"How was your appointment with your movie star?"
Melanie chugged the rest of her red wine and slid the glass back to Lukas, indicating she was ready for a refill. "Are you just asking so you can judge?"
"I won't ever judge you, pretty girl."
"What happened to princess?"
He laughed as he poured the last of his best wine into her glass. "I believe Christopher has stolen that term from me."
"Christopher," she murmured, shaking her head at his name. She hadn't heard from him much in three days. He had texted her a few times to say he would call when he was finished filming for the day, but she would always fall asleep without hearing his voice. It was disappointing, but she had to remind herself that she was involved with a man who didn't have all the time in the world to give her. "He's been very busy. We were supposed to have dinner tonight, but production hasn't ended yet."
Lukas frowned. "Which means you haven't eaten yet."
"I'm not even hungry anymore."
"I'm closing up in another minute. How about you get Nora on the phone, head to my place to watch movies and order a pizza?"
"Nora is club hopping tonight with her date," she said to him. "I'm still up for whatever you had in mind though. The company is just what I need."
He nodded and then headed over to his register to pull out a few bills. He counted the remaining cash and took it into the back room where he had set up his personal office space. There was a safe back there where he locked up his daily profit behind a portrait of Midnight's exterior. Despite being the only person to know the passcode, he didn't mind that Melanie was right behind him with a clear view of every number he punched. She was one of the few people he trusted, and even though he'd only met her a little over a month ago, she never gave him a reason not to trust her.
"Looks comfy," she said, stepping into his office. It was her first time inside, and she was in awe of the decor and tidy space. His mahogany desk was placed in the corner by the black wood panel wall. There were two white couches facing one another and a large T.V. on the wall just above the fireplace. The office wasn't spacious, but there was a perfect amount of space to be comfortable. "So, how come you're always hanging out with me and Nora? Don't you ever see your friends?"
"You two are my friends," he responded. He shut the safe and covered it up with the portrait.
"You know what I mean, Teddy."
Lukas chuckled as he led her back out into the bar and locked up his office. "I spend a lot of time here, so it's rare that I see them, but Adam stops by from time to time to check up on me and the place."
"So, Adam is..."
"A high school friend," he told her. "He went to college. I didn't. He has new friends, and I have you."
She smiled at him. "I only had one friend before I moved here. He was my everything, but I do prefer you and Nora."
"Was it that ex of yours?"
She nodded and followed him out into the parking lot. "Can I get a ride with you?"
"Of course. We can come back later for your car." He opened the passenger door for her and waited until she was buckled in before making his way over to the driver side. "I don't like that you're alone at your apartment. He could come back."
"That's why I have your number to call."
"Do you mind me asking what happened between you two?"
Melanie bit her tongue and waited until they were on the main road to speak. She had only told Christopher small details of her relationship with Eddy, and Lukas had never asked until now. "Well, we were together for almost eight years. A part of me always knew that spark between us died out over the years, but we'd been together so long that I just wanted a ring. I got one, no proposal, but we had an agreement."
"What kind of agreement?" Lukas asked her.
"I agreed that I'd find a full time job and quit my tutoring job if we were to get married."
"Sounds reasonable if that's what you wanted."
"I loved my job."
"Then he was wrong to ask you to do that. But without him, you're a successful campaign director in your field." He looked over at her and frowned when he caught the sadness in her dark eyes. "So, you got your ring. Why didn't you get married?"
"I walked in on him with another woman," she told him quietly. It was the first time she was recounting out loud the heartbreaking memory. "He had my things moved into his house, and I left that same day."
"Why didn't you stay with your family? Why move over here?"
"I wanted a fresh start, and I don't exactly have a family."
He reached for a hand in her lap and squeezed it. "You know I love to listen to you talk, and I'm always curious when it comes to you, but if you don't want to tell me these things, I understand."
"It's alright to ask," she assured him.
"I do want you to continue."
"I didn't return home because I never had one. I never knew my father. My mother was never around, so I lived with my sister. She's the only family I have, but she's started her own."
"If you ever feel like you have no one, I'll be your no one," Lukas said, shaking her small hand. "You are loved, pretty girl."
She smiled. It was comforting to hear those words come from Lukas. His gentle heart made her feel safe. "And you are someone. To me, you're someone special."
"I certainly feel special." Lukas drove up onto a driveway and parked his car in the garage. Turning to Melanie, he offered her a smile as he closed the garage door and cut the engine. "Are you ready?"
She nodded her head and stepped out, following him to the door. It was her first time seeing where he lived. "Do you mind if I borrow something to get more comfortable?"
"You don't even have to ask," he said, smirking. He led her through the kitchen and into the living room where she was presented the grand staircase. "My room's up there. We can watch there, or we can stay down here in the living room if you're more comfortable with that."
Her teeth sank into her bottom lip as she looked up at the staircase. "I don't mind going up there."
He smiled at her innocence and led her upstairs to his room. Melanie was in awe once again. It was as if she had entered a living room with the sectional couch being the first thing she saw. She stepped onto the hardwood floor and continued to visually explore. The T.V. across the couch was playing music that Lukas had turned up with the remote on the glass coffee table. Past the small living area was a raised platform where his king bed was made up, and just past the bed was the door leading to his closet.
"Sit, pretty girl," Lukas said, pointing to the couch. He kneeled and pulled her heels off, setting them by the door along with her handbag. "I'll make sure we get our food and you get something more comfortable to wear." He walked over to the closet and disappeared behind the door. When he emerged, he was in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. He had an extra set draped over his arm that he handed to Melanie upon returning. "You can change in there, or there's a bathroom right across the hall."
"Thank you," she said to him, accepting the outfit. She walked across the hall to the bathroom and changed out of her blouse and pencil skirt. The t-shirt he had given her hung loose around her body. It was long enough to cover her panties, but she pulled the sweats on anyway and tied the strings as tightly as she could. Once she had changed into the new outfit, she grabbed her clothes and made her way back to the bedroom.
"How cute," Lukas teased her as she set her clothes on the coffee table. "I hope you love scary movies because I chose one from the horror section."
"I love horror films," she said excitedly. She smiled at him when he patted the space next to him and urged her to join him under the blanket.
"Good. I also got two pizzas for us just in case."
Melanie's phone rang just as the movie started, and Lukas stood to grab her handbag. "It's Nora," she said, reading the glowing screen. She picked it up and listened to the other end. "Nora?"
"Where are you?" Nora asked through heavy sobs. "I want to come over."
"I'm with Teddy right now."
"Teddy Bear? Will he let me come over?"
"We'll come get you," Melanie told her. "Just tell me where you are."
"Everything alright?" Lukas asked.
Melanie shrugged.
"No, stay. I'll come."
"Nora—"
"Send me the address."
Before Melanie could protest, her phone disconnected from the call. She deeply sighed and then looked up Nora's number in her contacts to text Lukas' address to her. "She didn't sound alright."
"Well, she gets emotional when she drinks," Lukas reminded her. "While we wait for her, how about we try to enjoy the movie?"
Melanie nodded, thankful for his attempt at distracting her. She dropped her head on his shoulder as they watched the screen together.
Half an hour into the movie, the pizza had arrived and her phone went off again. It was Nora calling to tell Melanie she was standing outside on the porch. The movie was still playing when Lukas stood up and wrapped her in the blanket.
"I'll go get her. Stay here and eat your dinner."
"Yes, sir."
Lukas swallowed hard and quickly made his way downstairs before he could say anything else to Melanie. He looked over at the security monitor by the door, and once he had confirmed it was Nora, he opened the door to let her in. She immediately fell into his arms, sobbing and mumbling words he couldn't make out.
"Talk to me," he said soothingly. "What's wrong, Nora?"
"Ronan left without me," she cried.
"Ronan?"
"He was my date tonight. He said we'd go to the club, but he left with someone else."
Lukas sucked in a sharp breath and guided her to the stairs. "Can you make it up there with me?"
She nodded and followed him up. "Mel," she said as soon as she saw her friend. "I shouldn't have gone."
Melanie opened her arms to Nora and allowed her to rest her head in her lap. "What happened?"
"Ronan left me for some drunk bitch."
Melanie looked over at Lukas who only shrugged. "He wasn't worth your time, Nora."
"But he was so nice."
"If he was nice, he wouldn't have left you, especially after you've been drinking."
"Did I interrupt your date?" she asked Melanie. "Did I ruin Teddy Bear's chance?"
Lukas laughed and then shook his head. "Let's get you to bed, Nora."
"I don't want to go to bed yet. I want to stay here with you guys."
"You've had a long night," Melanie said to her, pushing her hair out of her face. "How about you just try to sleep?"
"Can I sleep in here then?"
"Of course," Lukas said. He looked to Melanie with an apologetic smile, but she only squeezed his hand assuringly.
Melanie helped Nora up from the couch and walked her over to the bed. Once she had tucked her friend in, she returned to Lukas and accepted his open arms, falling into them. "Will you still watch with me?"
"I invited you here to watch a movie and have dinner. We are gonna do just that."
She smiled at him. "Thanks, Teddy Bear."
When Melanie woke up in the morning, the room was still dark. The curtains that had been drawn the night before were still unopened and offered little light. She couldn't recall making her way to Lukas' king bed, but when she sat up and saw Nora's sleeping figure beside her and Lukas knocked out on the couch, she assumed she had fallen asleep during the movie. Lukas must have carried her to his bed and tucked her in.
She pulled the extra blanket off the bed and dragged it behind her. The second her foot touched the hardwood floor, Lukas opened his eyes and searched for her, smiling when her gaze met his. "I was going to give this to you. You must have been freezing last night."
"I'm fine, pretty girl," he assured her. "How'd you sleep?"
"Very well actually," she admitted. She lied down next to him and wrapped them with the blanket, hugging him close to her. "You could have just left me here."
"No, that would have been wrong."
"Lukas—"
"Melanie," he whispered, pulling her close. He knew she was waiting for him to say something, but he couldn't. Words failed him with her body pressed up against his.
She inhaled deeply, reluctantly pulling herself away. She sat up and then asked, "How about some breakfast?"
"Breakfast sounds good," he murmured. He followed her out of the bedroom and downstairs into the kitchen. He was barely in it since he usually had all of his meals at the bar, but then again, he was hardly ever home anyway. "May I request something?"
She licked her lips.
"Let's go out with Nora, and you can invite Christopher."
She blinked hard at the mention of Christopher. She had completely forgotten about him, but it wasn't like she had seen him or heard from him in days anyway. "Right. Christopher."
"Teddy Bear? Mel?" Nora called out from the bottom of the staircase.
"In here," Lukas responded. He was still looking at Melanie even when Nora entered the kitchen.
"Your phone kept going off," Nora said, sliding Melanie's phone over to her along with her purse and clothes. "The ringer was killing my head."
Melanie turned on the screen to find multiple texts and missed calls from Christopher. They were all from early in the morning, so she had to assume he was asleep now. "Maybe next time, Teddy Bear."
Lukas nodded. "I'll take you to get your car. Nora, you ready to go home?"
"Sure," she said with a casual shrug. Nora glanced between Lukas and Melanie before shaking her head at them. She could sense the tension and didn't want to be part of it. "Actually, I'll get another ride."
"Let's go, Nora," Lukas said gruffly. He grabbed his keys off the kitchen counter and walked through the door leading into the garage, expecting the two women to follow.
"Is everything alright between you two?"
Melanie shrugged. "Teddy Bear kinda picked up that attitude from nowhere."
"I don't think it came from nowhere, honey," Nora told her.
"What?"
"It might have had something to do with whoever's been texting and calling you." Nora clicked her tongue in dismay. "You said it was no one important, but it's Christopher fucking Coleman, Mel! He was at the bar a few nights ago, and you fucked him."
Melanie shook her head at her friend and made her way out into the garage. "I don't want to talk about this in front of Teddy."
"Because of a jealousy problem."
"No." Melanie got into the car and apologetically smiled at Lukas. He only glanced at her and then pulled out of the garage. "Maybe we can have dinner together with just the three of us tonight."
"Midnight won't close until three in the morning," Lukas said curtly.
"Special night?" Nora asked from the backseat.
Lukas hummed to respond but didn't offer much else. Nora's apartment complex was only a fifteen minute drive from his house and another fifteen from the bar, so the three of them spent the first half of their drive in complete silence.
Once Lukas pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex, Nora quickly said her goodbyes to the two of them and left. She couldn't stand to be part of the silence anymore.
Melanie didn't speak until he was driving on the main road again. "We were having a good time, Teddy Bear. What happened?"
"What do you mean, pretty girl?"
"Did I do something wrong or say something wrong?"
He laughed but not at her. "No, sweetheart. I'm just enjoying your company."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Well, I find it hard to let you leave."
She blinked at him.
"I know you're going to see Christopher, and I just want you to be careful."
"You're very sweet," she said, placing her small hand on his bicep. "But I think I'll be okay."
"You think?"
"I know."
Lukas forced a smile and then nodded his head. He had to trust her.