Unchained Melody (36 page)

Raina was wiping tears from her eyes. ‘Classic. I didn’t like Ulysses either, I must admit. How it gets counted as a defining moment of human creation is beyond me.’

‘Yeah, it was creative- but it was no Sistine Chapel.’ Renee gloated.

‘Oh blow it out your ear Mona Lisa…’ Imogen drawled. ‘The Renaissance has been over for longer than the cold war: Vampires are gonna be the new Da Vinci.’

‘Don’t get airs about yourself, little sister.’ Hendra growled. ‘You’d be speaking German in this diner if not for me.’ She smiled. ‘Or Latin.’

Calliope sighed, as though exasperated by them all and pretended to write something on her notepad while reigning back a smirk. ‘Gosh you guys are getting awfully competitive… I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but You Can’t Stop The Beat, because the heart of music will go on… and on...’

Everyone groaned. Clio tossed a sugar packet at her. ‘Enjoying that trip down memory lane there miss? You know, none of you would remember any triumphs if not for me.’

‘That’s right!’ Renee chirped. ‘Thanks to Clio we remember Push The Little Daisies and The Purple People Eater too- unfortunately!’

Calliope stuck out her tongue. ‘At least none of my charges ever cut off their ear and mailed it to someone!’

Renee’s jaw fell open.

Raina raised her hands. ‘You’re all making very interesting points. I often wonder, which one of us has made the biggest impact on the world…’ She slid her phone across the table. ‘Why don’t we Google it on my iPhone? The wi-fi in this place is pretty spectacular.’

‘Well the signal sucks on my network.’ Imogen shot back, grinning. ‘Maybe you should spend less time in diners and more time inspiring some dependability?’

‘So you can download e-books faster?’ Raina bit back.

Imogen’s face turned redder still. That was a low blow. They all knew that Raina has saved her ass. She slammed her fist on the table. ‘The Bible!’

‘Rembrandt!’ Renee jumped to her feet.

‘Aristotle!’ Clio crowed.

‘Hey that’s me too!’ Imogen protested.

‘And The Bible’s not mine?’ Clio demanded.

‘The Crusades!’ Hendra put in.

‘I wouldn’t brag about that!’ Renee had tears of laughter running down her cheeks.

Calliope saw through her laughter that Memoria and Rya were looking at them all like they’d turned purple. So she lifted hands hands and declared: ‘The Sound Of Music belongs to us all! But the hills? They were alive because of ME!’ And then she clicked her fingers, and the curtain dropped. ‘So I win.’

The diner noises muted the Muses, who were all too busy falling off their chairs with laughter to carry on their debate. Calliope wiped at her tears under her glasses and then kissed Rya’s head. ‘Okay I gotta get back to work baby.’

‘Okay Mama.’

‘Excuse me? Can I get a table like, today?’

Calliope whirled around, electrified by the voice, and saw Hunter shifting impatiently on his feet in front of her. He had a pale green hoodie shadowing his face, and dark Aviators concealing his eyes, but she recognised his essence more than his form; the air hummed. Calliope already felt like she was going to vaporize on the spot, so when Don’t Speak began to play she thought her legs would give out from under her. Her, Hunter and Ryan, every day together, but not for always. Always was gone.

But Hunter was right in front of her.

‘You-’ she tried to speak, but wet her lips and swallowed back the emotion in her throat. ‘You’re..’ behind her, her family had grown very silent, very still and seemed very focused on their color-in placemats. Renee’s was so ridiculously good that Calliope would have to throw it in the trash after.

Hunter grimaced. ‘Ssh, okay? If you want me to sign your bra or something after, don’t draw any attention to who I am, all right? I don’t want to cause bedlam.’

A snort echoed behind her- Imogen of course and Calliope felt her own indignation then saw it reflected in his shiny lenses.

‘Thanks but, I’ll pass on the autograph,’ she snapped, insulted, and wishing Ryan was there to kick his ass! ‘I preferred your earlier stuff, before you sold out.’

Hunter reeled back. ‘Excuse you?’

‘You heard me.’ Calliope pointed to table five. ‘That booth is free. If your ego fits in, it’s yours.’

Hunter chuckled, lowering his glasses to stun her with his brilliant brown eyes. ‘Honey the only thing I’ve sold out, is Madison Square Garden…four times.’ And then his voice trailed off, and he stepped closer, cocking his head. His hand reached out, touched hers. ‘Hey! Do I know you?’

Calliope shivered at his touch, the delicious kind of shiver she hadn’t felt for years. ‘Sorry, sir, but I’m not one of your groupies.’

‘Mommy!’ Rya tugged on her short, pink pleated uniform. ‘Mommy why are you being mean to Hunter Marks?’ She turned to Hunter, blinking those brilliant blue eyes up at him. ‘You’re mummy’s favorite.’ She whispered. ‘We have all of your albums in our car.’

Calliope thought she was going to melt into a puddle of mortification on the floor. And when Hunter grinned at her, biting his lip as though trying to hold in the smugness of his smile, Calliope thought she was going to melt for several different reasons. ‘Really?’ His voice was as rich as hot chocolate, and when he crossed his arms over his chest, his biceps challenged the pale green sweatshirt material and lost.

‘I’m studying to become an agent. I listen to all sorts of stuff.’ Calliope patted her daughter’s hair. ‘Rya honey, go back to Nanny okay?’

‘Did you say Rya?’ Hunter’s hand was on her arm again and Calliope flinched at the spark created when they touched. He jerked his hand back, his brow rising in astonishment- he’d felt it too. Suddenly, Calliope was hot all over, remembering how much she missed that spark- how much stronger it was now without Ryan’s presence serving as a barrier between them. In fact, Calliope missed Hunter’s warmth, his scent, his everything. He wasn’t a new soul anymore, and though he was still cocky, he wasn’t foolish and- she’d seen enough interviews, read enough articles and attended enough of his performances to know that he had evolved into a man who took music more seriously than he took himself- that his contribution to the world was magnificent and actually worth the sacrifices Calliope and Ryan had made to get him there.

Hunter Marks had gone from the little boy at the gorge, to a grown man, and he was wonderful. And as she evaluated him, chalking him up to the second best thing she had ever created- after Rya- he wrenched his eyes from hers and stared down at her daughter, shaking his head as though incredulous.

‘Look at her eyes. I haven’t seen color like that since…’

Sentimentality threatened to wash her away as Hunter recognised their best mate in her daughter’s face. She saw the pain flicker across his features and it was all she could do not to throw herself into his arms but he was already beginning to look her over again and Callie was wearing her Docs. She had to separate herself from him.

‘That table is still waiting for you.’ She pointed to the booth behind Blythe again. It was worth a shot, wasn’t it? Hunter had once loved hearing songs re-mixed, maybe he’d recognize a kindred spirit within her latest charge? ‘And don’t worry, we won’t draw any attention your way.’

Hunter’s eyebrows pulled together, and a few tiny lines appeared, which surprised her. For all the partying he did, she’d expected him to look like a catcher’s mitt in the flesh. But he was perfect. Glowing and so muscular that it looked like his fitted white tee and jeans had been painted on underneath his hoodie. Good lord he was still so young! She felt ancient!

He stepped closer, his expression so thoughtful that it was almost alien on happy-go-lucky Hunter’s face. ‘Wait- can’t we talk? Just for a minute?’

Calliope feigned confusion. ‘Why?’ Silently thinking; Don’t Speak! This hurts! This hurts!

‘I don’t know.’ He confessed, then stuffed his hands into the pockets of his artfully ripped jeans. His dark eyes searched hers. ‘Because you’re beautiful?’

Calliope smirked. ‘If that’s the best reason you’ve got, then no, we can’t.’ She turned back to her sisters, dismissing him silently. ‘So… anything else for you ladies?’

The Muses started to order and behind her, Calliope heard Hunter sigh and amble over to the booth, his head dropped, his shoulders shrugging around his ears in a defeated stance.

‘Darling...’ her mother whispered, and warm papery hands twined with hers, tugging her down. ‘Are you okay?’

But the tears were already leaking down Calliope’s face. ‘I miss him.’ She whispered. ‘I miss them both so much.’

Her mother squeezed her hand. ‘Honey… don’t despair. You know, there’s no reason why you can’t find a way to bring your lives together again… or to even be together. You’ve earned a rest, my love.’

‘And what? Lose my heart for good?’ Calliope shook her head. ‘I won’t do that. Ryan died so I could know love and carry on, and I have a daughter who needs me. If there’s another man on this planet who could send me into oblivion, then it’s Hunter Marks. Why do you think I avoid him?’

‘I don’t mean for you to go and have a dangerous affair,’ Memoria said. ‘But, maybe there’s another way you can be together- somewhere else.’ She lifted her gaze to the stained ceiling, indicating to Helicon. ‘Your father’s strength returns every day. Maybe, in time, he’ll be able to make you another soul mate- when you are able to accept one.’

‘Hunter? A Demigod?’ Calliope snorted, feeling like she’d be betraying Ryan just by considering it. ‘His ego isn’t big enough already?’

But Memoria smiled fondly over at Hunter. ‘He’s a champion, isn’t he? Think of the benefit’s he’s played, or the school programs that he’s funded for underprivileged children who can’t buy instruments of their own.’ She nodded towards Rya. ‘And soon enough, she will be ready to take your place. I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t have one dream to hang onto- it counts for more when you’re wide awake.’

Calliope rose, shaking her head. ‘I can’t do that to Ryan,’ she whispered, ‘and I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to love again.’

‘Ryan gave his life for your happiness, not his own. You already gave him that, when you chose him the last time.’ She patted Calliope’s hand. ‘Next time, choose yourself.’

Callie furiously scribbled down coffees for everyone. ‘I choose my work.’ She whispered. ‘Like I always have. It’s the only thing that’s safe, mom.’

‘Safe can be lonely…’ her mother whispered. ‘And just as dangerous.’

The music changed again, to Unchained Melody and Calliope wrestled her hand from her mother’s and said: ‘I have work to do,’ before hurrying away, aware of Hunter’s eyes on her as she ducked behind the bar and into the storage room, where she could weep into a napkin for her still-broken heart.

Epilogue.

February 2014

Hunter had barely heard a single word the prospective agent had said during the entire meeting. He had lawyers for that, advisors, a team of people he paid to make sure he didn’t make a stupid career move because an incredibly hot woman was selling him one.

And the agent before him was an incredibly hot woman and she was selling him hard without him hearing a word. She paced the room as she talked passionately about where he had come from, and where he needed to go. She had long black hair which spun in glossy ringlets to her lower back and was held back from her face with a red and white knotted bandana which matched her figure hugging red mini-dress. Her limbs were long, and strong and bronzed like a Grecian Goddess and as she spoke, her brown eyes shimmered, bee-stung red lips parting on the most silken voice he’d ever heard.

Well, since he’d heard Callie’s voice the last time anyway. And that was what had him riveted- the agent’s resemblance to Callie was striking. Had his best friend been allowed to grow into a woman in her thirties, this was what she might have looked like, only more glamorous, more confident, less fragile. Her eyes were larger, her lashes thicker, her skin smoother and her body more voluptuous than muscular… but still, it could have been his girl.

However, it was her sparkling personality that had him by the balls. When they’d been introduced, his tongue had grown thick and useless in his mouth and the girl had adjusted her Prada spectacles and whispered:

‘Yes, it’s me, Mr Marks.’ She’d winked, letting him know that despite the fact that her hair was black now, rather than blonde, and that her retro spectacles were gone, and that she seemed to be positively overflowing with excitable energy, compared to how remote she had seemed the last time their paths had crossed- she was the waitress he’d been trying to hunt down for four years. ‘If you want me to autograph your boxers or something afterwards, just don’t draw any attention to the fact that I was once your waitress okay?’ Her lips had parted on a brilliantly white smile. ‘I’d hate to cause bedlam.’

He couldn’t believe it was her! The very girl he’d penned Diner Girl about, one of his biggest hits about back in oh nine after she’d haunted his dreams for a year. It was the first song he’d ever written about a girl that wasn’t Callie- a song about recognizing a kindred spirit during a passing encounter. And she was here! Trying to sign him! His fingers were itching to scribble his name on the papers on the desk in front of him, and then to shut the door between his team and her legs and pin her to the desk. It was thrilling. Hunter had had his share of women over the years. In fact, he’d had Hugh Hefner’s share of women, but no one had ever lingered in his mind afterwards, not like the sharp-tongued waitress had, and not like Callie. He felt alive again, and he wondered if that little girl he’d met at the Diner that day had a daddy that was going to cock-block him.

Bring it on. He thought, running his finger over his lower lip as the agent shook his lawyer’s hand, darted a loaded look at him and said: ‘I’ll wait for your call. But I should let you know, that Bruno Mars has expressed some interest in hiring me, so I won’t be available long.’

Hunter sat up. ‘Gentleman, I’d like to speak to Miss…?’ He raised an eyebrow.

‘Claiborne,’ she said with a smile.

‘Miss Claiborne…’ he ran his tongue over her name and smiled when her eyes dilated somewhat. ‘Alone.’

His team shot him looks that fell somewhere between warning, threatening and eye-rolling, but they shuffled out, each glancing back to shoot the agent final, appreciative and lingering looks. When the door closed behind Adam, his entertainment lawyer, Hunter got to his feet, surprised to feel his heart racing nervously. ‘I want to hire you.’ He blurted out.

The agent grinned. ‘Really? Just like that?’

‘No. Not just like that.’ Hunter stepped around the edge of the desk, approaching her slowly, hoping his short fedora, the kind that had become a staple of his look, shaded some of the excitement in his eyes. ‘I want to hire you. But I’m afraid, that in doing so, I’m going to end up barraged by a string of sexual harassment suits.’

She rested her hands on her hips. ‘That’s prophetic of you.’ She eyed him. ‘I was just thinking the same thing.’

He smiled at her. ‘You could tell I was going to jump you that easily huh?’

‘Yes but...’ she walked towards him, her cherry-red fingernails dragging along the edge of the table. ‘I was referring to my own uh, possible transgressions…’ She lowered her eyes then peeked up at him between her thick lashes. ‘I loved the song,’ she said softly. ‘Thank you.’

Hunter reached for her hand, pulling her against him before he even began to process that loaded sentance. She was hot, curvaceous, malleable and yet every part of her ripe flesh was firm and seemed to fit against him in a way that even Callie never quite had. ‘Is that so?’ He examined her at close range, feeling drunk on their chemistry. ‘I thought you weren’t the groupie type.’

‘Oh I’m not…’ she assured him. ‘But I am a fan.’ She grinned wickedly, then pulled away. ‘However, Mr Marks I am also a mother, and my eight year old daughter doesn’t need me to get carried away and sabotage my professional life just because I happen to be incredibly attracted to my client.’ She smiled coquettishly over her shoulder. ‘So if you want me on the clock, I’m yours. But if you want me off the clock… you’re going to have to understand that I don’t enter into affairs lightly.’ She perched on the edge of his desk and eyed him with sober, thoughtful eyes. ‘You might say I’m old-fashioned that way and you seem to be rather, er, hasty to get romance over and done with.’

Hunter knew what she was saying and usually, that kind of statement would have sent him running out the door. And yet the idea of being more than three feet from her winded him already. Was this The One? Could it be, after all of these years? His heart was certainly pounding hard enough!

‘I love diners,’ he confessed to her quickly, at a loss to how to respond directly to her remark. ‘I love records, and I collect antique instruments. I think the nineties were the best decade for music in history, I can’t listen to K-Ci and Jo Jo without weeping, I’ve never watched the video that made me who I am today, and for eight years I’ve been waiting for a girl to come along who could be my best friend and a lover.’ He thought of Ryan’s comment in the choir room at AVPAC that day:

‘It was an easy choice for me. If it wasn’t for you, you don’t deserve her.’

But Ryan had been wrong. Hunter had had his Big Time, and yet if he could give it all back, hand that sheet music to Ry and drag Callie out of that music studio, he wouldn’t hesitate to now. She’d been obsessed with his destiny, and he was grateful for every blessing he’d known. But all of them paled in comparison to the morning he’d woken up next to Callie Clay and realized that some things did matter more than fame, or the night his dreams and worst nightmares had come to pass simultaneously. So many years had passed, and his life had been so full and blessed- and yet, it was worthless without having Ryan or Callie, or both, to share it with. Just thinking of Ryan’s casual grin and Callie’s beautiful voice still made his chest too tight to bear.

‘I’ve taken a lot of women to bed, Diner Girl,’ he admitted. ‘But I’ve only ever fallen for one and I waited a long time for her- so if I have to wait an eternity to feel that way again, I’ll be patient.’ His eyes flickered over her insane body. ‘In theory…’

The agent smiled at him, as though weighing his words, and then took his hat from his head, and in a move that made him weak-kneed, slanted it over her own Gene Kelly-style and said softly: ‘I could use a friend.’ She bit her lip, the smile beneath dazzling. ‘And if Daddy thinks that you’re as much of a god as I do, and approves, I could use a soul-mate too.’ At that moment, the agent’s phone jangled in her bag. The tone was: ‘Is she really going out with him?’ And Hunter smiled to see that she liked the classics like he did. She picked up the iPhone, rolled her eyes at the screen, whispered: ‘Funny aint cha?’ And silenced it.

‘Prank caller?’ Hunter asked.

The girl kept her eyes averted, a soft smile on her profile. ‘Nah. My iPod plays up sometimes...’ She cleared her throat and turned back to him. ‘So, Hunter Marks- do we have a deal?’

‘Depends on which deal we’re talking about.’

‘Both, of course. As your agent, I sense that your career is about to swing upwards again, and I’m not going to get in the way of that by falling in love with you and getting all possessive...’ Her eyes sparkled. ‘Not just yet anyway. I’m starting to really like L. A.’

‘City of Angels…’ Hunter moved closer to her, thinking that in his hat, she looked like exactly that; an angel. Her energy made the room vibrate and hum.

‘Oh they aren’t angels… just a few very helpful devils.’ She winked at him. ‘As for the private deal, do you think you could handle a single mother with an overprotective father and a broken iPhone? You don’t have to handle them all right away, of course- but in time, I am going to want you all to myself.’ Her eyes went to his mouth, and when she looked back up into his face, there was need in her expression. ‘And for Always.’

Hunter wet his lips, wanting to trace the outline of her pout with the tip of his tongue, knowing that he’d move heaven and earth for this girl. He stroked the underside of her chin, and gently drew her face to his, momentarily thunderstruck by the familiarity of her amber eyes. ‘I agree to all of it. But only if you call me Hunter instead of Mr Marks…’ he grinned when her smile widened. ‘And then tell me your name as well, Diner girl.’

The goddess’s eyes shone like swirling caramel. ‘Melody,’ she whispered. ‘My name is Melody.’

Electricity shot down Hunter’s spine and his mouth fell open as the shadows of understanding to come swirled in his head like her suddenly Harlequin eyes- Claiborne? Why was that ringing a bell? Why was Bon Jovi suddenly in his head? What was it about the way his hat sat askance on her head, or the memory of her daughter’s bright blue eyes, that was tearing into him so? It was almost like… Hunter swallowed and tried to speak but when tears clogged his throat, muting him, the woman smiled fondly, and pressed a finger to his lips.

‘Ssh…’ she whispered, dragging her finger down his bottom lip and lifting her face to his. She was so close that he could smell her cherry gloss and the wicked glint in her eye was so familiar to him that it was like he was being embraced by a memory. ‘Kiss me now, and then you can write a song about it later...’

Not knowing if she was real, or a dream and not caring, Hunter pulled Melody into his arms and parted his lips with hers that he could feel the energy of before contact had been made; breath against breath, tears against his cheeks- in a passionate kiss, which he sensed would thrill him for an eternity.

And then all he could see, sense or feel, was the music and his heart beating as one; in perfect harmony.

- End -