Her eyes widened even more: Honey? This woman was Leo's partner, an attractive woman like this? Amelia had to admit, Leo had caught one of the beautiful fishes in the sea. Watching as the young woman's eyes peer up to the calling of her sweetheart. Those dark ocean waves behind her eyes were capturing, Amelia could almost feel her heart racing at the sight of her.
Admiration was okay, the woman was beautiful. There was nothing wrong with admitting it, she was attractive.
Eyes meet for the first time: emerald to blue. It's not long before the book is closed, being placed next to her on the wooden stand. She warmly smiles at Amelia, giving her a little wave.
"Hello! I'm Melody." Finally she knew the woman's name, the words leaving her lips with a chirp. The woman's voice sounded young, anywhere around her own age. Arising from her seat Amelia can tell the woman was smaller than her. Around five foot exactly, Amelia looked down on her slightly.
Once the three are in the same area, Melody places her hand out in front of Amelia. Her eyes darted down to the hand stretched out for her grasp. It takes her a moment to look back up at the woman who's still smiling brightly at her.
Melody reminded her of someone she used to be, so full of light.
Amelia grasps onto her hand firmly, shaking it. "Amelia Reston, I'm assuming you're Leo's wife?" Her tone is dark, almost like chocolate melted against your tongue sort of smooth. Her composure was always her most noticeable asset at first glance.
"Was it that obvious?" Melody giggles, letting go of Amelia's hand. Leo places his arm around Melody's waist, pulling her closer into his side.
The chemistry they had together, looked honest. How firmly his hand held against the small of her waist. Leaning into each other's touch, enjoying the simple movements of closeness. It wasn't an act, it was true to the very core. It reminded her of her and her own lover, someone who now had suddenly become a stranger.
It was like looking through a two faced mirror, seeing something she only could see through her own eyes. Was love always so plain to see in the eyes of others? Easily placed between two people, possibly more. The sight alone was eye opening, another view of what connection looked on the other side of the lense. Her heart squeezed, yet her face stayed the same.
Amelia gestures between the two. "I can tell by how comfortable you seemed in the home, you're a very beautiful woman so it wasn't a hard observation."
"Me and Melody fell in love when I moved to Paris." Leo looks down at Melody, " I met her there and we eloped back to the city."
Moved was an easy word to put it, he had run away to Paris. Did Melody know anything of her husband's criminal past? It seemed not, by how joyous she was being attached to him by the hip. Amelia had half the sense to tell her what relationship the two had shared, but decided against the notion. She's gotten into their home, she didn't want to be kicked out.
Amelia tilts her head, "How long have you two been married?"
"Only about three years, but I fell in love with him the moment I saw him." Melody sighs, placing her hand on her lover's chest. There were hearts in her eyes from where Amelia was standing.
Watching in close proximity as the man grabbed his wife's cheeks, chuckling as he lightly kissed her. The picture was starting to sting now, her own love was starting to burn.
Pulling away, they smile at one another. "As did I." Leo looks towards Amelia now. " Please, let's all sit. I'm eager to catch up on your life Amelia."
A silent nod is her response, following the pair over to their black couch. Placing her suitcase on the ground, she silently takes a seat. Leo sits down first, pulling Melody into his lap. Arms wrapped around her, peering over her to meet gazes with her own. The public display was starting to sicken her.
Amelia leans back onto the cushions, muscles relaxing at the softness of it. "So Amelia! What do you do for a living?" Melody asks her, it wasn't a big question.
"I'm a Profiler for the BAU. We're located in Los Angeles." She crosses her legs over one another, bouncing it with quick pace.
Melody gasps, leaning closer to Amelia. Eyes sparkling, hands pressed under her chin. "You deal with criminals?! That's so fantastic, I've always loved Criminal Minds!"
Oh God, this woman was stupid. Did she think her job was like a scripted television series? She watched it, and she could confidently say they were nothing alike.
"Not the same.. But," Amelia mumbles, crossing her arms over her chest. "Thank you, I appreciate it."
Leo moves under Melody, leaning to the side to get a better look at Amelia. "How long have you worked there?"
"Eh, about 5 years almost? Police academy was a rough spot in my life." She shrugs, as if the topic of going through rigorous training was no big deal in general.
Melody sighs, gesturing her hand towards Amelia. "Gosh, I wish I were that brave. You are such a strong independent woman!"
This girl may be a little stupid, but she was boosting Amelia's ego more than she would like to admit. Countless people told her how much of a bitch she was, how she was ruining lives. Then again, those people were the ones she was putting away. Amelia never put away anyone who was innocent, it was always the down right guilty. Having her target's wife tell her how strong and independent she was, it was ironic.
"I'm really not, I had a lot of help along the way." Amelia chuckles, beginning to pull her leather gloves off her hands.
There's a moment of silence. "But, Amelia, what brings you here?" She had expected this question, watching as his eyebrows were raised in curiosity of her sudden dropping in.
He knew now that it had been some time since she lived in the city, and knowing where he lived was now on the cards. It wasn't going to be difficult to make up some story, he couldn't know the real reason why she was there. That would ruin everything, she couldn't risk that.
"I have a case down here in New York. It was a very short notice, and I was wondering if I could stay with you for a few days until I can get a hotel." A decent excuse, something that would give her probable cause to be here and in the city.
Melody reacts in excitement to Amelia's words, hopping off of her lover's lap and sitting herself next to her guest. Quickly she grabs onto the other's hands, Amelia's eyes widening. She's leaned forward to her, a bit more personal than Amelia would hope to have in between the two. There was a glimmer already in her eyes, squeezing onto her hands.
She yelps in excitement, " Of course you can! I want to hear all about the people you've run into with your job! Please tell me everything!" That grip of hers was tight, but it has Amelia's lips curling into a smile.
Kids would ask her all the time what her job was like, how much of a hero she must be for putting away the bad guys. Never had Amelia had a grown woman look at her with such excitement, dying to know what her life entailed. It was new, it was nice to see something new. Routine had become boring, predictable. Having someone's eyes sparkle at the sight of her, it was something rare.
"There's a lot, but sure." Amelia scoots, shuffling to get comfortable on the cushions. Letting go of Melody's hands. "I started off at the Police Academy, I was the youngest person there."
Melody gasps, "So you are super smart! What made you want to be an agent?" The woman flutters her eyelashes towards Amelia. "Was it because you just liked it, and thought it would be cool?"
It was far deeper than just liking the aesthetic of the job. So many people thought it was like the television shows. Something that gave the glamorous depiction of what was filled with nothing but danger, loss, and betrayal. Any day now Amelia could lose the ones she loved due to targets on her back, be torn to pieces by those she thought she could trust.
Injury to herself was never a fear, she could get by with the cuts and bruises. Even if death knocked at her door, she could face it like it had appeared plenty of times before. It was the pressure of protecting others that always had her on her edge. Existing in her world, meeting her stare: It was a death wish.
"No, it wasn't anything like that.."
Dedication from that little gravestone carved with the lettering of her late mother's name, to developing the drive to protect the weak. Her devotion had changed as time went on. Catching one killer turned into hundreds, then thousands. Revenge for her mother wasn't the purpose for her life anymore. It was giving revenge to those who lived on, who lost and grieved.
Leo's leaning forward sat in his position, hands placed together. "How old were you? Last time I saw you, you were eighteen."
"I was twenty, I was in college but I took on the police academy soon after that. I was the youngest and smartest. I graduated before my class was supposed to, I was with the class two years ahead of my year."