Building Friction (Part 17)

My week went by quicker than I would have thought. The article on the rapid dating drew negative responses in the droves, far more than I could have hoped for. Most readers were offended that I classified the participants as being too old to be casually dating. There were several comments about me waiting until I got a little older and then seeing if I still held the same opinion. The men were upset that I disparaged them for waiting too long and then assuming that money would buy youth. The women were angry that I suggested that middle age brought out the slut in even the previously most demure. I was ecstatic. I'd always wanted my readers to argue with me more. The only person to regularly do that before had been Geoff.

Geoff hadn't made an appearance on any of my pieces for a little over a week, nor had he signed on to messenger. Matt and I talked on the phone both Monday and Tuesday evenings, trading stupid jokes and talking about high school experiences. While there was a part of me that wondered what Geoff might be thinking, it was weighing on me less and less the more I got to know Matt.

He was the eldest of a blended family and had moved around a lot as he was growing up. They finally settled in California as he was starting high school, so the friends that he made, he instantly bonded to and was still close with. I could relate, although my friends I had known for a shorter amount of time. I told him that I had always found that you were either meant to know certain people or you weren't.

He talked a good deal about his love of music and his extensive concert history. There was a hilarious story of him and a buddy taking down 6 teenaged punks who decided to get aggressively friendly with his younger sister. For a guy that had always displayed a gentle nature to me in person, listening to him describe with relish how they'd taken down the adolescent gang was an eye-opener. My mom had always told me to never underestimate the nice guys. Matt was shaping up to be one of those.

By the time that Wednesday rolled around, I was giddy to see him at my front door, picking me up for our scheduled date. I steered away from my standard black and opted instead for a white bustier-style tank adorned with little white cherries, a red cardigan sweater and capri-length jeans. I was shoving my feet into a pair of red strappy wedges when the doorbell rang, and hopped to the door with only one shoe on.

Matt was standing at the door with a smile and another cardboard box. "Hey, you look beautiful!" he exclaimed and moved in to kiss my cheek. I ran my hand down over his arm, a simple maneuver meant to look like I was only bending down to slip on my other shoe. He winked at me.

"I'm just throwing my shoes on." I pointed to the box. "More treats for Zoe? Soon she's going to like you almost as much as I do."

Matt went over to the terrarium and dropped in a medium sized mouse, then turned toward me. "Oh, I think she might actually like me more."

"Really?" I said, hinting at a smile and arching my eyebrow at him. "What can I do to prove otherwise?"

Matt moved in close, wrapping one arm around my waist. He lowered his head to my neck and breathed in the smell of my perfume. "Mmmmm. That will do."

"Just smelling me?" I asked. I tilted my head towards him and inhaled the aroma of his Hugo Boss.

"Yup. I've been thinking about that smell for the last two days." He looked into my eyes and ran a thumb across my jawline. Very lightly he placed a kiss on my lips. "I don't want to smudge your lipstick." He explained as he pulled away.

"OK, now I know for sure that you're gay!" I laughed and pushed at his chest.

"Why, because I didn't want to mess up your make-up?" His eyes twinkled.

"No, because you used the word 'smudge.'  How much more gay could you get?" I smiled mischievously.

"Oh, I don't know. I could actually kiss guys instead. That might qualify a little more." He winked at me again.

"Well, leave it up to Steph tonight and she might arrange that. Let's get going," I grabbed for my purse.

"I thought she was just about turning YOU out," he said and watched as I locked the front door behind us.

"Oh, yeah. That too. She's convinced I would be much more grounded if I had a girlfriend. I've always said that the only one who would do would be her. I love that girl. She's a freakin' masterpiece." I climbed into his truck and he closed the door behind me.

"I kind of get that feeling too," Matt added, then started the car and began to drive.

Twenty minutes later we were at the Good Bar again. Lilly and Casey were already saving us seats. Lilly grabbed my arm and started whispering in my ear as Matt started a conversation with Casey about punk music.

"I am so glad you decided to stick with this one. I get a really good feeling from him," she whispered.

"No, you just think he's hot," I laughed. There was a waitress bringing over a tray of drinks.

"I pre-ordered for you, you ungrateful meanie!" Lilly's face was glowing with an ear to ear grin. "And yeah, he's hot!"

I downed the Mind Eraser shot that she'd ordered for me, and watched her polish off her own. "From the look of your happy ass, I'd say you'd already ordered a few for yourself as well."

"Don't you know it!" Lilly laughed and gave me a high five. She waved the waitress over and we placed another order.

A short while later Steph, Cara, and Kelly all sauntered in together. Cara and Kelly went to get signed up on the list and put aside their guitars while Steph approached our table and grabbed me by the arm, yanking me off of my chair.

"I need a smoke," she said, her eyes piercing into me with an entirely different meaning behind them. She turned to face the men, "I'm just going to take her outside for a couple of minutes. We'll be back soon." Lilly jumped out of her chair and trailed after us outside.

I took my pack of smokes out of my purse and went to hand one to Steph, but she waved it away. "Have you talked to Geoff yet?" she asked, nervously glancing up and down the street. I picked up on the motion instantly.

"Oh, you better not tell me that he's coming here tonight!" I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Please Steph. Please tell me that is NOT the reason why you pulled me out here right now."

"I don't know if he's coming or not, actually," she answered. "But Alex is. And Geoff has been hanging around the damn house for the last two days, suddenly acting as if they're best friends. Alex is coming out tonight to get away from the guy. All he can do is rant and rave about you and what a bitch you are. Most of the time he gets so smashed that we have to call him a cab to get him home."

"Why wasn't he over on the weekend then?" I asked.

Steph decided to have a smoke and pulled a cigarette out of the pack in my hand. Lighting it, she said, "He's aware that you're there. That's my guess at least. But you rarely are by during the week. He'd been to the house a few times before that time you met him, and it was always during the week. He'd never come over on the weekends until he heard that Alex knew you and then he was all gung-ho. Now he's just insane about coming over and talking shit about you."

"Well, let him," I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. "I don't fucking care."

"Chloe! I don't want this guy at my house every damn weeknight, keeping me up while he racks the pool table over and over! You really should just talk to him. Fuck, even if he knows that you full on hate him, I still think it might knock a little sense into him." She shifted her weight from foot to foot and rubbed at her upper arms.

I sighed. "I'm here with Matt. I really don't want to have to deal with this shit tonight! I haven't even really thought about him since Saturday. FUCK! I really hope he doesn't show up." I started to pace.

Lilly laughed loudly. "I know what to do," she suddenly exclaimed.

"What?" Steph and I both asked in unison.

She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. Steph and I watched as she dialed a number. "Hey, Shannon?" she spoke into the phone. "Can you do me a favor? Give Alex a call right now. Tell him that you want to see him." She paused. "Well, he wants to see you." Another pause. "I swear. Just call him right now. Do it, OK? This will make us even for that one time." With that, she flipped her phone closed.

Steph and I both stared at Lilly, who stood in silence. "What?" She demanded loudly.

"What the fuck did you just do?" Steph asked.

"You know that hot waitress from my restaurant?" Lilly took a long drag on her smoke. "Well, she owes me a favor. Alex came in a few weeks back and has been bugging me about her. I got them to talk, but she said she was trying to get back with her ex. The guy's a real asshole though, and I covered for her when she went to his house on an extended break the other night. He was fucking her cousin. So they're off. And now I can use her to keep Alex from coming tonight. Which will keep the possibility of Geoff showing up a distant one." She threw her cigarette to the ground and smashed it under foot.

I flew forward and hugged her hard. "Thank you so very fucking much!" I yelled. "Now get your skinny ass back inside so I can buy you every last drink you want tonight!" I yanked her back inside and waved our waitress over again.

"You sure look happy," Matt remarked.

"Good news. Good news will always make me happy." I smiled at him and then leaned over and kissed him directly on the mouth, hard. He blinked a few times and then softened his posture.

"Yes. I do believe I like good news as well," he laughed.

The announcer was getting on the small stage and starting the show. As the first performer went to the mic and the rest of the table was distracted by the music, Steph pulled me close to her and whispered in my ear.

"It's a temporary fix, hun. You know this is going to come back and bite you really hard in the ass the longer you put it off," she said in a hushed tone.

"I know. But please don't push me. Let me handle it my way." I started to sit up straight, but she pulled me over once more.

"Avoiding it is NOT handling it, Chloe." Steph glared at me.

"It's not even been a week! Please let me do this how I need to do it!" I pleaded with her.

"OK, fine. I'm just predicting disaster. This could not possibly turn out well," Steph settled back into her seat.

"Because up until now it was going just great..." I sighed. I knew she was right, but damn!  Couldn't a get a moment's rest from this shit?

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As Matt walked me up to my door that night, I started to think of Geoff. It amazed me that he was so torn up about everything. I didn't expect him to be someone who would dwell on what had happened. I figured that I was going to be the one to have held onto it for this long, and perhaps longer. I couldn't concentrate on what Matt was saying as he was attempting his good-night.

"Hey, you seem like you're off on another planet right now," he remarked, grabbing hold of my hands and looking me in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, it's the liquor. I start getting philosophical. My brain believes it's smarter than it actually is," I giggled nervously, then flashed him a reassuring smile. He returned it with one of his own.

"Well, my brain keeps trying to talk me into asking if I can come inside. Of course, I've had the lessor brain telling him to quiet down all evening." Matt tapped the side of his head and then smiled wide.

"OH!" I blurted. I lowered my gaze. "You're welcome to come in if you'd like."

"I'd like, but I shouldn't. I know about the 'nothing will happen,' and I trust that it probably wouldn't, but I'd want it too much, and I'm already half-crazy with thoughts of what I want, so...." his voice trailed off.

"So goodnight it is," I finished for him. "Because we've always got time. Time is a great thing. No need to rush anything." Everything that I was saying I was mentally applying to both circumstances.

"Exactly," Matt said and then leaned in and gave me a brief kiss before wandering back out to his car.

"Exactly," I repeated to myself as I stood motionless inside of my apartment for the next 5 minutes before heading off to the bedroom to sleep fitfully until the morning.