Beautiful Mistake

by Sarah J. Brooks

  “I’d love it, but you didn’t have to get me anything,” he protested.

  “I didn’t really get you anything.” I jumped off the stool “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  I walked down the hall, and for a moment, forgot where his room was. The loft was just on one floor, but it was the entire top of the building, so it was a little confusing trying to remember which door went where. After opening a couple of wrong doors, I finally found his bedroom and grabbed his guitar.

  When I returned to the kitchen and sat down, he had coffee and breakfast laid out for both of us.

  “I wrote this last night, and maybe it’s something you can use to inspire you to write your hit song. It’s about you,” I whispered, my eyes twinkling. “You can maybe record a version of it, and I’ll record a version of it … someday.”

  “I can’t wait to hear it.” He sat down across from me, his voice tight and judgmental.

  Perhaps he didn’t like anyone messing with his songwriting, or maybe he thought a love song about a two-day romance was psycho. Whatever his issue, I still wanted to play it for him, despite his possible apprehension.

  “It’s called, “Ever After.” I started to sing.

  I felt every note in the depths of my heart. I sang it with all my love and soul, even though it wasn’t an outright love song, it perfectly expressed my feelings about what Sage and I were doing.

  “Ever after you and me, so happily, living the fantasy

  and I am fine … and we’re sublime as long as my eyes can’t see, what’s in front of me …

  “I’m here for this, for the ever after, evermore …

  I’m here for this the fantastic journey, and adventure galore,

  I’m here for this, you and me, and to a degree

  I’ll wait and see if you ride up on your white pony …

  it’s all so good … the ever after fantasy.”

  I looked across to see his face frozen; maybe holding back tears, or thinking deep thoughts or ... digesting, I wasn’t sure.

  “You okay?” I asked, not sure what to make of his weird expression.

  “Melody, that’s the fucking song. That’s it, that’s what I’ve been thinking … and it … it’s just perfect. Can I really use it? I mean, you’ll get credit on it, and of course, it’s yours so you can sing it too, but I can put a rough spin on this and mix it with soul … oh my God, it’d be ironic and beautiful and wow, Melody, you are a fucking genius,” he gushed.

  I smiled. “Thanks, Merry Christmas.”

  We finished breakfast and sang the song a few more times together, then it was time for me to leave for rehearsal. I didn’t want to go, but I was looking forward to rehearsal and the amazing things that are developing in my life, so I wasn’t unhappy to leave.

  “I gotta get to rehearsal, but I’ll be back tonight to help you decorate Sinclair’s place,” I said giving him a kiss, my backpack slung across my back and guitar in hand. I was ready to go.

  “Thanks again, Mel, for that amazing song. I’m going to listen to it all day.” He waved his iPhone, “And come up with something amazing … I love you,” he said as he hugged me and gave me a soft sensual kiss.

  Did he just say he loved me? My life from that moment forward was a blur.

  Chapter 9

  Sage

  The song Melody wrote for me was perfection. It swirled emotion from deep within my balls. There was so much in it, love, fear, hope … it was one of those songs that were ironic and painful, yet also beautiful and hopeful. I was past my admiration of Melody; it had quickly become complete and total awe. I tried not to dwell on the fact that I was fucking the most incredible woman in the world, who was a damn fine musician, and someone who intimidated me a little.

  Finally, I’d found the fount of inspiration, so I worked with the song, adding my own dark spin to the lyrics and melody. I barely even used the toilet the whole nine hours it took to put down a rough copy of my version of Ever After. I recorded it in my studio and was ready to bring it to the band. I called up the guys and told them to come over so we could rehearse before I had to pick up Melody and go to Reyna and Sinclair’s.

  The guys came over and scarfed up the rest of the food the housekeeper had left me, the assholes. But I didn’t pay them, so they were welcome to forage for what they could find.

  “The song is good,” Tony said. “I think we should throw some Jamaican beats in there, add a little pump, and then we can take it to church, bring in a choir and shit and throw people outta their seats.”

  The man was a genius. He actually looked a lot like Lenny Kravitz, long locked hair, caramel-colored skin; coolest mother fucker on the block.

  “That’s it, that is fucking it!” I was so pumped; it was good to be inspired again.

  The rest of the guys agreed, and we spent the day working the song to perfection. We worked so hard the time just flew, and I realized I was going to be late to Sinclair’s if I didn’t leave soon.

  “So, it’s almost Christmas, don’t you fuckers have families?” I asked them.

  Everyone groaned and nodded.

  We didn’t call ourselves Grind Revolution just because. We were a bunch of musicians sick of the grind, the mundane, the usual. So, the guys went back to their people to eke out their holiday. I think we all preferred to just chill and play music, but society had its traditions. I liked being with my family, well some of them, and I was excited to see Melody again.

  “I ordered a bunch of shit that came by express delivery. We’ve got to get all this up before Santa comes,” I said as I unpacked boxes and Melody rummaged through them trying to make sense of everything we had.

  Reyna and the kids came bounding down the stairs as we were unpacking boxes.

  “Goody, goody, Christmas!” Arianna shouted with a smile.

  Reyna kissed her head. “Yep, look at all this Christmas that Uncle Sage and Aunt Melody have brought home for us.” She had Junior in her arms, and he was being squirmy, so she put him down. “Tomorrow, Santa comes,” she squealed joyfully to excite the kids.

  I rolled my eyes. “Yep, he comes tomorrow, yeah.” I wasn’t necessarily referring to Santa, but my brother, Shelton.

  Melody elbowed me in the side. “We are so excited!” She scooped down and squatted next to Arianna. “What did you ask Santa to bring you this year?” she asked in a bright and childish tone of voice.

  “I want to be a rock star like you. I want to play drums and guitar and sing and be cool like my god mommy. So I asked for all that stuff,” Arianna cooed.

  “Baby girl, you are going to be the best rock star ever. Especially if Santa brings you all those cool instruments. You and I will need to jam. Okay, Uncle and I have to get the yard set up so Santa knows which house is yours.” She kissed Arianna on the head and then kissed little Sinclair Jr. who was playing with the packing peanuts.

  “Santa’s helpers need to get to work,” I said, shuffling Melody outside. “You guys have a good night, and we’ll see you when Santa comes to town.”

  “Okay, Uncle Sagey,” Arianna called back.

  The kid was so damn cute. Sinclair and Reyna made beautiful children. They almost made me want to consider having some one day if they came out as cute as those two. I thought about what beautiful children Melody would have.

  Once outside, Melody and I got to work. The instructions were obviously auto-translated from Chinese and were almost indecipherable. It was gonna take us all night if we didn’t focus. We worked most of the evening putting up lights, a real sleigh, a moving Santa, flying reindeer and automated Christmas carolers. It was nearly two in the morning by the time we were finished, but at least we had it done by Christmas.

  “I wanted to ask you about how the rehearsal went, but now I can’t form a coherent sentence,” I said, barely able to speak, I was so exhausted.

  “Well, you used ‘coherent’ in a sentence, that’s pretty impressive. I’m too tired to tell you about it, so we’re good,” she replied. “It was
this.” She gave me the thumbs-up sign, and we dragged our half-dead bodies up to my room in Sinclair’s mansion.

  We were so exhausted, all we could do was strip our clothes off and fall into bed. I think we were asleep before either of us even said “Goodnight” to one another. The next day people arrived much too early for us. We stayed in bed for as long as we could. By lunch, we had to make an appearance, or someone would come looking for us. We were heavily congratulated on our work decorating the front yard and the foyer, and we were treated to a three-course gourmet meal by a chef Sinclair had hired for Christmas so that his housekeeper and butler could have a holiday.

  The food was ridiculously good. The rest of the day was spent hanging out with random relatives I didn’t know very well and eating more food. Melody and I were able to sneak away pretty early to hang out with each other.

  “The rehearsal was amazing. Mizironic’s name is Stephanie, and she’s so down to earth. She wants all of the opening acts to cover her songs, but in our own style, so I have two of the songs. My Love is Blur and Take Me to Space. I love both of those songs, so one I sang as a gravely kind of alternative acoustic ballad and the other I rocked hard. She said she was blown away and wanted to know if I was working on anything, so I played her your song. She thinks it could be a hit. So after you guys record it, I might record it too.” Melody smiled and was so happy I hated to burst her bubble.

  The truth was, as soon as our band was back in the studio, we were going to record Ever After and give it to our record company. After we did that, it would be our song. I mean Melody would get paid, and she would be the songwriter, but she couldn’t debut the same song. I wanted to give her a little forewarning.

  “You sure it’s okay if I record it with my band? I mean, I think there might be a thing about two bands singing the same song,” I asked a little nervous to mention it, but I didn’t want to steal her song.

  “No, babe. It’s your Christmas gift. It’s yours to sing. I’ll keep my name on it, and we can have our lawyers hash out the royalties, but I gave the song to you. It’s yours.” Her smile was so sweet and innocent, the love in my heart bloomed.

  We were expected at the big Christmas Eve dinner where Reyna, Sinclair, the kids, and Charlyn, Melody’s roommate were waiting for us. When we emerged, there were suspicious looks, but we smiled and didn’t let their concerns get to us. It was obvious we were in this now, so who cared how long it lasted, we were together for now … just as Melody’s song had said, we were buying the fantasy for the moment.

  After dinner, she and I went back to my room and had some soft vanilla sex. I made sure to eat her pussy till she came the first time and entered her gently. I loved the way she felt around my cock. I also knew that the rough fucking made her raw and sore, so I put a lot of effort into the slow grind and came to a gentle climax just after she did. We both fell asleep naked in each other’s arms, my favorite place to be.

  We slept soundly but were soon awakened to the sounds of squealing and yelling.

  “Sounds like it’s showtime,” she said in a sleepy grog.

  “Santa is here. We’re gonna have to skip the shower and get down there, or Sinclair will march in here and drag us out,” I said with my eyes closed, trying to hold onto sleep for a few more seconds.

  “Just three more minutes,” she begged.

  “They’re gonna be like feral animals in a cage, biting and scratching to get down to the Christmas presents. We have to go now or be punished.”

  I was only half-joking. Last year, I slept in, and Sinclair barged into my room and literally yanked me out of bed by my feet. Parents take this Santa shit very seriously.

  “I don’t want to be punished,” she groaned as she got out of bed.

  Again I noted how beautiful her body was. She slipped into a pretty dress and a pair of lace underwear. As with most mornings, I wanted to have sex with her again. I realized I was probably addicted to her at this point because I couldn’t think of any time I didn’t want to have sex with her.

  I threw on a pair of jeans and a clean T-shirt. I knew the minute I heard my mother’s high-pitched trill the party had begun.

  “Oh great, Mom and Dad are here,” I said, slicking my hair back with some gel I had on the dresser.

  Melody gathered up her purple locks into a neat bun and actually looked less like a musician than she ever had. She wore a pretty red dress that hugged her waist but was loose-fitting at the skirt; it was perfectly tame and respectable. Her neatly piled hair was almost conservative. My mother was going to love her. The fading purple hair dye was enough wild to know Melody was more like me than my brothers.

  We made our way out of my room to find Arianna and Sinclair Jr. waiting behind a baby gate chomping at the bit. Reyna was with them, holding them back for their grand entrance. Arianna was wearing a beautiful pink nightgown and robe set and Sinclair Jr. was in a cute Santa onesie.

  “Better get down there,” Reyna said in a whisper. “Your mom and dad are here, and these kids are about to have a coronary.”

  “Gotcha.” I flipped my first finger at her, like I was cool, grabbed Melody’s hand, and we hopped over the baby gate and walked down the stairs like we were royalty.

  I saw my mom and dad standing there talking to Sinclair and honestly, I don’t know how she did it. My mother was always impeccably dressed, no matter what hour. She was like the Queen of England, always looking perfect. My father was also in formal attire and quiet and as stoic as usual. I scanned the room looking for Shelton and was happy to see that he had not arrived yet.

  “Merry Christmas, Mother,” I said as we reached the bottom step. “Father. Remember Melody,” I hesitated “… um, Reyna’s best friend? Well,” I chuckled feeling awkward, “now she’s my friend too ... a good friend.” I had to stop before I thoroughly embarrassed myself.

  “Merry Christmas, Son,” my father said with all the enthusiasm of a land sloth, and my mother opened her arms wide.

  “Sage, look at you!” she shouted as if I was still six years old. “Facial hair?” She questioned, touching my five o’clock shadow.

  She was the reason I didn’t have a beard or goatee. She thought facial hair was too wild and untamed for the likes of our family.

  “Ah, I’m a rock star, Mom, not a GQ model.” I pushed Melody forward to draw my mom’s attention away from me.

  “Hello, Mrs. Harris,” Melody said politely extending her hand for a handshake. “It’s good to see you again.”

  My mother gave Melody a light handshake and a thorough once-over. “Well, aren’t you beautiful. My sons certainly have good taste in their women.”

  Melody cringed a little when mom mentioned “their women” as if she was a possession, but quickly recovered.

  “That’s very sweet of you to say, Mrs. Harris.” Melody was being so polite, I hardly recognized her.

  “Where is our illustrious brother?” I asked to divert my mother from insulting Melody more. I tried to sound as enthusiastic and jovial as I could.

  “Not here yet.” Sinclair smiled the same plastered-on plastic smile I had on my face. “But he promises to be here by ten,” he said as he entered the foyer and hugged our parents.

  “Shall we go to the great room? I think Santa came,” Sinclair announced. “I don’t think the kids can wait a minute more.” He looked up at Arianna at the top of the stairs with a gleam in his eye. “Guess what time it is?”

  “Present time?” she squealed as Reyna opened the baby gate and Arianna came rushing down a blur of movement and pink.

  We moved the group to the main living room and were happy the kids did not have to wait for Shelton to open their gifts. There were squeals of delight and so much wrapping paper flying everywhere it was like Christmas had exploded around the room. I could tell my mom and dad didn’t like the wild way Reyna and Sinclair let their kids attack the gifts, but since we were never given that opportunity when we were growing up, I’m sure they could see this as a parenting choice Sincla
ir had made to ensure his children had a better experience with Christmas than we did. After Arianna had dug through most of her stocking and Junior was playing with a box instead of the toy that came in it, Sinclair threw the doors open to announce Santa had arrived. There was a real Santa standing there with a real shaggy white beard and all. Even Melody gasped at the sight of him.

  Arianna rushed for Santa, and he scooped her up into his arms.

  “Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas,” he said in such a believable way that I thought he might actually be real for a moment. “Do you wanna see what Santa brought for you?” he asked sounding all jovial and full of good cheer.

  “What fun,” Melody whispered in my ear watching Santa hand Arianna a candy cane. “Are all those presents for the kids too?” Her eyes drifted over to more stacks of presents piled near the tree.

  “I thought Reyna said you were going to cut back on all the ‘stuff,” I said under my breath to Sinclair. “I don’t ever recall Santa being so generous,” I added with a note of shock in my voice.

  Sinclair looked at me and flashed another plastic smile. “I knew how busy we would have to keep ourselves. I bet there’s a lot of fun things for all of us to do in there, so we don’t get bored and have to talk to people,” he said under his breath.

  “Good call, bro,” I complimented. “Best we all keep busy.”

  Santa stayed long enough for the kids to open a few presents then was on his way saying he had other little kids to see. The kids would miss Santa but had plenty to keep themselves occupied. Santa had already become an afterthought when he left. The adults in our family didn’t give each other gifts; instead, we made donations to our favorite charities. Shelton never joined us for our charity reveal. He promised at the office and left it at that. None of us wanted to tackle the subject of giving with him, so we just did it when he wasn’t there.

  This was his way of doing things.