I got in his face. “She showed me your little research project, and nothing has changed between us.” I wasn’t going to take the time to explain anything to the scumbag.
“She deserves better than you!” he spat out.
“That, we can agree on. However, she is mine.”
He opened his mouth, then thought about whatever he was about to say.
I dusted myself off as I took a step back.
“Stay away from Melody.”
Chapter Seventeen
Melody
When I returned home, Genesis had already gone to her job. I sent her a text I was home, then cried myself to sleep.
I knew there were explanations to what Derek had given me, but it hurt that Ben had blamed me. I couldn’t control what Derek did. He made it seem he understood, but I could see the anger in his eyes. He was angry with me. I seemed to have broken some line of trust with him, but that was far from the truth.
In the car, I was surprised when Scott asked if there was anything he could do. I spilled everything as if he could plead my case to Ben—whatever case there was. I was sure I broke some employer/employee code, but I didn’t care, and it seemed he didn’t either.
When Scott handed me his handkerchief, he made light of going after Derek for me, and I laughed at the thought. Scott was older than Ben but still very fit. I was sure Derek could outrun him, but the gesture was appreciated.
“Your young man, Mr...?” he asked.
As I gave him Derek’s full name, I laughed at how formal Scott was after my blubbering.
I was touched when he walked me to my door and thanked him for being an ear. He nodded before leaving and morphed back into the stiff driver of Mr. Schilling.
I received Ben’s text the next day, along with white roses at my door. I told him they weren’t necessary, and we were still on for the museums. He called me shortly after to hear my voice, and I needed to hear his, too.
I wasn’t in the mood to work, but I did anyway. The bills needed to be paid.
After my set at the coffee bar, I was emotionally spent and in need of my bed. I had hoped to see Ben, but he’d told me he had a late dinner meeting with Graham.
My mood turned even more sour after finding that out.
On my way out, a few people stopped me to talk. I was surprised they had seen me on YouTube. Another group of customers said they saw me on someone’s Instagram feed. I choked back my mood and spent some time talking to them. One of the suggestions I received was to engage with my followers, which had grown significantly in the last month. After a while, it was time for me to head out.
As I reached the door, I bumped into Derek.
“Hey, can I talk to you?”
“Derek, again it’s not a good idea,” I said, brushing past him.
“I received a visit from your boyfriend last night.”
I swung around to face him. “You saw Ben?” My heart pounded against my chest.
“He came to my home! Did you tell him where I lived?”
“How could I tell him where you live? I don’t know or care.” I turned around to leave, but he grabbed my arm. I tried to wiggle out of his grip, but he shoved me against the wall.
“Let go of me, now, Derek, or I will scream.”
He released his grip, shaking his head and mumbling to himself.
“What is wrong with you?” I asked.
Glowering eyes stared back at mine. “How could you think... Damn it, Mel. I wouldn’t hurt you. What has he told you?”
“It’s not Ben, Derek, it’s you! This has to stop. In fact, I’ve asked you not to come here or see me, period. You don’t understand that we are not together anymore, no matter how many ways I say it.”
“Did you hear me? Your boyfriend threatened me, and this is who you want to be with?”
“You had to have misunderstood—”
“He punched me and threw me to the ground. I gave him a few jabs, then his old goon came out of the car to rough me up more. I could have hurt the old fart.”
He had to be lying, but Scott was always with Ben, and there was no way Derek could have known about Scott.
My heart stopped trying to break out of my chest to make room for the nausea bubbling up.
“Ben would never hurt you.”
“When it comes to you, apparently, he will. Melody, you don’t have to be with me, but this dude is bad news. He isn’t good for you.”
“This coming from the man who just said I don’t have to be with you after we haven’t been together for years...”
His jaw tightened, and as much as I wanted to find out more, I’d had enough.
“Derek, if I see you anywhere around me again, I will go to the police.”
“He said you already went to the police.”
That caught me off guard.
“I knew he was lying,” he said to himself, looking hopeful.
“Stay away from me!” I hissed.
I should have listened to Genesis.
I backed away from him and hailed a cab. I didn’t want to take the subway and have him follow me or stand there anymore, waiting for rideshare. I needed to see what was going on.
As soon as the cab pulled off, I called Ben.
“Hey, beautiful.”
“Did you threaten Derek?”
The silence was too long.
“Are you fucking telling me, he came to see you tonight?”
“He was at the bar, but I told him I would file a police report against him if I saw him again. Which he seems to think I already did. How did you find him?”
“Melody, he crossed the line, and you are too kind—”
“I am not naïve, Ben. I can handle Derek.”
“Until he hurts you or worse. That’s a chance I wasn’t going to take.”
“So, you beat him up?”
He huffed. “I spoke to him, Melody. I did not beat him up.”
“He said—”
“There seems to be a problem here. I said I did not harm the fucker, yet you sound as if you doubt me and believe him?”
“Of course, I trust you.”
“Is there something going on between you two?”
“N-No! How could you think that?”
“From this conversation is why I think you could have feelings for this creep.”
“How could you say that after... what we have done and talked about. I haven’t had feelings for Derek for years. How could you think that?”
I could feel the tension growing thick in the air and wasn’t sure how to stop it. I wanted to tell Ben, he was the only man I loved, but saying it then and not being sure how he felt, I wasn’t sure how I would handle it if he didn’t feel the same way.
“I’m in a meeting. We will talk later. Goodbye.”
“But...”
He hung up.
Sleep didn’t come easy, and when I woke the next day, I spent most of it waiting for Ben’s call. Then I wondered how I became ‘that girl.’”
I washed my hair, cleaned up, tried to write a few chords, but the day was mostly wasted, watching TV and eating Zapp’s Voodoo potato chips that I found at a bodega. It was my comfort food of choice as a child at my grandparents. When I was happy, I would crave sweets; sad, anything salty.