Chapter 22

As the music started, Melissa knew she knew the chords she just couldn’t place them. In about 10 seconds, her brain went through every song that she could dream of him singing to her. Bed of Roses, These Days, Bells of Freedom, Hallelujah, In These Arms. Wait who said it’s a love song? Born to be my Baby, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, oh there are so many! This dream sequence quickly turned into trying to place the song, and she quickly ran through every cd in her head trying to place the music. He continued to play in silence, before he finally began to sing.

“This ain't a song for the broken-hearted.” Melissa sat there and took in the beautiful, acoustic rendition of her song. He mouth dropped open as his voice rich and sincere rang out loud.

“A silent prayer for faith departed,
And I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd,
You're gonna hear my voice,
When I shout it out loud”

Melissa took in every word that he was singing to her and as he began the chorus he opened his eyes and locked them with hers. As he sang she could feel the emotion that he was singing with, and hoped that he saw how much she appreciated the sentiment.

“It's my life, it's now or never,
I ain't gonna live forever,
I just want to live while I'm alive,

It's my life, my heart is like an open highway,
Like Frankie said, ‘I did it my way’,
I just wanna live while I'm alive, It's my life”

Slightly regaining her composure, Melissa listened to him in disbelief. This is for me, he remembered. If there was one song that changed my life it was this one. Could this get any better? An overwhelming amount of emotions came over her as she heard this song like she had never heard it before, because this time it was for her. His eyes said it all; this was a tribute to her, to what he knew she had been through. It was the most romantic thing she had ever heard. Before the song was over she had a thin stream of tears flowing down her cheeks, and she felt Angela next to her give her knee a little squeeze.

As Jon played the last few notes, he smiled at Melissa a little surprised by her reaction. He had never seen such an emotional response from one of his songs before, but he saw the joy in her eyes through the tears. For a brief moment it seemed that the whole world around them had stopped as they looked at each other, and Melissa mouthed a simple “Thank you”. Jon nodded his acknowledgement, and turned his attention back to the crowd he had forgotten about.

“I have time for just a few more songs, any requests on the floor?” Jon asked the group of nearly 50 people. It had almost doubled since he began playing.

Melissa quickly wiped the tears from her face and looked around at the kids, who she hadn’t seen this happy in a long time. There was not one child without a smile of their face, so happy for such a change from the monotonous routine. The kids seem a little shy by this seemingly simple request, and most looked like they didn’t know what to do.

“Come on now, I don’t bite. Any song, it doesn’t have to be one of mine. You can ask your mom or dad if you want. If I don’t get any, I’m gonna have to resort to classics like ‘Row, row, row your boat,’ or ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star’.” Jon smiled as the kids laughed. “Come on, don’t be shy. I’m sure nurse Angela up here has some requests of her own that you can steal.”

With that Angela started scribbling on a piece of paper from a nearby chart. She eagerly held up her requests, and Jon laughed as he read them. “Angela this is a children’s floor,” Jon said shaking his head. “Any other takers?”

Melissa looked at the piece of paper curiously and read her inappropriate list. The list read four songs, but Melissa didn’t think there were four worse songs to pick: Let’s make it Baby, Temptation, Living in Sin, Damned. Melissa smiled and shook her head as she wrote ‘You’re incorrigible, but nice try.’

“Finally I think we have a request. I was starting to think I was way too old,” Jon said snapping Melissa’s attention back to him. “Lovely Lindsay in the second row, what can I play for you dear?”

Melissa turned to look at Lindsay who was blushing. “Umm do you think you could maybe play ‘Stick to your guns’? I know you’ve only played it once before,” she asked Jon.

“Absolutely, but I may be a little rusty on the words you think you wanna come up here and join me?” Jon asked, and Lindsay nearly squealed as she was helped up onto the makeshift stage. Once she was settled he turned and said to her, “I see we’ve got a little fan here. Now whatever words you remember you sing.” He turned the microphone towards her a little and started to play.

He played the music flawlessly and muffled over a few words and much to Lindsay’s delight she piped in loudly. Jon took three more requests before most of the kids were removed for one thing or another. Once the room was empty with the exception of Melissa and Jon she gained enough composure from not only the high of seeing him play but the thrill of having her song dedicated to her, did she finally approach him as he was packing up his guitar.

“That was absolutely amazing you know,” Melissa said from behind him.

“Oh yeah? What part?” Jon asked with a silly boyish grin.

“Honestly the whole thing. I haven’t seen most of these kids this happy the whole time they’ve been here. You’re just so genuine, they can tell. And your impromptu duet with Lindsay, I know made her day, hell probably her whole year. I have to admit it’s a favorite of mine. But maybe most of all I have to thank you. The way you sang ‘It’s my Life’ to me, I can’t describe it. I was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. So thank you,” Melissa said stepping closer to give him a hug.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. God does this feel right, so safe and secure, Melissa thought. She closed her eyes and just thinking of her performance brought tears back to her eyes. She pulled away and looked at him. “I should really go before I start crying all over again. I promise I’m not usually this blubbery, these are happy tears I promise,” she said feeling one sneak down her cheek.

He reached over and wiped it from her face, and he smiled. “See tears all gone, I’m a magician too.”

Melissa smiled, “While that may be true, I do have some stuff I have to double check before I leave. I’ll be no more than five minutes, promise. When you’re all done you can come and find me. I’ll be in my office,” Melissa said as she turned to leave.

Melissa stopped by Gina’s office before entering her own to check on the status of the reports. They had already been taken care of, as she knew they would. She walked next door to her own office to pack up her stuff for the night. Not to surprisingly she found Angela waiting in one of her chairs, and she leapt up when Melissa entered.

“Oh my God, oh-my-god! Melissa are you kidding me?! First these fantastic flowers, which I’m, still looking into, and then that serenade. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything sweeter in my life,” Angela said hugging her best friend. “Sit and tell me everything before he comes back.”

“Well he should be here any minute, and what do you mean you’re still looking into the flowers? What’s there to look into?” Melissa asked taking a seat.

“Well these are roses, and different colored roses have different meaning, and so do the amount of roses given. And this vase, it’s a Tiffany’s. Tiffany’s Mel!”

“Seriously, I didn’t notice that before. But what makes you think that he put as much thought into the colors and numbers as you’re giving him credit for?” Melissa challenged packing her computer into its case.

“Melissa someone as romantic as he has proven himself in the past 45 minutes is gonna have a hidden meaning in these gorgeous flowers. Don’t worry about it, I’ll look it up and tell you how wonderful he is. So what’s the plan from here? Dinner maybe?” Angela asked curiously.

“Dinner indeed,” Jon said from the doorway, guitar case in hand.

Melissa and Angela looked at each other, before Melissa asked, “Just how long have you been standing there?”

“Just long enough to hear dinner. Don’t worry I didn’t hear any girl talk. Are you ready to go,” Jon asked.

“Yup this is everything. I’m gonna leave these flowers here to brighten up the place a bit. Are you ready too,” Melissa asked.

“I’m ready when you are. Nice seeing you again Angela, it’s always entertaining. You like to keep me on my toes,” Jon said smiling.

“Wait just a second, you two. I don’t get any details of where you’re going, or when you’ll be home? And just how am I supposed to get home,” Angela demanded.

“Nope, I’ll have to keep you guessing all night. Here you can take my truck home. Jon can drop me off after we finish dinner, and no staking out my building waiting for me to get home,” Melissa said handing Angela her car keys.

Angela looked like she might protest, but instead smiled at them and said, “Ok then you two have a good night.”

Melissa and Jon said their goodbyes to Angela and made their way hand in hand to the elevator. Both couldn’t help but smile being in each other’s presence. They made their way up to his car, and were quickly on their way. They made use of their time together, not paying attention to the rush hour traffic. By the time they reached the highway they had already fallen into their usual comfortable conversation. Jon used the time to clear his head about the afternoon, talking about what he had seen and having someone who knew what his emotion were going through made him feel better.

Melissa continued to give Jon directions when they finally got off the highway in Ridgewood, and she did something she didn’t think under other circumstances she would do. “Ok you’re gonna be on this road for a while. Do you mind if we stop at my apartment first, so I can change quick,” she asked a bit surprised at herself.

“Not a problem, you just tell me where to go. But if you’re changing does that make me terribly underdressed,” Jon asked, rethinking wearing jeans to take her out to dinner.

“Not at all, I just wanna put on something nicer than a jersey,” Melissa said. “I’ll be quick I promise, five minutes tops.”

“I’ve got a daughter remember, I’ve heard that before. I know that five minutes, especially in the morning is at least a half hour-“

Jon was cut off mid-sentence by Melissa’s cell phone, Until I'm 6 feet under, Baby I don't need a bed, Gonna live while I'm alive, I'll sleep when I'm dead, Till they roll me over, And lay my bones to rest, Gonna live while I'm alive, I'll sleep when I'm dead…Melissa tried franticly to dig out her phone, but it was one of those moments that the harder you look for the ringing phone the harder it is to find. She finally located her phone as it stopped ringing and opened it before it started again, while turning a deep shade of red.

“I am so embarrassed you have no idea. I am so sorry! I should’ve put it on vibrate, I’m gonna kill Angela. Wait a minute are you laughing,” she asked looking at him.

Sure enough he was trying to hold his laughter in unsuccessfully. “I’m sorry I don’t mean to laugh at you, but your face was priceless. Its no big deal don’t worry about it. It’s nice to know my older music still gets some use.”

“Turn right here, and my buildings on the left,” she told him felling some of the color leave her cheeks.

As he pulled into the parking lot she looked down and read the text. Mel you have noooooo idea how great he is…tell you later…enjoy dinner I expect all the details…

Jon parked the car and turned off the engine, as Melissa grabbed her spare key from her purse and led them to the front door. She walked in the building and up the stairs to her apartment. She let them in and threw her purse, bag and keys on the counter and locked the door he shut behind them, as she did so many times.

“Ok, help yourself to whatever you want in the kitchen, the remote’s on the couch somewhere. I’ll only be a couple of minutes,” Melissa said before turning to go back into her room.

Melissa made her way back to her room and stared at her closet, seeing absolutely nothing to wear. She began grabbing shirts and throwing them on, looking in the mirror and taking them back off. After her third shirt she heard the phone ring in the living room. She walked over to her door and called out for Jon to answer it. He called back to her and the ringing stopped as she continued to try on top after top. After another few minutes Melissa could still hear him talking and grabbed her pink dressing robe and made her way out to the living room. There was only one person that would keep him on the phone that long, Angela.

She stopped at the end of the hallway and saw him sprawled out on her couch laughing into the phone. “Is that Angela,” Melissa asked walking over to him.

“It is indeed, and I knew you would be more than five minutes, unless is that what you’re wearing tonight,” he teased.

“Oh stop it. I’ll take the phone before she drives you absolutely nuts,” Melissa said holding out her hand for the phone. “Just another couple of minutes, honestly and then I’m ready to go. Can you do me a huge favor, it’ll get us outta here quicker.”

“Name it,” he said smiling.

“Can you go in the kitchen and grab a can of cat food outta the cabinet and feed the cats? The bowls are with the food, in the first cabinet on the right. If you pop the can they should come running,” Melissa said.

“Sure thing,” Jon said getting up from the couch.

“Look here comes your almost namesake now,” Melissa said. “This little guy is Frank, and he would be more than willing to help you open the can.”

As Jon walked to the kitchen an orange and white cat ran past him and began meowing for his dinner. “Now why is this one Frank again,” he asking trying to find the right cabinet.

“Look at his eyes, they’re blue. Dean and Sammy will come out once they hear the can open. I’ll be back out in a couple minutes, you’re a lifesaver,” Melissa said before heading back down the hall.

Once she was back in her room she turned her attention back to her closet and to Angela. “Angela, how did you know I was home,” Melissa asked trying on yet another shirt.

“I may have had Tommy drive by and tell me all the cars in the parking lot until I heard his. Besides don’t deflect the real issue here. You have him in your apartment and you have him feeding your cats. Dear Lord, I think I hear wedding bells,” Angela said with a giggle.

“Oh Angela get a grip. I asked him to stop so I could change on my way home, and he was just lounging on my couch and I asked him to open a can of cat food so I don’t have to do it later. I think I’m a little more concerned that I’m being stalked. What do you think of my pink shirt with the short sleeves and fringe?”

“I dunno I still think there’s more to this. And not that shirt, it doesn’t show off your boobs enough. Try the black wrap top and throw on a pair of heels. He likes a nice heel,” Angela said as Melissa dug through her closet.

“God Angela, it’s a little scary that you know that. This is a good one, thanks,” Melissa said pulling on the black shirt Angela described.

“And umm the black sandal heels, and you’re good to go,” Angela said ignoring the stalker reference.

“Ok thanks Ang, but I better go. I promise I’ll call you later,” Melissa said slipping on her shoe and heading for the door.

“Just wait a minute don’t you wanna hear about the flowers. You’re never gonna believe it,” Angela said excitedly.

Melissa made her way down the hall and saw Jon back on her couch surrounded by three very content cats. “No, Angela, tell me later. Let me go before my cats force Jon to stay. They seem to like him.” Jon turned around and looked at Melissa in the hall.

“Now would that be such a bad thing,” Angela teased.

“Goodbye Angela,” Melissa said before hanging up the phone. “I see you made some new friends. And you met Sammy over there and Dean on your lap.” Melissa said turning her attention to Jon.

“Absolutely. They’re like kids they love whoever feeds them,” Jon said getting up.

“Well I’m ready to go if you are,” Melissa said grabbing her bag.

“I’m set, and you look absolutely beautiful,” Jon said smiling at her.

Melissa felt her cheeks blush at the compliment. “Thanks, now lets go before they give away our table. It’s just a few blocks we can walk if you want.”

“Sounds good, it’s such a beautiful night,” Jon said opening the door for her.

“Yes it certainly is,” Melissa said locking the door behind her.

She took his hand and held it tight as they made their way down the stairs. This is it, she thought, this is what I’ve always wanted. And now I’ve got it. She smiled as they made their way to the restaurant where her magical day would continue into a memorable night.