Building Friction (Part 8)

"Oh no, he isn't!" I exclaimed in a hushed tone. Lilly had spotted our table and was dragging Casey by the hand over to greet us. Alex hung back with Geoff and then made a motion towards the bar. Geoff saw me and instantly that smirk began to ooze across his mouth like maple syrup across a hot pancake. "Nooooooo!" I repeated. "Why is he here??" I demanded of Lilly.

"I'm not sure. I've never seen him around this scene before. But Steph said Cara was playing, so I said I wanted to go, and of course that means Casey goes and he dragged Alex with us and Alex was on the phone with Geoff, so here he is, I guess." Lilly drew a large breath in. "He DID promise to not be a dick. Even said he was planning on apologizing to you for Saturday."

Steph smiled hopefully at that statement. "See? Well, that doesn't sound so bad then."

"It wouldn't if I believed it," My voice was filled with doubt. "But honestly, how much do any of us know about this guy?"

Everyone shrugged. Matt was approaching with his arms full of drinks. He distributed them to the table and then settled back into his chair next to me. He sipped at his drink before realizing that the entire table was at a hush. "Alright, what did I do wrong?" he asked.

I giggled nervously. "Nothing. We were just doing that standard 'talk behind the back of the guy who's just left the table' thing."

"Yes, that is a time-honored tradition. I can respect that."Everyone laughed warmly. "Hi, I'm Matt," he introduced himself to Lilly and Casey.

"Shit, I'm sorry," I apologized. "I should have done that for you. Lilly, Casey, this is my friend Matt. Matt, these are my friends Lilly and Casey."

"How do you two know each other?" Lilly asked, shaking Matt's hand.

"I work at the pet store where she buys all those innocent rats that she dooms to a cruel death," Matt narrowed his eyes. When he saw Lilly's face bunch up, he started laughing.

"Ew. I really hate that creature she has. All slimy looking and gross." Lilly

I started to argue with Lilly, using the same argument that I had with her numerous times before, but Matt stepped in. "Actually, they don't have slimy skin. The type of snake that Chloe has is a Ball Python, so they need a moist substrate. They have a tendency to hang out in their water dish, so they're more wet than they are slimy. Personally, I don't think it's any worse than a large breed of dog who slobbers all over you."

Lilly was paying attention to him. She'd long since stopped listening to me whenever I tried to explain why I owned a snake, so this was interesting to watch play out.

"What is everyone talking about?" Alex's voice boomed over the table. I looked up and saw the two of them walking towards us. Geoff was holding a beer in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. He stretched out his arm and held the water in my direction.

"Here," he said. "In case I spill my beer again and you want something to throw in my face this time."

Tense giggles erupted at the table. I took the water and placed it in front of me. "I'll keep that in mind."

Matt arched an eyebrow. "Don't you just love jokes that everyone else gets but you?" he quipped.

"Long story," I said, hearing the exact same phrase echoed by Geoff, Steph, Sean and Lilly all at the same time.

"Gotcha." Matt offered affably.

With Alex and Geoff pulling over chairs, Matt and I were blocked into the corner. I couldn't escape without some major upheaval of the seating arrangement. "So, what's the roster look like?" I asked Sean as the announcer grabbed the mic and began the show.

"I'm about the third of fourth person up. Cara's number 7 or so. I just hope that fucker doesn't try and rush me off so fast again." Sean had played the Good Bar several times before, but the announcer seemed to have an issue with his raunchy material and tried to rush him off the stage before his time was truly up.

Stringy Haired Guy was the first up. While performers on open mic were limited to three songs or 15 minutes, the ones who chose the 3 song option usually were up for longer than most. This guy was no exception. Our table decided to talk over his attempts at singing. Mostly everyone wanted to pepper Matt with questions. Within minutes I'd discovered that his parents were divorced, he had a younger sister and yes, he did own his own car. They managed to work out everything shy of his social security number.

Geoff sat in an amused looking silence, sipping at his beer and only taking his eyes off of me to glance at the singer onstage and provide the obligatory golf clap. It wasn't too long before Sean was up. The announcer gave him a whispered conference before handing over the mic and letting him tear his way through mocking renditions of Daniel Powter and James Blunt. The patrons were roaring with laughter by the time that the announcer started to pull the mic from him only 10 minutes in. Sean had learned not to argue, but it didn't keep the rest of us from booing the guy.

"Hey, that was awesome," Matt complimented Sean, then waved over a waitress and ordered him a beer. "You really weren't kidding about that guy giving you shit."

"I have to bite my tongue every time," Sean accepted the beer and took a large swig. "I just remind myself that it's about getting my name out there and being able to book gigs later in the season."

"Yeah, I hear what you're saying," Matt started to rise from his chair. "But right now I also need to hit the boy's room. If you'll excuse me. I want to be back before Cara's up."

Everyone else stood and decided to make it a group cigarette break. As Matt passed by me on his way towards the restrooms, his hand brushed across my lower back. He had a coy smile on his face when I turned to look at him. I returned it with my own.

As we got outside, I pulled out a smoke and placed it between my lips, then went digging through my purse for my lighter. There suddenly was a flame in front of me, so I brought the end of my smoke to it and inhaled. "Thanks," I said, then looked up and saw that it was Geoff who had offered it to me.

"No problem." He was taking a drag off of his own cigarette.

"You're being rather nice this evening," I commented.

"Contrary to popular opinion, I AM a nice guy," He flicked the top of his Zippo open and closed. The metallic click penetrated the odd silence among everyone standing outside.

"Well, thanks for letting me see it for once." Every glance that I tried to meet was averted. My friends were slowly shifting their weight to turn their backs on us, a strange way of giving us privacy while still being allowed to listen to the conversation.

"Well, thanks for letting me see you in a dress. It suits you," Geoff looked me up and down, his smirk returning.

"I didn't know you were going to be here, so trust me, it's not for your benefit." I was starting to feel those hairs on the back of my neck raise again.

"No, no. I can clearly see that this was all for Pet Store Boy in there," Geoff threw his cigarette into the street.

"His name is Matt. And yes, this was for his benefit. Don't start getting all catty on me now, Geoff. You were actually beginning to look like a normal human being for a second there."

"Oh, I think you've overestimated just how much I care, Chloe. See, if I were really all that bothered by you dressing up for a retail clerk, I would have spilled more beer on you or manipulated the 'get to know you' conversation that everyone was having back in there. You know, something to really grab your attention. But the cold hard fact of the matter is that I don't care who you bring to an open mic. Unless of course, it means you dressing up and my getting a chance to stare at you looking feminine. I'm a simple creature, babe. I don't get jealous. I just like to look at pretty things."

I started to stammer an answer, picking my brain for the right words, but Matt was exiting. He mistook my shaking for being cold and came up behind me, wrapping his arms around me. "If you're cold, we should get back inside," he said, burying his chin on my shoulder, then taking a deep breath. "On second thought, if it lets me be this close to you, perhaps you could just freeze!"

Everyone was turning back around, laughing and rejoining the conversation. Steph shot me a look that questioned if I was OK. Geoff simply smiled wickedly and ran his gaze over the vision of Matt with his arms wrapped tightly around my waist. There was a momentary flicker of what I thought might be jealousy, but it quickly passed.

"Yeah, I say let's head back inside. We can't have Chloe getting any colder than she already is," he said, grinning in my direction. I narrowed my eyes at him and his smile only grew. Silently he mouthed the words "I don't care," at me.

As we all filed back inside, I mouthed back to him, "Yeah, right."


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The night played on well. Cara sang some of her originals in her rich, husky voice and ended up being the hands-down favorite of the open mic. Matt kept his body close to me and held my hand, lacing his fingers between mine. He was easy to talk to, and even with Geoff sitting only a few feet away, put me at complete ease. After a couple of hours, people began to slowly beg off and head out to their cars. Hugs were distributed all around.

As she was hugging me good-bye, Steph went to whisper in my ear. "You found a good one, from the looks of it. Don't even worry about Geoff. He's just sore that he lost."

I laughed and squeezed her tightly. Matt offered to walk me out to my car and I took him up on it. The last three people remaining at the table were Sean, Alex and Geoff. Matt and I bid them farewell and then headed out into the night air.

"I had a lot of fun. Your friends are great. Thanks for inviting me tonight," Matt kept his fingers laced between mine. I usually didn't like to show affection in public, but he made it feel natural.

"Thanks for coming. And thanks for putting up with the interrogation!" He laughed as I added the last part. We stopped in front of my car. "This is me," I announced, then looked down at the ground.

"Well, I hope to see you again soon," Matt said, then dipped in. I closed my eyes and awaited the kiss. His lips came, but they landed on my cheek instead of my half-puckered mouth. "Drive safely," he added, pulling away slowly.

"Oh. Yeah. I'm a world champion safe driver." I was confused by the gesture. Was I that off-base in thinking that he should have wanted to do more than just kiss me on the cheek? My mind began to spin. I was instantly no longer cold, as the blush of embarrassment crawled over my face.

Matt could sense my confusion. "I have my reasons," he explained. "When you get burned, you tend to want to go about things differently the next time around. I hope that's OK with you."

His blue eyes gazed imploringly at me. "Yeah. Yeah, that's fine." I still didn't understand a kiss on the cheek, it wasn't like I was aching for him to fuck me in the street, but there was also something very comforting about a man who knew exactly what he wanted. I squeezed his hand and watched him walk off down the street.

I was getting my keys out when I heard his voice. "What an idiot," Geoff drawled. "Fuck, I was inches from loathing your ass and I still wanted to stick my tongue down your throat."

I spun around and saw him fast approaching, Alex on his heels. "Well, you're not exactly what I would call a normal guy."

He laughed loudly. "If you consider that, " he jerked his thumb in the direction that Matt had headed, "normal, then I'll take that last statement as a compliment. Personally...?"

I groaned. "I don't know if I want to hear what you are going to say next."

He chuckled softly this time, then continued. "Personally, no normal guy should be able to keep his hands off of you. But what do I know? I'm not normal."

He continued walking up the street, following Alex. I stood in a stunned silence for almost five minutes before I was able to bring myself to unlocking my car door and driving myself home.

That night, I dreamt of him again.