Melanie
It was 2 am, and Melanie just left from work. She usually leaves a little earlier, but her client needed her to stay, and she needed the extra money tonight. She hated walking home during this time, but the last time she tried to catch a cab, the driver was hitting on her, and it made her feel uncomfortable. She had to admit these older men standing outside some of the bars with their beer bottles looking at her made her feel uncomfortable as well. She clutched her bag tightly and patted it a few times just to make sure she had her knife just in case they tried to touch her. She quickly felt reassured. She lived in the city, so it is about a 5-minute walk from her apartment to work, which was a good thing. She wouldn't have to be walking past these bars full of drunken men for long. Usually, she was okay with it, but tonight she felt as though she someone is watching her. She began looking around for that large Escalade that she has been seeing for weeks now. She would notice it was driving around or parked across the street from her apartment. She even memorized the license plate number just in case she felt the need to call the police.
She began to walk faster. She couldn't wait to get home. Not only did she want to feel safe, but she wanted to get some sleep too. That was the one thing she liked about working at night; she could sleep all she wanted during the day. She continued walking until she suddenly stopped. She was missing something, her tip money from tonight. She could have sworn she put it in her purse, but for some reason, she felt it was missing. She frantically began looking for it and after a minute, she finally found it. She had forgotten that she placed it deep inside her purse so nobody would be able to find it. She folded the money and put it in her bra just in case.
Now knowing that she has everything she needed she continued walking. The longer she was out, the more she felt unsafe.
John Rahway was scared out of his mind knowing that his only daughter was walking at 2 am in a shady bar filled part of town, but at the same time, he was happy to find her. He owed Jake his life for helping him find her. Jake could be a detective if he wanted to. Say a name, and he can find out everything about that person within 48 hours.
He continued to follow her until she got to her apartment. He noticed her looking around a bit. He got a closer look at her. She was definitely all grown up, maybe a little too grown up; the dress she was wearing was a bit short. He watched her unlock her door and walk into her apartment. He was torn, there was an enormous part of him that wanted to knock on her door and reunite with her, but the other part of him was scared. Scared that she would never accept him after he divorced her mother. Even though he legally adopted Melanie, her mother told him that he could never see her again. He respected her wishes because he didn't feel like going through any more drama and he knew that she was going to make his life difficult if he tried to see her. He enjoyed his bachelor life and not having any responsibilities whatsoever, but he is getting older now, and things are starting to change. After hearing of his ex-wife's death, and seeing Melanie now, he regrets not fighting for custody and being her father. He felt guilty, taking on the responsibility of being a father figure to another man's child and walked out on her. He was no better than her real dad, but he was going to make it his duty to make it up to her. He took out his phone and began to call her.
Melanie unlocked the door to her third-floor apartment only to find her best friend Sasha laying on her couch comfortably watching tv and drinking wine.
"Sasha, I gave you my key for emergencies, not so you can break into my house and drink my wine." Melanie took off her shoes and placed her purse on the counter.
Sasha laughed as she sat up and flipped her bright red hair, "Well one, I tried calling you, and you didn't answer, I was worried. Two, technically, this isn't breaking in, you gave me your key and three, this is an emergency, Brandon and I are in a fight."
Melanie rolled her eyes, "What happened now?"
Sasha continued to drink more wine. "He's a dick. What more can I say?"
Melanie was ready with a rebuttal but was interrupted by her phone.
"What the hell?" She rushed to her purse to look for it. Who could be calling her at 2 am?
"Hello?" She answered.
John broke down. Hearing the sound of her voice broke his heart. He was trying his best not to cry, but he couldn't help it. He felt so guilty. Melanie was the only family he had left, and he hasn't seen her in years. He knew she was going to have some animosity towards him for everything that happened between him and her mom. He didn't know what to say to her; he was just silent.
"Hello?" She said again. "Anyone there? Who's this?"
John hung up. He couldn't do it. This was not the time, and this was a conversation that needed to be had face to face. He was hoping that she would find the letter that was left in her mailbox.
"Who was that?" Sasha asked with confusion as Melanie hung up the phone.
"I don't know," Melanie answered back. "This is like the fifth time this has happened."
"Call the number back," Sasha suggested.
"I can't it's blocked," Melanie said back. She threw the phone and sat on the couch next to her and poured herself a glass of wine. They both placed their feet on the coffee table, and they both began to relax.
"So where were you?" Sasha asked.
"Working late. I've got to make rent this month. I have only a few days, and if I'm late again, I'm gonna get the boot."
Sasha sulked a bit. She hated to see her best friend struggle. "Why don't you try calling your dad? Doesn't he live in LA too? Maybe he can help."
Melanie sighed, "I don't have his number and even if I did, why would I call the old bat? He adopted me then divorced my mom, what kind of bullshit is that?"
Sasha sighed, she tried explaining this to Melanie before, but Melanie flipped out on her, and they didn't talk for a few days. She didn't want to go through that again, but she knew deep down that calling her father would be the best thing for her.
"Maybe he had his reasons, just hear him out. maybe you'll get a better understanding."
Melanie sighed. She was getting annoyed with Sasha constantly bringing up her father. All she could think about was him walking away from her and her mother during the divorce.
"Drop it, Sasha. I don't want to talk about it, and that's that."
Sasha sighed and didn't say anything else. Melanie is stubborn as ever and arguing with her will not get her anywhere tonight. Maybe another time.
There was an awkward silence for a few minutes. After taking a few sips of wine, Melanie calmed down.
"Do you want to come to the bank with me tomorrow? I have to make this deposit."
Sasha nodded, "Yeah just come to me on my break at work, we can go then."
"Ok." Melanie quietly said as they continued watching tv and sipping their wine.
