Thank you Lauraxxx, Ana and Gabrielle (É muito bom ter alguém do Brasil lendo minha fanfic! hehehe Da onde vc é?) for the reviews!!!
Keep it coming guys, here's the next one...
Oh, and thanks for adding to the favorites as well!
Cap. 26
I woke up the other day with a massive headache, it seemed to break my skull in tiny little pieces really slowly. After eating something, I took not one pill, but two, to see if it'd go away.
"Mel, something in my car is broken. Can I take yours?"
"And how am I supposed to go to work?"
"I'll take you, and then send someone to pick you up… please?"
"Fine… Send someone to the dance studio at 4pm, I'm gonna be there"
"Will do! Thanks little sister! Oh, by the way, I'm gonna travel with Louise!"
"When?"
"Friday"
"Friday? You're gonna travel in three days and you tell me like that?"
"Aaww… I know you're gonna miss me, but aren't you who say 'I can take care of myself'?"
"I can" I stuck my tongue out at him "Where you going to?"
"Caribbean"
"Shit, that was my idea! So I deserve to be taken with you!"
He laughed "You wish!"
"You better bring me a hot dancer then…"
"What would Jay think about that?"
"He doesn't need to know… I'll keep him hided in my closet"
…
I was writing the first questions I had came up with when suddenly the notebook in front of me seemed really inviting to lay my head, what seemed to weight more than an elephant, on it and take nap. I couldn't fight against this and let my head hit the table with a thud. Maybe taking two pain killers wasn't such a good idea.
Someone poked me on the shoulder and I groaned, the person insisted and I was about to send he/she to the hell when I opened my eyes and saw Annabelle standing there. Oh crap!
"In my office now" She said and walked away. Fuck! I'm screwed! How could I be so damn stupid?
I quickly stood up and followed her, I felt extremely conscious and wasn't feeling the headache anymore. Well, I knew that if I got fired by that, my head would hurt again because I'd hit it hard on the wall.
"Sit" She said as I got in, I did as I was told without saying a word. At the moment when my butt touched the chair, she started talking again. "I think I don't need to say that what I just saw completely disappointed me" I opened my mouth to say something but she raised her hand "I'm not done. I don't want excuses and I don't care why you were sleeping. All you have to do is to get your job done, and you know the dead line is next Friday. If you wanna party hard during the night, even though you know you have a job to be done, do it, but assume the consequences" Shit! She's gonna say it. She's gonna say I'm fired.
"I'm not partying hard" I said as calmly as I could, she seemed to be pretty annoyed that I started speaking when I wasn't allowed to, but whatever, I wasn't going to be fired by that. "I just woke up with an extremely hard headache that WASN'T caused by drinking! So as it was really strong, I decided to take two pain killers and they knocked me down!"
"I said I didn't want to know the reason" I stared at her, to prove that it wasn't an excuse. "How's the article going anyway? Did you ever talk to the rockstar?"
I took a deep breath "Yes, I did. He'll be glad to do it. I've made a research about the band and I'm also thinking about interviewing some of the other band members"
"I want it about the lead singer, no one else"
"But they're members of the band as well"
"Just Jack Mercer"
"Okay… Just Jack Mercer it is. And I created a quiz at the magazine site, for fans ask what they want to him. I'll select the best ones and ask him. Thought that would make even more people read the magazine, to know if their question was answered"
A small smile popped out Annabelle's face "Good strategy"
"Thank you" I answered in a low voice. If there's one word bosses in the whole world like is profit.
"You can go now" I nodded and turned to go away "And kid!" I turned back "When you're a journalist, you're not obligated to come here, you just gotta have your article ready by the deadline"
You kidding me? Why didn't you say that before? I could have skipped the lecture! Again I nodded and made my way out. Shit, that was close.
…
I went to have lunch at the mall nearby and walked in there until about 2pm, when I finally decided to go to the dance class. It was the first time I went there without Sofi and honestly it felt a bit strange, but I bet she wasn't feeling the same. I wouldn't if I were at the Bahamas with my husband.
We first stretched for a while and then started to dance, first the calmer songs and as we got more tired, the songs grew faster. It was the last song before the final stretching, I was tired as hell, all sweaty and had taken my t-shirt off, leaving my belly uncovered. In the middle of the song Willy, the dance teacher, told us to turn and face the huge glass window, I just hated that, everyone, with no exceptions, looked at us. And for getting at class a bit late, it meant I was in the back of the room, but as we turned, I was the very first. What wasn't really pleasant became worse when I my eyes met a pair of green eyes, Jack's eyes. I'm gonna kill Oliver!
"Mel, focus and move that butt!" Willy yelled and I did my best to keep on with the song, doing the sexy belly dance mixed with the steps, that wasn't helping at all.
Take a chance to recognize that this could be yours
I can see just like those guys
That your games don't please
Baby can't you see
How these clothes are fittin' on me
And the heat comin' from this beat
I'm about to blow, I don't think you know
"Didn't know you could dance like that" He said with a smile as I got out of class.
"Yeah, more than one year of practice can do that to you"
He laughed "Ollie sent me to pick you up but I can wait if you wanna shower"
"Thanks but no, I rather do it at home. Here people keep hurrying you up and I hate that" I put my shirt on and we headed outside, I could see my car was parked one block away.
"Mel, about yesterday, I-"
"Relax Jack" I cut him off "What's done is done"
"But I don't want you to think that I don't-"
"Excuse me!" A third voice cut him off this time, he both looked to the girl standing near us "You're Jack Mercer, aren't you?" She asked with teary eyes.
"Hmm… yeah"
"Can you take a picture with me and give me an autograph? Please?"
"I…hum… sure! You have a pen?" He asked nicely to the girl and she nodded smiling looking for a pen inside her yellow backpack.
"My friends aren't gonna believe I met you! I love your songs! Especially Lips of an Angel! It's the best EVER!" Jack and I eyed each other and his fan girl didn't miss that. "You his girlfriend?" She asked me. I was kind of caught by surprise by that.
"Me? Oh, no, no! I'm not his girlfriend"
"Then why are you two heading to that car together?" She pointed to the keys on Jack's hand and he quickly put them inside his pocket.
The girl was staring to piss me off and he noticed that "Here's your autograph!" He handed her the piece of signed paper and her pen. "Mel, would you mind taking a pic of us?"
"No problem" I placed my shoulder bag on the ground and got the camera that the girl gave to me, while she eyed me suspiciously. They got together and I snapped the photo. Why the hell is she holding him so damn tight? Let go bitch! Hmm… Why should I care? "There you go" I handed the camera back to her with a small smile.
"Now I need to go. It was a nice to meet you…"
"Karen!"
"Karen. Bye!"
"Bye Jack!"
We turned and started walking, we had given about 3 steps when Jack put his arm around my shoulders, I looked at him with narrowed eyebrows and he smiled at me amused, the girl was probably still looking at us "Jerk" I mumbled as I took his arm off my shoulders. "Keys"
"What? You won't let me drive?"
"You already drove until here, now give me the keys"
He leaned against the driver's door "Can I drive?" He asked with puppy eyes.
"Jack, move"
"Please?"
"Move!"
He put the keys out of his pocket and I grabbed it, he still had the stupid grin on his face. Everything seemed to be against my will, I caught all the red lights, that meant more time in the car with him. I felt uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time, maybe because he smelled good and I was all sweaty, but that doesn't mean I smelled bad.
"So, how was your day?" He asked in an 'old friends' tone.
I laughed lightly "I got into trouble at work today"
"Why?"
"My boss caught me sleeping" He cracked a long laugh that I had forgotten how good it sounded.
"Bad ass journalist!"
"Hey, I woke up with a massive headache! How was I supposed to know that those pain killers would knock me down?"
"Drinking too much Melody Mel?" An awkward silence fell upon us. He spontaneously called me for the old nickname and it strangely felt like the old times.
"I wasn't drinking" I said some time after, he looked at me amused "I really wasn't!"
"Yeah right…" He said childish as we both got out of the car. "I bet Bobby is proud of ya" We couldn't help but laugh. But our laughs stopped when we both saw Jay sitting on my porch with an everything but pleasant face.
"Jay! Hi!" I said while closing the door.
"I'll see you around Mel!" Jack said smiling before getting inside his house and I really wanted to punch him. Asshole!
"Where were you?" Jay asked as I opened the front door.
"I was at the gym. Ollie's car broke and he asked for mine, I landed it and he sent someone to pick me up there"
"That it just happened to be Jack"
"Hey, didn't choose him! I just needed someone to bring my car back"
"And why did it have to be him?"
"I don't know! Because he's free, I guess!
"Yeah, right…"
"Why are you making such a big deal about it Jay? What? You wanted me to let him there to come back in the best way he could? He did me a favor and I paid him back!"
"I'm not making a big deal about it…"
"Or no? So why are we even arguing about it then?"
"Because I tried my best to replace him! The whole time I did my best to keep your mind from thinking about him! Because since we've been together, all I wanted was to feel like you're mine! To know that you'd be thinking about me when I'm thinking about you! And when I finally feel like I've reached that, he comes back!"
I was truly speechless, thoughtless and shocked. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out, seeing this he simply walked away.
"Jay!" I called when he was already on the sidewalk, ready to get in his car.
"I'll call you latter Melanie" After that, he drove away.
I found that box of letters
Lying on the ground
The ones you used to write me
Before it all went down
I even got a papercut trying to figure out
What to do with all these memories?
And you're not who you used to be
And I wonder where you're gone…
Have you fallen in a black hole?
Tumbling as a universe of missing stuff
What happened to the good times?
What happened to the moments where we had so much?
Where's the love?
Where's the love?
"Mel? Come down! I wanna show you the itinerary that Louise and I are gonna do!" Ollie called downstairs but I didn't move from my bed, where I laid after I took a bath. "Mel?" He asked as he slowly opened my room's door. I didn't look at him. "Hey little sis, what's wrong?" He sat by the edge of my bed and I didn't answer. "Can you please stop pretending that I'm not here?" I finally looked at him, and gave him a 'you know what you did' look. "What happened?"
"What happened?" I finally said "Why did you have to send Jack to pick me up?"
"He was the only one available and I thought you said you were okay with this"
"I am, but Jay isn't! He was here when we arrived"
"Hey, it's not my fault that he's so damn insecure and can't let go of you for a second" I gave him a low five look "Mel, you did nothing wrong, did you?"
"No!"
"Then there's nothing to worry about it! He knows you're gonna write about him, doesn't he?"
"Yeah"
"And besides that, you guys know each other for a long time and are neighbors! You can't just ignore that!"
"That's the problem… Ollie, I really, really like Jay. But-"
"Not in the same way you did Jack" He finished for me and I nodded. "Or still do"
"I DON'T love Jack anymore! We're done! Now excuse me, I need some time alone"
"Mel…"
"Please"
"Okay…"
You don't love him anymore…
…
The next day came and Jay never called, I didn't as well. Yes, I was being a bit proudish but the main reason for not calling was that I wouldn't stand listening to his voice after what he said, I wasn't angry… I was just confused.
After work, I went to the Mercer home, Jack got the door.
"Hey Mel!"
"Hi" I said as I came in. "Do you think we could choose some of your clothes for the photo shoot? I thought you'd feel more comfortable wearing your own"
"Sounds good to me" He answered smiling.
"Holy crap Jack, what are you doing to your house? This is messy as hell!"
"You know, with Sofi gone, there's no one to clean the shit…"
"Why don't you do it yourself?"
"Hey, I already cook!"
"My God! That's disgusting!"
"It's where Bobby lives, what did you expect?"
"Ha! Don't try to save your ass Jack Mercer!" We both headed upstairs laughing.
His room was exactly like I remembered since the last time I got in there. I felt a strange homely feeling as I walked in, that kind of feeling you have when you've spent a long time traveling and you come back to your bedroom, to your bed.
"What now?" He asked behind me with his husky voice and a light shiver went down through my spine.
"Now you choose the ones you like the most and I'll evaluate them"
He laughed "Evaluate?"
"Yeah. Go on"
"Alright" As he opened his dresser's door, Bobby's voice was heard downstairs.
"Cracker Jack where's the food? I'm fucking starving!"
"You already had lunch?" Jack turned to me
"No, I came here right after work. But don't bother, I can come back later or-"
"Don't be silly Mel! You're eating with us today! No argument with that!"
"Yes sir!" It's just a lunch… We headed downstairs to find Bobby in the kitchen, eating… I have no idea what he was eating.
"Already?" He said with a full mouth
"Hey Bobby! Already what?"
"Jackie-O is here for like… Five days or so and you two already fucked, even though you have a boyfriend?"
"Shut up! Just cuz Sofi ain't here you have no right to start that crap talk with me!"
"I'm not lying, am I? Maybe it just didn't happen YET"
"You don't know what you're talking about! And Jack, stop laughing!"
"Ladybird, you don't need to blush"
"I'm not blushing Bobby…"
"Yes you are" Jack said between his laughs
"I'm so not fucking blushing!" I looked myself in the hanged mirror on the wall, I was in fact a bit blushed "It's because of the orange painting on the walls… Are we gonna eat or what?"
…
Bobby went back to work and left Jack and I to clean the mess. I mean, we REALLY cleaned the mess, I made him to help me to clean the whole house.
"You guys are a bunch of pigs"
"At least I don't smell like one…"
"What did you say?"
"Nothing" Jack said with a smirk
"I can't believe you just said that!" I smelled my underarms "I don't smell!"
"That's cause you're not where I am"
"Whatever!" I left Jack taking the dust off the framed portraits and went to the kitchen. I grabbed a bowl and filled it with water, then silently came back to where he was
"Mel, I was joking!" He said out loud, imagining that I was in the kitchen. As he was about to turn to go there, I threw all the water in the bottle on him. His surprised expression with the sudden cold liquid on his face was hilarious, I was laughing so hard that couldn't stand my own weight and sat on the floor.
"You're gonna pay for this!" He said with a mad face
"Get out Jack!" I said still laughing, but he didn't stop coming towards me. I quickly got up and ran to the other side of the dinner table. I had no idea in which way he wanted me to pay, but I wasn't willing to find out. "Jack, it was just a few drops! You needed to chill!"
"For your sake, I'm not gonna even say what you need!"
"You show some respect for me Jack Mercer! You asshole!"
"What did you just call me?" He said as he quickly made his way to where I was. I tried to quickly take off and started to surround the table running. Since he was taller than me and had longer legs, he quickly reached me, but when he did, we both slipped on the water on the floor and fell on it, I was on the top of him.
"Ouch!" We both started laughing and didn't move. Our laughs slowly faded away and we stared at each other, he took a lock of my hair out of my face and put it behind my ear before running his fingers sweetly and slowly on my cheek. His eyes were shinning as never and seemed to explore my entire self through my own eyes. I bitted my lower lip and he smiled at me, then I… felt something.
"Oh my God, you're hard!" I quickly got up; he didn't seem to be anywhere near embarrassed. "Jack, you're old enough to control yourself!"
"Not around you"
"Gee!" I couldn't help but laugh. My cell phone rang and I walked over to where my bag was, leaving him laid on the ground.
"Yeah?"
"Mel, I just wanted to let you know that I'm not coming back home today, okay?"
"Yeah, it's fine. Why?"
"You really wanna know?"
"No thanks!" I laughed lightly
"Where are you? I called home but no one would answer. Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah. I'm at… hmm… the Mercer's"
"With Jack?"
"Working!"
"Yeah right"
"Ollie!"
"I believe you little sister! So, love ya! Bye bye"
"Love you too, bye!"
I came back to where I had left Jack, and he was kneeled on the floor, drying it. He looked up at me
"Your boyfriend?"
"No, Ollie"
"Oh… did he bitch about yesterday?"
"Who, Ollie?"
"No, your boyfriend"
"His name's Jay. And yeah, he did"
"Why?"
I took a deep breath and sat on the chair "I don't know really…"
Jack sat on the chair in front of mine "He's a jerk"
"You don't know him…"
"I know enough to know that about him"
"How's that?"
"If he was a bit smarter, he wouldn't act like that. In that way, he's pushing you away and it's not even noticing that"
"You don't know what you're talking about…"
"Yes I do. I know you don't like people around you all the damn time, you don't like to explain yourself to people and most of all, he never intimidated you, he always did what you wanted and that's boring for you"
"You speak like if you were here this whole time. You don't know what's going on"
"Again, I do… he loves you, but you don't love him back. He's scared shitless of losing you"
What the fuck is going on here? "What you gonna say now? That I don't love him because I still love you?"
"I don't know"
"Things have changed Jack…I've changed"
"You may have changed, I may have changed… I'm not sure about that. The only thing I know for sure is that my love for you is still the same"
"That's senseless…"
"It's not Mel and you know that! Most of time while I was away, I had to force myself to not think about you and to focus on what I was there for! I just wish you didn't blame me for going away"
"I don't blame you for going away"
"No?"
"No… I blame you for not telling me that you were going"
"You were in the hospital! I only wanted to see you healed!"
"And then?"
"I was a chicken…"
"Yes you were… what was your plan? Leave without saying a word and let me to find out later?"
"No!"
I took a deep breath "Whatever… It's done"
"Did you think about me?"
As much as I wanted, I couldn't lie. "Yes" I answered simply, not looking at him.
"I'm sorry" He got up and headed upstairs, I stayed where I was.
Forgive, sounds good
Forget, I'm not sure I could
They say time heals everything
But I'm still waiting
I'm through with doubt
There's nothing left for me to figure out
I've paid a price
And I'll keep paying
I'm not ready to make nice
I'm not ready to back down
I'm still mad as hell and
I don't have time to go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
'Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is you think I should
"Jack?" I said by the door way of his bedroom, he was laid on his bed, running his fingers through his guitar, just like the old days. He stopped playing when heard my voice and looked to where I was "Can we choose the clothes?"
"Yeah, sure" He put his guitar aside and got up. I sat on his bed while he opened the drawers, looking for a shirt. "The one I want doesn't seem to be here. Why don't you look through here and pick the ones you like while I go look for it?"
"Okay" I got up and he left the room. That smell… How I missed it!
I had already chosen my favorites when he came back with empty hands.
"Found it?"
"No, but you did!" He said smiling while he pointed to a red with black writing one. I eyed him suspiciously, it was the first shirt I saw in the drawer, but I let it go.
"Good! So, what you think of those?"
"Looks pretty good to me"
"Great! So it'd be good if you could avoid wearing them 'till when we take the photos"
"Fine. When will it be?"
"Monday… By the way, what you think about going to the Playtime Bowl so we can have the interview started on Friday?"
"It's settled!"
"Good! Hmm… thanks Jack" I gave him a quick hug. I mean, I MEANT to give him a quick hug, but he held me for longer. If he wanted, he really could say no to the interview, but he was gonna do it and that made me feel grateful. "Gee! I better go, it's already dark!"
"Oh, okay! I'll walk you home"
"Fine"
I grabbed my bag on the way out and headed with him to my entry. As we got there, I started searching for my keys inside the bag.
"Shit!"
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know where my keys are! Maybe I left them in the car" I opened the car and looked for them in there, they were nowhere to be seen. "Oh God, you gotta be kidding me!" I threw all the stuff inside my bag on the passenger's sit and there was everything but keys. "Where are you? Please, don't make me sleep in the car!"
Jack chuckled "For God's sake Mel. You can sleep in my house" I raised an eyebrow at him. "No second thoughts intended" Yeah, right…"Come on. You'll look for them better by the morning"
"I guess you're right" I went to the back sit, passing between the two front ones.
"What you doing?"
"Going to sleep"
"Mel, get inside. You can sleep on my bed and I'll sleep on the couch"
"No thanks, my car is fine"
"Don't be a bitch, come on!"
"Can you close the door please?" He sighed, closed it and got inside his house. I put my bag on my head, but had to take it off to answer the phone, it was Jay, so I decided not to answer and turned it off.
I didn't want to sleep under the same roof with Jack, I didn't trust him. Okay, I didn't trust myself either The water slipping almost had some worse effect than a purple bruise on my waist and, as much as things were weird between us, Jay was still my boyfriend.
Twenty minutes had passed and I couldn't sleep on the uncomfortable bed that I turned my back seat into. Shit, I have no choice. After getting out of the car, I knocked on the Mercer's. Jack opened the door smirking, the jerk knew I was going to do that and I hated him for that.
"Uncomfortable on the back?"
"I'm sleeping on the couch"
"You can have my bed"
"The couch's good"
"Gee, you're still stubborn as shit"
"And you're still an ass. Now get me a pillow" He raised an eyebrow and sighed "Please?" He smiled and went upstairs, coming back two minutes latter with a soft pillow and blanket. "Thank you"
"I'll be upstairs if you need anything"
"Okay, thanks again"
"No mention it" He kissed me on the cheek and went to his room without looking back. Damn you Jack Mercer…
Five minutes after I was already laid, a sweet melody started to play upstairs, it was obviously coming from Jack's guitar. The sound was soft, like the songs I listen before going to sleep. At the same time that Jack started singing with his husky and sweet voice, I recognized the song.
This Romeo is bleeding
But you can't see his blood
It's nothing but some feelings
That this old dog kicked up
It's been raining since you left me
Now I'm drowning in the flood
You see I've always been a fighter
But without you I give up
I can't sing a love song
Like the way it's meant to be
Well I guess I'm not that good anymore
But babe that's just me
And I
Will love you, babe, always
And I'll be there forever and a day, always
I'll be there till the starts don't shine
Till the heavens burst and the words don't rhyme
And I know when I die, you'll be on my mind
And I love you, always
Now your pictures that, you let behind
Are just memories, of a different life
Some that made us laugh
Some that made us cry
One that made you, have to say good bye
What I've give to run my fingers, through your hair
To touch your lips, to hold you near
When you say your prayers, try to understand
I've made mistakes, I'm just a man
When he holds you close
When he pulls you near
When he says the words
You've been needing to hear
I wish I was him, cause those words are mine
To say to you till the end of time
And I
Will love you, babe, always
And I'll be there forever and a day, always
If you told me to cry for you, I could
If you told me to die for you, I would
Take a look at my face
There's no price I won't pay
To say these words to you
Well there ain't no luck in this loaded dice
But babe if you give me just one more try
We can pack up our old dreams and our old lives
We'll find a place where the sun still shines
And I
Will love you, babe, always
And I'll be there forever and a day, always
I'll be there till the starts don't shine
Till the heavens burst and the words don't rhyme
And I know when I die, you'll be on my mind
And I love you, always…
Always.
…
You don't love him anymore