I put my I-Pod on Shuffle and wrote up fics for the first five songs that came up. Not counting comedians, which I found I had quite a few of, as the first few tracks that played were Lewis Black, Kathy Griffin and Bob Marley, the Maine Comedian, no the Musician!
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Martin Page-- I Was Made for You (Ghost Whisperer)
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The dig in the Himalayas could not have come at a more perfect time for Professor Richard Payne. Not that he needed any more field work at the moment, though he did love it, but the real reason was he felt he needed to put some distance between himself and Melinda Gordon. He wasn't exactly sure when his feelings for her had shifted from friendship and simple attraction to something much deeper. Normally, that wouldn't have been a problem, as his…unique personality would have kept her at a distance, or he would have asked her out and something would have happened to ruin the relationship.
But Melinda was married and loved her husband, so Rick had become her friend! An almost unheard of thing for Payne, who could count his friends on one hand. It only made matters worse that Jim was a great guy. Hell, Rick liked him too. Granted, in a totally different way, but that was a given.
There was still a spark though, something that could be something and if that ever happened…well, Melinda would hate herself and him too, so he had jumped at the opportunity to spend some time crawling around a mountain on another continent. He wondered what it said about him that he though more about the hug she had given him as they parted than he ever had the kisses his late wife always sent him away with.
Immersing himself in work helped pass the time and he almost fell over one day when he received a letter from Deliah Bank's, Melinda's co-worker and friend. When he saw the post mark, his heart seized in fear. Getting post to them wasn't an easy feat, so Deliah must have had a reason for going through the trouble. He dreaded finding that something had happened to Melinda, but couldn't help but open it.
Jim had died. According to Deliah, Melinda was a wreck and Eli was not cutting it as a support system. The outspoken former realtor demanded he get his butt back to town, pronto, as Melinda needed him.
He could only imagine what the other passengers on his flight home thought of him. The dig site he had been working at hadn't had shower facilities, so he was sure he was more than a little bit ripe. The guy next to him was practically crawling over the arm rest to distance himself, which actually worked out well for Rick, giving him more precious room.
By the time he arrived in Grandview, it was nearly 8pm and he had a case of Jet lag from hell and body odor that could possibly classify him as bio-hazardous, but he found himself standing on the porch of Melinda's house anyway, knocking on the door.
Several minutes later, the door opened slowly to reveal Melinda, puffy eyed and red nosed, wrapped in a tatty robe several sizes too big for her. Her non-expression morphed into one of utter shock as she realized who was gracing her doorstep.
"Rick," she murmured, staring at him with something akin to disbelief.
He smiled softly at her. "Heard you might need a friend about now," he said, then extended his hands as her face crumpled and a sob broke loose.
Gathering her into his arms, Rick led her back into the house, letting her cry into his shoulder at he patted her back. This was what he had come back for, to support his best friend in her time of grief and need. Rocking her gently, the felt selfish thinking that he was just so happy to see her, even as he too mourned Jim's death.
After nearly an hour, her tears subsided and Melinda just sat, resting her cheek against his chest. "Hey, Rick…"
"I know," he said, knowing she wasn't up for any real emotional conversations about Jim just yet, "I smell bad, but I'm pretty sure some of it's from the Yak."
He felt her blink in surprise, then was rewarded by a tiny laugh.
Giving her shoulders a squeeze, he smiled again. Whatever she needed, that's what he was there for, and right now, she had desperately needed that laugh.