Set My Heart On Fire

Chapter 1

[A/N] Up above is Melodie's dress.

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Melodie's POV:

Beauty is in the eye if the beholder, Evan would say when I complained about how ugly I look when I wake up. He brushed my hair to the side and whispered that he loves my morning face. My morning hair. He would tell me I just look so fresh and natural. I would blush and look away. Now, looking back, I wish I had hugged him and savored his touch instead. Because I will never feel it again. I lost it.

I lost the one thing I thought I'd have forever. But what is forever? Forever has an end. Forever feels like a week. Forever is equivalent to never. 

"Mellie! Are you ready yet?" Violet, my roommate and certified best friend yells from the kitchen.

"I thought I told you to call me Mel!" I yell back. "And no, I'm not ready. In fact, I don't have a dress." I fake a disappointed sigh. "So, I guess I don't have to go!" 

I await her response, hoping desperately that she won't force me to go anyways. "How 'bout this?" Violet pops in with an off shoulder red dress that looks like it'd barely make it up to my mid thigh.

"Um... it's nice... but..." I scourge my mind for any excuses. "But I'm much taller than you. It couldn't possibly fit me."

I'm 5'8" which is a lot taller than Vi and a lot of my other friends. Vi has the frame of a fourteen year old and does not like to be reminded about it. We have to bring up size subtly to her or else she'll burst out into tears. But this time, she doesn't even though I was definitely not subtle.

"Mel, it's yours. Evan bought it for you on your birthday last year?" Violet jogs my memory.

"Oh. Well, there's a perfectly good reason for me not to wear it. Evan gave it to me." Violet gives me an exasperated look. "I'm not wearing something that my late fiancé bought me to a date with some random guy who's likely eighty and smells of peppers. No thanks."

"You need to move on. Evan wouldn't want you crying over him every night. He would want you to find someone new to love. He's dead, Mel. Get over him." I look at Violet. She's never been this assertive since... who knows when? "Now you're gonna wear this if it's the last thing I'mma do."

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"So is he an eighty year old guy who smells like peppers?" Violet asks, her voice amplified by the phone.

"Ha! So you do think he's an eighty year old who smells like peppers!" I say into the phone. "I knew it. But I'm still walking through the parking lot, so I haven't seen him yet."

"Oh shit, Mel. You're right, damnit! I shouldn't have made you go! You could be kidnapped or... or..."

"Relax, Vi. I'll be fine," I soothe. "Gotta go. I'm inside the restaurant. I'll text you when I'm seated if I'm getting kidnapped."

"Or if he's an eighty year old man who smells like peppers!" she adds.

"Bye."

"Bye."

I hang up the phone and check the most recent text from mystery man. The guy who I'm supposed to meet here.

Mystery Man, 6:58 PM: I'm here. Ask the waiter for Jax and they'll point you to our reservation.

Okay. That was straightforward and boring. Sounds like an eighty year old man to me, am I right?

"Hi," I greet the server guiding guests to their seats. "Um, I'm here with a reservation for... uh... Jax?"

"Right this way, ma'am," the server, a tall, muscular man tells me. Why is some tall dude who looks like a linebacker—football reference—working at a fancy-ass restaurant? "Here you go." The man pulls out my chair, and I thank him, taking a seat.

Shit, if this is my date, he's hot. He has short golden blond hair, ice blue eyes, a chiseled nose, and defined jaw bones from god. Damn right he's hot. He looks up from his phone and catches me staring.

Blushing at being caught, I lift my hand for him to shake. "Hi, I'm Melodie," I say, breaking the awkward silence. I take a sip of the water and let it sit in my mouth for a moment. Violet says I drink too much water when I'm nervous and she's right.

"Pretty name," he replies. "I'm the Devil."

I spit my water out on the table cloth and double over laughing. Tears prick the corners of my eyes, and I can fell other customers in the restaurant staring at me.

"Good one," I say between laughs. When I clam down, I add, "Though I'm sure the Devil has black hair and black eyes, not blond hair, blue."

"That's where everyone gets it wrong. The Devil is a fallen angel, and looks much like the blond hair blue eyed angels from the Heavens above."

"Right, right. I don't give a shi—shizcracker," I correct myself. Ever since Evan died, I've felt like I should try and be a better person and not swearing a lot—which is what I used to do—is one way to become better. I think. "I'm not calling you the Devil no matter how hard you try to convince me. Nuh uh. So what can I call you? I'm pretty sure even the Devil has a name."

"Jax. You can call me Jax," he answers, fascinated by my attitude. "I'll be right back; I'm heading to the bathroom."

He gets up from chair and walks away to who knows where—I don't wanna know. I hadn't seen how tall he is, how muscular but damn. He must be at least six feet or so. He seems at least half a foot taller than me. And those muscles... shi—doodles! Shidoodles they're large. 

I pick up a menu and scour the food options. Luckily I told him in advance about my vegan diet so there are a few options on the menu for me. 

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Jax's POV:

That girl... there's something different about her. Different from the others. They all had similar attitudes, sassy, feisty, but most of them just froze up when I mentioned being the Devil. She had the audacity to laugh at me and tell me that the Devil is not a blonde. 

"Boss." Kazreal, my second in command, nods at me once I'm out of the guests line of view. "She the one...?" he asks in anticipation.

"I don't know, but she's different. A different that I certainly like. I think I'm going to ask to see her again next Friday so I can find out," I reply.

"Do you smell it?" I look up at Kazreal. 

"Smell what?" 

"The angel on her. Either she's been touched by an angel lately or is an angel, Jaxius. If it's the latter, you should stay away from her."

"I'm sure it's the former. She's a brunette and smells very human to me. If she was an angel, God would be breathing down our backs right now, would he not?"

Kazreal nods doubtfully, and I send him a quick goodbye before heading back to the table. She's by far the most beautiful human I've ever seen and I'm sure I'll enjoy her company.

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Hey, readers. I know some of you are wondering why I've used Jax and Melodie twice. I'm using Melodie because that is my late sister's name. Jax was her boyfriend. They both passed in a suicidal car crash and using their names preserves their memories. So you might see another set of the two of them in another book that I might publish. 

How did you like the first chapter? Are you gonna continue reading?  

Bye, lovely readers.