“Well, Melanie. You wanted us here, so what do you want to talk about?” I smirked, knowing that the question I was asking her was the exact one she’d asked me. Except this time, my question had more intention. Melanie knew why I’d wanted to take her on a date but now I was prying as to why she wanted to take me on one.
“Tell me about yourself, Jack.”
“What do you want to know?” I leaned back in my chair with my arms crossed over my chest.
“Why do you love me?”
The question took me by surprise. Melanie wasn’t cutting around any corners for once and jumped straight to what had broken us apart.
“What makes you want to know this right now?”
“I’ve been thinking,” she leaned forward, reaching for the hand that I’d moved from hers, “a lot about what you said that night.”
She paused, closing her eyes. When she opened them, tears were forming in her eyes. It was the first real sign of emotion that I’d gotten from her in a long time and I was curious now to know what she’d been thinking about. I knew what I’d been thinking about but this was her time to grovel and I was going to let her do that.
“And?” I leaned further back in my chair, not letting her use her touch to help ease her in this. I wanted her to feel everything she was about to say.
“I didn’t give you what you deserved that night.” She took a deep breath and sat up straighter. “I should have listened. I should have given you the time to tell me how you feel, so that’s what I’m trying to do right now.”
“And how would me telling you how I feel right now change anything, Melanie?”
“Because I’ve been working through a lot and I’ve realized how I feel.” A tear slipped down her face and she whipped it away. “I thought it would be good for us to talk about it. Actually, my therapist thought it would be a good idea but I agree.”
“Your therapist?” I was shocked that she was admitting that she was getting help.
“Yeah.” She looked sheepish now having admitted that she was seeing one. “I started going a week ago and she’s been a huge help with working through my fears. Amelia’s gone a few times with me but a lot of what we’ve worked through has been my time with you and how to move forward with life rather than living with the fear of the past.”
“So, you thought asking why I love you would be a good place to start?”
“Yeah, I did,” the attitude rolled off Melanie and I loved it.
A smile crossed my face and I sat forward, taking the hand she’d tried to reach for me with. I rubbed my thumb over the top, softly making little circles.
“Melanie,” my voice was soft and I was ready to pour my heart out as the woman I loved sat in front of me. Unlike last time when I said it, I was sure she wouldn’t leave me in the dust. What I still wasn’t sure of those was what she was going to say once I was done. “I love you.”
I started with just those three words, letting them sink into the air around us and then continued.
“I love you because you see me for who I am, Melanie. You’ve never put up with my shit and you’ve always given me the lip I needed. Our imperfections and insecurities, together those make us who we are and damn, we are nearly perfect.” I leaned in closer to Melanie, placing a hand on her cheek. “When I’m with you, happiness is all I know and it’s not just you, Melanie. It’s Amelia, too.”
Melanie placed a hand over her mouth, tears now streaming down her face.
“I love how you are with her and how you two are together. It’s like watching two friends sometimes rather than a mother and daughter. You two are almost the same person but are still yet so different.”
I pulled Melanie’s face toward me, placing my forehead against hers. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, ready to lay the last bit on the line not just for myself but for this relationship.
“I’ve loved you since the moment I met you. Even when I knew I wasn’t supposed to love you. Now that I can tell you and show you, I’m going to scream it from the roof tops like I should have done five years ago.”
“Jack,” Melanie’s voice cracked when she said my name.
“Melanie.”
“You can’t say all of that at once.”
“Isn’t that what your therapist wanted?” I laughed saying the question.
“It is but I didn’t think it’d make me feel like this, Jack.”
“Like what?”
