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He didn’t answer, walking away before he lost his courage.
Courage. He didn’t have much to spare. But as already established, he would do anything for Melody. Kiss a random girl on stage before an audience. Pluck his best friend from the snow and do her laundry.
And, apparently, grovel before her boss.
His heart banged against his ribcage like a drum, and he felt the pulse reverberating in every inch of his body. His temples. His throat. His fingertips.
“Hello?” He stuck his head through the open door labeled “Executive Director.” A rotund woman looked up from a large desk, thick-framed glasses perched on her nose.
“Can I help you?” Her desk was piled with haphazard stacks of papers and folders, and she didn’t sound nearly as inviting as her words.
Ignoring therun run runrepeating in his head in time with his thundering heart rate, he stepped into the room with a smile and extended his hand. “TJ Halverson.”
“Oh, yes. Melody’s new lead actor.” She offered a limp hand. “Pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise. As you know, I’m here to save the play.”
“Yes.” Her voice was dry. “Since Melody can’t.”
He pushed down the defense that sprang to his tongue. It wouldn’t help any to rile the woman. “Melody’s doing the best she can, but I’m afraid I’m not much of an actor. What I am is a singer. So is June. Would it be too much trouble if I play with the script and try turning some of the lead characters’ lines into songs? It would add a unique spin to the story, which has the potential to be a crowd-pleaser. I’m a writer, so it would be no trouble.”
When her head tilted, he knew she was considering it, which was farther than Melody had ever gotten. His armpits began to prickle, but he ignored his body’s nervous reaction, forcing himself to stand still with a confident, hopeful smile while he waited.
“I suppose it couldn’t hurt to experiment,” she said thoughtfully. “Things can’t get much worse at this point than they already are. If you’re sure you can keep the script intact.”
“I’m positive. What if Melody and I work on the lyrics and music over the rest of the weekend, and you come to practice on Tuesday to see how it’s going?”
She pressed back in her chair. “I agree. Tuesday.”
His shoulders longed to sag with relief, but he held them erect and offered his hand for another shake, hoping his palm wasn’t as clammy as it felt. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
When he rounded the corner that led back down the hallway toward the practice room, he wasn’t expecting to find Melody. She threw her arms around him, rocking him back and forth in the tightest hug he’d ever received. He didn’t lift his arms, afraid if he wrapped them around her body, he would never let go.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She crooned the phrase repeatedly until she released him. “I can’t believe you did that! And she said yes!”
“Anything for you, Mel.” He tweaked her nose and kept walking. If she hugged him like that again, he was in danger of blurting out the reason he’d do anything for her. It would only take three words. And if a mere kiss had sent her retreating in high school, he didn’t want to imagine what those three words would do to their friendship now.
* * * * *
It was after eight o’clock in the evening by the time Melody got home, hungry and tired. After the rest of the actors and stagehands left, she and TJ had parked themselves at the piano in the room and reworked the script for hours. They decided on a total of five songs. That should liven the storyline and break up the spoken lines enough to take the focus off of TJ’s lackluster acting skills. Whatever he lacked in stage persona, he made up for with his glorious tenor voice.
He was a lifesaver, plain and simple. Melody hoped her emotion-frenzied hug hadn’t made him uncomfortable. With her arms wrapped about him, he felt as stiff as he looked on stage. Maybe she’d been reading him wrong lately. No lingering feelings for her after all. But definitely the best of friends.
She could live with that. In fact, she had to. They could never be more than friends.
A ping sounded from her phone. She’d been too busy the past few days to do more than say hi and bye to Jeremy and wish him a good day and sweet dreams.
Jeremy: How was your play practice today?
Melody: It started a bit rough but ended up taking a turn for the better I think. Sorry I’ve been MIA lately, this play is keeping me so busy.
Jeremy: How’s your friend doing in the role?
She had told him about TJ’s offer to fill in without going into much detail.
Melody: He’s doing his best. It’s hard but he convinced my boss to let us make it part musical, so I’m composing the music while he works the script into song lyrics.
Jeremy: Wow. That sounds like a lot of work!
