CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Without a doubt you're ahead of your time
Let's go out on the town and give it a piece of your mind
You've been going round and round in your head
So don't think twice, you'll end up worse than you've been
Cause I know that you've been thinking 'bout it
And I know they think you're out of your mind
All of this time I know that you've been Waiting For This
I know that you've been waiting so shout it out so everybody can hear
There's no need to rhyme it when the message is clear
You know I can't ignore it
So what are you waiting for?
You're trying hard not to show it
Can't figure out how you've made it this far
If you don't mind me saying there's no sense in waiting so
Shout it out
You can't deny it
Until you try
Cause I know that you've been thinking 'bout it
And I know they think you're out of your mind
All of this time I know that you've been Waiting For This
MEL
Mel woke up to the smell of coffee. 'Oh thank god,' she thought to herself. When she first moved into her house she thought she would never find a use for the upstairs bar that happened to be located right outside her bedroom but she had been wrong. She never had to go all the way downstairs for her morning coffee. She had the luxury of enjoying it in bed if she wanted.
The drapes in her bedroom remained closed so the light from the morning sun still made the room extremely dim. She sat up in the bed and looked next to her and smiled. Taylor lay there, sleeping like a baby. God how
she adored him. Life had never felt more right than it did at this moment.
Except for coffee. Her mouth watered at the aroma. She was so grateful that she'd remembered to set the timer on the pot before she went to bed the previous night. Quietly, she slid out of bed, threw on a t-shirt
and pajama pants, escaped to the hallway to fill her coffee mug, and managed to make it back in the bed without waking Tay. She couldn't bear to wake him. He looked so peaceful and angelic and he likely needed the rest.
Sitting Indian-style, she wrapped the covers around her lap, sipped her coffee, turned on her bedside lamp, and then reached for her laptop. She knew it had to be wrong but she was dying to tell Drew what had just went on. Mel wasn't normally the kiss and tell type--and she hadn't planned to do so--but she had to tell SOMEONE SOMETHING. Sometimes there were moments that you wanted to scream from the rooftops. For Mel, this was one of them.
Mel sent a quick email to Drew. "You'll never believe the scene in my room right now," she started it out. She had just finished sending the email and had gotten into her 3CG email account when Tay began to stir.
She watched as he rubbed his eyes slowly and ran his hand through his hair. He turned on his side to face her and propped his head on his hand, smiling sleepily at her. "Surely you're not working right now."
She smiled at him sheepishly. "Good morning, sleepyhead. Coffee?" She offered him her coffee mug.
"Oh you are a saint," he said, propping himself up further and accepting the mug. He sipped it and smiled. "God that is so good. What are you working on?"
Mel smiled back at him. "Well...you remember throwing around the idea of 3CG hosting some sort of fundraiser or benefit for charity? Turns out, there are some people very interested." Mindlessly, she took her coffee mug from him, took a sip, and handed it back to him. "The emails just came in this morning."
"You're amazing, you know that?"
Mel raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "I have my moments."
"So is this what you do now? Take your coffee in bed and work in your pajamas? Which, by the way, I'm very disappointed that you decided to put back on..."
She smirked over at him. "This is comfortable. And yes, this is kind of routine. I used to get some of my best writing done this way."
"There is so much more I'm going to have to learn about you. I mean, you know, you NOW..."
"Well we're gonna have awhile to cover it all," she responded, side-glancing at him.
"Look, about last night..."
Suddenly Mel was very interested in the conversation. She closed her laptop and set it aside, giving Tay her full attention. "Do we really need to talk this to death?"
"I cut our anniversary trip short."
"I noticed..."
"Natalie is pissed. She flew straight to Georgia to spend a few days with her family."
"So...how exactly did this go down? I mean, I'm not sure if I should feel like an asshole here or not."
"I mean, it was typical. We went to Vegas. Two days in. We did dinner, a show, saw some sights outside of the city. And then...something clicked and I didn't want to be there anymore. I just couldn't do it, Mel. I couldn't--I saw you everywhere. I heard you everywhere. It drove me crazy and I knew I had to come home. I came straight here from the airport."
"So...you just...you just told her....what?"
Tay sighed. "I told her it was a work emergency. She got pissed and called me a workaholic."
Mel stared down at her hands that she had just noticed she'd been wringing.
"Mel, I haven't told her yet. But this is a delicate situation that needs to be handled very carefully. I need you to respect that."
Mel couldn't speak. She didn't know what to think. She continued to stare down at her hands.
"Mel," he said softly. "Mel." He reached up and gently turned her face toward his, looking into her eyes. "I HAVE met with my attorney. Okay? We're talking. I promise."
Mel stared back into his blue eyes for a moment before answering. "Okay," she said simply. She meant it. What more could she do? She needed desperately to trust him, if not for him then at least for her own
sanity.
He bit his lip and smiled at her. She melted. She absolutely couldn't resist him. So when he reached his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him, she didn't object. She giggled as he furrowed his brow at her and scrunched his nose as he smiled. "Too many damn clothes," he said to her. He helped her remove them from her body and then he kissed her.
_______________________________________________
DREW
Drew and Jason stood next to each other, looking on as other crew members filled their plates at lunch. Burgers, lasagna, pasta salad and chocolate cake were among the choices on that day's menu and the movie's two main stars' mouths were watering.
"This sucks," Jason said.
"I know," Drew agreed. "Totally unfair."
"Sometimes I hate filming."
"I'm starting to feel your pain."
Drew and Jason were on strict diets. Jason still weight trained when he wasn't filming and Drew had to watch her character's figure. Neither one of them were allowed to gain any weight. It was almost a sin if they put dressing on their salads.
They both put together a grilled chicken salad, grabbed a bottle of water, and found a table by themselves and dug in. "The only reason I can't wait until this is over is so that I can eat. Real food. Pizza and beer. Meat lovers. Deep dish. The works."
"Shut up," Drew said. "And don't act like you and Gerard don't go to the pub and have a beer several times a week. I see you leaving together sometimes."
Jason smiled, teasingly. "Aww, jealous?"
Drew scoffed. "Please. I do not care to be involved in whatever you two do when you sneak off set."
"Well I can tell you now there's no pizza involved."
At that moment, Drew got a notification on her phone. She grinned, excited. An email from Mel! She opened it and read it and had a hard time comprehending--or maybe just believing--what she was reading.
"You are never going to believe the scene in my room right now.
Taylor is beside me, in bed, sleeping like a baby. He showed up
unexpectedly last night. We had sex. He's supposed to be on his
anniversary trip right now. Not sure what happened there. It was the
most magical night of my life. I can't begin to describe how I feel right
now. There's something so right about it I can't put it into words.
I told him I loved him. Still can't believe I said it. Things are
finally moving in the right direction. Anyway, just thought I would keep
you in the loop. Hope everything is great with filming!
Love, Mel"
Drew's fork hit the plate and she found herself covering her mouth with her hand in shock. Jason glanced up at her. "Everything okay?"
Looking up at him and realizing he was there and realizing what she had just read, she cleared her throat and collected herself. "Um, yeah," Drew said. "Just an email."
Jason raised an eyebrow. "From Zac...?"
"No," Drew said, taking a bite of her salad.
"From Mel...?"
Drew nodded.
"It happened, didn't it?"
"Um..." Drew searched for the right words to say. "It's getting there. Uh, yeah, definitely going that way..."
Jason stared back at Drew for a moment before going back to his salad. "Well, we knew it was coming eventually, right?"
Drew could only stare back at Jason. "Yeah...yeah, we did."
Jason nodded, keeping his eyes on his plate. He ate as if it didn't even phase him. As if nothing had happened. Drew wasn't sure if she should press the subject or not. She had chosen not to broach the subject
but her curiosity got the best of her. "This changes things, doesn't it?"
Finally, Jason put his fork down and looked up at her, appearing slightly annoyed. "No, Drew, it really doesn't change anything. I doesn't change our friendship or the way I feel about her. I will be there for her through thick and thin, no matter what. She can't get rid of me so easily."
"She wouldn't want to," Drew said in a small voice.
"Well then we're both in agreement," he said.
Drew wished she could read him. She knew it bothered him. It had to, at least just a little. She just hoped there wasn't anything he was bottling up. She was so used to him being so open about everything. If Jason was depressed then life was hopeless for Drew. She depended on him to pull her out of whatever funk she was in at any given time. They had become good friends and she hated to know that he was feeling down for any reason.
But this time she couldn't deny the fact that she was extremely excited for Mel. Being with Tay was who Mel was and being with Mel was who Tay was. This was them. This was how it was supposed to be.
She just hated that Jason got himself caught in the crosshairs.
___________________________________________________
Sitting on the corner of nowhere road
Just between I wish I could and I don't know
Rain is splashing up between her toes
She doesn't know her own area code
She's a picture of a heart of gold
On the edge of depression unknown
And the picture of the wrong I wrote
Now it's too late for a fight or fold
Now she's looking at me to know
The faucet's running and my car got towed
I'm Sure About It
I'm definitely sure that I do surely doubt it
I wish that I could say that I was Sure About It
But I'm definitely sure that I'm not sure
Did you see the man with the cocaine load
It's on sale for the price of your soul
And the man with the long trench coat
Wish you could hide in a big black hole
Sell you all your pain ten fold
And you're crawling down a long wrong road
Fitted for the box they mold
All you're missing is the heart they stole
Now they're looking at me to know
My heart is pumping and my feet got cold
I'm Sure About It
I'm definitely sure that I do surely doubt it
I wish that I could say that I was Sure About It
But I'm definitely sure that I'm not sure
ISAAC
Life around 3CG had taken a complete turn for the better. There was no tension. Everyone was happy. It was nice.
Production was through the roof. And by production that meant writing. Taylor churned out material faster than the guys could learn it. There were a few duds in the mix but most of it was great. Isaac and Zac were loving this newfound energy in him. For the first time in a long time, work was getting done in record time. Ike wanted to hug Mel.
Which, speaking of, was the reason for Tay's sudden burst in energy, Ike had gathered. On several occasions he had walked by and spied them in intimate moments, whether it was locking lips or having a quiet conversation. The new sparkle in both their eyes was unmistakable.
Ike's favorite thing to witness was how his brother seemed to light up every time Mel walked into the room. Despite the circumstances, seeing them together warmed his heart. He did feel a pang of guilt knowing he
felt that way even though Tay was still married but somehow, and he wasn't sure how, knowing that Nikki was completely on board with the idea seemed to make it okay for him. It was a strange feeling for him. He almost wanted to feel guilty for Natalie but there was such a rightness about Tay and Mel that nobody could deny, you couldn't help but root them on.
One day Ike walked in the studio and Tay was standing over the mixer, intently listening to something. Tay turned and asked him, "Ike, what is this? I just found it in a stack of CDs over there. Have you heard this?"
Tay turned it up and Ike heard Mel's voice over the speakers singing the song Ike had written. Ike smiled, blushing, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, wow, yeah," Ike said. "That actually belongs to me."
"Who is this? She's amazing! We should collaborate with her. We have a few songs she would sound perfect on!"
"Uh..." Ike said, nervously, trying to find the words. It wasn't like it was a huge secret. He just didn't feel like outing Mel like that just yet. It was bad enough having to talk her into helping him in the first place. "Uh, I don't really see that happening," Ike said.
"Well why not? She's brilliant! You wouldn't have this if you didn't think so."
"It's...it's just a side project, really. Nothing really serious. Trust me, she's not interested."
Tay looked at Ike, perplexed and visibly annoyed. "Did you ask her?"
"Of course I asked her, how do you think I know she's not interested?"
"Maybe I could convince her."
"Tay," Ike was beginning to become frustrated with his persistence. "Give it a rest. It's not gonna happen."
Tay sighed and put his hand on his hip. "Well I think it would be stupid if we didn't explore her further."
Ike couldn't help but snort a laugh.
Tay rolled his eyes. "That came out wrong, you know what I mean."
Ike reached over him and turned off the music, ejecting the CD. "No."
"Give me her number."
"You have her number."
"Don't mess with me like that."
Defeated, Ike took out his phone, dialed Mel and gave his phone to Tay. Suddenly, Tay's eyes got wide and he hung it up and gave it back to Ike.
Ike put his phone away and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll count," he said.
Within seconds, Mel burst into the studio. "Ike, did you seriously just call and hang up on me?"
Tay jerked the CD out of Ike's hand and held it up for Mel to see. "Is this you?" he asked her.
Ike saw Mel's eyes widen in fear. He was dead meat.
Mel glared at Ike. "I should murder you where you stand."
Ike held his hands up in defeat. "Hey, he found it on his own. I walked in and he was already listening to it."
"It IS you?" Tay asked her, astonished.
Mel jerked the CD out of Tay's hand. "Yes it is me. Ike needed help and we started messing around and...and then this happened. It was an accident."
"Things like this are no accident," Tay said.
"It was a one-time thing. Let it go."
"But it's beautiful," Tay said.
Ike felt like he was trapped in a conversation he no longer wanted to be a part of but leaving didn't seem to be an option. He kind of did agree with Taylor just a little that Mel would sound great on some background vocals on a couple of the songs. Maybe he was also still feeling the guilt from the Love Song fiasco, he didn't know. But he also knew that if Tay could convince her to sing it would be a miracle.
Mel glanced down at the CD in her hands then back up at Ike and then at Tay. "You really think so?"
Ike and Tay both smiled at each other, a reflex of her naivety. "Of course I think so," Tay said. "I wouldn't joke about a thing like that."
Mel shifted her weight nervously from one side to the other.
"Trust me, he wouldn't leave me alone before he found out it was you," Ike contributed.
"Well...thank you..." Mel said quietly.
"Mel, I need you. WE need you."
Mel smiled and shook her head. "Oh no. You don't need me. No, no, no."
"Uh, we actually could use your voice," Ike interjected. "Honestly."
"It's just some backing vocals. For demos," Tay said.
"Right. For demos. You know last time I got asked to lay down backing vocals, this happened," Mel said, holding up the CD in her hand.
"Mel, I promise you, it's just a few backing vocals. Nothing more," Ike said to her.
Tay ran and grabbed his laptop and started furiously clicking on it. He pulled up what he wanted and presented it to her. "Here, look. Okay, I sing here. And then you--"
"No," Mel said.
Taylor looked over at her, offended. "What the hell do you mean, no?"
"I mean no. I only sing with Ike."
Surprised at this statement, Ike let out a breath and looked around the room nervously.
Tay lowered his laptop and looked at Mel, completely taken aback. "Seriously? First you're pissed I heard it and now you're going all diva on me? Really?"
"Don't flatter yourself. I'm not trying to be a 'diva,' I just only sing with Ike. I always have. It's nothing personal."
Tay looked at Mel, obviously searching for what to say. Ike could read his brother like a book. He knew Tay was fighting hard not to snap. Now and then he could see "old Tay" making his appearances--the
jealousy and the possessiveness he had over her. Ike never understood what it was about Mel that made Tay this way. And Mel wasn't exactly innocent either. Ike knew that none of it was any of his business, but when you caught yourself in the middle of one of their altercations, or potential altercations, you couldn't help but to over analyze the situation.
So imagine Ike's surprise when Tay simply took a step back and said, "Well okay then." He knew Tay was extremely uncomfortable but he was proud of him. He'd been trying really hard lately to keep himself in check. Good for him.
"Thank you," Mel said to him.
"Just think about it," Tay said.
"Already thought about it. Not gonna happen." And with that, Mel was gone, CD and all.
Tay looked over at Ike, accusingly. "Major stage fright," Ike said.
"Please," Tay said. "A voice like THAT does not have stage fright."
"She seriously does," Ike argued. "Getting her IN the studio was a damn act of congress."
"But she did it."
"Well, yeah..."
"Why?" Tay asked.
"What?"
"Why? Why will she work with you and not me? It doesn't make any sense."
"If it makes you feel any better she probably won't work with Zac either."
"WHY?" Tay pressed.
"I don't know. We work well together, I guess..."
"That's not a reason."
"Are you taking this personally?"
"YES!" Tay said in disbelief at Ike.
Ike sighed. "Fine, okay. You wanna know why she won't work with you? Because of this right here."
"What does that mean? 'This right here?' "
At that moment, Zac meandered in and stopped when he realized he'd walked in on their conversation. "What right here?" he asked.
"Nothing, it's stupid," Tay said.
"Tay, stop it," Ike said.
"Well it is. It's completely stupid. I don't even understand it."
"I'm trying to tell you if you'll just listen."
"Listen to what?" Zac asked.
"The reason why Mel won't work with Tay," Ike said.
Zac laughed. "Oh because he's neurotic and pushy and overbearing? Yeah, can't say I blame her."
Tay looked at Zac in wide-eyed disbelief and then back at Ike. "Is THAT the reason?"
"Stage fright apparently doesn't work well in that kind of environment."
Tay headed for the door, "Well, I'll go talk to her. Surely--"
Ike grabbed Tay by the arm and stopped him. "If you go and try to reason with her now we will lose any chance of getting her to record those tracks."
"Oh you mean for the two songs we discussed a couple days ago?" Zac asked.
"Yeah," Ike said.
"Oh I already asked her about them. It's a no on both."
Tay looked from Zac and back at Ike. "How many meetings have I missed?"
Zac's head was in his phone. "Sadly, you were present for all of them," he muttered.
"Let's work on something else right now," Ike said. "We'll revisit those later."
Disappointed, he knew the truth. Those songs would never see the light of day.
________________________________________________
Without a doubt you're ahead of your time
Let's go out on the town and give it a piece of your mind
You've been going round and round in your head
So don't think twice, you'll end up worse than you've been
Cause I know that you've been thinking 'bout it
And I know they think you're out of your mind
All of this time I know that you've been Waiting For This
I know that you've been waiting so shout it out so everybody can hear
There's no need to rhyme it when the message is clear
You know I can't ignore it
So what are you waiting for?
You're trying hard not to show it
Can't figure out how you've made it this far
If you don't mind me saying there's no sense in waiting so
Shout it out
You can't deny it
Until you try
Cause I know that you've been thinking 'bout it
And I know they think you're out of your mind
All of this time I know that you've been Waiting For This
MEL
Mel woke up to the smell of coffee. 'Oh thank god,' she thought to herself. When she first moved into her house she thought she would never find a use for the upstairs bar that happened to be located right outside her bedroom but she had been wrong. She never had to go all the way downstairs for her morning coffee. She had the luxury of enjoying it in bed if she wanted.
The drapes in her bedroom remained closed so the light from the morning sun still made the room extremely dim. She sat up in the bed and looked next to her and smiled. Taylor lay there, sleeping like a baby. God how
she adored him. Life had never felt more right than it did at this moment.
Except for coffee. Her mouth watered at the aroma. She was so grateful that she'd remembered to set the timer on the pot before she went to bed the previous night. Quietly, she slid out of bed, threw on a t-shirt
and pajama pants, escaped to the hallway to fill her coffee mug, and managed to make it back in the bed without waking Tay. She couldn't bear to wake him. He looked so peaceful and angelic and he likely needed the rest.
Sitting Indian-style, she wrapped the covers around her lap, sipped her coffee, turned on her bedside lamp, and then reached for her laptop. She knew it had to be wrong but she was dying to tell Drew what had just went on. Mel wasn't normally the kiss and tell type--and she hadn't planned to do so--but she had to tell SOMEONE SOMETHING. Sometimes there were moments that you wanted to scream from the rooftops. For Mel, this was one of them.
Mel sent a quick email to Drew. "You'll never believe the scene in my room right now," she started it out. She had just finished sending the email and had gotten into her 3CG email account when Tay began to stir.
She watched as he rubbed his eyes slowly and ran his hand through his hair. He turned on his side to face her and propped his head on his hand, smiling sleepily at her. "Surely you're not working right now."
She smiled at him sheepishly. "Good morning, sleepyhead. Coffee?" She offered him her coffee mug.
"Oh you are a saint," he said, propping himself up further and accepting the mug. He sipped it and smiled. "God that is so good. What are you working on?"
Mel smiled back at him. "Well...you remember throwing around the idea of 3CG hosting some sort of fundraiser or benefit for charity? Turns out, there are some people very interested." Mindlessly, she took her coffee mug from him, took a sip, and handed it back to him. "The emails just came in this morning."
"You're amazing, you know that?"
Mel raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "I have my moments."
"So is this what you do now? Take your coffee in bed and work in your pajamas? Which, by the way, I'm very disappointed that you decided to put back on..."
She smirked over at him. "This is comfortable. And yes, this is kind of routine. I used to get some of my best writing done this way."
"There is so much more I'm going to have to learn about you. I mean, you know, you NOW..."
"Well we're gonna have awhile to cover it all," she responded, side-glancing at him.
"Look, about last night..."
Suddenly Mel was very interested in the conversation. She closed her laptop and set it aside, giving Tay her full attention. "Do we really need to talk this to death?"
"I cut our anniversary trip short."
"I noticed..."
"Natalie is pissed. She flew straight to Georgia to spend a few days with her family."
"So...how exactly did this go down? I mean, I'm not sure if I should feel like an asshole here or not."
"I mean, it was typical. We went to Vegas. Two days in. We did dinner, a show, saw some sights outside of the city. And then...something clicked and I didn't want to be there anymore. I just couldn't do it, Mel. I couldn't--I saw you everywhere. I heard you everywhere. It drove me crazy and I knew I had to come home. I came straight here from the airport."
"So...you just...you just told her....what?"
Tay sighed. "I told her it was a work emergency. She got pissed and called me a workaholic."
Mel stared down at her hands that she had just noticed she'd been wringing.
"Mel, I haven't told her yet. But this is a delicate situation that needs to be handled very carefully. I need you to respect that."
Mel couldn't speak. She didn't know what to think. She continued to stare down at her hands.
"Mel," he said softly. "Mel." He reached up and gently turned her face toward his, looking into her eyes. "I HAVE met with my attorney. Okay? We're talking. I promise."
Mel stared back into his blue eyes for a moment before answering. "Okay," she said simply. She meant it. What more could she do? She needed desperately to trust him, if not for him then at least for her own
sanity.
He bit his lip and smiled at her. She melted. She absolutely couldn't resist him. So when he reached his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him, she didn't object. She giggled as he furrowed his brow at her and scrunched his nose as he smiled. "Too many damn clothes," he said to her. He helped her remove them from her body and then he kissed her.
_______________________________________________
DREW
Drew and Jason stood next to each other, looking on as other crew members filled their plates at lunch. Burgers, lasagna, pasta salad and chocolate cake were among the choices on that day's menu and the movie's two main stars' mouths were watering.
"This sucks," Jason said.
"I know," Drew agreed. "Totally unfair."
"Sometimes I hate filming."
"I'm starting to feel your pain."
Drew and Jason were on strict diets. Jason still weight trained when he wasn't filming and Drew had to watch her character's figure. Neither one of them were allowed to gain any weight. It was almost a sin if they put dressing on their salads.
They both put together a grilled chicken salad, grabbed a bottle of water, and found a table by themselves and dug in. "The only reason I can't wait until this is over is so that I can eat. Real food. Pizza and beer. Meat lovers. Deep dish. The works."
"Shut up," Drew said. "And don't act like you and Gerard don't go to the pub and have a beer several times a week. I see you leaving together sometimes."
Jason smiled, teasingly. "Aww, jealous?"
Drew scoffed. "Please. I do not care to be involved in whatever you two do when you sneak off set."
"Well I can tell you now there's no pizza involved."
At that moment, Drew got a notification on her phone. She grinned, excited. An email from Mel! She opened it and read it and had a hard time comprehending--or maybe just believing--what she was reading.
"You are never going to believe the scene in my room right now.
Taylor is beside me, in bed, sleeping like a baby. He showed up
unexpectedly last night. We had sex. He's supposed to be on his
anniversary trip right now. Not sure what happened there. It was the
most magical night of my life. I can't begin to describe how I feel right
now. There's something so right about it I can't put it into words.
I told him I loved him. Still can't believe I said it. Things are
finally moving in the right direction. Anyway, just thought I would keep
you in the loop. Hope everything is great with filming!
Love, Mel"
Drew's fork hit the plate and she found herself covering her mouth with her hand in shock. Jason glanced up at her. "Everything okay?"
Looking up at him and realizing he was there and realizing what she had just read, she cleared her throat and collected herself. "Um, yeah," Drew said. "Just an email."
Jason raised an eyebrow. "From Zac...?"
"No," Drew said, taking a bite of her salad.
"From Mel...?"
Drew nodded.
"It happened, didn't it?"
"Um..." Drew searched for the right words to say. "It's getting there. Uh, yeah, definitely going that way..."
Jason stared back at Drew for a moment before going back to his salad. "Well, we knew it was coming eventually, right?"
Drew could only stare back at Jason. "Yeah...yeah, we did."
Jason nodded, keeping his eyes on his plate. He ate as if it didn't even phase him. As if nothing had happened. Drew wasn't sure if she should press the subject or not. She had chosen not to broach the subject
but her curiosity got the best of her. "This changes things, doesn't it?"
Finally, Jason put his fork down and looked up at her, appearing slightly annoyed. "No, Drew, it really doesn't change anything. I doesn't change our friendship or the way I feel about her. I will be there for her through thick and thin, no matter what. She can't get rid of me so easily."
"She wouldn't want to," Drew said in a small voice.
"Well then we're both in agreement," he said.
Drew wished she could read him. She knew it bothered him. It had to, at least just a little. She just hoped there wasn't anything he was bottling up. She was so used to him being so open about everything. If Jason was depressed then life was hopeless for Drew. She depended on him to pull her out of whatever funk she was in at any given time. They had become good friends and she hated to know that he was feeling down for any reason.
But this time she couldn't deny the fact that she was extremely excited for Mel. Being with Tay was who Mel was and being with Mel was who Tay was. This was them. This was how it was supposed to be.
She just hated that Jason got himself caught in the crosshairs.
___________________________________________________
Sitting on the corner of nowhere road
Just between I wish I could and I don't know
Rain is splashing up between her toes
She doesn't know her own area code
She's a picture of a heart of gold
On the edge of depression unknown
And the picture of the wrong I wrote
Now it's too late for a fight or fold
Now she's looking at me to know
The faucet's running and my car got towed
I'm Sure About It
I'm definitely sure that I do surely doubt it
I wish that I could say that I was Sure About It
But I'm definitely sure that I'm not sure
Did you see the man with the cocaine load
It's on sale for the price of your soul
And the man with the long trench coat
Wish you could hide in a big black hole
Sell you all your pain ten fold
And you're crawling down a long wrong road
Fitted for the box they mold
All you're missing is the heart they stole
Now they're looking at me to know
My heart is pumping and my feet got cold
I'm Sure About It
I'm definitely sure that I do surely doubt it
I wish that I could say that I was Sure About It
But I'm definitely sure that I'm not sure
ISAAC
Life around 3CG had taken a complete turn for the better. There was no tension. Everyone was happy. It was nice.
Production was through the roof. And by production that meant writing. Taylor churned out material faster than the guys could learn it. There were a few duds in the mix but most of it was great. Isaac and Zac were loving this newfound energy in him. For the first time in a long time, work was getting done in record time. Ike wanted to hug Mel.
Which, speaking of, was the reason for Tay's sudden burst in energy, Ike had gathered. On several occasions he had walked by and spied them in intimate moments, whether it was locking lips or having a quiet conversation. The new sparkle in both their eyes was unmistakable.
Ike's favorite thing to witness was how his brother seemed to light up every time Mel walked into the room. Despite the circumstances, seeing them together warmed his heart. He did feel a pang of guilt knowing he
felt that way even though Tay was still married but somehow, and he wasn't sure how, knowing that Nikki was completely on board with the idea seemed to make it okay for him. It was a strange feeling for him. He almost wanted to feel guilty for Natalie but there was such a rightness about Tay and Mel that nobody could deny, you couldn't help but root them on.
One day Ike walked in the studio and Tay was standing over the mixer, intently listening to something. Tay turned and asked him, "Ike, what is this? I just found it in a stack of CDs over there. Have you heard this?"
Tay turned it up and Ike heard Mel's voice over the speakers singing the song Ike had written. Ike smiled, blushing, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, wow, yeah," Ike said. "That actually belongs to me."
"Who is this? She's amazing! We should collaborate with her. We have a few songs she would sound perfect on!"
"Uh..." Ike said, nervously, trying to find the words. It wasn't like it was a huge secret. He just didn't feel like outing Mel like that just yet. It was bad enough having to talk her into helping him in the first place. "Uh, I don't really see that happening," Ike said.
"Well why not? She's brilliant! You wouldn't have this if you didn't think so."
"It's...it's just a side project, really. Nothing really serious. Trust me, she's not interested."
Tay looked at Ike, perplexed and visibly annoyed. "Did you ask her?"
"Of course I asked her, how do you think I know she's not interested?"
"Maybe I could convince her."
"Tay," Ike was beginning to become frustrated with his persistence. "Give it a rest. It's not gonna happen."
Tay sighed and put his hand on his hip. "Well I think it would be stupid if we didn't explore her further."
Ike couldn't help but snort a laugh.
Tay rolled his eyes. "That came out wrong, you know what I mean."
Ike reached over him and turned off the music, ejecting the CD. "No."
"Give me her number."
"You have her number."
"Don't mess with me like that."
Defeated, Ike took out his phone, dialed Mel and gave his phone to Tay. Suddenly, Tay's eyes got wide and he hung it up and gave it back to Ike.
Ike put his phone away and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll count," he said.
Within seconds, Mel burst into the studio. "Ike, did you seriously just call and hang up on me?"
Tay jerked the CD out of Ike's hand and held it up for Mel to see. "Is this you?" he asked her.
Ike saw Mel's eyes widen in fear. He was dead meat.
Mel glared at Ike. "I should murder you where you stand."
Ike held his hands up in defeat. "Hey, he found it on his own. I walked in and he was already listening to it."
"It IS you?" Tay asked her, astonished.
Mel jerked the CD out of Tay's hand. "Yes it is me. Ike needed help and we started messing around and...and then this happened. It was an accident."
"Things like this are no accident," Tay said.
"It was a one-time thing. Let it go."
"But it's beautiful," Tay said.
Ike felt like he was trapped in a conversation he no longer wanted to be a part of but leaving didn't seem to be an option. He kind of did agree with Taylor just a little that Mel would sound great on some background vocals on a couple of the songs. Maybe he was also still feeling the guilt from the Love Song fiasco, he didn't know. But he also knew that if Tay could convince her to sing it would be a miracle.
Mel glanced down at the CD in her hands then back up at Ike and then at Tay. "You really think so?"
Ike and Tay both smiled at each other, a reflex of her naivety. "Of course I think so," Tay said. "I wouldn't joke about a thing like that."
Mel shifted her weight nervously from one side to the other.
"Trust me, he wouldn't leave me alone before he found out it was you," Ike contributed.
"Well...thank you..." Mel said quietly.
"Mel, I need you. WE need you."
Mel smiled and shook her head. "Oh no. You don't need me. No, no, no."
"Uh, we actually could use your voice," Ike interjected. "Honestly."
"It's just some backing vocals. For demos," Tay said.
"Right. For demos. You know last time I got asked to lay down backing vocals, this happened," Mel said, holding up the CD in her hand.
"Mel, I promise you, it's just a few backing vocals. Nothing more," Ike said to her.
Tay ran and grabbed his laptop and started furiously clicking on it. He pulled up what he wanted and presented it to her. "Here, look. Okay, I sing here. And then you--"
"No," Mel said.
Taylor looked over at her, offended. "What the hell do you mean, no?"
"I mean no. I only sing with Ike."
Surprised at this statement, Ike let out a breath and looked around the room nervously.
Tay lowered his laptop and looked at Mel, completely taken aback. "Seriously? First you're pissed I heard it and now you're going all diva on me? Really?"
"Don't flatter yourself. I'm not trying to be a 'diva,' I just only sing with Ike. I always have. It's nothing personal."
Tay looked at Mel, obviously searching for what to say. Ike could read his brother like a book. He knew Tay was fighting hard not to snap. Now and then he could see "old Tay" making his appearances--the
jealousy and the possessiveness he had over her. Ike never understood what it was about Mel that made Tay this way. And Mel wasn't exactly innocent either. Ike knew that none of it was any of his business, but when you caught yourself in the middle of one of their altercations, or potential altercations, you couldn't help but to over analyze the situation.
So imagine Ike's surprise when Tay simply took a step back and said, "Well okay then." He knew Tay was extremely uncomfortable but he was proud of him. He'd been trying really hard lately to keep himself in check. Good for him.
"Thank you," Mel said to him.
"Just think about it," Tay said.
"Already thought about it. Not gonna happen." And with that, Mel was gone, CD and all.
Tay looked over at Ike, accusingly. "Major stage fright," Ike said.
"Please," Tay said. "A voice like THAT does not have stage fright."
"She seriously does," Ike argued. "Getting her IN the studio was a damn act of congress."
"But she did it."
"Well, yeah..."
"Why?" Tay asked.
"What?"
"Why? Why will she work with you and not me? It doesn't make any sense."
"If it makes you feel any better she probably won't work with Zac either."
"WHY?" Tay pressed.
"I don't know. We work well together, I guess..."
"That's not a reason."
"Are you taking this personally?"
"YES!" Tay said in disbelief at Ike.
Ike sighed. "Fine, okay. You wanna know why she won't work with you? Because of this right here."
"What does that mean? 'This right here?' "
At that moment, Zac meandered in and stopped when he realized he'd walked in on their conversation. "What right here?" he asked.
"Nothing, it's stupid," Tay said.
"Tay, stop it," Ike said.
"Well it is. It's completely stupid. I don't even understand it."
"I'm trying to tell you if you'll just listen."
"Listen to what?" Zac asked.
"The reason why Mel won't work with Tay," Ike said.
Zac laughed. "Oh because he's neurotic and pushy and overbearing? Yeah, can't say I blame her."
Tay looked at Zac in wide-eyed disbelief and then back at Ike. "Is THAT the reason?"
"Stage fright apparently doesn't work well in that kind of environment."
Tay headed for the door, "Well, I'll go talk to her. Surely--"
Ike grabbed Tay by the arm and stopped him. "If you go and try to reason with her now we will lose any chance of getting her to record those tracks."
"Oh you mean for the two songs we discussed a couple days ago?" Zac asked.
"Yeah," Ike said.
"Oh I already asked her about them. It's a no on both."
Tay looked from Zac and back at Ike. "How many meetings have I missed?"
Zac's head was in his phone. "Sadly, you were present for all of them," he muttered.
"Let's work on something else right now," Ike said. "We'll revisit those later."
Disappointed, he knew the truth. Those songs would never see the light of day.
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