All the wrong shades of us

Chapter3

Melody’s POV

“He’s here!” My sister’s sing-song voice carries through the house, meeting me in my bedroom where I stand in front of the full-length mirror, pressing down the invincible creases in my dress. I angle my head as I take in my reflection, hair curled to the best of my ability and eyes uncertain. Adam is a nice man. We have been speaking all night and through the day since the party. It is going to be a harmless evening spent watching a movie. So why does it feel so wrong?I know when her head darts in through the cracked door, her scent wafting through the room. “You look stunning,” Mallory murmurs, leaning on the doorframe. “I love that color on you.” She said that for the last ten dresses I pulled out of the closet, but it doesn’t matter. None of it does. I am grateful for her help, for making me come down to New York when I was drowning in heartache back in Paris. “Thank you,” I reply, flashing a grin in her direction. “But don’t you think the beads are a little too much? I am not trying to frighten him.”“Adam cannot be frightened,” my sister laughs, the sound lingering in the air. “I still can’t believe it, though.”“Believe what?” I mutter, moving away from the mirror to grab my clutch from the single couch. “That you hit things off with the bartender,” Mallory says as a matter of fact. “I thought you were still so hurt about Daniel, and now, you are going out on a date with someone you met twenty-four hours ago.”“Mallory….” She raises her hands in the air. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, okay? Dam Daniel. I know how much he hurt you, so I won’t be stupid enough to think there could actually be something more between you two. It’s just that…”“This isn’t a date.” I stop in front of her. “I am just going to have a nice evening seeing a crappy romance movie with a man I met last night. Not a big deal.”

Mallory nods, barely able to conceal the grin on her face. “Do have a nice evening with the man you met last night, Melody.” Her face stretches so wide that I think it is going to burst with laughter. Shaking my head, I walked past her down the stairs, taking a deep breath as I moved closer to the living room.I’m making the right decision. Even though I know it is too early to determine that, it has to be. I have tried not to think about him since last night, and as impossible as that has been, I hope tonight changes it all.

Maybe I’ll kiss Adam.

Perhaps I’ll let him take me home. The girl from the party was right. I need to stop. “Oh my God!” Adam rises from the couch as I reach the base of the stairs. His eyes drink me in, but it doesn’t feel the same as Christian, as intense as the way his eyes traveled through me, like he could see into my soul.I stop when the thought hits. I cannot think of Christian McCarthy. He is the man my sister is in love with. Engaged to. He is going to be my brother-in-law. We will have family dinners together, sit around the same table, and laugh with our heads thrown back. Even the mere thought brings a bitter taste to my tongue. “Is anything wrong?” Adam brings my attention back to him. He has gotten closer now, his forehead wrinkled in confusion, his eyes raking through my features. “Do you feel sick? I can…I don’t know…we can see the movie later.”“I’m fine,” I breathe, shaking my head. “It was just a little migraine, and trust me when I say it will only grow worse the more I stay inside this house.” A small smile touches his lips as he hooks an arm, helping me further into the living room. “Why? Mallory acting up?”“She thinks this is a date.” I try to infuse light humor in my tone to clear the air before we get out through the doors.

Nothing changes with him, at least not to the mere onlooker. But I feel the hold on my arm slacken for a second. Just one second. “Oh no,” he laughs. It sounds a little too forced. I should feel bad, but I cannot even find it in me. “I can imagine both of you right here, arguing about how great our date would have gone if you hadn’t gotten a headache.”“Actually,” Mallory calls from behind us, causing us to halt abruptly, Adam’s hand on the door. “I am going out too.”I turn around slowly, my pulse thrumming underneath my skin. Is she going on a date with Christian? Is she spending the night there? I hate this.“Are you going to see Christian?” I keep my tone light, even though it doesn’t reach my eyes. My sister shakes her head, her gaze pulling away from me as she grabs her coat from the hanger by the door. “I need to meet a friend.”“A friend,” I repeat.” Yeah.” She nods. “He…she helped with setting up the place last night. I should pay her an appreciative visit, don’t you think?”I nod slowly, but at the same time, I remember the man from last night. The one she pulled along with her up the stairs. A light pink hue stains her cheeks as she smiles at Adam. “Door please.”“You look good,” he murmurs under his breath, pulling the door open for her, and in that split second, I realized something. Adam isn’t here for me. He has always liked Mallory. The only reason he asked me out is the fact that he knows and has accepted that he cannot be with her.I just don’t know whether he is conscious of that fact yet.

As we walked out into the night, I caught my sister getting into a car that pulled up in the driveway. And the person behind the wheel looks too much like the man from last night.