Chapter 10: Who I am
It was a rainy Friday afternoon and Melanie was about to head home when Lorna cornered her. “Hey Mel, I don’t know how long you are planning to act this way but can you hang out with me tonight?” Lorna asked her friend. Melanie stared at her a bit and then nodded. “Yeah I guess I need to unwind a bit, so I say lets go to the bar and have a drink” Melanie said with enthusiasm. Lorna was surprised with her reaction but she accepted it since it was the first time after a month she would get a chance to spend with her friend.
At George’s bar the two ladies went and immediately Melanie ordered for drinks. Kyle went up on stage and froze as she saw Melanie after a long time. The crowd noticed him looking at her so they started teasing them again. “Hello Melanie, I have not seen you for a long time” Kyle said. Melanie’s mood began to change and for the first time after a long while she smiled. As Kyle serenaded the crowd the ladies drank their hearts out.
The second set was about to start and Melanie was already noisy, Lorna was keeping her quiet but her friend had already consumed too much alcohol. As Kyle returned to his seat on stage Melanie stood up and yelled. “Hey Kyle! I heard you are friends with Peter. Where is he?” Melanie said and the crowd fell silent. Kyle was surprised with her question and simply looked at her. “Yes I know Peter, why are you in love with him?” Kyle asked her and the crowd started to tease Melanie. “I am not! Tell him he can go straight to hell!!!” she again shouted. “Do you really want me to tell him that?” Kyle asked her and Melanie nodded her head.
“Kyle would you want to go out with me?!!!” again Melanie shouted and the crowd started to laugh at her drunken attitude. Kyle managed to smile again and said “Tomorrow i have been invited to perform at your company, so as for your first request you can tell him that yourself for he will be there. As for your question, I will give you my answer tomorrow.” Almost everyone in the bar worked at the same place so they were happy to hear what Kyle just said. Cheers and claps erupted as Melanie took her seat and looked at Lorna. “So I guess I would be going to the party after all” she said and Lorna was surprised. “Were you planning on not going?” she asked and Melanie nodded as she yawned.
“Peter will be there so did you really mean what you said?” Lorna asked and Melanie sighed. “Yes, I am really going to tell him to go straight to hell and I don’t like him!” Melanie stated and Lorna just nodded her head. “If you really hate him that much then why have you been acting weird ever since he left?” Lorna again asked and Melanie remained silent. “I never liked him, from the start I hated him. Maybe I was just caught off guard with that stunt he pulled with the roses. He just played with my mind and left so I cannot retaliate. He is a jerk, he would never compare to Kyle right?” Melanie said and looked at her friend. “If that’s what you think, so I guess tomorrow you will have your chance to tell him that” Lorna replied and Melanie nodded and gulped down her drink.
The much awaited day finally arrived and everyone was gathered in the main auditorium of the building. Melanie and Lorna were seated in the first row and they were having fun watching some new employees dance on stage. Anna was seated two rows back and beside her was Peter and Mrs Jenkins. After two performances Mrs Jenkins looked at Peter and she stood up, “You stay here first, I will call you when you need to go backstage” she said and Peter nodded.
“Thank you for keeping our secret” Peter suddenly said and Anna turned to him and smiled. “Are you still mad at me?” he asked her and Anna shook her head. “Did you know that when I entered this company I was torn between two ladies” Peter suddenly said and Anna looked at him curiously. “Yes I was, I was ready to move on but I did not know who to choose. There was this pretty secretary that I liked and there was this evil woman that I also liked” he revealed and Anna managed to smile. “One day I decided to go with the kind secretary and let go of the nasty lady but things did not turn out right. I don’t know why she felt that way and she started to avoid me. I hate to say that it made my decision making more simple but it really did so I pursued the other girl instead” he added and Anna was surprised.
“I really wanted to know why that kind secretary acted that way that night but I never had the chance to do so” Peter said and from the stage Mrs Jenkins signaled him to come over. “Well lets chat another time, oh can you hold my camera for me” Peter asked and Anna nodded. Peter opened his bag and brought out his camera but Anna noticed the wig inside his bag. “What is the wig for?” she asked and Peter smiled at her. “I wear this every night, and tonight I am going to wear it again” he said and Anna was shocked. “You are Kyle?” she softly asked and Peter stood up and smiled at her then proceeded to the back stage.
Anna was still in shock with the revelation she just had and held on to the camera. She turned on the camera and viewed the saved images on them. On the LCD panel she saw the copies of the photos that Peter had displayed on the art gallery and again she began to frown. As she moved quickly through the photos with Melanie’s reflection she suddenly froze at the sight of a picture she has never seen. They were the same photos with the same view but the lady on the reflection was different, it was her. She scanned the other photos and there were at least twenty pictures with her reflection and a dozen more of her stolen shots. Anna closed her eyes as tears started to pour down her cheeks, now she is regretting what she has done.
Mary Jenkins proceeded on stage and got everyone’s attention. “Now for the main event, this guy needs no formal introduction since almost everyone knows him. So everyone lets welcome Kyle!” she said and the crowd started to go wild. As Kyle entered the stage he was shaking and Mary noticed it quickly. “Mary I cant do it” he whispered and she laughed. “Don’t worry I might be able to help you out. So for now just entertain everyone” she said as she ushered him towards the center stage. The crowd were on their feet clapping and cheering.
Kyle sand two songs and the crowd was indeed mesmerized with his voice. As he was about to sing another song Mary went on stage and grabbed the microphone. “Excuse me Kyle, Now everyone someone among you shall be chosen to come up on stage, sorry guys only ladies are allowed. So I have placed all the ladies names in this basket and Kyle is going to pick one. Whoever she picks shall seat beside him here on stage and Kyle will serenade her with whatever song she likes” Mary said and all the ladies screamed with excitement.
Mary shook the basket and Kyle picked one piece of paper from it. Mary held the paper up high and the crowd went wild. As she opened it she moved closer to the microphone and said “the lucky lady would be Melanie from the programming department!” Melanie was surprised and froze as she heard her name. There were more screams and cheers from the crowd since they knew about their budding romance. Lorna urged Melanie to stand up and she did so and Mary instructed to men to bring out another seat on stage. As Melanie walked up the stage Kyle looked at Mary and asked “What if I did not pick her name?” and Mary laughed. “That would be impossible” she said and laughed. Kyle knew that the basket was rigged so he managed to smile at her.
Melanie was ushered by Mary to be seated beside Kyle on stage. The crowd was teasing them again and some were egging them on to kiss. “What song would you like me to sing?” Kyle asked and Melanie was blushing and giggling with glee. “Any song would do fine” she said softly and Kyle began to strum his guitar. Kyle looked at Melanie and began to sing, the crowd went wild and almost all ladies giggled and were filled with envy.
During the middle part of the song, Kyle’s eyes were still focused on Melanie, and she was smiling all over. The crowd were laughing as Mary Jenkins was sneaking behind Kyle as if she was dancing to the tune. In one sudden motion Mary pulled the wig out of Peter’s head and he stopped singing. The crowd suddenly fell silent and were shocked to see Peter. Melanie sat their frozen with her mouth open, she could not believe that it was Peter all along. Peter looked at Mary as she urged him to continue singing, he took one deep breath and again started singing.
After the song the crowd was still silent and in shock as Peter scratched his head. Melanie was frozen and still in disbelief so Peter started to speak. “I guess the secret is out, yes I am Kyle, I am sorry I had to keep it from everyone” he said but it did not get any response from the crowd. Peter turned to Melanie and said “I believe there is something you wanted to tell me” and all eyes were now focused on Melanie.
“You tricked me, Kyle and you, its all a joke right?” Melanie softly said and now the crowd looked at Peter. “Whether it was me or Kyle, I do really like you, that is not a lie. I know you liked Kyle and probably hated me, so eventually you would learn that I was Kyle so I had to express what I was really feeling for you as myself and not Kyle.” he said and the crowd started to get noisy as they watch a real live drama on stage. “So why did you leave?” Melanie asked and Peter turned to Mary and she nodded. “I did not leave, I was promoted, I now work four floors up. I was ashamed to admit this to everyone because it was so sudden” he revealed.
“A lot of people do miss you on the workplace” Melanie softly said as she bowed her head. “Do they? I heard you were doing a fine job acting as me” Peter said and the crowd started laughing. Mary frowned and looked away from Peter and the crowd was on the edge of their seats. “I told you before that you do look better when you are smiling” Peter said but Melanie just pouted and kept still.
“Melanie, I love you” Peter said and a dagger pierced Anna’s heart, all along she was wishing for the worst to happen on stage but luck was not on her side. Melanie slowly looked at Peter as people in the crowd were giggling and more excited. “What?” she asked and Peter repeated it louder. “I love you!” he said and Melanie began to smile as the crowd burst with cheers and laughter but they became silent and waited for her reply.
“I love you too Peter” Melanie softly said as she looked at Peter. The crowd was noisy as cheers and screams were echoing throughout the auditorium. “Excuse could you repeat that again. Did I hear you say Peter and not Kyle?” Peter joked her and Melanie laughed and slapped him on the arm. “Oh shut up newbie and sing for me!” she said and the crowd went wild.
