“Maybe I didn’t want to have the whole sex discussion with you, Tate. You’re my best friend and talking about sex with you when it’s in the general sense I can deal with but when it comes to actuality…”
“You’d rather I not know that you and Jordan are enjoying that nice big bed together?” he teased pinching her side and making her smack his hand away drawing the attention of their teacher.
“Mr. Tatum, Miss Taube, it seems as though you two have more energy than the rest of the class. Perhaps some laps around the gym will burn that off.”
“Thanks a lot,” she hissed at Tate who replied by sticking out his tongue at her making her laugh as they started out.
“Would you rather run or play dodgeball, because with Steph in the class gunning for you, that’s what basketball will likely turn into?” he questioned as they went behind the bleachers. He pulled her into a hug and kissed her temple as she gave another laugh.
“Alright it might not look the best if I ended up with a black eye,” she agreed seeing the force with which the balls were being flung around the gym in what were supposed to be bounce passes.
They continued to run laps as the class went on and on, well jog them really. They were behind the group when Stephanie took the ball from the person next to her and sent it sailing towards them.
“Jeez…” Mel cried stopping short before it could nail her in the side. She watched as Steph took another and flung it towards them under the pretense of shooting a basket; it bounced off the edge of the bleachers and knocked her bag off onto the floor. She stopped running to go pick it up and as she gathered her things she checked to make sure her necklace hadn’t fallen out.
When she opened the pocket it wasn’t there and neither was her ring box. She looked underneath the bleachers for it, but they weren’t their either. She felt her breath stall as panic hit her and Tate stepped closer to her.
“Mel what’s wrong?”
“My rings, my necklace…they’re gone,” she whispered frantically as she began sorting through every pocket and finally dumping out her entire bag.
“You put them in the bottom pocket,” he reminded her but stopped talking when she shook her head.
“I checked; they’re not there.”
“Mr. Tatum, Miss Taube did I say you could stop running?” Coach Ross stated approaching them. “Melinda, what is this mess?”
“Steph knocked my bag off, and I went to pick it up. I had a necklace and a ring box in it right before class started and now they’re gone,” she answered carefully sifting through her things before heading back under the bleachers.
“Did you leave them in the locker room?” he asked.
“No, I saw her take them off and put them in her bag,” Tate assured him as Mel came back out from under the bleachers. “Mel, we’ll find them.”
“How? They were in my bag and now they’re not,” she stated as her heart raced. What would Jordan say?
“Hey it’s okay, just take a breath,” Tate said gently, giving her a light hug.
“What did they look like Melinda?” Coach Ross asked noting her anxiousness.
“The necklace is a gold chain with a heart shaped emerald surrounded by diamonds and the ring box has an emerald and diamond ring and a plain gold band in it,” she answered.
“Your…” he began asking, knowing as the rest of the staff did of her relationship status.
“Yes, the necklace was a Christmas present. Jordan will be furious if I lose them,” she said turning back to Tate.
“No, he won’t Mel. I’m going to call him…Mel, it’ll be fine,” he promised when she began to argue with him. He moved off quickly and grabbed his phone from his jacket pocket. He dialed the number as he watched Mel talk with Coach Ross. “Hey Jordan.”
“What’s wrong Tate? Is Mel okay?” he asked hearing the note of concern in his voice.
“Physically yeah, we’ve been in gym, and she took her ring and necklace off, put them in the bottom of her bag like always and I ended up making us run laps. It was that or risk basketball turning into dodgeball since Steph’s been such a bitch to Mel lately. Anyway, she tried to hit us with a faked airball as we went by, and it missed but the second hit Mel’s bag and a couple of others. Mel went to check on hers and they’re gone. Her necklace and rings aren’t there…she’s flipping out Jordan.”
“Dammit, alright, I’ll be there in thirty. Actually it should be closer to twenty, I’m out at a site near home as it is,” he said grabbing his keys. “Keep her from losing it, Tate.”
“She’s worried you’re going to be pissed, Jordan.”
“Never, they’re just things,” Jordan admitted.
“Good to know,” Tate told him before heading back to Mel. “It’s okay, Jordan’s coming.”
