When Sparks Fly

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Melissa opened the door and walked out of the garage, over to her car and slipped in behind the wheel. Her face was red and her fingers were shaking as she gripped the steering wheel and drove away. "What an ass," she said to no one as she replayed the man's attitude back through her mind. "Obviously someone needs to get laid, that stupid hillbilly fucker."

She continued to drive back to Sally's, and when she got there she noted a truck in the drive. "Trent must be home." Her stomach pitched slightly with the idea of meeting someone else in the community, so far she wasn't doing too well in the friend department. She left her car parked, and headed back into the house. "Anyone here?" she called.

A man popped his head from around a corner. His brown hair, matched the color of his brown eyes. "Melissa?"

"Trent?"

They both grinned. Trent dropped a dish towel on the counter and walked into the living room, to give Melissa a quick, but gentle hug. "A pleasure to finally meet you. Sally has shared so many stories about you that it's like I already know you!"

Melissa wished silently that she could say the same. She was surprised at how much she missed not having a girlfriend to hang out with a family life to come home to. "Well, I do hope most of it was good."

He chuckled, then winked. "Most of it was."

She blushed. "Need any help in there? Whatever you're making smells great."

"He's an awesome cook."

Melissa turned toward Sally's voice. "Get enough sleep?" she asked, as she watched her friend kiss her husband.

"For now," Sally answered back. "Let's head outside and chat, while Trent finishes up in here."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, he really doesn't want help in the kitchen, but he'll take it out of politeness," Sally whispered, and pulled her along side him. "He's a bear in there, so stay clear."

Melissa giggled and walked with her friend to the back patio. They talked more about the past, as well as the future, until Trent brought them salads, and later more food.

That evening Melissa found herself full and satisfied with the day's activities, so much so she could almost forget the two blemishes with Lou.

~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~

The following morning Melissa woke up, showered, and pulled on a pair of new panties that matched the new bra she wore. The hipsters hugged her slim waist, and the bra kept her firm handful-sized breasts up where they were supposed to me. Another pair of new jeans were pulled from the dresser as was a white polo shirt. She slipped on a pair of gold hooped earrings, and a simple gold chain, along with a bracelet and her watch. Her sneakers were slipped on over her sock free feet and her hair was pulled into a loose ponytail. When she looked back at her appearance, she noted her freckles and her eyes. A touch of make-up soon covered the imperfections she saw, and her colored contacts helped make the green of her eyes look brighter. A quick glance at her nails confirmed that the manicurist had done a good job earning her substantial fee and tip.

A knock on her door brought Melissa's attention away from herself. "You awake?"

Melissa opened the door and greeted Sally with a smile. "Yep," she took a deep breath, "bacon?"

"Yep, it's one of the few things Trent let's me cook."

Melissa chuckled, closed the bedroom door and went with her friend to the kitchen. "Trent's already gone to the fair grounds. He's helping with the petting farm this morning, so it's just you and me," Sally told her, before pushing a plate of eggs and bacon over the table. Melissa eyed it longingly, then picked up an apple.

"Mel, do you always eat so little?"

She bit into the sweet meat of the fruit. "I have for about seven years now."

"Are you happy?"

Melissa lifted a brow, and licked the juices from her lips. "Of course I'm happy. Look at me. I'm a size four, well, except for my boobs. They went down in size when I lost the weight, but not enough if you ask me. I'd get them reduced if I wasn't against going under the knife for vanity reasons."

Sally bit into her toast. "You don't seem happy."

She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm content, then."

"If you say so, but I'll shut up if you eat just one egg and one strip of bacon."

"Are you trying to make me fat?"

Sally shrank back. "No, I just...you really are healthy?"

"I really am healthy. I'm not the girl I was, but I'm not starving myself. Just making better choices."

"Okay, but you know – men like a little meat on their ladies."

"So, I've heard," she muttered, then rolled her eyes. "Enough about my eating habits though, let's head to this local fair and see what you country folk do all day when you're not quilting or baking cookies."

The two women left, Melissa slipped her arm through Sally's and then opened the car door for her. "Now don't you go treating me like a delicate flower. Trent is always doing stuff like this for me."

"What? Opening doors? That's his job."

"Well, no I mean he doesn't let me do anything. Carry groceries, laundry - nothing."

Melissa laughed. "Well enjoy it, because when that baby comes, you'll be the one up all night with it."

"True!"

The women continued chatting about various things. Melissa shared stories about her clients, and Sally touched on town gossip. "The diner and the garage, they're owned by the same family?" Melissa asked, as they pulled into a parking spot, just a small distance from the fair.

"Yeah. Lou's been around here since he was a kid, his family before him too. He started the garage first, and then later the diner. His son's an architect. He lost his wife a few years ago to cancer, so it's nice when his boy comes back to visit."

"I see."

The two friends, left the car, and walked over the grass and into the fairgrounds. Melissa discovered that the simple country life, wasn't too bad, after all. The air was fresher, though she rethought that when they approached the petting farm, and she was more than willing to look at the craft booths so she could recapture clean air for her lungs. Sally laughed at her expressions, but willingly went along to gaze upon the various hand sewn and crafted items that the locals had on display.

When Sally spied a series of tables set up and bingo cards laid out for recreational purposes, she pulled Melissa along and the two sat down. After several rounds, Sally rubbed her belly and left Melissa to play alone, while she went in search for something to feed her and her baby. Letters and numbers were called and Melissa felt her excitement grow as her card slowly began to fill up. She was only a couple calls away from a Bingo when a loud voice called out that they'd hit the mark. Her shoulders slumped.

"Better luck next time."

Melissa glanced up into a pair of dark eyes. "Hi," she said to the black man that seemed to be around every corner.

He took a seat next to her, and plucked a card from the center of the table. A handful of beans were passed to him by another member of the community. "Sally was sitting there," Melissa told him, then put a bean on the free space of her card.

He shrugged. "I'll move when she gets back, but there are three other seats that are empty."

Melissa glanced across from her and on the other side of her; he was right. "True, but still, it was her seat."

"You sure are an uptight bitch, aren't you?"

She blinked, dark red lashes covered her deep green eyes. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," he motioned to the bingo caller, "B-7. You've got that number."

"Fuck you," she hissed, grabbed her purse and left the man to his bingo game. Melissa's eyes stung; she wiped at the tears that had slipped free, found the restrooms of the fairgrounds and darted inside. With her head lowered, she moved past a pair of old ladies that were leaving the bathroom. A stall was empty, so she claimed it, locked the door and leaned against the wall. Her tears fell freely behind the cool steel door. He was right, she was an uptight bitch, but what did it matter, what he thought. He was just some backwoods country boy that probably couldn't spell his name so they had to stitch it on all his clothes, hell he even had to have his dad's name just so he could remember it. She swallowed the lump in her throat and clenched her lids tightly, before counting to twenty, then thirty. Eventually she was forced to leave the bathroom, when a small child peeked under the door. "You done in there?"

"Marie! Ma'am I'm so sorry!"

Melissa opened the door and smiled at the little girl and the woman. "It's okay. I'm all done."

The woman could tell Melissa had been crying, but made no move to offer her comfort, instead she ushered her daughter into the stall and locked the door behind them. Melissa couldn't help but smile when she heard the banter of mother and child as the little girl insisted on doing things herself. As the bathroom began to fill up, Melissa pressed herself close to the mirror and worked to repair her make-up. She pulled her contacts out, swished them in the case of solution she carried, and then placed them back over her eyes, once more making them darker than their natural state.

"There you are!"

She turned and saw Sally pop her head into the bathroom. Melissa hurried out and waved off the concern her friend expressed when she saw her eyes. "I'm good, just feeling a bit lonely. You have a great town here, and a great life. I'm jealous."

Sally stepped back, and looked into her eyes. "Mel, you can have all this too. You just have to decide to be yourself, and not worry about what everyone else thinks. I've been telling you that for years."

"You have, haven't you?"

"Yep. So what do you want to do now? You hungry?" Sally asked.

"You just ate!"

Sally patted her stomach. "That was a snack. An elephant ear. We need real food. Come on, Lou makes the best chili!"

Melissa rolled her eyes. "Is there anything that family doesn't do?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind, let's go feed the baby."

They stopped at the chili tables, and Melissa noticed that the older Lou was there dishing out bowls of thick red beans. Her stomach growled, she placed a five dollar bill in the bucket, took some food, offered her thanks, and headed to a picnic table where Sally soon joined her, followed by Trent. "You know, he's quite the looker, isn't he?"

"Who?" Melissa asked.

"You know who, you've been glancing at him for the past ten minutes and mindlessly eating your food," Sally whispered.

Trent looked to where Sally had been indicating. "Oh, you mean Robert."

"Robert?"

"Robert Hayes," Trent said, pointing to the tall black man that had been the thistle in Melissa's side since Friday morning, when she'd seen him at the diner.

"I thought his name was Lou?"

Sally laughed. "He was wearing his dad's shirt, when he was working the diner. You goof. Lou is his dad. His name is Robert, or Robbie, but no one calls him that. He prefers Robert."

"I just assumed his name was Lou, and he was named after his dad – Lou – or Louis," Melissa admitted.

"Nope," Sally answered, "so now that you know his name, are you going to go up and properly introduce yourself?"

Melissa laughed. "No. I've had plenty of run-ins with him to last me a life time."

"He is cute though," Sally said, then winked when Trent pinched her ribs. "Not as cute as you though honey."

"You got that right," Trent said before waving Robert over. "I'll just do the introductions."

Sally laughed and Melissa groaned. It didn't take long before Robert joined them, and took a seat next to Melissa. She tried not to scoot away from him. Her insides churned as she recalled his remark concerning her bitchiness.

"Melissa meet Robert; Robert meet Melissa," Trent said, before smacking his lips and enjoying another bite of food.

"Ma'am," Robert nodded his head, winked, and then turned to Sally. "Baby doin' good?" he asked. Sally shared with him the results of her last ultrasound, and soon Trent, she and Robert were deep in conversation. Melissa ate quietly, mindful of the fact that the man beside her hadn't spared her more than a passing glance. She hated how much the knowledge bothered her, and told herself that his opinion really didn't matter. Come tomorrow morning, she'd be back in her own world, and surrounded by the people that really cared about her, which she knew was no one in particular.

"You okay?" Sally asked.

Melissa plastered on a smile. "I'm fine, just getting tired. Too much fresh air I guess."

"Sally said you live in the city. Too much action for me. I hate going up there and doing business, I prefer to have my clients come to me," Robert mentioned.

"You work in the city and live..." Melissa raised her brows, waiting for Robert to finish her sentence with his answer.

"I have a very small house just outside of largest suburb. Right on the edge. I'm hoping though to move back here, and settle down. Dad's not getting any younger, but I don't want to live with him. So I rent a one bedroom house on tiny patch of grass. It serves my needs."

"Sounds lovely," Melissa said, and knew the tone had not come out the way she'd intended it. Robert shook his head, and sighed, then turned back to Sally and Trent.

Melissa gathered her empty bowl and rose from her seat. "I'm gonna toss this stuff and grab a drink, then maybe walk around a bit."

"You want some company?" Sally asked, slowly rising from her seat.

"Nah, I'm good. You relax and catch up with your friend."

Melissa walked away, but before she got too far she heard Robert mutter, "Who crawled up her ass and got stuck?" She clenched her fingers around her trash, quickened her step and dropped the used dining-ware into the garbage. It took her two long meandering walks around the fairgrounds before she finally was able to discard Robert's words and begin a search for her friend.

When she found them, she played a few carnival games, as well as purchased a few more trinkets, that Trent offered to take to his truck. "He really is a great guy," she commented to Sally.

"I know. I love him an awful lot. He'll make a great dad."

"Good thing, since it's kinda too late to back out," Melissa winked, then giggled softly, "It's still hard to imagine you as a mom. You were so anti-baby when we were in school. You swore you were going to land a modeling career in New York, and that meant no babies, no husbands, and no commitments. Look at you now."

"I know, and look at you. You said you were going to be successful and you are."

She sighed. "Yes, I am."

"I still don't think you're happy, though."

"Look Sally, I don't know what it is about your friend, but he rubs me the wrong way. He's cocky, opinionated, spoiled, and good-looking – and he knows it." Melissa kicked a stone with her foot. "Nothin' is worse than a guy who knows he's sexy."

"You're all those things too Melissa, so maybe that's why he rubs you the wrong way. He's just the male Adonis version of you." Sally laughed. "Don't get offended, just think about it. Come on," she pulled her arm, "the music is starting and their going to be doing some dancin' in a bit."

"It's too early to dance isn't it?"

"This is hillbilly country, it's never to early to dance!" Sally laughed, and the two women went off to join the large group of revelers that were making their way to the main stage. A band played various country tunes, and soon Sally had Melissa laughing and gyrating to different songs that spoke through the speakers.

After several songs, Melissa and Sally collapsed at a table, and Sally signaled for a young girl in pigtails to come over. "Rita, would you bring my friend a beer and me a bottle of water?"

"Sure Missus Tuttle."

The girl left, only to return lightning fast with the cold water and the tall bottle of beer. Rita darted off before Sally could get her to bring a bottle opener.

"It's okay, I got it."

Melissa watched long, callused fingers wrap around the beer's neck, and a bottle opener attached to a knife lifted the top. Suds trickled out, as Robert handed the beer down to her. "Thanks," she said, then tipped the bottle to her lips. Her eyes held his for a moment; her stomach flexed, and her pulse quickened.

"No problem," he turned to the pregnant blonde, "Sally, Trent wanted to know if you were ready to go home. Said you were too fragile to be out much longer and ..."

"Too fragile my ass," Sally muttered, "but I am tired, so yeah, I'm ready." She put her hand on Melissa's shoulder. "You stay put. You got your car, and you know how to get back to the house right?"

"Yes, but I don't want to..."

"I insist, look you need a night out, even if it is with us country bumpkin's. Robert, take care of her please." Sally stepped up and kissed her friend's cheek, then hugged Melissa. "I mean it, no fighting!"

Melissa's rose in a half smile, but said nothing about how they would behave once Sally was gone. When her friend was no longer around, she tipped back her beer, ignoring the man that stood beside her. "You don't have to babysit," she told him. Robert shrugged his shoulders and walked away. Melissa rolled her eyes. "Well, fuck you too," she muttered to herself, then shifted nervously when she saw him coming back, two beers held firmly between his fingers.

He took the seat that Sally had abandoned, opened one beer and put the other in the center of the table. "In case you need another," he said casually.

"Thanks," she whispered, and took another draw from the brown bottle.

They sat there in awkward silence, though music and laughter surrounded them. "I heard what you said," Melissa suddenly remarked; she glanced at Robert, who had a questioning look on his face. "About someone crawling up my ass."

He lowered his eyes, and played with the paper on the bottle of beer. "Sorry about that. I don't know what it is about you that..."

"Rubs you the wrong way?"

Robert chuckled softly. "Yeah."

"The feeling is mutual," she confided, and took another drink. "I'm sorry as well. I don't know why you push all the wrong buttons and none of the right ones, but you do."

They sat there listening to the music, and watching men, women, and teens move on and off the floor. "Do you want to dance, Melissa?"

She saw the olive branch being extended, and knew it was up to her to either take it or leave it. His eyes were inviting, and his smile soft and welcoming. Her tongue darted out to taste her lips, she caught his gaze drop to her mouth. Melissa unknowingly smirked and then smiled when Robert's dark flesh pinked slightly. She took his hand in hers and together they made their way to a clear spot on the floor, where he could coach her in the steps that would move them into the group that circled around them.

It took Melissa a few tries before she felt confident that she wouldn't step on Robert's feet, or cause either of them to fall. When she indicated she was ready, he maneuvered them deeper into the crowd. His hands rested on her hips, and she felt their strength through the material of her blouse. She moved her feet quickly, anticipating the moves, as the music began to wash over her. Her smile became more genuine, as did her laughter, and when two dances had been completed, she led Robert back to their table where he handed her the other bottle of beer, after having opened it for her. Melissa drank deep, and thanked him.

"The pleasure was all mine," he told her, before drinking more of his first beer. "You do that pretty well. I admit I'm surprised."

"Sally taught me the moves years ago, I'm surprised I remembered them." A long sigh escaped her lips. "It was fun," she admitted.

Her eyes held his for a long time before either of them spoke; Robert broke the silence. "Sally and you lost touch after you graduated, right?"