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Chapter 29 - CHAPTER 29

Mike sat in silence for at least ten minutes, pondering the right thing to do in this situation. On the one hand, he wanted to look out for Darcy's wellbeing, and firmly believed that Stephen was completely wrong for her. Still, using a wish to alter a relationship between any human would amount to interfering with free will, something that stood in direct contrast to one of the cornerstones of his faith: free will is God's most precious gift to humanity, and it should never be interfered with. As he explained this to Melody, she nodded in complete understanding.

"I must commend you, Master. This dilemma is not unlike the one you found yourself in upon first releasing me from my vessel. Your decision then reflected your dedication to freedom and free will. With that in mind, I believe you may have already figured out what the right thing to do is. Am I correct?"

Mike's eyes brightened, stimulated from Melody's statement. "Well, look at you. Using logic and reason to know exactly where I'm going in my line of thinking. That's so hot…"

"Why, thank you," she replied, giggling and twirling her hair.

"Ultimately, you're right. We need to help Darcy, but I won't mess with her free will and her right to make her own decisions." Thinking for a moment, he suggested, "How 'bout this? Friday, you come pick me up after the audition. Darcy will almost certainly be there too, wanting to know how everything went. She and I already will be hanging out in some way shape or form, and I know she will want to know more about you, so she'll definitely invite you to come as well. If it's the three of us, that may provide an opportunity to probe her relationship a bit and see if I can convince her that she needs to move on. If Stephen is there, that could be trickier, but we may still have a chance to highlight his true colors in some way. Sounds good?"

"That'll work. I really hope you can convince her. I can tell she's a sweet girl, and deserves much better than Stephen."

"Me too. Oh, and I'm not sure exactly what her first reaction to you will be. I kind of told her that I wouldn't be having any contact of the female variety until after the audition, so she might interrogate me some over that. I doubt she would show any jealousy towards you, but she will want to make sure that you have good intentions, not unlike your chat with Sandra."

Nodding, Melody replied, "I'd expect nothing less. I can tell she's been a close friend of yours for quite some time. She cares about you, just as much as you care about her."

"That basically sums it up…"

Throughout the rest of the day, the pair decided to relax, watching the remaining three Star Wars movies back-to-back. In-between each film, Mike conducted short practice sessions, checking the various problem areas of the audition that could trip him up, but keeping the sessions to no more than fifteen minutes, so as to keep his lips in prime form. Too much practice the day before ran the risk of him being too physically worn out to be in optimal condition.

As they watched the movies, Melody agreed with his assessment: not as good as the original three, though each still had their merits. Despite the annoyance of Jar-Jar in Episode I, she really enjoyed seeing old Obi-Wan as a brash young Jedi, not unlike Luke. She was also a huge fan of Liam Neeson's portrayal of Qui-Gon, calling it the high point of the film.

As they continued with Episode II, she did enjoy the well-written action scenes throughout the movie, particularly the large arena battle with the entire Jedi Order fighting for survival. The villain, Count Dooku, was also fantastically played, being both sinister and charismatic. Unfortunately, she was far less than enthusiastic with the romantic scenes between Anakin and Padme.

"Remember, I'm a sex genius, master of all matters of physical love and romance. This depiction of 'love,'" she said, using air quotes, "makes me even want to barf all over the floor!"

As they moved on to Episode III, the third installment of the prequel trilogy quickly became her favorite of the three. She absolutely loved seeing the transformation of young Obi-Wan into the Alec Guinness character from the original story. In spite of more terrible love scenes and bad acting from Hayden Christensen, she was moved to tears during the final duel between the two former friends, Anakin and Obi-Wan. As the final scenes rolled, showing the birth of Luke and Leah, death of their mother, and complete rebirth of Anakin in the fearsome suit of Darth Vader, she turned to face Mike. In the best James Earl Jones impression she could muster, she uttered a few words.

"The circle is now complete."

The pair completely lost it, cracking up laughing at her final descent into total nerdom. As they made out playfully for the next several minutes, hunger eventually began to take over. Melody went to microwave some frozen chicken patties and canned green beans, while Mike finished up one last short practice session in preparation for his big day. As he played his final notes for the day, Mike couldn't help but feel slightly nervous, yet still ready for anything.

They ate their dinner of chicken sandwiches, still laughing and talking about the movies they had watched. After finishing their food, they curled up on the sofa to the news and Seinfeld reruns, spooning and lazily making love throughout the evening. After his fourth orgasm and God-knows how many of hers, they began to doze in and out of consciousness, one occasionally waking the other up with a few playful kisses. Around 10:30, Mike decided an early bedtime was in order, ensuring he would be well rested for his audition.

Climbing into bed and cuddling with Melody a bit more before turning the lights out, Mike asked, "I know that you are able to interpret my wishes. Just how vague of a wish are you able to properly interpret?"

Eying him curiously, she replied, "Pretty vague. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I want to be awoken tomorrow at a time and in such a manner that will let me be perfectly well rested and in optimal mental preparation for the audition. Is that enough for you to go on, even if I can't actually tell you what that would entail?"

Tingle. Flash.

"No problem at all," Melody said with a smile. "I'll take great care of you tomorrow. By the time you walk onto that stage, you'll feel like you could wrestle a grizzly bear and come out on top."

Switching off the lights, Mike drew her close, kissing her lovingly for several minutes. "You really are the best," he said, drifting off to sleep.

"I know," she whispered back with a smile.