CHAPTER ONE
MEL
Ten years.
Ten whole years.
Ten suddenly-very-short years.
It had been ten years since Melody Banks-Bradshaw had laid eyes on Taylor Hanson. She swore that fateful day ten years ago that she would never lay eyes on that man ever again for as long as she lived. And she meant it.
Since that near-traumatic day in her young life Melody, up until this point, had thought she'd found herself.
She was free and independent, knowing exactly what she wanted in life and how to get it. After some time she even allowed herself to marry.
She loved John Bradshaw with every fiber of her being, until her world came crashing down once again. She couldn't seem to catch a break. Four years she had been allowed to love John--two of them married--until she was doomed to be alone once more. The "incident" with Taylor, she now prefers to refer it to, was completely childish and petty compared to the pain and loneliness she went through now.
At 10 years her senior, John left for work as he did every morning. They'd had coffee, a light breakfast. And every morning after he left, she would clean the dishes and curl up to write. Life was perfect. For about two
hours.
New York. She had chosen New York City. All she wanted to do was get as far away as possible from Oklahoma and the Big Apple was the first on her list. She moved to the East Coast with her best friend, Andrew Brooks, and the two of them never left. It had always been just the two of them, through thick and thin. When everything was all said and done, they knew the only ones they could count on was each other. Drew pursued the stage over academics. She had practically made a career for herself in commercials and more currently she was a well-seasoned off-Broadway actress. She's never once given up her dream of hitting the big time on an actual Broadway stage. Melody envied her for having dreams. Now Drew was practically moved into the lavish, empty Brownstone that Melody once shared with her husband, at her own insistence. Melody was completely fine on her own. Drew knew better.
Two hours and two paragraphs after Mr. Bradshaw had left for work on the force she received the ringing of the doorbell that a uniform's wife forever dreaded.
And then life was over.
For two years, Melody had the perfect marriage and perfect life. For four years she had the perfect man.
Two hours after she'd seen him that morning, her perfect life was brutally gunned down in a random NYC gutter during a chase from the drug bust his unit had uncovered.
Ten years.
Two hours.
Time was never kind to her.
And now here she was. Full-time columnist by day, part-time music critic by night. Her boss at the New
York Times had practically forced this gig on her. "You're the only one available. There are tons of gigs going on this weekend, everyone else is busy. The Hanson show is yours." She fought and she begged and she pleaded. She argued that she knew nothing about their music beyond their first two albums, which was actually true. But he wouldn't hear it, and she was doomed.
Would it ever end?
MEL
Ten years.
Ten whole years.
Ten suddenly-very-short years.
It had been ten years since Melody Banks-Bradshaw had laid eyes on Taylor Hanson. She swore that fateful day ten years ago that she would never lay eyes on that man ever again for as long as she lived. And she meant it.
Since that near-traumatic day in her young life Melody, up until this point, had thought she'd found herself.
She was free and independent, knowing exactly what she wanted in life and how to get it. After some time she even allowed herself to marry.
She loved John Bradshaw with every fiber of her being, until her world came crashing down once again. She couldn't seem to catch a break. Four years she had been allowed to love John--two of them married--until she was doomed to be alone once more. The "incident" with Taylor, she now prefers to refer it to, was completely childish and petty compared to the pain and loneliness she went through now.
At 10 years her senior, John left for work as he did every morning. They'd had coffee, a light breakfast. And every morning after he left, she would clean the dishes and curl up to write. Life was perfect. For about two
hours.
New York. She had chosen New York City. All she wanted to do was get as far away as possible from Oklahoma and the Big Apple was the first on her list. She moved to the East Coast with her best friend, Andrew Brooks, and the two of them never left. It had always been just the two of them, through thick and thin. When everything was all said and done, they knew the only ones they could count on was each other. Drew pursued the stage over academics. She had practically made a career for herself in commercials and more currently she was a well-seasoned off-Broadway actress. She's never once given up her dream of hitting the big time on an actual Broadway stage. Melody envied her for having dreams. Now Drew was practically moved into the lavish, empty Brownstone that Melody once shared with her husband, at her own insistence. Melody was completely fine on her own. Drew knew better.
Two hours and two paragraphs after Mr. Bradshaw had left for work on the force she received the ringing of the doorbell that a uniform's wife forever dreaded.
And then life was over.
For two years, Melody had the perfect marriage and perfect life. For four years she had the perfect man.
Two hours after she'd seen him that morning, her perfect life was brutally gunned down in a random NYC gutter during a chase from the drug bust his unit had uncovered.
Ten years.
Two hours.
Time was never kind to her.
And now here she was. Full-time columnist by day, part-time music critic by night. Her boss at the New
York Times had practically forced this gig on her. "You're the only one available. There are tons of gigs going on this weekend, everyone else is busy. The Hanson show is yours." She fought and she begged and she pleaded. She argued that she knew nothing about their music beyond their first two albums, which was actually true. But he wouldn't hear it, and she was doomed.
Would it ever end?