Chapter 36
Melody
Melody gazes deeply into Al’s blue eyes, his head bent towards her as they press their bodies together.
His hand is hot on her waist, his thumb brushing her skin.
She wraps her hand around his thick, hot neck and the other is clasped tightly with his.
She feels his wedding band against her fingers, the metal hot from the sun.
Her fingers are bare. She had discovered something else that made her feel claustrophobic; the wedding band felt like it was tightening around her finger, like a noose around her neck.
Ironically, she wears the ring on a chain around her neck instead, and he’s okay about that.
There was no engagement ring, the words were all she needed.
He doesn’t care, he wants to be married to her, he wants her as his wife, not as a walking flashing neon sign to everyone around them about what they are to each other.
Nothing about how they met, how they fell in love or how they are together is or has been traditional because love is not.
It’s wild, untamed, constantly evolving, and Melody is on the wildest ride she’s ever been on.
The bride is wearing a white bikini, the groom is in white swim shorts.
The people they love surround them, whooping and hollering as they await the music for their first dance.
Melody looks to the DJ. The song is Al’s choice.
Despite her being the music expert he is surprisingly specific about his choices, curating playlists for their long drives, lazy Sunday mornings or for his short walk to work, sometimes replaying one song on a loop for an entire day.
Melody thought she needed music in her life, Al needs the right song like he needs food, as if he can satisfy his mood with the right song.
Al’s grip tightens on her waist and he pulls her close. She’d heard this song being played over and over again in his headphones in the lead up to this day, as he perhaps lived out this moment in anticipation. Now he has it in his hands. She hopes what’s about to happen doesn’t ruin his moment.
Despite the burning heat, Melody feels goosebumps at his touch.
They have a small circle of supporters, of people who love them, and who are loving watching them love each other.
Al’s rowing friends are the rowdiest. She laughs at their catcalls while Al doesn’t seem to hear them, the music and the moment, her included, have a hold on him.
Melody and Al found a way to do this their way.
They didn’t take the lift, they walked up the stairs together, maybe even sometimes scaled the outside walls, they invented new routes, and changed their paths halfway there and went in other directions, and today they arrive at the same place.
It doesn’t matter how everyone else does it, or what people think it’s supposed to be.
They found a way not to be afraid, to make this moment for themselves.
Al frowns as a dance beat starts to kick in to the ballad. Melody bites her lip, concerned she got this wrong.
‘Melody,’ he says, in a warning tone. ‘What have you done?’
‘Nothing,’ she sings, popping her hips from side to side as his beautiful ballad becomes a dance tune, albeit still a romantic one.
She lets go of Al’s hand, releases her grip from the back of his hot sunburned neck. The beat picks up and she starts to dance, breaking away from the slow, steady, side-to-side circling of their slow dance.
‘Did you remix my favourite power ballad?’ he asks. A smile tickles his lips, his eyes glint. He’s not angry, she can see his amusement.
She grins and dances in response, and he laughs, throwing his head back and opening his mouth, the giant bear of a man laugh that won her over when they first met.
Then he starts to punch the air to the beat of the music, thrusting his hips back and forth.
The circle of love around them begins to vibrate too as the song becomes a full-on dance song.
The rowing team descend on Al, lifting him in the air and jostling him around as Melody spins in the sand feeling free.
Free. On a beach, in Ibiza, on her wedding day, in a bikini, dancing to ‘Is This Love’.
Is this love?
Oh yes.
Is she afraid?
Oh yes. But do one thing that scares you every day, they say. Melody plans on doing this forever.