Page 86 of The Perfect Melody
“It’s just you, me, and some of the people who love us. Everything will be fine, I promise.” I kiss the top of her head.“Thank you for suggesting this. It’s been too long since I had the guys over.”
The bell rings again, and Cassie steps back. “You’d better get that. I’ll finish up here.”
A couple of hours later, in my back garden, surrounded by our friends and their empty plates, the last note of the second song Cassie and I are going to perform at Bowman’s together rings through the warm evening air.
“Mate, that was fantastic,” Dev crows. Everyone else joins in with their own praise and noises of agreement as Cassie and I put our guitars away.
Even though it’s after nine at night, the sky above is still light, the evening sun bathing everything in a soft orange glow. Mei, Phoebe, Daphne, and Gem sit around the picnic table, their outfits ranging from summer dresses to more casual shorts. Jeremy keeps glancing over at Phoebe from his spot on a tartan picnic blanket, then looking away every time she catches him. There’s something going on there, but I have no clue what. Dev is sprawled out on his stomach next to Jeremy, while Erin sits cross-legged on his other side. On a blanket of their own, Francis lies with his head pillowed on Reggie’s thigh while Reg absentmindedly cards his fingers through his husband’s unruly locks. Everyone is smiling and happy, and the sight fills my chest with a warm glow of appreciation for the wonderful people I’m fortunate to call friends.
Before Cassie came to town, I’d let myself get so caught up with work that I stopped putting in the effort to do anything fun outside of my weekly game night with the guys. Not anymore. From now on, I’m going to be better at making time for the people and things I care about. Nights like this are precious.
Cassie steps closer, nudging my arm with her shoulder. “Are you feeling better about Saturday now?”
“Yeah. Thank you.” I wrap my arm around her, tucking her slight frame into my side. I feel better about a lot of things now that Cassie is in my life.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Cassie
Mei laughsat my stricken expression as we make our way across the cinema’s carpeted foyer. “Are you OK?”
“You said it was a horror-comedy. Where was the comedy? I’m going to have nightmares for at least a week.”
“You said you don’t mind a little gore.”
“Yeah, emphasis onlittle.”
When she asked me at last night’s barbecue if I fancied catching an early afternoon showing before work today, I was eager to accept her invitation. I can’t remember the last time I went to the cinema, and it felt great knowing one of my new friends wanted to spend time with me beyond our weekly coffee hangs. Now, as we exit the building, leaving the scent of popcorn and hot dogs behind, I regret agreeing before asking any questions. Questions like ‘What are we going to see’ and ‘Will it traumatise me’.
Looking at my complexion, which I’m convinced must be at least a touch green at present, Mei gives me an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. The trailer made it seem like it wasn’t too bad—I thought it was going to be on par with the first film.”
Oh my God, they made more than one of those? I shudder. “It’s fine—but next time I get to pick the movie.”
“Deal. So, are you excited to perform with Austin tomorrow?”
Thankful for the distraction from the nightmare-fuel currently playing in my head on repeat, I latch onto the subject change with both hands. “Yeah. You know, my first gig at Bowman’s was supposed to be a one-time thing, but I missed performing for smaller crowds—I mean,smallcrowds. I couldn’t perform to big crowds, that’d be too scary.”Shit, I’m over-explaining. I press my lips together to prevent any further word vomit.
Unsurprisingly, Mei looks at me as if she’s assessing whether I need some kind of medical intervention. Honestly, my heart’s pounding so fast it feels like I might. “That makes sense, I guess.”
Wait, really?
Noting my obvious surprise, she explains, “We all assumed the reopening wasn’t your first time playing for an audience. You were way too good to be a newbie.”
“Right. Um, thanks.”
“You know, your voice really reminds me of someone.”
“It does?” I hedge, hoping this conversation isn’t going where I think it is.
“Yeah, that country singer Molly’s like,obsessedwith—Melody Night.” Mei’s words have me breaking out in a cold sweat despite the hot afternoon sun. It’s a physical reaction far more extreme than anything the horror film we just watched induced. Suddenly I long to be back inside the theatre I was all too eager to escape not ten minutes ago. At least in there it was dark enough that my face wouldn’t give me away.
“Really?” I ask, doing my best to appear normal, even injecting a note of scepticism into my voice as if to suggest I think the comparison is ridiculous.God, I hate myself. Mei’s the first friend I made here, and now I’m fucking gaslighting her. She deserves better. I know that, but I can’t let her find out thetruth before I tell Austin. I’ll come clean to Mei and the others soon, but Austin should be the first to know.
“Yeah. You look a lot like her, too.” Bile burns the back of my throat, but I swallow it back down.Play it cool. She doesn’t know anything. If she did, this conversation would look completely different.
“Who, Molly?” I ask, being purposefully obtuse. My stomach roils, and I glance at the nearby planter filled with some kind of shrub, gauging the distance between me and it. If my stomach rejects what little popcorn I ingested before the movie got too gory, I’m not sure I’ll make it over there in time.
“No, Melody.” Mei tilts her head to one side and squints at me. “If you ditched your glasses and went blonde, the two of you could be twins.”
