Take Two (22 page)

After leaving
another furniture store
disappointed, I
headed towa
rds a newsstand. I’
d
refrained from
reading my byline for weeks but
I needed to know how Phil was handling it.

I handed the vendor a couple of ones and grabbed
The New York Appeal
.
I skimmed the latest news stories and found “my” review of
Hanging Free
: “The latest film from Plum Studios is possibly the greatest thing this critic has seen in a long time.
Chock
full of stars—Adam Sandler, Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, and Maya Rudolph to name a few, this is one you don’t want to miss!

“
Adam Sandler
plays Jacob, a forty year old milli
onaire who just found out he has a flesh eating disorder.
Since he’s
accomplished everything he wanted
in life, Jacob wants to
spend his
last
days
ruining
the lives of
everyon
e who ever wronged or
“
hated on
”
him. Some of these people include his twelfth grade math teacher (She award
ed him a certificate that read
“Class
Idiot
”
at
graduation), his mo
ther (she
traded him in a crack deal
when he was fifteen), and his ex-college sweetheart (she dumped him
for his best friend
on his birthday)
.

“
Of course, what makes this film a charm
er
is the fact that Jacob’
s memory of
events is somewhat askew
, and he has to learn
to see things from other people’s point of view. There’s a beautiful love story underneath the layers of recollection, and an even bigger sto
ry of forgiveness underneath this
raucous comedy.

“
My only problem with this film is that it lacked any supernatural or sci-fi undertones. What has Hollywood come to?
Why do all films these days have to take place in the
real
world?
You’re telling me a forty year old millionaire who is
dying
wouldn’t want to go to space?
He wouldn’t want to die in style?
He wouldn’t want to go to Comi
-Con and treat those
fans to the rest of
his wealth?
3.5 out of 4 stars.”

Ugh
, Phil!

“Anything
else I can interest you in
?
” the vendor wiped her brow. “
Perhaps
T
he Wall Street Journal
? A
fashion
magazine?”

“
I don’t think so
,” I l
ooked over her small selection.

I was about to walk
away when
I saw
Us Weekly
with Matt
and Selena
on the cover.

I picked it up.
“I’ll buy this
one.
”

“Don’t you just
love those two together?” she beamed
. “They’re my favorite
Hollywood couple
!”

I was running through Central Park
at four in the morning
.
I was trying to make sense of what I’d seen in
Us Weekly
, but none of it added up:
Matt was kissing Selena
in the
park
, touching her face in a car
, and
rubbing her baby bump at a party.

What part of the
“we look so in love and we’re getting married and having a baby”
collage
was I not supposed to believe?

I felt stupid. I should have known Matt’s interest was too good to be true. I should have known that I needed to work on myself befor
e going out with someone else, high profile actor or not
.

I
suddenly
remembered coming across
an article that said the key to “starting over” was
first realizing how to be happy alone. It also suggested that I change some of my habits
, bu
t
I
doubted I could ever
let go of my
early
morning runs.

I
sat on a bench and took out my wallet.
Once again, m
y license
read
“
Melody Carter
”
and showed me wearing
my beloved
red hair. All
my credit cards had been re-issue
d and read “Miss Melody Carter.”
I
had to
fight
with
American Express
management
to get the “Miss” attached. T
hey didn’
t understand
the importance.

I promised myself I wouldn’t take on the groom’s name until a mo
nth after the wedding next time,
if there
ever
was a next time.

It was hard starting over,
realizing
that I had to start over.
Changing my name from Mrs.
to
Miss was easy
;
learning to
accept what that mean
t was becoming harder each day.

I pulled my knees up and began stretching. I needed to get through five more miles.

“Melody?
You’re back!
You run this early too?”
Matt Sterling
stopped in front of me and removed his hat.

T
he last person I want to see right now…

“Hello
Mr. Sterling.
Yes I do.
”

“
I hardly see any paparazzi during this time of day.
That’s what makes it great for me.
Why do you run so early?
”

Please
go away.

“
Are you mad at me or something?”
he took out his ear buds.

“Why would I be mad?”

“
I don’t know.
How are you? I’
ve been trying to find
you for the past couple
weeks.”

“For what? Do you need a sitter for your newborn?
I w
on’t have the tim
e.
”

“
No.
I don’t need a sitter for—Look, can we
talk? I need to get a couple
things off my chest.”

“Call Dr. Phil.
I’m sure you can afford his expertise.
”

“Whoa whoa whoa,”
he sat down next to me.
“
What’s wrong? Las
t time I checked
you
we
re kissing me in St. Barts
. What’s changed?”

“
First off,
you
were kissing
me
.
As amazing as that was, it shouldn’t have happened. I temporarily forgo
t
you were engaged. But not to
worry, that fact has been forever etched into my brain
.
I read all about
it
in
Us Weekly
yesterday
.
If you’re about to get married w
hy wou
ld you
even
pursue
me? Why would
you
ask me to
—?”

“Because I
like you
.
”

What?

“I
—
”

“
I told you not to believe everything you read
,” he
fiddled with
a strand of
my
hair. “
And I’d
really
like the chance to outdo our last kiss.”

H
e’s
so sexy…
S
tay focused!

“I don’t think we
—”

“Shhhh
,
”
he ran his finger
s
through my hair and caressed my face.

“I can’t do this
,” I backed
away. “
This isn’
t one of your movies
.
This is reality. I’m
still hur
t from being dumped at my wedding, and you’re in love with Selena
.
You’re just having last second
doubts. St. Bart’s with you was…
fun
. Let’s just leave it at that okay?”

“Melody,
listen
. I
need to tell you
—”

“I saw a preview for your movie that
comes out in December. It looks
worse than
Summer Nights
,
” I put on my headphones and jogged away.

I didn’t stop or
look b
ack. I kept my eyes on the trees, on the lake in the distance. When I made it back to the city
, I
sat in
a
Starbucks
for a couple hours before
ask
ing
to borrow a copy of
The New York Appeal
.

I nervously flipped through
the shee
ts, hoping to find a better article
under my byline. I spotted my page near the back
: “What We Ladies Can Learn from Princess Laila and Anakin Skywalker.”

Okay, t
hat’s it!

I left the paper on the table
and headed for the subway station. I could barely contain my anger. I practically ran out of the subway
tunnel when the tram stopped.

I marched right past
the main floor’s
re
ception
desk and o
nto the elevator.

I could hear a faint, “Miss Carter, you’re not supposed to be—”
as
the doors closed.

I stepped
off the elevator and looked both ways. There was no one in sight, not even Sophie. I
knocked on Mr. Maxwell’s door.

“Come in!
”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Maxwell
.”

“Melody?
I thought I—”

“
Just stop. Let me talk,” I shut the door. “
I appreciate you looking out for me
,
Mr. Maxwell. I really do.
For your information,
I went to St. Bart’s and enjoyed all two weeks of my vacation. I even
enjoyed
the past
couple weeks
I
spent decorating
my apartment
. That said,
I’
m coming back to work
tomorrow
. And you better
let me. I’ve worked too damn hard to be the best critic this city has ever had
to see it slip down the sewer with
love
references to Han Solo and the Galactic Empire.”

He held the temple tips of his glasses in his mouth and sighed. “I’m glad you’re back. Phil was killing us.”

Matt

“And
here is where the guests’ cocktail hour would be,” a woman swept her hand across the air. “How many guests are you expecting again?”

I couldn’t remember the woman’s name, and I was only halfway paying attention to what she was saying. My focus
was fleeting
between her dark green eyes and her
sleek
red hair. There was a soft shine to it; anytime she nodded
her head,
her cur
ls bounced up and down with it. It
reminded me of Melody
’s hair
.

“About
four hundred, not including
OWN network’s people. They haven’t given us an exact number yet,” Selena looked up at me and smiled.

I smiled back even though
I hated her guts
, thought she was an utter psycho,
and often
fantasized about
her dropping dead. I didn’t want to give the venue manager
a clue
a
s to
how I really
felt about my “
wife to be
.”