Chapter 8
Tristan tried to focus on what Rob was saying but all he could think about was Mel sitting next to that douchebag Louis and how his arm kept touching hers. He saw red when Louis came over to Mel and escorted her away from him, guiding her by the elbow like he had any right to touch her. Mel noticed and she didn’t care. Feeling possessive of a woman he was about to let go was rubbing him the wrong way. She wasn’t his. She wasn’t supposed to be his. He didn’t do love or relationships and it shouldn’t matter which douchebag was touching her. But it did and he hated that it did.
Tristan turned so he was facing away from them, but the image of them burned behind his eyes as he closed them and took a deep breath trying to re-center himself. Getting emotional in front of the people he was in control of at work was not a good thing. He needed to remain cool and aloof if he wanted any respect from them. Tristan nodded as Rob asked him a question, one he vaguely heard because Mel was laughing behind him. His body stiffened. Fucking Louis was making her laugh now? He had to put a stop to it no matter what anyone thought. It didn’t matter that Tristan was going to tell her their deal was fulfilled and walk away from her this evening, all that mattered now was that Mel was his and he wasn’t about to let some asshole undermine that.
*****
“Mel, can I talk to you for a moment?” Tristan loomed over the back of Louis’s chair, anger flashing in his icy eyes.
Mel nodded, excusing herself from Louis. Louis looked at bit miffed but didn’t say anything; Tristan was his boss. She followed Tristan from the room, unable to meet anyone’s eyes in case they saw the surprise, and lust that was blooming in them. He was jealous and that turned her on. Perhaps that was a good sign. Perhaps he wanted to be with her as much as she wanted to be with him. Mel sighed with frustration, she couldn’t keep getting her hopes up with this back and forth game. They stopped outside of the conference room, around the corner from the entrance and in front of Tristan’s office.
“What’s going on, Tristan?” Mel asked, unable to keep silent much longer.
He didn’t respond. Instead he captured her mouth with his, pressing his hard body into hers and backing her against the wall. Mel gasped but it was swallowed by their kiss. Tristan’s lips bruised hers with fierce kisses, like he was a starving man taking his first bite of food. Mel kept his pace and opened her mouth to his probing tongue, sucking and nipping at his lips as he delved his tongue deeper into her mouth.
Mel would never get enough of his taste as long as she lived. He tasted like comfort, joy and safety and Mel craved that because those were things she hadn’t had in a very long time. Tristan’s arms circled her waist, pulling her against him even tighter. Mel could feel his hard length pressed against her belly and it caused a fire to erupt between her legs. She wanted him right here and right now and she didn’t care who saw or where they were. Mel slipped her hand under Tristan’s shirt, pulling it out of where it was tucked into his slacks. She ran her hand over his hard abs, tracing the dips and planes of his muscles with her fingers. Tristan sucked in a breath and suddenly pulled back, running a hand through his raven colored hair and adjusting his pants to accommodate his hard-on while tucking his shirt back in.
He sighed as if the weight of the world was weighing him down. For a brief moment Mel felt sad for him, but she wasn’t sure why. Then he raised his eyes to her, they were sad for a moment, a look Mel never saw in them before, but then it was gone and all that was left was regret. That was when she knew.
“We should get back, people will wonder…” He began but Mel cut him off.
“Why does it matter what they think anyway, Tristan?” Mel asked before she could stop the words from coming out of her mouth.
An emotion that resembled hurt flashed across his face but was gone quickly. “Mel, I’m the boss and you’re the talent. It’s not appropriate…”
“I’m assuming you do this all the time then?” She cut him off again, turning away from him and looking out the window at the sunshine and palm trees. Outside everything looked perfect. There was no pain, no heartache, and no loneliness. Inside the building, and inside of Mel, there were all of those things, because she knew what he was going to say next. She ran a hand over her face and was surprised by the wetness she felt on her lashes. There wouldn’t be any more of that; she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
“Why does it matter, Mel?” Tristan threw her own words back at her and they stung. “We had a deal. This wasn’t a love match. I didn’t propose. I don’t do relationships and you know that. I was honest with you. But I can tell by your reaction you weren’t honest with me.”
Mel put a hand over her mouth, willing the tears not to fall. He knew she loved him and he was using it to hurt her. “That’s not fair Tristan and you know it. I never said I wouldn’t fall in love with you. Just because you want to be a cold, heartless bastard and push away people doesn’t mean that’s what I want. I’m alone in this world besides Blake and I thought maybe I had finally found someone. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Goodbye, Tristan.”
Mel gave him one long glance and despite her best efforts a traitorous tear slid down her cheek, the look on his face indecipherable. Then she turned and walked away.
*****
Tristan brooded in his office the rest of the work day. When his secretary came in, he snapped at her and he refused any calls that were sent to his office. He wasn’t sure why he was in such a funk after what went down with Mel after her small celebration. It was something about the way she called him a cold, heartless bastard. It made his chest ache in a way he wasn’t used to and even though he knew he made the right decision letting her go, his heart was having a hard time accepting it.
She had said she was alone… No that wasn’t right, she must have a family, parents and siblings. Her anger was making her say things that didn’t make sense. She couldn’t possibly be alone. Not like he was. Or could she. The pressure in his chest came back, crushing his lungs and making it hard to breath. He shot back the liquid in his glass, closing his eyes and resting his head on the seat back.
Everyone, including Louis, wanted to know where she went and why she left early. Tristan made up an excuse about a family emergency. He knew now that Mel had no family or so she claimed. The thought of her alone in the world made his chest ache again and he took a swig of the amber liquid in the tumbler on his desk.
It was his third glass and he didn’t care that the room was fuzzy around the edges. All he cared about was that he was numb. Numb from the pain of losing the woman he loved all because he was unable to love or be loved by another person. Laughing at his own disability, Tristan stood and loped over to the sideboard, sloshing another splash of bourbon into his glass. Tristan used to cherish being alone, unmolested by idiots and clingers. Now the loneliness loomed over him like a plague, waiting for him to succumb. Tristan plopped back into his desk chair, throwing back the bourbon and not even noticing the burn any longer. This was all he had to look forward to for the rest of his life, he better get used to it.
*****
This time she didn’t cry in the car. She was numb, numb and lonely. The tears that started at the office didn’t continue but dried up as she walked out to her car and stepped in. She wasn’t going to the bar to work and she wasn’t going home. The need to drive until the pain that was crushing her chest disappeared was all that she could think about. But she knew it was useless, the pain would never go away, especially not since she would see Tristan for several more weeks until the album was done.
She drove twenty minutes from the city, until she hit Santa Monica. Before she knew it, Mel was at the beach. She pulled her car into a spot and exited the car, stopping to slip her shoes off before walking onto the sand. Mel ignored the beautiful homes that overlooked the beach and walked to the water, which was pleasantly warm. She would love to live closer to the beach, in a place she could get away from the city and relax.
If this album did well her dream may come true. Butterflies of a different kind fluttered through Mel’s stomach. Maybe everything happens for a reason and this whole Tristan thing was only a means to an end. Sighing, she sank down into the sand, resting her head on her knees. Maybe if she told herself that over and over she would believe it and her heart would stop feeling like it shattered into a million pieces.
*****
Tristan stood on his patio, past the pool, and looked over the cliff down at the beach below. There were only a few people on the beach at this time of day, the sun was still up and the air hot and dry, but it was well into the evening, the late summer sun making the day seem unending.
A few people surfed in the distance, their black wet suits reflecting the sun just like the water they were gliding over. Tristan wished to be anyone but who he was at the moment, one of the surfers or people on the beach would be just fine with him. A broken man with a painful past who pushed away the one person who made him feel whole again was the unfortunate body he possessed.
His heart quickened at the idea of seeing Mel around the office for the next few months before her album was released. But he couldn’t talk to her or be with her in any way. He’d already hurt her too much, and he was hurting too. It wouldn’t work, he wasn’t the type of guy who could be in a relationship and he would ruin it and make her hate him just like he did his parents. There was no use even trying.
Blowing out a long breath, Tristan raised his glass and took a swig. He was drinking too much the last two days and not eating enough. It didn’t matter. He would be back to his old self as soon as Mel moved on from Powers Records. Getting through these next few weeks would be hard but he’d survived being abandoned by his parents so this should be a cake walk.
Tristan glanced at the beach one last time, the hunched over silhouette of a dark haired woman catching his eye. No, it wasn’t Mel; he was just seeing her everywhere now that he regretted what happened. But regret was also an emotion that Tristan never felt, so he pushed it down and gulped down the rest of his drink. If he told himself he didn’t feel often enough maybe it would be true.
*****
Three weeks later Mel walked back into Powers Records. Her heart pounded a loud rhythm in her chest. She didn’t want to see Tristan, but some part of her evil heart wanted her to see him though she knew it would hurt.
The receptionist sat at her desk, looking as if nothing changed while Mel’s world fell down around her three weeks before. This was her first time back since he tossed her to the curb like yesterday’s garbage. They were putting her album together and she met outside of the office on two occasions with the PR firm who was handling her on behalf of Powers Records but she hadn’t set foot inside since her heart was crushed. Her heart was still in pieces but she was slowly picking them up and putting them back together. If Tristan didn’t want her then so be it, she would worry about her music career.
Sighing, she waved to the receptionist as she passed by her desk on her way to her meeting for album sound and mixing as well as the person who was doing her album art. As she approached the conference room she froze. Through the glass double doors she could see Tristan, sitting at the head of the table like a king on a throne, gesturing wildly with his hands. She couldn’t go in there. Mel turned and started to walk away from the conference room and back out to the reception area.
What am I going to do? She thought, wringing her hands in front of her as she walked.
“Mel? Where are you going? The meeting is in conference room A.” Mel turned at her name. It was Louis. He was the last person she wanted to see.
“Oh, I thought it was in the other wing in B,” Mel lied, averting her eyes so that he couldn’t tell.
Either Louis was poor at reading others or he didn’t care that she was lying because he took it at face value and steered her towards the conference room. Mel spotted Tristan with his back to the door this time, in a heated discussion with Rob and she released a big breath. Maybe she could sneak in and find a seat without having to speak to him. Just as she entered the room Tristan turned around. He turned so quickly and looked straight into her eyes she could have sworn he felt her presence.
“Mel.” He said her name in his deep, gruff voice and her skin began to prickle.
Why did he have such an effect on her?
“Uh, hi, Mr. Powers.” The formality just slipped out and Tristan frowned, his eyes growing dark.
Mel wanted to shrink into a corner of the room and disappear.
“Let’s get started,” Louis said, dense as ever to the tension in the room.
Rob raised an eyebrow at Mel and she shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal about the whole thing. Tristan sat down on his throne and Mel took the opposite seat from him on the far end of the table. He began to discuss the work they were doing with her album and the meeting flowed on as if the awkward moment when she entered the room never happened.
A few hours later they broke for lunch, still with a couple more hours left to go in the sound room. Mel was tired and hungry but didn’t want to eat in the conference room with everyone else. She needed air and to be away from Tristan’s roaming eyes. It was too much for her. Jumping up from her seat, Mel left the room as fast as she could without looking insane, pushing through the glass doors and heading towards the exit. She didn’t care where she had lunch or what she had.
“Mel.” Tristan was behind her.
Mel sighed, unable to turn around right away.
“I don’t want this to be weird for you. We are both professional and we can deal with this is a professional way.” Tristan moved closer, his scent reaching Mel’s nose.
Mel held her hand up so he wouldn’t come any closer. “I’m fine. I just need some air. I’ll be back.” With that last statement she stepped into the elevator.
Mel blew out a breath, resting her forehead on the cool stainless steel of the elevator wall. This was not going to be easy.
After lunch, Mel slunk into the building warily, hoping Tristan didn’t sneak up on her again. She didn’t want to speak to him or see him and being in the same room was difficult when it seemed he had moved on and she hadn’t. The conference room was empty which meant Louis and Rob were in the studio. Mel let out a relieved breath and turned back down the hall to head to the studio.
“There you are.” Tristan, his icy eyes hiding an emotion he would never let anyone see; not even her.
Mel sighed, he just couldn’t let her walk away. A thought dawned on her but she let it fade to the back of her head and die out like a candle next to a breezy window. The emotion in his eyes, maybe she wasn’t imagining it. Maybe there was something left…
“Tristan,” She said with as little feeling as possible. Tristan raised an eyebrow at her but didn’t say anything.
“We were looking for you.” He fell into step beside her and despite everything it wasn’t awkward.
“They were, or you were?” Mel asked boldly, not caring that he broke her heart. She just had a feeling, after thinking about everything while she was having lunch that he wasn’t quite done with her yet.
“They were,” he snapped, walking ahead of her, his mood suddenly bitter.
Mel smiled to herself. If he didn’t care would he get defensive? Maybe she was wrong to give up on him so easily.
*****
Tristan’s jaw ticked as he clenched it together, so hard he thought he’d break a tooth. What was she doing? It was bad enough she showed up in that tight skirt and skimpy top and all he could think about the whole morning was peeling it off of her, but now she was getting coy with him?
Running a hand through his hair he pushed the door to the studio opened. Why was he even here? He knew why. Part of it had to do with wanting to see Mel, even though he knew it was a bad idea. He couldn’t get involved with her, not again. It would be messy, it would end badly. The other part was that he wanted to make sure they did her album justice. Mel’s music was good, really good, and she deserved to receive everything she could as a result of it; Billboard Top 100, Grammy’s, you name it, she should have it all. That wasn’t just his lust for her talking, Mel was the most talented person they'd signed in a long time.
Tristan sat down in the corner and watched Mel float into the room. Her long dark hair lay against her back in waves and her caramel colored skin shone with youth and health. How could he not want her? Every man in the damn room wanted her and that thought alone made Tristan grit his teeth harder.
For the next two hours they went over her tracks, song by song, making sure they were in the proper order, making sure the sound was appropriate and they didn’t have to re-record it. Tristan interrupted a few times to make sure everything was going the way he expected.
After a while it became evident that he wasn’t needed, but he couldn’t peel himself away from the room. He had work piling up all day and his secretary was out for blood but Tristan couldn’t leave the room. The reason why disturbed him more than it should. Would this be the last time he saw Mel and spoke to her? He broke it off with her to stop these feelings from growing but no matter what he did he couldn’t get Mel off of his mind.
*****
The next few weeks flew by and Mel saw Tristan very little in that time. She was so busy with the rest of the work for her album and at the bar she barely noticed, but if she was being honest, she noticed.
Every night she went to bed alone and woke up in her tiny studio apartment, she remembered waking up next to Tristan and it hurt. She wanted him back, and she could tell by the way he looked at her and the way he acted around her that she wasn’t wrong about him that day in the studio. Something was there, he wasn’t as cold and heartless as he seemed.
Smiling, Mel finished brushing her teeth, the planning for her release party, which was in two days, was that day and she had to meet with the PR people at the bar where it was going to be held. If she wanted to get Tristan back, to get him to admit that he felt about her the way she felt about him, she would have to be smart. But that was alright, Mel was formulating a plan.