, I think we
need to have a talk."
Tay stopped and looked at him, the others pausing to witness what was going on. "Now?" he asked.
Jason looked around. "This seems like as good a time as any."
Tay stared Jason down warily before agreeing. "Okay. Fine. Let's talk." He turned to the others. "I'll only be a minute, just go ahead without me."
Drew sat on a nearby bench within earshot of the pair to act as witness just in case something went down. And Drew had a feeling it might.
"Look, I know what the deal is with you and Mel. Okay? I know it. I get it. I know you and I don't exactly like each other and that's fine. But we do have one thing in common and it's that woman in there. We both love her. Well, I haven't exactly told her yet but I think she knows. Anyway, I'm not some random guy who just wants to get in her pants or whatever. I know that's what you think of me. She and I have a sort of...eccentric relationship. It is what it is. But what we have is ours and what you have is yours. And I'll be honest with you, every single goddamn time she cries I think of a brand new goddamn way to kill you. That's not an exaggeration, that's a fact."
"Well, Jason. If I may be honest, and I'm not trying to gain any pity or sympathy from you--"
"That'll never happen."
"--but every single time she cries I pray that you do kill me. You're right. I don't like you. I don't really know you but I don't like you and it's only for the pure fact that when I see her with you I see HER. And it's not fair. Because that's supposed to be who she is with ME. It always has been. But from my point of view, I don't really understand what you're trying to gain from this. Are you asking for my blessing? Are you standing there waiting around just in case she does 'come out of it?' She's still in love with me. I know for a fact she is. You'll never have her completely. Never."
"I'm aware, yes. And that's why I respect her."
Tay scoffed. "Yeah, like the way you respected her this afternoon?"
"Hey, I don't make her do anything she doesn't want to do. Our friendship comes first and foremost before anything. Everything else is just icing on the cake."
Taylor laughed and shook his head. "Wow, this is unbelievable. Is this what you wanted to talk to me about? To rub all this in my face? I don't need anything rubbed in, I can see just fine."
"No. I ACTUALLY had a moment of insanity and decided to practice a little humanity and let you know that, from man to man, I understand you're hurting and I'm sorry you had to see what you saw today. But you made your decision and decided to start a family with your wife and more or less told Mel to hit the road after convincing her otherwise and that, my friend, is not cool. I admit that I respect the decision you made as a man. It's admirable. But to make promises to a woman you claim to love so much and then turn around and knock up the wife you claim to want to leave is the most douchebag thing you could ever do. Her self-esteem
is non-existent, along with her appetite, her heart, and any real enthusiasm she ever had about anything. She isn't the Mel I met. She's the Mel you destroyed. And here I am, trying to pick up the pieces and clean up your mess, but I won't be able to pick up all the pieces cause I know you're still holding. And that's what kills ME. I could make her happy. I could give her anything she could ever want and more. I
could never hurt her. EVER. But I won't get any of those opportunities either. So in that, I hope you're happy."
Taylor stared at Jason hard. "I can't say I'm disappointed."
Jason shook his head in disbelief and took a step toward Tay, getting directly in his face. Watching this, Drew straightened up on her bench, prepared to break them up. "You're a piece of work, you know that, buddy? Taking solace in her pain? You're one sick, sadistic son of a bitch. I should pound you into an unrecognizable pulp right here. I want to so bad I can't stand it." Jason and Tay stared into each other's faces before Jason finally relaxed and stepped away. "Today's your lucky day, my friend. I can't do it. I can't hit you because if I did, it would shatter that woman's world and I can't bring myself to be that guy. I'll reserve that role for you. But know this: I'm not going anywhere. I'll pursue her until the day she wakes up and doesn't want you
anymore--and that day will come. I advise you stay away from her and let her live her life. If you don't plan to be with her, stop chasing her around. She's been happy without you once. Give her the chance to be
happy again."
Tay laughed so loud it echoed through the hotel lobby. "With you, you mean? Happy with you? You fucking wish. It always has been me and her and it will always be me and her and there's nothing you, or any other big brawny island native, can do about it. Waste your life waiting for her, I don't care." Tay stepped up and got right in Jason's face. "But she IS mine and she will always BE mine and you better never
forget it. Nobody will ever take her away from me. Try as they might."
"You sound awful confident about that."
"You better fucking believe it."
Okay then. Drew had decided she'd had about enough of this. They were already in each other's faces. She was impressed with the level of restraint they were able to show at this moment. She stormed over to the two men, pulled Jason away by his arm and then pushed Taylor back in the opposite direction. "I've seen all I need to see here. I came out here to make sure you both made it out alive. You've said what you needed to say and now it's time to go your separate ways. You will never see eye to eye with each other. Mel is a grown woman. She can do what she wants. Both of you can just deal with THAT. I've had about enough
dick-swinging for one night. You're the third and fourth I've had to deal with and dessert isn't even on the table yet. Tay, go to your room. Jason, come back to the table. This is done."
"You're going to be at the benefit tomorrow night, right?" Tay said to Jason.
"I am. With her. And she is going to look spectacular. And we both know it. She doesn't need our stress to weigh down on the stress she has now and she doesn't need us to ruin her big night tomorrow night."
"Well. As long as you stay in your corner and I'll stay in mine, we should survive tomorrow night."
"I know I will," Jason said, looking Tay in the eye before walking away with Drew.
As she walked with Jason, Drew couldn't hold it in anymore. "You should be ashamed of yourself."
Jason looked down at her in disbelief. "What? Why?"
"For the way you've been acting around Tay. Mel is under enough pressure as it is. She doesn't need yours and Tay's pissing contest to make it any worse. You guys looked like seventh graders, fighting over her
like that. It was completely immature."
"Nobody asked you to follow me out here."
"Well I'm sure as hell glad I did."
Jason sighed in defeat. "Yeah. I'm glad you did, too. Look, don't tell Mel about this, okay? She doesn't need it."
"Believe me, I won't." Drew and Jason walked back into the restaurant.
_______________________________________________
MEL
Mel and Jason sat on opposite beds, facing each other. A small smile crossed Mel's lips. "I'm glad you're here," she said quietly.
Jason smiled warmly. "Me, too."
"So, um, what floor are you on?
"Just right above you."
"Oh. Okay. Well that's not far..."
Jason stared across at her, intently. "Listen. I'm about to do something. And I don't want you to freak out about it, I don't want you to over-analyze it and I don't want to discuss it afterward. I'm only doing it because I think you need it."
Mel's body stiffened immediately as he sat beside her on the edge of her bed. She wanted to object. She wanted to say no, to push him away, to run, to kick him out of her room. She didn't want this. She couldn't want this. She felt like she was a prisoner of her own emotions. She felt like--
He gently placed a hand on her cheek and brought his lips to hers and he kissed her. It was the most tender he had ever kissed her. She hesitated before kissing him back, slowly giving in to him. He opened his mouth and found her tongue and deepened their kiss. He kept it together, never once breaking rhythm. He kissed her slowly, carefully. With purpose.
Mel had just begun to relax and accept his kiss when his hand left her cheek and slowly traveled down her body. She tensed up once again and widened her eyes, breaking their kiss. She opened her mouth to speak but Jason beat her to it. "Shh. Trust me."
She tried to relax. She had never not been able to trust him before but this was the first time he'd ever actually gone back on his word...and she couldn't totally say she was disappointed. Pulling her t-shirt up off of her pants, he unbuttoned and unzipped her, and then slowly slid his hand down the front. When his fingers found her, he whispered again, "Trust me."
He began to massage her as he kissed her lips and she didn't know what to do with herself. Her mind screamed at her to end it. End it now! Her heart had absolutely no opinion. Her body craved more. She
found herself wanting to let go, little by little, when soon logic finally reached her brain and she reasoned that since he had already gone to the trouble, she might as well just let it happen. Besides, who did she have
to worry about now anyway?
To give him better access, she stripped herself from the waist down and when he inserted his fingers inside her with ease, chills ran down her spine and she released a quiet moan into his mouth. His hand never wandered and his mouth stayed on hers. He worked her up with purpose, as if he had a goal.
Suddenly he broke their kiss and grabbed her by her waist, moving her with ease into a straddling position in his lap. He continued with her just as he had before, keeping his mouth on hers and keeping his hand between her legs. He alternated inside and outside of her and it slowly began to drive her mad. Mel let her hands begin to wander on him and her mouth desperately traveled to his ear and neck. Jason stopped what he was doing and sucked in a breath, laughing seductively. "Okay, now. Okay. Let's not get too carried away here." He took her by the hands and placed them gently on his shoulders and then kissed her lips again.
"Stay right here. Just let me..." He took her in his mouth once more and slid his fingers deeper inside her. "Relax," he said breaking their kiss once more. Mel obeyed as he started to feel better and better inside her. Her hips began to rock to the rhythm on his hand and he grinned, a devilish grin. "That's it," he whispered. "You're getting there..."
This wasn't enough. Frantically, she ignored him and her hands flew straight to his pants underneath her and began unbuttoning them. Now it was Jason's turn to look up at Mel in shock. "Uh, wait. This wasn't
supposed to go that far..."
"I don't really give a shit," she said, locking eyes with him.
Helping her release him, they couldn't get each other's shirts over their heads fast enough. Skin on skin, she hovered over him and slowly slid herself on him, savoring how rock hard he was inside her. Her head fell
back for a few seconds as she found her rhythm on him, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist to hold her in place.
Mel brought her head back up and wrapped her arms around his neck and then hooked her forearms up over his head, her upper arms braced on his shoulders so that she could ride him harder. With his head in her arms, her face hovered over his and they watched each other, feeling each other's hot breath as she rocked her hips with a faster rhythm on top of him. Her hands lowered and she found fistfuls of his hair as she jerked his head back and commanded his mouth. She kissed him hard and she felt his arms wrap around her tighter, holding her closer to him.
She broke their kiss because she felt that she was quickly losing control. As she concentrated on fucking him, Jason's tongue teased and traced her neck, heightening her arousal to levels almost unheard of.
And then somewhere, somehow, underneath her body, she felt Jason's body give up in defeat. He completely relaxed himself and leaned back, bracing his hands behind him on the bed and she rode him all the way home,
nearly screaming in ecstasy when she came. He followed soon after and after her breathing had calmed down, she found herself still upright on top of him, her hand on the back of his neck, a mass of his hair clinched inside her small fist. She looked at him in amazement, entirely surprised with herself. She had completely dominated him. Practically diminished him to nothing--completely used him solely for his dick. She felt
relieved. She felt loose.
She felt magnificent.
To her surprise, Jason smiled at her. "Uh, well then. I was only going to give you an orgasm. You know, help relieve some tension..."
"Well I had one, didn't I?" Mel retorted breathlessly.
He laughed lightly and nodded. "Yeah, you definitely did."
"When you think about it, it didn't really matter how it happened, right?"
"Um...how can I argue with that logic?"
Mel narrowed her eyes at him. "We're not supposed to be discussing this."
"Oh. Right."
"But thank you. Really. I think I kinda did need it."
Jason laughed a hearty laugh. "Glad I could be of service to you. You know, you totally treated me like I was some kind of whore just then."
Mel grinned as she got up off of him to let him up. "You liked it."
"I absolutely did."
Jason and Mel got up and began to redress themselves. "So, look, I took it upon myself to make dinner reservations for us tonight," he told her. "I hope you don't mind. I know you've been carrying a lot on
your plate lately and I just figured it'd be helpful if someone took the reins from you for a moment."
Mel smiled at him. "You really are the best, you know that?"
"Oh, but wait, there's more," he joked with her. "Drew and Gerard are coming, too."
"Drew and--Drew's here????"
"According to her flight schedule she should have arrived at least half an hour ago."
Mel squealed with excitement and threw her arms around Jason's neck. She realized that this was the most emotion she had expressed in over a month. Then she thought about what he said and pulled away. "Wait,
Drew...and Gerard? Are they--?"
"No! Fuck no!" Jason chuckled. "It's totally not like that with them. We're all just friends meeting up for dinner."
Mel smiled, satisfied with his answer. "Okay. Now leave my room so I can get ready!"
Jason was tying his hair back with a hair tie as Mel saw him out. As he walked out of the door, they both noticed Taylor at his own door across the hall, about to go inside. Tay looked across the hall from Jason and then at Mel. From behind him, Mel could see Jason's fingers begin to move at his side as he looked back at Tay. "Jason," Mel whispered, lightly touching his wrist.
Hesitantly, Jason's hand relaxed. He turned around and kissed her cheek. "I'll be back here in half an hour." Glaring at Tay as he passed, Jason made his way down the hall and toward the elevators.
Mel and Tay were both frozen, staring at each other from across the hall. Suddenly, Mel felt guilty. The bad thing about being able to let her guard down with Jason so easily was that it took longer to build it back up each time.
The pain that was written all over his face was unmistakable. He looked trapped. Lost. Confused. Devastated. He looked like the way she had felt for the last month. She wanted to feel sorry for him, but the thought of Natalie being right behind that door kept her from feeling anything. He had chosen his wife. What was done was done. She didn't owe him anything anymore.
With this realization, Mel silently and carefully closed her door on him.
__________________________________________________
ISAAC
Isaac and his brothers, along with their wives, had all received their drinks and ordered dinner when Ike spied curious activity several tables away in his direct line of vision. With Taylor sitting directly at his right, he
knew it would only be a matter of seconds before he saw it, too.
Jason gave Tay a run for his money, that was for sure. Not that there was much running going on these days. Tay still seemed to pine away, while Mel preferred to stay away. It was easy to figure out who the smart one in
that equation was. And now she was being seated across the room in a red cocktail dress with her dark hair flowing down her back. Surely this was a coincidence that everyone had chosen THIS swanky restaurant to have dinner in. It had to be. Everyone was too tired to go anywhere so it was easier to just eat at the hotel restaurant..
At their round table, Nikki sat to Ike's left, then sat Zac, Kate, Natalie, Tay, then himself. Ike was debating whether to get Tay's attention or not, as his head was endlessly in his phone while his wife and Kate chattered away about who knew what.
Too late. Nikki already spilled the beans. "Wow, she looks beautiful! Are they dating now?"
Ike's body stiffened, not knowing where to go from that statement when he glanced over at Tay, who's head had instantly jerked up at Nikki's observation. The pain in his eyes at the sight was obvious. Ike's heart went out to his brother but he couldn't exactly blame Mel, either. Tay had left her in a position where she had no choice but to move on with her life. And as much as he loved his brother, he was going to have to accept it.
He watched Tay watch them. Jason looked completely comfortable, dressed in a white shirt, buttoned halfway down his chest, an open black blazer and a pair of black dress pants. Ike had seen Jason and Mel walk in
together and he had to admit, they made a pretty fantastic-looking couple. He knew Taylor knew it, too. They sat in a small, low-backed, wrap-around booth that stood alone. Jason got in first and then let Mel sit on the
end. They sat close together, Mel's right elbow resting on the table as she and Jason communicated with each other in full animation. Or so Ike assumed. Jason was grinning from ear to ear at her, but Mel's entire torso turned toward him and her back was to their table so Ike had no way of knowing what Mel's expression was. The table was close enough to see what was going on but not quite close enough to hear their conversation. Unless they laughed. Which they did a lot. At one moment, as they talked, Ike caught Jason lock eyes with Tay for a split second. Then he grinned at Mel and continued their conversation. Mel never once turned around, making it obvious that Jason hadn't told her he'd seen them. Ike sat back against this chair, realizing what was going on here. It was obvious that Jason knew everything and now he was engaging in a silent war with Tay. Puffing his chest out. Swinging his dick around. Use any expression you wanted, that's what it so obviously was. And if Ike knew his brother, when it came to Mel, Tay would be more than happy to take part.
He looked over at his brother. Taylor didn't seem as comfortable in his own skin as Jason did. Maybe it was all the stuff he was going through lately? Tay sat there in his full suit, tie and all, tugging on his tie a little bit. Ike thought his brother looked pretty sharp when he dressed up. But Ike knew there was only one opinion that meant anything to him and she hadn't even noticed he was in the room yet.
And then what to his wandering eyes should appear? Ike spotted Drew approaching the table in her own black cocktail dress with...Gerard Cline in tow? Wow this night just kept getting better. He knew the polite thing to do would be to go speak to them. However, he wasn't the one--
Again, too late. Nikki was already on the prowl. "I'll be right back, I have to go say hi. I haven't seen Drew in so long!"
As Nikki left the table, Zac's head whipped around to follow and Ike knew he had spotted Drew. More importantly, Drew with Gerard. Neither of his brothers had a hand to play in any of this and they both knew it. Zac turned back around and glanced a knowing glance at Tay across the table. It was pretty sad when you had a mutual, unspoken understanding over something like this.
Ike looked down at his glass and shook his head as she took off and Taylor stared after her in horror. It was only when Nikki got up from the table when Kate and Natalie noticed and had stopped their conversation.
Everyone watched Nikki hug, greet, and shake hands with Mel, Jason, Drew, and Gerard. Ike couldn't help but beam with pride at his wife and thanked his lucky stars that he had married such an amazing woman. Before
they knew it, Nikki was leading them over to their table.
At the same time a server had shown up to check on them and Ike heard Tay murmur to her, "I need a double scotch on the rocks. Please make it fast."
As she bounded away, Nikki was saying, "Everyone, look who I found!"
Zac stood to shake hands with Jason and Gerard and made small talk with them. Ike and Tay also stood and greeted the men--well, Tay greeted Gerard. Ike could feel serious tension between Tay and Jason. You
could have cut it with a knife.
Tay's drink arrived as Ike and Nikki talked filming with Drew and Jason and as Zac thanked Gerard for coming to the benefit. Tay raised the small glass to his lips and didn't even flinch at the punch of the alcohol as he let
it ease down his throat, emptying it at least halfway. Ike wasn't sure if he should be concerned about this or just let it go. Ike observed Mel as she was silent, standing beside Jason, not doing much more than smiling or
shaking her head. She subtly slipped her hand into Jason's, obvious that she wasn't quite ready to stand on her own yet and that the support system she had chosen stood at a hulking 6'4" with long hair and a powerhouse smile. Ike glanced at Tay inconspicuously, spying Tay's eyes locked on their hands as he turned up his glass once more.
And then, out of nowhere, Natalie released the demons of hell with only a few light-hearted words. "Mel, I just want to say, you look absolutely fabulous tonight and I think you and Jason make the most perfect couple. I honestly think there is no other couple out there that look as great together as you two. I'm so happy for you guys!"
The entire table fell silent. You could have heard a pin drop. Even Kate looked shocked at her best friend. Ike's eyes instantly went from Mel to Taylor. The blood drained from Tay's face and he looked helplessly trapped.
"Well somebody's sure secure in her position," Nikki whispered into Ike's ear.
Mel clamored for words. "Um, thank you, I--I mean we didn't--I--"
"What she's trying to say," Jason interjected. "Is that we're not ACTUALLY a couple. I mean, we COULD be-" his eyes instantly locked with Tay's. "--but for now we just support each other."
Natalie looked genuinely confused. "Um, I'm not trying to pry--and it's totally none of my business by any means--but why not? It would be a shame to see a potentially fantastic relationship go to waste."
Taylor drained his scotch.
Everyone waited for it. Everyone expected it. This was it. This was the big moment. It was going to come out right here and now for the world to see. Ike braced himself.
However, instead of Mel seeing red as he thought she would, she simply stood there in shock, like a deer in headlights. She was speechless. Ike didn't know whether to be proud or concerned for her.
Jason let go of Mel's hand and shoved his hands into his pockets. "You're right. It is absolutely none of your business. How Mel and I feel for each other is a completely private matter. However if inquiring minds MUST know, she's dealing with some things right now and we're playing it cool. IF she's able to let go of it--" he locked eyes with Tay once more. "--then we may explore our options. But for now, I just support her because that's what friends do. Does that satisfy you, sweetheart?"
Natalie had nothing else to say.
Jason glanced behind him and smiled back at the table, sliding his arm around Mel's waist. "Well, looks like our drinks have arrived. It was good to see everyone. I'm looking forward to seeing you again at the benefit tomorrow night." He shook hands with Ike and Zac. Taylor didn't even move from his seat. He nursed his second scotch that Ike hadn't noticed was delivered. Jason gave him a nod. "Taylor."
Tay's eyes locked hard on Jason's. "Jason," he said curtly.
And at that, Jason and Mel went back to their table. Tay watched them walk away as he turned up his glass once more.
Drew and Gerard hung out for another moment before rejoining Jason and Mel. Natalie finally noticed Tay's drinking and said to him, "Honey, why are you drinking like that?"
"Drinking like what?"
"You're on your second drink already and we haven't even gotten our food yet."
"The food will soak it up, I'm not worried about it."
"Is there something wrong with you?"
"What? No. No, I'm fine."
"You're not fine. And you were completely rude to everyone, you didn't say a word."
"I didn't have anything to say."
"Well. Whatever you say." Then she addressed the rest of the table. "Anyway, I kind of feel bad delving in to their personal lives like that. I guess I deserved that response from Jason, it really wasn't any of my business. They just seem so good together, though."
"I don't see it," Tay said, finishing his drink.
"You must be blind," Kate interjected. She looked back at the other table then back at Tay. "Look at her laughing with him, she looks completely happy."
Taylor laughed sarcastically as he watched himself swirl the ice around in his glass. He drained the rest of the drink and set his glass down. "Well I don't like the guy."
"You don't have to," Kate said.
"Excuse me?"
"She may be your friend but she's the one who has to like him. Not you. But you have to respect that she likes him."
Taylor narrowed his eyes at her. "I have to do no such thing."
"What don't you like about him?" Natalie asked. "You should be glad that your friend has finally found someone who makes her happy. He's great for her. He's nice and he obviously cares about her. And hell, I mean, look at him. He looks like he just stepped off the cover of a romance novel--"
Tay's hand fell loudly onto the table, vibrating the nearby silverware. "Well goddamn, Natalie, why don't you go and marry him, then?"
Natalie was taken aback. "WHAT?"
"I hear you talk about him all the time with Kate. Finding ways to wedge his name into conversations with me. You're obviously hot for him, just go throw yourself at him like everybody else does, I'm sure he
won't reject you."
Once again, that table was silent. "Taylor, what is your PROBLEM?"
Zac cut a hard glance across the table at Natalie. "Maybe he doesn't like listening to his wife incessantly gushing over another man."
"Zac!" Kate scolded.
"I was just trying to be nice," Natalie defended herself.
"My problem is, I didn't fucking come to dinner to talk about everyone else's sex lives," Tay spoke up.
"Sex lives?" Ike butted in, puzzled. "Nobody said anything about sex..."
Natalie was getting up from her seat. "Excuse me, I'm going to the ladies' room."
She was visibly upset as Kate stood up to join her. She cut eyes at Taylor. "Nice going, Tay."
When the two women were out of earshot, Tay ran his hand through his hair and let out a breath. "Tay, what was that outburst all about?" Ike asked.
With his forehead still in his hand, he muttered quietly, "Mel's room is across from mine."
Zac's eyes widened across the table as he leaned in. "Are you serious?"
"Yes. I saw Jason arrive and then I saw him leave. Adjusting his clothes. The whole thing was so fucking obvious. And he obviously knows everything that's going on because I swear if Mel wasn't there to hold him back, he would have finished me right there in the hallway. And right there, at that moment, I probably would have just let it happen. You guys, I'm so seriously fucked up right now. I'm not sure how much longer I can do this."
Ike didn't know what to say. But leave it to his wife to know when to jump right in. Her hand reached across Ike and rested on Tay's arm. "Taylor, honey, you do whatever is in your heart. Don't let anyone else's
opinions of your decisions affect what makes you happy. You do whatever it takes to make your heart whole again. And whatever you decide to do, just know that if nobody else has your back, at least I will. I am on your
side, okay? And I'm sure your brothers are, too."
Tay turned and looked at her and managed to creak out a small smile. "The reality is, if I did what I really wanted to do, I would be a complete bastard and I couldn't live with myself on account of that child. If she
wasn't pregnant, that would be Mel sitting beside me right now and Jason wouldn't even be in this building."
"Yes he would," Zac said.
"Well maybe he would, but it wouldn't be like this."
"So you're going to choose to be miserable over this baby," Ike said.
"Are you saying I should break up my family before it starts?"
Everyone was silent. Nobody had a real answer for him. Nobody wanted to say out loud what they were really thinking. Ike let out a breath. "So we're back to square one?"
"I don't think I ever even stepped off of square one," Tay answered.
________________________________________________
DREW
"Wow, I just love these little get-togethers," Drew said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Never a dull moment with the Hansons."
Mel glanced up at her as she sipped her wine. "I know that bitch did that shit on purpose. I just know it."
"Don't worry about her," Jason said. "In a few months she's going to start feeling self-conscious about her looks while you're still walking around her husband looking gorgeous as ever. She's trying to get her jabs in now while she can still squeeze into a size six."
Mel and Drew looked at each other across the table, eyes wide. Then they burst out laughing.
"Well, then," Gerard said. "Didn't know I would be witnessing such catty behavior tonight."
"Trust me, neither did we," Drew said. Her nerves were shot. Her phone was vibrating like hell. She knew Zac was texting her. She just knew it. But she couldn't bring herself to answer. She felt like it would be rude if she did so she jerked it off the table and shoved it into her clutch. This wouldn't be the only time she would see Zac this weekend. She decided she wasn't playing these games in front of his wife anymore. It was just too awkward.
When the server came around, Drew was the last to order--except that she didn't order. Gerard rattled off his order and some kind of chicken dish for her and sent the server on her way. Drew stared at him in shock.
"Did you just order for me?"
Across the table, Jason and Mel glanced at each other.
"Did you not like what I ordered?"
Drew gaped at him. "I don't even know what it is!"
Gerard smiled calmly. "You'll love it, I promise."
"Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Here's what's NOT going to happen. I appreciate you coming with me to this benefit and having dinner with me and such but you are NOT going to start doing...this. Like, ordering for me and shit and making all the decisions. I am my own woman. I know what I like and I know what I want. I don't need you, or any man, to dictate the way I live my life."
"Who's dictating anything, love? I simply ordered food..."
"Yeah but food leads to...to...well it just leads to all sorts of shit and I don't need you thinking you can just order my life around every time we get together or something."
"Uh-huh," he nodded. "Drew, I understand that you're a little on edge tonight. I can see that. But I just spent three and a half months with you, directing you, and eating a lot of food with you. Trust me, if I say you'll like it, you'll like it. Give it a chance before you make a further ass of yourself."
Drew straightened in her chair and her blood boiled. She looked across the table at Mel and Mel looked back at her. And then she raised an eyebrow and subtly shook her head. That was code for "leave it alone, let
it go." Drew was livid. How dare he treat her this way? How dare he suddenly think he was in control of her and then say she was making an ass of herself? Maybe she was only fascinated with him when she watched
him work. Maybe he really was an asshole in real life.
Drew felt her phone vibrating in her clutch and, finally annoyed with it, excused herself to go to the restroom to see what obscenities Zac had sent to her this time. In the doorway to the bathroom, she found Zac standing
against the wall. "NOW you read your texts," he said.
"I actually didn't read them, that's what I was coming to the bathroom to do. I didn't want to be rude."
"Oh...so now I'm rude for texting in front of people?"
"Well, it IS rude."
"Where did this holier-than-thou attitude come from all of a sudden? Once upon a time you were no better than me. Now you ride home from Ireland on some high horse? What the hell is that all about?"
"I'm not going to stand here and listen to this," Drew said. "I don't know what your problem is but work it out and then get back to me."
She turned to leave and Zac caught her arm. "Look, okay. I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry. It's just--well you haven't really said anything about what I said that night..."
"You said I could respond when I was ready."
"I know. I know I did. I just--I mean you show up with Gerard and--"
"Gerard and I are just friends. That's it. I'm not even attracted to him that way. You're gonna have to give me time to sort this out. You can't fault me for being cautious with you being married and such, you know. There's a lot going on there that needs to be considered. We can't just run off into the sunset."
"I know."
"But I care about you. And god knows I want you. But I think we just need to start being a little more careful about this, okay?" She kissed him gently on the lips. "Don't throw in the towel just yet. I need to figure myself out, too."
Leaving him there, she returned to her seat at their table. Soon after, their food came and Drew stared down at her plate. It appeared to be some kind of sliced chicken breast with some kind of sauce and vegetables. It looked disgusting but it smelled amazing. She glanced over at Gerard, whose eyes were on her, elbows on the table, fingers laced together. "Well it's not going to hurt you," he said.
Cutting herself a piece of chicken, she put it in her mouth and her taste buds danced. She was impressed. Once again, Gerard didn't steer her wrong. She glanced over and him and he was smiling at her. "Well?"
She swallowed and smiled at him. "Okay, fine. I apologize just this once for my outburst. But let's not make this a habit." She looked across the table at Mel, who was pushing food around on her plate. "Are you okay?" Drew asked her.
"I'm fine," Mel answered listlessly. "Just not really that hungry."
Jason looked over at her, confused. "Just a little bit ago you said you were starved."
"Yeah, well, the moment's over."
It caught both Drew's and Jason's eye when the party of six several tables over stood to leave. Zac and Tay both looked over at them as they left the restaurant. Mel never once noticed. Suddenly, Drew looked on in
horror as Jason said to Mel, "Hey, I need to get out of here for a second."
Mel let him out and Jason started for the door. Drew was panicking and she didn't know what to do. She didn't want to alarm Mel but she felt like she really needed to follow Jason. So she did the quickest thing she
could think of. She jerked her phone out of her clutch and pretended she had a call from her agent. With that, she hurried out the restaurant door just in time to see Jason approaching Taylor. "Hey, man, I think we
need to have a talk."
Tay stopped and looked at him, the others pausing to witness what was going on. "Now?" he asked.
Jason looked around. "This seems like as good a time as any."
Tay stared Jason down warily before agreeing. "Okay. Fine. Let's talk." He turned to the others. "I'll only be a minute, just go ahead without me."
Drew sat on a nearby bench within earshot of the pair to act as witness just in case something went down. And Drew had a feeling it might.
"Look, I know what the deal is with you and Mel. Okay? I know it. I get it. I know you and I don't exactly like each other and that's fine. But we do have one thing in common and it's that woman in there. We both love her. Well, I haven't exactly told her yet but I think she knows. Anyway, I'm not some random guy who just wants to get in her pants or whatever. I know that's what you think of me. She and I have a sort of...eccentric relationship. It is what it is. But what we have is ours and what you have is yours. And I'll be honest with you, every single goddamn time she cries I think of a brand new goddamn way to kill you. That's not an exaggeration, that's a fact."
"Well, Jason. If I may be honest, and I'm not trying to gain any pity or sympathy from you--"
"That'll never happen."
"--but every single time she cries I pray that you do kill me. You're right. I don't like you. I don't really know you but I don't like you and it's only for the pure fact that when I see her with you I see HER. And it's not fair. Because that's supposed to be who she is with ME. It always has been. But from my point of view, I don't really understand what you're trying to gain from this. Are you asking for my blessing? Are you standing there waiting around just in case she does 'come out of it?' She's still in love with me. I know for a fact she is. You'll never have her completely. Never."
"I'm aware, yes. And that's why I respect her."
Tay scoffed. "Yeah, like the way you respected her this afternoon?"
"Hey, I don't make her do anything she doesn't want to do. Our friendship comes first and foremost before anything. Everything else is just icing on the cake."
Taylor laughed and shook his head. "Wow, this is unbelievable. Is this what you wanted to talk to me about? To rub all this in my face? I don't need anything rubbed in, I can see just fine."
"No. I ACTUALLY had a moment of insanity and decided to practice a little humanity and let you know that, from man to man, I understand you're hurting and I'm sorry you had to see what you saw today. But you made your decision and decided to start a family with your wife and more or less told Mel to hit the road after convincing her otherwise and that, my friend, is not cool. I admit that I respect the decision you made as a man. It's admirable. But to make promises to a woman you claim to love so much and then turn around and knock up the wife you claim to want to leave is the most douchebag thing you could ever do. Her self-esteem
is non-existent, along with her appetite, her heart, and any real enthusiasm she ever had about anything. She isn't the Mel I met. She's the Mel you destroyed. And here I am, trying to pick up the pieces and clean up your mess, but I won't be able to pick up all the pieces cause I know you're still holding. And that's what kills ME. I could make her happy. I could give her anything she could ever want and more. I
could never hurt her. EVER. But I won't get any of those opportunities either. So in that, I hope you're happy."
Taylor stared at Jason hard. "I can't say I'm disappointed."
Jason shook his head in disbelief and took a step toward Tay, getting directly in his face. Watching this, Drew straightened up on her bench, prepared to break them up. "You're a piece of work, you know that, buddy? Taking solace in her pain? You're one sick, sadistic son of a bitch. I should pound you into an unrecognizable pulp right here. I want to so bad I can't stand it." Jason and Tay stared into each other's faces before Jason finally relaxed and stepped away. "Today's your lucky day, my friend. I can't do it. I can't hit you because if I did, it would shatter that woman's world and I can't bring myself to be that guy. I'll reserve that role for you. But know this: I'm not going anywhere. I'll pursue her until the day she wakes up and doesn't want you
anymore--and that day will come. I advise you stay away from her and let her live her life. If you don't plan to be with her, stop chasing her around. She's been happy without you once. Give her the chance to be
happy again."
Tay laughed so loud it echoed through the hotel lobby. "With you, you mean? Happy with you? You fucking wish. It always has been me and her and it will always be me and her and there's nothing you, or any other big brawny island native, can do about it. Waste your life waiting for her, I don't care." Tay stepped up and got right in Jason's face. "But she IS mine and she will always BE mine and you better never
forget it. Nobody will ever take her away from me. Try as they might."
"You sound awful confident about that."
"You better fucking believe it."
Okay then. Drew had decided she'd had about enough of this. They were already in each other's faces. She was impressed with the level of restraint they were able to show at this moment. She stormed over to the two men, pulled Jason away by his arm and then pushed Taylor back in the opposite direction. "I've seen all I need to see here. I came out here to make sure you both made it out alive. You've said what you needed to say and now it's time to go your separate ways. You will never see eye to eye with each other. Mel is a grown woman. She can do what she wants. Both of you can just deal with THAT. I've had about enough
dick-swinging for one night. You're the third and fourth I've had to deal with and dessert isn't even on the table yet. Tay, go to your room. Jason, come back to the table. This is done."
"You're going to be at the benefit tomorrow night, right?" Tay said to Jason.
"I am. With her. And she is going to look spectacular. And we both know it. She doesn't need our stress to weigh down on the stress she has now and she doesn't need us to ruin her big night tomorrow night."
"Well. As long as you stay in your corner and I'll stay in mine, we should survive tomorrow night."
"I know I will," Jason said, looking Tay in the eye before walking away with Drew.
As she walked with Jason, Drew couldn't hold it in anymore. "You should be ashamed of yourself."
Jason looked down at her in disbelief. "What? Why?"
"For the way you've been acting around Tay. Mel is under enough pressure as it is. She doesn't need yours and Tay's pissing contest to make it any worse. You guys looked like seventh graders, fighting over her
like that. It was completely immature."
"Nobody asked you to follow me out here."
"Well I'm sure as hell glad I did."
Jason sighed in defeat. "Yeah. I'm glad you did, too. Look, don't tell Mel about this, okay? She doesn't need it."
"Believe me, I won't." Drew and Jason walked back into the restaurant.
_______________________________________________