Shine On

Rupert had more interviews and press lined up for the entire day. He had woken her up with a kiss before leaving rather early in the morning, much earlier than Harper had woken up in a long time. She didn’t mind it though, she had never had a better start to her day. She wasn’t a big fan of being alone, so she decided to go back to her apartment for the day. Perhaps she could smooth things over with Melody. She felt somewhat bad for not making sure everything was okay between them yesterday, better late than never.

To Harper’s surprise, Melody was awake and watching television when she walked in around 9am. She was scrunched up in a ball on the couch watching some reality show.

“Hey! What are you doing up so early?” She greeted cheerfully in hopes it would give her a good start in smoothing things over.

Melody continued to stare at the screen. “I never went to bed.” She replied in a monotonous tone.

Harper sensed that she was still melancholy from the day before. She turned off the TV and sat next to her bringing her knees up to her chest. “I’m sorry for whatever I did.”

Melody turned to her, her eyebrows furrowed. “Why are you sorry?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I feel like I did something wrong.”

Melody shook her head. “No, I did something wrong. I think it ended up hurting me more than it hurt you though.”

“I’m not sure I understand.” Harper said. She had no idea where Melody was coming from or what she was talking about.

Melody sighed and turned to face Harper on the couch. “What I did, the flirting, was totally wrong. I don’t even think I was aware I was doing it, but I shouldn’t have done it at all. I’m truly sorry for that.”

Harper smiled trying to play it down. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I’ve never been rejected before, Harpie.” Melody continued. She looked tired and sad. “He didn’t even have to tell me he didn’t like me, just in the way he looked at you I could tell I was turned down.” She paused. A tear ran down her cheek, she quickly wiped it off with her sleeve. “Guys like me for how I look and what I do. I’m easy and I look the part. I do that because I like the attention. But Rupert likes you for completely different reasons. He likes you for who you are. I mean, the guy’s completely head over heels for you. You haven’t even slept together yet and he’s still here spending every moment with you.” She stopped again to sniffle and wipe her bloodshot eyes. Harper heard a door open at the other end of the apartment followed by a tall, dark haired man walking out of Melody’s room to the bathroom. The fact that he barely had any clothes didn’t faze any of them, even the guy. Another tear dropped down Mel’s face, this time she let it fall. “Seeing the way you two act towards each other made me really jealous. I know I’ve had a lot of...I don’t even know if you could call them boyfriends. But I’ve never had what you have, Harp.”

Harper scooted down to Melody’s end of the couch and pulled her into a hug. “Oh, sweetie.” She pulled back and wiped Melody’s tears with her thumb. “It took a really long time for me to find Rupert. Someday someone is going to love the fuck out of you. Just be yourself, your wonderful self, and someone will adore you. I love you! Not like that, of course, but I do love you. I promise you, someone will be head over heels for you.”

Melody smiled and giggled. Then hugged Harper again. “It’s no wonder he picked you.” She said after breaking the hug.

“I still wonder about that and I’m not even so sure about the ‘head over heels’ part.”

“Are you serious right now?” Melody cried out. She looked astonished. “Whether either one of you know it or not, you’re infatuated with each other to the max.” Harper laughed it off and shook her head. Mel continued, “Oh honey, you’re blind. If you could only see the way he looks at you. It’s not the ‘you’re fucking hot’ kind of look either.”

“Oh gee, thanks, Mel!” Harped exclaimed sarcastically.

Mel gasped and smiled. “Oh no no no! I didn’t mean that it that way. I’m sure he thinks you’re hot, but I don’t think that’s why he gawks at you all the time. It’s more of a ‘holy shit, that girl’s amazing. She needs to be mine, so we can live happily ever after and have ginger babies together’ kind of look.”

Harper jokingly slapped Melody. “You’re ridiculous.” They bursted into laughter. They were back to normal. Harper always hated fighting with people, especially with the ones she cared about the most. It rarely happened, she wasn’t one to start a fight. But when it did happen, she made sure to apologize first, even when it wasn’t her fault, in fear that she would lose the person if she didn’t.

Melody’s guest finally walked into the living room fully clothed. Harper wasn’t sure how long he was standing there, but when they noticed him, he was standing in front of them with a quizzical look on his face and his arms folded.

“Oh hello!” She greeted cheerfully.

He completely ignored Harper, which didn’t surprise her, and turned his attention to Melody. “I’m gonna go.”

Melody shot him a disgusted look. “Fine.”

A cocky grin appeared on his face. “Call me if you ever get lonely again, babe.” He winked at her, then left.

Melody’s cheeks turned bright red. Her face went from joyful to sad and embarrassed. Harper suddenly clapped when an idea popped into her head. “Let’s have a girl’s day!”

“You have no idea how much I need that.” Mel replied. She started to smile again. Harper smiled back.