Melody

"To a new beginning." Cole raises his glass towards us for a toast.

"To a new beginning," Mr. Carter and I chime, reaching over to lightly clink glasses of champagne together.

It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I'm just floating up in the clouds. From what mom has told me, news websites and social media have been in a frenzy over me since the interview this morning. My PR team is handling everything though, so I'm not particularly worried. Cole and Mr. Carter insisted I stay away from the internet for now and just relax.

That's proving to be quite difficult, however. I do my best to ignore the bustling commotion coming from inside the penthouse. It sounds like the catering and servers have just arrived.

Cole notices me wincing and gets up to close the balcony's stained glass doors, muffling the sounds of talking, hasty footsteps, furniture being dragged around, and clanking utensils. It's all too familiar. As a child, I would slip away once no one was watching when mom would host parties. I can still feel the weight of my warm covers while I laid in bed, hiding upstairs. Mr. Carter would usually find me and spend the evening either playing cards or reading books with me.

"I can't believe you actually agreed to this, Mel," he remarks.

I shrug and take a small sip of my champagne, hoping the alcohol will soon numb the tension in my body. "I told my mom that I would only do it if she promised to handle everything."

She's fulfilling her end of the deal, I didn't doubt that she would. Mom is downstairs, probably ordering around the staff she hired for tonight. It's what she does best.

-----

I can't hide my laughter when Cole comes out of my bathroom with a scowl firmly stuck on his face. His tie is lopsided and the back half is hanging lower than the front.

He groans and tugs at it, making it worse. "It's hard to tie a tie, ok?"

I hop off the bed as he comes over to me. With a couple careful maneuvers, I re-tie his tie into a neat Windsor knot.

He stares at himself in my mirror and examines the tie. "Why do you know how to tie a tie?" He furrows his brows.

"Ms. Daphne." I roll my eyes. Even as a ten year old, I thought her reasoning to learn how was pretty sexist. As far as I'm concerned, guys can learn to tie their own darn ties.

I apply some more hairspray to my hair. It's in a loosely curled half updo. My hair options are quite limited with my lack of skills, but I can still manage to squeak by most of the time. Mom wanted to hire another team of stylists for the party tonight, but I put my foot down. Normal people don't have stylist teams.

Cole helps me with the zipper at the back of my dress. It's a simple muted blue dress that I wore for a couple of performances on the tour. I examine myself in the mirror for a moment and can't stop a small grin from tugging at my lips. I've been finding it almost difficult to recognize the Melody that looks back at me these days. I'm not used to feeling truly happy and it's a feeling I don't ever want to let go of.

"Ready?"

-----

Cole and I head downstairs into the crowded living room. It's full of guests in elegant gowns and sharp suits with a strong cloud of perfume and cologne hanging over them.

I immediately recognize the music being played in the background, they're my recordings - mom must've chosen the music. I recognize Brahms' Intermezzo in A major. Not exactly one of my favourite pieces. Unsurprisingly, mom didn't consult with me about it.

There are caterers walking around with trays of champagne and hors d'oeuvres. The giant, sparkly chandeliers are all on, shining iridescent patterns against the walls. Mr. Carter and I normally keep them off, they're too extravagant for my taste.

I do my best to ignore the enormous congratulations banner with a picture of my face on it.

I easily spot the faces of my extended family. They've grown older, as have I, but the sense of comfort and warmth when I see them hasn't changed a bit. I'd almost forgotten how huge dad's side of the family is. It's grown even bigger, new kids have been born and new partners have joined.

As I expected, Cole has no problem meeting and charming all of them. His friendliness stands out when he can somehow find something in common with almost everyone to talk about.

There are lots of happy tears from family members whom I've missed so much. Old friends catch me up on their lives - college, marriage, kids, and things that once seemed so out of reach for myself. Cole's friends from Kappa Sigma he invited are a lot nicer than I expected, Jake and Mark even brought me a small bouquet of flowers. Trisha is the epitome of excitement and enthusiasm in contrast to her fiancé, a very sweet and soft-spoken man named Matt. Ophelia and her friends gush to me about how nice the penthouse is, I even give them a tour of the place. Melissa is fitting right in with my younger cousins.

I'm not surprised that mom invited people from the music industry, obviously for networking purposes. Some things never change. I recognize most of them from my younger years. I do my best to be polite, though I start to run out of space in my purse for more of their business cards.

Speaking of which, I have no idea where mom is. She knocked on my door earlier, just to tell me that guests were arriving. I haven't heard from her since. Nothing new I suppose.

My vocal chords have gotten so little use over the years that by the time I've spoken to everyone, I've begun to lose my voice. It feels as if my throat is lined with sandpaper. Tea usually helps soothe it, I've had enough alcohol anyways.

On my way to the kitchen to get a drink, I hear someone call my name. I spot grandma waving to me from the sofa. Happy memories of home that I thought were gone forever suddenly come crashing back when I see her.

Going to her house nearly every weekend where she'd have freshly baked cookies ready for Alyssa and I. Playing in the old, creaky treehouse in the backyard that in hindsight was extremely dangerous. Petting her grumpy old cat, Francis who'd bite if you looked at him wrong. Listening to her tell stories about dad, before he'd come in and make her stop embarrassing him.

I didn't realize how much I had really missed everyone until tonight.

"Hi Grandma!" I sit down next to her and she pulls me into a comforting hug. She still smells like the same rose perfume she's worn for as long as I can remember.

"Hello Melody." The crows feet at the corners of grandma's eyes crinkle when she smiles warmly at me. She leans back to get a better look at me. "Oh my little girl, you've sprouted like a weed since the last time I saw you. Have you been eating enough?"

I chuckle and nod. "I've been doing well Grandma, especially recently."

She grins and lightly pinches my cheek. "I'm so proud of you, dear. We all watched your interview while we were waiting for our flight this morning. I know your dad would've been very proud of you too."

It's as if I can feel a warm and soft glowing light inside of me. It's been getting brighter and brighter lately. "Thanks Grandma," I whisper.

She clears her throat and her expression suddenly looks ready for business. "So, I hope this boy is treating you right." She peers at me from above her thin wire-framed glasses. "Because if he hurts my granddaughter-"

I try not to blush as a wide smile spreads across my face. "He makes me happy Grandma, so happy."

I scan the area, hoping Cole's still in the living room. I spot him sitting with my four year old twin cousins, Meghan and Maggie. I left years before they were born, this was my first time finally getting to meet them in person. They're both carrying the cutest, kid-sized bright yellow and blue purses. They're excitedly showing him the things they keep inside of their purses. I can make out some dolls, crayons, glitter, and candy.

"Cole!" I call.

He looks up and quickly spots me before coming over. The twins closely trail behind him, each gripping onto the hem of his shirt.

He crouches down to their height. "Sorry girls, I'm going to talk to your cousin, ok?"

"But we wanted to pway!" Meghan pouts.

He laughs and ruffles her hair. "I'll be back in a bit, ok? I promise!"

They both nod and run away towards another group of our cousins.

"Cole, this is my Grandma."

"It's nice to meet you," he says politely and shakes her hand.

Grandma gestures for me to come closer to speak into my ear. "Oh, he's even more handsome in person, dear." She clearly knows that she spoke loudly enough for Cole to hear her. Grandma has never been one to be subtle.

Cole just laughs and sits down on the armchair adjacent to us. "Thank you, Mrs. Aria."

She shakes her head and casually waves her hand. "Please just call me Lynn. I've been feeling old enough already," she groans. "It was my birthday a couple weeks ago. I swear we would've needed to call the fire department if my cake had all the candles for my age."

"Nonsense. I can only hope that I'm still as lively as you by the time I'm your age." He gives her his charming smile. "Although you don't look a day over fifty five."

I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

Grandma looks dumbfounded for a moment before looking at me from the corner of her eye. "He actually won you over with that charm?" she mumbles in disbelief and raises an eyebrow.

I can't help but burst out laughing while Cole pouts. Dad would always tell me that I took after grandma. I go over and sit down next to him.

"I see where you get it from," he grumbles. He's scowling but I see the amusement in his eyes, though I'm sure he would deny it.

I place my hand on Cole's chest and rest my head against his shoulder. "There's much more to Cole than that, Grandma. I promise."

"I'm sure there is," she chuckles. "For one, I heard from your mother about how you decided to quit. It must have taken guts to propose the idea to Melody, Cole."

Cole stutters a bit and quickly tries to apologize. Despite my constant reassurance, he's been feeling guilty this whole time. He's worried that something bad will happen and it'll have been his fault.

I can't imagine anything bad happening at this point. The worst is definitely behind us now as things are calming down. I don't think I've ever felt so at ease and happy, and I'm hoping he'll eventually understand that. Don't get me wrong, things aren't perfect - far from it in fact. But being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that I've learned to look beyond the imperfections.

Grandma reaches to take Cole's hand in her small, frail ones and gently pats the back of his hand. He quickly stops speaking as she softly shushes him and gives him a warm smile. There's a faint, happy twinkle in her pale blue eyes. "Thank you. It's about time my granddaughter finally got to be happy."

Cole exhales in relief. "I wholeheartedly agree."

"Aw Grandma, I love you," I sigh and reach over to hug her again.

"Let's not get too mushy, shall we?" Grandma gives me a teasing grin when I let go. She's always been a quite pragmatic and no-nonsense kind of person. It's rare for me to see her be so soft and emotional. "Have you seen Alyssa around? Could you ask her to come find me to talk? The girl hasn't called me in months," she says with mock disapproval in her voice, shaking her head.

Oddly enough, I haven't. Alyssa tends to stand out when it comes to social events. I wonder where she could be. "I'll go find her for you."

I wander around the penthouse, not seeing her anywhere I'd expect her to be. I'm about to give up as I head to the kitchen to get that drink I was meaning to get almost half an hour ago.

My eyes widen as I immediately spot her. Alyssa is sitting on the kitchen counter. Standing in between her legs is Luke - making her already short dress ride even higher up her thighs. Her arms are wrapped around his shoulders and they're making out. I'm sure glad that I found her before grandma did.

I try to quietly back away but she notices me anyways.

"Oh hey Mel!" Alyssa pulls away from Luke and hops off the counter. She immediately gives me a tight hug. She smells like a mix of sweet perfume and strong cologne. "I saw your interview this morning. You did great! I'm so proud of you, cous."

Luke picks up his cup from the counter. "I'll give you two some privacy." He gives Alyssa a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving the kitchen.

I peek over my shoulder to make sure Luke is gone before I stare at her blankly. "So uh, what happened to Michael?" I can't say that I disagreed with Cole when he said the two didn't seem compatible, but this is sudden - even for Alyssa.

She makes a disgusted face and flips her hair over her shoulder. "He can go straight to hell for all I care. I dumped him on Monday."

I can't say that I'm incredibly surprised. "What happened?"

"I talked to him about the incident, and he had the audacity to refuse to apologize to you! He didn't seem to have any remorse and we got into a huge fight," she scoffs. "Boys. First they give you butterflies, then mental trauma."

I wince a bit at the burning disdain in her eyes. "But why?" Michael always seemed... passionate about his work - from what Cole has told me at least, but I never thought he'd be heartless.

"Something about it being for the greater good." She rolls her eyes and runs her hand through her hair. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think he probably cared about the newspaper more than he did about me."

Somehow I don't doubt that.

"Well, I'm glad you have Luke now." He seems like a nice enough guy for her, although Alyssa normally isn't into nice. There must be more to Luke that I don't know about. "Anyways, grandma is in the living room and wants to talk to you."

She rummages through a drawer and looks at her reflection in a ladle. "Do I look presentable?"

Her hair is a bit disheveled and her makeup is smudged. It doesn't take a detective to tell what she's been up to recently. As open as Alyssa is about her love life, I know she'd draw the line at grandma seeing her like this.

"You uh, might want to go to the bathroom to straighten up a bit first."

"Good call." She quickly rushes off down the hall.

I feel someone touch my back. I don't even need to look to know it's Cole. I've grown very familiar with the size and shape of his hand, and the same location he puts it on every time.

"Was that... Alyssa and Luke together?"

"Yup."

He laughs and shakes his head. "Figures. Michael's probably gotten over her already, she definitely deserved better."

I feel my phone buzz and quickly check it. I hope it's what I think it is.

Mr. Carter: Everything is set up for you, Ms. Aria.

I feel my heart flutter with nerves and excitement. "Come to the living room in five minutes, I have a surprise!"

Cole opens his mouth to speak, but I quickly head to my room to get changed before he can ask any questions. I'm the worst at keeping surprises a secret.

--------------------

I'm so happy 🥺