I laughed out loud at the sight.
My mother wasn’t a neat freak by any means, she only started to clean if she was bored with nothing else to do. I needed to make a note to buy her another set of DVDs. She loved binge watching her TV shows, especially her true crimes.
It would definitely be something I was putting on the Christmas list, but for now I flung myself back on the bed, eyes shutting as my head hit the pillow.
Fully dressed, I couldn’t bring myself to care as I quickly drifted off to dreamland.
Iturned the corner of the club down a badly lit side street that led to a parking lot. It was sparse, I assumed the only ones to ever have used it were the staff. I couldn’t imagine it ever having been full due to the club's clientele - drunk men.
I circled the block three times in my car before I’d actually decided to park. It had been over a week since I’d dared to even drive along this street, let alone park and venture out of the car.
I was also completely sober, which only made the situation all the more real.
No matter how hard I’d tried over the last week, I couldn’t keep Melody from interrupting my thoughts. But the more I thought about her, the more I couldn’t stop thinking that maybe last week fate had intervened. Maybe we weren't meant to cross paths again. Considering I didn’t even know why I was there in the first place, fate might’ve had the right idea.
I stayed in my car for another ten minutes. Simply working up the nerve to actually cross the road and enter enemy territory. Honest to god, I was about to start the engine and head home when I spotted a familiar face across the street.
Just like that, I was out of my car.
I was lonely, pathetic, and at the end of my rope. I knew I had no right to walk back into the club, to walk back into her life as if nothing had happened.
But as it turned out, I didn’t care about any of that.
She was magnetic to me.
One drop of water did nothing to quench a six-year drought.
Standing out of sight next to my car, I watched closely at the commotion going down outside the entrance toWith the Melody. The doorman that I recognized from last week plus another man dressed in all black stood by Mel as she crossed her arms over her chest. I bit my cheek to hold my laugh at bay as I caught glimpses of the conversation.
Sweet, sweet little Melody was throwing someone out.
The thought alone was amusing, but having a front-row seat was the best present I’d ever been given.
I watched on as she banished the cowering, drunken mess of a man that stood in front of her. He was smart, I’d give him that at least. It didn’t take him long to stumble off down the street with his tail between his legs.
Once he was out of sight completely, I waited until Melody went back inside before approaching the bouncer. Ready for him, I handed over my ID without question. He gave a subtle nod before allowing me inside.
As I ventured further into the club, I made a beeline for the bar while scanning the room for Melody. She wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I flagged down the bartender and ordered a coke as I continued looking for her.
Definitely not in the main room, I looked off to the side for any emergency exits, signs for bathrooms, or even an office. There were two possibilities.
Drink now forgotten about, I stalked over to the closest option, an entryway with signs for restrooms above it. Upon closer inspection, it was a long corridor with several doors. The first one read ‘supply room’ while the second had a plaque stating ‘staff only’. I continued past the restrooms, if my assumption was correct, it was the door at the end that most likely held my big prize.
I froze as voices began to grow louder the further I edged down the hallway. One I recognized, Melody. The other had me intrigued, a single male voice. They weren’t quiet indoor voices either but for the life of me I couldn’t work out what they were saying.
My eyes flew down to the door handle as it rattled. There was a thud from inside before the door swung open, Melody’s voice followed, “Don’t you dare threaten me.”
What the fuck?! What had I just walked in on?
This wasn’t right and almost immediately I felt my stomach knot.
Obviously, my plan, what little I'd had, had gone awry. Instead, I ducked into the male restroom to continue eavesdropping.
I had a feeling that if Mel had caught me hiding out in the corridor it would’ve only made her current situation worse. I had time to turn and run in the other direction, leave the club entirely, they wouldn’t have seen me, but my gut told me to stay put.
Who was that, and why was he threatening Mel?
There was silence from the two, the music from the club being the only thing to touch my ears. I didn’t have to wonder what was happening for long, again Melody’s voice broke through - loud and clear, her voice strong and unwavering.
