The Ones That Got Away Page 3

  Ashley had long, straight blond hair and piercing blue eyes. She smiled, showing off the whitest teeth Scott had ever seen. “You’ll have your chance tomorrow night,” she said. “I’m playing upstairs at the Ritz.”

  “That’s great,” Scott said. “I’ll try to make it.”

  “I hope you do,” she said. She and Scott stared at each other for a beat too long.

  “Well, I’ve got to get back with these beers,” he said, then realized he hadn’t filled the cups yet. He laughed and walked toward the kegs, but before he got there, he saw Melanie and two of her friends coming straight for him. Melanie slapped him hard across the face.

  “You bastard! I don’t ever want to see you again.” Melanie stomped off. Her two friends each gave Scott a hard look, then followed her.

  He wanted to scream at Melanie, to go after her, but he didn’t. This was how their relationship had ended the first time around. Melanie had told him that she never wanted to see him again, so he made sure she got her wish. After a day or two, Melanie started calling and leaving messages, but Scott wouldn’t return her call. She’d come by the apartment, but he wouldn’t answer the door. Finally, she gave up. His pride had won out. Not this time. When she called, he’d answer. If he was truly being given a second chance at life, he assumed that Melanie was the reason. And he wasn’t about to waste it.

  Chapter 5

  April 1983

  Scott couldn’t remember how to get back to his apartment. Dean had stayed at the bonfire, saying he’d catch a ride with someone else. Scott got lost twice and ended up in his apartment parking lot almost by accident.

  He considered calling Melanie but thought better of it. She’d still be drunk, and when she was, there was no reasoning with her.

  It was nearly midnight when he lay down in bed, but he couldn’t sleep. His mind raced. Was any of this real? If it was, he wanted to make the most of it. He wanted to know what a life with Melanie would be like. Even so, he expected to wake up at any moment and be in the guest bedroom of the house he shared with Kathy.

  If this was real, where was Kathy now? She was four years younger than him, which meant she was a senior in high school. He laughed. Kathy, a high schooler.

  If he was being given a second chance, Kathy wouldn’t be part of his life this time around. The thought saddened him and filled him with regret. But he knew how his life with her turned out. He had a chance to build a new life, a better life.

  He turned his thoughts to Melanie. Was she really the reason he’d been given a second chance?

  He was finally able to turn his brain off and fall asleep, but when he heard a door close, he startled awake. He went out to investigate the sound. Dean was standing in the living room. “Are you just getting in?” Scott asked.

  “Yeah. Are you just getting up?”

  Scott nodded.

  “Aren’t you going to ask where I spent the night?”

  “I was going to,” Scott lied.

  Dean flashed a devilish smile. “I spent the night with Gail.”

  “Gail?” Scott couldn’t remember who Gail was.

  “The girl I introduced you to last night before The Volcano erupted and smacked you across the face.”

  Scott instinctively put his hand up to his face. “Oh right, Gail.”

  “We’re getting together again tonight to see Ashley play at The Ritz. She wants you to come, too.”

  “Who does?” Scott asked.

  “Ashley.”

  Scott shook his head. “I don’t think I can. Not tonight.”

  “You don’t have a final until Tuesday. You have plenty of time to study. Come out with us tonight.”

  Scott wasn’t thinking about finals. He was thinking about Melanie. “I don’t know.”

  “If we go to the library and study all day, we can go out tonight. What do you say?”

  He needed to study. He’d eventually patch things up with Melanie, but first, he had to get ready for finals. His future depended on it. He could study all day, go with Dean and Gail to see Ashley that night, and Melanie would call him in a day or two.

  “Sounds like a plan,” Scott said. Now all he had to do was figure out what classes he had to study for.

  Chapter 6

  May 1983

  Scott and Dean walked the three blocks to the library. Scott was surprised at how his young body craved movement. He felt the urge to jump around or take off running. Whatever that feeling was, he had taken it for granted while he was young. He made a mental note to stay more active as he aged this time.

  At the apartment, Scott had rummaged through his backpack and found a class schedule. It also listed dates for his finals, which he had highlighted at some point. Although he had four classes, the schedule only listed three finals. The fourth class was a self-study course, so he wouldn’t have to worry about that final. His exam in Constitutional Law was on Tuesday. Wednesday’s test was on the History of the Supreme Court. Since he had already graduated from law school, Scott felt confident he could handle both of those. But the one on Thursday was in Art History and Appreciation. Why had he taken that class? It would take some heavy-duty studying to get ready for that final.

  Scott and Dean found an empty table on the third floor of the library. In his backpack, Scott found a separate notebook for each class. He pulled out the Constitutional Law notebook. The material looked straight-forward enough.

  His mind wandered away from constitutional law and toward Melanie. With Kathy, Scott had thought about Melanie often. There had always been a passion, an intensity, between them that was lacking with Kathy. To be fair, Kathy had shown some passion in their early days together. She could be loving and enjoyed sex as much as most of his other girlfriends. But the fire burned out little by little. Kathy was more even tempered than Melanie, which meant fewer highs and fewer lows. Scott missed the passion.

  “Do you mind if we sit with you?”

  Scott looked up. Gail and Ashley pointed at the empty chairs next to them.

  “Have a seat,” Dean said. He moved his books over to make room. Scott followed suit. Gail sat next to Dean, leaving Ashley to sit next to Scott.

  Ashley looked even better than last night. She was thinner and less curvy than Melanie, and there was a seductive, girl-next-door quality about her. He thought about the picture of her on her album he had seen in his previous life. She was sitting on a fence, smiling a brilliant, white-toothed smile, the wind gently blowing her long, blond hair.

  For the next two hours, the four sat in silence, checking their notebooks and reading their textbooks. Scott did his best to concentrate. When he’d lose concentration, he’d look over at Ashley to see her reading and twirling her hair with her finger. She scrunched up her face and bit her lip as she read. Scott wanted to kiss those lips.

  Eventually, Gail and Ashley began packing up. “We need to get going,” Gail said. “Ashley needs to get ready for the show tonight. You guys are going, aren’t you?”

  “I really hope you can make it.” Ashley looked directly at Scott.

  “We’ll be there,” Dean said. “Right, Scott?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  Chapter 7

  May 1983

  Dean and Gail were holding hands at a table near the stage when Scott arrived. A waitress came over and Scott ordered a beer. Even though this was his second time being in college, he was surprised at the amount they drank.

  There were ten or fifteen people in the club, leaving twenty or so empty seats. It was Sunday night before finals week. The sparse crowd shouldn’t have been a surprise. Even so, Scott was disappointed for Ashley. He hoped it didn’t upset her.

  Ashley walked out on stage to a single microphone. Her long, blond hair glistened in the stage lights. She had a large red bow in her hair. A black top hung off her shoulder, barely covering her midriff. Although her outfit was dated, Scott thought she looked gorgeous.

  Ashley played cover versions of Simon and Garfunkel, James Tay
lor, Don McClean, and Carole King, as well as a few songs of her own. She sounded great, but Scott knew that in a few years, Ashley’s simple approach to performance would be surpassed by the highly choregraphed shows of Madonna and Janet Jackson, where dancing took center stage. He might be old school, but Scott preferred the simplicity of a singer-songwriter.

  After the show, Ashley talked to a few people, then joined Scott, Gail and Dean. Ecstatic about her performance, Ashley ordered more drinks for the table and couldn’t stop smiling.

  “You were terrific,” Scott said. “That was really impressive.”

  Ashley gave Scott’s arm a gentle squeeze. “Thank you, Scott,” she said. “That means a lot.”

  Ashley’s touch sent a chill of excitement down Scott’s back. He was mesmerized by her bright blue eyes and beautiful white teeth.

  In his previous life, Scott had skipped the concert. He had been too upset over his breakup with Melanie. Maybe attending Ashley’s concert was the reason for his second shot. Maybe Ashley was the woman he was supposed to be with.

  All the thoughts he had the previous night came back to him. There were so many options, and he didn’t know which one was right, or if any of them were right.

  Scott looked at his friends. They were laughing at him.

  “Are you going to answer her?” Dean pointed at the waitress.

  “Sorry, I zoned out for a second,” he said. “What was the question?”

  “Would you like another beer?” the waitress asked.

  “Sure, I’ll have another.” Scott blushed.

  Ashley and Gail stood. “We have to go to the bathroom,” Ashley said.

  They went off, and Dean slid over next to Scott. “You and Ashley are getting along well.”

  “Yeah, she’s great.” In the short time he had known Ashley, Scott found her to be sweet-natured, genuine, and beautiful.

  “If you’re going to make your move, you’d better do it quick,” Dean said. “She’s leaving right after finals to go to Nashville. She’s meeting with some people down there about writing songs and maybe recording an album. Once she’s gone, I don’t think she’ll come back.”

  Scott knew that Ashley was going to record at least one album. He didn’t think it did all that well. Maybe she’d recorded others.

  Gail and Ashley returned from the bathroom and announced they had made a decision. They wanted food.

  “The only place open is Taco John’s,” Dean said.

  “Then Taco John’s it is,” Gail said. “Dean, you come with me.”

  “I’ll go with Scott,” Ashley said.

  On the way to Taco John’s, Ashley slid over close to Scott. She intertwined her fingers with his as he drove. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand.

  They pulled into a parking spot at Taco John’s. “Stay here a second,” he said. He got out, went around to the passenger side, and opened Ashley’s door.

  She leaned into him and kissed him softly. “That was sweet. Thank you.”

  When she’d finished eating, Ashley slid over closer to Scott and put her hand on his leg. She rubbed his thigh while he ate, which he liked, but found distracting. Finally, he stopped eating.

  “Aren’t you going to finish that?” Dean asked.

  “You want it?”

  Dean grabbed the food.

  “Since we’re done, I’m going to have Scott take me home, okay?” Ashley asked.

  Gail and Dean said that was fine with them. Scott assumed Ashley wanted to leave early so they could be alone. He opened the door for her again when they left, and they held hands on the way to her apartment. She directed him to pull into a spot near the front door.

  Ashley turned to face him. “I wish I had met you six months ago,” she said. “Then this wouldn’t be so hard.”

  “What wouldn’t be?” he asked.

  “I think you’re great, and normally I would invite you to come up, but I can’t tonight.”

  “You can’t?”

  “In just a few days, when I finish finals, I’m taking off for Nashville. It’s always been my dream to be a songwriter. Everything is set up. I can’t have any loose ends.” She looked into his eyes. “When I go to Nashville, I have to go one hundred percent. I can’t leave any of me behind. You understand that?”

  He did. He wouldn’t have in his first life, but he did now. He nodded and wished her luck in Nashville. She kissed him on the cheek and got out.

  Scott watched her walk to her door. He had trouble believing she would have to give up her dream for them to build a life together. Maybe she wasn’t the reason for his second chance. He had dropped back into his life at the exact moment that he and Melanie had split up on their first go round. That had to be more than coincidence.

  Of course, the reason Melanie and Scott had broken up in the first place was because she had a bad habit of getting drunk, then getting mad at him. He knew during their first time together, she had called him incessantly, so he was confident that re-establishing his relationship with Melanie would be easy. What he wasn’t so sure about was how he could get Melanie to stop drinking so much so she wouldn’t get mad at him.

  As he lay in bed that night, he thought back to the dream he had about his dad. He had told his father that he would have been better off marrying Melanie than Kathy. Was that true? He had only been away from Kathy for a couple of days, but already he missed her. As he drifted off to sleep, it was Kathy that occupied his mind.

  Chapter 8

  May 1983

  Scott was sitting in his apartment trying to study for his Constitutional Law final. The test was the next day, but all he could think about was Melanie. He couldn’t remember when she called to apologize the first time around.

  It was still hard to believe it was all real. Maybe he was dying and his life was flashing before his eyes. If that was the case, it was flashing slowly, and he had the power to change just about anything. No, that wasn’t it. As strange as it sounded, the most logical explanation was that all this was real. He wasn’t dreaming and he wasn’t dying. He was living his life—at least most of it—over again.

  He was reading about the Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the Constitution when the phone rang. He instinctively reached for his cell phone, but then remembered where and when he was. He answered in the kitchen. It was Melanie.

  “Hi, Mel.”

  “Do you think it would be okay if I came over?” she asked. “There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”

  “Sure,” he said. “When?”

  “Is right now good?”

  He said “yes,” and they hung up.

  What if she wasn’t coming over to apologize? What if she just wanted to pick up some things she had left at his apartment? In his previous life, Melanie called several times after they broke up. He assumed she called to re-establish their relationship, but now that she was on her way, he wasn’t so sure.

  He tried to read while he waited, but after a few words, he’d start thinking about Melanie. Finally, he put the book down.

  Melanie seemed to take forever, but finally she knocked at the door. She looked great, wearing a top that showed off her cleavage and a pair of tight-fitting jeans. She always looked great. Scott tried to read her face, but he wasn’t sure what it said.

  She came in but stayed quiet. She looked at Scott for a second, then she looked away nervously, shifting her gaze around the room. Maybe she hadn’t come to apologize. Maybe he should, but he wasn’t sure what to apologize for.

  “I’m so sorry for slapping you last night and saying what I said. Can you ever forgive me?” Melanie cried.

  Scott had always felt a strong, almost preternatural attraction to Melanie. Despite her unpredictable behavior, he had loved her. He felt like he could love her again. “Of course,” he said. “I won’t ever let anything come between us.”

  Melanie threw her arms around Scott’s neck and gave him a deep, sensuous, almost aggressive, kiss. She pulled him toward the bedroom. “Come with me.” />
  Scott followed, suddenly feeling overjoyed about his decision to build a life with Melanie.

  Chapter 9

  October 1984

  Scott took his finals, passed them all, then turned his attention to law school. When Melanie got a job with an insurance company in Brentwood, a St. Louis suburb, he surrendered his seat at the University of Chicago and submitted a late application to Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. He called the Wash U admissions office and shared the story he had concocted. Family obligations required him to be in St. Louis. The Director of Admissions promised to present his case to the admissions committee, and ten days later he received an acceptance letter.

  They found apartments ten minutes from each other. Naturally, they’d be living together most of the time, but they had to keep up appearances for their parents.

  They spent nights and weekends in bars along Laclede’s Landing, at Cardinals baseball games, or just lazing around Scott’s apartment. In early October, they joined a group of Scott’s law school classmates on a road trip to the wineries in Augusta, a small town an hour outside of St. Louis. Augusta was a picturesque little town up on a hill overlooking the Missouri River Valley. The group bought several bottles of wine and retreated to the deck behind one of the wineries that overlooked the picturesque valley below, where a smattering of cattle grazed serenely.

  The wine flowed, and Scott talked with Rob Holcomb, one of his classmates. Rob mentioned the baseball playoffs.

  “Since you’re from Chicago, I assume you’re pulling for the White Sox.”

  “I don’t have any use for the White Sox.” Scott sipped his wine. “I’m a Cubs fan.”

  “How is it that I didn’t know that before? I would have never agreed to come out and spend the day with you.” The group roared with laughter.

  “Give me some time,” Melanie said. “I’ll convert him into a Cardinals’ fan.”

  “You remember the Cardinals, don’t you, Scott?” Rob asked. “They’re the team that won the World Series last year.” Everyone laughed.