Melody [ FF ]


She moved like a whisper of wind across the floor, her expensive white 
dress flowing around her body with her movements. Her eyes fixed on 
her destination, she made her way carefully through the drunken 
gyrating people on the dance floor. She carried two drinks in her 
small hands, twisting to avoid the inevitable drunken collisions, 
otherwise allowing her feet to move to the rhythm of the music as she 
crossed the dangerous floor.

Terri watched her, not because she was interested particularly in her, 
but because she was bored with this company party. Every year the same 
thing. Cutbacks had forced the company to forgo inviting spouses or 
significant others, and who really wanted to dance with your 
coworkers? Though, apparently, with enough alcohol, plenty managed to 
have a good time anyway.

Terri sipped at her wine as she watched the woman in white reach the 
president's table. A twinge of jealousy flitted through her body and 
she found herself leaning forward despite herself. She knew that she 
shouldn't be jealous of Melody; the girl was just trying to make it in 
a vicious corporate world, just as she was. And Terri really didn't 
believe all the rumours surrounding the girl. It was just that Melody 
was so distant, so aloof and it was difficult to ignore her.

Human resources had gone through the channels, she supposed. They had 
posted the executive management job internally first as required. 
Terri knew that she hadn't quite had the credentials, but had applied 
anyway.

She'd only met Melody a handful of times, mostly when required - when 
she had to meet with Preston, to arrange a meeting, or get answers for 
her superior. Melody had always been more than pleasant to her. She 
was probably unaware that Terri had applied for her job, and there was 
really no reason to bring it up.

Melody was a bit of an enigma. She always seemed so alone. She ate by 
herself at lunch, preferring her novels to participating in the idle 
gossip that the other employees got into. She rarely spoke to anyone, 
outside of the constant stream of men that pestered her for dates. 
Terri had witnessed one such encounter just yesterday. Melody had 
politely refused John from accounting. But after he'd turned away, 
disappointed, Terri had seen that curious shine in Melody's eyes. 
Regret?

Terri shifted back into her seat, leaning back, her eyes still focused 
on Preston and Melody. She sipped again at her wine. She didn't 
believe all the rumours about Melody. They'd probably been started by 
irate guys that hadn't quite accepted her date refusals. Melody hardly 
looked like a lesbian, or a bitch, or any of the other labels that 
were put on her. Neither did she look like the type of woman to sleep 
her way into an executive position. She just looked like a woman that 
had the weight of the world on her shoulders and was too young to bear 
it. Yes, she was stunning, but as far as Terri was concerned she wore 
a little too much make-up and tried too hard to wear expensive 
clothing. Her figure was perfect, Terri thought again with a twinge of 
jealousy. She hardly needed the designer clothes and the cascading 
blonde hair. She'd look stunning in trackpants and a sweatshirt.

Even now, Melody was sitting demurely at the head table, unaware of 
the others around her, not socializing, almost looking afraid to 
socialize. Preston bent down and whispered something in her ear. She 
swallowed heavily and bent her head, not returning any words back 
towards him. Preston turned back to the Vice President and continued 
his previous discussion, ignoring the girl beside him. He was probably 
deep in discussion on stock options or something. Terri shuddered, 
suddenly sure that her and Melody were the only sober ones in the 
place. Even Preston had some colour in his cheeks.

Gathering her courage, Terri rose out of the chair. She downed the 
remainder of her wine and began to walk towards the head table, unsure 
of what she intended, but sure that Melody was looking unusually 
lonely. She knew that she'd be the next one facing company gossip if 
she talked to Melody, but at the moment, she didn't care. She couldn't 
imagine anyone was even noticing her.

Melody's eyes opened wide as Terri approached. It almost seemed like 
fleeting fear reflected in her eyes.

"Hi, you're Melody, right?"

"Uh-huh," she answered quietly.

"Mind if I sit down? I think we're the only sober ones in here."

She girl swallowed heavily and glanced quickly over at Preston. She 
took a breath. She was about to nod her head, when Preston turned his 
head, capturing Terri in his gaze. The intensity of the gaze took 
Terri aback, but she recovered reasonably quickly.

"You're Terri Randall, aren't you?" he asked with a definite edge in 
his voice.

Surprised that he even knew who she was, she dumbly nodded.

"Terri, don't you think that you might be better off talking to Lisa? 
Over there?"

Lisa was the head of the human resources department. She was sitting 
at a table surrounded by a gaggle of women, all obviously intoxicated. 
Terri swallowed, not quite sure if this was a veiled threat, or 
whether it was merely a way of getting rid of her. Either way, it was 
a dismissal.

"It was nice seeing you, Terri," Melody murmured from her seat, aware 
of what the exchange meant.

Terri frowned, but moved away from the head table. Perhaps it was just 
some company business that he didn't want overheard. She could 
understand that. But why the menace?

She moved slowly back to her seat, stopping off at the bar on her way. 
She carried her wine back and sat again, thinking and sipping at the 
fresh glass. Melody was talking to Preston animatedly, her hands 
moving as she spoke. Terri watched, as Preston turned back to the VP 
and spoke a few words. Then he rose, pulling Melody with him, his hand 
tightly gripping her arm. Terri watched as he practically propelled 
the girl in front of him towards the doors. She stumbled along, 
glancing about. Nobody but Terri was sober enough to be watching.

***

Terri sighed as she drove through the shifting snow back to her 
apartment. The night had gotten worse after Preston had left. A few 
guys from accounting had even passed out. Terri remembered fending one 
of them off before he'd fallen into a stupor. He had oozed vodka into 
her face, wanting to know if she would go out with him and some other 
bozo from engineering. At the same time. Perhaps it was better that 
he'd passed out. At least that was one less jerk with whom she had to 
contend.

As soon as she thought she could escape without making a terrible 
impression, she slipped out of the banquet hall. Breathing a little 
easier, she said a few good-byes to her friends that were still on 
their feet, and drove home in silence. After the loud music of the 
hall, she didn't even want to hear the radio.

She pulled into the underground parking and quickly made her way to 
the building entrance. She glanced around nervously. Even though the 
building had wonderful security, she still felt uncomfortable in the 
parking garage alone at night. She slipped into the building without 
incident and made her way to the elevators.

"What now?" she thought to herself as she noted the slips of paper 
stuck to each elevator door.

"Out of Order. Christ," she whispered to herself as she moved towards 
the stairs. "What a night."

Her feet ached and she desperately wanted out of her high heels. She 
glanced around and shrugged to herself. She kicked her shoes off and 
picked them up. She knew the stairs were going to play havoc with her 
stockings, but at this point she simply didn't care any longer. She'd 
be losing the stockings as soon as she was in her apartment anyway.

As she approached her door, breathing hard from the climb, she dug for 
her keys in her purse. She heard the phone ringing while the key was 
still entering the lock. She fought with the door and left it wide as 
she ran to the phone, dropping her shoes in the front hallway. The 
phone stopped ringing as her hand found the receiver. She decided to 
leave it.

The answering machine picked up, breaking the quiet of the apartment. 
Sighing she wandered back towards the doorway, softly shutting the 
door and letting the machine answer the line.

"Hi, you've reached Terri. At the sound of the beep, oh hell, you know 
the drill ..." The machine droned out a higher version of her own 
voice.

Terri switched on the hallway light, finally glancing at the answering 
machine. Four messages. She glanced at her watch. Eleven thirty. Who 
the hell would be calling her at this time of night?

As she pulled off her blazer and hung it up, the machine reached its 
expected beep. Terri's tired mind idly listened to the machine as her 
fingers began to undo the buttons on her blouse after quickly pulling 
off her run nylons and dropping them to the floor. She really wanted a 
bath. Perhaps in the morning.

An unfamiliar voice sighed into the machine. Terri's fingers halted 
their progress with her blouse, leaving it half open. Crank calls made 
her nervous. Her ears perked up as she decided that she was glad that 
she'd missed the call. Let the machine deal with the jerk. She moved 
to the door and carefully locked it.

Her fingers began to pull at the buttons again. The caller still 
hadn't hung up. Terri let the blouse hang on her shoulders as she 
thought she detected a soft noise in the background of the machine's 
tinny speaker. Crying? She stepped towards the machine, listening more 
closely. Her hand reached for the phone, her mind whirling. She was 
torn between screaming at the person on the other end for cranking 
her, and finding out if someone was crying on her phone at this time 
of night.

Just as she was about to pick up the line, a soft female voice emerged 
from the speaker.

"I'm. I'm sorry, Terri. I. I guess you're still at the party. I. I 
just didn't know who to call," the unfamiliar voice stammered across 
the phone line. "I'm sorry," the soft voice whispered, in an obvious 
sob.

Terri took a deep breath. Crank callers weren't female, in general. 
Cranks also just breathed into phones; they rarely, if ever, cried.

Terri lifted the receiver, wincing at the feedback from the machine. 
She switched off the answering machine with her finger, silencing the 
whine.

"Hello? Who is this?" Terri spoke quietly into the phone.

A brief silence ensued.

"Hello?"

"Terri?" The soft voice asked, quivering.

"Yes. Who is this, please."

"I'm sorry to call so late. It's. It's Melody."

"Melody?" Terri's mind fuzzed by fatigue didn't make the connection.

"Melody. From the party tonight. I. I work with you. You tried to talk 
to me tonight ..." Melody's voice trailed off.

Terri's mind finally made the connection. "Yes ..." She was confused. 
Melody never spoke to anyone, much less called anyone, that she knew 
of. Why her? How'd Melody even get her number?

"Terri. I'm sorry. I. Just. Didn't have anyone else to call. I'll 
leave you alone."

"Wait. Melody. It's alright. I don't mind. I just walked in. What's 
the matter?" Terri struggled out of her blouse, holding the phone to 
her ear with her shoulder.

"Oh God. I. I shouldn't involve you."

"Involve me? In what?"

"I'm in a bit of trouble. And I'm scared ..." The voice on the other 
end of the line trailed off again.

"Melody?" Terri let the blouse fall to the ground at her bare feet.

"I'm here. I'm sorry. I. I don't know what's come over me."

"Are you alright? Have you been drinking?" Terri didn't think the girl 
sounded drunk, more like hurt and vulnerable.

"No. I. I don't drink anymore."

"Where are you?"

"I'm. I'm still at the hotel. I. I don't know what to do."

"What happened? Are you at the party? You left with Preston."

For some reason the words caused the other woman to begin crying 
again.

"Melody? Are you still at the party?" Terri repeated, becoming a 
little impatient with the distraught woman on the other end of the 
line.

"No. I. I'm in a room at the hotel. Preston's room."

"Is he there?"

"N-no. He left. A while ago."

Terri was fighting off her fatigue. For some reason, Melody's voice 
was conveying fear, anger, hurt and it was disturbing Terri, even 
though she barely knew the woman.

"Terri? You can say no. But. Please. I really need someone to talk to. 
Can you come here? Or let me come there?"

Terri fought her natural instincts to say no, that she was tired, and 
sore, and beat, and just didn't want to see anyone. Whatever the 
reason. All she wanted was her bed, and a long bath tomorrow.

"Melody, I. I just got home."

"I know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"Can it wait for tomorrow?"

Terri waited through another quick sob and heard Melody's voice again, 
"I'm sorry. It's alright. I'll make out okay on my own."

Terri fought off all the signals from her eyes that they only wanted 
to close and find blessed darkness. She didn't know why, but she felt 
compelled to find out what this was about. She didn't have to be up 
for work in the morning anyway. And she was used to not getting enough 
sleep.

"What room are you in?"

"12B. Thank-you," Melody whispered before hanging up.

Terri held the buzzing receiver against her head, trying to make sense 
of it. Only one way to find out.

Terri walked into her bedroom and dressed more sensibly, removing the 
remainder of the evening wear and replacing it with jeans and a 
sweatshirt. As she pulled warm socks over her toes she wondered just 
what Melody was really like. She fought off the scratchiness under her 
lids again and walked back out to where her shoes lay haphazard in the 
front hallway. Ignoring the high heels, she pulled a warm ski jacket 
from the closet and slipped on more sensible waterproof boots.

***

She drove slowly through the drifting snow, shaking her head, not 
quite believing that she was going back, in this weather, to that 
hotel for someone she barely knew. A small red compact car nearly 
fishtailed into her. She slowed down further and tried to concentrate 
on the road.

***

Terri rode the elevators in the hotel up to the twelfth floor. At 
least the elevators in this building worked. Her feet were still 
aching a little, but she was thankful that she wasn't in the high 
heels that she'd had on earlier.

She approached 12B with trepidation. She didn't even know Melody. Nor 
why she was in a hotel room. Or why she'd left the party with Preston. 
A million questions whirled through her head as she forced her feet to 
move towards the end of the hallway.

She stood in front of the doorway emblazoned with "12B" for at least 
ten minutes. Finally, an elderly lady up the hall wandered out in 
search of midnight ice. Terri could feel the elderly lady's eyes on 
her and knew that she looked at best silly and at worst threatening 
standing out in the deserted hallway at this time of night.

She took a deep breath, ran her fingers through her long brown hair, 
and knocked gently at the door in front of her. The minutes ticked by. 
The elderly woman returned to her room with a bucket of ice, the 
closing door sounding hollow down the empty hallway. Terri knocked 
again, a little louder this time.

Suddenly Terri was sure that the knock wouldn't be answered. That 
Melody had left. Or had fallen asleep, drunk despite her words to the 
contrary. Or maybe she simply had the wrong room.

Sighing, Terri turned away from the doorway and began walking towards 
the bank of elevators. Her feet whispered in the quiet hallway against 
the tattered carpet. She wasn't sure if she'd even bother checking 
with the front desk. She wasn't even sure what Melody's surname was or 
if the room was in her name. She watched the button light up as her 
finger pressed the down arrow. She could faintly hear the elevator's 
rumbling and vibration from deep within the hotel; almost as if it was 
a slumbering beast awakened by her silent summons.

As the doors slid open, Terri turned, having the sense of being 
watched. She let the doors close without entering the lift. A soft, 
frightened voice floated down the hallway, echoing in the stillness.

"Terri?"

Terri didn't complete the turn towards 12B, but closed her eyes, 
trying to will away the anger. She reached forward, jabbing the button 
again, angry at having been dragged down here in the middle of the 
night. This was the absolute last place she wanted to be. Her bed was 
calling her. The elevator doors obediently rattled back open for her.

"Please? Don't go? I'm sorry. I was in the bathroom. I didn't mean to 
make you wait. I couldn't help it. I'm so sorry." Melody's voice was 
like a hurt child's. Terri could almost see the tears just from 
hearing the voice.

Her anger melted and Terri slowly turned back down the hallway. She 
walked down the corridor, concern replacing the anger from moments 
before. She heard the elevator doors slide shut again as she 
approached 12B again.

Melody stood in the doorway, her face buried in her hands, her whole 
body shaking with her crying. She was barefoot. Terri could see her 
white shoes lying haphazard in the short hotel room hallway, almost 
like her own were back in her safe apartment.

Melody silently stepped aside, still sobbing quietly into her hands, 
allowing Terri to enter. Terri stepped inside the room, gently closing 
the door behind her. She felt the automatic locks click as the heavy 
door closed behind her.

She touched Melody's shoulder gently.

"What's wrong? Shhhh. You don't have to cry," Terri easily slipped 
into her female reassurance mode. She fervently hoped that this wasn't 
just a case of Melody breaking up with her boyfriend. Terri really 
wasn't much good at comforting even her girlfriends when they went 
through that. And she was tired. And she didn't even know Melody.

Terri took a closer look at the crying woman in front of her, noticing 
her disheveled appearance for the first time. Her blonde hair was a 
tangled mess. Her dress was in disarray, even ripped at the neckline. 
Were those bruises on her wrists?

Terri gently touched Melody's hands, urging them down from her face. 
Melody resisted with a soft muffled cry.

"Please no."

"Melody. Sweetheart. I can't talk to you with your hands like that. 
Put them down. Okay? It's okay to cry." Terri dug around in her purse 
in search of tissue.

Melody sniffled and took a deep breath. She slowly pulled her hands 
from her downcast face, finally holding them at her side. She lifted 
her face slowly to look teary eyed at Terri.

Terri gasped as Melody lifted her damaged face. Her left eye was 
already swelling a little, and her cheeks were both red with obvious 
hand prints. Her upper lip was bleeding slightly from the corner, and 
her jaw looked like it might bruise on the right side under her chin. 
Tears rolled down Melody's cheeks as she gazed at Terri.

Terri finally found her voice. "Oh my God," she whispered. The women 
stood silently for a few moments. Terri felt sick to her stomach.

"Who? How?" she managed to whisper.

Melody, with an visible act of will, forced herself to stop crying for 
a moment. Without a word, she carefully put her hands up like a small 
child wanting to be held. She embraced Terri, holding her fiercely, 
shaking. Terri felt the shaking return to quiet sobbing. She allowed 
herself to hold the woman and let her cry.

She heard Melody's small voice quivering. "I'm sorry. I managed to not 
cry until you showed up. I tried so hard not to."

"Shhhh. It's alright. It's okay." Terri heard her voice saying from a 
place far away. What the hell had she walked into here?

Melody pulled herself out of the embrace sniffling and carefully 
walked into the small room on her bare feet. She lowered herself 
slowly to the messed up hotel bed and sat with her legs tightly 
together, her bare toes curling at the worn carpet.

Terri followed her after a moment, stopping in the entranceway. Her 
mind was beginning to fall back into a semblance of order. Melody's 
face might only be the beginning. Either way, she should see a doctor.

"Melody, honey. You have to come with me. To the hospital."

"I. I can't."

"Of course you can. You have to."

Melody fell helplessly into her gentle crying again. Terri moved into 
the room and lowered herself into one of the hotel chairs. Melody had 
already been here for quite some time, and she hadn't died yet. She'd 
have to go to the hospital eventually, but Terri just didn't have the 
energy to insist.

"What happened?" Terri asked gently. Though she had some pretty good 
guesses at the moment.

Melody swallowed and looked up at Terri. Terri flinched a little at 
the sight of her face. Melody's mouth opened, and then closed again, a 
flush burning at her battered face.

"It was Preston, wasn't it?"

Melody nodded.

"What happened? Did he rape you?"

Terri could feel her anger building again, this time aimed in a 
different direction. She moved from the chair to the bed, sitting down 
beside Melody, and throwing her arm protectively around her shoulders. 
Melody winced at the touch, but leaned in towards Terri. Comfort being 
more important to her than whatever physical pain Terri's arm had 
caused.

"Sweety. I'll take you to the hospital."

Melody took a deep breath, held it, and let it out in short spurts.

"I can't, Terri. I. I'll be alright."

Terri waited, just trying to make sense of this.

"I. I let him do this to me. I can't go to the hospital."

"You what?"

"I didn't know he'd do this to me. I really didn't."

"You aren't making sense."

"I know," she murmured, crying again. "I'm sorry."

"Sweety, you have to tell me what happened." Terri brushed the wisps 
of blonde hair from the woman's brow.

"I know you wanted my job. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You are the only 
one that's ever been nice to me."

"Shhhh. Don't worry about the job thing. I didn't even know you knew."

"They're right. You know that?"

"Right about what?"

"That I slept my way into the job."

"You're kidding."

"He told me that you were up for the job, but he'd rather have me. I 
was more pliable."

"I'm not following."

Melody took a huge breath and seemed to make up her mind. "Terri, I 
won't blame you if you walk out of here. I'll be alright. I've cried 
on you enough." She paused for a moment, thoughts waging a small war 
inside her mind. Her face became less vulnerable and more determined. 
She drew in another deep breath. "I. I was a hooker before this. 
That's my qualifications. A goddamn prostitute. Nobody but Preston 
knows. And now you."

Melody began to cry again, her whole body shaking. But she held her 
eyes on Terri's, forcing some dignity into her being.

Terri closed her eyes briefly; her immediate impulse was to shy away 
from the girl. She re-opened her eyes, and all she saw was a hurting, 
defenseless, brave girl in front of her. She embraced Melody, not 
really knowing what else to do.

"I got out. Preston gave me a way out," Melody murmured. "He got me 
off drugs, and gave me a new life. I. I think I fell in love with 
him."

"That doesn't give him the right to smack you around."

"I. I know. He just seemed so angry tonight. He's hurt me before, but 
not like this."

"He's hurt you before?" Terri's voice cracked as she asked again, "Did 
he rape you?"

Melody sniffled again. "I. I think he was angry about you. I don't 
know why. Suddenly we were arguing after you left and he wanted to 
have me. I couldn't understand why I couldn't talk to you. He never 
wants me to talk to anyone more than I have to. It's almost like he 
doesn't want me contaminating the rest of the company." Tears welled 
up in her eyes again.

She continued, the words beginning to flow out of her mouth like water 
through a broken dam.

"I agreed to leave with him, I was hoping to calm him down. He already 
had the key to this room. Like he was expecting this." She closed her 
eyes. "It's not like I haven't had sex before, so I thought I could 
calm him. And we did." Her face flushed. "We had sex. Rougher than 
normal, but I didn't mind too much. Until he really started to hit me. 
Oh God. I'm sorry." She began to cry again. "I. I just didn't think 
he'd do this much damage." She paused, trying to control her crying. 
"He finally left. I. I guess he got tired of hitting me. He left the 
key. And some money." She pointed at the bedside table where the 
electronic room key was dangling over the edge attached to a keyring 
emblazoned with the hotel name. Some large bills lay beside the keys 
as though tossed there casually. "When I saw my face in the mirror I 
just couldn't move for the longest time. I finally called you. I 
didn't know what else to do. I called directory assistance, you were 
listed. And you weren't home for so long. I'm sorry for calling you so 
late. I couldn't. I didn't. I was sick. I'm so sorry for making you 
wait at the door, but I couldn't help it. I was so sick. I. I couldn't 
get up off the bathroom floor."

Terri took a deep breath and held the shaking girl in her arms.

"You won't let me take you to the hospital?"

"I can't."

Terri gently probed at the swelling and bruises already forming on 
Melody's face, making the injured woman cry out in pain. Nothing felt 
broken, she'd be sporting a nice black eye and bruises for a few 
weeks, but she'd live. If there wasn't anything else wrong.

"Come on."

Terri picked up the girl's hand, meeting no resistance. She gently 
guided her to her feet and led her to the small bathroom. No tub, just 
a shower stall. She gently helped Melody remove the expensive and now 
ruined white dress. Her white bra was torn, and her panties were 
completely missing. Maybe she'd never been wearing any. Terri, feeling 
a bit out of place, let her eyes take inventory of the nude girl in 
front of her. No obvious serious damage. Just a few bruises beginning 
to form on the girl's breasts, about the size of Preston's fingers. 
There were some small bruises forming on her arms and legs, and maybe 
one near her ribs on the right side. Melody seemed to suffer the 
inspection easily, not particularly self-conscious about her nudity, 
but cringing when Terri had to touch a sensitive spot with her 
fingers.

Terri reached into the shower, twisted the knobs and was rewarded with 
a strong hot spray. She turned around to see Melody still standing 
nude, eyes closed, tears falling slowly down her features. She touched 
Melody's bare shoulder and guided her into the shower. Melody gasped 
as the hot water hit her.

"You going to be alright?"

"You can stay, if you want," Melody whispered. "You don't have to 
leave. I. I really don't want to be alone."

Terri mentally sighed, not used to or wanting to watch another woman 
in the shower.

"Alright. I'll stay." She leaned back up against the dirty sink, 
averting her eyes as Melody cried out each time her body twinged while 
she washed. Finally she stood under the spray just letting the warm 
water ease her body.

Terri glanced at her watch, feeling her eyelids lowering again. She 
fought off the fatigue for what seemed like the millionth time.

Melody stepped dripping out of the shower, her hair plastered to her 
head, but looking a lot better than when she had stepped in. Terri 
handed her one of the woefully inadequate hotel towels, and watched as 
she dried her hair and body. Watching this naked girl stirred her in 
parts that she'd rather not think about at the moment. Embarrassed and 
uncomfortable at her reaction, Terri gave Melody a quick weak smile 
and walked out of the bathroom, leaving her to finish drying herself 
alone. Perhaps she was more tired than she thought. Fatigue combined 
with sympathy causing the tingles? She tried to convince herself of 
that as she moved back to the main room.

In the main room, she rearranged the blankets on the bed, quickly 
making the bed. Melody walked into the room, still gloriously naked.

Terri looked up at the other woman, questioningly.

"I. I couldn't put it back on." Tears were brimming in her eyes again. 
"And he took my panties. I'm sorry. I'll get a robe." She turned to 
walk back to the bathroom.

"Wait. Melody. Just come here." Terri spoke gently to the bare woman.

Terri folded back the covers, indicating that Melody should get into 
bed. Melody knelt down on the bed and shuffled over to Terri, pulling 
her into a quick embrace.

"Thank-you, for helping me," Melody whispered as her soft body pressed 
into Terri's.

Melody released Terri and carefully lay herself down in the bed, 
pulling the covers up to her chin wincing at the aches in her body as 
she moved. She closed her eyes and probably didn't even hear Terri 
whisper quietly, "You're welcome."

Terri sighed, knowing that she couldn't leave the woman. She'd take 
her to the hospital and the police station tomorrow morning. It would 
mean Terri's job, she knew that, but there were some things that were 
far more important. She'd find another job.

She settled herself back down into the chair to wait for morning, 
fully intending to watch over Melody, making sure she was alright. Her 
eyelids slowly lowered.

***

Both women were awakened by heavy pounding on the door at four o'clock 
according to the cheap hotel clock radio on the bedside table.

"Fuck. I know you are in there, you little whore. Let me in."

Melody whimpered as she awoke. Terri awakened with a small scream, 
watching as Melody swung her bare feet to the floor. It took Terri a 
moment to orient herself, realize where she was. Preston was really 
drunk her fuzzy mind registered as Terri struggled to drive the sleep 
from her mind. And Melody was moving towards the door, in a daze.

"Melody. No. You can't let him in."

Melody turned a tear streaked, bruised face to Terri.

"I have to."

"You can't. He'll do that to me as well. Please."

Melody's face collapsed into tears as Terri's understanding of the 
situation sunk in. Terri rose to her feet, realizing that she still 
was wearing her ankle boots. She kicked them off as she approached 
Melody, who was frozen, her gaze switching rapidly between Terri and 
the closed rattling door.

"Melody. You fucking bitch. Open the door. I know you are in there," 
the slurred words washed into the small room.

Terri touched Melody's shoulder gently with a shaking hand and guided 
her back to the bed. Melody was trembling like a leaf, but allowed 
herself to be taken back to bed, trying to tune out the noise at the 
door. Melody clung to Terri as a hurt little girl might, and Terri 
gently lowered her back to the bed. Together, the two women curled up 
under the covers, Terri lightly stroking Melody's still damp blonde 
hair, cradling her against her breast. The touches all seemed electric 
and surreal with the bellowing and shaking from the doorway.

Terri closed her eyes, willing away the nausea brought on by the 
adrenaline racing through her veins. She reached for the phone and 
called the front desk. Soon the noise from the hallway disappeared. 
The indignities and cursing eased into the distance, as security took 
Preston away.

She held Melody until she stopped shaking and her breathing began to 
return to a normal regular rhythm. Terri's heart was still hammering 
as Melody raised her face, her eyes heavy.

"Thank-you. I would have opened that door," Melody whispered in the 
darkness with a shudder. Her bruises were hardly visible, and her face 
almost looked as stunning as it always did. In this soft light, one 
could almost forget she'd been beaten.

Terri felt herself move her head forward, lightly brushing at Melody's 
lips with her own. She thought that she could taste copper as she 
kissed Melody. She sighed, not knowing where any of these feeling were 
coming from, but knowing somehow that they were right. Melody returned 
the soft kiss before lowering herself back to cradle her head against 
Terri's shoulder and breast, her arms holding Terri tightly.

Melody fell into a light disturbed sleep, her breathing becoming 
somewhat regular against Terri. Terri held her, wondering again what 
the hell she'd gotten herself into. Shortly, far too shortly, the 
morning sun emerged over the eastern horizon and streamed gently into 
the hotel room, touching both girls' faces. A new day had begun.