She was dangerous. Even after all these years. I should’ve forgotten about her by then, she would have long forgotten about me. But I’d never been able to let her go.
The bartender came over and asked if I needed a refill. I wanted to say yes, but instead I shook my head and made the split decision to get out of there. I’d not yet reached my limit, but I was buzzed, and when I was buzzed, I didn’t feel in control.
I jumped in a cab out front of the bar and gave the driver my address. Usually I would’ve said to go the long way around. The thing about downtown, everything was so close to old memories. If the stadium wasn’t right in the middle of it all, I would’ve said to heck with it all and moved a million miles away.
But, instead, I didn’t say anything.
Tonight I wanted to see it. The very spot I’d tried so hard to avoid for years. But tonight, buzzed and on edge from the media circus Cheryl had caused, I wanted the torture…
It only took minutes, at that time of night the streets were quiet which only made the drive all that quicker. And there it was.
The building wasn’t anything flash, just a little darker than the others on the street. It brought back a flood of memories from the last time I’d been there, the night I walked away from her.
“Stop here.”
I hadn’t intended to stop. My alcohol soaked brain had just wanted an innocent stroll down memory lane. Of course, if I were sober I would have resisted because, well… that was just me asking for trouble. But the flashing neon sign had me retreating into myself.
How long had that been there?
With the Melody.The pink light flashed at me from where we sat parked across the street.
Cute.
My interest was immediately piqued.
I wondered…
And that was it. I threw a wad of money at the driver, way more than necessary, and pushed open the car door. The muscled guy standing at the entrance of the club asked me for I.D. and I recoiled.
Was he serious?
“Look, I know. But it’s policy.”
I huffed and pulled my wallet from my pocket. At least he sounded genuinely sympathetic. I shifted from foot to foot as he scanned over my license. For the first time in so long, I felt antsy. I knew that would only make this take longer; he was probably gonna pull out a drug test at any second.
But I didn’t have time, I needed to get inside.
There was this pull, I felt it deep within my gut. Maybe it was just the knowledge that she was here. For all I knew, beyond the heavy steel doors in front of me, there she’d stand.
So close had never felt further away.
I needed to see her. Just a glimpse.
I wouldn’t speak to her, wouldn’t go up to her, I vowed. Hell - I’d try my best to keep my presence a complete secret. I was on a stealth mission, recon only. That thought only managed to conjure up a silly image of me as James Bond as I starred in my own little movie.
Yeah, no way.
I took a deep breath and tried to clear my drunken haze, just enough so that I didn’t do anything stupid - anything that I’d wake up regretting in the morning. I entered the building and I squinted in the darkness until my eyes adjusted.
Fuck, it was dark.
It wasn’t until I moved further into the room that the place started to brighten up, enough for me to have a good look around anyway.
I’d only been here once before. My first visit hadn’t been very pleasant, so I’d never attempted a second. I knew a few guys on the team that liked to frequent the place after practice to knock back a few. The invitation had also been extended, but I’d never taken them up on it.
Only one person on the team knew the story of Melody and that was Mack Thompson, my best friend of an embarrassingly long time. Mack and I went way back to when we were in diapers. We’d stuck by each other through thick and thin, we’d gone through our share of dramas, but he was the only person I could trust with my life.
And Mack had been right by my side through the whole Melody phase of my life. He’d even helped pick up the pieces afterwards.
