Mallory's Melody

Chapter 6

COLE'S ATTACHMENT TO THE WELLS WAS SICKENING. Mallory watched as he spent more and more time with the Wells, laughing and filling his home with their presence. He added them to his every conversation, bought them the most luxurious designer clothes and strung them along whenever he attended a concert. Soon they became permanent tattoos etched to his life and Mallory was otherwise, an ink fading into oblivion.

Cole took them all out to La Mango, an exclusive restaurant hidden in the remote parts of Los Angeles. Susan and Samantha Wells were garrulous. They never for once shut up about their new car, and their stupid father and ex-husband, and their one-million-dollar earrings.

Mallory saved herself from the pain of listening to their inconsequential discussions by observing the restaurant. Cole had never taken her to one of these, not since his recent interest in the Wells. The restaurant oozed affluence and elegance, and it was full of exquisitely dressed people who talked in hush tones, and observed full table etiquette, dabbing at the sides of their mouths with a napkin every millisecond or so, and using the right cutlery. The room swooned with a piece of jazz that sounded resoundingly familiar to Mallory... too familiar.

I swear I've heard this before.

Mallory turned towards the stage, where the instrumentalist fielded their instruments, some of them closing their eyes with a firm resolve and others swaying imperceptibly to the direction of the music. But then a voice, husky in its eloquence arose from the swarm of the instrumentalists. it was gentle but ferocious, deep yet as soft as silk, stentorious much still sentimental. There was only one person whose voice could sound like that.

"Jason Trevor," Samantha and Mallory exclaimed together. They gazed at the young star standing on the stage. With his voice, he brought the spirits of everyone in the room aloft. Mallory nearly mistook him for a god when the neon light accentuated his perfectly chiselled face. Several bangs of hair bounced off his forehead whilst he shook his head in tempo to the music, and Mallory almost fainted when he glided across the smooth floor gracefully, just as he always did on television.

"Who's he?" Cole asked, eying Jason with disgust.

Samantha winced, jaw-dropped, amazed that Cole didn't know who Jason Trevor was. "Mr. Trent, you don't know him? Jason Trevor. Starlight academy raised him. He's only the most adored singer and guitarist on the Starlight show. He was the winner of Starlight Academy's contest last year, and he's incredibly and majestically hot," she squealed, staring at him with hunger glinting in her blue eyes. "I have to get his autograph."

Starlight. A voice popped in Mallory's head. Tell your dad about William Orlando's offer for you to contest for a spot on the starlight Academy. Mallory tried to wave it away. She already concluded that she would decline the offer but there was a dissatisfied part of her conscience that urged her to tell Cole about it. Not like he would care. He hadn't seemed concerned about her welfare lately.

"Dad, I've got something to tell you," Mallory tremulously said.

Cole smiled. He had a critical look on his face that unnerved Mallory. He only had that kind of look when something unpleasant was coming, something Mallory would regret hearing. "I've got something to tell you too, sweetie."

Susan turned away at that. Why was she acting so unreasonably guilty? Not like Mallory cared much, but Susan had been acting edgy since the ride to La Mango, afraid even. But of what?

Mallory straightened, maintaining direct contact with Cole's distressed brown eyes. "You should go, first dad."

Susan exchanged glances with Cole, and Mallory cringed at how tightly they held each other. Susan nodded, urging Cole to spill the beans. "Mallory," he bit his lips, "Susan and I are getting married."

"What?" Samantha and Mallory said together. They, for the first time in their lives, shared something in common: the belief that their parents were both equally demented.