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Post by Tripp VanderMill on Jan 13, 2016 2:17:29 GMT
Tripp had expected that everything that had happened at his parents' Christmas party and the fight with Melanie not long after that things would have been strained between them. He had even expected that they might have had an evening where they simply hadn't wanted to be with each other. After coming clean with each other about everything from her mother to his former relationship with Colette, he had thought that they had reached a point where they had cleared the air enough to move past everything that had occurred. The truth, unfortunately, was that it seemed to only make things a little bit worse. Not only had their relationship entered an uncomfortable state, but they hadn't even leaned back on the physical aspects of their relationship to try and coax some normalcy back into everything.
If he was being entirely honest, the thought had crossed his mind on more than one occasion to just cancel for the evening, spending time with her alone - away from the drama that he wasn't certain was inevitable - or even rescinding his invitation and going alone. He had ultimately decided that it would have solved none of his problems to take either action and so he had determined that the best thing they could have done was carry on with their plans as though nothing had changed between them at all. He had picked her up from her apartment and they had made polite conversation in the car on the way over to the restaurant, but it just didn't feel... right.
The entire evening was going to prove to be much too long, that much he was certain. Per tradition, he had arranged to attend a New Year's Eve party at a ridiculously high-end, rooftop restaurant with views overlooking the city, and while he should have been more than happy to continue to show off Melanie to his friends, he just kept trying to come up with ways that he could avoid any of their awkwardness progressing. Quite frankly, he wasn't sure what he could do to fix anything at this point - short of finally telling her how he felt. The worst thing was he knew that if he had just found the words a little sooner, or if he had been able to say them to her without it sounding like it was just to end an argument or in response to her admission, then the argument and the awkward moments would have ended.
But it just hadn't seemed right. Even now, it still didn't seem like the right time.
After a quiet ride in the elevator, he turned to her with a soft smile, ensuring that he was going to do his best not to let any of their problems effect their evening together. "Should we go check our coats?" he offered.
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Post by Melanie Benson on Jan 13, 2016 2:44:16 GMT
It was rare that Melanie felt uncomfortable. As the sort of person that often exuded confidence and thrived in the discomfort of others, she rarely felt ill at ease. But then Tripp VanderMill had entered her life. And for the most part it had been a dizzying and exciting new experience for her. But he also made her vulnerable - at times, she almost felt weak. After Christmas and an argument that involved telling him about things that she never spoke to anyone about, she was left feeling emotionally raw. And when, in the moment, she'd admitted her feelings to him they'd largely been met with silence except a gentle and stinging reminder that things with them were different than they were with his ex girlfriend - and first love - Colette.
So the recent days had been shrouded in discomfort. Finding that she didn't even want to push away the emotions of it all but dragging him into her bedroom. She'd considered it but thought it would only end poorly for her. Instead, in preparing for New Year's Eve, she'd taken great care in getting ready, deciding that she would at least remind Tripp what he did like about her and what she was sure that Colette couldn't give him.
When they arrived at the restaurant, she nodded at his suggestion to check their coats. Having been wrapped in her long black peacoat from the moment he arrived to pick her up. She undid the buttons and shrugged out of it easily. "It's lovely here," she noted as she looked around the party as though her new dress, necklace, and shoes were just silly old items she'd had laying around her closet.
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Post by Tripp VanderMill on Jan 13, 2016 3:00:43 GMT
From the moment that she shrugged out of her coat, he knew exactly what she had been playing at. But that certainly didn't stop Tripp from appraising her appearance all the same. It had been her appearance that had first attracted him to her in the first place, he admitted, but he supposed it still remained her greatest asset in situations such as these. He couldn't even keep the smile from rising to his lips as he just watched her survey the room for a moment. As much as his body wanted to pull her into the coat room in that moment, he knew that it would have been only asking for trouble at this point.
"It is," he agreed with her statement instead, deciding that there was nothing wrong with following through on his original intention of showing her off. Offering her his hand, they hadn't even made it far into the party before he spotted a familiar face in the crowd. He hesitated just briefly, wondering if he owed Melanie any sort of warning about the fact that Colette was also in attendance. She had been standing with what he had only assumed to be her date and some acquaintances that he could barely remember, but she must have felt them nearby because she looked in their direction and grinned before excusing herself from her group.
With a sigh, Tripp turned to Melanie. "I just thought it was fair to warn you that Colette is coming this way."
As if on cue, she arrived to greet them, a wide smile still perched on her lips. "Hello, you two," she greeted warmly, as though her last interaction with them hadn't ended horribly for all involved parties. "Tripp, you're looking wonderful - as always." Turning her attention to Melanie, she hesitated for a second, "Melanie, you're looking - well, that dress is something else, isn't it?"
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Post by Melanie Benson on Jan 13, 2016 3:24:42 GMT
Taking his hand with a small smile, she was about to say something to him, too. Hoping to ease the tension between them so that they could get a drink and enjoy their evening together, her spirits lifted by the way his eyes had appraised her openly. It was only when he mentioned Colette that she felt her stomach drop. Her hand slipped from Tripp's as subtly as possible and her eyes narrowed as the blonde commented on her dress. Shrugging her shoulder up, she flashed the best smile she could muster at the other woman and laughed. "Well, you know, I do love to be anything but boring."
She looked over the other woman's appearance and while she'd admit that Colette was an attractive woman, Melanie wondered what she would do if she dressed like that all the time. While she was more than okay being a bit more conservative at certain functions, largely for Tripp's sake, there were nights like New Year's Eve where she simply wanted to show herself off in the best way she knew possible. Based on Tripp's appraisal earlier, she certainly didn't regret her choice in outfit, try as Colette might to make her ashamed. Melanie was pretty sure she'd be naked all the time and never be ashamed of it if it were legal.
"Anyway, Tripp and I were just about to go grab a drink, so as nice as it is to see you again..." she attempted, looking at Tripp for some kind of assistance in getting out of the situation.
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Post by Tripp VanderMill on Jan 13, 2016 3:36:36 GMT
Tripp would have been more than happy to have taken hold of Melanie's hand again and excused them from whatever social interaction that Colette seemed to be hoping to make at the moment. He wasn't sure what else she possibly had to say, considering the fact that he was fairly certain that he had expressed his complete lack of interest in her at the Christmas party. But, like he should have supposed that she would have been, she was proven to be much more stubborn than he would have liked her to be. She hadn't even always been very stubborn - in fact, he distinctly remembered her being very submissive. Though he figured that had been in more ways than just one. But for whatever submission she had showed in their relationship, and in their sex life, he was reminded that it was never like it was with Melanie. When he told Melanie that things were different with her, he had meant it. Colette had been easy, their relationship had been comfortable if for no other reason than they had truly grown up together in their last year of college and then through the first couple of years afterward. But comfortable eventually became boring if there were nothing else keeping things exciting. Which, he admitted, was never something that his relationship with Melanie lacked.
"Colette, not now," he dismissed.
Laughing softly, she shook her head, "You both make it seem like my company is so unpleasurable." Taking a small step closer to Tripp, she looked up at him with a smile. "You don't think that my company is uninteresting, do you, Tripp?"
"I think that you should go keep your date company," he told her with a nod.
"Why would I do that when you're here now? Do you remember when we used to come here for New Year's Eve when we were together? It always seemed impossible to keep our hands off of each other, didn't it? I think there's just something about tonight that brings it out in people. Don't you feel it?"
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Post by Melanie Benson on Jan 13, 2016 3:58:43 GMT
Melanie would never admit it, but the realization that this date that she was on with Tripp was one that he had apparently made a tradition with his ex-girlfriend stung. She glanced at him for a moment, a calm smile on her lips as she examined his own expression before turning back to the other woman. She thought back, for the millionth time, to the way he'd told her that she shouldn't compare herself to Colette because their relationship was different. She wondered how many other places Tripp had brought her, things they'd done together, things he'd said to her when they were alone - how many things she'd thought were exclusive to them because of how new they were for her - had really been things he'd done with Colette first. Her heart sank at the idea.
Still, Melanie Benson wasn't the sort to back down or run away with her tail between her legs. So she looked at the other woman and chuckled softly. "You certainly do like clinging to the past, don't you?" she asked.
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Post by Tripp VanderMill on Jan 13, 2016 5:14:21 GMT
Colette looked at Melanie with a small smile, lifting her shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "Why wouldn't I? I do have such fond memories of the past."
Tripp shook his head at her, "I have some pretty hostile feelings about the past, actually." He was sure that Colette continued to reminisce about the positive aspects of their relationship, focusing on what she actually wanted to remember, but he noted that in doing so she actually left out a lot of their relationship. At the end of it, he struggled to identify a day where they weren't constantly shouting at each other, or times where he didn't choose to stay at the office later to avoid her. They hadn't ended on a particularly positive note, knowing that their relationship with each other had become more of a drain on themselves than anything. He had been about to remind Colette of that when he felt someone step up to his other side.
"This looks cozy," Penny remarked. "I hope everyone is getting along as well as they did at the Christmas party."
"Of course," Colette replied with a grin. "I was just reminding Tripp of how it used to be when he and I would come to this party. Just a little nostalgic, I suppose."
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Post by Melanie Benson on Jan 13, 2016 14:24:40 GMT
Melanie almost huffed out loud when Penny joined them, assuming that she was there to support Colette in a continuation of their game from Christmas. Melanie shook her head at Colette before turning to Penny and offering her a small smile, “Hello, Penny. Happy New Year,” she greeted her politely before gesturing. “I think Colette was just about to get back to her date and your step brother and I were going to get a drink,” she said simply, despite the fact that with each second the bar seemed further and further away.
Feeling outnumbered again, she glanced at the blonde and nodded. “I’m pretty sure that it’s a good idea for you to walk away, Colette. Whatever was between the two of you is over now and I don’t intend on going anywhere,” she told the other woman flatly.
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Post by Tripp VanderMill on Jan 13, 2016 15:16:02 GMT
Colette bristled at the continued brush-off that she seemed to always receive around Melanie. For as much as the other woman's dress revealed Tripp's obvious intentions with her, she was struggling to see why it had lasted past one night. Though, she did find the game at least marginally entertaining, if for no other reason than she wasn't entirely convinced that there wasn't any possibility of getting back together with Tripp. Her date for the evening had only been dragged along on the off-chance that Tripp had been persuaded to attend a different party with Melanie this evening, but at the sight of him she had found it easy to abandon him - and she didn't have any particular desire to return to him just yet.
"What makes you think that you're anything other than a rebound, Melanie?" She asked innocently, as though she thought that it was just a common fact about their relationship. Turning her attention back to Tripp, she smiled up at him. "I'm not sure that I ever apologized for the way that things ended with us. And I know that neither of us were necessarily ready to get involved in a relationship again last year, but apparently we're both at much different points in our lives at this point... but the truth is that I miss you." She would have stepped forward again, placing her hand on his chest the way she had done at the Christmas party, had it not been for Penny's interruption.
"Oh, come off of it, Colette," she rolled her eyes. "It was a fucking one night stand - stop trying to make it seem like he declared his undying love for you or something. It was just one night," she said, turning to Melanie and repeated herself pointedly. "And he never called."
Taking a slight step back from Colette's advances, Tripp looked at his step-sister in amusement, feeling a rare surge of appreciation for her. The truth was that he just simply hadn't known what to say to Colette. He hadn't had any harsh feelings toward her, at least not until now, and so he had tried to remain civil. It hadn't seemed fair to throw her under the bus when he thought that he and Melanie could excuse themselves, he had just underestimated Colette's tenacity. Penelope, it appeared, had not.
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Post by Melanie Benson on Jan 13, 2016 15:29:59 GMT
It took a moment for the information to sink in and Melanie’s eyes narrowed for a moment as she considered what Penelope had just told her. Then, without much thought or control, she tipped her head back and laughed – loudly. She probably startled a few nearby party goers. She looked at Penny with a bright smile before turning to Tripp. “Sweetheart, later we’re going to have a little chat about what qualifies as pertinent details,” she said simply before turning to Colette.
An almost sweet smile on her features did very little to mask the glint in her eyes as she rounded on the blonde and took a step closer. “A one night stand?” she questioned with a tilt of her head. “Without a phone call too – how horrible. That’s what you’ve been clinging to for over a year? Honey, give it up. It’s like you don’t even know him.”
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Post by Tripp VanderMill on Jan 13, 2016 15:48:45 GMT
Tripp had been surprised by Melanie's response, to say the very least. He had supposed that maybe she would have tucked away the information to make herself feel better in some way, or he figured that maybe it wouldn't have even mattered to her. His apparently enjoyment of the statement that Colette had just been a one night stand a year ago not only surprised him, but made him question why he hadn't just said it before. Smirking softly at Melanie, he had been pleased to see that some of her outward possessiveness had returned when she stepped toward Colette.
The blonde narrowed her gaze at Melanie, however, shaking his head. "Oh, I know him quite well, actually. And I know him well enough to know that even if it had just been one night then, it doesn't mean that there won't be more nights. In fact, I know him well enough to know that when he gets tired of whatever it is that you think you bring to the table, that we're not only going to have one night together, we're going to get back together."
"Colette," Tripp interrupted. "That's not going to happen. And I would appreciate if you stopped insinuating that it was."
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Post by Melanie Benson on Jan 13, 2016 16:03:51 GMT
Melanie’s eyebrows lifted slightly at Colette’s words but the smile never once left her face. Instead she turned over her shoulder and winked at Tripp. Turning back to the blonde in question, she tsked softly and shook her head. “Honestly, Colette, you were with Tripp for four whole years,” she nodded. “I’ll admit that makes my relationship with him seem like a drop in the bucket in comparison. But in the short time I’ve gotten to know him, I’m sure you would agree that Tripp always seems to get what he wants and never hesitates in going after it.”
“So you’re going to honestly stand here and remain convinced that he just needed more than one night to convince him that you two could make it work? That one year ago, when he didn’t call – didn’t coax you back into his bed, didn’t send you some pretty little trinkets and ask you to dinner with him – that he didn’t know that you were already out of his system?” She laughed softly again and shook her head. “I don’t know if you’re delusional or sad. But I can safely say that when Tripp wants more than a one night stand, he gets more than a one night stand.”
She shrugged a shoulder up, pursing her lips and glancing over her shoulder at Tripp. “Should we go get that drink, Sweetheart? I think we’ve been done here for over a year now.”
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Post by Tripp VanderMill on Jan 13, 2016 16:24:03 GMT
It she hadn't been trying so hard not to, Colette might have physically recoiled from Melanie's words. In some way she supposed that the other woman was right - there had never been much that Tripp hadn't gotten his way on. And yes, she supposed that she should have taken that hint a year ago when he had last visited her bed, but she had a hard time accepting the fact that after four years together he could have thrown it all away. Let alone that he had thrown it all away for someone like Melanie Benson - who, at the very simplest of explanations, was much different that she was. It was almost as though he had intentionally found someone who was everything that she wasn't, and that hurt.
Frankly, she didn't want to stand there and take it anymore. With a soft sigh, she turned to Tripp. "When you get tired of your little harlot, I'll be around." Without another word, she turned on her heel and headed back to her date.
"Well," Penny announced finally, "That was quite a show, wasn't it? Melanie dear, if you ever want to grab lunch, let me know. I would say that it's probably better to be on your good side, isn't it, Tripp?" she teased them. The truth was that she had been impressed with the way that Melanie had handled herself throughout the entire ordeal over the last couple of weeks, and she figured that there was a decent chance that Tripp had actually met his match. "That being said - I'll let you two go get that drink. I'm sure I can find some poor, unsuspecting single man around here somewhere. Well, actually I'd rather if he wasn't poor." Grinning at the couple in front of her, she excused herself from them as well.
Finally feeling as though a small amount of the tension between them had been lifted, Tripp looked down at Melanie, smiling at her for a moment. "I don't know that I can ever apologize enough for all of that."
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Post by Melanie Benson on Jan 13, 2016 16:39:30 GMT
Melanie smiled at Colette walked away, nodding at Penny with amusement as it seemed she’d won over Tripp’s step-sister as while. While she knew that the relationship between Tripp and Penny was strained, Melanie thought that it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if she tried to bridge that gap. Left standing alone with Tripp for a moment, she looked up at him and shook her head. “You don’t have to apologize.” That was a lie. She was open to apologies from him after the past couple of weeks, but she also wasn’t going to demand them. Instead, she was hoping to put all of their arguing in the past now, with Colette, where it belonged.
While it still had hurt a bit to open up to him and express her feelings, she felt much more confident now, knowing what she did, than she had before when she’d legitimately thought that Colette and Tripp had been close to reuniting only a year ago. “But perhaps, next time one of your ex girlfriend’s shows up, we can go over it for pertinent details,” she suggested with a laugh.
“I’m sorry that things have been strained between us,” she told him gently, taking a step closer to him and peering up at him. Even in her heels, the height difference between them was significant. Still, she jutted out her lower lip at him and shook her head. “I don’t like fighting with you,” she told him simply before reaching for his hand and tugging him towards the bar. “Can we just forget about all of it and have fun?” she suggested. “Maybe if you want to apologize, a dance will do,” she told him with a soft laugh.
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Post by Tripp VanderMill on Jan 13, 2016 16:53:51 GMT
It was ridiculous to think that if he had been open with her and been entirely honest about the nature of his relationship with Colette from the beginning, that they might have been able to avoid any of the awkwardness that they had been feeling. Though, he supposed that it wasn't entirely rooted in his lack of clarity when it came to Colette's role in his life. They still had to work through her honesty about her relationship with her mother, which he supposed that she had, and her honesty about her feelings toward him. The latter part had weighed the most heavily on him, he supposed, as it had forced him to come to terms with the feelings that he had for her as well.
Tripp nodded, "It's forgotten," he dismissed, holding to her hand tightly as though he was trying to keep her close. "Melanie," he said her name to draw her attention to him, and when he felt like she had given it to him, he smiled again. "I love you, too."
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