If Tomorrow Never Comes
Chapter 8
“We’re here,” Melanee said, pulling her car into the car park of BBC studios.
“What are doing at BBC?” Shane asked, at this stage thoroughly confused.
Melanee just smiled at Shane, locked her car and started walking off toward the entrance,
holding a large bag, that Shane hadn’t seen her put in car.
“But…” Shane started, before running after Melanee.
Melanee flashed the security guard, at the entrance, her BBC card, and walked in,
followed by Shane.
“So, Mel,” Shane said, after they had walked around the dimly lit studios, in silence,
for quite some time, “what are we doing here?”
“You’ll see,” was all Melanee said, before stopping outside a door marked ‘video
and recording’. Melanee brought out her set of keys and unlocked the door.
“Wow,” Shane said, as he looked up at all of the recording equipment that was lying
around.
Melanee made her way over to a large projector and screen, in the corner of the room
and flipped on a switch.
The whole room lit up and revealed 100’s of video reels, stacked up on many labelled
shelves. Shane took another look around and saw a shelf marked ‘Parkinson’.
“Cool,” he said, reaching out and picking up reel marked ‘McPherson, Walsh and Roberts’.
“Hey, look at this, Mel,” Shane said, showing her the reel, “that’s our new manager.”
Mel let out a short laugh, “what Elle McPherson?” she said.
“No,” Shane said rolling his eyes, “not Elle McPherson!”
“Oh,” Mel said, laughing again, “I didn’t know Julia Roberts had taken up managing?”
Shane frowned at Mel, who just slapped him lightly on the arm, “I know you’re talking
about Louis Walsh, I was just playing.”
“Argh!” Shane sighed, exaggeratedly, “god Mel, you’re so silly, honestly, what am
I going to do with you?”
Mel smiled at Shane, “nothing,” she said, then she spun around, “except sit down
and close your eyes.” “What?” Shane asked, “why?”
“Just do it,” Mel said, pushing a chair toward Shane, “now close your eyes!”
Shane did as he was told and sat down on the chair, shutting his eyes as he did so.
“Right,” Mel said, inserting a reel into the projector, “open them now.”
Shane opened his eyes and stared at the screen in front of him, speechless.
Melanee looked happily over at Shane’s expression, then turned back to the screen
and looked at the images filling the room. “Wow,” Shane muttered.
He was staring at himself and Melanee running around the park in their nappies, as
babies.
The screen flicked from one scene to another; each one containing Melanee and Shane
as babies, running around together doing stupid things that little kids do.
As the reel went on, Shane and Melanee started getting older.
“I remember that,” Shane said, quietly, still staring intently at the screen.
He was watching himself standing nervously at the bottom of the stairs, in his little
tuxedo, waiting for Melanee to come down.
They were both around 11 and they were going their first dance.
Shane laughed to himself, as he saw his younger self, walking nervously around the
dancefloor with Melanee.
She was doing the dance perfectly; holding her head up high and floating around the
room like a princess.
Shane looked proudly over to where Melanee was standing; her eyes lost in the picture
before her.
Soon the video flicked through to Shane and Melanee doing horse-riding championships
together, when they were about 15.
Melanee had just come off her horse and was watching intently as the judges put up
their scores. As the last judge put up the score 9.5, Mel jumped up in the air and
the video quickly switched to the left, were it showed Shane running up out of the
crowd and over to Mel; both of them screaming madly as they embraced.
Shane laughed as he remembered the event.
The video went blank for a moment and Shane was about to get up, thinking it was
over, when the video flicked back on and showed Melanee putting on a dress for a
dance.
Shane didn’t remember this and watched closely as Melanee smiled and laughed with
whomever was behind the camera.
Melanee looked at the screen, and wondered what this was, for she didn’t remember
it either.
They both kept watching as the camera did a close up on the picture of Shane and
Melanee that was up in her room at the time, and they heard the girl behind the camera
say something muffled about the picture.
Shane watched as the camera was quickly turned around and he heard Melanee say into
it, ‘this is Gill, my friend, say hi, Gill!”
Shane sat entranced as a blonde girl on the screen laughed and smiled at Melanee,
who was now holding the camera.
“Who’s that Mel?” Shane, said, not taking his eyes away from the picture.
“Oh,” Melanee said, smiling at the memory, “she was my old friend Gillian. We were
the best of friends in that last year of high school when you left for that all-boys
school. But we lost touch… don’t know why?”
“Oh,” Shane said, quietly, still staring at the blonde girl who was now running around
the room laughing.
“Oh, I see” Melanee said, looking down at Shane and smiling, “look who’s in love
now!”
Shane just mumbled some response, and kept looking at Gillian, all his painful thoughts
of Fia, erased from his mind.