"So where are you taking me?" Mel smirked looking over at Corey. His hands tightened on the steering wheel. He took her breath away with each glance. There was something about watching a man drive that really made her heart flutter, especially when it was him.
"It's a secret." He smiled back giving her a side glance. If it weren't for the fact that he was driving, and he cared very much about Mel's safety, he would have looked at her until they had driven off of the edge of the road.
The car ride lasted a lot longer than Mel expected and she found herself gently dozing off like a small child. It was way past her bed time.
"Wake up sleepy'ead we're here." Corey chuckled patting the small girl on her thigh.
Mel gasped, "I'm up! I wasn't even asleep? I was just... resting my eyes." Mel lied.
"Right and I'm in love with your friend Thomas."
Mel would have continued with the lighthearted banter for a while longer, until she realized where they were.
"It's the Eye." She whispered.
"That's right and we've got the key to operate it." Corey smirked pulling out a small key ring with a single gold key dangling from it.
She smiled, "So what are we waiting for?"
--
"How do you have access to this thing?" Mel asked as Corey guided them into the entrance of the popular tourist attraction.
"I know people in high places. Literally." Corey laughed at his unintentional pun. The truth was when Corey was younger his mom forced him to get a real job just to see what it was like. He thought working a Ferris wheel seemed pretty easy, and although it proved that this just wasn't the job for him, slowly he became good friends with the owners.
"Whatever!" Mel giggled with excitement. "You know I've never actually been to this thing. Like I know it's a touristy thing to do but I don't know.. I've just always wanted to ride it but never got around to it I suppose." Mel admitted looking up at the gigantic Ferris wheel. It's colours lit up the dark London sky like an American firework display.
"Well tonight's your lucky day then huh?" Corey smirked as if he held all the solutions to Mel's problems in the palm of his hand. "I hope you're not afraid of heights." He then began to walk them into one of the carts holding Mel's hand along the way.
"A giant spinning wheel in the sky isn't very discreet Corey." Mel whispered after a while. They were almost halfway up and the world beneath them seemed so far away now.
Corey smirked ignoring her statement. He knew it would be fine. "So you never told me about your book. What in it made you cry?" He asked looking down at her. Her plump lips formed a frown.
"After getting dumped, the main character Lily was doing so well Corey. She had gotten so used to being alone again and she was happy." She breathed.
"Well that doesn't sound too bad."
"It was great actually, and then he showed up at the same cafe shop as her months later with a new lover. It's just not fair, and I don't know it just got me thinking." Mel paused. She didn't know if she should share this with him, but she decided to anyways. "Back home I had this good thing going with Thomas and then I left it all to be with you. And when I showed up to save him by your side, in your car... I wonder if that's how he felt. I think he feels like it's not fair."
"Okay, but how do you feel Melody." Corey questioned reaching for her hand. He tried not to wince when she pulled hers away.
"I feel selfish and frustrated because here we are in this beautiful Ferris wheel. Acting like nothing at all is wrong, like people haven't been hurt because of us, but it doesn't change anything. Thomas is still at your flat alone, because I left him there to be with you. That's all I do." Mel felt a hot tear roll down her cheek. "And you didn't even want to be here in the first place! I practically begged you to take me."
Corey furrowed his brows. He honestly didn't know what to say. He could tell that the small girl was starting to regret being with him, but he had come to need her in a way. For the past three days, the only reason he could find for waking up each morning was to check to see if Mel was okay and apparently she was not.
"Aren't you going to say something." Mel joked softly, chuckling from self-embarrassment.
"How long have you known Thomas?"
"Years."
"Okay and how long have you been with Thomas; romantically?"
"Weeks. Corey what's your point?" Mel questioned confused. She searched for Corey's dark eyes in the cart.
"My point is you've known me significantly less than you have Thomas, and you've already been with me romantically. That has to mean something."
"I don't know." Mel stated. Thinking back, she realized that how Thomas truly felt for her had always been a question mark. He had never directly came out and said he liked her. That had always been okay though because he always showed her through his actions just how much he cared. But Mel was starting to wonder if that alone was enough.
"If I was Thomas," Corey stated as they reached the top of the rotation. "I would have never let you slip away, from the start."
"What does that mean?" Mel asked innocently. Romance novels always made since to her but now that she was experiencing some version of her own, she had been more confused than ever.
Corey chuckled gently grabbing her face in his warm hands. "It means I like you Melody." He stated so close that his warm breath fanned her lips. "I thought that was clear."
Closing the space between them Mel found herself taking initiative in her life as she kissed him hard and passionately. Throwing her hands around his neck to pull him closer, his hands ran down the curves of her body stopping in her back pockets. She released a small gasp at this and he took this as an opportunity to run his soft tongue along her own. He wanted to taste every inch of her mouth and kiss her better than Thomas ever could. As they dangled hopelessly in the air, he wanted Mel to never forget who cared about her most.
But back at his one bedroom interior decorated flat, Thomas sat quietly on the sofa. He replayed in his mind the conversation he had with Damien over and over and he wondered if Mel truly cared about him or only about herself. Nonetheless, he was determined to find out because he could no longer handle her game of tug-a-war.
---
As Corey unlocked the door to his flat, Mel instinctively tried to wipe the bubbly grin off of her face. She didn't want the others to know how good a time they had when they were still trapped inside. Especially since it was now so close to 7 am and they returned with groceries as their only explanation. In all honestly however, those 5 or so hours spent with Corey just sitting in the car park afterwards where some of the best hours of her life.
The second they stepped into the living room however, the atmosphere surrounding them changed. There was a new face in the room that Mel didn't recognize, and she didn't really have the distinctive looks of a Barrick family member. Instead, this girl reminded Mel of the stuck up posh girls she would occasionally see coming into the shop, with their faces slightly covered by thick sunglasses or a scarf, from emberassment of being seen on this side of Birmingham. Often only there to buy their boyfriends the next hip record. Yes, this girl with her strawberry blonde hair and crooked smile looked like money and the slight scoff she let out when Mel walked into the room made her want to cry right there.
Finally cutting the silence Thomas spoke up, the amusement clear in his voice, "This girls been waiting for you Corey. She says she's you girlfriend. And get this, no really this is the interesting part, she says you have a wedding to plan. Yours."
Mel's face dropped.
"Girlfriend? Wedding?" She was at a loss of words but the other woman waisted no time filling the silence.
"Corey baby so this is where you've been hiding?" The woman snarled, standing up to brush past Mel and give Corey a slinky hug. Corey stood there, frozen.
"Im sorry Corey when your dad rang it was too late. I tried to call you but you didn't answer..." Damien's voice trailed off, and Mel's heart dropped.