Love Note Pt. 02

"I'm doing you a favour here," she continued. "You don't know what he's like, sugar -- I do."

"Leo is hardly a man I'd describe as impossible to get through to." Now why the hell would she go and say that?

"You know him?"

Crap.

"We're working together for a few weeks."

"Music?"

"Yes."

Smug disbelief. "I don't believe you. Leo hasn't worked on anything in years."

"True. But turn on a radio -- or, better yet, your television in an hour: he's been giving interviews about a once-off project he's doing this new year. It's a really phenomenal charity gala for a wish-fulfillment foundation."

The woman drew back a fraction. "For Dream Reality? His sister's carers?"

Ana was sure her surprise showed. "You know about his sis-?"

"Melissa." The sudden intrusion of Kyle's voice snapped their little surreal moment into a whole new dimension.

Ana hadn't noticed his red SUV pull up and park near where they stood.

But it was seeing Leo with him that stilled all sound.

He got out of the car wearing jeans and a white shirt. In a moment of absurd sluggishness, all Ana noted was that he'd need new shirts soon if he carried on working out at the rate he was going. Her eyes went no higher than the bulge of his arms and shoulders. Yearning made her palms tingle with the urge to run her hands along the solidness of him.

"How have you been, Mel?" Points had to be given to Kyle for his attempts at normality.

So. This was Melissa. The woman who had been -- and quite possibly still was -- the centre of Leo's existence. She had intensely green eyes. And a certain air about her, an entitled presumption that she was important... that she mattered to whomever was around her.

Shards of something blinding and cold embedded themselves in Ana's chest.

When she finally raised her eyes to Leo's face, it was to see him looking at Melissa as if transfixed.

He was speaking as well, but all Ana could hear was the oceanic roar in her own ears. She'd never been in this sort of situation before and had to fight the impulse to bolt. More than anything, she did not want that woman to see how hard this was for her. Did not want her to know that she was right: that Ana had no business standing next to this car or its owner.

Melissa was Leo's world -- and Ana was completely out of her depth.

Melissa then said something, her eyes alive and fixed on him. Ana could picture them as a couple -- a rather gorgeous one, too. Even now, years after they'd broken up, they still seemed to fit together somehow. And, after the weekend she'd spent with him, she could even picture Leo taking care of Melissa. Could imagine what their intimate moments looked like.

A sound escaped, and Ana realised she had made it. Leo turned to her. Melissa was still talking, but his attention was solely on Ana now.

"Anaïs, this is Melissa." The woman's name, hardly a rare one, took on a whole new texture when he said it. "I had no idea she'd be here today, so this is a bit weird... Melissa, I gather you've gone ahead and made yourself known to Anaïs."

He was coming closer, taking the last couple steps to Ana -- his eyes still on her even as he addressed his ex. Again she had the urge to move away, but that would just be daft. She tried to do the polite thing instead, tried to smile and tell her lover's ex that she was delighted to be caught in such awkwardness with her.

But no words came.

"Weird?" The bite in Melissa's tone had a new edge to it. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Anaïs?" Leo was taking her hand and that was the worst thing ever.

He hadn't touched her in ages and she had just started getting used to that. Getting used to living with the need and ignoring it. And now he was touching her again -- and at the worst time possible. In front of a woman who knew his touch even better than she.

"What the hell, Leo?" Melissa was grappling with no longer having his full attention. "You walked in and walked out of our life as you pleased. But I'm the oddity, right?"

Leo's thumb was brushing meditative circles along the back of Ana's hand. Flickers of amber in his eyes were clear signs of his own awareness of being close to her after the days they'd spent as far apart as they could get.

How could that be real? How could he look at her like that while the love of his life stood less than a metre away?

Even Melissa was picking up on something more than she'd previously registered. "What is going on here?"

The question almost made Ana laugh. She'd been asking herself the same thing since setting foot back in Johannesburg. What on earth was going on? What was she doing? What was this lion of a man doing to her??

She pulled free and got the car keys from her bag. "You should take these. Turns out I don't belong in... that car."

He looked down at her, his eyes firing one silent question after another. She held his gaze, letting her own answer him for her. No matter how crazy things had gotten this was one unique aspect she had instantly gotten used to -- this ability they had of communicating without saying a word.

She had a close bond with Thandi, even her mother -- but nothing quite like this unspoken speaking.

"Leo, why was this woman driving your car?"

"Mel..." Kyle was trying to help diffuse the situation though not sure how.

"What, Kyle? I have a right to know." One of the blondes tried to placate her, but Melissa shook her friend's hand off, her face hard. "This woman here claims she's just a colleague -- yet she has access to his car and heavens knows what else. She spoke about him as if she knows him intimately. Is that how it is, Anise?"

An unexpected calm crept up her limbs and measured out her breaths.

Anger or insecurity were usually her first reactions to confrontation. But not this time. It was painful to contemplate this arrogant beauty's place in Leo's heart -- but the way her voice shook calmed Ana. Melissa was scared, and Ana knew how that felt.

She tilted a wisp of a smile the other woman's way. "It doesn't matter how it is between Leo and me, Melissa. You don't care about that."

"Well. You're a cocky one, aren't you?"

"No, just empathising." The words seemed to come from a part of herself she'd never known before. "Believe it or not, I recognise myself in you. For years I thought I was strong and happy and doing just fine. Now... I don't know. Maybe I'm as out of whack as you appear to be. Maybe I'm seeing and saying things that don't match with reality. The way you just spoke about Leo... Nothing you said made any sense to me, that was not the man I've come to know. At all."

"Obviously you don't know him. At all."

"Or you don't." Ana's smile gained confidence. "Maybe you never did."

Melissa stepped closer. "A two-minute crush and you think you can tell me about Leo?"

"That's not what I'm trying to do." Ana weighed her next words before continuing. "You're the one asking about me -- so, I'm telling you about me. I'm carrying some burdens, just like you. And I'm seeing right now what the past could do to me if I let mine crush me, too. I've been at war for years -- against no one but myself."

"How poetic," Melissa sneered. "He's rubbing off on you, I see. That'll fade soon enough."

Ana squared her shoulders. "I might not know you, sunshine -- but I do know that I don't like the way you suck the joy out of spaces you enter. God help the people who have to deal you daily. Two things: Leo deserves better than the shit you talk about him -- I will never just stand by and watch you drag him down into your little puddle of bitterness. Secondly, when you next speak about me, which I'm sure you will, the name is Anaïs. Anise is a fucking plant."

Shock. Silence.

Ana had expected Melissa to lash out at her, but the other woman's eyes simply widened as shades of red rose in her cheeks. No words attacked her, no sneers or threats.

And, as Ana stood facing her, the surrounding world reasserted itself. She became aware of chatter in the distance, music pumping from a car entering the gates, a few interested glances from passersby. And the one thing centering her: she was most aware of Leo's hand now on the small of her back. Most likely there to keep her in check, but she was grateful anyway to have him standing on her side of this critical confrontation.

Her epiphany, still only half-formed, had shaken her -- but she'd damned before giving away her startling vulnerability.

"Kyle, could you take Anaïs inside?" Leo finally spoke, the familiar authority in his tone reassuring to her. "Melissa and I have a couple of things to clear up."

Ana shook her head. "I'm fine. He doesn't have to --"

"Please, Anaïs." His low-pitched plea surprised her. "For me. Annoying as this gets, I can't shake the need to make sure you're okay. I doubt any one of us is 'fine' right now. Call me selfish, but I would just like to know someone I trust is with you until I come inside. I'll have a word with Melissa and be right there."

His words, the way he spoke them, made her miss the nights he'd soothed her to sleep with whispered lyrics. This man was far too good at squeezing at her heart. It was becoming too easy, this lunacy of letting him take care of her with such earnest dedication.

She touched his cheek. "You're a good man, Leo."

He watched her closely, suddenly torn between wanting to send her away and needing to talk to her. She could tell that he was picking up on the shifts within her, but wasn't sure what they meant.

"And you're a gullible little girl." Melissa's statement held more spite than bravado. "He needs a string of women the same way he needs millions of fans. None of this is real to him. It's all one endless show, a performance."

Ana straightened her spine. The way she used to as a young dancer, imagining a magic string from her heels, through her legs, up her spine to the crown of her head. Hips and shoulders aligned... chin up.

She looked into Melissa's eyes and felt a little sad. "All the best, Melissa. Misery is a cold place and I hope you don't stay there much longer."

Her calm, kind words froze the confused brunette's tongue.

Her heels clicked along as she let Kyle lead her away. He looped an arm around her shoulders, making her wobble a little. Sharing a moment with her new friend made her smile. There was so much to sort through, but she was starting to see a little light. Understanding was flickering somewhere inside her.

Leaving Leo behind was the last thing she wanted to do, but it was necessary.

She stepped more confidently. The heels weren't so bad anymore.

***

The broadcasting complex peered down on Auckland Park from its elevated throne on a hill's incline. The reception area was spacious and bright, set above the parking lots. The soapie stars who held the elevator doors for Anaïs got off on each of the three floors above reception.

Anaïs and Kyle continued on above all that.

A few floors up the two of them were rushed through to the hair and makeup rooms where Eric and Thandi were already waiting. Thandi's eyes instantly shot curiosity her way, but Ana merely shook her head. Twenty minutes later, Leo entered and a new buzz seemed to hum through the studios.

Rose Red immediately sashayed over to greet him. She had the deepest red hair and sharp eyes that cut to the core of those she addressed. Ana watched the way she melted a little at Leo's greeting.

Was Melissa right? Did Leo have many women in his life?

Possibly. He'd certainly had a way of drawing me in -- and Thandi. And Sindi... and basically every tittering tart in between.

Ana huffed.

But he couldn't be faulted for that, could he? He'd never set out to attract anyone the way he had -- and every relationship had been professional.

She flashed back to the night he'd sat at her feet, massaging her.

Okay. Most of his relationships had remained professional.

In front of the camera, Rose Red took control and the intelligent, charming host Ana was accustomed to re-emerged. The stage was bigger than Ana had expected, hot lights exposing every flicker, fumble and facial expression. She blinked at the oversized couches, not liking that there was literally nowhere for her to hide.

Leo was seated nearest Rose Red and had asked that Ana be by his side. Thandi jumped in next to her. Eric followed, and Kyle next to Eric. The only thing keeping her from bolting was the assurance of having her familiar crew all around her.

And all of them so freaking relaxed, too.

Even after the cameras started rolling and Rose Red had introduced the team, Kyle was his usual flirtatiously funny self. Eric thanked Leo publicly for asking the show to acknowledge his whole team instead of sticking to a solo interview. Kyle turned that into a joke about Leo being helpless without them. Which somehow morphed into a joke about having orgies. It was so much like the ribaldry tossed about in studio on their late nights that Ana forgot her nerves.

She returned Thandi's excited grin, feeling her shoulders relax.

The interview opened with Leo's life. Loving yet disciplined parents who'd put him through musical training from a very young age. Strict routine and endless practice which had him playing complex pieces on multiple instruments by his mid-teens.

"But I've always had a special connection with the piano above all else," he concluded.

"And it shows in your love songs." Rose Red's palms were pressed to her chest. "The nuance and sensitivity you write into your romantic music... You have a gift for touching the soul, Leo."

"Thank you, Rose."

All Ana could think about was the first time she'd listened to Chopin, the years of all the artists who'd touched and torn her open. Moulded her. The day, nearly a decade ago, that she'd had classical music inked into her being.

Rose Red was right. Leo had that same ability to connect with the gift that called to him and deliver it with all its beautiful shades and nuances to his listeners. And, even outside the music, his every look and touch did the same to her. Showed her what he saw in her... with a clarity that was overwhelming.

"It is so lovely seeing these music greats together as a group," Rose Red smiled halfway into the interview, "but what about Ms Kem? So little is known about you, Ana, yet here you are next to a star who refused to do this interview without you by his side. Which piece are you in this puzzle?"

"I'm... a glorified runner, I guess," Ana shrugged. "There are a million small things that need to tie together to make one big show. With Moyo Management doing so well now and Leo being our biggest client to date, Thandi Moyo wanted me in as backup in ensuring that we don't lose track of those million little threads."

"Understatement of note!" Thandi protested. "I brought her in to assist me getting the show together, yes, but Ana has done so much more than expected. She took a basic show line-up, somehow tracked and locked down the best musical director in the country, and turned the initial shindig into a bona fide album within its own right. She has cracked a whip behind every single person involved in this project from the star himself to the venue managers to the staff at the children's foundation -- focusing every moment of every day on this plan succeeding in the best way possible for everyone."

Ana hadn't really thought about how big her job was. Sure, her body had even crashed along the way, but she'd always been the sort to brush off her own struggles and focus on her teammates and the bigger goal. Just getting the job done.

Thandi's words lined up like that sent warmth through her.

She patted her friend's shoulder, words stuck somewhere in her throat.

Eric nodded. "This started as a nice concept -- some entertainment with a charity drive chucked in somewhere in the mix. Ana turned it into a quality comeback worthy of carrying Leo Boreas' name."

"Is this your comeback then, Leo?" Rose Red asked the quiet man.

Leo leaned back. Ana recognised the position -- he did the same thing at home when on the phone with people who had something he wanted. He'd lean back as if not to give away how much he wanted something.

"This is the part where you nod, Leo." Kyle's quip stirred up a few chuckles.

Leo's eyes found hers for a moment and she widened hers briefly with a smile, as if to ask, Well?

He turned to Rose Red. "I've missed music a lot in my years away, more than I'd realise before starting this project. By the time Thandi had strong-armed me into doing this," laughter from Thandi, "I'd decided that it would be a once-off. A proper goodbye to music, if you will. Now..."

Anticipation made Rose Red and the other guests lean towards him; even the camera crew and those beyond were focused more on him than the cameras and screens.

"And now...?"

"I'm not sure."

"And what would it take to tip you over into saying yes?"

He stretched one arm out along the backrest. It didn't touch Ana, but his hand was right behind her back.

"A lot has been happening -- I couldn't break it all down for you if I tried. But I will say that the past couple weeks have sledgehammered me with a wakeup call or two." He shifted, his arm extending a little further. His thumb briefly brushed her spine. "The first being that my reasons for quitting music and my entire mind space at that time had been so messed up that I'm having to start all over again in figuring out where I stand and what I want. Taking time off had definitely been necessary. But I'm not the wreck I thought I was... which means quitting might not have been the solution for me."

"We've all been there, I think," Rose Red responded. "Those cycles in life where you're meant to grow into whatever level is next for you... And we have definitely all misread some of our lessons before."

"For the first time in years I'm able to look at everything I've been through as really important."

"And is that what has you coming back to music."

"Considering coming back," he grinned, "but, yeah. It's one of the reasons."

"And could another be... love?"

Ana's heart slammed. She told herself she was being ridiculous, but there were parts of her that still imploded and shattered at the thought of Leo in love. He casually crossed an ankle over a knee... but she noticed a muscle jump in his jaw.

"Why would you ask that?" he countered. "Everyone knows that love not working out for me was part of the reason I left music in the first place."

"Your break-up with Melissa Tyler."

"The one and only," he replied. "It was very messy and, unfortunately, extremely public."

"And how are you now? Speculation has it you two are on speaking terms again."

"Who might be speculating that?"

"My production manager happened to see you out in the parking lot," she explained before adding with a grin, "please don't think we're stalking you 24/7 -- Wendy was on her way in and just happened to notice you two chatting."

Leo inhaled slowly. "Yes. That was actually our first time seeing each other in two years."

Everyone's eyes widened, including Ana's. She'd been so sure Leo was still pursuing Melissa -- at the very least, still in touch with her.

"We've both moved on," he continued. "And it feels good to be free of the past."

Free. The concept flickered around Ana, making her shut her eyes briefly. Since meeting Leo she had felt nothing but free to be herself.

And what did she do? She pushed him away.

Despite having a few interviews under her belt, the rest of their hour was slightly strange. Rose Red covered the gala details and got Leo to give a foretaste of what attendees could expect music-wise. There was much laughter as Eric and Kyle helped describe what it was like putting everything together on such short notice. Moyo Management got so much attention, there was no doubt the following year would be a major one for Thandi.