Chance Encounters

by Jessica Prince

  To my surprise, they relented and left without argument. Not that it mattered. My head was now swimming with all things Melany.

  I managed to kill the next five hours without getting anything productive done.

  Melany

  “HE’S SUCH AN asshole!” I shouted, before dramatically stuffing my face into the pillows of the bed in Constance’s guest room.

  “That’s my cue to leave,” Frank muttered. A second later, I heard the bedroom door open and close, signaling his exit. I couldn’t really blame him for wanting to escape. I’d been at his and Connie’s house for the past seven days, and all seven of those days I’d been completely insufferable. Even I hated my own company. It was no wonder all three of the boys were avoiding me like the plague.

  After my hours’ long crying jag the Friday before, I recounted the entire fight with Chance, detailing each word out of his mouth, verbatim. Constance held me while I cried and kept my wine glass topped off until I eventually passed out.

  Since that night, she’d taken care to be cautious with me, treating me much like she would one of the boys if they were having an emotional breakdown of their own. But as I lay in bed just then, once again cursing the day Chance Hoffman was born, I could see it on her face. She was finally starting to get sick of it. My assumption was right when she pulled one of the pillows away from my face and declared, “Okay, sweetie. This ridiculousness has gone on long enough. I’ve let you cry and yell and bitch for a week, but it’s got to stop. You know I love you with all my heart, so you know it comes from the heart when I say this. Melly, you’re an idiot.”

  I shot up from the security of my pillows. “What?” I squeaked. “I can’t believe this! You’re taking his side? You’re supposed to be my friend, you… you… Judas!”

  She rolled her eyes at my melodramatics. “I’m not taking anyone’s side. I’m stating a fact. You’re an idiot. But so is he. Don’t you realize that, if you two had just pulled your heads out of your asses and talked, then none of this would have happened?” She shook her head in disappointment. “Lack of communication, the number two reason for all failed relationships, only surpassed by social media.”

  “I…” I stared at her in bewilderment. “I’m not sure those statistics are sound, Connie.”

  “Whatever,” she replied, waving me off. “My point is, both of you are in the wrong here. He manipulated you, granted, it wasn’t for nefarious purposes, but still… and you lied because you were afraid of how he’d react. Did you ever stop to think that, if you’d just told him the truth, told him exactly what happened with Logan the minute you walked through the door, that you wouldn’t be where you are right now?”

  “But he lied too!”

  She nodded in understanding. “He did. And that was also wrong, but I can’t say I don’t see his point. Now, just hold on before you go all crazy,” she said when my mouth fell open to object. “I’m not saying I agree with his methods, but, babe, put yourself in his shoes for a second. Before you met him, you were happy to live in your little bubble, never letting anyone in, keeping yourself safe and protected from the harshness of the real world, and I get it, I do. I’ve been your friend our whole lives. I know better than anyone that you’re justified in your reasons for staying guarded. But he hasn’t known you as long as I have. He didn’t have the chance to discover he didn’t have to handle you with kid gloves before he started falling in love with you. You have a right to be upset, but don’t you think you at least owe it to him to talk to him and straighten this whole mess out? Melly… the man’s in love with you.”

  I heard every single word she said. I really did, but the betrayal I felt at knowing he’d taken advantage, using my neurosis for his own personal gain, still hurt. “You don’t manipulate the people you love just so you can get laid,” I snapped.

  Constance let out an exasperated sigh just as someone knocked on the bedroom door.

  “Who’s that?” I asked.

  “Reinforcements,” she stated, as she stood from the bed.

  “Reinforcements?” I asked, growing panicked at who might be standing behind the door. “What? Why?”

  Without an answer, she swung the door open, allowing Devon and Tomas entry into the bedroom. I rolled my eyes on a groan and threw myself back against the pillows.

  “Oh, honey bunches of oats. No. Just… no. You look wrecked.”

  Of course he would say that, dressed in a fashionable three-piece suit with a stylish scarf draped around his neck for asthetic purposes only. He looked like he just walked off the set of a photoshoot.

  “You and Chance, I swear,” Devon said on sigh. “It’s like dealing with twelve-year-old girls on the first day of their periods.”

  “You’ve seen Chance?” I asked, far too eagerly.

  “Of course I’ve seen him. I work in the same damn office, and his sour mood’s been following him around like a shadow all week. You two are a mess.”

  “I’m not a mess. He’s a mess,” I pouted petulantly, sitting up and crossing my arms over my chest. “This is all his fault. He’s a big jerk who gets off on toying with other people. I’d have been better off if I never met him.”

  I hated myself as soon as the words left my mouth, and by the hard set of Devon’s mouth, she wasn’t too pleased with me either. “You’re wrong for even saying that. You know that’s not true.”

  I did know that, but I wasn’t willing to let go of my pride in that moment, so I held on fast. “I don’t know that at all. Obviously, I don’t know the guy as well as I thought I did, because I never would have taken him for someone who’d play head games.”

  Constance threw her hands up in the air and looked at the ceiling, as if seeking divine intervention.

  “Well, then let me share with you just how wonderful a man Chance really is,” Devon replied in a serious, no-nonsense tone of voice. “He’s the kind of guy who will remain friends with a woman who chose another man over him, all because he knows the man she chose in the end was it for her, and he holds no ill will. He’s the kind of man who’d save face by befriending the man he lost to just so things would remain copacetic for all parties involved. He’s the kind of man who’d meet a shy, timid woman who kept herself closed off from the rest of the world and do everything in his power to get past her walls because he saw something in her that was worth his time. He’s the type to take a woman to buy a whole new wardrobe, when in all honesty, he despises shopping with a passion. Then he’s the type to turn around and hand over his credit card without batting an eye because the woman loved all the pretty new clothes, but couldn’t afford to pay for them herself.

  “He’s the type of man who’d throw down with an evil shrew of a mother because he can’t stand to see the woman he cares about in pain. But most of all, he’s the kind of man who’d call in every favor he’s owed, even racking up a few markers of his own, just to get that woman’s mother out of jail by paying her fine, then write her a check fat enough to pay off all her debts, get her house out of foreclosure, and live a comfortable life for as long as that money will stretch. And he did all of that to guarantee the evil shrew of a mother wouldn’t cause the woman another second of pain for the rest of the woman’s life. Because he cares about her.”

  By the time she finished her impassioned speech, my mouth was hanging open in shock and tears were running down my face unchecked.

  “Now, look me in the eye and tell me that Chance isn’t the guy you thought he was.”

  “He…” My throat was suddenly dry as the desert and a golf-ball-sized lump had formed, making it difficult to breathe. “He did that? For my mother?”

  “He did.” She nodded. “He can’t stand the woman, but he saw how guilty you felt for leaving her to her own mess—something, I have to add, I don’t think you should feel guilty for. But in any case, he didn’t want you to have to live with that guilt, so he paid her off so you could sleep easy at night and she would go far away.”

  When I moved my gaze to Constance, I
saw that she too was crying with her hands over her mouth. She didn’t know about that either. And she knew exactly how horrible my mother had been to me, so she knew how huge Chance doing that for me was. If she hadn’t fully been on his side before, I had no doubt she was now. Not that it mattered, because I was suddenly seeing everything very, very differently.

  “H-he told me…” I swallowed and tried to rein in the flood of emotion coursing through me. “He told me he loved me.”

  “Oh my God,” Tomas said on a dramatic gasp. “It’s like a fairy tale. The handsome prince is in love with the beautiful swan!”

  Devon and Constance each shot him the same “will you shut your stupid gay mouth” look, then Devon turned back to me. “I might not know him on the same level that you do, babe, but I’m willing to bet that, if Chance said he loves you, he means it.”

  “I think…” Oh God, I was such an idiot! “I think he does. And… I love him too.”

  Constance’s hands went into the air on a squeal of delight as Devon smiled and Tomas declared we celebrate with cosmos. But I was too focused on something else. “I screwed up. I lied and hurt him. I need to make it right, but I don’t know how.”

  “Oh, honey, then it’s lucky for you that my fab-u-lous ass is here, because if there’s one thing the gays know how to do, it’s go big or go home.” He reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me from the bed as Constance and Devon opened the bedroom door and started out. “I’ll play mixologist as we work out a strategy.”

  “A strategy for what?” I asked, as I let him lead me toward the kitchen.

  “For Operation Grand Gesture, of course. This is probably going to take all night, ladies, so batten down the hatches and pull up your big girl panties. Shit’s about to get real.”

  It was right at that second that a very naked Patrick decided to come running down the hall with his brothers hot on his heels. “Shit! Shit! Shit!” they chanted at the top of their lungs.

  “Don’t worry about it,” I whispered to a frightened-looking Tomas. “They look scarier than they really are.” And because I couldn’t help myself, I added, “Just be sure not to look any of them in the eye.”

  Chapter 28

  Melany

  OPERATION GRAND GESTURE was underway… and I felt like I might throw up at any moment. Constance, Devon, Tomas, and I had spent all of Friday night and well into Saturday morning drinking and coming up with a plan of action. There were terrible ideas, such as hiring a skywriter or a singing telegram, which Frank—who’d come in sometime around cosmo number four—had suggested. Some not so bad, but still unrealistic ideas like having I LOVE YOU, CHANCE, written on the jumbotron during a baseball game (that idea came from Devon. It wasn’t terrible, but seeing as it wasn’t even baseball season, I didn’t see how we could pull that off). Then there was the godawful idea of me proposing (this one—unsurprisingly—came from Tomas. With Constance’s backing, I might add).

  In the end, none of the ideas we came up with that night worked. As the weekend wore on, I began to worry that I wouldn’t come up with a grand enough gesture to make Chance forgive me for—as Constance so lovingly put it after cosmo number six—having my head up my ass and not seeing what was standing right in front of me.

  Then I had my light bulb moment. It came late Sunday evening. I called the troops to fill them in, and the second I finished detailing my plan, all three of them agreed with enthusiastic glee. This was followed by Tomas insisting I make him a bridesmaid if or when Chance proposed.

  Of course, I readily agreed. I didn’t think he’d agree to do my hair on the big day if I didn’t.

  Anyway, the time for Operation Grand Gesture was upon us, and I was a complete and utter mess.

  I was silently kicking my own ass as I stood in the lobby of Chance’s firm, fidgeting uncontrollably as I waited for him to appear. I couldn’t just tell him I loved him. I had to show him. After all, words didn’t mean anything if there weren’t actions to back them up. That was why, when I’d arrived ten minutes earlier with Devon, I’d sent her to gather as many people in the office as possible, so they could all gather to watch me make my extremely public declaration. I was doing the one thing I hated most, voluntarily making myself the center of attention. I ventured a glance at the smiling, friendly receptionist who’d just called Chance to alert him to a visitor in the lobby. She smiled and gave me an excited thumbs up. As soon as we filled her in on the plan, she was all for helping out.

  Constance and Tomas stood among the growing group of spectators, not wanting to miss out, and with every second that ticked by, I became more and more sure that I was going to pass out.

  “He’s coming! He’s coming!” Devon whisper-yelled as she scuttled through the crowd and took her place next to my other friends. Anxiety twisted my stomach into knots as I shifted from foot to foot.

  Then I heard his voice, and everything but him faded away.

  “What’s going on? Why’s everybody gathered around Reception? Did someone bring cake?”

  The crowd parted to let him through, and the instant I laid eyes on him, that knot untangled and all my nerves disappeared. Because it was him. He was it for me, in every single way. His gaze landed on me before sliding down to the large bouquet of bright red roses in my hand.

  Confusion twisted his gorgeous features as he stepped closer and asked, “Melany? What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

  “No… well, yes… I mean, something’s wrong, but I’m here to fix it.” Okay, so I wasn’t off to that great a start, but I soldiered on. “Here,” I said, thrusting the roses at him. “These are for you.”

  The quizzical expression on his face was almost laughable. “Uh… thanks?”

  “You’re welcome.”

  He looked from the flowers to me, his eyebrows lifting toward his hairline. “Is that all, or did you have something to say?”

  Shit. “Right! Sorry. I’m a little nervous.” It took everything I had not to lower my head and allow my hair to block out the people standing around us. I wasn’t going to hide. I was done hiding. Chance had helped me realize I was stronger than that.

  He moved closer and lowered his voice, concern laced through his words. “Do you want to go in my office? We’ll have more privacy.”

  “No… actually, I asked all of them to be here. Or, Devon asked… whatever, the fact is I had Devon ask them all to be here.”

  “But why? You hate being the center of attention.”

  “Exactly!” I smiled brightly. “I hate it. Like, really hate it. There’s still a possibility I might throw up, but that doesn’t matter. I needed them all here so I could show you how serious I am. I needed to make a grand gesture, and this was the only thing I could come up with to show you I mean it.”

  His mouth curled up in a slow, sinful smile as he closed another foot of space between us. “Mean what?”

  “Just hold on a second,” I reprimanded. “I have a whole speech ready, and I’m not going to let you derail me.”

  His chuckle washed over me, blanketing me in its warmth. “Then have at it. Please, don’t let me stop you. You know I love it when you ramble.”

  I smiled brightly, because I knew he meant it. My word vomit never deterred him. And I had the absolute perfect ramble in store. I cleared my throat and straightened my shoulders as I recalled all the words I’d memorized the night before. “Did you know that love is technically a variety of different feelings, attitudes, and states of mind? For instance, it can encompass a multitude of different things from pleasure, like how you’d say you love the New York Yankees—”

  “I’m actually a Mets fan,” he interrupted, causing my face to scrunch up in a glare.

  “Anyway,” I continued, “It can stand for that feeling of pleasure to interpersonal connections such as a parent or a sibling. But the most important thing I learned about love is that it can also be considered a virtue that represents things like affection or human compassion. That’s the kind of love you showed me. You
were compassionate and affectionate. You care about me. You care for me in a way I’ve never experienced before. Love is just one of your many, many virtues, along with kindness, your compassion, and your integrity… just to name a few. It’s because of how virtuous you are that I fell in love with you, Chance.”

  His eyes heated instantly, and that last foot of space between us disappeared. “Melany…” His voice was rough and gravelly as he placed the roses down on one of the decorative tables that filled the reception area. His hands came up, his fingers ready to tangle in my hair, but I stepped back before he could make contact.

  “I’m not finished,” I insisted.

  “Then hurry,” he growled. “I need to touch you.”

  My entire body heated at that declaration, and I was suddenly curious just how sturdy the desk in his office was. Focus, Mel!

  “I love you. And it’s not the kind of romanticized, fairy tale love I have a tendency to make up in my head. It’s real, and it’s limitless, and it’s all-consuming. It makes me want to take risks, to step out of my comfort zone, and do everything in my power to make you happy. I spent a long time living in my head, but now that I’ve met you, I never want to go back there, because you’ve shown me how incredible real life is. And I’ll gladly spend every single day here in the real world if it means I get to spend it with you.”

  Once my speech was finished, I pulled in a deep, much needed breath. We stood in silence for what felt like an eternity before he finally spoke.

  “Are you done?”

  I bit my lower lip and gave it some thought. “Yeah, I’m done.”

  “Good.” The next second, I was in his arms and Chance was kissing me like he’d never be able to get his fill. I melted into his body, wrapping my arms around his neck and returning the kiss with just as much enthusiasm. I was so wrapped up in him, I didn’t even register the people around us cheering and cat-calling our public display of affection. I doubted I’d have cared even if I did. All that mattered was the fact that I was back in Chance’s arms, exactly where I belonged.