Underneath the Star

Chapter 2

Christopher had fallen asleep with Melanie in his arms, but she had to leave before he could wake. It was six in the morning when she gathered her clothes scattered around his suite and quietly dressed. She couldn't risk being heard, so she picked up her heels and tiptoed across the room to the door. Once she had made it out into the hallway, she didn't care whether or not her absence would disturb him. Allowing the door to shut on its own behind her, she bolted for the elevator and impatiently waited for it to take her away.

Her night with Christopher Coleman was officially over, and she had experienced her first successful one night stand. Although it hadn't done anything to heal her, it was enough to allow her to move on with her life by doing as she pleased.

Driving back to her apartment early in the morning with the traffic felt like a long trip she didn't want to make. But when she pulled up into her reserved parking space, she breathed a sigh of relief and then made her way to the building. She had to be at work in less than an hour, and she was starting to regret staying out past midnight. Perhaps one night with a movie star wasn't worth losing sleep over.

She had just made it to her front door on the first floor when she felt a hand on the small of her back. She yelped in terror, but the large hand covered her mouth to stop her.

"Melanie," the voice behind her ear said, "it's just me, babe."

She quickly turned to face him and dropped her jaw in shock. She had already recognized the voice, but having a face to go along with it only brought out the bitterness in her heart. "What — How did you find me?"

"I assumed you had gone back to your apartment, but you changed your phone number on me and left without saying anything."

She laughed, but there was no humor in their conversation. "Was I supposed to tell you that I was leaving you? I thought you got that when you couldn't reach me, Eddy."

He gave her a once over and clicked his tongue in dismay. Her hair was a mess, and her makeup was smeared. Her shirt wasn't even buttoned up. "I hope you haven't been drinking."

"Why am I not surprised that you showed up to criticize me?"

"I'm not criticizing," he said in defense of himself. "I spent the last month trying to look for you so I could bring you and our baby home."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't you remember?" he asked her. "You showed up to my office to surprise me with that pregnancy test. I saw it, Mel."

She had been so distraught the last time she saw him that she had completely forgotten about that pregnancy test. She wasn't even concerned about what had happened to it when she returned to his house that day to move everything back into her old apartment. "If I hadn't walked in on you and that naked woman, you would have been very disappointed to find out that it was a false positive."

He frowned. "I'm finding out now, and I'm still very disappointed."

"What a shame," she said unapologetically. "There's no baby, Eddy. So, you can leave me alone for good now."

"No," he said with the shake of his head. "I came here to bring you home. I want you back, and I swear I will make it up to you."

"I spent the last month trying to forget you. You can't just show up at my door and try to fix things."

"I would have come sooner if you hadn't cut me out of your life," he told her. "Next week is supposed to be eight years. We can still celebrate it together."

"Am I just supposed to pretend that you didn't throw seven years of our lives away for another woman?"

"It was a mistake that I'll have to live with everyday, but we can still have those seven years plus more."