The White Mask: Part Two

Melanie is just so gorgeous to Dylan. Despite being in her uniform, Melanie is just irresistible to Dylan. He can’t help but look at her cherry, red lips and her long, brown hair just draped on her shoulders. She has the prettiest smile to Dylan, and it always seems to melt his heart. Her light brown eyes are intoxicating and hypnotizing to his soul. Melanie is short and skinny, and it’s perfect for Dylan. Melanie is Dylan’s perfect angel that he will gladly worship and adore on his date with her.

Dylan rushes to the other side of his car to open up the passenger door for Melanie. She’s surprised by the this and remarks, “Wow, such a gentleman, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it, my lady,” Dylan cheerfully says.

Melanie steps inside the car, and Dylan runs to the driver side of his car. He gets in and presents the roses to Melanie from behind his back. “These are for you, my lady,” Dylan says.

“Oh, these are lovely…um thank you,” Melanie responds.

The hesitation bothers Dylan, and Melanie quickly adds, “They’re absolutely lovely, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that I know that my husband will get a little mad and jealous if he sees these flowers, so I’m probably just gonna have to keep them in my car and let them die.”

Dylan is devastated that Melanie can’t take care of the roses or fully accept them. Melanie sees the disappointed look and says, “But I do appreciate the sweet gesture, bro. These are beautiful. You’re such a good friend.”

Dylan perks up a little bit because Melanie appreciated the sweet gesture of the roses. He knew he didn’t mess up with getting Melanie roses. So, Dylan smiles and says, “It was my pleasure, my lady. Now let’s go get something to eat.”

He has his energy again, and he’s ready to kick off his date with Melanie. He starts the car and drives them both to Chick-Fil-A.

As they’re driving, Dylan asks Melanie how things are with her husband. Melanie replies, “Still a disaster. I still hate him and can’t stand him. I just want to divorce him, but I can’t. I hate Dan.”

Dylan knew this all too well. He knows that Melanie’s husband, Dan, is physically abusive towards. In fact, everyone at Sam’s Club knew this because she would always talk about it with coworkers. He’s 6’4”, overweight and 20 years older than Melanie. He would slap her, push her, kick her and punch her almost daily. Melanie always has to wear makeup to cover up the fresh bruises and cuts her husband would give her. It hurt Dylan to see his precious angel take such an abuse from a monster. She was young and naïve to get with him in the first place at the age of 20, Dylan thinks to himself. She needs to be saved from him.

It only takes a few minutes to get to Chick-Fil A because they’re so close to it. When they park, Melanie tries to open up the door, but Dylan stops her. He insists on opening the door for her. He gets out of his car, rushes to the passenger side and opens the door for her. They walk together and make it to the entrance. Melanie reaches to open the entrance door, but Dylan stops her because he wants to open the door for her. He does so and there’s another door presented. Melanie reaches to open that door, and Dylan yells for her to stop. Melanie sighs and waits for Dylan to open the door for him. Then, they finally make it inside the restaurant.

They wait in line until it’s eventually their turn. Dylan orders his food and asks Melanie what she wants. She insists on paying for herself, but Dylan is insisting on paying for her. Melanie sighs and says that she’ll just have a large fry. Dylan orders the food, and they find a booth to sit in.

Dylan and Melanie start laughing and talking, and Dylan feels such a strong connection with Melanie. It was real and special to him. Eventually, their food comes, and they start to enjoy it. As they’re eating, Melanie starts talking about her three-year-old daughter Violet. Melanie loves Violet with all her heart and can’t imagine life without her daughter, she explains to Dylan. “Yeah, I just can’t afford to leave Dan. Also, I don’t want Violet to grow up without a father. I want to give her the best life possible. He’s a decent father to her, and I guess that can be good enough for me.”

Dylan shakes his head and says, “I understand that, but is it good for your daughter to see you getting hurt all the time? What example are you setting for your daughter?”

Melanie gets a little uncomfortable and replies, “I don’t have that many options seeing as how I barely have enough money to divorce him. I’m just pretty much stuck with him. It sucks, but it’s just the way it is. I wish there was a way for Dan to be out of my life and somehow have a good life for Violet. But there isn’t a way. Now, we can just please change the subject, I’m tired of talking about my abusive husband.”

Dylan understands and changes the subject. They talk for 40 more minutes, and Melanie realizes that it’s time for them to go back to work. They start gathering their stuff, and they throw their trash away. Dylan tries to open the doors for Melanie, but she opens them on their own. She says, “It’s fine, bro, I got it.”

When they’re outside, Dylan runs past Melanie and opens the door to the passenger side. Melanie sighs and gets in the car. Dylan closes her door, runs to the driver side, gets in and drives back to Sam’s Club. They make it back to work with five minutes to spare. They’re sitting in the car, and Melanie tries to get out. Dylan stops her, and Melanie says, “It’s okay, Dylan, I got it. I’m fully capable up opening my door.”

“Oh okay. Well, I just wanted to let you know that I had a really great time with you, and I definitely would love to do this again,” Dylan says to Melanie.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Melanie responds.

There’s an awkward silence, and Dylan awkwardly asks, “Hey, um I was…um… wondering if maybe….um… I could have your…um…phone number, possibly?”

Dylan has been meaning to get her number all day, and he was just ready to take the next step with her. Melanie smiles and says, “Yeah sure, bro. Let me just put it in my phone.”

She types his number in her phone and sends him a text message. Before he could say anything, Melanie rushes out the car and yells, “Hurry up, we’re gonna be late clocking in.”

There’s a big smile on Dylan’s face because he had finally gotten Melanie’s number. It’s a dream come true for him. He starts getting out of his car and humming “Singin’ in the Rain.” The date was a success for Dylan, and he couldn’t wait to swoop Melanie off her feet and be her knight in shining armor.

The rest of the day for Dylan goes by fast. He does good work, and he finds himself thinking about his sweet Melanie. Around 8:00, he texts her that he can’t stop thinking about her and is looking forward to seeing her again. There’s no response from her. At 10:00, he texts her, “So, when do you want to have lunch again, Mel? I think the days that we’re working together are on Tuesday and Thursday of next week, so let me know what works for you.”

Again, there’s no response. It bothers Dylan a little that she’s not responding, but he quickly assumes that she’s just busy working. Around 11:00, it’s quitting time for second shift. Dylan rushes to clock out and runs to his car. When he gets in his car, he texts Melanie if she’s alright. He knows that Melanie finished working at 8:30, so it made no sense to him that she wasn’t responding to his text messages.

He drives home worried sick about Melanie. When he makes it home, he thinks about calling her. He opens the door to his house and hears a male, deep voice in his dark house say, “Hello, Dylan.”

This startles Dylan, and he looks around his house to find the person saying hello to him. He can’t see anything, then he hears the sound of his lamp turn on. He looks to the far, left corner of his house and sees a man in a red suit with red sunglasses on. Dylan can’t see his face and his heart is pumping like crazy. Who is this man? Why is he in his house? How did he know his name. So many questions were running in his mind. Then, the man in the red suit smiles and whispers, “Hello, Dylan. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Cupid, and I’m here to help you.”

This is the end of “The White Mask: Part Two.”

Be sure to like, share and comment your thoughts on this short story.

Next week, I will be posting and sharing parts three and four of “The White Mask.”