The Game Changer (2 page)

Barely a week after Melody’s break-up with Rick, Olivia quit her job at a trendy Queen Street boutique in Toronto and informed Melody she was coming home. It seemed like too much of a coincidence to Melody, but Olivia claimed she was ‘over’ the city. “I’m lonely, I wasn’t happy with my job anymore, and I’m sick of being so damn far away from you,” she told Melody.

She’d asked Melody if she could stay with her for a week or two, but Melody told her she might as well move in and share her two-bedroom apartment. All through high school they’d talked about living together, sharing a cute little apartment like Monica and Rachel on the TV show
Friends
, and now ten years later it was finally about to happen.

Even if Melody
did
wonder about Olivia’s reasons for moving back home, she was excited at the prospect of having Olivia around again. Melody had missed her like crazy over the last few years. They’d spent a decade seeing each other every day, having sleepovers most weekends, going to summer camp together, even taking a few family vacations together. They were like sisters—they loved each other deeply, fought occasionally over stupid things that seemed like the end of the world at the time, but they could depend on each other no matter what.

Melody was grateful to know she wouldn’t have to live alone any longer, and that she’d have a friend in town to help reacquaint her with the single life.

“The single life,” Melody murmured to herself, swiveling around in her chair one more time before putting her fingers to her keyboard. For the past two weeks, she’d tried to push all thoughts of Rick from her mind, but they crept in despite her best efforts. She couldn’t believe she had planned her entire life around the jerk, picturing a wedding that would never happen, vacations they would never take, children they would never have. It made her sick to think of it now; how she could have put her life on hold waiting for him to figure out what he wanted in life—or didn’t want, as it turned out.

She closed her eyes tightly and tried to clear her mind. She hadn’t heard from Rick at all since the morning she called to break up with him. Clearly he wasn’t hurting over the end of their relationship, so why should she?

With a determined nod of her head, she focused on her computer screen, and was just about to start typing up a report for her boss when the phone rang.

“Bellevue Premier Marketing and Consulting, Melody Cartwright speaking,” she sang into the phone.

“Hey cutie,” Olivia sang back.

Melody groaned and let her head fall to the desk with a soft thunk.

“What was that? Mel, are you okay?” Olivia asked.

Melody could hear the quiet hum of a car engine, so assumed Olivia was still on the road, using her Bluetooth. “It was just…I’m fine,” she said with a sigh. “Where are you?”

“I’m just about to get off the 401 by the truck stop,” Olivia answered, excitement creeping into her voice. “I should be there in about ten minutes. Any way you can play hooky from work?”

Melody opened her mouth to tell Olivia she couldn’t simply leave work, but she stopped herself, biting her lip. Why not? Why did she always have to be the responsible one? Besides, she had been staying late at work the last two weeks so she wouldn’t have to go home to an empty apartment just to sit and think about Rick and his too-white teeth and his fish-like blinking, and…

“I’ll meet you at the apartment in ten,” Melody told Olivia. She hung up the phone, shot a quick e-mail to her boss telling him she was taking off early, and then shut down her computer.

She stepped outside a few minutes later, blinking in the early-afternoon sun. She watched the traffic pass through the intersection at Bridge and Front Streets, listening to snippets of people’s conversations as they passed by on foot. Melody loved Bellevue. She’d never had any desire to leave the small city, not like Olivia, who always talked about getting away and living in a metropolitan city where there was always something fun and exciting to do.

As she crossed the street and headed down Front toward her apartment, she wondered if Olivia would be happy living back in Bellevue. The city had grown and changed a lot in the past decade, adding shopping centres, restaurants, and even several nightclubs. Melody didn’t get to enjoy much of it because Rick was a homebody who preferred to stay in, and she didn’t have many friends outside of work. She had never realized before how much Rick held her back—not just his tendency to avoid social gatherings, but his jealousy of her having friends and spending time with people other than him.

Melody shook her head. Rick didn’t matter anymore, and he wasn’t worth worrying about. She didn’t like the person she had allowed herself to become while she was with him, but that was all going to change.
She
was going to change. She could become anyone she wanted to be now, and with Olivia around she’d finally have a social life. All through school Olivia had done her best to push, pull, and drag Melody out of her shell; Melody was certain it wouldn’t be any different now just because they were adults.

Cutting down an alley, Melody headed for the parking lot behind the string of Front Street businesses where Olivia would be parking her car. Melody didn’t have a car herself; she lived within walking distance of work, and could either walk or take the bus everywhere she needed to go. Rick had a nice car, something flashy that Melody could never remember the make of. He was a penny-pincher in almost every way except when it came to that car. The thing was his baby; he considered it a status symbol to drive a fancy car.

“What a poser,” Melody muttered under her breath. She wondered how long it would take for her to erase Rick from her thoughts. Why did everything always have to come back to him?

She emerged from the alley and peered in the direction of the Moira River. Her apartment, which was just a bit further up the street, was located over Green Pea’s Independent Books, and it stretched the width of the building so that she had windows that looked out over both Front Street and the river behind. Downtown wasn’t always the safest area to live, but city officials were doing their best to clean it up, and she loved it anyway.

She saw Olivia’s silver Sunfire the minute it turned into the parking lot. Melody had to restrain herself from doing an impatient little happy dance as the car maneuvered slowly over speed bumps before finally pulling into the spot directly in front of her.

The car was barely parked before Olivia threw open the door with a huge smile lighting her face. “I’m here!” she cried, unfastening her seatbelt and leaping out.

“You’re here!” Melody rushed to the driver’s side and threw her arms around Olivia. “I’m so, so glad you’re here.” She held onto Olivia like her life depended on it, squeezing her tightly.

“Okay, need air,” Olivia said a minute later. She pulled back and looked Melody over. “God, it’s good to see you.” She pressed a noisy kiss to Melody’s cheek and slammed the driver’s side door before moving around the back of the car to open the trunk. “Help me with my stuff, will you?”

Olivia pulled out two large suitcases with wheels, and Melody grabbed the remaining suitcase. “I’m surprised you don’t have more stuff,” Melody commented as she wheeled the suitcase toward the back entrance of her apartment.

“Oh, do I have a story for you about that,” Olivia said, waiting for Melody to unlock the back door. She opened her mouth to speak, but shut it quickly when she saw the long staircase leading up from the back of the bookstore to the apartment door above. She glanced from the stairs to her suitcases and back again, then shrugged and followed Melody inside.

“The girl who moved into my apartment was this nouveau-riche chick who had just made a fortune on some big investment. She walks into my place, takes a glance at my apartment, looks me up and down, and tells me she wants all my stuff. I’m like, ‘Come again?’ and she says she likes my style and needs to make a good impression with this new high-end business set she’s about to start running with.”

They reached the top of the stairs and Olivia leaned against the wall to catch her breath. Melody bit back a grin as she glanced over her shoulder.
She hasn’t changed a bit
, she thought as she unlocked the door to her apartment and stepped back to let Olivia go in first.

“So anyway, she asks if I’d be willing to sell her my furniture, artwork, some of my clothes, stuff like that,” Olivia continued, striding into the apartment and turning back to face Melody. “I’m thinking ‘Hell yeah, this girl is rich, and I don’t need any of it because Mel’s got everything I need’. Right? So she makes me an offer and I just about keel over. I tell her she’s got a deal as long as I get to keep a few of my favourite things, and we shook on it.”

When Olivia paused, Melody knew it was for dramatic effect, and she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. She talked to Olivia on the phone almost every day, but it didn’t compare to actually having her here in person.

“Hang on,” she said, motioning for Olivia to follow her into the kitchen. While Olivia perched on a stool at the island, Melody pulled a bottle of wine from the fridge and poured them each a glass. “Okay, continue,” she said, clinking her glass to Olivia’s.

Olivia grinned and took a sip of her wine. “So basically, she gave me enough money that I don’t have to find a job for awhile if I don’t want to. In fact, she gave me so much money that
you
could probably quit your job and we could be ladies of leisure. I could be your sugar mama.” She wiggled her eyebrows, her grin spreading.

Melody burst out laughing. “My sugar mama, huh? Well, that’s a mighty tempting offer, but I like my job.”

“I figured you’d say that.” Olivia shrugged. “But I can at least treat you to some nice things, right? I know Rick the dick was a total cheapskate, but now we can go to nice restaurants, go clubbing and shopping and other fun stuff, without having to worry about making rent.”

Melody sighed wistfully. “That sure would be nice. I can’t even remember the last time I went to a nightclub.”

“Ah yes, nightclubs,” Olivia said, her wistful tone matching Melody’s. “My days of chic clubs are over unless I want to make the trip to Toronto every weekend.”

Melody shook her head. “A new club just opened up here a few weeks ago. Atlantis, I think it’s called. A client of mine told me it was incredible, like something you’d find in a big city.”

“Really?” Olivia said, drawing out the word, her eyes sparkling. “I’m intrigued. We’ll have to check it out.”

Melody’s first instinct was to say no; she wasn’t really the club-hopping type anymore. The only reason she’d gone in college was because Olivia dragged her out when Melody went to visit her. She’d had fun—Olivia was always the life of any party—but that had been a long time ago. Pre-Rick.

Which, she supposed, was all the more reason to go now.

“All right,” she said. “But you’ll have to help me with my hair and make-up and stuff. You know I’m completely useless when it comes to the whole beautification process.”

Olivia waved a hand in dismissal. “Not true, but you know I’ll help you. I have a cheque with several zeros that’s burning a hole in my pocket; what kind of best friend would I be if I didn’t treat you to a bit of retail therapy? You deserve it for finally kicking that ass-hat boyfriend of yours to the curb.”

Melody laughed despite herself. Olivia had never liked Rick and was always telling Melody she deserved better. Now she agreed; too bad she hadn’t come to that realization before she’d wasted three years with him.

“I guess I could use some new clothes,” Melody said slowly. “My wardrobe is less than stellar. Rick and I went out so rarely, there was really no reason for me to have a bunch of nice clothes.”

Olivia shook her head in mock disappointment and took a deep swig of wine. “Have I taught you nothing? There’s always a reason for nice clothes.” She pointed a finger at Melody and gave her a wicked smile. “Leave it to me. I didn’t get a degree in fashion for nothing.”

Melody chuckled. “I knew having you around was going to come in handy.”

CHAPTER 2

Melody opened her eyes and squinted against the sunlight streaming into her room. Despite the bright sun, she knew something else had woken her up. She lay still for a moment and listened, her heart rate picking up before she remembered she no longer lived alone. Olivia was probably moving around the apartment.

She glanced at her clock and decided she could stay in bed another ten minutes before getting ready for work. She thought about the night before and smiled to herself. Nothing ever changed between her and Olivia, no matter how much time they spent apart. Even though they spoke every day in some form—phone, text, email, instant messenger—when they were together, they fell into old habits like picking off each other’s plates during a meal or touching each other often with that easy affection shared between longtime best friends.