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“Well, gee, I don’t know,” said Nick, ingenuously. 

He was sitting on the set of Good Morning Denver.  He had two and a half minutes, and he intended to make the most of them.

The reporter insisted that Nick must have some idea of who he would take to the Grammys.

“Well, we’ve been so busy.  We’re on tour…the Grammys…you know, that’s…gee...I don’t know…what about the band?  I could take the band.”  A look of wondrous surprise crossed his face.

The reporter looked confused.

“We’re going to be there anyway.  We’re performing.  Alias Me.” 

Nick looked so shy when he said it…the song title.  He bowed his head and shrugged.  The reporter fell in love and also fell into his trap.  She talked about the nominations and Nick grew even more modest.  He mentioned REM and said how much he loved their album. 

Then she came back to it.  “But how could you take the whole band?” she asked.  “I think they only give you two seats.”

”Oh,” said Nick, as if this was news to him.  “Well, maybe they could take turns.  They’ll all be backstage.”

“Why don’t you just take Melody Jones?” asked the reporter.  “I mean, she’s the only girl in your band, right?” 

Nick brightened.  “You know that’s a really good idea…Rita.”  He had to stretch his brain to recall her name.  “I wonder if she would go with me.”

Rita laughed good-naturedly.  She looked at the camera.  “Well, if she won’t, I can get you the names of several thousand Denver residents who would be happy to, starting with me.”

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

Nobody would go near Mel.

She was beyond pissed. 

Nick had maneuvered her into a corner.  She couldn’t say ‘no’ now.  Not only had Nick pulled the stunt on the Denver TV show, but he had insinuated it into two radio interviews three days apart.  He was getting very good at this interview stuff!  So good that Rafe had called and told Mel that she had to go with him.

“What’s up with that?”   Mel paced up and down the bus.  It wasn’t a very long distance, but she didn’t have very long legs.

Nick was very pleased with himself.  He had managed to get Rafe to order Mel to go with him to the Grammys.  He tried not to smirk with satisfaction.  He figured Mel would tear his head off if he did.

“I didn’t know he was going to do that,” said Nick, all wide-eyed innocence.  “I just told him that it was going to be a very stressful night and I didn’t want to go with someone that needed attention, that I had to be charming to.  I wanted to go with someone who would understand my nervousness and not be upset by it.  I suggested Rashad.”

He had too.  Nick knew Rafe well enough not to suggest Mel first thing.  The mental picture of him and Rashad together in the front row was the most incongruous one he could think of.  He gave Rafe a moment to picture it and then added, “Or maybe one of the other guys.”  Mel was one of the guys, after all.

Rafe suggested Mel.  Nick turned him down.  “She won’t want to do it.  You know how she is about things like that.”

“But would you want her to?” asked Rafe. 

Nick pretended to give it some thought.  “Well, yeah, I guess.  She knows me well enough.  She wouldn’t get all bent out of shape when I had to go and perform, because she’d be going too.”  Nick gave a hearty laugh.

Rafe thought it over.  It seemed like a good idea.  Mel cleaned up okay.  “I’ll get started on the dress,” he said.

“Whoa, slow down,” said Nick.  “I’m not even sure she’ll do it.  But, you know, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me…it would be like not even having anyone there, if you know what I mean.  Not an extra pressure.”

Rafe knew what he meant.  “Don’t worry about it, Nick.  She’ll be there.”

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

The dress.

Nick thought if he wasn’t careful, he was going to lose Mel…over a dress.  The simple fact was that she didn’t want to wear one…at least, not the ones that were being suggested by Rafe.

“Look,” she said.  “I’m performing.  It’s no big deal for you to take off your tux or suit or whatever and throw on your jeans and t-shirt to perform.  If I’m strapped into some designer rig that took four people to get me into it, how am I going to get out of it to perform and then get back into it?”

Nick didn’t know the answer to that.  He passed the question on to Gus.  Gus admitted that it was a dilemma, along with makeup and hair.  If they went too fancy with either, Mel wouldn’t look right when they performed.

“Find out when we’re performing,” Nick told Rafe in what was becoming almost a daily phone call to discuss the dress.  “Maybe she can just stay backstage after we’re done.”

Rafe came back with the news that they would be the second-last group to perform.  REM would be last. 

Nick laughed.  “That tells us all we need to know, doesn’t it?”

Rafe agreed that the producers of the show had obviously decided who was going to win big.  He also insisted that Mel had to change back into the dress and be in the audience with Nick when the awards were announced.  Nick couldn’t be alone.  It would look pathetic.  And then Rafe reminded him for the four hundredth time that Nick would be on camera constantly and he should watch what he said and did.

Rafe faxed sketches of dresses to Mel.  At each stop on the tour, there would be a fax for Toby at the hotel.  Toby began to fear for his life, when he saw some of the drawings.  He knew that to use the words ‘double-sided tape’ in Mel’s presence would be tantamount to an act of suicide. 

Gus, on the other hand, was having the time of his life.  He spent all his free time shopping.  He was determined to be the one.  The one to find the dress.  It had to be dignified but not old-lady-like.  It had to be simple but elegant.  It had to be easy to get in and out of.  It had to be comfortable.  It had to make her look taller or, at least, not shorter.  It had to show off her breasts.  This last criterion was one Gus had added on.  The rest were Mel’s.

Gus was on a mission.  He got Toby to get a price limit from Rafe and knew he could come in way under it.  He prowled the bridal salons and specialty shops.  He visited boutiques and department stores.  He came close a couple of times.  He found one dress that was perfect, except it had a fringe of feathers on it.  Gus knew better than to show Mel anything with feathers.

And then he found it.  He was so sure that Mel would go for it that he bought it.  It would be easy to get in and out of, and it was simple, so they didn’t have to overdo the hair or jewelry. 

Mel was so sick of the discussion that she didn’t even want to look at the dress.

“Just try it on, “ said Nick.  “You know you have to pick one eventually.  Gus has never let you down before.”

Mel glared at him but acquiesced when he held up the latest fax from Rafe.  Each dress seemed to have less and less material in it.  Mel figured if she kept holding out, she would eventually get her wish not to wear a dress.  She would be wearing a belt.

She disappeared into the bedroom of the suite.  Gus had hung the dress on a hook on the bathroom door.  She tried it on and looked at herself in the mirror.  Then she yelled out, “Get in here, Gus!”

“Yes, Mel,” said a suddenly timid Gus from the doorway.

“Zip me,” she commanded.

He approached her with caution and zipped the dress up the back.  Mel turned around and looked at him.  He beamed at her.  She looked great.  “See I figure we’ll do your hair sort of funky and spiky.  Not too much, ‘cause it’s longer now…unless you want to cut it.”

“No,” replied Mel.  “Nick likes it longer.  And I don’t want to change myself too much.  It’s bad enough I’ll be…” and she motioned down at the dress.

The dress was a simple sheathe – navy satin, strapless, form-fitting, with a slit up one side.  It showcased her shape beautifully.  She would fit in with the crowd but she wouldn’t stand out.

“Come on,” yelled Nick from the other room.  “What are you two doing in there?”

Mel took a deep breath and walked into the other room.  She twirled around and said, “Well?”

Toby smiled.  He nodded at her.  “You look good,” he said. 

She looked over at Nick.  He was smiling too.  “It looks great.  What do you think?  Do you like it?”

Mel nodded.  Yeah, she did.  The three men breathed a sigh of relief.

“What about jewelry?” asked Nick.

“Leave it to me,” said Gus, and they all nodded, including Mel. 

“I’ll just get out of this then,” said Mel.  “Someone needs to help me with the zipper.”

“I’ll take care of that,” said Nick, standing up.

“Well, we’ll just be running along then,” said Toby, and he and Gus sprinted for the door.  They went to their room next door and spent an hour having a great time planning the next phase of Project Mel.

Nick helped Melody remove the dress slowly and carefully.  And then she removed his clothes equally slowly and carefully.