THE QUEEN, HERSELF: ISOLDE WILSON
Isolde Wilson knew her reputation. She knew that she was a highly respected host and member of the media. She knew what they said about her, calling her "one of the most influential women in the world." She had a reputation to uphold.
However, in spite of herself, despite her humble modesty, she wondered why it almost seemed difficult to get Taylor Hanson on board with this special she wanted to do on him. She figured he'd be flattered that he and his fiancée had been dubbed this year's Most Fascinating Couple. Had he seen it as a negative connotation? It was never meant to be that way. She could understand his hesitation. Their road had been long, their story complicated. But they had survived against all odds and that was the inspiration for the honor bestowed upon them.
Taylor Hanson had been out of the mainstream spotlight for some years now. His fiancée, Melody Banks, had never really been famous until recently, and she still wasn't wildly famous, at that, only known for rubbing elbows with the likes of Andrew Brooks, Gerard Cline, and Jason Kamealoha. Once married into New York's elite Bradshaw family, she'd inherited the fortune after her husband, John's, tragic death and his mother, Bernice's, several years later. The inheritance had shot Melody instantly into the public eye, forever showcasing her whirlwind romance with Taylor and the alleged one that others liked to speculate about with Jason Kamealoha. Her love life seemed much more interesting than the philanthropy she was making herself known for. However, this year had been an exceptionally interesting and eventful year for the couple and all eyes were on them. Isolde knew that Taylor wasn't necessarily keen on being a tabloid sensation and she thought this special would be the perfect way to declare his love to the world, get his name out there, and clear up a bulk of the wild rumors that floated around him.
The couple had insisted on shooting the interview in their home. Taylor was insistent that Melody be comfortable and have immediate access to everything that was familiar to her, anything she would need at any given time. Still in her second trimester, Melody seemed to be handling pregnancy just fine, with no restrictions, but it was obvious that Taylor was extremely protective of her, not willing to take any chances.
Isolde was charmed by her as she practically offered her and her crew the entire kitchen. They had walked in that day to a smorgasbord of refreshments as Melody welcomed them into their home with open arms. Taylor had blushed and explained that, apparently, nesting was setting in a little early. Isolde had only smiled, touched by the gesture.
Once settled in and the crew had set up and makeup and hair had done their thing, Isolde sat across from Taylor and Melody and smiled at how adorable they were. She had no idea if they knew it or not, but researching them before this interview had been fascinating, even for her. Taylor sat on their sofa in a pair of jeans and a button-down with a brown sport jacket. His fiancée wore a cornflower blue dress that was dangerously short, embroidered along the bottom edge in white and at the elbow-length sleeves that cinched at her elbows. The neck scooped ever-so-slightly with the white embroidery matching the sleeves, with a white, floral pattern embroidered along the chest. Underneath the dress, she sported white leggings and chocolate brown platform stilettos. Isolde envied her for wearing those shoes around like a pro. The pair was seemingly color-coordinated and Isolde imagined that they hadn't planned it this way. That made them so much more charming.
"Before we start rolling," Isolde told them, "I just want you to know that it's an honor to be sitting here with the two of you and I'm so thrilled that you finally said yes to this special. Some of my questions will likely be difficult. I took into consideration what I was told was off-limits and I, in no way, intend to invade your privacy. Any time either of you gets uncomfortable, you just say the word."
The couple nodded in agreement and then the camera started to roll.
Isolde smiled as Taylor sat with his leg crossed comfortably over his knee, his arm resting across the back of the sofa behind his fiancée. Melody sat with her legs crossed, her hands resting in her lap against her belly. "Taylor and Melody," Isolde smiled. "The first thing everyone will notice when this airs will be that beautiful baby belly. As of right now, there hasn't been an official announcement made. Why is that?"
Taylor grinned at her, his blue eyes sparkling. "Well, we were waiting for you. I said to Mel, I said, 'You know, why don't we just wait until Isolde Wilson calls us for an interview.' And then, hey, you did!"
Isolde chuckled at his joke and then he continued. "Um, there's no real particular reason. It hasn't been high on our priority list lately."
"Don't you think your fans would like an official announcement?"
Taylor and Melody looked at each other. "I think--I think the fans are pretty intuitive," Taylor said. "I don't think there are any pictures that haven't been seen. The fan communities communicate about everything. Pretty sure it's no secret."
"So you don't feel it's necessary."
"We'll announce the birth," Taylor said. Then he grinned at Melody. "I'll be too excited not to."
"So," Isolde said, satisfied with addressing the white elephant in the room. "How does it feel to be this year's Most Fascinating Couple?"
Taylor blushed. "I actually didn't even know that existed. Is it a new thing?"
Isolde chuckled warmly. "No. The list comes out every year. Ten of Hollywood's most famous couples make the list and then there's one who's just more fascinating."
"Um, well we're not exactly famous..."
"But you're incredibly fascinating."
Taylor glanced at Melody. "Um...yeah, I'm not sure--"
"Well, there's certainly never a dull moment," Melody finally spoke up.
Isolde smiled at Melody, pleased that she finally spoke up. "Let's touch on a bit of history, shall we?"
Melody's hand suddenly landed on Taylor's leg and Isolde was amused at the action. Glancing at Melody's hand, she grinned. "Needing a little extra security for this part?"
Melody looked up at Taylor and smiled at him before turning to Isolde. "Just hanging on for a bumpy ride."
This caused Isolde to giggle a little. "Okay, then. So you knew each other as children."
"Very small children," Taylor corrected.
"And then your families moved away from each other," she continued as the couple both nodded their heads. "And then you reunited as teenagers. Right in the middle of the height of Hanson's popularity. Is that correct?"
"Yes," Taylor answered.
"How did that happen?"
"Um, it had been years since we'd seen each other," Melody said. "When my family came back into town, I didn't really think anything of it. So much time had passed." She paused to smile at Taylor and nudge him with her shoulder. "I was a Hanson fan. Anyway, his mother needed a babysitter, my best friend and I ended up being it, and I saw him and we put two and two together and we hated each other from the start."
Isolde gaped at them, not expecting to hear that last part. "Hated?"
Both Taylor and Melody laughed. "We were doomed from the beginning," Taylor said. Then his tone grew a little more serious. "Seriously, though, we were teenagers, we'd missed growing up together, we had to get to know each other all over again. I mean, you grow up, your personalities and interests changed. It was virtually like meeting for the very first time--except it didn't feel that way. It was a very weird time for us, throwing in adolescence on top of it all and you have a recipe for destruction--"
"That's not exactly a typical teenage relationship, I would think."
Taylor scoffed. "We weren't typical teenagers."
"We were a mess," Melody confessed. "We were jealous of each other, we made each other angry, we didn't get along most of the time. But we loved each other and we couldn't stand to be apart. It was almost like being in a destructive relationship was the glue that held us together."
"So you were completely incompatible," Isolde observed.
"Completely," the couple said in unison.
"But I couldn't live without him," Melody said, smiling up at Taylor. The moment made Isolde's heart melt.
"Except you didn't stay together. Through all your fights and the jealousy, something happened in your relationship to the point where you both said you were finished. If you were as in love as you say you were, why did it have to end?"
Taylor sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Um, I was, uh--I was very hot-headed back then. I think--I think I got to a certain age and was under the impression that I was indestructible and I could do what I wanted. I made a lot of mistakes with no regard for anyone else. Um, she came on tour with us--with the band--for the first time and I think that was pretty much the beginning of the end."
"We had a fight," Melody chimed in. "A bad one. A really bad one. And at that point I was done. So I left. I left the tour, I left Tulsa--"
"And I didn't see or hear from her again for ten years."
"Wow," Isolde said gently. "Must have been some fight."
The couple nodded.
"And now here you are," Isolde smiled.
"Here we are," Taylor repeated, his smile tight-lipped as he nodded again.
"Let's fast forward ten years," Isolde said. "After ten years, what reunites the two of you?"
Taylor and Melody glanced at each other and he nodded to her as if to let her know it was okay to answer. In all of Isolde's years of interviewing people and reading body language, she had a hard time figuring this one out.
"An accident," Melody finally said, smiling. "Um, his band had a concert in New York and I was a music reviewer for the New York Times. I got assigned to their show, more or less against my will."
"Against your will?"
"Well our relationship ended badly, I didn't want to be reminded of it."
"But you had to have at least been curious."
"Absolutely," Melody said. "There wasn't a day that went by in all those years that I didn't think about Tay. After my husband died, it consumed me to the point where I just shut down. I shut down everything, all my emotions, everything. I was numb. And I wanted to stay that way."
"I saw her taking our picture from the stage," Taylor interjected. "I think I messed up the song we were playing. I was shocked. I recognized her immediately. Every feeling I ever had, like, came back in that one moment. I thought I was having a heart attack."
Taylor chuckled, which, in turn, caused Melody and Isolde to both smile. "You were married at the time."
Taylor ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, I was."
"It was a long marriage."
"Ten years."
"Interesting time frame."
"Yeah."
"Almost like you got married right after Melody left town."
Taylor and Melody glanced at each other. They did that a lot. Then Taylor glanced around the room and looked back at Isolde. She had apparently struck a nerve. "I did what I thought was right at the time," he finally said.
"Were you happy?"
"Um--" This made Taylor nervous. Isolde could tell.
Finally, Melody looked up at him. "It's okay if you were," she said quietly.
He looked down at her for a moment before he looked back at Isolde. "My marriage had problems. Long before I could see the problems, they were there."
"Having Melody back in your life must have complicated things."
"It wasn't easy. But I couldn't bear to lose her again so I was willing to do anything to keep her around, be it just friends or whatever. I tried as hard as I could."
"Your divorce, when it finally happened, was abnormally quick--I mean, it seemingly came out of nowhere."
"Things happened," Taylor said quickly. "Things that couldn't be resolved--"
"Involving Melody?"
"No. It was personal, in mine and my wife's personal relationship. You think you know a person after ten years and, believe it or not, they can still surprise you."
"Your divorce didn't end well."
Taylor shook his head. "No."
----------------------
Isolde looked at the cameraman and waved a gesture at him. "I think we're going to take a break now before we film the second part." Then she turned to Taylor and Melody and smiled. "You two are doing wonderfully. I hope I haven't ruffled too many feathers."
"No," Taylor said. "You warned us before. We'd let you know if you were pushing any sensitive buttons."
Melody smiled and excused herself to the restroom. Once out of the room, Taylor said to Isolde, "Look, I know what's coming up in the second half of this. I just want you to know, it's a very sensitive subject for us. If you could keep it--light--I'd greatly appreciate it. Because I can't guarantee how that part's going to go..."
Isolde narrowed her eyes at Taylor before she realized what he was talking about. "Taylor, I have to ask. I think the two of you, especially Melody, deserves to not have the negative--or wrong--speculation out there. This is your chance to clear the air, once and for all."
"I know," he said. "I know. I just--you can say anything you want to about me. I don't think I put it in the contract, but in hindsight, we don't need to talk about her miscarriage. And we don't want to talk about the speculation about the baby. Because I know it's out there. And it's wrong and it's only going to upset her. And if she gets upset, I'm ending this interview."
Isolde looked back at Taylor hard, not to be intimidated. "I admire the way you stand up for her," she said. "I admire the way you protect her and you care for her. But it's not in my interest to upset either one of you. Like I said before, you have the right to turn down any questions you want to turn down--"
"But those two I don't want asked AT ALL."
"I get that. And I won't ask them. Just understand that I'm on your side, Taylor. I'm not here to be against you."
He nodded as his eyes went somewhere over her shoulder. "I know," he said quietly. Then he plastered a grin on his face as Melody rounded the corner. "Hey," he said to her. "You okay?"
She smiled as she sat back down next to him. "Yeah. I'm fine. Anyone want anything before we get settled?"
After a round of no's, Isolde smiled and looked at the couple. "Okay. Are we ready for round two?"
-------------------
The camera rolled again and Isolde didn't waste any time jumping right in. "Melody. Besides your fiancée and his brothers, you have some very famous friends."
Melody glanced up at Taylor and his arm, that had rested on the back of the sofa, now dropped to her shoulder. "I, uh, I didn't always," Melody answered. "I don't really think about them that way."
"Tell me about Jason Kamealoha."
Melody looked up at Taylor again and he nodded the same way he did before. "He's a close friend," Melody said. "We've been friends since before he started doing movies."
Isolde glanced at Taylor, who was eying her hard. Looking back at Melody, she said, "There are a lot of people out there who say differently. As a matter of fact, a source of mine tells me that you and Jason had quite the roman--"
"Any source that you may have is wrong," Melody said abruptly. "Every single one of them. There isn't a source out there who has their information right. Anywhere. Nobody knows what they're talking about."
"That's an awful harsh assumption to make."
"It's not an assumption, it's the truth. Jason and I have never been more than friends, not even for a moment, and if you ask him, he'll tell you the exact same thing." Then Melody looked up at Taylor. "Why are we even talking about him?"
"He seems to be a very large part of your life," Isolde interrupted.
"Of course he is, he's my friend. Aren't your friends a large part of your life? The only reason he's such a quote-unquote large part of mine is because he's famous. If we wasn't, I could guarantee we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."
Glancing at Taylor, Isolde found that his face had hardened. He wasn't kidding about this being a sensitive subject. Deciding that she had what she needed on that front, she searched her cards for another subject to move on to. Isolde smiled at them. "Let's talk about the reason that we're here. Let's talk about this year. About this year's Most Fascinating Couple. Tell me about Maxim magazine. Taylor, how did you feel about her posing? In both issues?"
Both of the couples blushed and Taylor ran a hand through his hair. "Um, I'm proud of them. Both of them. I'm proud of her. I actually have the prints blown up on the walls of my music room."
Isolde couldn't hide the smile. "Most men might be a little funny about that sort of thing, considering Maxim's reputation."
"He encouraged me to do it," Melody said. "I was shocked. I was approached in New York and I told Tay about it, prepared for him to shoot it down in an instant, but instead, he was all for it. I was surprised."
"Taylor's protective of you," Isolde observed.
Melody smiled at Taylor. "Yeah. I guess so."
"And you're protective of him. According to some reports, you're known for a couple of physical altercations on his behalf."
Melody blushed. "I've, uh, I've been known to be quite, uh, creatively opinionated. Very outwardly opinionated. Maybe even a little, uh..."
"Violently opinionated?" Taylor finished, amused.
"Sure, why not?"
Isolde chuckled. "So this year you've posed for Maxim, gotten into a couple of physical altercations, and...ended your relationship."
"But we're here now," Melody responded quietly.
"What happened?" Isolde asked gently.
Melody glanced down at her hands and Taylor took a breath. Neither one of them spoke for a moment. Finally, Taylor said, "For lack of a better term, if I may be blunt, I had a sort of a mental breakdown. I didn't know who I was, I turned into a completely different person. We had a massive breakdown in communication and she ended up walking out on me. And I let her go. I couldn't blame her."
Next to him, Melody sniffled lightly. Isolde glanced at Taylor, remembering what he'd said during their break. The producer offered Melody a tissue and she took it, thanking him. "If we need to take a moment, we can turn off the cameras," Isolde said.
Taylor and Isolde both looked at Melody. Melody shook her head. "No. It's okay. I'm okay." Dabbing her eyes in an attempt to pull herself together, she continued. "I didn't understand it at the time. I went straight to New York. We didn't see each other for two months. We hardly spoke on the phone. We cancelled the entire wedding. He told me why and I knew, but I didn't understand it. I get it now, but then, I didn't."
"But something else happened while you were in New York, didn't it? You got some news..."
Melody smiled through her tears and rested her hand on her stomach as she looked up at Taylor. "I made a doctor's appointment soon after I got into New York. I actually went in hoping to be prescribed with antidepressants. Ended up finding out that I was pregnant. I was maybe roughly six weeks when I found out."
"You didn't know beforehand?"
"I thought my body was out of whack due to stress. I got morning sickness on tour and I thought it was motion sickness from the bus. Dehydration. I had no idea."
"How did that make you feel, considering your situation at the time?"
Melody took a deep breath. "I was scared to death. I didn't tell Tay. I didn't know how. He was working on himself and he needed to get well and--and at the time I didn't know if--" She glanced up at Taylor before she looked down at her hands. "I didn't know if I was going to keep it. In that moment I'd decided that if we weren't together, and I didn't tell him, and I didn't keep it, then he'd never have to know and there wouldn't be any extra burdens on him."
Isolde's eyes immediately darted over to Taylor and she saw him visibly swallow a lump in his throat. The room was completely silent. Nobody could say anything, not even Isolde. It was a rare occasion that she could be rendered speechless, but in this moment, she wasn't exactly sure where to pick up after a confession like that. She felt like a horrible person for even allowing it to cross her mind, but damn, this was going to be great TV.
-----------------
Melody seemingly refused to look at Taylor and his eyes darted around the room. Finally, he said, "You know--I need a moment. Is that okay? If we break for a moment?"
"Of course," Isolde said gently, signaling for the cameraman to turn the camera off.
Taylor unclipped his microphone and lay it down as he rose from the sofa and walked up the open staircase to their second floor balcony. Melody looked at Isolde nervously for a moment before she silently followed his lead, leaving her microphone on the sofa, as well.
Isolde figured that since they were the only two who lived in their house, they had virtually no idea how much sound actually carried in their spacious, open floor plan. As they stood at the balcony and talked, Isolde attempted not to eavesdrop but she couldn't help herself.
"Tay," Melody said gently. "Tay, I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize," he replied.
"Well--I mean, I don't--"
"You didn't tell me how bad it was. I mean, I knew you had it rough in New York, but--"
"Well, Tay, how did you expect it to be for me? You broke your hand and started going to therapy. If YOU were that damaged, just think what it did to me. I was miserable."
"And pregnant. With our child. And I wasn't even there."
"But you're here now. We're together now. Now is what matters, Tay, not then. Everything we've ever gone through in our past makes us who we are now. And, dammit, we've made it. We've finally made it. Don't let something we have no control over dictate what happens right now."
Taylor was silent for a moment. "You know--I have no idea if this is healthy for me or not. I don't know if I should be revisiting all of this or not."
"Did you talk to your therapist before you agreed to do this?"
Taylor was silent.
"Tay," Melody said softly. "Sweetheart. You can't give up on this. You're doing so good. I can see you again. These past few months since we've gotten back together, I can finally see you. I see the man I fell in love with. And I've missed him. Please don't take him away from me. Please don't give up on your treatment."
"I'm not," he said, his tone matching hers. "I'm not. I promise."
"I'm proud of you. I've never been more proud of anyone else in my entire life."
"I love you."
"I love you more," she responded. "Are you gonna be okay?"
Taylor turned around and glanced at the film crew in the living room below them before turning back to Melody. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I got this."
"Good. Because I need to sit down, my feet are starting to hurt."
"You're at home, you know. You didn't have to wear those shoes."
"But they look cute with my outfit."
Isolde's heart melted when she saw Taylor squat to the floor in front of his fiancée. "Come on," he said. "Step on out of them. We can leave them here, I'll come back for them later."
Hesitantly, Melody allowed him to help her remove her heels and Isolde saw her smile in ecstasy. "That feels so much better," she breathed.
Taylor took her by the hand and led her back down the stairs. The couple was all smiles again as they took to the sofa once more and clipped their microphones on. Meanwhile, Isolde was a complete puddle.
---------------
When the cameras started rolling again, Isolde fixated on Taylor. "So your band cancelled your tour. That's something you've never done before."
"Uh, no," he responded. "We've never cancelled an entire tour before."
"What happened?"
He smiled sheepishly. "Uh, I broke my hand. Ultimately, I mean, I couldn't play. But I also went to treatment. I was diagnosed with rapid cycling bipolar disorder--which has now been kinda downgraded to manic depression. I mean, I know there's barely a difference between the two but--anyway, I spent two stints in psych before the official diagnosis and then I started receiving treatment for it."
"Wow," Isolde responded, transfixed. "That's quite a lot to go through in such a short period of time."
"It wasn't fun. I'm not proud of myself. And I've never told anyone that before, so," he laughed nervously. "I'm not sure if my publicist is gonna kill me for that or not."
"And you had no idea," she said to Melody.
"I didn't know the extent of it," Melody responded. "I do now, but then I didn't."
"You were both dealing with your own things then."
The couple nodded. "Yes," Melody vocalized.
Then Isolde smiled. "But you ended up reconciling and now your relationship is seemingly better than ever. Am I correct?"
Melody and Taylor smiled at each other. "That's correct," Melody said.
"So what happened there?"
"I, um, I got a phone call," Taylor said. "And it opened my eyes. Made me realize just how bad I was messing up. Found out she was pregnant, went to New York, and we talked it out. By that time I was doing well in treatment and my mind was clear and--well, now, here we are."
"I hear you've set another wedding date," Isolde smiled.
Melody and Taylor smiled at each other once again. "We'll be married before this airs," Melody said.
"That fast, huh?"
"I couldn't wait any longer," Taylor said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I, uh, when we got back together, I started putting our wedding together."
Isolde raised her eyebrows. "You did?"
Taylor smiled shyly. "Yeah. In the beginning it was a surprise wedding for Mel. She was so consumed in planning the first one and then all that stuff happened...and then she got pregnant and I didn't want her to go through all that stress of planning a whole new wedding, so I took it upon myself. But then I had to tell her since there was the matter of the dress..."
"But I still don't know any of the details," Melody spoke up.
"How do you feel about that?" Isolde asked Melody.
"Um...at first I was a little weird about it. But then he said he incorporated as many elements as he could from our first one into this one, so I'm confident that it'll be beautiful and that I'll love it."
"You'll be a pregnant bride," Isolde observed. "How do you think people will feel about that?"
Taylor and Melody glanced at each other. "Um, probably no different than they're feeling now. I mean, it's no secret that I'm pregnant and it's no secret that we're not married--yet. I mean, we're both in our thirties, I don't see the big deal over it. We're adults, we've both been married before. It's not like we're teenagers or anything."
"But a lot of people still see you that way."
"Well, that's unfortunate for them," Taylor chimed in.
"Indeed," Isolde agreed. "So, the two of you truly do have some sort of fairy tale romance. It's amazing, actually. You've separated and reunited not once, not twice, but three times, and I guess the third time's the charm, right?"
"Yeah. Finally stuck this time," Taylor said, balling up his fist in mock victory. Melody and Isolde both chuckled.
"How do your families feel about everything that's gone down?"
"We're both lucky to have amazing families," Melody said. "They're extremely supportive and they know us. I mean, come on. Our families know to expect just about anything to come from us."
"So you're happy now. In these past months since you've been back together, everything is going well?"
The couple both smiled as Melody reached over and took Taylor's hand. "We've never really not been happy together. In our...um...unconventional, unpredictable, crazy relationship, in the end, we're oddly the only ones who can keep each other sane. I think we work so well together because nobody else can handle us as the people we REALLY are. We can only truly be ourselves with each other. Everyone else thinks we're loony toons, but it works for us."
"Taylor?" Isolde prompted.
He smiled at Melody. "I think she said it perfectly. It's just--just that. A couple of family members have described us as Cathy and Heathcliff and, while our relationship isn't quite THAT unhealthy, they had a mad, passionate love for each other and because of that, I take it as a compliment. I love this woman more than life itself. And when you love someone for as long as I have, you don't just let them go. I've made mistakes in the past and I've been a complete fool on several occasions, but I've learned from them and I'll never make those mistakes again. We're in it till the end. We have a family to raise soon and we're about to get our happily ever after. I couldn't be more excited."
Isolde was silent, smiling at the two of them. "This has truly been a remarkable journey here with you two," she said gently. "This is why you've been voted Most Fascinating Couple. To go through everything you've gone through, even just in this short year, and be able to learn from it and fix your mistakes and just--come out of it stronger than ever--well, that's an inspiration to a lot of couples out there, married or not. I couldn't be more proud to be sitting right here in front of the two of you right now."
Taylor and Melody both smiled. "Well, uh, we're honored to sit down with you," Taylor said. "And definitely honored that people find us...inspiring."
"Thank you both for inviting us into your gorgeous home and allowing us to get a glimpse into your lives. Congratulations on the honor and I can't wait to hear about the wedding and the birth of your child."
The couple nodded and Melody said a quiet, "Thank you."
On that note, the interview was over.
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Alternate Jason chapter: http://tyamwedding.weebly.com/the-queen-herself-isolde-wilson-alternate.html
Isolde Wilson knew her reputation. She knew that she was a highly respected host and member of the media. She knew what they said about her, calling her "one of the most influential women in the world." She had a reputation to uphold.
However, in spite of herself, despite her humble modesty, she wondered why it almost seemed difficult to get Taylor Hanson on board with this special she wanted to do on him. She figured he'd be flattered that he and his fiancée had been dubbed this year's Most Fascinating Couple. Had he seen it as a negative connotation? It was never meant to be that way. She could understand his hesitation. Their road had been long, their story complicated. But they had survived against all odds and that was the inspiration for the honor bestowed upon them.
Taylor Hanson had been out of the mainstream spotlight for some years now. His fiancée, Melody Banks, had never really been famous until recently, and she still wasn't wildly famous, at that, only known for rubbing elbows with the likes of Andrew Brooks, Gerard Cline, and Jason Kamealoha. Once married into New York's elite Bradshaw family, she'd inherited the fortune after her husband, John's, tragic death and his mother, Bernice's, several years later. The inheritance had shot Melody instantly into the public eye, forever showcasing her whirlwind romance with Taylor and the alleged one that others liked to speculate about with Jason Kamealoha. Her love life seemed much more interesting than the philanthropy she was making herself known for. However, this year had been an exceptionally interesting and eventful year for the couple and all eyes were on them. Isolde knew that Taylor wasn't necessarily keen on being a tabloid sensation and she thought this special would be the perfect way to declare his love to the world, get his name out there, and clear up a bulk of the wild rumors that floated around him.
The couple had insisted on shooting the interview in their home. Taylor was insistent that Melody be comfortable and have immediate access to everything that was familiar to her, anything she would need at any given time. Still in her second trimester, Melody seemed to be handling pregnancy just fine, with no restrictions, but it was obvious that Taylor was extremely protective of her, not willing to take any chances.
Isolde was charmed by her as she practically offered her and her crew the entire kitchen. They had walked in that day to a smorgasbord of refreshments as Melody welcomed them into their home with open arms. Taylor had blushed and explained that, apparently, nesting was setting in a little early. Isolde had only smiled, touched by the gesture.
Once settled in and the crew had set up and makeup and hair had done their thing, Isolde sat across from Taylor and Melody and smiled at how adorable they were. She had no idea if they knew it or not, but researching them before this interview had been fascinating, even for her. Taylor sat on their sofa in a pair of jeans and a button-down with a brown sport jacket. His fiancée wore a cornflower blue dress that was dangerously short, embroidered along the bottom edge in white and at the elbow-length sleeves that cinched at her elbows. The neck scooped ever-so-slightly with the white embroidery matching the sleeves, with a white, floral pattern embroidered along the chest. Underneath the dress, she sported white leggings and chocolate brown platform stilettos. Isolde envied her for wearing those shoes around like a pro. The pair was seemingly color-coordinated and Isolde imagined that they hadn't planned it this way. That made them so much more charming.
"Before we start rolling," Isolde told them, "I just want you to know that it's an honor to be sitting here with the two of you and I'm so thrilled that you finally said yes to this special. Some of my questions will likely be difficult. I took into consideration what I was told was off-limits and I, in no way, intend to invade your privacy. Any time either of you gets uncomfortable, you just say the word."
The couple nodded in agreement and then the camera started to roll.
Isolde smiled as Taylor sat with his leg crossed comfortably over his knee, his arm resting across the back of the sofa behind his fiancée. Melody sat with her legs crossed, her hands resting in her lap against her belly. "Taylor and Melody," Isolde smiled. "The first thing everyone will notice when this airs will be that beautiful baby belly. As of right now, there hasn't been an official announcement made. Why is that?"
Taylor grinned at her, his blue eyes sparkling. "Well, we were waiting for you. I said to Mel, I said, 'You know, why don't we just wait until Isolde Wilson calls us for an interview.' And then, hey, you did!"
Isolde chuckled at his joke and then he continued. "Um, there's no real particular reason. It hasn't been high on our priority list lately."
"Don't you think your fans would like an official announcement?"
Taylor and Melody looked at each other. "I think--I think the fans are pretty intuitive," Taylor said. "I don't think there are any pictures that haven't been seen. The fan communities communicate about everything. Pretty sure it's no secret."
"So you don't feel it's necessary."
"We'll announce the birth," Taylor said. Then he grinned at Melody. "I'll be too excited not to."
"So," Isolde said, satisfied with addressing the white elephant in the room. "How does it feel to be this year's Most Fascinating Couple?"
Taylor blushed. "I actually didn't even know that existed. Is it a new thing?"
Isolde chuckled warmly. "No. The list comes out every year. Ten of Hollywood's most famous couples make the list and then there's one who's just more fascinating."
"Um, well we're not exactly famous..."
"But you're incredibly fascinating."
Taylor glanced at Melody. "Um...yeah, I'm not sure--"
"Well, there's certainly never a dull moment," Melody finally spoke up.
Isolde smiled at Melody, pleased that she finally spoke up. "Let's touch on a bit of history, shall we?"
Melody's hand suddenly landed on Taylor's leg and Isolde was amused at the action. Glancing at Melody's hand, she grinned. "Needing a little extra security for this part?"
Melody looked up at Taylor and smiled at him before turning to Isolde. "Just hanging on for a bumpy ride."
This caused Isolde to giggle a little. "Okay, then. So you knew each other as children."
"Very small children," Taylor corrected.
"And then your families moved away from each other," she continued as the couple both nodded their heads. "And then you reunited as teenagers. Right in the middle of the height of Hanson's popularity. Is that correct?"
"Yes," Taylor answered.
"How did that happen?"
"Um, it had been years since we'd seen each other," Melody said. "When my family came back into town, I didn't really think anything of it. So much time had passed." She paused to smile at Taylor and nudge him with her shoulder. "I was a Hanson fan. Anyway, his mother needed a babysitter, my best friend and I ended up being it, and I saw him and we put two and two together and we hated each other from the start."
Isolde gaped at them, not expecting to hear that last part. "Hated?"
Both Taylor and Melody laughed. "We were doomed from the beginning," Taylor said. Then his tone grew a little more serious. "Seriously, though, we were teenagers, we'd missed growing up together, we had to get to know each other all over again. I mean, you grow up, your personalities and interests changed. It was virtually like meeting for the very first time--except it didn't feel that way. It was a very weird time for us, throwing in adolescence on top of it all and you have a recipe for destruction--"
"That's not exactly a typical teenage relationship, I would think."
Taylor scoffed. "We weren't typical teenagers."
"We were a mess," Melody confessed. "We were jealous of each other, we made each other angry, we didn't get along most of the time. But we loved each other and we couldn't stand to be apart. It was almost like being in a destructive relationship was the glue that held us together."
"So you were completely incompatible," Isolde observed.
"Completely," the couple said in unison.
"But I couldn't live without him," Melody said, smiling up at Taylor. The moment made Isolde's heart melt.
"Except you didn't stay together. Through all your fights and the jealousy, something happened in your relationship to the point where you both said you were finished. If you were as in love as you say you were, why did it have to end?"
Taylor sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Um, I was, uh--I was very hot-headed back then. I think--I think I got to a certain age and was under the impression that I was indestructible and I could do what I wanted. I made a lot of mistakes with no regard for anyone else. Um, she came on tour with us--with the band--for the first time and I think that was pretty much the beginning of the end."
"We had a fight," Melody chimed in. "A bad one. A really bad one. And at that point I was done. So I left. I left the tour, I left Tulsa--"
"And I didn't see or hear from her again for ten years."
"Wow," Isolde said gently. "Must have been some fight."
The couple nodded.
"And now here you are," Isolde smiled.
"Here we are," Taylor repeated, his smile tight-lipped as he nodded again.
"Let's fast forward ten years," Isolde said. "After ten years, what reunites the two of you?"
Taylor and Melody glanced at each other and he nodded to her as if to let her know it was okay to answer. In all of Isolde's years of interviewing people and reading body language, she had a hard time figuring this one out.
"An accident," Melody finally said, smiling. "Um, his band had a concert in New York and I was a music reviewer for the New York Times. I got assigned to their show, more or less against my will."
"Against your will?"
"Well our relationship ended badly, I didn't want to be reminded of it."
"But you had to have at least been curious."
"Absolutely," Melody said. "There wasn't a day that went by in all those years that I didn't think about Tay. After my husband died, it consumed me to the point where I just shut down. I shut down everything, all my emotions, everything. I was numb. And I wanted to stay that way."
"I saw her taking our picture from the stage," Taylor interjected. "I think I messed up the song we were playing. I was shocked. I recognized her immediately. Every feeling I ever had, like, came back in that one moment. I thought I was having a heart attack."
Taylor chuckled, which, in turn, caused Melody and Isolde to both smile. "You were married at the time."
Taylor ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, I was."
"It was a long marriage."
"Ten years."
"Interesting time frame."
"Yeah."
"Almost like you got married right after Melody left town."
Taylor and Melody glanced at each other. They did that a lot. Then Taylor glanced around the room and looked back at Isolde. She had apparently struck a nerve. "I did what I thought was right at the time," he finally said.
"Were you happy?"
"Um--" This made Taylor nervous. Isolde could tell.
Finally, Melody looked up at him. "It's okay if you were," she said quietly.
He looked down at her for a moment before he looked back at Isolde. "My marriage had problems. Long before I could see the problems, they were there."
"Having Melody back in your life must have complicated things."
"It wasn't easy. But I couldn't bear to lose her again so I was willing to do anything to keep her around, be it just friends or whatever. I tried as hard as I could."
"Your divorce, when it finally happened, was abnormally quick--I mean, it seemingly came out of nowhere."
"Things happened," Taylor said quickly. "Things that couldn't be resolved--"
"Involving Melody?"
"No. It was personal, in mine and my wife's personal relationship. You think you know a person after ten years and, believe it or not, they can still surprise you."
"Your divorce didn't end well."
Taylor shook his head. "No."
----------------------
Isolde looked at the cameraman and waved a gesture at him. "I think we're going to take a break now before we film the second part." Then she turned to Taylor and Melody and smiled. "You two are doing wonderfully. I hope I haven't ruffled too many feathers."
"No," Taylor said. "You warned us before. We'd let you know if you were pushing any sensitive buttons."
Melody smiled and excused herself to the restroom. Once out of the room, Taylor said to Isolde, "Look, I know what's coming up in the second half of this. I just want you to know, it's a very sensitive subject for us. If you could keep it--light--I'd greatly appreciate it. Because I can't guarantee how that part's going to go..."
Isolde narrowed her eyes at Taylor before she realized what he was talking about. "Taylor, I have to ask. I think the two of you, especially Melody, deserves to not have the negative--or wrong--speculation out there. This is your chance to clear the air, once and for all."
"I know," he said. "I know. I just--you can say anything you want to about me. I don't think I put it in the contract, but in hindsight, we don't need to talk about her miscarriage. And we don't want to talk about the speculation about the baby. Because I know it's out there. And it's wrong and it's only going to upset her. And if she gets upset, I'm ending this interview."
Isolde looked back at Taylor hard, not to be intimidated. "I admire the way you stand up for her," she said. "I admire the way you protect her and you care for her. But it's not in my interest to upset either one of you. Like I said before, you have the right to turn down any questions you want to turn down--"
"But those two I don't want asked AT ALL."
"I get that. And I won't ask them. Just understand that I'm on your side, Taylor. I'm not here to be against you."
He nodded as his eyes went somewhere over her shoulder. "I know," he said quietly. Then he plastered a grin on his face as Melody rounded the corner. "Hey," he said to her. "You okay?"
She smiled as she sat back down next to him. "Yeah. I'm fine. Anyone want anything before we get settled?"
After a round of no's, Isolde smiled and looked at the couple. "Okay. Are we ready for round two?"
-------------------
The camera rolled again and Isolde didn't waste any time jumping right in. "Melody. Besides your fiancée and his brothers, you have some very famous friends."
Melody glanced up at Taylor and his arm, that had rested on the back of the sofa, now dropped to her shoulder. "I, uh, I didn't always," Melody answered. "I don't really think about them that way."
"Tell me about Jason Kamealoha."
Melody looked up at Taylor again and he nodded the same way he did before. "He's a close friend," Melody said. "We've been friends since before he started doing movies."
Isolde glanced at Taylor, who was eying her hard. Looking back at Melody, she said, "There are a lot of people out there who say differently. As a matter of fact, a source of mine tells me that you and Jason had quite the roman--"
"Any source that you may have is wrong," Melody said abruptly. "Every single one of them. There isn't a source out there who has their information right. Anywhere. Nobody knows what they're talking about."
"That's an awful harsh assumption to make."
"It's not an assumption, it's the truth. Jason and I have never been more than friends, not even for a moment, and if you ask him, he'll tell you the exact same thing." Then Melody looked up at Taylor. "Why are we even talking about him?"
"He seems to be a very large part of your life," Isolde interrupted.
"Of course he is, he's my friend. Aren't your friends a large part of your life? The only reason he's such a quote-unquote large part of mine is because he's famous. If we wasn't, I could guarantee we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."
Glancing at Taylor, Isolde found that his face had hardened. He wasn't kidding about this being a sensitive subject. Deciding that she had what she needed on that front, she searched her cards for another subject to move on to. Isolde smiled at them. "Let's talk about the reason that we're here. Let's talk about this year. About this year's Most Fascinating Couple. Tell me about Maxim magazine. Taylor, how did you feel about her posing? In both issues?"
Both of the couples blushed and Taylor ran a hand through his hair. "Um, I'm proud of them. Both of them. I'm proud of her. I actually have the prints blown up on the walls of my music room."
Isolde couldn't hide the smile. "Most men might be a little funny about that sort of thing, considering Maxim's reputation."
"He encouraged me to do it," Melody said. "I was shocked. I was approached in New York and I told Tay about it, prepared for him to shoot it down in an instant, but instead, he was all for it. I was surprised."
"Taylor's protective of you," Isolde observed.
Melody smiled at Taylor. "Yeah. I guess so."
"And you're protective of him. According to some reports, you're known for a couple of physical altercations on his behalf."
Melody blushed. "I've, uh, I've been known to be quite, uh, creatively opinionated. Very outwardly opinionated. Maybe even a little, uh..."
"Violently opinionated?" Taylor finished, amused.
"Sure, why not?"
Isolde chuckled. "So this year you've posed for Maxim, gotten into a couple of physical altercations, and...ended your relationship."
"But we're here now," Melody responded quietly.
"What happened?" Isolde asked gently.
Melody glanced down at her hands and Taylor took a breath. Neither one of them spoke for a moment. Finally, Taylor said, "For lack of a better term, if I may be blunt, I had a sort of a mental breakdown. I didn't know who I was, I turned into a completely different person. We had a massive breakdown in communication and she ended up walking out on me. And I let her go. I couldn't blame her."
Next to him, Melody sniffled lightly. Isolde glanced at Taylor, remembering what he'd said during their break. The producer offered Melody a tissue and she took it, thanking him. "If we need to take a moment, we can turn off the cameras," Isolde said.
Taylor and Isolde both looked at Melody. Melody shook her head. "No. It's okay. I'm okay." Dabbing her eyes in an attempt to pull herself together, she continued. "I didn't understand it at the time. I went straight to New York. We didn't see each other for two months. We hardly spoke on the phone. We cancelled the entire wedding. He told me why and I knew, but I didn't understand it. I get it now, but then, I didn't."
"But something else happened while you were in New York, didn't it? You got some news..."
Melody smiled through her tears and rested her hand on her stomach as she looked up at Taylor. "I made a doctor's appointment soon after I got into New York. I actually went in hoping to be prescribed with antidepressants. Ended up finding out that I was pregnant. I was maybe roughly six weeks when I found out."
"You didn't know beforehand?"
"I thought my body was out of whack due to stress. I got morning sickness on tour and I thought it was motion sickness from the bus. Dehydration. I had no idea."
"How did that make you feel, considering your situation at the time?"
Melody took a deep breath. "I was scared to death. I didn't tell Tay. I didn't know how. He was working on himself and he needed to get well and--and at the time I didn't know if--" She glanced up at Taylor before she looked down at her hands. "I didn't know if I was going to keep it. In that moment I'd decided that if we weren't together, and I didn't tell him, and I didn't keep it, then he'd never have to know and there wouldn't be any extra burdens on him."
Isolde's eyes immediately darted over to Taylor and she saw him visibly swallow a lump in his throat. The room was completely silent. Nobody could say anything, not even Isolde. It was a rare occasion that she could be rendered speechless, but in this moment, she wasn't exactly sure where to pick up after a confession like that. She felt like a horrible person for even allowing it to cross her mind, but damn, this was going to be great TV.
-----------------
Melody seemingly refused to look at Taylor and his eyes darted around the room. Finally, he said, "You know--I need a moment. Is that okay? If we break for a moment?"
"Of course," Isolde said gently, signaling for the cameraman to turn the camera off.
Taylor unclipped his microphone and lay it down as he rose from the sofa and walked up the open staircase to their second floor balcony. Melody looked at Isolde nervously for a moment before she silently followed his lead, leaving her microphone on the sofa, as well.
Isolde figured that since they were the only two who lived in their house, they had virtually no idea how much sound actually carried in their spacious, open floor plan. As they stood at the balcony and talked, Isolde attempted not to eavesdrop but she couldn't help herself.
"Tay," Melody said gently. "Tay, I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize," he replied.
"Well--I mean, I don't--"
"You didn't tell me how bad it was. I mean, I knew you had it rough in New York, but--"
"Well, Tay, how did you expect it to be for me? You broke your hand and started going to therapy. If YOU were that damaged, just think what it did to me. I was miserable."
"And pregnant. With our child. And I wasn't even there."
"But you're here now. We're together now. Now is what matters, Tay, not then. Everything we've ever gone through in our past makes us who we are now. And, dammit, we've made it. We've finally made it. Don't let something we have no control over dictate what happens right now."
Taylor was silent for a moment. "You know--I have no idea if this is healthy for me or not. I don't know if I should be revisiting all of this or not."
"Did you talk to your therapist before you agreed to do this?"
Taylor was silent.
"Tay," Melody said softly. "Sweetheart. You can't give up on this. You're doing so good. I can see you again. These past few months since we've gotten back together, I can finally see you. I see the man I fell in love with. And I've missed him. Please don't take him away from me. Please don't give up on your treatment."
"I'm not," he said, his tone matching hers. "I'm not. I promise."
"I'm proud of you. I've never been more proud of anyone else in my entire life."
"I love you."
"I love you more," she responded. "Are you gonna be okay?"
Taylor turned around and glanced at the film crew in the living room below them before turning back to Melody. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I got this."
"Good. Because I need to sit down, my feet are starting to hurt."
"You're at home, you know. You didn't have to wear those shoes."
"But they look cute with my outfit."
Isolde's heart melted when she saw Taylor squat to the floor in front of his fiancée. "Come on," he said. "Step on out of them. We can leave them here, I'll come back for them later."
Hesitantly, Melody allowed him to help her remove her heels and Isolde saw her smile in ecstasy. "That feels so much better," she breathed.
Taylor took her by the hand and led her back down the stairs. The couple was all smiles again as they took to the sofa once more and clipped their microphones on. Meanwhile, Isolde was a complete puddle.
---------------
When the cameras started rolling again, Isolde fixated on Taylor. "So your band cancelled your tour. That's something you've never done before."
"Uh, no," he responded. "We've never cancelled an entire tour before."
"What happened?"
He smiled sheepishly. "Uh, I broke my hand. Ultimately, I mean, I couldn't play. But I also went to treatment. I was diagnosed with rapid cycling bipolar disorder--which has now been kinda downgraded to manic depression. I mean, I know there's barely a difference between the two but--anyway, I spent two stints in psych before the official diagnosis and then I started receiving treatment for it."
"Wow," Isolde responded, transfixed. "That's quite a lot to go through in such a short period of time."
"It wasn't fun. I'm not proud of myself. And I've never told anyone that before, so," he laughed nervously. "I'm not sure if my publicist is gonna kill me for that or not."
"And you had no idea," she said to Melody.
"I didn't know the extent of it," Melody responded. "I do now, but then I didn't."
"You were both dealing with your own things then."
The couple nodded. "Yes," Melody vocalized.
Then Isolde smiled. "But you ended up reconciling and now your relationship is seemingly better than ever. Am I correct?"
Melody and Taylor smiled at each other. "That's correct," Melody said.
"So what happened there?"
"I, um, I got a phone call," Taylor said. "And it opened my eyes. Made me realize just how bad I was messing up. Found out she was pregnant, went to New York, and we talked it out. By that time I was doing well in treatment and my mind was clear and--well, now, here we are."
"I hear you've set another wedding date," Isolde smiled.
Melody and Taylor smiled at each other once again. "We'll be married before this airs," Melody said.
"That fast, huh?"
"I couldn't wait any longer," Taylor said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I, uh, when we got back together, I started putting our wedding together."
Isolde raised her eyebrows. "You did?"
Taylor smiled shyly. "Yeah. In the beginning it was a surprise wedding for Mel. She was so consumed in planning the first one and then all that stuff happened...and then she got pregnant and I didn't want her to go through all that stress of planning a whole new wedding, so I took it upon myself. But then I had to tell her since there was the matter of the dress..."
"But I still don't know any of the details," Melody spoke up.
"How do you feel about that?" Isolde asked Melody.
"Um...at first I was a little weird about it. But then he said he incorporated as many elements as he could from our first one into this one, so I'm confident that it'll be beautiful and that I'll love it."
"You'll be a pregnant bride," Isolde observed. "How do you think people will feel about that?"
Taylor and Melody glanced at each other. "Um, probably no different than they're feeling now. I mean, it's no secret that I'm pregnant and it's no secret that we're not married--yet. I mean, we're both in our thirties, I don't see the big deal over it. We're adults, we've both been married before. It's not like we're teenagers or anything."
"But a lot of people still see you that way."
"Well, that's unfortunate for them," Taylor chimed in.
"Indeed," Isolde agreed. "So, the two of you truly do have some sort of fairy tale romance. It's amazing, actually. You've separated and reunited not once, not twice, but three times, and I guess the third time's the charm, right?"
"Yeah. Finally stuck this time," Taylor said, balling up his fist in mock victory. Melody and Isolde both chuckled.
"How do your families feel about everything that's gone down?"
"We're both lucky to have amazing families," Melody said. "They're extremely supportive and they know us. I mean, come on. Our families know to expect just about anything to come from us."
"So you're happy now. In these past months since you've been back together, everything is going well?"
The couple both smiled as Melody reached over and took Taylor's hand. "We've never really not been happy together. In our...um...unconventional, unpredictable, crazy relationship, in the end, we're oddly the only ones who can keep each other sane. I think we work so well together because nobody else can handle us as the people we REALLY are. We can only truly be ourselves with each other. Everyone else thinks we're loony toons, but it works for us."
"Taylor?" Isolde prompted.
He smiled at Melody. "I think she said it perfectly. It's just--just that. A couple of family members have described us as Cathy and Heathcliff and, while our relationship isn't quite THAT unhealthy, they had a mad, passionate love for each other and because of that, I take it as a compliment. I love this woman more than life itself. And when you love someone for as long as I have, you don't just let them go. I've made mistakes in the past and I've been a complete fool on several occasions, but I've learned from them and I'll never make those mistakes again. We're in it till the end. We have a family to raise soon and we're about to get our happily ever after. I couldn't be more excited."
Isolde was silent, smiling at the two of them. "This has truly been a remarkable journey here with you two," she said gently. "This is why you've been voted Most Fascinating Couple. To go through everything you've gone through, even just in this short year, and be able to learn from it and fix your mistakes and just--come out of it stronger than ever--well, that's an inspiration to a lot of couples out there, married or not. I couldn't be more proud to be sitting right here in front of the two of you right now."
Taylor and Melody both smiled. "Well, uh, we're honored to sit down with you," Taylor said. "And definitely honored that people find us...inspiring."
"Thank you both for inviting us into your gorgeous home and allowing us to get a glimpse into your lives. Congratulations on the honor and I can't wait to hear about the wedding and the birth of your child."
The couple nodded and Melody said a quiet, "Thank you."
On that note, the interview was over.
------------------------------------------
Alternate Jason chapter: http://tyamwedding.weebly.com/the-queen-herself-isolde-wilson-alternate.html