Melinda

The stars twinkled down on the dark street below. Melinda watched out her window as a young man and his dog trudged against the biting cold. She almost wished she was out there, despite the below freezing temperatures. It would be better than sitting in the stuffy three-room apartment. However, Melinda’s mother had told her, under no circumstances, was she allowed to leave their home. They had company.

Or rather, her mother had her boyfriend's family to dinner. Melinda had been quietly shoved into her room after dinner, and was being forced to listen to the subdued chatter and occasional stiff laughter. With a sigh, Melinda plopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Her mother hadn't even allowed her the laptop in her room, and it was only eight. Did her mother actually expect her to fall asleep? Melinda sighed once more and dazed off, finding solace in the growing world inside her head.

"Well, Selena, it's been a pleasant evening. Thank you for inviting us over."

Melinda perked up. She rarely heard anyone address her mother as Selena anymore. Most called her Kristy, as she preferred going by her middle name.

Melinda waited until she heard the front door close and the locks slide before she cracked her door open to peer out. After a moment more of silence, she stuck her head out of the door. She was rewarded with the sight of her mother and her boyfriend stuck to each other's faces against the door. Melinda rolled her eyes, but waited for them to finish.

"Kristy, I better go down, they're probably waiting for me, and the bathroom excuse won't hold for long." the boyfriend pulled away.
"Yeah," her mother smiled. "Call me tomorrow?"
"Of course."

The boyfriend was gone before Melinda could blink again. Assured that there were no more guests, Melinda pushed the door all the way open.

"Next time I'm taking the laptop."
"Jeez, Melinda." her mother clutched at her chest, "I thought you were asleep."
"It's only nine mom, and I'm 17. Which reminds me, I don't appreciate being locked away in my room."
"I'm sorry, honey, I just really wanted to make a good impression on his parents."
"Mom, you're 35, he's 38, I don't think his parents really have such a large roll in your lives anymore."

Kristy made a face at her daughter. Melinda rolled her eyes.

"I'm taking the car, and going out, Mom."
"Melinda..."
"Mom, you just locked me in my room for over an hour. I'm pissed and the neighbors complain. Let me take the car."

Kristy sighed but handed her daughter the keys to their car.

"Thank you."
"Try to be home before one, please?"

But Melinda was already out the door.

Melinda leaned against the back of the elevator and counted her breaths, trying to calm herself. Every time, every freaking time, her mother had some juvenile thing with other people, Melinda would end up being caged in her room like a child. She was a senior in High School for God's sake.

"Basement." announced the voice in the elevator.

The doors slid open onto the parking garage. Despite the chills she got from the dimly lit area, Melinda refused to be deterred. With quick strides she found the car, slid in, and was out before she could actually think about what might be lurking around in the dark. The downside to her hyperactive imagination, despite being able to save her from insanity, was seeing something lurking in every corner.

Once on the open side streets, Melinda drew in a deep breath, and tried to mentally exhale all the problems she had with her mother. Trying to further distract herself, she pushed in whatever CD she could grab. It happened to be Rufus Wainwright, just the ticket. Melinda could feel the stress in her muscles slowly easing themselves. Out of nowhere, an absurdly loud beeping screamed out of her purse. Melinda jumped in her seat, then scrambled for her cell phone.

"Hello?"
"Mel! Where the hell are you?"
"Hey Cynthia." Melinda relaxed again, "Sorry, my mom's boyfriend's family..."
"Too many words already." Cynthia cut in, "Are you on your way, or what?"
"Yeah, I'm on my way. I'm gonna have to do a quick change though."
"But you've got it in the trunk still, yeah?"
"Of course." Melinda scoffed, "Who do you think I am, Sarah?"

Cynthia laughed, and after Melinda assured her twice more that she would be there in under an hour, she finally hung up. Melinda smiled to herself, imagining Cynthia hiding in a corner of the club trying to avoid all of the boys, just to make sure Melinda would come to save her soon. Laughing at the thought, she turned up the volume and turned onto the freeway.

~

Melinda swung her car into the last spot in the parking lot, then jumped into her backseat to change. After a moment of frenzied searching, she found her bag of clubbing clothes with a sigh of heartfelt relief. Making sure no one was around, Melinda pulled off her shirt and tied on the halter-top, then shimmied the skirt over her pants before taking them off. Biting her lip, she twisted herself around so that she could slip her feet into the sandals. Satisfied, she grinned, grabbed her purse, threw on her coat and stepped out of the car. She did a last minute check in her car window, and after a quick pat down of her hair, she was ready.

Melinda walked against the biting wind, hugging her coat against her body, trying vainly to find the warmth she'd had in her car. The guard at the door smiled a greeting to her and let her in without question, much to the dismay of the line formed beyond the rope. Melinda stood for a moment just inside the door, relishing the warmth.

"Mel! Thank god!" Cynthia ran to her.
"Hey Cyn."
"Come on, let's get that coat off, I can't handle all of them by myself."

Melinda laughed as her friend dragged her over to the coat check. After handing her coat off to Terry, the coat check boy, the two girls wound through the hallway to the dance floor. As soon as they stepped onto the floor, they were surrounded. Melinda felt a rush of self-confidence. She hadn't been sure about the choice she'd made with the outfit, but the reaction seemed nice enough to suit her.

"Come on, Cyn. Let's dance."

~

Darcy saw her come in. And he was entranced. He'd never seen a more beautiful young woman before, and he'd seen plenty. She had come in with the tasty little blonde who had been hovering around trying to avoid the mob of boys chasing after her. But this new girl, oh, she was something else. The simplicity of her halter-top and short skirt was lost in the way they clung to her form. And now she and her friend were enticing all the boys to a peak with the way they were dancing.

"Hey, dude, could I get a drink, I'm dying here."

Darcy snapped to attention and turned to the boy on the other side of the bar.

"What'll it be?"
"White Russian."
"ID, please."
"Coke." the boy sulked against the counter.

Darcy smirked and filled up a glass with Coke.

"1 buck."
"Thanks man." the boy handed him the dollar and walked off to join his buddies.

~

"They have a different bar-tender on duty tonight." Cynthia shouted over the music.
"Really?" Melinda shot a glance over at the bar. "He looks tasty from here."
"I dunno, Mel. He doesn't know what you're like, he might not understand."
"Only one way to find out." Melinda sent her friend a wink, and wound her way out of the pulsating crowd of bodies towards the bar. She paused on the fringes of the crowd and watched the man mix a couple of drinks for some of the college kids. Seeing him finish, she sauntered over and caught his eye. "Hey."
"What can I get you?" He smiled. "And don't try for the alcohol."
"Ew!" Melinda gagged. "Alcohol is gross. No, I just want some water. As it's free."
"Easy enough." he filled a glass and handed it over.
"Are you new here?" Melinda asked after taking a swig of re-hydration.
"Yea, I'm actually just filling in for Mikey. I work at a real bar usually."
"That's awesome."
"Thought you didn't like alcohol." he grinned and took her glass to refill it.
"I don't, but mixing drinks is fun as hell." she smiled and took the full glass. "I'm Melinda by the way."
"Darcy." Melinda raised an eyebrow. "My mother is a huge Jane Austin fan."

Melinda laughed. Darcy smiled, enjoying the sound. Melinda grinned, and studied him.

"So, are you in college then?"

~

Cynthia spotted Melinda as she waved at the bartender on her way back to the dance floor. Somehow, Cynthia knew that Melinda hadn't gotten quite what she wanted.

"He's in Grad School." Melinda sidled up next to her.
"Whoa," Cynthia gasped.
"He's 22, and he's in Grad School." Melinda sighed. "My mother would shoot me. It'd be like the same scenario as she and my Dad."
"But he seemed interested?"
"Yeah, until he found out I'm 17. Damn it all to hell."
"Sorry, Mel. Maybe in a few years?"
"Let's just dance," Melinda laughed, "In a few years I may not be able to."

~

Darcy ended up filling in for Mikey quite a bit. Somehow or other, Mikey had gotten on the bad side of a police officer and he was running in and out of jail on false charges. Darcy, didn't mind the second job. The tips were amazing, and Melinda and Cynthia swung by a lot so he was kept amused.

So used to seeing the two girls arrive by themselves, Darcy was shocked to see the duo accompanied by a young man on Melinda's arm. Melinda gestured her two companions away and strode toward Darcy.

"His name is Sam." she said, plopping onto a stool. "And I'm dumping him tonight. Does it seem mean that I'm trying to get him to fall for Cyn before I break the news?"
"Whoa there!" Darcy grinned, cleaning a glass, "Let me absorb all of that."
"Sorry." Melinda gave him her most innocent smile.
"Now then, dear Mel. If he falls for Cynthia, I don't see any harm in it. But if you bring him here only to break up with him, that is a little cruel. You bring him to a club representing seduction and sex in general and you expect him to not be upset?"

Melinda looked away for a second, out onto the floor. When she turned around she had a malicious looking smirk. Darcy lifted an eyebrow then followed where her gaze had landed. Mel's Sam was all over Cynthia, and the girl did not seem to object in the slightest, she even winked over at Darcy when he caught her eye. Darcy looked back to Mel.

"I applaud your match-making." Darcy bowed his head.
"I do have a knack for it, but now I must go out there and dance." Mel slid seductively off the stool, nabbing a few more looks.
"Have fun, Mel. And don't be too wild." Melinda gave him her best portrayal of a puppy-dog's face. "Go!"

Darcy watched as Melinda blew him a kiss and sauntered onto the floor. He rolled his eyes, wondering how long it would be before she would find a way to win him over also. But he was happy with his girlfriend, Iris. She was the one who had convinced him to get his first degree in Design. Grad school for Business Marketing would have been killing him if it hadn't been for his creativity. He'd been trying to convince Iris to come to the club for a while, but she had no interest. School had claimed her soul as of late, and he couldn't find a way to break through. Even when they cuddled up after sex, she was almost unreachable now. Darcy looked up and saw Melinda giving him a worried look. He fixed her with a smile and waived. Melinda pursed her lips but turned back to the crush of boys around her.

~

Sam took the news surprisingly well, Mel thought to herself, as Cynthia and Sam found themselves a corner to hide in. She supposed he saw it coming and took advantage of the situation. Melinda ignored the pang of loneliness and let the music wash over her. The silky smooth guitar sliding over the pounding bass of the beat vibrated across her skin, leaving behind the feeling of an ant crawling on her. She loved it. Throwing her head back, she laughed and let herself fly into the music, ignoring all that life was throwing at her.

Yet, even as she danced, she remembered the latest of the drama traumas at her home. Her mother's last boyfriend had broken up with her two weeks ago and still Kristy couldn't function. Melinda's dad, Donovan, had called the night before. Melinda, fortunately, had answered the phone. Her dad had talked about coming to visit in the next month, but his plans were changing; he wanted to know if Melinda and her mother would be free in two weeks for dinner and a movie. Melinda had agreed to the plan, but had asked her father to call her cell phone in two days to see if she'd gotten through to her mother.

Melinda jumped as a pair of hands found their way onto her hips. She turned around to smack the boy, but found herself trapped in a pair of Sapphire Blue eyes instead. It took her a moment to remember to breath, and when she did, it was ragged and harsh. The man who owned the entrancing eyes smiled gently.

"The name's Jake."
"Melinda."

~~

"I'm so proud of you Melinda!" Kristy flung her arms around her daughter. "I can't believe my baby has graduated from college!"
"Thanks, Mom."
"Congratulations, Melinda."
"I'm glad you could make it, Dad! I though you were gonna be out of the country?"
"I couldn't miss this, and your mother said, she would cancel the wedding if I didn't at least try to pull some more strings."

Kristy punched him, and he laughed. Melinda smiled happily at the two.

"Donovan, you will not use me as your excuse." she turned to her daughter. "I merely told your father that if he didn't at least try to find some way to be here, I was sure you'd be very upset, and so would I."
"Anyway, where's this infamous Jake I keep hearing about."

Melinda's green eyes grew dark.

"We had a parting of the ways, so to speak." Melinda ground her teeth at the thought of the boy. "He saw things one way, I saw a book being slammed into the side of his head."
"Oh my." Kristy pulled her daughter into a hug. "I hope it wasn't that beautifully leather-bound book I gave you, I'd hate to see it damaged."
"No, it was just a dictionary."

Donovan's eyes widened. "You two are scary."

The two women laughed, then Melinda excused herself to mingle among her fellow students.

~

"Cynthia!" Melinda flew to the other woman. "I'm so glad you could make it!"
"Mel, you found a way to make it to mine, I had to return the favor. And I brought a party favor."
"Hey, Mel."
"Darcy?!" Melinda threw her arms around the man. "Jeez, it's been ages!"
"Yeah, but here I am, and you're trying to strangle me."
"Sorry. How's the bar business coming along."
"Well, Cyn here's an amazing bar-tender, but I'm running a little short-handed."
"Is that a job offer I hear?" Melinda flung an arm around both of her two old friends. "Come, we will walk and talk."

~

Melinda walked into the bar and stopped. She hadn't been for two years, and the place was completely different. Darcy had found an amazing decorator, and it felt as though she had walked into a bar of the future. All the tough surfaces were either stainless steel, or dark wood, and everything else was Technicolor. They'd even gotten new bottles for the mixing drinks, they were all sorts of wacky shapes and colors.

"Hey there, stranger." Cynthia waved from behind the bar.
"This place is amazing!"
"Yeah, Darcy designed it all himself, his design degree really paid off."
"Whoa, I completely forgot about that. He's my new hero."
"Good to hear." Darcy sauntered in, and swung onto a barstool. "So what's the deal with the job?"
"I may only be working here until I find a job better suited to my major."
"You're 23, you've got time."

Cynthia threw the towel she was cleaning with at him. Melinda giggled.

"He's trying to make you sign the same damn contract I agreed to." Cynthia snatched her towel back.
"What can I say," Darcy shrugged innocently, "I could have been a lawyer."

The two women swatted the back of his head. Darcy laughed, rubbing the sore spot.


“So business is booming then?” Melinda asked, sliding onto a barstool.
“Business is great. Somehow I struck onto the newest fad of bars. Lucky break, I suppose.”
“Or a well researched maneuver.” Cynthia smirked at him.
“Hmm, I sense some sexual tension here.” Melinda raised an eyebrow at the two.

Darcy and Cynthia looked at each other bewildered by what Melinda was suggesting. For a second the looked from one another back to Melinda, until they cracked. Melinda waited patiently for the laughing to stop.

“Good to know that I can still read these things correctly.” Mel said as they finished.
“I’m sorry?” Cyn shot her a dirty look. “What the hell gave you the idea in the first place.”
“The flirting.”
“Mel,” Darcy looked at her seriously, “all of us flirt with everything that moves. You know that.”

Mel kept her mouth shut. Darcy and Cynthia looked at each other again. Cynthia sighed and looked back to Melinda.

“Fine.” She succumbed, “we had a fling. But nothing more, last year for about 4 months or so.”
“Sounds significantly more than a fling.”

Darcy sighed and stood up. Saying that he didn’t want to hear what was about to come out of Cynthia’s mouth, he left the two alone.

“Spill.” Melinda fixed her gaze on Cynthia.
“We went our separate ways on rather bad terms. I’d wanted to continue the relationship, but he said something about not wanting to be in a relationship unless he was sure that we would last. When I asked him why we wouldn’t, he said it was because ‘I fell in love with someone once, and it didn’t feel like this.’.”
“Did he say what he felt like with you?” Mel watched her friend struggle to keep calm
“He said we felt like a fling. Something you do for the fun of it, and later regret because it was just so stupid to do in the first place.”

Melinda stood up and embraced her friend. Cynthia relished the feeling of the arms surrounding her, feeling almost safe.

“I suppose the least I can say is I’m glad he was honest instead of leading me on.” Cynthia said as Melinda pulled away.