leulah
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Summary
"Sometimes Mel thinks all her little problems actually matter.
She cries on the bus after long shifts, straddling the line between trying to stop and trying to get it out so that she doesn’t ruin Becca’s night. She watches her coworkers pair up happily, full of inside jokes, and knows there’s no one waiting to catch up with her. And she gets up on bridges to see if she’ll actually do something about any of it."
OR
Six months into working in the Pitt, Mel is reaching her breaking point. She doesn't expect Frank to be the one who finds her when she finally cracks.
Bookmarked by leulah
14 Dec 2025
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“We think this may be a..”, Princess lowered her voice even further, “-huh..my boyfriend who lives in Canada situation.”
“I don’t follow,” Samira said dubiously.
“no one has seen the guy around-,
“-says they don’t have any pictures together because he is private,” Princess continues, looking at her meaningfully.
“Oh. Oh my God, you think she is making it up?” Her voice goes way over this conversation's acceptable volume.
Cassie winces.
“I don’t think she meant to do it”, she explains.
“Chad came up again, so we started talking about relationships and Mel got roped into it. I think she wanted to get us off her back but when Santos doubled down, I guess she felt like she had to save face..?”
or
Mel has a boyfriend. A boyfriend who is 6’2, cooks her salmon dinners and bought her a white gold sweetheart necklace. Mel’s boyfriend loves her sister, runs marathons and drives an Audi.
Too bad no one at PTMC has ever heard his name or seen pictures nor spotted them together anywhere in Pittsburgh proper.
Oh, by the way, he is a doctor too.
Bookmarked by leulah
13 Dec 2025
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Reluctant mixed-doubles specialist Mel King encounters a kindred spirit on the U.S. Open practice courts: Frank Langdon, the golden boy of the ATP. Their connection strengthens over a charmed week of tournament play, until it’s abruptly shattered by devastating news: Frank’s doping scandal.
Six months later, Mel’s life looks nothing like she imagined. She’s retired from the tour. Her partner has left. Her coach (and mother) is dead. Money is scarce and her sister’s health insurance is a bureaucratic labyrinth. By day, she coaches peewee players and weekend warriors to stay afloat; by night, she studies for the MCAT. Tennis, she tells herself, is over. It’s time to move on.
Then disgraced Frank Langdon walks into her tennis club—accompanied by his coach, Michael Robinavitch—with an offer Mel never expected… and can’t refuse.
(the kingdon mixed doubles tennis AU)
Bookmarked by leulah
13 Dec 2025
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She was sort of a little bit thrilled by it, thrilled by his choosing her, thrilled by the STEMI timing, thrilled by the way the department worked so smoothly sometimes she felt like a cog in a machine.
And she liked to think she was a cog in a machine because it meant she was useful and purposeful and something needed or even wanted her there. She thought of Eleanor in The Haunting of Hill House, who said, placidly, she remembered because the word was so pleasing and so sad, “I’ve never been wanted anywhere.” She felt very much like Eleanor, haunted by ghosts, reaching out her hand in the darkness and waking up alone. And her intense wanting was a wound she was sure people could see, bleeding down her forehead, a primal warning sign to back away slowly so no one else would get hurt. What about me, she wanted to beg, what about my wound, but she knew that, too, was a childish fantasy. That it would be more work than anyone was willing to put in to get past the walls she put up in the form of busyness and delight and surface-level vulnerability so they couldn’t see the depth of her hurt and grief lurking inside.
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“Keep your jacket on, cover for me and say I'm having crazy IBS or something. Meet me in the family bathroom in 20. I can cover that up,” Trinity said, as if directing a procedure.
“Cover what up?” Langdon tried, lamely, bringing a palm up to cover his neck.
And this was allegedly the most prolific liar on staff? Ha.
“That massive hickey that will make tonight Hell for you if you don't let me help."
Bookmarked by leulah
03 Nov 2025