Page 66 of Revived

“That’s awful. So, how did they end up back together if she was married to someone else?”

“That is a long story, and not mine to tell.”

“I can respect that.” Mel leaned in, got closer to me and then asked about everyone else. “Last I knew, you had a full house of people there with you. What happened to everyone else?”

“Tim left the same day you did. He hasn’t mentioned whether he’ll make the swap to the east coast or not. I think he’s waiting on something back in LA that might never happen.” I took a sip of my drink and then carried on, filling Mel in on where Wen and Alyssa were living now, how Calista refused to come stay with them, and that I wasn’t sure if they were going to work things out after everything that went down. Then we talked about her, the new job, and what it was like to work on the set of such a popular television series.

Once both of our plates were cleared, trepidation set in. “Would you be willing to accompany me on a walk?”

“Sure, after this dinner, my ass would probably thank me for it,” she joked.

“There’s not a damn thing wrong with your fine ass,” I told her, in all seriousness.

She grinned at me. “Thanks for my ego boost of the day.”

“Were you really ever in need of one?”

“Well, I do work around starving actresses all day.” Again, I could hear the playfulness in her voice, but it was a trap I didn’t want her to fall into while working around the industry.

“I hope you don’t compare yourself to them and find anything lacking,” I told her. “I know this is a fresh start, a new first date for us, but I remember the night we had together as if it were burned into my damn retinas. I’m unable to stop seeing just how perfect I thought you were, your body, your everything. So, please, don’t let their issues claim space in your head, because you are a goddess among them. They don’t realize you’re the perfect look they should be striving for.”

She stopped mid-step and just gaped at me. “Well, if I was ever having any doubts about myself, I think that would have cured me. Rest assured, Gabe, I like myself just fine the way I am. Thank you though, for seeing me as perfect in a society that would paint me as flawed for having hips too big, an ass that has to be wrestled into my jeans some days and…” I couldn’t help the laughter that came out with her imagery. “Oh! Now, he laughs at me!” She was teasing and it was such a beautiful fucking sight to see her laugh so freely.

“Sorry, I was picturing you wrestling your ass into your jeans, only it was more a cartoon skit than the sexy one I should be playing in my mind, especially with how you look in that dress tonight.”

“If you think flattery is going to get you back in my panties, you’re probably not wrong,” Mel mentioned as she batted her thick, black lashes at me.

“I don’t want back in your panties just yet,” I informed her.

“No? Then what do you want?”

“I want back in your heart.”

Her gasp, despite the attempt she made to hide it, might as well have been a symphony playing in my mind. I guess she had underestimated exactly what I was after with this fresh start. She’d see. Our walk was cut short the minute one person recognized me. Pictures were being taken of Mel and me together, and I knew we were out of time on our little excursion.

Instead of finishing our walk under the stars, we managed to tuck into a waiting car and head back to Mel’s apartment. There, I left her at the door with a simple kiss goodbye and a promise that this was just the beginning.

23 – Swoon Worthy

Amanda finally found the time to come visit me in Georgia. “It’s been too long,” I told her, once more, as we both sat with our feet tucked under our legs on the fluffiest, comfiest couch in the world. It was the one I loved so much from Gabe’s living room. When I’d found the apartment, he had sent someone with the couch so that I would have at least one piece of furniture to start out with in my new life that didn’t remind me of the old one I’d left behind in New York.

It had been a sweet gesture, and one that insured that I thought of him every time I sunk into the cozy feel of it. “It has. Honestly?” My best friend asked me.

“Tell me anything and everything.”

“I’ve been thinking of making the move myself,” she admitted.

“Leave New York?” There was no hiding my absolute shock at her words. “Are you serious?”

“I know my family is there, but I only see them on holidays as it is because everyone is too busy hustling to make enough money to live in a decent place. What’s the point? Besides, look at this lovely apartment, and for a fraction of the cost of the little closet I live in back home.” She was right about that. The difference in housing, cost, and even the quality of life here were vastly different than back there in the city. “Plus, my bestie is here, and I’m sure you’re developing quite the network now that you finally found a job.”

“What has you wanting to run, Amanda?”

She huffed at me. “I met someone. A fellow nurse,” she admitted. “She’s moving to Atlanta to be near her ailing mother.” It didn’t surprise me that Amanda had moved on to a woman in this relationship. I had known from the beginning that she was bisexual. What did surprise me was that the relationship had progressed enough that she was willing to follow someone here.

“I missed a lot while I was away,” I told her.

“We were swept up in the newness of everything and then the rawness,” she admitted. “It’s part of why I came now, to catch you up, to find out about you, and to check out the possibilities here.”

---