A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS - PART II
Layton was sitting on the sofa, still trying to sort out how he was going to explain everything when he heard the door lock click.
Jumping to his feet, he shifted the picture behind him, holding it with both hands as he stood to face his roommate and best friend, and whatever came.
Coming in the door, Melanie's senses went on high alert. Just from his stance she knew something wasn't right with him. But she also knew with Layton he would get to it eventually, but just in his own time and in his own way. While he could keep secrets from others, he was the worst person at keeping secrets from her. She just had to wait him out.
So she simply walked into the room, closing the door behind her.
"Hi." She stated, walking past him. "I didn't know you would be here."
Layton carefully fingered the picture behind his back, managing a small smile for her. "I live here...still...for the moment."
All of the previous alerts in her mind went to full fledged warning flags.
What had he done now?
Waiting him out quickly shifted to the backburner.
Walking over to the table, Melanie carefully set her notes from the day's work on the table and turned to face him, folding her arms in front of her. Just from his stance and his last statement, she quickly surmised whatever it was, it wasn't good, and it was likely to result in a fight at some level between them. But after the day she had had, she wasn't sure she was ready for coming back to her one sanctuary to have to deal with this.
'Best to get to it quickly then.' She told herself.
"All right." She stated, staring him down. "Let's hear it."
Layton cleared his throat before he began. He had an hour or so to contemplate just how angry she was going to be. And it never ended pretty.
"First," he started, "I want you to know this was an accident."
Melanie nodded. "It usually is."
"And I already know just how mad you're going to be."
Melanie frowned at him. "What did you do?" She asked in a low, level tone.
Layton cleared his throat again. "I got done with work a bit early today, and so I came back to the cabin to look for something."
"Look for what?"
"It was...just some personal things I brought with me from the Tail to the cabin when I first moved in." He paused for a moment. "I hadn't even thought about the box since I moved in. And when I did bring it up here, I just stuffed it away on a shelf and didn't even think of it again. But today I realized when I brought it up from the Tail, I never checked it. To see if everything was still there. And I thought maybe it was a good idea to check. You know...to see if anything was missing."
"You're rambling." She stated flatly as she quickly cut him off.
Layton paused again. Maybe he was. Because he knew when he got to the point, it was likely going to hit the fan in a big way.
"I just want you to know this was purely an accident. I wasn't snooping or trying to pry into your business. You know we don't ever do that with each other."
"Layton," she gave a weary sigh, "it's been a very long day for me. Could you just get to the point please."
Layton echoed her sigh. He found he wasn't even able to look her in the eyes right then. "The box I was looking for was on the top shelf in the front closet by the door."
Melanie's whole expression changed in an instant from irritation to utter fear as her attention snapped to the open closet door. Rushing to it, she pushed his small box aside and wedged her hand into the opening, feeling for her picture.
All of her previous exhaustion vanished in an instant as she turned back to him with a mask of pure fury.
"Where is it!?" She demanded, nearly yelling the question at him.
Layton paused once more. "Melanie, I wasn't...when I pulled the box down...," he cautiously produced the picture from behind his back and handed it to her, "...I guess it got knocked loose and came down with it. I swear I wasn't trying..."
Melanie stepped forward and all but snatched the picture out of his hand. "Give it to me!" She demanded.
Turning from him, she carefully hugged the picture to her.
"Melanie, I swear to you, I wasn't prying. I admit the whole mystery around that picture bugged me. But you know I would never go behind your back and go searching for it. It was an accident."
Only the silence of the cabin answered him.
For several minutes they simply stood there like that, neither saying a word. But it was Layton who finally couldn't take the silent stand off any more.
"That's the picture you broke the day we had that fight, isn't it?" He asked, looking for some confirmation of what he already suspected.
Melanie stood for a moment more with her back to him before she slowly turned to him over her shoulder.
"I thought you weren't going to pry, Mr. Layton." She replied.
Layton froze at the name. She had certainly called him a lot of things over the past few months. Her forte in a fight seemed to be coming up with new and interesting ways of referring to her opponent.
But when she resorted to 'Mr. Layton', he knew he was in deep.
He gave her a slight nod. "You're right. It's none of my business, and I'm sorry."
Melanie lowered the picture to arms length as she stared down at it. "Just forget it." She replied quietly.
Layton looked absolutely miserable now. "And I'm sorry." He said again in a low, quiet voice. "I'm sorry for what I said that day that made you angry enough that you broke it."
Melanie once more turned her back to him. "It's just a picture, Mr. Layton. A casualty of my anger. Nothing more."
Layton thought back to that day. Something about it had puzzled him ever since the occurrence, and suddenly he seemed to have an answer.
"No it's not." He told her, taking a few steps closer to her. But when he noted her shoulders come up in defense, he stopped. "There was a distinct pause that day between when I left and when I heard the glass shatter behind the door." He paused, thinking it out. "It would have been just about the same amount time it would have taken for you to pull that picture from the closet and throw it at the door."
Melanie said nothing, but continued to stare down at the picture.
Layton was pretty sure he couldn't have felt lower if he tried right then.
"I sorry." He said again. "I'm sorry I hurt you that much that day. And I'm sorry I didn't even realize it until just now."
Melanie only continued to stare down at the picture. Finally a small quiet voice answered him. "I told you, it doesn't matter. And your wrong about the time. There was a pause because I was looking for something to throw. The picture was simply the first thing I could get my hands on."
"And then afterwards you kept it?" He asked softly. "And not just 'kept it', but hid it so it would be safe?"
Melanie finally turned to face him. He could tell just by the look on her face she was truly trying very hard to keep the conversation civil and not to explode into rage at him. To her, he had purely and utterly violated their trust in each other. He had pried into her secrets to satisfy his own curiosity, no matter the consequences.
"Melanie." He said as softly and contritely as he could, "I am sorry. I don't know what else I can offer up to you to show that this was just an accident. I won't ask any more about the picture. Go hide it somewhere else if you want. If I ever come across it again, I'll just pretend I don't even see it. It's yours. Your secret. It's none of my business."
Melanie looked down at the picture for a second, then turned her eyes back to him. "You're putting too much on this." She finally stated, holding up the picture. "I told you, it's just a picture. I kept it because I thought...it was humorous. Do you remember what Riker said when he took it?"
Layton nodded slowly. "He said it was a picture of 'the two leaders of the train'."
She set a hard stare on him. "I find that funny, don't you?" She paused for a brief moment before continuing. "The train doesn't have two leaders, Mr. Layton. It has one. And that is you."
"And you know that isn't true, Melanie. We run this train together. And it doesn't mean the picture isn't important to you...for whatever reason."
Her next act he was willing to bet took every last ounce of strength left in her as without any show of empathy she flipped the picture in her hand and casually tossed it into the trash bin.
With a total lack of any emotion in her expression she turned back to him.
"You're wrong." She stated, then turned, and picking up her notes off the table, headed into the bedroom without another word.
Layton stood there for some time trying to figure what to do next.
Well, she hadn't thrown him out, so he guessed he still had a place to sleep that night. Although tonight he wasn't nearly as eager as he usually was to go and curl up in his soft, cozy little nirvana. And so for the next hour or so he sat out on the sofa, trying to concentrate on a book he was reading until the temperature simply got too cold for him to stand anymore. Glancing at the clock he decided it was in the high probability category that she was asleep by now and was likely safe for him to quietly go slip into his side of the bed.
He took off his shoes and socks outside the door and stripped off anything he didn't want to sleep in. He decided to forego trying to get into his own thermals for the sake of equally trying to avoid waking her up.
Opening the door finally to the bedroom, he crept in and as silently as he could made his way over to the bed and quickly slipped under the covers.
"I wondered how long you were going to sit out there." A soft but firm voice came from the other side of the bed.
"I'm not looking for a fight, Melanie." He replied. "I just want to get a few hours sleep, OK?"
"Fine." She answered. "Good night, Mr. Layton."
Layton lay there for a few minutes, contemplating his response, but finally opted for a simple, "Good night."
Early in the morning he woke up to his alarm clock going off. Usually the sun's rays through the window beat the alarm clock by a good fifteen minutes in waking him up. But the morning proved to be dreary and overcast. Much as he saw his day progressing.
Turning over his shoulder he found her side of the bed empty. Listening for several moments, he finally breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She appeared to not only be up and dressed, but out of the cabin as well.
Getting up, he pulled himself stiffly out of the bed and went about his own morning routine. The water in the shower wasn't exactly warm, but he made do as he stripped out of his old cloths from the day before and stepped under the slightly cold water.
As he showered he thought back over the events from the day before, wondering what to do. Maybe he would go ask Audrey or Till for advice. They were woman. They should know how a female's mind worked.
The one thing he tried to focus on was what Audrey always told him about Melanie over and over. She simply wasn't good with emotions. And when she did display them, they tended to sometimes be a bit over the top. This was how he saw her reaction to his finding the picture after thinking about it in that context. She had a right to be angry. But he had told her, SWORN to her his finding the picture had been an accident. But to him, she simply refused to listen. She had tapped into that anger and was letting it lead her. Right up to throwing her prized possession in the garbage just to make a point.
And for that reason, feeling she had overreacted to the situation and done something he was sure she was going to regret later, he was grateful that it was garbage day. And as such, the one thing he had already planned out the night before was that, since it was his turn to take the garbage out, it was going to be a simple matter to retrieve the picture and save it until she cooled down. He could throw out the bag sans the picture and she would never be the wiser.
Happily contemplating his plan as he dried himself off and got dressed, Layton headed for the kitchen. But he suddenly came to an abrupt halt in front of where the small garage pail sat.
The pail was already empty.