How is Mel described in the novel, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love?

Mel is a friend of the narrator, and husband of Terri. He is a cardiologist and is described as: "forty-five years old. He was tall and rangy with curly soft hair. His face and arms were brown from the tennis he played." Mel, clearly an alcoholic, is the dominant voice in the conversation between the two couples, and the tone of the conversation changes as he becomes increasingly drunk.