Melanie - brief chapter

Melanie was stirring the sauce, and adding the basil and oregano, she was thinking about when she was a little girl, in her mother’s kitchen. Her mother would let Melanie stir in the basil and the oregano. She loved to watch the sweet, smelling sauce boil. They’d talk about their days, Melanie and her latest ? adventure at school and her mom’s hectic day at the hospital’s E.R.

A tear slid down Melanie rouge cheek, she quickly brushed it away with the backside of her soft, silky hand. Melanie turned the heat down on the ancient stove in her kitchen and glanced briefly out the window into the dim, dark night, no stars flickering tonight. As Melanie seized grated cheese and a shiny red tomato, from the crisper, so she could finish her salad she began to reminisce again, this time her thoughts took her back to only a few years ago, when she and (hubby) were first married. She was remembering when (h) walked into the kitchen where Melanie was baking a golden apple pie, the first words out of his mouth weren’t “Hi” or “Hello,” they weren’t “How was you day?” or even “I missed you.” No, (H) turned Melanie toward him, cupped his (significant sized) hand around her chin, tilted her face to his, pulled her close to his muscular body. He looked into Melanie eyes and quietly whispered the sweetest words she had ever heard. She melted as she looked into his twinkling blue-gray eyes as he had whispered “Every night I thank the Lord above for giving you to me. I can’t believe how lucky I am (to have you). I love you.

Melanie snapped back to reality as the phone rang leaving the memory instantly fading into the distant past. “Hello” she snapped irritated into the receiver. A familiar voice came on the other end, a welcoming, congenial voice. Zenda, her friend, had called to see how Melanie week was going. Her outlook perked up, it was good to hear that wonderful sound coming from the line, and how she wished she were back home staring into that angelic face. Z regaled her with news from home, the neighbors, work, city life, the humming of her old life, Melanie longed to be anywhere but where she was, she wondered why she had really come here, why she had left it all behind. They ended the call with a promise to talk again in a few days after Melanie was settled in her new place. The brief conversation produced wonderful memories for Melanie. She knew she was where she needed to be even if her sagging heart wanted to be in (name city here). She rubbed her belly as she thought of the one reason she was here tonight. She wanted this, a fresh start, a new amazing life, a loving home, in a pleasant subtle town for her soon-to-be child. They were going to make it one step at a time. (Name of town) was going to be home, her new home . . . their new home. They were going to have an astonishing life there. Melanie just knew it.

***
(Note: what time is it in this scene? 3-4 a.m. Describe it. Sounds, sights, light, dark, traffic, birds, crickets, fan) Melanie woke with a pain in her chest, heartburn again, She knew better that to eat late in the evening. Now she was going to suffer for at least an hour, but that meal had brought back wonderful memories of her beloved mother and husband. Melanie flipped the television to channel 24 and caught the last 45 minutes of a (lifetime) movie, she began to watch the beginning of another when she drifted off to sleep. He was there in her sleep, that man, the detective from the accident. Every bronzed, athletic, inch of him, he had on a light yellow polo shirt, dark tan Chinos and sandals. The yellow shirt made Detective Danes look even more striking; it was an excellent accent to his golden skin. They kissed.

***
Melanie brushed her teeth, as she was turning off the water, she realized she had had a dream last night, about him, about Detective Danes. She had only met him twice once the night of the accident, and once when he brought her billfold back to her. Both times he was wearing a suit, both times were late at night, to dark to see his brazened skin tone. Where had the yellow shirt and chinos come from she wondered.

***