She had just made it down the concrete steps that lead to the parking lot and, feeling someone watching her, turned around. Matt was standing on the grass of the interior courtyard, his eyes cast in her direction. His little terrier, Nugget, sniffed nearby, her ears perked upward as she pulled her leash tight to try and get closer to a blooming rose bush.
She wondered how he’d been. Usually, they ran into each other several times a week, but lately, he’d been keeping to himself. Although he often traveled for work, she knew that he hadn’t been away because he usually left Nugget with her.
Thinking she should at least say hello, she quickly changed direction, headed towards where he was standing. He smiled when he saw her coming his way. Soft blue eyes lit up at the same time that a wide smile curved his lips. He brushed one big hand through his shoulder-length hair, and Lola sighed despite herself. He really should have gone into modeling, she thought as she came to stand in front of him. He’d have made it.
Funny though, that Matt, who was closer to her age and arguably better looking than Jacob, didn’t make her palms start to sweat or cause her heart to skip a beat. In fact, now that she thought about it, she’d never really considered that Matt was a young, single guy living next door to her. He was just, well, her friend, Matt, from Apartment 26. Matt, who picked up her mail when she wasn’t home. Matt, who was her go-to plus-one when she was single and vice versa.
“Hey.” He looked at her, a casual flicker of eyes over her body that seemed to be taking all of her in before coming to rest on her face. “You look better than when I saw you last.”
She must have looked like real crap for him to have noticed. “Yeah, I’d had a…stressful night. Sorry about being so weird about it.”
He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I was just worried about you.” Reaching out, he placed his palm on her shoulder, squeezed. “Did you manage to sort everything out?”
“Ah,” she waved her hand in a so-so gesture, deliberately bringing her arm up so that his hand fell away, “kind of. But I think it’ll take a few more weeks to resolve itself fully.”
“You know that you can always come to me, right?”
Feeling vaguely disconcerted by his tone of voice, she replied, “Thanks, Matt. I appreciate it.”
She was about to change the subject but happened to look up and see his face. He had been watching her, his eyes soft…tender. He covered it quickly, eradicating what had been openly painted there only a second before, replacing it with a wide smile.
Lola felt a small ball of panic slide into her stomach. Oh, God. What was that?
Her brain sped into overdrive, forcing a highlight reel of their friendship to the forefront of her mind in a stumbling montage. They had been neighbors for going on eight years, and she recalled the sticky notes that he left on her door when he collected her mail for her. She remembered the socials and parties that he’d invited her to—socials and parties to hang out with his friends. As friends. She thought back to how he’d behaved around her on all of those occasions. Maybe there had been a few subtle gestures, a hand in the small of her back as she’d stepped into the street, a brush of fingers as he’d handed her a drink. But try as she might, she could honestly say that he’d never openly hit on her. She wasn’t that oblivious.
Was she?
Shit. Realizing that she had spent a full thirty seconds staring at his face in silent contemplation, she cleared her throat awkwardly. “How is everything going with you?” Without waiting for a reply, she bent down to rub a hand through Nugget’s thick, scruffy fur, using the dog as the distraction she so desperately needed. As if sensing her unease, Nugget flopped onto her back, exposing her belly for rubs.
“Same old, same old.” He sighed audibly. “I was promoted at work, so things have been quite crazy. I’m a manager now.”
“Good job!” She gushed, her voice directed more to the dog whose belly she was rubbing than to him, but, after only a few seconds, she summoned up the nerve to glance back up at him. “That’s a big deal, right?”
He nodded. “It’s comfortable. Still accounting but managing the firm’s institutionally-sized clients now. It’ll be a nice transition from crunching numbers all these years.”
“I'm so happy for you, Matt. All that hard work paid off, huh.” She pushed to her feet, leaving Nugget on the ground, belly up. The small dog eyed her for a moment and then quickly executed a perfect three-sixty roll so that she flopped back onto Lola’s feet, bringing a laugh to her lips. “You’re adorable but you’re going to make me late.”
“Maybe we can celebrate sometime?”
“Yeah, that sounds good. Why don’t we make it a double date? You can meet my boyfriend.” The lie was out in a small moment of panic. She’d been trying to soften the blow, let him know that she wasn’t interested as kindly as possible, but she had not been expecting the wide-eyed shock on his face. “You’re dating again?”
She nodded. “Yeah, it’s relatively new but things are good so far.”
“Lucky guy.”
“Jacob?” she said, throwing out the first name that she knew could pass. “Yeah, he should be around later. I’ll introduce you two.” Matt didn’t have to know that Jacob was staying over because he was her police protection. She’d just keep that tidbit to herself for now.
She felt niggling guilt settle in the back of her mind. She was deliberately misleading him. Still, surely that was better for everyone. She could save him the embarrassment of being rejected and, well, she’d also managed to remove herself from an awkward situation. She hated letting people down, hated disappointing people.
“Sure.”
“Well, I had better get going, but I’ll see you around soon?”
He nodded silently as she turned on her heel and walked away. She felt like a terrible person, a liar. If Matt had been trying to get her attention all this time, she knew that she’d been too friendly, maybe even sent out the wrong signals. God, she’d even gone to his parents’ house for Thanksgiving last year. Stupid.
She wondered how she could remedy the situation, thought about how she could let him down easy. A memory stuck in her mind; it was of her best friend, Sarah, and the first time that she’d seen Matt. Lola remembered the way she’d nearly tripped on the stairs. They’d laughed about it at the time because they had been a little tipsy, but even Lola, as apparently oblivious as she was, had noticed Sarah’s pink flush and the way that her eyes had kept darting back to where Matt had been standing.
Maybe she would set up a double date, exonerate herself at least a little...Besides, Sarah played the field as much as any man. Maybe she’d be good for Matt, maybe she’d be able to draw him out of his shell a bit more.
She sent Sarah a text, asking her if she’d be interested, waited to start her car as the iPhone typing bubbles flashed across the screen.
She smiled when she read the message:
Sarah: O. M. G! You’re still alive? I was going to file a missing persons! I told you to message me every couple of hours!
Sarah: Assuming that painting is going well? And yes, in this ONE instance I would love your sloppy seconds lol Finally figured out that he’s in love with you?