Chapter Three
It was the next afternoon and House had decided to get a few things at the grocery store. Though Wilson would be bringing beer tonight, he wanted to make sure that there was enough besides some snacks. He needed some stuff to munch on anyway. He grabbed a basket and headed to get his beer. After getting a couple six packs he headed to the junk food isle. On the way, he saw a display of ring dings and grabbed a few boxes. As he was nearing the aisle he was seeking he heard "Sway" come on the overhead speakers. He thought of Melony and wondered if it would be a song that she'd perform some night. Maybe he'd be able to request it. He sure would love to see her sway those hips of hers. As he turned into the snack isle, he got his wish. Near the middle of the isle was Melony. She had her eyes closed and was dancing and singing softly to the music. As he got closer he could hear her sultry voice. He stood close to her and looked her up and down. He had almost not recognized her. She was wearing tight blue jeans that were somewhat faded and had holes in the knees. Her shirt was a small baby blue t-shirt that showed off her endowments quite nicely. And her hair hung down around her shoulders in waves. She had on only a touch of eye makeup and some gloss. He was surprised to think that she looked adorable. He was even more surprised to find that he found it damn sexy. She also looked a lot younger that he had originally thought she was. So caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice her notice him.
"Hey there stud. Stalking me?" came Melony's voice filled with amusement.
"Huh? Oh no. Needed to get the staples." He replied, holding up his basket.
She peered into it and gave a light laugh.
"Those are the staples huh. My kind of man!" She winked at him.
House stood there looking at her and she gave him a questioning look. He then blurted out, "You look adorable."
A smile spread across her lips and she replied, "Why Greg, I didn't know that word would be in your vocabulary" she teased him.
House looked uncomfortable and said, "I'm surprised that I know it too. I don't usually say things like that."
"No worries. I get it all the time when I'm in my "street clothes". People are used to me in my performance clothes. When anyone sees me in outfits like these they don't usually recognize me at first or even at all. And they also end up asking my age. They say that I look really young. Some even ask what year I am in college. Quite flattering really."
"How old are you?"
Melony mock scolded him, "Tisk tisk Greg. You seem to be a smart man, so you should know that it isn't polite to ask a woman's age."
"Yeah, never was that smart."
She laughed again and then said, "I'll tell you but only if you pinky swear that you will not tell another living soul!" She held up her right pinky and waited.
"Come on Greg, swear."
He rolled his eyes and said in a childlike voice, "Oh alright. I pinky swear I won't tell another living soul just how old you really are."
They hooked pinkies and she grinned at him as she leaned toward him and whispered in his ear, "Thirty five."
"Really? I would have said twenty eight tops."
She playfully tapped his arm, batted her eyelashes and said, "Oh you flatterer you."
"Yep that's me."
"So, what other staples do you need to get?"
"The usual, chips, pretzels and popcorn. What are you getting?"
"Oreos, popcorn, tortilla chips, salsa and to top it off, beer."
"My kind of woman."
They both smiled at each other as they got the rest of what they were looking for and went to the self checkout. As they waited in line they continued to chat.
"So got plans tonight?" Melony asked.
"Yeah, having my bud Wilson over. And you?"
"Having my two best friends over. Girls night."
"Oh! Naked pillow fights! Can I come?"
"What about Wilson?"
"He's not invited. I don't share well."
Melony laughed and went to check her food out.
"Well I hate to break it to you, but women really don't have nude pillow fights." House pretended to look sad and she said, "But we do wrestle in mud!"
"Alright! I'm so there!" House responded.
"We need to get some professional help." Melony laughed, shaking her head.
"Nah, we're normal. Nobody wants to admit that though."
Melony laughed again and bagged her food and House took over the checkout. As he swiped the barcodes, she bagged for him. They made quick work of checking out and headed out of the store. They found that their cars were next to each others. They put their bags into them and then turned to each other.
"Have a nice time tonight with Wilson, Greg. "
"Yeah, have fun with the ladies. Tell them I can pay top dollar for a wrestling show." He winked at her. She rolled her eyes and grinned with him.
"Have I told you lately how incorrigible you are?" Before House could answer, her cell rang. She answered it and House watched as her face dropped and listened to her side of the conversation.
"What do you mean that you can't play tomorrow? I have other performers for my act lined up…uh huh…really? I'm so sorry. Is there anything that I can do? Okay. You don't know anyone that can fill in for you, do you? Okay. Fine, get back to me. I hope you feel better soon. Bye Will."
She hung up the phone and sighed. "Well that was Will informing me that he can't play piano tomorrow for the show because he decided to do some skateboarding tricks, showing off for his son and wretched his shoulder. What I am to do now?"
"Well, I do know a very handsome, talented and sexy pianist that is free tomorrow night."
A smile spread across her face and she replied, "You'd really be willing to do that? Thank you so very much!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, startling House. She didn't notice as she let go and dialed her cell. "Will? Hi, it's Mel. Don't worry about tomorrow. A friend just offered to play so you don't need to find anyone for me. Thanks and get better soon. Talk with you later. Bye."
"You are a life saver Greg! I definitely owe you one. How about a late supper after the show? That sound good for you?"
"Actually no."
She looked at him, disappointed and he continued.
"Dinner at eight on Tuesday is better for me."
"Oh, sure. It's a deal. Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Could you get there at seven-ish? That should give us plenty of time to go through the music and do a sound check together."
"Alright. See you then."
"Bye Greg. And again, thank you."
She gave him one last smile, got in her car and drove off. He stood by his car watching her go and rubbed his fingers on his mouth. "This is going to be interesting." He said to himself before getting in his car and heading back to his place and wait for Wilson.
It was eight o'clock that night and House went to answer the knock at his door. He opened it for Wilson, who was waiting with a six pack of beer and a couple pizza boxes.
"Good you brought food."
"Well, I figured that I would have to seeing as all you usually have in your kitchen is beer and junk food. At least the pizza a healthier that chips and ring dings."
"Whatever."
House turned and walked into the living room. Wilson followed with a sigh and set the pizza on the coffee table along with the beer. He sat down next to House, who was flipping through the TV channels. Wilson popped a beer and sat back, taking a sip. He rested the can on his leg and while watching the TV screen, asked House, "So this woman you meant. How's that going?"
"I saw her in the grocery store today. I called her adorable." House responded, also keeping his eyes on the screen in front of him.
Wilson looked at him in total surprise and sputtered out, "You called her what?"
"You heard me. She was in just jeans and a t-shirt and she looked adorable. I'm just as surprised as you are that I said that. I think I'm more surprised that I even have that word in my vocabulary. She even knew that."
"She's got you hooked. Anything else happen?"
"I volunteered to help her out. The pianist, Will, who plays for her show, hurt himself. I said that I would fill in for him. Tomorrow night is the first night."
Wilson stared at House in bewilderment and then shook his head.
"I have got to meet this woman!"
"Yeah right" was House's only response as he leaned forward and grabbed a beer and drank half of it down.
He then grabbed a slice of pizza and started to chomp on it. Wilson looked at his friend and shook his head in amusement.
"Adorable huh." Wilson laughed.
"That does not leave this apartment! Tell anyone and I'll spread it around about what, or should I say who, you did last year. It won't be pretty."
"You wouldn't."
House just gave him a "test me" look and Wilson surrendered.
"Fine. I will keep it to myself."
They then settled back and finished off the pizza and beer, while watching the "Lethal Weapon" marathon that was on, House hoping to get distracted from his thoughts about Melony and Wilson hoping that his friend might elaborate later on about this woman that seems to have him a bit frazzled.
While House had Wilson over, Melony had her two best friends, Alexis and Jessica, over. The two friends had arrived in flurry of energy and non stop chattering. Because of their busy schedules, they hadn't been able to have their weekly girls' night in a month and needed to catch up on each others lives. After they had made Fettuccini Alfredo and steamed broccoli for their dinner, and ate it, they settled down in Melony's living room to eat their dessert of Ben and Jerry's Phish Food. They shared a pint, passing it off to one another. Melony sat on her couch with one of the throw pillows on her lap, Alexis was on the chair next to her and Jessica sat on the floor, leaning against the couch.
"So, Jess, how are the little nose miners doing? Are they getting excited for summer vacation?" Melony asked her friend, who was a first grade teacher.
"Oh my gosh. It's like the first month of the school year all over again! They are so rambunctious. I have a hard time keeping their attention now that it's getting so nice out. I'm starting to see why my old first grade teacher kept a flask hidden in her desk!"
"She did not" Melony responded.
"No, she really did. I saw it once. You know my crazy Aunt Berta. She used to carry one around with her all the time. That's why I knew what one looked like back then."
"Bless your Aunt Berta! She knows how to have fun!" Alexis said raising her wine glass to the others. The other two laughed and raised their glasses back.
"Well now that we know about Jess's life as a teacher, on to me!" Alexis said, sitting taller and fanning a look of extreme self importance.
"Oh please!" Melony said.
"Get over yourself girl!" came Jess's response.
"Oh you know it's all about me." Alexis flipped her hair over her shoulder and the other two rolled their eyes and then laughed again.
"Okay, fine, I'll bite. So what is new in your life?" asked Melony.
"I finally got a date with Connor Patterson!"
"What? That womanizer in your office? Why would you want a date with him?" exclaimed Jess.
"Oh honey, you should see the things written about him on the bathroom stalls! He may break hearts but he has some skills! And he is tall!" She answered with a wink.
"You and your tall men. Anything else happening at work that is interesting?" asked Jess and she took a spoonful of ice cream before passing the pint onto Melony.
"Oh the same ol' same ol'. Helping the big wigs to keep their money that I believe more and more each day they don't deserve!" Alexis was a corporate lawyer with Richmond, Leet and Lewis, one of the leading firms in the area.
Alexis reached for the ice cream and Melony handed it over. Alexis took a bite before turning her attention to Melony. "So Mel, now it's your turn to dish. Anything happening with the 'tall, melancholy, blue eyed stranger' you saw in the bar? Has he come back?"
"Yes, dish! And don't spare any juicy details. We need details!" Jess piped in.
"I think you are a bit more excited about this that you should be."
"Oh lay off Alex. Sean has been too busy to be romantic and Roderick and Mackenzie are running amuck every chance they can get." Jess answered in self defense, speaking of her husband and twin five year old boys.
"Yeah, why do you think that Jess loves girl's night? She needs the break before she goes completely insane!" Mel piped in.
"Thank you Mel for understanding."
"Whatever, Suzy homemaker. We're supposed to be interrogating Mel here. So to continue got any news about blue eyes?"
Melony smiled at her friends and said, "Well last week I finally talked to him. We flirted a bit. He's got a rude, crude sense of humor so I think that you and he would get along Alex. Though I was able to hold my own. He's actually quite amusing. We've had drinks and chats a few times since then. I actually saw him at the grocery store this afternoon. He has only seen me in my period clothes for the show and was surprised to see me in this" she waved a hand over her outfit, "he even called me adorable. Now this is the type of man who seems as though he wouldn't have that word in his vocab. I even told him that too. He agreed. He seemed truly surprised to have said that to me."
"Oh how sweet that he said you were adorable." Jess gushed. Alex gave her an annoyed look before waving her spoon at Melony and asking, "You sure that's a good thing?"
"Actually I do. We checked out together and when we got out to the parking lot, we found that we were even parked next to each other. While we were saying good bye, Will called, and told me that he hurt his shoulder. When I told Greg, he said that he could play in Will's stead."
"Wait, Will is hurt and can't play? When were you going to tell us this?" Alex asked.
"Sorry, I figured it wouldn't be as urgent to tell you because I got Greg to sub. Don't worry; we'll be able to perform tomorrow."
Melony was referring to the fact that the three of them were doing a tribute to The Andrew Sisters the next night. They had done a tribute like that in college together several times. It was always a hit and Melony enjoyed performing with her two friends.
"So Greg is going to be there tomorrow night aye. Hmmm." Alexis had a twinkle in her eyes and smiled a scheming smile while rubbing her hands together.
"You are not going to do anything to scare Greg off. You know that Mel needs a chance. Ever since Jordan…" Jess broke off her sentence and put her hands over her mouth. "I am so sorry. It just slipped."
"You know what that means," Alexis said, "You need to put a dollar in the Swear Jar." Since college the ladies had kept a jar that they put a dollar in every time someone mentioned the forbidden name of an ex or someone that just plain p*ssed them off. The money is being saved so that they can go on a girl's only trip to some exotic location, one that they could all agree on, which hadn't happened yet.
"No worries Jess. Though, you are going to have to make it up to me by giving me the rest of the ice cream!" Jess laughed in relief and handed the pint over to Melony. Melony ate the rest and got up to throw the carton away. Sitting back down in her spot, she said "Please don't embarrass me tomorrow with Greg. He's the first guy in a long time that has caught my attention and who I want to get to know better."
"Don't worry we won't, right Alex!" Jess said pointedly.
"Cross my heart."
"Alright that is settled. Now, let's practice some for tomorrow night and then we can break into the other pint of ice cream I hid in the freezer for us."
They started to sing their set for the next night. They didn't need much practice and soon had moved onto the ice cream before calling it a night, each looking forward to their performance and Alexis and Jessica looking forward to meeting the man that had been able to break through the wall that their friend had set up. Melony was also looking forward to seeing him again. She started to get ready for bed, thinking about him and his striking blue eyes and the sadness that was in them. As she got into bed she hummed to herself "My Melancholy Baby" before drifting off to sleep.