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Melody
She lets herself into Graham's house to use his charger. Her phone had shut off somewhere between her bathroom workout with Graham and finding her car keyed, probably from the secretary girl.
Poor girl, she feels bad for her. She was desperately trying to find affection, but she was going about it the wrong way.
Her phone boots up. Dings begin to come up quickly. Too many dings.
She rushes over to her phone, trying to find the source of the issues. Did something happen with Ollie?
Nope, all the messages and missed calls were from Duke. She was putting off having this conversation with him until she had a job in place. She knows he won't be happy, and judging by the sheer volume of messages, the school must have called him to let him know she wouldn't be back.
She pulls up Duke’s contact and clicks the call button. Taking a deep breath. This was not going to be an easy conversation.
“Melody! Thank God. Are you ok?” He asks, his voice rushed. She can hear a lot going on in the background.
“Hey, Duke, yeah, I’m alright, my phone died. What’s up?” She tries for nonchalant and calm.
“You weren't going to tell me, were you?” He says, defeated. “You guys were just going to leave and not tell me?” His voice is so anguished. She knew she should have said something sooner, but he would have just tried to talk her out of it.
“Listen, I can't talk now, but my plane is landing in three hours. It will probably be late, so I will meet you and Ollie for breakfast tomorrow, okay? This is a conversation we need to have in person, a decision we need to make together. You can't just take Ollie away from me, Melody. He needs me just as much as I need him.” His voice cracks on the end of the phone.
“Wait, Duke, you’re coming here?”
“Yes, but I have to go now, okay.”
“Shit, ok, I'll call you tomorrow. Have a safe trip.” She ends the call before he can lay more guilt at her feet.
Fuckkkkkk. She and Graham can’t ever catch a break, can they?
She knows she fucked up. Duke had been so good to them for years. A person she could rely on. They may not be romantically involved, but their friendship was solid. It was domestic.
Duke was on Ollie’s emergency contacts, he picked him up from daycare when she couldn’t. They shared drop-off duties. How could she do that to him? Of course, Ollie means something to Duke.
God, she was a terrible person. Selfish. Her and her damn secrets.
It's already dark by the time Graham gets home. He parks the car in the garage, probably so she can't see it. She sits on his front porch, just watching him move.
She can't believe someone keyed her car.
What started off as a great day, kind of ended, rough.
He pulls out some pizzas from the back of her car, spotting her sitting on the porch swing. He sets the pizzas down and focuses his attention on her.
“You okay, beautiful?” He asks her.
She shakes her head. “Not really.”
“If you’re worried about your car. Don't be. I'll take care of it.” She smiles then.
“How will you take care of it? Do you moonlight as an auto repair technician?” She reaches out to brush the tips of her fingers over his jaw, and he leans into her touch eagerly.
“No, but I do know a guy.” She laughs then.
“Oh, you know a guy, do you, huh?” She sighs deeply. “No, it’s not about the car. That can be fixed. We have another problem.” She looks up at him apprehensively.
“Any problem we have, we can solve it together.” He says confidently. “So lay it on me. What's this problem that we have?”
“Duke.” She blurts out. God, what is Graham going to think?
