Ch. 1: Another Fine Day

Last updated 11/22/98

Chapter One

Another Fine Day

Melanie opens her eyes as the light seeping beneath the blinds comes to rest on her face. She squints and yawns at the early morning sun. It takes only a second before she remembers the events of the previous evening. Her reminder, in the form of a sleeping Jack Taylor resting beside her, is hard to miss. She suddenly realizes she spent the entire night sleeping in his arms on her living room couch. 'Oh my God!' she thinks. 'What am I doing?' Her mind focuses on another thought and she bolts up.

Opening the door to her bedroom, she finds Sammy and Maggie both sleeping just as peacefully as Jack. She smiles a little as she closes the door to let them get a little more rest. After all, it's only 6am. It's barely daylight out. They can sleep for at least another hour.

She returns to the living room and looks back down at Jack. He does look cute lying there, sleeping. 'He is pretty cute,' she thinks with a smile. Suddenly, Jack makes a move and Melanie can see that he's waking up. She stops staring at him and goes into the kitchen to make some coffee. Meanwhile, Jack begins to awake.

As he opens his eyes, Jack wonders where he is. This certainly isn't his apartment. 'Mel,' he thinks. Where is she? He looks around and sees her in the kitchen. He gets up, stretching, and makes his way into the kitchen. "Good morning," he greets her.

"Good morning," she replies.

"I guess I fell asleep waiting for you last night, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess you did," she smiles a little and takes a sip of her coffee.

"Mind if I have a cup?" he asks.

"Help yourself," she says.

"Thanks. So, where are Sammy and Maggie?" he asks as he pours himself some coffee.

Mel smiles a little more at this. She's glad to see that this is one of the first things on his mind this morning. "Sleeping in my room," she replies.

Jack nods. She begins to wonder if she should have said that. Now he'll know she didn't sleep in her own bed . . .

As if he can read her mind, Jack says, "So, I never thought we'd sleep together on the first date," his smile grows wide as he says this.

She rolls her eyes and laughs a little. "You wish."

Jack doesn't respond, but he can't deny he's thought exactly the same thing. He's been fantasizing about her ever since he met her in front of Maggie's school yesterday. He wasn't lying when he said she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

As Jack is thinking about the previous day, his stare is concentrated on Mel. She can't help but notice and begins to get a bit self-conscious. "I must look awful," she comments, looking down.

Jack catches hold of her chin and gently turns her head up so that their eyes meet. "Definitely not," he tells her. She smiles and bites her lower lip. Jack moves closer. Melanie holds her breath as he approaches. His hands caress her shoulders gently as he looks deeply into her eyes. "You're beautiful," he says in a low voice, almost a whisper. His gravely voice sends a chill of excitement through her. Finally, after what seems like forever, he brings his lips to hers. This kiss is every bit as wonderful as the one they had shared the night before. They both hate for it to end. Unfortunately, Jack knows it's time for him to leave.

He pulls away and looks down at her. "Thank you for a wonderful day yesterday," he says. "I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a day that much." She smiles. Despite the frantic running she did all over New York yesterday, she can't remember having a better day either.

His hands are still resting gently on her forearms and she has her hands on the small of his back. "I'll sorry Maggie and I intruded last night. We really should have gone home. You should have woken me up," he smiles at her.

"I couldn't, you looked so exhausted," she grins. "Besides, it's okay. I didn't mind." Jack smiles back at her.

"Well, I better get Maggie home and get her ready for school. I can't let her miss another day, Kristen will kill me," he laughs a little.

"Yeah, I have to get Sammy ready, too. Maybe I'll see you at the school later?" she asks hopefully.

"Count on it," he says.

"Daddy, hurry!" Maggie says as Jack is rushing down to the elevators behind his daughter. They have gone home, gotten ready, and now they are running late. He's got 30 minutes to get her to school, so that's not the problem. Now that he knows where it is, he can get her there in twenty. The problem is, Mel will probably be on time. He's afraid they'll miss her.

They dart off of the elevator and catch a cab. Within twenty minutes, they are in front of Maggie's school. Jack pays the cab driver and rushes out to follow Maggie through the big, red doors. They go down the hall to Maggie's class and go inside. Jack is somewhat disappointed to see that Sammy is already playing with the other kids. Mel is probably long gone, wondering why in the hell he wasn't there like he said he'd be.

He waves to Maggie and she calls back, "Bye Daddy," over her shoulder as she finds her friends. Jack turns slowly and trudges out the door. He's halfway down the hall when he hears someone behind him yell his name.

The clicking of high heels on the tile floor resounds through the halls as Melanie Parker dashes to catch up with him. "I thought you'd left," he says with a smile.

"No, I was talking to Sammy's teacher. I told her about the mix up yesterday."

"Did you tell her it was all my fault?" he asks with a grin.

"No, actually I told her it was just a mistake and that Sammy and Maggie had spent the day with us," she smiles back.

"Thanks, maybe Kristen won't shoot me just yet," he says.

"I hope not," she grins.

"So, are you leaving now?" he asks.

"Yeah, I'm just on my way out."

"Why don't we share a cab?" he suggests.

"Great," she smiles and he holds the door for her then hails them a cab.

Once they are in the cab, Jack puts his arm around Mel. She's a little surprised by this, but pleased. He's really nothing like she had originally thought. He's not just some jerk who treats all women the same, the way she hates to be treated more than anything in the world. He's sweet and sensitive and obviously loves his daughter very much. All of these are very admirable qualities in her mind.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" he asks her.

"Work," she responds.

"Yeah, me too," he says.

"I have to meet those guys from the club yesterday at 9am," she tells him. It's 8 o'clock now.

"You've got a little while then. Want to grab a cup of coffee?"

"Sure," she smiles. He smiles back and directs the driver to stop at a diner near Melanie's office.

"Thanks," Jack says to the waitress as she brings them each a cup of coffee. "So," he directs his attention back to Mel, "about last night . . ."

"Oh no, not that speech," Melanie rolls her eyes a little and chuckles.

"No," Jack smiles and looks down at his coffee. "I was just going to say . . . well, I had a really nice time. I just wanted you to know that. We should do it again sometime."

"What? Fall asleep on my couch while our kids watch The Wizard of Oz?" she grins.

"Mel, you know what I mean," he says.

"Yeah, I do," she reaches across the table to grab his hand. "I'd love to do it again," she says.

"How about Friday?"

"Sure," she says.

"Oh wait, I forgot about Maggie. I better check to see if I can find a sitter before we make any plans," he says.

"When's Kristen due back?" she asks

"Sunday night," he tells her.

"Well, hang on, let me call my mother. She'll probably watch Sammy anyway. Maybe they can both stay there."

"That's not necessary. I'd hate to impose on her," he says.

Melanie rolls her eyes, "Trust me, when my mother hears I have a date, and especially when she hears whom it's with, she'll be more than happy to watch both of them." She picks up her phone and dials her mother's number. "Mom, yeah, it's me." Jack can only hear her end of the conversation. She explains the situation and asks if her mom can watch Sammy and Maggie on Friday night. "Great," Mel says. "Thanks Mom. Yeah, I will, I'll tell him. Okay, bye." She hangs up the phone.

"She'll do it?" he asks.

"Of course. Oh, and she says hi." Jack smiles. "So, any ideas about what we should do Friday?"

"Leave that to me," Jack says, grinning.

"Okay," Melanie replies. "Oh, I'd better go. I don't want to be late again."

"I'll call you later. If that's okay, I mean," he says tentatively.

"Yeah, that'd be great," she says as she gets up. "Bye," she smiles at him one more time, then turns to leave.

"Jack, just the man I've been looking for," Lou says as Jack walks off the elevator that morning.

"That's what they all say," he grins.

"You really came through on that garbage story, Jack," Lou says as he follows him into his office.

"So, does this mean I'm back on your good side?"

"For now, yeah," Lou says.

"Good because I have to leave early today," Jack says.

"Early? Where are you going?" he asks.

"I have Maggie for the week, remember? I need to pick her up from school."

"Yeah, okay, I can handle that," Lou says. He turns to leave the office, but then turns back as he reaches the door. "Just try to keep yourself out of trouble for the rest of the week, okay?"

"I'll do my best," Jack smiles. Lou rolls his eyes. Knowing Jack Taylor, that means he'll be in it up to his neck by the end of the day.

Melanie smiles as the clients exit her office, nodding a goodbye to them both. Things had gone well. Her boss seemed very pleased by the presentation. She's glad; she needed to get back in his good graces after the fiasco with the model and the strange encounter they'd had over drinks the day before. But she seems to be back on his A-list now. That's a weight off of her shoulders.

She sighs and gathers up the papers she'd had out for the presentation, then sits on the couch. Her mind is wandering again. All morning all she's been thinking about is Jack. "He really is all together yummy, Mel," her mother had said. 'Yes, yummy . . .' she thinks.

The phone rings and she jumps an inch off the couch in surprise. She shakes her head, then picks up the phone. "Hello, Melanie Parker."

"Have lunch with me?" comes the familiar, gravelly voice that has become ingrained in her memory in the last thirty-six hours.

She smiles. "Lunch?"

"Yeah . . . it's 11 o'clock now . . . I could meet you at your office at, say, 12:30? What do you say?"

"I say . . . I'd love to, Jack," she replies. "Where are we going?"

"Your choice."

"There's a great Italian place on the corner about three blocks from my office. We could go there," she suggests.

"Sounds great . . . see you at 12:30." And, with that, he hangs up. She feels a thousand butterflies in her stomach. Her head is spinning out of control and she can't seem to think straight. She knows these feelings. She's felt them before, fleetingly. But, it was too soon. She couldn't be in love with Jack Taylor . . . yet.

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