Authors: Ella Celestine
Kian was supposed to pick Melanie up at eight, but it was already eight-thirty. Traffic was at a crawl. He gripped the wheel a little tighter. The day had been a long one; meetings, disputes to settle, paperwork to take care of, new clients to meet. His head was still reeling. The only thing that had gotten him through the day was the fact that he was meeting up with Melanie tonight.
He reached for his phone in his pocket. Narrowing his eyes, he began to pat his pockets again. Nothing. His phone was nowhere in sight. Then he remembered. After lunch, he’d plugged the phone up and sat it on his desk so it could charge. He’d been so busy trying to get out of the office that he’d left it there. Kian groaned.
Hopefully, she wouldn’t think he was blowing her off, he thought as he parked and hopped out of his car. As soon as he reached the inside of his loft, he loosened his tie and shed his gray suit jacket. Kian stepped into the shower. He took a moment to relax underneath the warm spray before he started to dash around again.
Thankfully, he’d written down Melanie’s address that morning. He pushed through a few papers that were now on the coffee table before he found the post it note that it was on. A deep sigh of relief passed through his lips before he left his apartment.
The traffic had thinned out a bit, but Kian drummed his fingers on the wheel anxiously. At least he was showing up, but he was so late he wondered if she even still wanted to go out with him.
Finally, Kian spotted her address and pulled into the lot. It was a tall brick building that stood before him, warm light spilling out from the lobby to fall on the sidewalk. Kian made his way inside. As soon as he spotted the bank of elevators, he rode one up to the ninth floor and knocked on her door.
Kian was nervous. His fingers slipped through his hair as he tried to wait patiently, but it was hard. He’d never been particularly good at talking to women, but what he lacked in natural charm, he made up for in other ways. Or at least he liked to think so.
The door finally opened making him relax a bit. She was dressed in a pretty yellow dress that complemented her skin and curves. Tall heels made her legs look even longer. As she stood there, she ran a hand over her dark hair that had been pulled up, a single lock brushing her face. As beautiful as she looked, Kian realized that there was something wrong. Her eyes were slightly red, her makeup a bit smudged. Had she been crying?
“I’m sorry I’m so late.” Kian shuffled from one foot to the other. “I had a meeting run late and it pushed me back for the rest of the day. Then the traffic was terrible, it took me twice as long to get home. On top of all that, I left my phone plugged up at work and had no way to call you. I should have just written your number down…” He paused to take a breath. “I’m sorry, I just realized how much I’m rambling. Long story short, I’m sorry and I would still like to take you out if you want to go with me.”
For a long while, Kian was unsure of how she was going to react. Finally, she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and he watched her features relax. A small smile even tugged on the corners of her red lips.
“I suppose I can forgive you this time,” she said with a shake of her head. “I don’t know what we can do now though. I mean, you said you’d made plans.”
“Yeah, I did. Of course, the restaurant I wanted to take you to is closed now,” he said as he checked his watch. “I had another idea. You might want to go change first though.”
Melanie lifted a brow. “What’s wrong with what I have on?”
“Believe me when I say absolutely nothing. You just might get uncomfortable.”
She seemed to think it over before she opened the door to her apartment. “Come in. You can help me pick out something new.”
Kian smiled. “I’d love to.”
He stepped inside of her apartment while she locked it behind them. Glancing around, he checked out her place. It was a quaint little one bedroom with everything down in orange and cream with hints of red. Kian actually liked the fact that she seemed to adore colorful things. He followed behind her towards her room. The only thing that made him uneasy was how small the place was. How was she going to raise a child in such a tiny place?
“Okay,” Melanie clicked on the light before opening her closet. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“Nope,” Kian said with a grin. “That’s part of the fun.”
She chuckled. “Okay, then help me pick something out.”
The fall nights were still pretty warm, so Kian helped her pick out another dress (he couldn’t resist seeing her in something that showed off her perfect legs) that was a soft pink and a white sweater to go with it in case it got cold later. A pair of matching pink flats complemented the outfit nicely.
Melanie shooed him out of the room while she dressed. He made his way to the couch, settling in and sitting down for the first time all day. While he was exhausted, there was excited energy flowing through him that made him almost giddy.
Kian couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone on a real date. Most of the time, women seemed to want him for what he could offer or what his last name was, but very few ever tried to get to know him beyond that. It was almost a dream meeting someone who didn’t know a thing about him. There were no expectations, no need to put on some kind of act. For once, he could be himself.
“What do you think?”
Kian looked up. He was speechless for a moment as he took in the sight of her. The red eyes were gone, replaced with a smile that he felt tempted to place a kiss to. He pushed himself up from the couch.
“You look beautiful.”
Melanie seemed embarrassed by his words. She thanked him, grabbed her purse and they walked out of the apartment together. Once he closed her car door, he slid behind the wheel and threw a quick glance her way as she was adjusting the hem of her dress.
She really was beautiful.
Melanie had been on the verge of telling Kian exactly what she thought. Staring at her phone, waiting for him to call her, text her, something, she had begun to get angry. It wasn’t anything new, she found, but it still hurt.
The number of disastrous dates she’d had was one of the contributing factors to her not wanting to date anymore. Meeting weirdos, being stood up, extremely late men, she’d experienced it all. However, she hadn’t expected it from Kian.
Hadn’t they really hit it off the other day? Or was she just imagining it all? She’d wondered as she paced in the living room, a tight grip on her phone as she wrestled with herself on whether or not to let him have it.
She had brushed the tears away on her face. After all she’d done to prepare for the day, it was too much to handle emotionally. The morning had been horrible, more sickness and she slept in past noon to give her body time to recover. After that, she’d cleaned her apartment, found her outfit, taken her time getting ready. And for what? To be stood up.
Melanie’s fingers had already started to type out the text message when there was a knock on her door. She had paused, looking at the door for a long moment before she walked over to look through the peephole. Kian had been standing there, looking nervous.
She had still fully intended to tell him off, but as the words spilled from his lips she knew he was telling the truth. Melanie realized that it would be pointless to tell him off, he was already beating himself up for being late. Instead, she’d relaxed. For years, she’d been rigid in her planning, timing, schedules, but now she had a little time to enjoy herself and she planned to do so.
As they drove through the darkened streets, she wondered where he was taking her. Every time she tried to ask he would smile, shake his head and laugh. Melanie stole a look at him.
He was dressed in a sapphire sweater and dark jeans. His muscles made her want to run a finger up his arm, but she refrained. She smiled at the way he occasionally ran a hand over his hair, pushing it back a bit. Melanie wondered if he noticed that she played with her hair too when she was nervous?
“We’re here,” Kian said making her jump.
“Oh, we are.” She glanced around before she smiled.
Kian purchased tickets before they drove into the lot. There was a tall screen up, still blank for the moment, but it would soon be playing a movie. The smell of popcorn filled the air. Melanie suddenly had a craving for buttery popcorn, covered in salt. As she glanced around, she stopped.
“Hey, where’s everybody else?” She asked as she looked around the empty parking lot. There’s was the only car around, except for two vehicles parked farther away.
“Oh, well technically this place is closed right now. They won’t open back up until the spring, but I was able to call in a favor with some old friends. It’s kind of nice though, isn’t it? Now, we’ll get to enjoy a movie by ourselves. We even get to pick which one.”
Melanie laughed. “Okay, this is a pretty cool idea.”
Kian leaned closer to her and wiggled his eyebrows. “I’m more than good looks.”
“Well aren’t you confidant,” she said, trying not to giggle at the silly expression that he was making.
Both of them settled on a classic instead of something new. A Walk in the Park, a black and white romantic comedy played on the screen as Kian returned with popcorn and drinks. Melanie thanked him, before she was absorbed into what was going on in the movie.
It had been so long since she’d just been able to have fun, that Melanie didn’t want it to stop. Of course, it stopped several times when she had to race to the bathroom. When she returned the last time, Kian was looking at her closely. Her throat tightened. She didn’t want him to think anything was going on with her, it wasn’t time yet.
Her worry was for nothing, however, as they returned to watching the film. The credits rolled finally, making Melanie clap happily. As the film went off to be replaced with a white screen, Kian turned to her.
“The next part is up to you. DO you want to watch another movie or go find some food? I’m okay with either.”
Melanie tapped her chin. “One more movie and then...something covered in chili. Chili dogs, no! Chili cheese fries. Mmmm,” she moaned.
Kian laughed. “You’re the boss.”
The next movie was newer, but this one was filled with wisecracking cops and exploding cars. Melanie didn’t mind the change of pace. Besides, she was too busy stealing glances at Kian for most of it. His smile kept drawing her in, making her feel more relaxed than she had in a long time.
“I can’t believe that ridiculous explosion,” Kian said as he started the car.
“It was so cheesy,” Melanie added.
“You’re just thinking about cheese,” he teased.
“I am though.”
She said it so seriously that they both burst into a fit of laughter. Melanie loved the sound of his laugh, deep and melodic almost. She shook her head quickly. No. No, she could not be falling for him. Not even a little. She forbade herself from it, but there was a part of her that knew it was too late.
“I can’t believe you ate that many fries.”
Melanie shrugged as she unlocked her apartment. “Hey, you either keep up or I eat all of the fries. This is life.”
Kian shook his head. “You’re insane.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
Once her door was unlocked she turned back to him. Both of them stood there, shifting their weight from foot to foot as if they didn’t quite know what to do. Their night had been amazing, fun, special. It was everything Kian had been missing in life for some time.
“Melanie,” he started.
“Yes?” Melanie asked when the pause began to drag out into silence.
“I had a really good time.”
“I did too,” she said, looking back at him.
At that moment, Kian wanted nothing more than to tell Melanie that he knew. It felt wrong hiding it from her, but he also didn’t know how to bring it up. He hadn’t expected any of this to happen, but here they were.
Kian leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek. When he started to pull back, Melanie ran her fingers over his cheeks before she kissed him. It was all of the signal Kian needed. He kissed her back, his lips slipping against hers with building passon.
“Do you want to come in?” Melanie asked, her voice thick.
Kian wanted to. More than anything in the world, Kian wanted to go into her apartment right at that moment. He wanted to slide the dress off of her shoulders, place kisses on every inch of her skin and spend the rest of the night discovering every curve and dip of her body.
“I can’t,” was what he found himself saying instead. At the look of disappointment in her eyes, he quickly cleared his throat. “It’s not that I don’t want to. Believe me, I really
really
do. I just...can’t. Not tonight.”
Not when he was feeling guilty. Not when he was hiding something from her. Briefly, he wondered if she felt the same way. However, the only look on her face was disappointment with a touch of acceptance.
Melanie nodded. “That’s fine. Maybe some other time,” she said as she placed the smile back on her lips.
“Definitely another time.” Kian lightly took her hand, lifted it to his lips and kissed. “Would you let me take you on another date?”
“Of course.” Melanie grinned.
They wished each other goodnight before they parted ways. Kian waited to make sure she was safely inside, before he disappeared towards the elevators. One part of him was happy and relieved, but another part knew that things couldn’t go on the way they were. Kian really liked her, but he knew eventually that they’d both have to come clean.
“I’ll think of something.”
Kian didn’t think of something right away. Instead, he spent the next four weeks going out with Melanie every chance that he got. He visited her at the office during her lunch breaks, she met him for dinner after he was done for the day. Kian showed her restaurants she’d never heard of and food she’d never discovered, while she always led him to the most down to earth, but exciting places.
“I can’t keep up with you,” he complained as he sat on a red, velvet couch.
“Come on,” Melanie called over the sound of Jazz music and laughter. “I want to dance some more!”
Kian waved her off. “You’re on your own.”
Melanie grinned at him. Leaning over, she placed a kiss to his cheek before she bounced back to the dance floor. He sighed. How the hell did she have so much energy? He watched her shake her hips, laughing as she danced with a few of her friends.
Her belly was for the most part still flat, but Kian was beginning to see and feel the bump. He knew that was only because he knew what to look for, but pretty soon he wouldn’t be able to pretend that he didn’t know. Kian almost wondered if it would be a good idea to just continue not to say anything. One day, she’d start showing, she’d tell him about the baby and he’d tell her that he wanted to be with her regardless.
Kian shook his head, disgusted at himself for even thinking it. No way would that be okay. And if Melanie ever found out, that would be the end of them. Besides, he was beginning to wonder what it would be like to have a baby.
The thought hadn’t entered his mind at first. However, as the weeks slowly went by, he found himself wondering what it would be like to be called dad. He wondered and often imagined now, how the baby would look. Would it have her eyes or his smile?
Kian quickly realized that he was grinning like a fool. He picked his drink up off of the table, drained it and stood up. At that moment, he had made up his mind. He was going to tell her, tonight. What was the worst that could happen?
The moment that thought entered his brain, Kian wanted to take it back. Whenever someone asked what was the worst that could happen, it always seemed to make the situation ten times worse. He swallowed thickly as he looked at Melanie dancing. He just hoped she could forgive him and that she wouldn’t think of him as being too weird for having known and kept it all a secret for so long.
“Everything’s going to be fine,” he reassured himself.
He just wished he could actually believe that.