A yawn escaped Melody's lips as she pulled her car into the TAPS parking lot at exactly 5:45 a.m. the next morning. Her black rimmed glasses were perched on the end of her nose, doing little to hide the dark circles under her eyes. Despite the fact that it was way too early to be out of bed in the first place, Melody had quite a bit of trouble sleeping the night before. She was trying to convince herself that her insomnia was due to anxiety over the trip in potentially bad weather, but she knew better than that. No, her anxiety was really the result of a long car ride with a man she barely knew. Even with Tango's assurance that she had nothing to worry about, Melody was still a nervous wreck, and a tired one at that.
After stalling for a few moments in her car, Melody let out a sigh and turned off the ignition. "I'd better get this over with, then." She mumbled to herself as she pulled her suitcase out of the trunk, making sure to lock it and check the doors. Of course, she could have used the electric key fob, but the last thing Melody wanted was the entire town of Warrick coming after her for disturbing their peaceful sleep with a loud car honk. That wouldn't do at all. "I guess I could blame Steve." She snickered to herself as she made her way toward the small, brightly lit building.
As she stepped inside she was immediately met with warmth, a welcome contrast to the freezing cold temperatures outside, as well as the scent of freshly brewed coffee. Forgetting any anxiety she had moments before, Melody hurried to the kitchen area of the building in anticipation of the first of what would probably be many cups of caffeine. There, she found her travelling buddy leaning against the counter with a steaming cup of coffee clutched in his hand and grin far too bright for the earliness of the hour on his face. Melody raised a brow as she reached for one of the travel coffee mugs she kept in the cupboard. "Good morning." She said quietly, the forgotten anxiety returning almost as quickly as it left.
"Good Morning." Steve repeated, the grin remaining on his lips as he watched Melody pour a ridiculous amount of creamer into the steaming Holiday Blend coffee. "You want a bit of coffee with that creamer?" He chuckled.
"You wanna tone down that pep a bit?" She retorted without a thought. "It's far too early to be as hyper as you are, dude. Waaaay too early!" She raised the cup to her lips and sighed a bit before taking a long sip of her liquid lifeline.
"I take it you're not a morning person, then?" Steve chuckled, taking no offense to her words. . "And here I thought Tango was kidding."
"Bold of you to assume that he wasn't telling the truth...No one in their right mind is a morning person! And I'm sure as hell not one at 6:00 a.m. Nothing good happens at 6:00 a.m."
"I wouldn't quite say that. Coffee happens at 6:00, and from my astute observations, Holiday Blend seems to be your favorite, correct?"
Melody's eyes widened slightly as she looked at the man in curiosity. She felt her cheeks burn with a blush as she cleared her throat and tucked an emerald curl behind her ear. Had the man been stalking her? "Astute observations?" She questioned.
Now it was Steve's turn to blush. "Well, I was here the other day when you came in with all the bags of coffee..." He explained. " Tango mentioned brewing a pot before you got here would be a good idea. I had to have some idea of how to deal with 'Sleep Deprived Mels', as he called you. Don't worry, I packed a couple of bags in the van for the trip."
Melody hadn't remembered Steve being in the office when she'd arrived with literally an armload of Holiday Blend for the office, but then again, maybe she just hadn't seen him. As for Tango's advice to Steve, she didn't doubt that one bit. Dave knew better than anyone how grumpy she was until she had at least one if not two cups of coffee. He'd probably given Steve the tip for his own good.
"You are an absolute genius, I hadn't even thought of packing along some for the trip." Melody said as she began fixing herself another cup. Once again, she poured a ridiculous amount of creamer in her coffee, but being the self proclaimed sugar addict that she was, it really came with the territory.
Steve chuckled and shook his head. "Genius? I don't know about that...I do know we should probably hit the road soon. We're expecting another few inches of snow in a few hours and I'd like to get ahead of it if we can. Are you ready to go?"
A dramatic sigh escaped Melody's lips. "I suppose so..." She mumbled as she grabbed her coffee cup and started heading toward the front door where she'd left her suitcase to grab on their way out. However, she paused quite abruptly at the door without realizing that Steve was right behind her until she felt his hands on her shoulders, probably trying to stop himself from running into her. Melody tensed slightly and turned around to face Steve and to put a bit of distance between them, which earned a curious look from the man. "Sorry, didn't mean to stop like that..." Melody bit her lower lip nervously, the anxiety she was feeling before beginning to return. "Um, do we have all the equipment? Anything we need to grab?"
Steve continued to regard her with a curious expression, but he mentioned nothing of the way she'd tensed up, if he'd even noticed it at all. Melody sincerely hoped not. He instead shook his head, the concerned expression fading into a small smile. "Nope, everything is packed away in the van. I even grabbed your work laptop from your desk in case you needed it. All we need to do is toss your suitcase in the van and we can get out of here. I'd like to at least get a couple of hours out of the way before you start begging to stop at a Starbucks." He teased.
"Hey, I am NOT that dependent on coffee..." Melody muttered, shaking her head as she slung her backpack over her shoulder. She had planned to grab the handle on her rolling suitcase but Steve was quicker than she was and had already walked outside with it in tow. Before she could even speak he'd placed it in the back of the van. "Oh, thank you.." She felt bad he'd done that, knowing good and well that it was heavy. That's the life of an over packer.
"No problem...But geez, did you pack your entire house, Mels? We're only going to be gone for a couple of weeks.."
Melody turned the key in the lock and pushed on the door to make sure it was locked before she made her way over to the van. It wouldn't do to leave the TAPS headquarters unlocked only for someone to break in and rob them blind. Somehow Melody figured Jay and Grant wouldn't take too kindly to that.
"Well," She mused as she climbed into the passenger seat and closed the door behind her, "I'm always paranoid I won't have enough clothes. What if we break down on the side of the road or there's not a chance for me to stop and wash clothes? I'm clumsy, you know, and I spill things all the time...It's just better to be prepared." Melody's voice trailed off into a mumble as she fastened her seatbelt before reaching for the coffee cup she'd placed in the cup holder. She was rambling now and she knew it, so Melody thought it was best to stop while she was ahead. The sassy attitude she'd embraced not even 20 minutes ago had gone into hiding it seemed and her awkward and anxious demeanor had returned full force.
Steve was once again looking at her in curiosity but it didn't last long. "I suppose you're right, better safe than sorry." He said as he turned the key in the ignition. "I mean, your partner in crime is never prepared. I can't even count the amount of times we've had to find a Target or something because he can't get his shit together...Literally."
This brought a small smile to Melody's lips which was quickly followed by a chuckle. "That sounds like him alright...He flies by the seat of his pants."
"If he remembers to pack them.." Steve muttered. He glanced at Melody with a grin on his face as he put the van into drive. "So, you ready to get out of here?"
Melody nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose...You better be a good driver, Gonsalves, I do fancy arriving at our destination in one piece. "
By now Steve had pulled out onto the deserted street and was headed toward the highway. "You do realize I used to be a cop, right?" He questioned with a raised brow.
"Please, being an officer of the law doesn't make you a good driver. I can always drive you know..."
"Hah, that's not gonna happen. I've seen the way you fly into the parking lot like a bat out of hell...I'll be doing the driving, Mels..."
"I resent that...I do not drive like a bat out of hell.." Melody muttered.
Steve only chuckled in response as he turned onto the slightly busier highway. A silence soon settled over the two, though it wasn't uncomfortable or awkward in the least. Melody sipped her coffee as Steve drove with the radio playing quietly through the speakers. Steve, of course, kept his eyes on the road, but Melody's gaze was focused on the pink and orange sky as the sun began to rise over Rhode Island. She couldn't stop the smile that tugged at her lips or the sudden feeling of excitement as she spared a quick glance at her travel buddy. Perhaps this trip wouldn't be so bad after all...