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“ullo…”

“Good morning, Ms. Jones.  Are you sleeping in?”

Melody blinked her eyes.  Whose voice was this?  ”Rafe?” 

She tried to focus on the clock, but she couldn’t make the red numbers mean anything.

“Turn on the coffee maker,” he said.  “I’ll wait.”

Melody set down the phone and stumbled from the bed.  She pushed the button on the coffee maker that she had set up the night before and listened to it start to hiss and gurgle.  She looked down at herself and realized she was naked.  That made her uncomfortable somehow, and she grabbed the sheet from the bed, wrapping it around her.  Then she picked up the phone.

“Mornin’, Rafe…”  Her voice was still groggy.  She heard him laugh.  She blinked the clock into focus.  It was 8:30.  That was late for her to wake up.  Then she remembered what she had been doing the night before.  She felt the flush start at her toes and warm her whole body on its way to her face.

“So, I heard last night’s concert went well,” said Rafe, conversationally, trying to fill in the time needed for Melody to get her coffee.  Melody gave an unintelligible grunt in response.  “The kid is really doing a great job,” he added.
“He’s not a kid,” whispered Melody.  There was a silence as Rafe digested that remark.  He was just about to speak when Melody said, “Coffee.  Be right back,” and set down the phone.  Rafe could hear her moving around.  Then he heard a tiny “aaahhh…” and he knew she had her coffee.

Everyone on the tour got a good laugh out of Mel in the morning.  Jeff and Nick and Toby did imitations of her that kept the others in stitches.  Mel was the first to admit that she wasn’t herself without coffee.  On the bus, she went from bed to bathroom to coffee maker.  She did that mostly with her eyes closed.  Any attempt to engage her in conversation was rebuffed by her holding up her palm.  Not that that ever stopped Toby, said Jeff. 

Once she got some coffee into her, she would look around, taking in who was there.  “Mornin’ Toby,” she’d say, as if she had just noticed him.

Recognition came with the first cup.  Coherent conversation came with the second.  The first cup was consumed like fuel, quickly flooding out to all parts of her, forcing her eyelids to open, giving her the power of speech.  The second cup was savored, sipped slowly as she eased herself into her day.  She’d sit on the sofa in her pajamas, usually a long t-shirt and boxers and talk quietly with whoever was up…usually Jeff and Toby.

Then she’d set down the coffee cup and pick up her guitar.  At first, she’d been reluctant to disturb them and had hunkered down in a corner, with her back to them.  If Nick was awake, which was rare, she’d head to the back of the bus.  After Jeff, and even Toby, assured her that they didn’t stop talking because she was disturbing them but because they enjoyed listening to her play, she stopped hiding, and it became part of the morning routine.   First coffee, then music.

“Got your coffee?”  Rafe was getting a little impatient.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it…”

“Well, then, I’ll start again.  Good morning, Ms. Jones.”

“Good morning, Mr. Ariando.  You’re up early.  It must be…what?...5:30 where you are.” 

Why are you calling me? wondered Melody.  She pulled a t-shirt over her head, an awkward maneuver that almost made her miss his answer.

“No, it’s 8:30 where I am.  I’m not in Los Angeles.”

“Where are you, New York?”

“No, I’m in Toronto.”

Melody’s stomach dropped.  Rafe was in Toronto?  Omigod!  What if he noticed something!  He’d kill them both if he found out.

“Mel?  Are you there?”

“Yeah, I’m here.  Just having a sip of coffee, trying to wake up.  So what are you doing in Toronto?  Come to check up on us?” 

Melody grabbed her jeans from the floor and pulled them on, not even bothering with underwear.  She had to be dressed.  Somehow, she just couldn’t do this naked.

Rafe didn’t answer for a moment.  He was busy trying to figure out why Melody was so tired at this time of morning.  He had already talked to his insider and knew that she hadn’t stayed very long at the after party, had said she was tired.

“No, nothing like that.  I just thought I’d come for a visit, that’s all.  You okay, Mel?”  There was genuine concern in his voice.  “You sound tired.  Is the tour getting you down?  Is it harder than you thought it would be?”

Melody slapped herself awake mentally and chose her words carefully.  “No…well, yes and no…I mean, of course, I didn’t really have a clue what a tour was like, did I?  Talk about leading a sheltered life in the studio!”  She laughed.  “But I’m enjoying it.  It could never be my full-time job, but I’m enjoying it.”

“It’s a bit wearing, though, isn’t it?”  Rafe hoped she’d hang in there.  He didn’t want to get another guitarist at this date.

“A little bit,” admitted Melody.  “But it’s no big deal, Rafe!  Toronto will be nice, though.  Four whole days in the same place.”  She laughed.  “I think I’ll do something ‘girly’.  Maybe even go shopping.”

Rafe laughed.  “I doubt that!  But I might be able to help you with that…the girly thing, I mean.”  Rafe went on to explain that there was a big charity fashion show happening and that he had two tickets to it.  Would she go with him?  It would be a chance to promote Nick.

Melody couldn’t see how her going to a fashion show would promote Nick.  She also couldn’t see that he needed it that much.  Toronto had sold out three shows in a matter of hours.  But she also didn’t see how she could politely refuse, and it would, after all, give her a couple of hours break from the testosterone-laden atmosphere she was living in at the moment.  So she said yes.  And then she wondered out loud what she should wear.

“Why don’t you wear the outfit you wore in Atlanta?” said Rafe.  “The loose pants and the black lace blouse.”

“Okay,” said Mel, who wanted to get off the phone and go to the bathroom.  And then get more coffee.

“That’s great,” said Rafe.  “Okay, I’ll see you guys when you get in.  I’ll leave details for you at the hotel, in case I miss you.”

He rang off, and Melody raced to the bathroom.  As she sat on the toilet, she wondered how Rafe Ariando knew what she’d worn when she went out in Atlanta.

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

“Mel…”  The word slipped from Nick’s lips, as he became conscious.  He tightened his arms around the pillow.  Then he rolled onto his back.  Mmmm… Last night had been beyond incredible. 

At first, he’d been confused.  When he got the note.  Just her room number and the word, ‘please’.  She’d slipped it into his hand, when she was leaving the after-party, telling everyone she was tired.  He’d waited for half an hour…opening and closing the note, afraid that the writing would have disappeared.

And then…

Nick stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom.  He relieved himself and then reached for his toothbrush.  He grinned at himself in the mirror.  And then… 

Nick had no idea what had made Mel change her mind.  And he didn’t care.  He knew that she said it was only for that one night.  He knew that she tried to make it sound like she was getting him out of her system.  But no way…uh uh…no sirree!  She had to want to do it again.  She just had to!

Nick turned on the shower and climbed in.  As he soaped his body, he relived the previous night.  Mel was so little, he was afraid he would hurt her.  Nick looked down at himself.  He guessed he was fairly well-endowed – Tamara always told him he was the biggest man she’d ever had, but who knew if she was telling the truth – but Mel had such a small frame…she seemed fragile somehow, and Nick was afraid he’d break her. 

But he hadn’t.  She had taken all of him into her tight, perfect center and…Nick looked down again and laughed.  Good morning!  He wondered if he should take care of this himself or if he should see if Mel was awake. 

Mel!  Nick sighed, and a thrill ran through him.  He flipped the shower to cold and brought himself down to earth.  He didn’t even know what time it was.  He might even be running late.  And Tofu would be sure to say something like ‘jerking off in the shower again?’, and Nick knew that he would blush if it were true.

He dried himself off and wrapped the towel around his waist.  Back in the bedroom, he squinted at the clock.  9:00.  He had slept in a bit.  They were getting on the road early today.  Good thing he hadn’t spent more time in the shower.  The flashing red light on the phone caught his eye.  He had a message.  He pulled on some clean underwear and his jeans.  He picked up the receiver and punched in the appropriate numbers. 

A metallic sounding voice said, “You have two messages.  To hear your first message, press ‘1’ now.”  Nick hit the button.

Tamara’s voice brought him starkly down to earth.  “Hi Babe!  How was the concert?  It’s pretty late.  You must still be at the party.  I hope you’re not tiring yourself out too much.  I’ll see you tomorrow.  We need to talk.”  Her words sounded a little slurred.

The metallic voice came back.  “Time of message…1:45 a.m.”

Nick hadn’t been at the party.  He’d been with Mel.

“…to hear your next message, press ‘2’ now.”

Nick sat down on the bed.  Shit!  What did he do now? 

When he and Tamara were in Rome, she had started making noises about relationships…how everyone had to settle down some day…how, as nice as it was to have a fuck-buddy, sometimes you needed more than that.  Nick had trouble getting his head around what she was saying…either she was telling him she wanted more of a relationship, or she was telling him she wanted less.  He couldn’t figure out which.  Finally, he just asked her.  She had equivocated and said she was just thinking out loud.   And then she’d taken him to bed and confused him even further. 

During the three conversations they’d had since he’d been back in the country, she’d made reference to it once in each conversation, once saying that her mother was making grandmother-type noises, once saying that the travel was wearing her down and she didn’t know how he did it all the time, and once saying that a friend of hers was a fool for breaking up with her fiancée because, when you found a good man, you should never let him go.

And now she wanted to talk. 

Nick hit ‘2’ on the phone pad.

“Me again,” said Tamara’s voice.  “It’s…um…let me see…8:45 in the morning.  You are either in the shower or not home from the party yet.  In which case, you will look like shit, and Rafe will kick your ass.  I saw him, by the way.  He’s here in Toronto.  Anyway, I’ll see you tonight.  I’ve got that charity thing…yeah, yeah, I know you don’t want to go…but we can have dinner after.  Okay?”

Nick heard a click and then “Time of message: 8:46 a.m.  End of messages.” 

Nick stared at the phone.  Rafe was in Toronto?  Was Nick supposed to know that?  He didn’t think so.  Nick sighed.  Whenever Rafe showed up, trouble wasn’t far behind.  Trouble for Nick! 

He thought about Mel again.  There was no way he wanted Rafe finding out about that.  It was none of Rafe’s goddamn business, but…  He recalled Rashad’s advice from the bus, “Just don’t let Rafe find out.”

He pulled on a shirt and some socks, and when Toby knocked on the door a few minutes later, he was ready.  Ready to go to breakfast…in the hotel dining room…with the band…with Mel.