CHAPTER TEN
MEL
As Mel opened her car door and began to step in, Taylor met her there and rested his hand on the open car door.
"What is going on here? Why are you here?" he asked her.
"I told you already," Mel responded. "You need to talk to your wife. I neither requested nor WANTED to be here. And now I am leaving. Goodbye."
"Well, wait," Tay said, anxiously. "While you're here, we should talk. You know, maybe tie up loose ends? Ten years has been way too long and I replay that last day in my head constantly, wishing things had gone differently. Neither one of us ever had any closure and I believe we owe it to ourselves to have closure. And forgiveness."
Mel scoffed at him. Loudly. "Forgiveness?? Like you said, it's been ten years. I'm over it. I've moved on. You should, too."
With that, she seated herself in the car, buckled her seat belt and reached to close the door.
Once again, Tay caught the door and lowered his head in and said in a softer voice, "Mel, I think about you
constantly. Night and day. I can't help it. I can't stop."
She looked up into his eyes with her own, cold as ice. "That's not my problem. Now, please. For the last time. GET out of my car."
Finally, Tay removed his hand from her door and she slammed it loudly, barely missing his fingers.
Without another word or another look back, Mel swiftly drove off of the property.
__________________________________________
TAYLOR
Taylor didn't know if he should be hurt or enraged. But he was upset and now he had to go in and deal with it
with his wife. He comes home after a long tour and instead of the warm welcome he usually gets from his wife, he has to already be dealing with his personal drama. And now Natalie was involved? How could it have
already escalated this far in a week??
He walked in the door and Natalie stood right where he left her. For the first time in their ten year marriage, he couldn't read her. He couldn't tell if he read guilt or not but it bothered him that he thought he was reading hints of accusation and vindictiveness in her eyes, as well. This was a first. But there was one thing he was sure of. He had certainly walked into a situation that he obviously was not supposed to be aware of. He and Natalie had never had secrets. At least he never kept any from her. And now he couldn't help but question how many secrets she had from him. He had always suspected but never let himself believe it.
"Natalie," he said, attempting to stay calm. "Why was she here?"
"When were you going to tell me about her?" she countered his question.
The rage in him was building quickly. "What in the hell--that's hardly the issue here. There's nothing for me to tell. YOU tell ME why she was in our house."
He replayed the sight of Mel in his head and suddenly remembered that she hadn't been empty-handed. Not
just her purse, but also...oh, no. Surely not...
"She was--was she WORKING?" Tay asked, a little more frantically now.
Natalie shifted her weight from foot to foot before deciding to answer. She could have been completely
straight-forward with it. Instead, she got on the defensive. "So. What if she was?"
Collecting himself before his temper got the best of him, he said slowly, "Natalie. Why was she here? What did you do?"
Natalie's sigh came out more as an annoyed huff. Rolling her guilty eyes, she finally told her husband the
truth. "The New York Times contacted me about doing an article about being the wife of a member of Hanson. I accepted and scheduled the interview. I didn't know who they were sending until she showed up
today. I didn't know they were sending your damn ex-girlfriend!"
Tay didn't know what to do with himself at this point, so he chose to simply let it out. "You did an ARTICLE? About being the wife of a HANSON member? How could you? How could you do that without consulting me? Or Ike or Zac? Why would you do that?"
"The article is about ME!" Natalie shouted back. "For once, it was about ME. Not you or Ike or Zac. ME. They wanted ME!"
"Nat, that is so far from the point! The point is, Hanson isn't just our name. The band is a brand, also. The article focuses on you associated with the brand. Not with me. And anything that has anything to do with the band has to go through us first. There are contracts and paperwork...what is she even going to write??"
"It's not even that bad. It's about a wife's point of view. That's all. Look, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was like that. You're right, I should have said something first. But, Tay, they asked for me this time. Me, Natalie Hanson. Not Taylor Hanson's wife. Do you realize how difficult it can be for me? You know how I want to do something for myself, with MY name on it for once."
"Natalie, you can--"
"Really, Tay? I mean seriously. Come on."
"Nat--"
"All my extra time is spent in your studio, or cleaning this house, or babysitting nieces and nephews...when do I really have time for myself?"
Tay was flabbergasted. She was alone all the time. How she couldn't find time for a hobby or a career was beyond him. "But really, you--"
"Tay, I don't regret marrying you. Not ever. And I don't regret marrying into this band and your huge family. I love you, you know I do. But sometimes I don't think you guys understand what it's like to be us sometimes. While we're here at home alone and you guys get to go out and see the world. You
don't understand how starved we get for adult attention around here."
Tay could do nothing but look at her. It was a rare occasion that he was rendered speechless. "I'm sorry," he said to her. "I just get so busy sometimes I don't take the time to think about things from other points of view. You're right. About everything. I couldn't imagine how you deal with it all, but you do and you're a total rock star. A bigger one than I could ever be. I love you and I always will. Know that you ARE appreciated. I do appreciate you."
Natalie looked up at him and smiled with tears in her eyes. "I hate when we fight."
He smiled and kissed her gently. "Me, too."
"So who is she?" Natalie asked again, catching Tay completely off guard.
"Who, Mel? She's an old friend. Well, turned girlfriend, I guess We were together for awhile before I met you. We'd actually been best friends since we were literally in diapers. The relationship ended badly and we haven't seen each other or spoken since, until last weekend when she interviewed us for the Times. Turns out, she had moved to NYC and became a music critic and reviewer."
"So you spoke to her this week."
"No," Tay said firmly. "I saw her in the crowd at a show last weekend but only Ike and Zac participated in
the interview. I had to review the set list. She ended up doing the interview on a break, which completely threw us all off. You know I can't concentrate on anything but the show when we're in the middle of one." He felt like an asshole for purposely leaving out true details.
"So...she's not one to cause drama or anything? I mean, try to cause problems or anything?"
"No. Definitely not. Things ended up so badly with us, that she pretty much wants nothing to do with me anyway. I just tried to apologize to her and she wouldn't hear it, so. Why, did she say anything to make you believe she might be a trouble maker?" Tay's nerves all of a sudden started bouncing all over the place.
"No, not exactly...she told me that she and her friend were on tour with you guys that summer...the This Time Around tour..."
"Oh, no, Natalie. That summer when you gave me your phone number, I never meant to lead you--"
"No, no, no," she said, cutting him off. "I'm not so disturbed by that part, disturbing as it may be. No, she said that the day your relationship ended that you guys just didn't break up. That she left you."
Tay sucked in his breath. He knew what was coming. He had never told Natalie any of this because he didn't want her believing that he was some kind of monster. And this was certainly not the way she needed to find out. "That is true, yes."
"And that the reason she left you is because you hurt her. Physically. But I knew she was lying and I let her know I knew she was. I told her how dare she disrespect you in your house that way. Why would she make up lies like that??"
He let out the breath that he had just sucked in, rubbed his face with his hands, then let his hands run back
through his hair. His silence made his wife nervous. "Tay? Why would she lie like that?"
"Because it's not a lie," he responded, unable to look her in the eye. By this time, he had been well settled on the sofa and she on the arm beside him. Abruptly, she stood up in disbelief.
"What do you mean, it's not a lie?"
He sighed and rested his elbows on his knees. "I mean she's telling the truth. I was under a lot of stress that summer. We were at a rest area. She and I got into one of our usual nasty fights. She was screaming, I was screaming. Then all of a sudden, I blacked out. When I finally realized what was going on, Ike had me by the collar up against the bus and Zac and Drew were helping Mel off the ground. Apparently I had shoved her against the bus and her head hit pretty hard. She never spoke another word to me since. And apparently never wants to for the rest of her life. She was my best friend. Since we were toddlers."
Tay finally worked up the bravery to look at his wife and she did nothing but stare back at him. She had no idea what to say and he had no idea what to expect from her.
To his surprise, all she simply said was, "We have a dinner date with Zac and Kate."
And so he followed. After a day like today and a confession like that, Taylor was completely at Natalie's
mercy.
MEL
As Mel opened her car door and began to step in, Taylor met her there and rested his hand on the open car door.
"What is going on here? Why are you here?" he asked her.
"I told you already," Mel responded. "You need to talk to your wife. I neither requested nor WANTED to be here. And now I am leaving. Goodbye."
"Well, wait," Tay said, anxiously. "While you're here, we should talk. You know, maybe tie up loose ends? Ten years has been way too long and I replay that last day in my head constantly, wishing things had gone differently. Neither one of us ever had any closure and I believe we owe it to ourselves to have closure. And forgiveness."
Mel scoffed at him. Loudly. "Forgiveness?? Like you said, it's been ten years. I'm over it. I've moved on. You should, too."
With that, she seated herself in the car, buckled her seat belt and reached to close the door.
Once again, Tay caught the door and lowered his head in and said in a softer voice, "Mel, I think about you
constantly. Night and day. I can't help it. I can't stop."
She looked up into his eyes with her own, cold as ice. "That's not my problem. Now, please. For the last time. GET out of my car."
Finally, Tay removed his hand from her door and she slammed it loudly, barely missing his fingers.
Without another word or another look back, Mel swiftly drove off of the property.
__________________________________________
TAYLOR
Taylor didn't know if he should be hurt or enraged. But he was upset and now he had to go in and deal with it
with his wife. He comes home after a long tour and instead of the warm welcome he usually gets from his wife, he has to already be dealing with his personal drama. And now Natalie was involved? How could it have
already escalated this far in a week??
He walked in the door and Natalie stood right where he left her. For the first time in their ten year marriage, he couldn't read her. He couldn't tell if he read guilt or not but it bothered him that he thought he was reading hints of accusation and vindictiveness in her eyes, as well. This was a first. But there was one thing he was sure of. He had certainly walked into a situation that he obviously was not supposed to be aware of. He and Natalie had never had secrets. At least he never kept any from her. And now he couldn't help but question how many secrets she had from him. He had always suspected but never let himself believe it.
"Natalie," he said, attempting to stay calm. "Why was she here?"
"When were you going to tell me about her?" she countered his question.
The rage in him was building quickly. "What in the hell--that's hardly the issue here. There's nothing for me to tell. YOU tell ME why she was in our house."
He replayed the sight of Mel in his head and suddenly remembered that she hadn't been empty-handed. Not
just her purse, but also...oh, no. Surely not...
"She was--was she WORKING?" Tay asked, a little more frantically now.
Natalie shifted her weight from foot to foot before deciding to answer. She could have been completely
straight-forward with it. Instead, she got on the defensive. "So. What if she was?"
Collecting himself before his temper got the best of him, he said slowly, "Natalie. Why was she here? What did you do?"
Natalie's sigh came out more as an annoyed huff. Rolling her guilty eyes, she finally told her husband the
truth. "The New York Times contacted me about doing an article about being the wife of a member of Hanson. I accepted and scheduled the interview. I didn't know who they were sending until she showed up
today. I didn't know they were sending your damn ex-girlfriend!"
Tay didn't know what to do with himself at this point, so he chose to simply let it out. "You did an ARTICLE? About being the wife of a HANSON member? How could you? How could you do that without consulting me? Or Ike or Zac? Why would you do that?"
"The article is about ME!" Natalie shouted back. "For once, it was about ME. Not you or Ike or Zac. ME. They wanted ME!"
"Nat, that is so far from the point! The point is, Hanson isn't just our name. The band is a brand, also. The article focuses on you associated with the brand. Not with me. And anything that has anything to do with the band has to go through us first. There are contracts and paperwork...what is she even going to write??"
"It's not even that bad. It's about a wife's point of view. That's all. Look, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was like that. You're right, I should have said something first. But, Tay, they asked for me this time. Me, Natalie Hanson. Not Taylor Hanson's wife. Do you realize how difficult it can be for me? You know how I want to do something for myself, with MY name on it for once."
"Natalie, you can--"
"Really, Tay? I mean seriously. Come on."
"Nat--"
"All my extra time is spent in your studio, or cleaning this house, or babysitting nieces and nephews...when do I really have time for myself?"
Tay was flabbergasted. She was alone all the time. How she couldn't find time for a hobby or a career was beyond him. "But really, you--"
"Tay, I don't regret marrying you. Not ever. And I don't regret marrying into this band and your huge family. I love you, you know I do. But sometimes I don't think you guys understand what it's like to be us sometimes. While we're here at home alone and you guys get to go out and see the world. You
don't understand how starved we get for adult attention around here."
Tay could do nothing but look at her. It was a rare occasion that he was rendered speechless. "I'm sorry," he said to her. "I just get so busy sometimes I don't take the time to think about things from other points of view. You're right. About everything. I couldn't imagine how you deal with it all, but you do and you're a total rock star. A bigger one than I could ever be. I love you and I always will. Know that you ARE appreciated. I do appreciate you."
Natalie looked up at him and smiled with tears in her eyes. "I hate when we fight."
He smiled and kissed her gently. "Me, too."
"So who is she?" Natalie asked again, catching Tay completely off guard.
"Who, Mel? She's an old friend. Well, turned girlfriend, I guess We were together for awhile before I met you. We'd actually been best friends since we were literally in diapers. The relationship ended badly and we haven't seen each other or spoken since, until last weekend when she interviewed us for the Times. Turns out, she had moved to NYC and became a music critic and reviewer."
"So you spoke to her this week."
"No," Tay said firmly. "I saw her in the crowd at a show last weekend but only Ike and Zac participated in
the interview. I had to review the set list. She ended up doing the interview on a break, which completely threw us all off. You know I can't concentrate on anything but the show when we're in the middle of one." He felt like an asshole for purposely leaving out true details.
"So...she's not one to cause drama or anything? I mean, try to cause problems or anything?"
"No. Definitely not. Things ended up so badly with us, that she pretty much wants nothing to do with me anyway. I just tried to apologize to her and she wouldn't hear it, so. Why, did she say anything to make you believe she might be a trouble maker?" Tay's nerves all of a sudden started bouncing all over the place.
"No, not exactly...she told me that she and her friend were on tour with you guys that summer...the This Time Around tour..."
"Oh, no, Natalie. That summer when you gave me your phone number, I never meant to lead you--"
"No, no, no," she said, cutting him off. "I'm not so disturbed by that part, disturbing as it may be. No, she said that the day your relationship ended that you guys just didn't break up. That she left you."
Tay sucked in his breath. He knew what was coming. He had never told Natalie any of this because he didn't want her believing that he was some kind of monster. And this was certainly not the way she needed to find out. "That is true, yes."
"And that the reason she left you is because you hurt her. Physically. But I knew she was lying and I let her know I knew she was. I told her how dare she disrespect you in your house that way. Why would she make up lies like that??"
He let out the breath that he had just sucked in, rubbed his face with his hands, then let his hands run back
through his hair. His silence made his wife nervous. "Tay? Why would she lie like that?"
"Because it's not a lie," he responded, unable to look her in the eye. By this time, he had been well settled on the sofa and she on the arm beside him. Abruptly, she stood up in disbelief.
"What do you mean, it's not a lie?"
He sighed and rested his elbows on his knees. "I mean she's telling the truth. I was under a lot of stress that summer. We were at a rest area. She and I got into one of our usual nasty fights. She was screaming, I was screaming. Then all of a sudden, I blacked out. When I finally realized what was going on, Ike had me by the collar up against the bus and Zac and Drew were helping Mel off the ground. Apparently I had shoved her against the bus and her head hit pretty hard. She never spoke another word to me since. And apparently never wants to for the rest of her life. She was my best friend. Since we were toddlers."
Tay finally worked up the bravery to look at his wife and she did nothing but stare back at him. She had no idea what to say and he had no idea what to expect from her.
To his surprise, all she simply said was, "We have a dinner date with Zac and Kate."
And so he followed. After a day like today and a confession like that, Taylor was completely at Natalie's
mercy.