CHAPTER EIGHT
DREW
Five minutes after her second interrupted bath of the day, Drew met Mel in the living room to sort out Mel's newest dilemma. It hadn't even been 24 hours after last night's concert and Mel was already a constant, walking train wreck. It was the craziest damn thing she had ever seen.
Actually, that was a lie. Toward the end of Mel and Taylor's relationship, and even during some of the good parts earlier on, Drew had seen some crazy things between the two of them. They reminded her of Heathcliff and Cathy from Wuthering Heights and she didn't dare say that out loud. Drew was not Tay's biggest fan. Not in the least. Nobody puts hands on her best friend, no matter who you are, how much money you had, or under whatever circumstance. Like Mel, Drew hadn't spoken to any of the guys since they'd parted ways ten years ago.
Until Zac. Last night.
Her life was turning upside down just about as fast as Mel's was.
Speaking of which, Drew had found Mel in the living room, pacing. No alcohol. Good girl.
Now is a good moment to be reminded that Mel was not typically a drinker. Not like this anyway. Not to be fooled, Mel could party with the best of them. Drew had witnessed it on many an occasion. But it wasn't like her to often drink out of stress. Just one more thing Drew could resent Tay for.
Mel looked up and saw Drew. "I just can't believe it. I cannot BELIEVE he has the audacity to call me. The BALLS to call me! I can't believe he has my number. How did he get my number?"
Drew didn't know how to answer. She was just as stunned and confused as Mel was. If it were a land line she could easily see how he could have found her, but on a cell phone? Surely Tay couldn't have gone so far as to hire a private investigator. As far fetched as it sounded, Drew wouldn't put it past him. But she decided that was highly unlikely. "I haven't the slightest clue," Drew finally responded. "Did you maybe give it to Ike or Zac during your interview?"
"Well, no," Mel said, frustrated. "You heard the whole thing on tape." Then Mel's face lit up. Not the good kind of light. She glared accusingly at Drew. "Zac! You talked to Zac last night! You gave him my number, didn't you?"
Drew was beside herself. "No!" she said.. "Why in the hell would I do that? Why in the hell would I ENCOURAGE Tay to contact you or you to contact him? Seriously!"
Mel sighed. Drew had a point.
"Maybe I need to change my phone number," Mel said. "Or just never answer my phone again. Ever."
"If he got your number now, he could probably just as easily get if you had a new one," Drew said.
Mel huffed. "Dammit, Tay," she muttered under her breath.
Drew giggled a little. "I remember when that was a regular part of your vocabulary."
Mel turned to look at her, hand on her hips. "And now here we are ten years later and it still applies. Is that sad, or what?"
Drew continued to laugh. "Maybe we just need to get you laid."
For the first time in years, Mel agreed. "You might actually be right this time."
Drew was shocked. She wasn't sure if she should chalk this up to a milestone or not. Since John's death, Mel hadn't so much as looked at another man. Not a single exchange of phone numbers or even email. Not a single date, and Manuel did not count. And certainly no sex. Mel had said that she and John had had amazing sex before getting out of bed on the morning he was killed. After that she had no absolutely desire for any
other man since. So for her to agree to the statement that Drew had simply joked about was a big deal. Drew decided not to prod any further and let the moment slide.
Drew's thoughts were interrupted when Mel's phone rang, as if on cue. She and Mel stared at each other, wide-eyed. It was obvious neither one of them wanted Mel to look at the caller ID.
______________________________________________
MEL
Snapping out of it, and for fear of having another voicemail from that dreaded man on her phone, Mel decided to look. She sighed with relief. "Oh, it's just Bob!"
Walking into the kitchen, Mel answered the call. "Mel!" Bob said on the other end.
"Wow, Bob, it's only been a few hours. Miss me already?"
"Actually, I just had something run across my desk--"
"Bob, aren't you supposed to be out with your wife tonight?"
"My wife?" Bob asked, puzzled. "Shit, did I forget something?"
Instantly, Mel felt like a fool. She had completely forgotten that she had simply made the wife scenario up in her head to explain Bob's demeanor earlier that day. She hadn't said it out loud.
Mel laughed. "No. It's just me. I was thinking about something completely different. My mistake. What's up?"
"Anyway, something just ran across my desk that I want you to write. I want it, fresh, in the Sunday morning paper."
"Wow, that's a week from today. If you're calling me a week ahead of time, this must be a pretty big deal!" Mel was starting to get anxious.
"Well, it can be a pretty a big deal or it could be a flop. That part's up to you. I need you in my office at eight o'clock sharp tomorrow morning to discuss details and further instruction."
"No problem, see you tomorrow!" Mel hung up and grinned at Drew. "I think Bob is about to hand me a HUGE story!"
Drew's face lit up. "Maybe it'll be on Page Six!"
"I didn't even think of that! Man, I totally need this story. It's the perfect distraction from the personal hell I've been living since yesterday."
______________________________________________________
"Um, excuse me?"
Mel was standing in front of Bob Sheldon's desk at the New York Times office. Her excitement for this new assignment had been terribly short-lived.
"Is there a problem?" Bob asked.
"Yes. I am totally not the right person for this assignment. You're just gonna have to get somebody else. Why don't I just go over to the Central Park Zoo and borrow a chimp? He would do a much better job than I would."
"Look, Mel. I wouldn't be giving you this if I didn't believe in you and if you weren't already familiar. I mean you just met the guys this weekend. Taylor said he wanted to set it up with you personally and when I didn't hear back from him to see if he'd gotten ahold of you, I decided to go in a different direction. You know how I don't do patience well."
"Wait, wait. What? What do you mean he wanted to set it up personally?" Mel couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You gave Taylor Hanson my phone number?"
Bob dropped his voice and looked her in the eye. "Mel. You're like family to me, you know that. You know I wouldn't just willy nilly give out your personal information like that if I didn't feel it necessary. But I like the guy, he's a nice kid. And it's only professional. It's not like I'm trying to set you up with him. Did you know he's married? For TEN years?"
Mel scoffed. The more Bob spoke, the more the irony spilled out into the air like a deathly poison. She wanted nothing more than to bolt from that building and hide underneath her covers for the rest of her life.
This could NOT be happening.
"But like I said," Bob continued. "He never got back with me and I decided to scratch the interview."
Mel sighed with relief. The relief lasted until Bob's next abrupt statement.
"Instead I want you to interview his wife."
Mel nearly choked on her own spit. "You want me to WHAT?"
"His wife. That's my new direction. Since your review with those boys went out this morning, the phones in this office have been ringing off the hooks. Lots of interest surrounding these guys. People wanting more. Wanna know who they are, what they're about." Bob paused to toss a file across his desk at her. "Name's Natalie. From Georgia. Now lives in Tulsa. Cinderella story. I'm thinking, 'Hanson: Life On The Road, A Rock Star Wife's Story.' Except, you know, you can dress the title up however you like. Anyway, there's a little info on her in that file, plus a round trip plane ticket to Tulsa. Interview's already set up and ready to go. Flight leaves in two days."
Mel looked at him, incredously. "WHAT?? I can't just up and fly off to Tulsa, Oklahoma like that! You're gonna have to find somebody else. I have that Fleetwood Mac Reunion thing this Thu--"
"Oh, I re-assigned that to Joe Carter. He's into all that old retro stuff anyway, he'll be good for it. There IS nobody else, Mel. You're it."
Mel tossed the file back at Bob. "I can't do it. I'm sorry. It's just not possible."
Bob picked the file back up and offered it back to Mel. "Did I mention that I've cleared out an entire section in Page Six JUST for this story? A rather large section?"
Mel clammed up and stared back at Bob, both sets of eyes silently challenging each other, each waiting for the other to break first.
How dare he? Fly her out to Tulsa on a whim to interview Natalie Hanson? Taylor would surely be there! It was almost as if she were purposely being set up for failure! She had no interest whatsoever to be inside of Taylor's house, meeting his wife, seeing their happy little life together...the whole thing was just WRONG. And how dare Bob put her in this situation?
Well. Bob actually had no idea of hers and Tay's tumultuous history.
Page Six, huh? It was practically a journalist's dream come true. And how many more opportunities would she have to have a story on Page Six? This was her first Page Six offer in the four years she worked for Bob and it very well could be her last.
"Fine," Mel finally said. "You win. But it BETTER show up on Page Six bright and early on Sunday morning."
Bob grinned from ear to ear. "That's my girl! I knew you were the right woman for the job! Now get out of here and knock 'em dead!"
'If only,' she caught herself saying to herself. Dammit! Suddenly she remembered the song. She remembered when it was written. 'Go away!' she said again in her head.
_______________________________________
Two days later, Mel's plane was touching down in Tulsa. Oh, Tulsa. Her hometown. Her stomping grounds. Her roots. This was where her family was. This was where her history was.
This was the place that she couldn't leave fast enough.
She had spoken to her mother on the phone during a layover. She was on vacation and Mel would be sleeping in the old house alone. "Do me a favor and go and see Diana," her mother had said. "She asks about you
constantly, I know she would love to see you."
Mel's mother and Diana Hanson had been close friends for as long as Mel could remember. Mel and her parents had been next door neighbors with the Hanson family since she was born. There were dozens of pictures of her palling around with Taylor and Isaac when they were toddlers between the two houses. Mel was an only child and at the time Isaac and Taylor had been Walker and Diana's only children until baby Zac came along. When Zac had turned five and when Mel and Taylor were seven and Isaac was nine, Mel's father had gotten a promotion in Texas and she and her parents had to uproot and move. It was the most devastating day of her life, leaving her best friends. Taylor, most of all. By the time they had returned five years later, the boys had fully engrossed themselves in their music and she had Drew had become closer, seeing these old friends in a completely new light. The rest had become history.
Mel admitted, she wouldn't have minded seeing Diana. She was always like a second mother to her. Diana always called Mel the daughter she never had. Of course by the time she moved back to Tulsa, Jessica and
Avery had been born.
Mel didn't, however, want to be reminded of all the memories, good or bad. She was having a tough enough time of that as it was. She knew there would be pictures of the guys all over the house. What used to be
baby and childhood and teenage pictures of she and Tay and of she and Drew and the guys, would now be replaced with her sons' wedding pictures and of all her grandchildren. Mel and Drew had virtually been replaced. Being in Diana and Walker's house would be incredibly strange...
But at the moment, Mel had bigger fish to fry. Natalie Hanson was expecting her in two hours. Leave it to her life to not allow her to recover from the jet lag before plunging her into her next nightmare.
___________________________________________
Mel pulled the rental car up to Taylor and Natalie's home. It was large, but slightly more modest than she had been expecting. Ranch style. Not that she was expecting a mansion, but she wouldn't have put it past Tay,
either. Actually, judging by her preconceived notions of Natalie she was kind of surprised it was only a modest, ranch-style home and not a mansion with a 10-car garage, five swimming pools, and two tennis courts.
Then again, when you're an official Hanson Stepford wife, what time do you have for such things?
The thought made Mel smile wryly to herself.
Mel had made the effort to dress for this occasion. She wasn't sure what provoked her, but she had decided to dress. She wore a dangerously short, black, sleeveless mini dress, paired with a peach-colored, quarter-sleeved blazer that rose merely inches above the bottom of the dress. The blazer had black cuffs and a black collar. On her feet she wore patent-leather, black, stiletto Manolo pumps with peach-colored tips that made her legs look as if they went for miles. Her right wrist and her left ankle displayed matching diamond tennis bracelets and on her left hand she still wore her wedding ring.
Above her neck, Mel made sure she prepared her best subtle smoky-eye look and wore loose curls in her dark brown hair that she allowed to cascade down her back. Her ears dripped with subtle diamonds.
She knew Tay would have absolutely ravished her on the spot, but more importantly she knew Natalie's pulse would rise with fear with a woman that looked like her inside her house asking about her husband.
At that thought, Mel noticed a surprising change in her own attitude. It was almost becoming vengeful, except not toward Taylor but toward Natalie. And she hadn't even met her yet! For all she knew, Natalie could be the kindest, sweetest person in the entire world.
Her female instincts told her otherwise.
DREW
Five minutes after her second interrupted bath of the day, Drew met Mel in the living room to sort out Mel's newest dilemma. It hadn't even been 24 hours after last night's concert and Mel was already a constant, walking train wreck. It was the craziest damn thing she had ever seen.
Actually, that was a lie. Toward the end of Mel and Taylor's relationship, and even during some of the good parts earlier on, Drew had seen some crazy things between the two of them. They reminded her of Heathcliff and Cathy from Wuthering Heights and she didn't dare say that out loud. Drew was not Tay's biggest fan. Not in the least. Nobody puts hands on her best friend, no matter who you are, how much money you had, or under whatever circumstance. Like Mel, Drew hadn't spoken to any of the guys since they'd parted ways ten years ago.
Until Zac. Last night.
Her life was turning upside down just about as fast as Mel's was.
Speaking of which, Drew had found Mel in the living room, pacing. No alcohol. Good girl.
Now is a good moment to be reminded that Mel was not typically a drinker. Not like this anyway. Not to be fooled, Mel could party with the best of them. Drew had witnessed it on many an occasion. But it wasn't like her to often drink out of stress. Just one more thing Drew could resent Tay for.
Mel looked up and saw Drew. "I just can't believe it. I cannot BELIEVE he has the audacity to call me. The BALLS to call me! I can't believe he has my number. How did he get my number?"
Drew didn't know how to answer. She was just as stunned and confused as Mel was. If it were a land line she could easily see how he could have found her, but on a cell phone? Surely Tay couldn't have gone so far as to hire a private investigator. As far fetched as it sounded, Drew wouldn't put it past him. But she decided that was highly unlikely. "I haven't the slightest clue," Drew finally responded. "Did you maybe give it to Ike or Zac during your interview?"
"Well, no," Mel said, frustrated. "You heard the whole thing on tape." Then Mel's face lit up. Not the good kind of light. She glared accusingly at Drew. "Zac! You talked to Zac last night! You gave him my number, didn't you?"
Drew was beside herself. "No!" she said.. "Why in the hell would I do that? Why in the hell would I ENCOURAGE Tay to contact you or you to contact him? Seriously!"
Mel sighed. Drew had a point.
"Maybe I need to change my phone number," Mel said. "Or just never answer my phone again. Ever."
"If he got your number now, he could probably just as easily get if you had a new one," Drew said.
Mel huffed. "Dammit, Tay," she muttered under her breath.
Drew giggled a little. "I remember when that was a regular part of your vocabulary."
Mel turned to look at her, hand on her hips. "And now here we are ten years later and it still applies. Is that sad, or what?"
Drew continued to laugh. "Maybe we just need to get you laid."
For the first time in years, Mel agreed. "You might actually be right this time."
Drew was shocked. She wasn't sure if she should chalk this up to a milestone or not. Since John's death, Mel hadn't so much as looked at another man. Not a single exchange of phone numbers or even email. Not a single date, and Manuel did not count. And certainly no sex. Mel had said that she and John had had amazing sex before getting out of bed on the morning he was killed. After that she had no absolutely desire for any
other man since. So for her to agree to the statement that Drew had simply joked about was a big deal. Drew decided not to prod any further and let the moment slide.
Drew's thoughts were interrupted when Mel's phone rang, as if on cue. She and Mel stared at each other, wide-eyed. It was obvious neither one of them wanted Mel to look at the caller ID.
______________________________________________
MEL
Snapping out of it, and for fear of having another voicemail from that dreaded man on her phone, Mel decided to look. She sighed with relief. "Oh, it's just Bob!"
Walking into the kitchen, Mel answered the call. "Mel!" Bob said on the other end.
"Wow, Bob, it's only been a few hours. Miss me already?"
"Actually, I just had something run across my desk--"
"Bob, aren't you supposed to be out with your wife tonight?"
"My wife?" Bob asked, puzzled. "Shit, did I forget something?"
Instantly, Mel felt like a fool. She had completely forgotten that she had simply made the wife scenario up in her head to explain Bob's demeanor earlier that day. She hadn't said it out loud.
Mel laughed. "No. It's just me. I was thinking about something completely different. My mistake. What's up?"
"Anyway, something just ran across my desk that I want you to write. I want it, fresh, in the Sunday morning paper."
"Wow, that's a week from today. If you're calling me a week ahead of time, this must be a pretty big deal!" Mel was starting to get anxious.
"Well, it can be a pretty a big deal or it could be a flop. That part's up to you. I need you in my office at eight o'clock sharp tomorrow morning to discuss details and further instruction."
"No problem, see you tomorrow!" Mel hung up and grinned at Drew. "I think Bob is about to hand me a HUGE story!"
Drew's face lit up. "Maybe it'll be on Page Six!"
"I didn't even think of that! Man, I totally need this story. It's the perfect distraction from the personal hell I've been living since yesterday."
______________________________________________________
"Um, excuse me?"
Mel was standing in front of Bob Sheldon's desk at the New York Times office. Her excitement for this new assignment had been terribly short-lived.
"Is there a problem?" Bob asked.
"Yes. I am totally not the right person for this assignment. You're just gonna have to get somebody else. Why don't I just go over to the Central Park Zoo and borrow a chimp? He would do a much better job than I would."
"Look, Mel. I wouldn't be giving you this if I didn't believe in you and if you weren't already familiar. I mean you just met the guys this weekend. Taylor said he wanted to set it up with you personally and when I didn't hear back from him to see if he'd gotten ahold of you, I decided to go in a different direction. You know how I don't do patience well."
"Wait, wait. What? What do you mean he wanted to set it up personally?" Mel couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You gave Taylor Hanson my phone number?"
Bob dropped his voice and looked her in the eye. "Mel. You're like family to me, you know that. You know I wouldn't just willy nilly give out your personal information like that if I didn't feel it necessary. But I like the guy, he's a nice kid. And it's only professional. It's not like I'm trying to set you up with him. Did you know he's married? For TEN years?"
Mel scoffed. The more Bob spoke, the more the irony spilled out into the air like a deathly poison. She wanted nothing more than to bolt from that building and hide underneath her covers for the rest of her life.
This could NOT be happening.
"But like I said," Bob continued. "He never got back with me and I decided to scratch the interview."
Mel sighed with relief. The relief lasted until Bob's next abrupt statement.
"Instead I want you to interview his wife."
Mel nearly choked on her own spit. "You want me to WHAT?"
"His wife. That's my new direction. Since your review with those boys went out this morning, the phones in this office have been ringing off the hooks. Lots of interest surrounding these guys. People wanting more. Wanna know who they are, what they're about." Bob paused to toss a file across his desk at her. "Name's Natalie. From Georgia. Now lives in Tulsa. Cinderella story. I'm thinking, 'Hanson: Life On The Road, A Rock Star Wife's Story.' Except, you know, you can dress the title up however you like. Anyway, there's a little info on her in that file, plus a round trip plane ticket to Tulsa. Interview's already set up and ready to go. Flight leaves in two days."
Mel looked at him, incredously. "WHAT?? I can't just up and fly off to Tulsa, Oklahoma like that! You're gonna have to find somebody else. I have that Fleetwood Mac Reunion thing this Thu--"
"Oh, I re-assigned that to Joe Carter. He's into all that old retro stuff anyway, he'll be good for it. There IS nobody else, Mel. You're it."
Mel tossed the file back at Bob. "I can't do it. I'm sorry. It's just not possible."
Bob picked the file back up and offered it back to Mel. "Did I mention that I've cleared out an entire section in Page Six JUST for this story? A rather large section?"
Mel clammed up and stared back at Bob, both sets of eyes silently challenging each other, each waiting for the other to break first.
How dare he? Fly her out to Tulsa on a whim to interview Natalie Hanson? Taylor would surely be there! It was almost as if she were purposely being set up for failure! She had no interest whatsoever to be inside of Taylor's house, meeting his wife, seeing their happy little life together...the whole thing was just WRONG. And how dare Bob put her in this situation?
Well. Bob actually had no idea of hers and Tay's tumultuous history.
Page Six, huh? It was practically a journalist's dream come true. And how many more opportunities would she have to have a story on Page Six? This was her first Page Six offer in the four years she worked for Bob and it very well could be her last.
"Fine," Mel finally said. "You win. But it BETTER show up on Page Six bright and early on Sunday morning."
Bob grinned from ear to ear. "That's my girl! I knew you were the right woman for the job! Now get out of here and knock 'em dead!"
'If only,' she caught herself saying to herself. Dammit! Suddenly she remembered the song. She remembered when it was written. 'Go away!' she said again in her head.
_______________________________________
Two days later, Mel's plane was touching down in Tulsa. Oh, Tulsa. Her hometown. Her stomping grounds. Her roots. This was where her family was. This was where her history was.
This was the place that she couldn't leave fast enough.
She had spoken to her mother on the phone during a layover. She was on vacation and Mel would be sleeping in the old house alone. "Do me a favor and go and see Diana," her mother had said. "She asks about you
constantly, I know she would love to see you."
Mel's mother and Diana Hanson had been close friends for as long as Mel could remember. Mel and her parents had been next door neighbors with the Hanson family since she was born. There were dozens of pictures of her palling around with Taylor and Isaac when they were toddlers between the two houses. Mel was an only child and at the time Isaac and Taylor had been Walker and Diana's only children until baby Zac came along. When Zac had turned five and when Mel and Taylor were seven and Isaac was nine, Mel's father had gotten a promotion in Texas and she and her parents had to uproot and move. It was the most devastating day of her life, leaving her best friends. Taylor, most of all. By the time they had returned five years later, the boys had fully engrossed themselves in their music and she had Drew had become closer, seeing these old friends in a completely new light. The rest had become history.
Mel admitted, she wouldn't have minded seeing Diana. She was always like a second mother to her. Diana always called Mel the daughter she never had. Of course by the time she moved back to Tulsa, Jessica and
Avery had been born.
Mel didn't, however, want to be reminded of all the memories, good or bad. She was having a tough enough time of that as it was. She knew there would be pictures of the guys all over the house. What used to be
baby and childhood and teenage pictures of she and Tay and of she and Drew and the guys, would now be replaced with her sons' wedding pictures and of all her grandchildren. Mel and Drew had virtually been replaced. Being in Diana and Walker's house would be incredibly strange...
But at the moment, Mel had bigger fish to fry. Natalie Hanson was expecting her in two hours. Leave it to her life to not allow her to recover from the jet lag before plunging her into her next nightmare.
___________________________________________
Mel pulled the rental car up to Taylor and Natalie's home. It was large, but slightly more modest than she had been expecting. Ranch style. Not that she was expecting a mansion, but she wouldn't have put it past Tay,
either. Actually, judging by her preconceived notions of Natalie she was kind of surprised it was only a modest, ranch-style home and not a mansion with a 10-car garage, five swimming pools, and two tennis courts.
Then again, when you're an official Hanson Stepford wife, what time do you have for such things?
The thought made Mel smile wryly to herself.
Mel had made the effort to dress for this occasion. She wasn't sure what provoked her, but she had decided to dress. She wore a dangerously short, black, sleeveless mini dress, paired with a peach-colored, quarter-sleeved blazer that rose merely inches above the bottom of the dress. The blazer had black cuffs and a black collar. On her feet she wore patent-leather, black, stiletto Manolo pumps with peach-colored tips that made her legs look as if they went for miles. Her right wrist and her left ankle displayed matching diamond tennis bracelets and on her left hand she still wore her wedding ring.
Above her neck, Mel made sure she prepared her best subtle smoky-eye look and wore loose curls in her dark brown hair that she allowed to cascade down her back. Her ears dripped with subtle diamonds.
She knew Tay would have absolutely ravished her on the spot, but more importantly she knew Natalie's pulse would rise with fear with a woman that looked like her inside her house asking about her husband.
At that thought, Mel noticed a surprising change in her own attitude. It was almost becoming vengeful, except not toward Taylor but toward Natalie. And she hadn't even met her yet! For all she knew, Natalie could be the kindest, sweetest person in the entire world.
Her female instincts told her otherwise.