msmelissalin

[msmelissalin]

Elementary ☆ 1x16 "Details"

#melissa lin #work #visage #musing

[msmelissalin]

Melissa stood not too far over the threshold, the door closed and locked. The gaze icy and unwavering, dissected the scene before her with a precision that belied the tumult of silent rage that was churning inside the pit of her stomach. Directed at both of them for such vastly different reasons.

Ayaz's defiance, Giordana...just being there, every detail etched into her memory like a damning exhibit in a courtroom. One, she could've avoided if she'd kept her nose out of his business. But when it pertained to the Italians, she had no choice. They were enemies, at least to her, and that trust she'd instilled in the main was wavering.

The room was stuffy, thick, and somewhat awkwardly suffocating. Melissa's jaw clenched, fists tightening at her sides as she fought to maintain the composure that had become her trademark. Who she was. And this was not the time she'd let it slip, that perfect facade was her go-to in all situations. One of indifference and casualness. What did she stand to gain?

Wasn't that how she always thought.

One careful poised step forward, followed by a second.

"You don't think this is the time or the place?" Melissa's voice was sharp, cutting through the silence like a blade. Oh, she was pissed. "And when, pray tell, would be more suitable? After you've had your fill of someone who wants to kill me? A member of the family that you work for..." turning her gaze to Giordana, never breaking that gaze. Like a judge, she stared right back. "Or after she's conned something out of you that they can use."

Melissa was fiercely protective of those she considered important to her. And Ayaz had become one of those people over time, but this, was it coincidental? Or was this...sex? More? She honestly felt sick at the thought.

She took a step forward, the click of her heels against the floor echoing like a warning in the confined space of the room. She was not one to act rashly, to let her emotions dictate her actions. But this time, maybe she'd lost a small hold on that control when she'd stormed in here like she had a cavalry behind her.

Still, she remained as always, shoulders back, chin forward.

"Exactly what was your logic here? Or did you not think at all."

"What else do you want? A femur?" Or a skull, a clavicle... There was very little she wouldn’t do to keep herself firmly planted right here with him. Bodily harm being perhaps the least egregious on the list. "Maybe we should get ahead of the curve. Throw our phones out before anyone gets the chance to interrupt."

Oh, the irony.

The seconds required for them to make it down the hallway passed near instantaneously and yet they still stretched too damn long in her opinion. Although once the pair disappeared behind the suite's door, Giordana wasted little time in removing his suit jacket and found herself perched atop the nearest surface like she weighed nothing at all. Maybe the bed wouldn't be necessary.

Just as she began undoing the buttons of his shirt, movement in their peripheral caught the brunette up short and the entirety of her body froze. Deft fingers still poised over his mid-chest, glittering skirt hiked midway up her thighs. Whatever expression she wore during that fleeting moment lived in Ayaz's knowledge alone because it blanked out the second a regrettably familiar voice spoke.

Giordana hoped the Rutherfords could afford fighting another war, because she was about to take Melissa Lin’s head clean off.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

#melissa & ayaz #giordana & melissa #three way para #pre plot drop #location: berkeley estate #event ; awards 24 #after party ; 24

[msmelissalin]

Melissa: I'm fine. Ayaz sorted everything for me when everything went south. Benjamin got himself into a little scrap, but other than that -- he's fine. Alive, thankfully. Melissa: I'm glad you got out, too. Melissa: Keep off the streets for a while.

@msmelissalin

Hasan: You get out alright? I didn't see Benjamin. I'm sure he'll come back to you when it's safe to. Hasan: I'm sure you're safe, but I'll say it anyway, it can pay to be paranoid when everyone's out for blood.

#hasan demir #hasan & melissa #post plot drop #post event #texting: hasan #text messages

[msmelissalin]

Just for tonight, she should've known that he had the inability to maintain civility that would've benefitted them in the longer term: hatred was a thing that had settled itself into her ex-husband's very being -- it'd been there when they'd first met, and had never left him. Melissa had seen it in white hor rage, and curdling fury, and while she didn't blame him, she didn't understand it either.

Even if once she'd relished in that ruthlessness as if it were her own.

The fact that she'd set boundaries when it came to Zoe was something he couldn't respect, even if he'd tried. And while she'd respected his wishes to give him what he asked for a child, he'd never been able to forgive her for what came next. The sacrifices she'd made for him, but he'd been unable to justify her choices.

What was the point in fighting a losing battle?

Was the main center of his anger that she'd been unable to love Zoe? Or was it that she'd left him at the end of it all? A raucous marriage that had only fuelled something darker in those final months. Was she the bad person for walking away from something destined to fail? That toxicity? This, she'd never discussed with anyone, not Cerys, or Andrew. Frankly, it was none of their business and she owed no one an explanation on how she decided to live her life.

Melissa had come to a point where she'd needed to take the reigns back. Unable to follow blindly anymore, because settling had never been in her DNA. The dissolve of what had once been when she'd done that, had been totally imminent.

His current animosity, while not entirely misplaced, was enough to see the notoriously cold woman on edge, hands clasping together while the hairs on her skin rose. Nothing lasted forever.

Not them, not this, not tonight.

Melissa watched Johnathan's abrupt change with that same resignation she reserved for those she challenged in a courtroom, lips pressing into a thin line as she simply stared. She had hoped, perhaps naively, that tonight could be different, that they could find some common ground or at least a semblance of understanding. But as always, their interactions seemed to end in disappointment.

She took a deep breath, pushing to stand as she mimicked him. "Well, you just told me now. If there's nothing wrong with me, I wouldn't be seeking out therapy. Or are you saying I'm completely fine?" She scoffed, loudly, provoked as she shook her head, tongue darting over her bottom lip.

"Couldn't even last a night, could you?" Accusatory. "You can't even be civil with your ex-wife, but you can talk to our enemies and keep fake civility, hm? Wonderful. Well done, Johnathan. I'm proud, truly." Although she sounded the opposite.

Where was Benjamin when she needed him?

One step forward, ten steps back. That's always how it was with them.

Melissa speaks of a past memory, and it triggers the curtain call. Johnathan sees this for what it really is, a pretense that all is well. That their shared history is something they could put behind them, even temporarily, for the sake of conversation. A fucking performance.

He looks down into his empty glass, jaw tightening as he listens to her speak with such lightheartedness that made him feel so fucking stupid for even entertaining her in the first place. Slowly, he glances up at her and his gaze is splintered with a resentment that spanned over decades as he returns to look at her the way he's always looked at her.

Then, Johnathan places his chin in his palm and looks out into the crowd. God, he wishes Connie was here. He would've found peace just from standing next to her.

Did she just call herself a self-proclaimed bitch? Fucking embarrassing, he thinks to himself. The switch-up is clear now, and he makes no attempt to hide it. A hardened gaze meets hers as she talks about emotions. Something he'd always had an abundance of, and she'd always lacked. "And look where that's got you," he says offhandedly.

Well, he would beg to fucking differ. They would be here for days if he were to list all of the things that were wrong with her. "Because therapy is famously used by people with nothing wrong with them," he deadpans. Therapy sounded like a scam to him, and the people that fell for it clearly had severe fucking issues, none of which could be solved by talking to a random stranger. People these days, they'd do anything to talk about themselves. It makes sense to him, then, that Melissa was going to therapy. "Could've told you that for fucking free."

There's not much more of this he can take. He's had enough. Abruptly, he rises from his seat, reaching into his pockets as he pulls out a packet of cigarettes. "No, we're done here."

#johnathan parsons #johnathan & melissa #event ; awards 24 #after party ; 24 #post plot drop #location: berkeley estate

[msmelissalin]

Melissa: I think you'd find that I don't keep things from the organization. That's reserved for your sister, because if I remeber correctly -- I was the one in the dark there. Melissa: Not that I have to explain myself to you, but I've already told you I knew nothing about this, and I'm standing by what I say, Gideon. I knew and know nothing about what happened this evening. Melissa: I suggest you find someone else to take your anger out on, because I've done nothing wrong but try to check that you were safe. Melissa: This isn't questioning Gideon, this is an interrogation where you've already decided I'm guilty. And I care none for a trial set by a man who can't decide where he stands in his life. Melissa: Rutherford, or not. Melissa: I honour her memory by trying to be there for her son. I had nothing to do with this, and from now, nothing to do with you. Melissa: Goodbye, Gideon.

Gideon: Of course you'd know about it. That doesn't mean you'd be honest with the rest of us about it. Gideon: What the fuck do you think I'm trying to do right no- [draft deleted] Gideon: Yes. Cause there's never been such a thing as a mass hoax when a video with no sender gets circulated amongst this many people at the same time. Because your bloody organizations wouldn't ever stoop to staging something to influence the sway of public opinion. Forgive me for questioning. Gideon: I wasn't throwing it in yo- [draft deleted] Gideon: I forgot you and Cerys wer- [draft deleted] Gideon: If that's true, honour her memory by ensuring you're being honest with me right now.

#drrutherford #gideon & melissa #event ; awards 24 #after party ; 24 #post plot drop #she's just pissed off ; she'll come around o.o #texting: gideon

[msmelissalin]

It was definitely the alcohol talking, that's what she told herself, the words tumbling out of her mouth as the gasp left her lips. "Oh my -- do you remember, I think it was the late 90s, maybe early 2000 and I got that terrible, and I mean terrible hair cut with the bangs?" pointing to her face, like she'd forgotten for just a moment that this was a man she'd spent the last couple of years despising for his actions. "I have this vague memory of you laughing, at my expense might I add."

It was a random memory.

Which she hadn't remembered since it'd happened: until now.

Unsettling. It's the unexpected that makes the unease worse.

And still, she leaned into this 'just tonight' facade like it was life-altering. It might be because Melissa hoped it would be. It was possible that working with Johnathan, who obviously didn't want her there had worn down her defenses over time. Or maybe it was because there were distant echoes of who they'd once been, juvenile and blinded by youth: people they would never be again, but who they'd once loved. Melissa Lin had spent a good majority of her life being disliked, it rarely bothered her anymore, but even she was not immune from an ambush when certain people were involved. Sometimes, she couldn't hide from those who had an effect on those perfectly controlled emotions she portrayed to everyone else.

Johnathan was one of them.

"They say people can change, and they're right. Some people do, but there's one thing you can always count on when it comes to me. That's consistency and the fact that I'm a self-proclaimed bitch." leaning forward over the armrest of her chair, she clinked their classes together with a savage smile. "Emotions are messy, people should have far less of them." Was she saying that to convince him, or herself? Melissa was someone who had to be read between the lines, never quite literal in everything she said, but only those who knew her knew what to look for.

There was subtly in everything she said, easter eggs in conversation but always lined with the facts. She didn't like to go into anything blind.

There was something strangely liberating, as he pretended to be her, and she hadn't quite been able to put her finger on it since their conversation had begun this evening. Even before their deal, it'd felt far more...amicable. It was almost as if they were simply being themselves, or the old versions they'd once known. An old sense of familiarity that differed from their usually fraught relationship.

"Fantastic impression, you truly went into the wrong profession, Johnathan, Bravo." she playfully mocked, placing down the flute to allow her hands to descend into a faux slow clap. "I have been known to turn into a bit of a monster when I'm hungry, though. You weren't that far off -- maybe that's where we've been going wrong all these years. Should've started journalling sooner. As the kids would say, it's giving less death and more torture poet."

When John leans forward, her brow inches with cool precision. "Nothing's wrong with me," she scoffs, yet, the smile remains. "I've been going to therapy -- and before you say anything." Holding her finger up, her eyes sparkling. "I'm a year in, and she suggested I make some friends outside of work. So I've been trying it." a beat passes as she flags down the waiter to order two more drinks. At least they were free. "Now, I've done a lot of the talking and you've told me absolutely nothing."

"No," he drops his voice in faux-incredulity, pursing his lips as he shakes his head lightly, "That doesn't sound like you." A jest, no matter how sarcastic, that could only be made with the burden of having known her. Familiarity is rarely woven into their conversations these days, if at all. It's something that would usually provide a blanket of comfort to most, but to them it serves as a tight noose around their neck. Tonight, however, it flutters idly in the space between them, no more noticeable than a butterfly flapping its wings.

At her comment, he simply responds with a small raise of the brows, as if to say: it is what it is. There was nothing he really wanted to say that. There was nothing he could say that wouldn't thwart them back to the past, or force them to mull over the future when it was clear that tomorrow would not be new day for them. So he takes a rather long sip of his drink, the glass hiding the fact that the corners of his lips had quirked upwards.

A brow quirks as she shuffles in her seat, prepared for whatever nonsense she was about to come out with. Instead, he fails to stifle a laugh. Even though it's mostly a grumble contained to the back of his throat, he could fucking hear himself. "Dear diary," he says, and it's his turn to sit up straight, crossing one leg over the other, mimicking her stupidly posh accent, "Today I felt a real human emotion. This is the first time that's happened to me. Then I realised, I was just hungry. Thank goodness for that."

It felt like he was talking to someone else. In a way, he sort of was. Guards down, masks off, here sat Melissa, the woman he had tried so hard with, instead of someone he was forced to work with because of they shared the same goal.

Although he doesn't show it, Johnathan is surprised when she shares that with him. Cooking. The number of Chinese dishes she'd ruined for him were too many to count. He didn't even know that she'd stopped. Brows pull together, gaze narrowing as he places his arm on the table and leans forward, inspecting her as if there's something wrong with her, "What the fuck is going on, are you dying?" A female friend? "Is that what you're calling Benjamin these days?"

#johnnparsons #johnathan & melissa #event ; awards 24 #after party ; 24 #location: berkeley estate #pre plot drop #johnathan parsons

[msmelissalin]

Melissa: I appreciate it. Melissa: Let me know when you're out just so I don't have to send in search parties later: don't make me have to do that. Melissa: I'll stop messaging now so you don't check your phone when you're stuck with literal maniacs.

Hasan: Unfortunately I have to, I'll keep an eye out, but I don't know if getting a hyped up Emine around him is a good idea. I'll make sure to send him on his way if I see him though.

#texting: hasan #hasan & melissa #hasan demir #event ; awards 24 #after party ; 24 #post plot drop #we can end it here love xo #end

[msmelissalin]

Melissa: Don't go back in, Hasan. Melissa: It'll be a blood bath, and that's not a war you need to get into. Melissa: If you do, can you keep an eye out for Benjamin please?

Hasan: I'm alright. Hasan: Going back in, see you on the other side of things.

#texting: hasan #hasan & melissa #event ; awards 24 #after party ; 24 #location: berkeley estate #post plot drop

[msmelissalin]

Melissa: Gideon, I think you might be forgetting that in my position, if something like this was going on, firstly I'd know about it and secondly, do you think I'd still be here? In this house? I'd have left, which I wish I'd known. Melissa: We didn't stage anything. You think you know so much, but for a man who claims to be out of the life you really do keep turning up in places that you don't want to be, don't you? Melissa: If you hate it so much, get out. Melissa: Instead of texting me with your conspiracy theories, why don't you check on the people who matter and stop sending me meaningless nonesense. Melissa: All I wanted was to check you're okay, as your mother would've wanted me to. Melissa: Also a reminder, Gideon, that my best friend died, the day that your mother did. Cerys was and will always be the greatest loss I've endured. If you ever throw that in my face again, I won't think twice about cutting you off as if you never set foot on this earth. There's much I will tolerate, but that is not one of them.

Gideon: Are you seriously playing at moral outrage with me right now?? Because yours and all the other stupid, members-only clubs are so above using horror and sensationalism to push their own agendas? Gideon: Stage a video like that and you can justify almost anything, Mel. Don't think I don't know that. [two minutes later] Gideon: Yes. I'm afraid that any pursuit of violence might have you all forgetting that we are guests in the home of innocents tonight. If that fear makes me insolent in your eyes, so be it.

#drrutherford #gideon & melissa #event ; awards 24 #after party ; 24 #location: berkeley estate #post plot drop

[msmelissalin]

"I like sex just as much as the next person, Johnathan. I'm a lot of things, but a prude isn't one," Melissa laughed, taking a short pause, followed by a shallow sip of her drink. "Anything more than casual, though? Too messy, too many emotions," And if she did have something more, well, it wasn't a conversation she'd be willing to have with Johnathan.

That smile, however, took over her mouth before she could temper it: she'd known the man long enough and had endured changes, failures, and growths. It'd been many years since they'd been so at ease in each other's presence, not underlined by the hostility they carried in their working lives. "Nice, right." a smirk tugged at those usually cruel lips, "You'll have to forgive me, I forgot what it looked like on you."

This all felt too easy and odd in the same breath, yet, for just a moment she wished she could take this into their working lives, that each day could be this. Just for tonight, but it was there, a constant reminder that it might as well be fake. She'd done things. Unforgivable enough in his eyes that while they might find a false sense of security in each other, it still echoed and slashed at their already suffering relationship. For now, she'd enjoy it.

"If you kept a journal, it'd read like this..." The easiness of her laugh, sitting upright in her chair, playfully channeling the man she'd once called her husband. "Dear diary, today I thought about killing everyone but refrained. The city of London remained unpainted in red for one more day. I call this progress."

Still, she doubted she'd get more than that from him, so with a sigh and an exaggerated roll of her eyes, she settled back into her chair. "I've been cooking again, not all the time." shrugging her shoulders with that graceful ease, wondering if he'd care or simply entertain her frivolous activities that had led to her friendship with Cece, and had given her something to do that wasn't work-related. Her therapist, Carla, had been adamant. "I even made a friend. A female one, at that."

I like sex as I'm sure you do. "Do you?" He says, simple enough for her to fill in the blanks with any interpretation if she so wished. "Getting very defensive there, Melissa." There's a teasing lilt to his voice, faint but recognisable enough for her to pick up on, void of any kind of undertone that might suggest otherwise.

Johnathan finds it interesting that she felt the need to explain herself, making a point to differentiate between something serious and something casual. As if he cared who she decided to spend her nights with. Because he didn't. It purely annoyed him that she'd chosen a French guy, affiliated or not. "I am being nice," he says, "I'm finding things we have in common, that's pretty fucking nice."

It's such light-hearted, easy conversation. If you didn't know either of them, viewed them from a distance without any notion of the history between them, you could very well believe they were friends, casual acquaintances, or even just two people, meeting for the first time.

"Jesus Christ," he mutters under his breath, which sounds more like a groan, but he's amused enough at the prompt. There's very little he wants to share with her, certainly nothing new or anything personal. "Can't really remember -- gonna have to look back in my journal for that one, I'm afraid." A beat. "Go on, then. I'm guessing you've got something you really want to talk about."

#johnnparsons #johnathan parsons #event ; awards 24 #after party ; 24 #pre plot drop #location: berkeley estate

[msmelissalin]

Melissa [Via the voice note system]: Yes, Chef! I don't think you could've come up with anything more perfect. If something is truly wrong, say the kitchen is on fire and I'll know to send someone to you immediately. I'm being serious, that's now what we'll say if we're in trouble, or if we're okay. Melissa [Via the voice note system]: Benjamin, unfortunately, has my ex-husband's temper. If someone tried to start something with him, I don't know what he'd do, honestly. Melissa [Via the voice note system]: Imagine it being someone I once trusted. I think said person knows they're getting under my skin, and doing it so as punishment.

Cece [Via the voice note system]: How about a password for Verification? (she makes a clicking sound) 'Yes Chef!' Cece [Via the voice note system]: Benjamin? I was having an /interesting/ chat with him earlier. You don't suppose he could've gotten tangled up in all of this, do you? He seemed rather well-behaved. Cece [Via the voice note system]: Seriously? I wouldn't put it past this crowd and their utterly hilarious sense of fashion and what constitutes a tasteful 'party' to spark rumours like that.

#cece & melissa #texting: cece #ceceliaahathaway #event ; awards 24 #after party ; 24 #post plot drop #location: berkeley estate

[msmelissalin]

Melissa [Via the voice note system]: You sound very alive, but I've heard how advanced AI is now, you might have to send me a picture with the flare. Just to be on the safe side. Melissa [Via the voice note system]: I was actually enjoying myself, there was so much juicy gossip circulating tonight and they just had to rain on my parade. Melissa [Via the voice note system]: I'm okay, considering. I still haven't heard from Benjamin, though. He doesn't usually take this long to get back to me. Melissa [Via the voice note system]: Although I actually got accused, or somewhat accused of being involved in what transpired tonight.

Cece [via the voice note system]: Last time I checked, I was still breathing. Does that count as proof of life, or should I send a selfie with a rescue flare in the background? Cece [via the voice note system]: What’s up with everyone and their inability to have a single peaceful night without causing trouble for someone else? It’s like they’re allergic to tranquility. Cece [via the voice note system]: Are you okay?

#cece & melissa #ceceliaahathaway #texting: cece #event ; awards 24 #post plot drop #after party ; 24 #location: berkeley estate

[msmelissalin]

texting - cece

Melissa: are you okay? did you get out? Melissa: proof of life is required. :)

#cece & melissa #ceceliaahathaway #texting: cece #event ; after party 24 #post plot drop #after party; 2022 #event ; awards 24 #location: berkeley estate

[msmelissalin]

Concealed in the shadows where the lights didn't quite reach the edge of the room, Melissa Lin had been in a deep conversation over the latest bill being passed in parliament. Encircled in board members, and trustees: people who would pay money for sponsorships. Boredom had found her some time earlier, still, she was always the woman to maintain that facade: smiling through, pretending, and calculating. Under the influence, many made the mistake of revealing one too many secrets.

Things she'd bank for later, always waiting.

However, movement in her peripheral had her sharp gaze fixated on two figures entranced in close embrace: two people that sent her own stomach tumbling. The revelation, Ayaz and Giordana. Close, way too close. It was as if she was frozen, the conversation drowning out to nothing as her ears roared like crashing waves on a stormy ocean beach. He knew the threat, she thought, and still...

It might've been a sad realization, but she'd never admit it.

Taking one step, and then a second. She could stop this. She should.

Betrayal, yes, but also this strange tinge of...jealousy, quickly suppressing beneath her composed, hoarfrost-induced exterior. After all, sentimentality had never served her well in the cutthroat world they lived in. And Ayaz knew that it was one of the reasons she'd always appreciated his presence. Giordana wanted to see her swing for what happened with Vincenzo: she was just close enough that she could hear the cadence of their voice, still, she wasn't in sight when she took a fresh glass of champagne from a passing tray when she heard it.

"Sounds like an upgrade from the one last year."

Her lips curved into the coldest smirk, the best she could do to hide that screaming that ripped through her. A whole fucking year? Melissa observed their banter, joining a random circle close by, as she became a silent witness to this private, disgusting shared intimacy. Was she bitter? Very. Was she rational? Never.

Each second passed, something darker than dread grew in the pit of her stomach, and every step they made towards that bedroom had her blood singing in her veins. Not tonight, she told herself, face flashing blood red with rage. It's not the right time, she repeated it over and over like a mantra in her head. Why did she feel like a schoolgirl scalded by someone she had no right to expect anything from?

Melissa demanded loyalty, but Ayaz was Lara's, not hers.

What would Lara think of this? Eyes scanning the room, and although she'd told herself not tonight: Melissa Lin had never had that kind of patience when it came to affairs that felt more personal. Maybe it was why she had such a hard time keeping herself from blowing up at her ex-husband, turned business partner. Yet, her feet were charging, and the door barely closed when she reached it.

One breath. Was she going to do this?

Two breaths. Yes.

And without giving them time, she clicked the door open and slid inside.

"Sorry to disturb you, but I think it's time we had a little chat." her voice held no warmth, or reassurance, or kindness. Instead, the eyes of a cat, and jaw set. "Sit. Both of you." Melissa snapped with the force she used in a courtroom.

The locking of the door follows.

"Well you were doing such a great job of looking like you'd rather be anywhere else." A special brand of tranquility enveloped her from the moment they slipped out of eye line and earshot, not dissimilar to how things felt behind closed doors. The ease of simply being. No charades or pretenses to hold up for onlookers, no faction lines to be cautiously minded in public. "Weird how you never seem that miserable when we're together. Kind of suggests you might like me or something."

A wry, albeit teasing, smile pulled its way across Giordana's lips in tandem with both arms looping around his neck. "So glad you asked. Stalking you has become a full time job and it's fucking exhausting." With a dip of her chin in acknowledgement towards a series of doors farther down the hall, "I might've scoped out a room with a balcony and a very large bed. If we hurry, I won't have to break anyone's jaw for us to get it first."

#HEHEHEHEHEHE #giordana & melissa #melissa & ayaz #event ; awards 24 #pre plot drop #event ; after party 24 #location: berkeley estate

[msmelissalin]

It was a rare occurrence when Johnathan would entertain her, amuse her, even and the shock lit those shadowed pooling eyes for a second before she masked it as best as she could. Not wanting to piss him off: a strategy she had employed repeatedly to reach this juncture. And she pissed him off often, so it was a rarity to see that she cared if she did such a thing.

Just for tonight, echoed in her mind.

There'd been a time in their life when they'd loved each other so fiercely they'd been willing to forgo what was expected of normal marriages. In the end, it'd been that exact reason that had seen their downfall. It echoed now, a sad reminder that what they once now was all but a ghost, a memory. Love remained, but not as it once had been. It was mature respect, or as close as they could get to given their history.

There were things neither would forgive, for their trespasses.

Still, she seized the day when she could, mimicking him in motion as she relaxed back into her own chair, legs crossing gracefully at the ankle. Posture, and poise, ever her mother's daughter even if she'd tried her hardest to not be.

His comment has her features setting for a moment, nostrils flaring, before she remembers to bank the fire in her gut, and lets out a breathless laugh, running her tongue along the seam of her lips. "Tobiás was never my partner, I like sex as I'm sure you do. Settling down, though, two very different things." Melissa countered, the businesswoman never fully at rest. Arguments always poised at her tongue, and she couldn't help it. "I thought we were being nice to each other," she states, swirling the drink in hand. "Okay, let me rephrase. Conversation with those that have -- I don't know, tell me something you did recently."

Where has he been? Melissa had sunk her claws into him, and reminded him that with every wrong move she would be there to pin him back into place. It'd been his sole motivation to change, even slightly, to rid her of that satisfaction.

Trying, she says, and bitterly he thinks, it's too late. The gap existed for a reason. It was, perhaps, the only thing that was keeping them afloat. Without it, there would be no place for him to put aside all of the resentment he still holds against her. For the way she treated Zoe, for the way she left for New York, for the way she just had to fly back to Porto because Andrew asked her to. And both of them had a job to do.

But Johnathan was drained. And, for once, he isn't in the mood to engage in a conversation where every word is wielded as a weapon and the only intention is to hurt. So, he indulges.

"I dunno," he says plainly, leaning back into his seat to sit comfortably, both arms placed along the armrests, showing her that this was his way of accepting her offer. Then, he takes a sip of his drink. "You know how I like young conversation." He'll make the dig before she gets to it, but he won't miss the opportunity of making one at her in return, "And I know you like it too, so think of a better excuse."

#johnnparsons #johnathan parsons #johnathan & melissa #pre plot drop #event ; awards 24 #after party ; 24 #location: berkeley estate

[msmelissalin]

Melissa: Honestly, Gideon. Melissa: This has nothing to do with us. I'm as out of the loop as the next person. Just get to saftey, we don't know the extent of this. Melissa: Just as last year wasn't our fault, neither is whateve this is? Melissa: I've believed you to be many things over the years I've known you, Gideon, but cruel was never one of them. The fact that you'd say such a thing... Melissa: My best friend might not be here anymore, but that gives you no reason to say such a thing. Melissa: Typing... [ 5 minutes ] Melissa: I wasn't trying to include them, but seeing as you believe you already know everything as would an insolent teenager, I'll stop trying. Melissa: Goodbye.

Gideon: Whatever you guys are planning - if this is some excuse for escalating violence or retaliation - Please don't start it tonight. Not here. Gideon: Dunno who the hell you consider to be a best friend, if you even know the meaning of the word, but mine own this place. It's their familial home. Gideon: They're not part of this war, so leave them out of it.

#drrutherford #gideon & melissa #event ; awards 24 #after party ; 24 #location: berkeley estate #post plot drop #god. this hurt LINA.

[msmelissalin]

Melissa: Benjamin isn't answering my messages. Melissa: I've been put somewhere safe for now. Melissa: Are you okay?

Hasan: You and your boy accounted for?

#texting: hasan #hasan & melissa #hasan demir #post plot drop #event ; awards 24 #after party ; 24 #location: berkeley estate