Unloved (Part 3)

James sat motionless on the corner of his bed. His mind was running with thoughts of Melody. Melody was beautiful, her smile took everyone's breath away and to James, she was the sun to his sky. Without her, he was a sad useless man. The Summer Melody was murdered was the same day James was left with a scarred face-and heart.

After work, James came home with flowers and chocolate to make up with Melody after the couple fought. As he walked into the her home, he found the door open-unlocked. He called out, "Honey! Melody! Look what I brought you!" but there was no reply. Just the silence and the sound of his heart beating loudly. He slowly walked up the stairs as they groaned in reply and went into Melody's bedroom. There, he found her laying motionless and stabbed in the heart. Before he could even react, a man dressed in black appeared in the doorway and that's when James became unconscious. That Summer, he was a prime suspect in the case of Melody's murder. He went through hard times and quit his job as head of the Commerce Bank and rot away at home. His life was a living hell. Being questioned by the FBI multiple times a day. Until the Winter of 2008, he was proved innocent in Melody's case, but the murderer was never found.

In Elizabeth's room, she was sound asleep until she woke up at the sound of a guitar strumming past the decorated walls of her room. The sun wasn't up yet, but she opened up the small window and listened closer. The sound came from the next window, but she couldn't quite make out the charming player from the light. The mysterious man sang quietly, as if to himself-a lullaby, "I'll never forget that smile that lit my sky, the laugh that filled up the room.." she lay awake until the sun rose, listening to melody that filled her small room and eventually, she fell asleep.

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" Elizabeth woke to the sounding alarm next to her bed-startled.

"Some damn alarm," she mumbled. She slipped on a red robe and tied it around her waist. To her surprise, she awoke to James behind the stove, staring with full concentration at the pan with eyes that seemed to drill a hole through it, intensity. "Ahem, Mr.Mysterious, the poor pan is going to die of a heart attack if you stare at it any longer." she joked. He jumped, startled by her sudden appearance and cleared his throat.

"Oh, right, sorry. I thought I should've cooked you some breakfast, you look exhausted. Any sleep last night?" James stared at Elizabeth with concern and authority, head titled and angled toward the pan, one eye paying attention to Elizabeth. Absent minded, she replied,

"Mkay, thanks. I do feel hungry, but if you need to go it's fine with me." she took another glance at James and smiled, then continued to examine the room with intense curiosity. The small apartment had a charm to it. She couldn't explain it, but the balcony door wall was made out of stone bricks and the other side of the room was painted black, with a quote.

"No home is completed without love. My life is incomplete without you." Then on the other corner of the room, it was a bright yellow, the kind of yellow that gave you hope. Yellow, with pictures of James with a band called The Forgotten.

"Some creativity is going on here," she thought.

"Liz, I have a long day ahead of me, and if you need to go out for anything, feel free to take the car if you don't have one. I'm just going to lay low in my house, find some bandage for this-marking." he smiled a bright smile, one with excitement. James handed her a plate with scrambled eggs, a pancake, and some bacon.

"Hope she isn't startled by it," thought James. His mind was busy today, many thoughts and "what ifs" as well as memories that he didn't want to remember. He didn't want to head out and face the world.