“Anyway, tomorrow is a new day. Don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to getting through it. As soon as my family stuff is taken care of, I’ll be back on the road again. I have a painting that is half finished back in my studio and I’m itching to get at it.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Home? How long had you planned on staying?”
“Honestly, the less time I spend here the better.” I muttered.
“Why is that?”
I sighed. This wasn’t an easy topic. But at least Matt was removed from the gossip train.
“You live in the city, right? So you’re not aware of all the comings and goings of this town?”
He laughed, the creases reaching just shy of his eyes. “Well, I hear a bit from my mom, but honestly she stays out of it, too. She only knows what’s impossible to miss. In general, she stays away from it all.”
I nodded. Yeah, I guess her past probably had something to do with that.
I took a deep breath. “Okay, so I’ll tell you then. My mom died when I was young.”
He nodded. “I remember you telling me that back in high school.”
“Yeah, so Chad, Christy, and I pretty much grew up alone. My dad was always being shipped out west to work on the oil rigs in Alberta and when he would come home, he was well…difficult. Christy was his favorite, and for some reason that I could never understand, he seemed to hate me. Picked on everything I did, always compared me to Christy.”
“I was nothing like Christy, but damn did I try to be. She was little miss perfect and I was always the rebel. The black sheep of the family. Basically, I planned to leave as soon as I could. Once I graduated high school, I applied to all the art colleges within a 10-hour driving distance. I really didn’t think my little Civic could drive longer than that. I just never saw myself as married and raising a family in this little town. It was Christy’s dream but not mine. And Chad, well, he had his own shit to deal with what with hockey and trying to make national teams and all. It just seemed like there was no place for me here.”
“My whole life was like that. Always fighting against the system, against who they wanted me to be. Someone that I could never be. It was only when I left that I, for the first time, really felt free.”
I paused, remembering it in my body and soul as I spoke the words.
“So, scholarships and shitty jobs here and there, but I managed to pull through and graduated with an MFA in mixed media. Now, I’m the proud owner of that same shitty Civic, currently turned over in a ditch, and an apartment the size of that bathroom.” I laughed as I motioned to the tiny en-suite across the room. “And more oil painted canvas’s than I ever thought possible.”
He nodded, seeming to take it all in between sips of soup. “So, do you sell your work? Or do you do something else for work?”
“Yeah no, I’m milking the starving artist thing. It’s an honour, really. “
His eyes blinked, his face blank.
Self-deprecating was my jam. “Oh my god, dude, I’m kidding! Sure, I’d love to make money, but art takes time, ya know?”
I finished my soup, reached over to the bedside table where my jacket was, and slipped a cigarette from a pack tucked away in an inside pocket.
“You smoke?” His voice was as incredulous as his face.
“Uh yeah, why? You want?” I offered.
He flicked the cigarette out of my hand and grabbed the pack from my jacket. “No, I do not! And you’re not smoking while I’m here!
“Jesus, you’re such a killjoy.” I muttered.
I yawned. I needed to sleep. The more we talked, the more comfortable I was starting to feel around him and from the way I heard myself giggling, this could be a very bad thing. The last thing I wanted was to embarrass myself in front of Matthew Harris. I kind of liked that he seemed off balance around me, unsure as to what I would do or say next.
“So anyway, thanks again for helping me out tonight. I’m going to sleep off this headache. Because tomorrow will surely give me another.” I said as I slipped down under the covers.
“Just a minute.” Matt stood up. All of a sudden, the warmth from his eyes was gone and that cool icy gray from the car was back again.
“I helped you tonight and now I need something from you.” His voice was like stone.
“Uh…okay. Look, I can pay for half of the room if that’s what you…” I offered.
His words cut hard and fast. “No, Carly. I will not take any money that you don’t have for a room that I was paying for anyway.”
“No, what I want from you is much simpler than that. And beneficial for you. You see…with all the challenges that I grew up with, I became a man of opportunity if you will. I see what I want and I find ways to get it.” He continued pacing around the room slowly.
“Matt, you’re kind of scaring me here. Not that I don’t like your bad boy side, but I thought you were a straight shooter now.”
“I am, Carly. Everything I do is on the up and up. However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t always get what I want, because I do.” He leaned forward, inches from my face, his breath a subtle fragrance of mint and whiskey.
My heart flipped flopped in my ribcage, making me feel overheated and nauseous from the closeness between us. It reminded me of the times he’d lean in, wrap that huge hand of his around the back of my neck, and pull me within inches of his lips. The way he looked at me then, and the way he looked at me now, was one and the same. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that if he made a move, I’d succumb to it. It had me wondering how it would be between us.
And so…I pushed. I cajoled. I teased.
“Well, do share your proposition, big man. Maybe I’ll say yes and maybe I won’t. You know why? Because I always DO what I want. The days of little miss nice girl are long gone.”
I had expected a more shocked response. But instead Matt simply stood up and walked across the room.
“I want you to be my fiancée.”
Chapter 10
MATT
Holy fuckballs, she looked like she was going to run. I suppose I could have opened with a different statement. But it was out and now we had to discuss it.
“Are you fucking joking, Matt?” She gasped.
Carly was now backed up against the headboard, looking like she wanted to bolt out of the room.
Sucking in the cool air, I tried again. “Calm down and let me explain.”
“Hurry the fuck up, because I’m on my way out of here. I haven’t seen you in almost ten years and this is what you ask me? Shit, okay yeah, you really helped me out today, but that was total coincidence. And…”