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They stood in the dark for a couple more minutes, their ears straining to hear any sounds  There were none.  

Melody sighed.  “Well, if all we can do is sit it out, then that’s what I’m going to do…sit.”

“Good idea,” said Nick.  “Where are you?  Put out your hands.”

They groped together through the dark until their hands found each other.  They sank to the floor side-by-side against the back wall of the elevator.  They let go of each other’s hand, but Melody rested her leg against Nick’s, needing the contact.  He needed it too and didn’t move away.

“I wish I had my guitar,” said Melody.

“This would be a great opportunity for a lesson,” said Nick, “except for the total darkness thing we’ve got going on here.”

For the next twenty minutes, they talked about music.  Melody reassured Nick that he knew how to play the guitar already, he just needed some practice and polish.  They talked about artists and groups they liked and their musical influences.

Melody shifted uncomfortably.  “Okay, my bony butt isn’t enjoying this.  And you know what…I don’t know why I’m sitting on this hard floor when I’ve got a nice comfy chair right next to me here.”

“What do you mean?” asked Nick.

“Spread your legs,” said Melody.

Nick complied and Melody felt her way carefully until she was sitting sideways between them.  She put her legs over his right one and told him to bend his left one.  This gave her a back rest.

“There!  Much better!” she said.  “Let me know when your leg gets tired, and I’ll switch around.”

“When do I get my turn?” asked Nick.

“Oh, just take one for the team,” laughed Melody.  “Besides, I don’t think I’d be all that comfortable.”

“Yeah, you don’t have all this padding that I do,” he said.  Melody could feel his hand move down to pat his mid-section.

They spent the next fifteen minutes talking about exercise and working out. 

Then Nick shifted his leg. “Okay, switch,” he said.

Melody carefully shifted around so that she was facing the other direction.  Nick stretched out his left leg and bounced it a couple of times to get the kinks out.  Then he raised his right knee for her to lean back on.  They sat in silence for a few minutes, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. 

After a bit, Melody asked him about the fans.  Was he ever nervous or scared?  Nick talked about his experiences.  Underlying it was a sense of disbelief that, even after all these years, he really couldn’t understand why people would be so desperate to see him or touch him.

“What’s the weirdest thing that a fan has ever done?” she wanted to know.

“Well, I’ve never seen it, but the rumor has been out there for years that there’s a girl in California who gets all the same tattoos as AJ.”

“Oh, my,” said Melody.

“Yes, indeed,” replied Nick.  “That’s kind of weird, but since a picture of her has never shown up, it kinda makes us think it’s not really true, just one of those – what do you call them…?”

“Urban legends?”

“Yeah.  Like that.”

“What tattoos do you have?” asked Melody.  She’d seen the ones on his arms.  She was surprised to learn that he had them on his back, chest and leg as well.

“What about you?  Got any?” Nick wondered.

“No,” said Melody.  “My mother won’t let me.”

“What?”  Nick laughed.

“Hey, don’t laugh,” said Melody.  “That’s what got me out of college.”

She explained how her mother had six kinds of conniptions when Melody announced that she was not going to college but instead would be pursuing a career as a full-time rock musician.  Even Melody’s dad wanted to draw the line at this.  Surely, she could do both.  Melody brought Stevie Ray in to explain that she would have no trouble working full-time.  Artists and producers were already clamoring for her.

“She’s only eighteen,” protested her mother.

“Why don’t you come and see her work?” Stevie Ray suggested.

Now it was Melody’s turn to protest.  She’d never live it down, she said.  Mel brought her mommy and daddy to work.

Trust me, said Stevie Ray.  He set up a session with the help of a producer and some friends.  He explained what they were doing and why.  All the guys agreed to do it and to keep it a secret.  ‘Make it real, and keep it clean’ was the watchword for the day.

So Hank and Elizabeth were given a tour of the studio, ending in the booth from which they could see their baby girl doing what she loved to do most.

“And all my mother could see were the tattoos,” Melody said to Nick.  “That’s all she talked about on the way home. ‘Next thing we know, you’ll come home with one of those tattoos’, ‘which one was that – the guy with the rose tattoo or the snake?’”  Melody sighed.  “Finally, I said – Mom, I’m not going to get a tattoo.  And that was part of the compromise we reached – they would let me have a year to ‘do this music thing’ and at the end we’d discuss it again.  But that I would never get a tattoo.”

“And you never did?”

“No.  It wasn’t a big deal.  I don’t really want one.  But my mom still brings it up.”  Melody laughed.  “When I said I was going on tour with you, the first thing my mom said was – no tattoos!”

Suddenly, they heard Jeff’s voice faintly.

“Yeah, I hear you,” shouted Nick, making Melody jump.  He pulled her into his arms and leaned her head against his chest to muffle the sound.  She covered her ear with her hand and he placed his hand over hers.

A couple of shouted bits revealed that the workmen had arrived, that there might be some clanking and banging, but that they would soon be out.  When Nick stopped shouting, he removed his hand from Melody’s head, but he kept his other arm around her, holding her against his  chest.  He lowered his right leg.  Melody stayed where she was.

“I thought you were going to warn me before you yelled again,” she said.

“Oh yeah, right!  Sorry about that!”

Melody moved her face.  Something was poking her.  “What’s that?” she said, moving her hand up to his chest and outlining the foreign object with her index finger.

“It’s…um…it’s a…a nipple ring,” he said.

“Ow!” said Melody.  “Bet that hurt!”

“Yeah,” admitted Nick.  “Do you have any piercings?”

“Not even my ears,” said Melody.  “And that’s not my mother’s doing either.  It’s just me.”  She paused, then continued.  “But I hear it only hurts for a minute or so.  Is that true?”

“Yeah, they really, really hurt, but only for awhile.”

“They?”  Melody moved her hand across his chest.  She felt the second ring and moved her fingers over it.  “Why?” she asked simply.

“Oh, I was just in a mood to do something crazy, and I’d heard that it was very stimulating…you know…sexually.”

Melody could feel his nipple hardening under her fingers.  She tugged lightly on the ring with her fingernail.  “And is it?”

“Yes,” said Nick, and he felt her hand disappear into the darkness.

They sat in silence again, both trying to sort out their jumbled thought processes.  And then they both went to speak at once.  It was completely accidental.  Melody leaned her head back to say something at the same time that Nick leaned forward.  Their mouths came together.

They kissed each other softly, reveling in the other’s touch, even though they both knew they shouldn’t be doing this.  And they both knew they would have to deal with this when they stopped. 

And they didn’t want to deal with it. 

So it just seemed simpler to keep kissing.

They didn’t make any sound, but in the recesses of their mind, they were aware of the sounds of the workmen.  They knew in a vague way that rescue was at hand, but mostly, they were conscious of the feel of each other’s lips.

They were both just reaching the point where they thought they really ought to stop when simultaneously they opened their mouths.

And now there were sounds…because it was so hot and so wet, and it thrilled both of them to the core.  They couldn’t resist moaning.  It went on for a long time, because they really, really didn’t want to deal with this.  They only stopped when Jeff’s distant voice cut through the haze of passion.

“Just another minute or so.”

Their mouths finally broke apart.  Nick held Melody’s head against his chest as they both panted and tried to regain their equilibrium.  They didn’t say a word, and both silently blessed the darkness.  One thing at a time.

Melody could feel Nick’s hardness against her hip.  She shifted slightly away.  He relaxed his arms, but just as she was moving away, there was a resounding thud, and the elevator car dropped a few inches and threw them back into each other’s arms, holding each other in fear.

Suddenly, the lights came on, and that broke them apart.  They scrambled to their feet as the fan started whirring again and the elevator climbed slowly.  Nick quickly pressed ‘2’ and seconds later, the doors opened and they came hurtling off.

They stood against opposite walls, their heads down, their hands on their thighs, breathing in the fresh air, offering silent prayers of thanks, wondering what the hell they were going to do about…

The doors of the second elevator opened, and Jeff and Toby stepped off.

“Are you okay?” they asked as one. 

Melody and Nick both nodded, but they didn’t look at each other.

Jeff and Toby exchanged a glance.  Both Nick and Melody had flushed cheeks and were breathing heavily. 

Nick caught the glance.  “It was dark,” he said.  “The lights went out, and so did the fan.  There wasn’t much air.”

“Are you okay?”  Toby wondered if they needed to be checked out by a doctor.

“I need a drink of water,” said Melody, “that’s all.”

Jeff and Toby took them to their rooms and got them some water.  The others all arrived to hear the story, but there was no tale to tell.  The elevator stopped, the lights went out, they fixed it, here we are, no harm done. 

Attempts to get further details only gleaned that they had sat on the floor and talked about stuff – mostly music.  And neither one was really interested in talking about it any more.  They just wanted to forget it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night when they were sitting around backstage waiting to go on, Tofu picked up Melody’s crossword puzzle book.

“29 down…” he said.  “…’osculate’.  What’s ‘osculate’ mean?”  He ran his finger over the filled-in squares.  “Oh, it means ‘kiss’.

“For God’s sakes, Tofu, why can’t you leave other people’s things alone?” snapped Melody, snatching the book from his hands.  She stuffed it into her bag and stormed away.

Nick went red as a beet, muttered, “I just want to check on…” and headed in the opposite direction.

The others exchanged looks. 

“Has there been some osculatin’ going on here that I don’t know about?” asked Tofu.

The others shrugged and shook their heads.  But they all thought to themselves that, if there hadn’t been yet, there was certainly going to be in the near future.  At least, that’s what they thought for the next five minutes.  That was how much time remained before Tamara Vance showed up.