Stubborn

Chapter Eighteen

"Mel, what are you doing here?" Shawn asked her as he rose from his chair. He walked over to the door and examined her face. He could tell that something was wrong with her, but he couldn't properly process exactly why she had decided to come and see him out of everyone. He was aware of her relationship and closeness with Corey, so why not go to him? Melanie didn't utter a word. She continued to look down and never at him. Shawn gently placed his hands on her hips and looked at her with concern on his face. "What's wrong, Mel?" Shawn questioned softly.

Melanie shook her head and contemplated a lot. Why was she even here? The last time she had seen Shawn's face he was slamming the door of an SUV in her face. He had pretty much told her that her attitude stunk. "Nothing is wrong," Melanie said as she pulled away from his grasp. Shawn stepped back and looked at her.

"Nothing is wrong, eh?" He rhetorically asked her. "So if nothing is wrong, why your face hangin' low? Why you look like you been crying? Why are you even here?"

Melanie rolled her eyes to herself. She knew that Shawn wasn't stupid, and she hated when her stubborn ways wouldn't allow her to just come out and say what's on her mind. She didn't like the fact that she was standing in front of a man who could look at her and tell her about herself. It was weird that she even allowed Shawn to get away with some of the things that he could. "If you didn't want to talk, you ain't have to come up here," Shawn told her before turning around.

Melanie quickly touched his arm, causing him to stop. Shawn looked down at her manicured fingers on his skin. Slowly, he looked back at her. "Why are you here, Mel?" It sounded like it was her last opportunity to tell this man everything that he might have wanted to know about her. After twenty minutes, Melanie felt lighter. She had just told Shawn her entire life. She told him about the things with her mother, Jermaine, and Corey. She told him about how Corey wanted her to talk to Dana, and Shawn couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Dana's....that's a piece of work," Shawn said as he sat back and went into a trance of thought. "I remember when he used to come and talk to me about her. She wouldn't even look the man's direction cause she was too busy. She was into school and work."

Melanie nodded and looked at Shawn as he continued speaking. "I told him a girl that's too busy for love gone be too busy for a lot of things. Her being too busy for a pregnancy doesn't surprise me. It surprises me that it took him this long to even bring up children. She wanted to get married to carry a last name, she got that. He wants a child to carry his last name, what's the problem, yenno?"

Melanie shrugged her shoulders, "He looked so sad when he was talking to me about it. Like there's nothing wrong with adoption, but I don't like her reason."

"I could never marry a woman like that. Your family should come before anything," Shawn said. At that moment, Melanie could see why she was slightly attracted to Shawn. Even though he was this big time producer and rapper, he still knew what was important. Even when trying to tell Melanie how to maneuver with her career, he made sure to tell her that her image was everything. Her image went back to her son, and her son was the most important thing to her right now. She left the studio after about an hour. They didn't do anything but talk, and that's what Melanie needed. She wouldn't dare come to Shawn about anything that could possibly mess up their business.

She drove to Jermaine's house to pick their son up. Knocking on the door, she was a bit uneasy. She didn't like waking people up out of their slumber. But, Jermaine was surprisingly up. She smiled when he emerged from behind the door and invited her in. Melanie looked around the house briefly. It was his style and she could tell that he didn't have anyone else to decorate his home. You guys know how some guys decorate? They usually only decorate what's needed and then fill in the spaces.