Count On Me - Sequel (Laughing into Love)

Chapter 11: L.A.

Brian walks Melanie into her apartment and drops her bag by her bedroom door. He turns around and asks "do you want me to stay?"

She sighs, looking out her living room window "no, go see the cats. I'll call you tomorrow."

"If you need me, call me. Alright?" He says to her, going over to give her a hug. She nods and he wraps his arms around her tightly. "I love you, get some rest."

He squeezes her tightly and she accepts it, taking a big wiff of his smell before he lets her go and starts to leave "I love you too, and I will."

When Brian gets back to his place he falls to the floor when he walks in and all three of his cats greet him. Even Cheshire who's usually spoiled and makes Brian give her attention independently. He sits on the floor for a long time, just letting the simplicity of him petting his cats take over his brain. He's brought out of his own reality when there's a knock on his door "yah? Come in!" He hollers, moving over from blocking the door so whoever knocked can open it.

"Hey man." Sal's voice reaches Brian's ears before he sees him "everything okay?"

"Yeah, thanks again for helping out with my cats, thank your sister too, please. I owe you guys one." He says, standing up. The cats will go off on their own if Brian's not giving them attention, and he knows Sal will prefer that.

"No problem, Q. Hey, have you checked your email lately?" He asks.

"Not since before the wake and everything. What's up?" He questions back, wiping at some of the cat hair. Brian can tell with the awkward way Sal is standing that it isn't good news.

He hesitates to start "well, nothing's official yet and I'm sure there's some talking to do but—"

"Spit it out!" Q urges him.

Sal nods "they want us to film an episode of Jokers in LA."

"That's awesome! Las Angeles would be a great place for a special episode. I've been saying that for years!" Brian smiles, ignoring everything Sal said before that. He forgets totally how Sal was behaving and why he thought that'd be bad news.

Sal adds on "they want us to go this weekend."

"Wow. This weekend as in like 4 days from now?" Brian asks. Sal nods to confirm and Brian shakes his head "what's the rush?"

"Something to do with licensing and something else to do with a meeting for the movie. Honestly, I'm not all too sure since this is shit Melanie usually helps me with but Shelly tried to give me the run down. I figured you haven't checked your email all weekend so that's why I came by."

"Shit, the timing couldn't be more terrible Sal." I tell my friend. Although I have a say in what I do and do not do, I always have to consider the other guys and what's good for the whole group, the brand.

Sal already knows this and replies "I know man, that's why if you want, we'll tell them to reschedule. I already talked with Joe and Murray. We totally get it if you can't go this weekend."

Brian thinks about it before answering. Of course he wants to reschedule. He doesn't want to leave Melanie for a weekend with everything she's going through but on the other hand, an episode in LA is huge. The guys all have been working on trying to get a movie deal as well. This is the first sign of this happening. If he makes them reschedule, they could lose their chance. "Fuck" Brian rubs his hand through his hair, making a mental note that he needs to get it cut before going to California "I'll talk to Mel tomorrow. I don't think we should reschedule though, even if I don't go. You three need to be there."

"But this is for all of us, man. We can't go without you." Sal argues.

Brian shakes his head "nah, I could FaceTime or something for the meeting. Can probably call up Joey or maybe even Kevin to fill in for me on the episode if I don't come. You guys plan on going, I'll let you know tomorrow what I decide to do."

"Alright, sure. If you're 100% positive?" Sal makes sure to check.

Brian smirks "I am. Wanna come in for a beer?" He offers his friend, and the two hang out for a couple of hours.

Meanwhile, Melanie crawled into her bed and is staring at the letter in her hands. She notices it's not opened, sealed this entire time. She looks to the front and doesn't see a stamp to try and determine when her mother got this. Is it recent? Is it over 25 years old? Did he mail it or drop it off? She knows nothing about this letter. Knows nothing about what will change in her life if she opens it. She sits up abruptly and runs into her bathroom. She tosses the letter in the trash can, deciding to not open it. She doesn't care that her mother gave it to Brian to give to her. If it was something truly important she would've given it to her a long time ago. Melanie may not know when her mom got the letter, but she's aware that the coloring of the envelope is faded or yellow, meaning she's had it at least over a year. Melanie crawls back into bed and turns her light off. She feels a sigh of relief making that choice. She feels as if some choices have been made for her but this one is hers. She's not going to read it. She's going to move on with her life. Tonight she wallows and tomorrow she moves on. It's the way she does things.