“For you,” Max says, tossing me the keys with a big smile, “anything. I’ll just add it to your tab.”
“Thanks, mate,” I tell him and soon I’m in the driver’s seat of an aging van from the 80’s, heading to Wembley with Natasha at my side.
It’s one hell of a nerve-wracking car ride.
Natasha is ringing her hands, biting her lip so hard I fear she’ll draw blood.
“Relax,” I tell her, placing my hand on her leg. “I’m here. With you all the way. You don’t even have to face her if you don’t want her, just stay in the van and I’ll take care of it.”
She shakes her head, exhaling noisily. “I won’t hide from her. Not anymore.”
We pull up to her building and her face falls when she sees the light on in her flat but to her credit, she gets out and we trudge up the stairs to her floor until we’re standing right outside her door.
“Are you ready?” I ask her.
“Nope,” she says, trying to smile. She sticks in her key, hopefully for the last time, and the door opens.
We step inside. The sound of the telly blaring comes from the living area.
“Natasha?” Melissa calls out from the room.
The two of us wait in the hallway, staying silent.
Finally Melissa walks out of the room and stops dead when she sees us.
She blinks at us in surprise for a few beats before her face hardens into hatred.
I wiggle my fingers at her. “Hello. Bet you didn’t expect to see me tonight.”
“What the fuck are you doing with him?” Melissa asks Natasha, though I’m noticing she’s not coming any closer to us. I think she’s scared of us, that we should be so bold. “Why is he here?”
Natasha and I exchange a glance of who should go first.
Natasha looks back to Melissa and shrugs. “He’s helping me move out.”
“Move out? You found another place already?”
If I’m not mistaken there’s a tiny bit of hurt in Melissa’s voice. It makes her human for once.
Natasha swallows thickly but straightens up, head held high. “I did. So Brigs is helping me move.”
Melissa is back to glaring, that sliver of vulnerability gone. “Bullshit. You’re together again aren’t you?”
“Actually,” I tell her, walking a few steps toward her. Melissa shrinks back against the wall. “We are together again. Natasha is actually moving into my flat. Tonight. We’re going to live together. And see each other, as you can imagine.”
“You…you can’t do that,” she says, looking between us. “You can’t…I’m reporting you. I told you I would and you give me no choice.”
“No, you do have a choice,” Natasha says, coming over to us and going right up to Melissa’s face. I’ve never seen her so brave. “Maybe we can’t choose who we fall in love with but you can choose whether to be a total cuntasaurus or not. You don’t have to report us but you want to and you will because you’re unhappy as fuck with your life.” She shakes her head, her tone softening. “You know, I tried to be a good friend to you and I’m sorry I wasn’t but I’m not sorry any of this happened. It let me know who you really were deep down. And it let me and Brigs be together in peace.”
Melissa is just shaking her head, flabbergasted. When she can’t find the words to say to Natasha, she narrows her eyes at me. “You won’t find any peace. I’ll make sure of it. What’s wrong is wrong and you’re both wrong.”
“Go ahead,” I tell her, folding my arms across my chest and looking down at her. “Go and report us. But you should know, I’ve beat you to it.”
“What?”
“I’ve turned myself in. Had a meeting with the dean, the department chair and Professor Irving. I told them everything, the whole truth. That we loved each other once and we love each other now. And guess what, Miss King? We have their approval.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“Well, you really should. But you know, feel free to take it up with them.” I pause, my mouth curving into a smile. I’m about to tell a lie but it’s one I feel good about. “I mentioned you, you know, what you’ve said, what you’ve threatened me with. So they’re kind of expecting you to come by.”
Natasha’s eyes dart to me, knowing I’m lying, but I keep my focus on Melissa. I can practically see her crumbling in front of us. There goes her plan of attack.
I go on. “Or you know, you could just let it go. Accept that Natasha is happy, that I’m happy. Forget about us just as we will forget about you.” I tilt my head, giving her a sad smile. “Because believe me, Melissa, we will forget about you. We have each other. That’s all we need. Well that, and our child.”