JEALOUS - AM I?

Lyrical had not realized when she dozed off, she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder tapping lightly and calling her name softly, which is when Lyrical realized she was still sitting inside Joey's cabin.

She cracked her eyes open to welcome two frowning faces looking down at her. One of them was Joey, who seemed worried and the other was of Melody, who looked more like she detested the experience of seeing her face again. And... God! Did that pierce Lyrical's heart!

Just thinking about what happened last night, was giving Lyrical a masive goosebumps here. Even if she was glad and thankful, that Melody did not talk about it, she was also upset wondering 'Why? 

'Did Melody feel nothing? Am I the only one stuck with the memory while she was too drunk to even care?' Lyrical was filled with embarassment, perhaps she was alone with butterflies and goosebumps, while Melody couldn't care less.

'Are you alright my darling?', Joey enquired, but Melody interjected and sounded pretty upset, 'Why are you still here, When you were asked to leave?'

"Sorry... " Lyrical apologized. "Joey..." she added, to show the apology was meant only for him. "I was about to leave, but I wanted to rest for a while. I was kinda tired, you know.. but, then I think I dozed off instead."

"Hey! that's perfectly fine. Now that you are still here, you don't have to go alone, Melody can drop you home," Joey sighed, feeling relieved that Lyrical wouldn't have to go alone.

"No" both Melody and Lyrical reacted.. almost at the same time.

"I-I mean. She has somewhere to be I think. I can't drive her around, her 'friend' lives on the opposite side." Melody added.  "Who friend?" Joey and Lyrical queried.  "I don't know. I thought, maybe." Melody struggled to find the right words for her perfect excuse.

"Shut up and drop her home. It's already very late," Joey slapped his hand on Melody's shoulder. "I don't want her to go alone."

Lyrical was in a double mind. She definitely wanted to turn down the offer, however, she also wanted to spend more time with Melody, erm.. her boss. Plus, she needed answers to her questions from Melody.

"Go wash your face and meet us outside," Joey instructed Lyrical and she left his cabin to freshen up. While she was passing by Melody, Lyrical felt somebody grabbing her hand lightly. "Wash your face properly, you were drooling," Melody pointed out.

  Lyrical had began to feel a spark, whenever Melody's hand touched her bare skin. When did that start, she doesn't know. But, it was only growing fierce and that's for sure.

Once Lyrical left, Joey grabbed Melody's hand and dragged her outside, near the parking. He did not want Lyrical to hear their conversation. "My darling Melody, I see you are jealous?" he taunted and Melody raised her eyebrow in question. 

Joey wiggled his forefinger in front of Melody's face, "Oh, no-no. Don't you dare deny it? I saw that little act of yours just now. Who friend and what were you talking about?"  Melody shook her head, but Joey did not let her speak. "And let me also add, since the time you both stepped in today, I could feel the tension between you and her. What the heck is that about?"

Melody was about to clarify but Joey added, "Might I also add my love, there was no need to leave her behind and go out today. We were just wandering around, doing nothing relevant. I know you did it deliberately, but what I don't understand is the purpose behind it. What made you jealous to act this way, huh?"

Melody folded her hands in front of her chest, "Will you let me speak?" and Joey shrugged casually, "Of course. Go ahead," and nodded his head encouragingly.

"I don't know." came the answer which agitated Joey. "You don't know? Seriously darling. You avoid her, behave rudely and then say, you don't know," Then he almost screamed, "Are you for real?"

"It's just that, her boyfriend--thing irritates me. I try not to react, but can't help it." Melody confessed sincerely.

Joey put his hand on his waist. "What- who boyfriend? You are very well aware she is not dating." Joey grabbed Melody's arms "Let me tell you one thing ma'am, your assistant was worried sick for you yesterday. You have no idea what she went through, looking for you the entire day. When I spoke to her, she was terrified-- of losing you."

Melody stood stunned. Joey let out a sigh, "It's not my place to comment or interfere in your matter Melody. But, since I know what you feel for her and as a friend to both you and her, I would suggest you to be more understanding and please.... just talk to each other." Joey pleaded. "She may not be able to reciprocate your feelings, but at least you both can be on good terms."

The drive to Lyrical's house went by silently, as both of them were lost in their own thoughts. Melody's mind kept replaying what Joey said, not that she was not aware of it. It was evident that Lyrical was panicking and when she saw Melody yesterday, she had kept whining, telling her how worried she had been. But the seriousness of the matter was sinking in right now. 

Sitting on the other side, Lyrical kept wondering about a lot of things that happened in the matter of one day. She was eager, kind of desperate to ask Melody about every single thing, but did not know where to start from.

"Sorry," Lyrical heard Melody's low voice. She turned her face towards Melody, startled by the sudden apology. "What for?" Lyrical studied her boss' face carefully.  "For everything," Melody replied and Lyrical could feel her heart beating hard in her chest, suddenly a sinking feeling crept in. "Are you apologizing for last night?" she blurted out in a feeble voice.

"Wha- No. I mean, if you want me to, but I don't want to.." Melody laughed loudly. "Silly,"  Then she abruptly stopped laughing, "Umm! I-I was talking about making you worry the entire day. Honestly, it was your birthday too, and you wasted it looking for me," her voice was sad.

Lyrical smiled and her voice was soft when she said, "How many times are you going to apologize Melody? I agree I had a hard time looking for you, and I was very worried especially after Gisselle told me about your- uh- that you."

"About what?" Melody probed and Lyrical bit her tongue regretting what she said just now. Maybe, it wasn't a good idea to poke her like this. But Lyrical wanted to know what made her usually chirpy and smiling boss so defeated.

"P-please Melody",  Lyrical stuttered. "D-don't be upset with her. She meant well, you know. Which is why she told me about your suicidal drift on your birthdays." she answers in a low voice. Lyrical made a pleading face at Melody, telling her not to be upset. 

But Melody did not react and Lyrical continued, "Having said that, I don't regret it at all. Instead, I would've been happy to spend time with Edwina, Gisselle, Joey-a-and you."

"Uh-hm" Melody sounded.

"You should've told me earlier about your birthday. So, yeah, that part I do regret." Lyrical chuckled.

Melody smiled but did not speak. "So--may I ask what happened?" Lyrical inquired. "C'mon. Don't tell me none of my friend's told you what happened." Melody retorted.  "Edwina did. Since she was with you when... that incident happened. But nobody knows what exactly occurred," Lyrical clarified. "So-

"Some other time, maybe." Melody interrupted Lyrical. "Hey, if you are truly sorry at least tell me what made you act rationally. You owe me that much." Lyrical urged her.

"I will--uh, tell you everything. I promise. Just not today, please." Melody begged. Her voice quiet.  "Ok." Lyrical let go of the topic, as she did not want to force Melody. The incident that has hurt her so much that she feels like killing herself, cannot be easy for her to discuss.

Just a brief moment later, she heard Melody clear her throat, "By the way. Uhm, I don't regret what happened last night. The reason-- I did not bring up that topic is because I thought you might," and that made Lyrical blush deeply and her heart flipped, she suppressed her smile and did not dare to look at Melody.

"OK." she whispered still not looking at Melody. "That's it?" Melody pressed. Lyrical turned to look at Melody and found her pouting, "Ok. If you promise to not laugh, then there's one thing I want to ask." she pleaded and Melody nodded "What is it?"

"Ah-hm, as far as I remember after we-" she struggled to form words instead kept blushing. "I-I went to pee last night and then straight to bed." Lyrical began. "Yea so, what about that?" Melody interjected. "What I don't understand is, ah, why was I naked in the morning when I clearly had my bra and jeans on before I went to sleep." she blurted out.

Melody chuckled and laughed loudly. Lyrical feigned anger as she knew she was being dense, but Melody's laugh was half annoying and half arousing.  "Trust me. I did nothing." Melody raised both her hand. "Melody," Lyrical was about to say something, but then sulked, partially because her heart was flipping and butterflies flew all over her stomach. 

"Fine, jokes apart. I heard you sleep-talking that your clothes are bothersome or something like that, and the next thing I heard was you throwing away your clothes. But.. it was very dark and I was super lazy, so you are safe," Melody replied with all seriousness, but the moment she finished her sentence she ended up laughing again.

"Oh, stop it already," Lyrical sulked even more and then she heard her phone ring. Kevin's name flashed on the screen, which reminded her that she had to see her friends.  "I'm so so sorry, Kev. It completely skipped my mind." Lyrical apologized as soon as she answered the call. "It's Jennifer. I had to call you from my brother's number, because you may-- have blocked my number." her friend threw sarcasm.

"Sorry sweetheart. I wanted to call you, but I was tied up. I swear I'll see you soon. Pweeeze.." Lyrical cooed. "Where are you now? I'll come to see you." Jennifer demanded to know.

"Ok. Come home, I'll reach home in 30, maybe." 

As she heard Lyrical speak so adorably, Melody gripped the steering wheel tightly. She tried her best to not react, as that would be unfair. Lyrical had her personal life and she had all the right to date whoever she wanted. 

Melody pretended to not care and kept driving. But, for how long could she have kept the act, her curiosity got the better of her. "So-- friends are coming to stay?"

"Yes." Lyrical grinned. "I couldn't see them yesterday which is why I invited them home, tonight I can spend some time with them. "Oh, are you jealous?" she blurted out and immediately regretted.

"Shit. I didn't mean it, Melody."  Lyrical clarified. Melody was very much jealous and did not want to lie, so she chose not to reply, then she remembered something and smiled. "Aren't your uncle-aunt back?"

"No." Lyrical scrunched her eyebrow. "They'll be back next month, I assume." 

"If I'm not wrong, I think- I saw your door was unlocked this morning." Melody queried further.

"Oh. yes, Samantha and Lewis came. They are twins and also my brother's best friends. Since nobody's home, they came to check on me, they have a spare key. To be honest, they came to celebrate my birthday with me and so are my friends..." she stressed the word friends. ".. Jennifer and her brother Kevin."

Melody nodded in reply, as she had nothing to say.

"Melody-- why don't you also come to my house? I would love it if you come inside tonight and meet my friends." Lyrical knew Jennifer would not like the idea, but she didn't care. She had met Melody's friends and now she wanted to introduce Melody to her friends too.

On the other hand, Melody had her own reason to not enter that house. So, she denied. "Sorry, but I would rather go home. I'm exhausted."

"Are you sure you want to go home because you are sleepy and not because you are avoiding me, just like you did in the afternoon? What were you thinking leaving me alone like that, Melody?" Lyrical spat in anger.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I went out because I had work." Melody lied. She couldn't tell Lyrical that she was unnecessarily jealous all the time.  "Well, I highly doubt that," Lyrical spoke angrily. "Then that's your fucking problem." Melody retorted. 

"Maybe it's your free-pass night," Lyrical added. "Like seriously, are you out of your mind? Just because I am tired and I can't join your little party, you come up with weird allegations, it's absolute bullshit?" Melody screamed at her and regretted it the very next moment.

"Fuck, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you." Melody apologized, but Lyrical averted her eyes.  Lyrical nodded her head dejectedly and muttered, "Ok".  Her voice was hardly audible. If Melody wouldn't have been sitting so close, it was impossible to hear what she said.

Melody dropped Lyrical near her house and left. Even after reaching the parking lot of her building, she did not step out of the car for a long time and kept cursing at herself. She knew she was being disrespectful towards Lyrical by turning down her invitation every time, but it can't be helped. 

Melody felt helpless because she cannot tell her the truth, as Lyrical was not ready for it.  Melody knew she will have to give a proper explanation to Lyrical one day, she owed her at least that much. The question that remains is how and to what extent can she reveal the truth to her.

Needless to say, the sad look on her face when Lyrical stepped out of the car, kept bothering Melody constantly. And the most frustrating part was, that they both will not be able to see each other for few more days, while the event that was about to occur next week. 

Melody stepped on the gas and left the parking lot and drove to her office, where she has been spending her nights, lately. 

Here, at Lyrical's house, all the arrangements for the party were taken care of, however, she was still sad and upset, wondering why did Melody always refuse to visit her house whenever she invited her. She kept staring at her phone. Twice or thrice she almost dialed Melody's number but disconnected before it went through.

She sent a quick, "I'm sorry too. Maybe I was expecting too much." and tossed her phone aside.

Furthermore, when Jennifer arrived with her brother, both the friends immediately noticed the gloomy expression on her face. But, when she asked, Lyrical simply denied it.  To avoid any more confrontation from Jennifer, she decided to push the thought of Melody behind, not before calling up her office friends, inviting them to the party.

Jennifer, the sweetest friend of Lyrical had bought home-cooked food. The twins Samantha and Lewis had made arrangements for the snacks and drinks. Her colleague-slash- friends, Mia, Carol, Jenny, and Leia had all the latest collections in music and the party was full of fun.

They were very excited to see Lyrical after so many days and Lyrical felt the same way. Mia had started glowing and Leia still had her beautiful smile on her pretty face. Lyrical realized, that even if she is not regretting working with Joey, she is missing out on spending time with her lovelies. 

They were singing and dancing initially then played games for some time and then sat down chit-chatting. 

Carol popped up a question about yesterday when Lyrical came looking for Melody. "Hey! What happened to you yesterday? You suddenly came looking for Melody. Didn't you fight with her only the previous day, to take leave on your birthday? But then you came to the office looking for her and later you too went missing, along with her. And where was Melody anyway?" she nudged Lyrical.

Lyrical shook her head, "Nothing important"

"Uh-huh? You know what? It is as it is very boring without you. And then there is Melody, who is all day locked inside her cabin-- totally in fucked up mood." Leia slurred and then chuckled. "What happened between you both?"

Lyrical knew Jennifer will be very mad when she realizes that she had spent the entire day with her boss. And the dilemma was she can't even tell her friend what exactly happened. She can't tell about Melody's suicidal drift part and definitely not the kissing part.

"So, I am guessing it was not Melvin, after all - the person you were moaning in the name of, that night," Kevin whispered teasingly.  "Yeah, I guess so. Would you believe me if I tell you, I honestly don't remember anything?" Lyrical sincerely confessed.

"Liar. You are blushing right now." Kevin poked her cheek whilst making fun of her.

If Jennifer heard the conversation that took place just now, then she did not show it on her face. Lyrical did not see any reaction coming from her friend, which can mean two things.  Either she didn't care anymore or she is waiting for the right moment to pounce on her.

Lyrical sent everyone home, only Samantha and her brother Lewis stayed back. She was worried about Mia and requested her to stay the night, but Mia denied the offer.  Jennifer and Kevin promised to drop her home safely before they headed back.

Jennifer even though did not react but acted cold towards Lyrical after that conversation happened and she knew it was not a good sign. 

Later that night, Lyrical received a message which said, "We need to talk"