More Than Words • Extreme

"Now I've tried to talk to you and make you understand
All you have to do is close your eyes
And just reach out your hands and touch me

"Why such a pensive look? What's on your mind, angel?"

The couple still slightly buzzing from the Botanical Garden, sat at a cute restaurant called, Luminaria. After being seated, Mel noticed the lack of sound coming from a usual talkative Amora.

Amora shrugged, she was thinking of so much, but now that they were in public, all she could think of was their age difference. Before she could answer, a waiter showed up.

Flashing Amora a flirty smile, the man spoke. "Welcome to Luminaria, my name is Wilbur and I'll be your waiter this afternoon. Can I start you off with a drink?" Wilbur's eyes were glued to Amora, yet she didn't even notice.

Mel didn't like Wilbur at all, but he didn't want to make a scene by voicing his disdain, so he ordered his beverage. "I'll take the wine of the day." Amora looked up from her menu and glanced at Mel. "She'll have the same." Amora smiled, Mel knew her so well.

Wilbur took one last glance at Amora before he went to the kitchen to fix their drinks.

Mel took hold of Amora's hand that was lying on the table. "He's gone, now will you explain the look?"

"Well, it doesn't seem like much of a problem right now, but-" "Here's your wine, I'll give you both a minute to decide on your meal." Wilbur's sudden presence frightened Amora, and as he walked off, Amora noticed a note next to her chair.

'When you get tired of your old sugar daddy, give me a call sweet thing. ;) 505-334-1189 Wilbur Parker'

Tears welled up in Amora's eyes as she read the note, angrily she shoved it in Mel's face. "This! Is what I didn't want to happen! I-I can't believe it." Mel had never heard Amora sound angry, so he knew that it was a touchy subject.

Reading the note, Mel resisted rolling his eyes. If Mel was Amora's sugar daddy, why would she leave him for a waiter? That just didn't make sense to Mel, but instead of focusing on that, he focused on his angry little angel.

Mel got out of his chair and kneeled in front of his angel. "Don't cry sweetheart. I know that there's more to this, something else is bothering you so let me know."

Amora balled her hands in a fist and took a breath. "I didn't want something like this to happen. You shouldn't be called a rude name just because we're out together. We aren't hurting anyone by being together! And what if someone tells the press? They would say such terrible things! That could jeopardize your business!"

Mel didn't care at all, he knew what he was getting into by falling in love with a woman twenty-five years younger than him. The opinion of anyone other than Amora meant absolutely nothing to him.

"Listen to me, beautiful, the only opinion that matters to me is yours, but if you don't feel comfortable with us going out we can always do something at the ranch. My priority is to keep you happy, and right now you're not. We're leaving." Amora nodded her head and wiped her tears.

"Thank you, Mel," Amora murmured in Mel's chest as she hugged him tightly.

Of course, when they got back to the ranch, they'd have a longer conversation about that topic, but for now, Mel had to focus on getting Amora away from the public eye.

Leaving a hundred dollar bill on the table, Mel and Amora left. "I'm sure that you're hungry. How about we have dinner under the pavilion? We'll have a quiet night."

On the ride back to the ranch, Mel noticed how silent and upset Amora was. "You know when I was in high school, my parents made me join the choir. They wanted me to come out of my 'shell', so I did it and it wasn't completely horrible." Amora's mood perked up at Mel's story, but she wanted to know more.

"Will you sing for me?" Mel was not a singer, if he was he would've pursued a singing career instead of an acting career. "I don't know, angel." Amora pouted and looked at Mel with sad eyes. "Please, Melchizedek?"

Mel could've crashed the car hearing Amora say his full name. And while normally he'd do anything for Amora, Mel would steal the moon for Amora just to hear her call him by his full name.

"Anything for you, angel." Amora was over the moon with joy. She never once thought of Mel as a singer, but he always surprised her.

"Great! What songs do you even know? Not to be rude, but you don't seem like the kind of man who spends time listening to music." Mel chuckled at Amora, she was always being cute.

Mel had a secret, he wasn't the best singer. He knew how to, but his voice wasn't very good. And he would've said no, but Amora was upset and he would do anything to make her happy.

"Saying I love you, is not the word I want to hear from you. It's not that I want you not to say, but if you only knew how easy it would be to show me how you feel. More than words is all you have to do to make it real, then you wouldn't have to say that you love me, cause I'd already know." Amora really loved Mel, his voice was perfect and she loved the effort he put into making her happy. And the song he sang was sweet.

"Bravo, Melchizedek!" Mel refrained from rolling his eyes, he knew that he wasn't a great singer, but he would definitely embarrass himself for the woman he loved. "Thank you, angel. But you don't need to lie, I wasn't the greatest singer in the choir."

Amora pecked Mel's cheek as they pulled up to the ranch's carport. "Thank you, Mel. I know you did that to cheer me up, you didn't have to, but you did. I love you." With the 'u' being dragged out, Mel smiled at Amora.

Pressing a kiss to her hand, Mel opened his door and walked around to Amora's door. He was glad that she was happy now.

Walking hand in hand, Mel took Amora to the kitchen. "Holly, I need lunch." Turning to Amora, Mel spoke. "She'll have a grilled shrimp salad. And we'll take that out by the pavilion." Holly nodded her head and quickly went to work.

As Mel guided Amora to the pavilion, all she could think of was the conversation Mel was going to have with her. She wasn't confrontational, she hated the idea of being put on the spot with her emotions.

Amora's face was slightly furrowed in a way that made Mel laugh. "Sweetheart, your face tells what your mouth dares not to say."

"I just hate the idea of being judged so harshly and blindly by people who know nothing about us!" Mel nodded his head to encourage her to go on. "The fact that when we're seen together in public, and people assume that you're my sugar daddy, or even worse a creepy pervert! It's just really stupid to me." Mel placed a kiss on Amora's pouty lips, and her face heated up even more.

Just as he was about to speak, Holly made her presence known and placed their food on the table. "Thank you." Holly nodded and excused herself.

"Sweetheart, you need to understand no matter how hard you try, people will always find a reason to talk about you." Amora's face contorted in aggravation as she dug into her delicious salad.

"Mel, I don't want our relationship to ruin your career. I couldn't bear to see your name being slandered in a magazine just for loving me. I'm not worth losing a career that's been around longer than I've been alive." Mel was angry, he could've cursed, but it wasn't the time to go off the edge.

Mel knew that at times Amora needed assurance, but she needed to understand that she was the only woman he'd ever want, there could be no replacement.

"Angel, my career is useless. You are what's important to me. Being with you would do nothing to my career, but even if it did, I wouldn't care. I love you, Amora." Being the emotional woman she is, Amora's eyes watered and she held Mel tightly.

"Mel," She whispered as he placed a kiss on her lips. "You, my angel," Mel said with a pointed finger at Amora. "Are a perfectionist. I love you, but I want you to realize that life won't always go your way." Amora pursed her lips, she wasn't horribly spoiled, but she couldn't remember a time when things didn't go her way.

"I-i just don't want you to be bad-mouthed, but I'll try to be stronger for next time. I swear." And while Mel knew she was lying, he didn't mind. He loved her too much to question her.

As time passed and the sunset, Mel and Amora stayed under the pavilion just talking about random things and getting you to know more about each other.

Amora understood that Mel had trouble identifying his feelings, but she also knew how much he loved her.

Mel knew that Amora was the only person in the world for him, he knew that loving another was completely out of the question. But he also understood how much assurance and affirmative actions she needed, it wasn't something that he was used to. But he actually liked it.

Everything was finally nice.

[AUTHORS NOTE]

The song of the chapter is More Than Words, just a reflection of the whole theme of the chapter.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

The next chapter will be out on Monday.

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