She moved her hand from my leg and placed it on my chest, running it up toward my neck. Her hand grazed across the bare skin and wrapped around the back of my neck before she pulled me down and crashed her lips to mine. They were salty from the tears she’d just shed but I didn’t care. Those tears were for me, sad or good, they were mine to make sure they never came from Melanie again.
Our lips roamed against each other and just like before, I was the one to pull us away. Not because of a room full of people but because Amelia might wake at any moment. I still wasn’t sure what it was that Melanie and I were doing but I didn’t want to bring it any more attention than it needed in front of Amelia.
“Go on a real date with me.”
It wasn’t a question from me but a suggestion to Melanie and it felt like the right time to make it. It had only been a few days since the coffee “date” that wasn’t a date and with everything that had happened since then, it felt right for us to finally do something that was official.
“Yes.”
Melanie leaned in again and placed a kiss on my lips and when she pulled away, it was nothing but a smile that filled her face.
We didn’t need to plan it right away but just knowing that she wanted to spend more time with me, moving us closer to becoming a couple, had me wanting to jump for joy.
I didn’t though.
Instead, I held Melanie in my arms as we watched over Amelia, making a memory that I would never forget.
Eleven
“Isshe coming for family dinner this week?”
“No, Ma. I don’t want to scare her off by having us all in one room.”
Mom huffed into the phone line and I could picture the eye roll she was preforming while standing in her kitchen.
I was walking back and forth in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, waiting for Melanie to arrive for our date. After the incident with Amelia last week, Melanie and I talked every day and when I asked her out again, this time she didn’t hesitate or say we could only have coffee.
In fact, she was the one who suggested the museum and I gladly accepted. This museum was one of my favorites in all of Georgia, as it was only contemporary art, rather than starring at a bunch or portraits of army men and landscapes. Don’t get me wrong, I loved those too but contemporary art just filled a void in me when I was away from my own graphics.
“You missed this weeks family dinner. You will not miss a second one, young man.” I’d decided to not go this week since Melanie didn’t decide on a specific day for our date and wanted to make sure I had the time available for her. I never told my mom this because she would have had my head if she knew I hadn’t been there because of a girl. That was unacceptable to her. You came to family dinner every Wednesday night, unless there was an event for work. That was the only exception to the rule.
“I’ll be there next Wednesday, Ma. I promise.”
I stopped my pacing outside the front door of the museum and when I looked up, Melanie was getting out of a car and walking toward me. The way she looked in her black high waist shorts with a white sweater had me speechless. Even when she wasn’t dressed up, she look incredible. I knew if I ever saw her first thing in the morning, I would be a goner.
Melanie always had this glow about her. A glow that made her the center of my attention.
“Jack!” Mom’s voice yelled through the phone and I pulled it away from my ear just as Melanie walked up to me.
“I’ve got to go, Ma. I’ll see you next Wednesday.”
I hung up, slid the phone into my pocket, as watched Melanie watch me.
“You didn’t need to hang up on your mom just because I’m here.”
I let out a laugh and grabbed Melanie’s hand, pulling her toward me.
“If I wouldn’t have hung up, she wouldn’t have stopped talking.”
I leaned down, placed a kiss on Melanie’s forehead, and then led her inside of the museum.
“Jack?” Melanie pulled on my hand and stopped me before we arrived at the main counter to get our tickets. “I don’t ever want you to feel like you have to separate your life from me. You can take phone calls or go be with your family if they need you.”
I looked down at Melanie and tucked a piece of stray hair behind her ear.
“My mom was only asking if I was coming to family dinner.” It wasn’t a lie that I was telling Melanie, I only left out that my mom had also asked if she was coming with me.
“Is that what you are doing next Wednesday?”
