by Jason Zandri
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Melissa sat with Carrie and Alecia with her coffee and glanced over at the clock.
“What time do you need to be in?” Carrie asked.
“In about an hour; around one,” she said, and then took a sip from her cup.
Alecia smiled. “Look at us; all adult-like with our coffees and talking of work.”
Carrie shook her head and bumped Alecia with her shoulder. “So?”
she asked, looking at Melissa. “How’s it been working with him all week?”
Melissa smiled widely, unable to control her face. “Before Diane left, she and I had this little chat that I felt was nice but full of pretense; how wonderfully sunny it always is … I have to tell you, this week flew by, and it hasn’t seemed like work at all. And there are times it’s busy in the store.
People need fuel, want an oddball amount, need a coffee, where did the sandwich guy go, ‘oh man, now I have to make another stop,’ I need lottery tickets; is your terminal up … Every time, Matthew came over to help, checked over at the garage to do things, swept around, emptied the trash, looked at me … I know I sound like a dork, but I don’t want this week to end.”
Alecia looked at Carrie then Melissa. “Donna’s coming home tomorrow evening; you do remember that, right?”
Melissa looked down into her coffee. “I know.”
“Are you ever going to say something to him?” Carrie asked. “Liz backed right off; she knows he won’t be with her that way and …” Carrie dropped her voice to a whisper. “Given the things that happened.” She looked around and brought her voice back up to normal. “She’s actually been a decent citizen, for lack of a better way to say it. Donna will come back in full press—”
“I know,” Melissa said, alternating her view between each of them.
“It’s been a storybook week; I didn’t want to wreck it with serious, ‘heavy’
talk.”
“Didn’t Matthew take you out to pizza last night?” Carrie asked.
“Yes,” she said and laughed. “He had me work from noon to seven; we locked up and went and got pizza. We finished there at nine, went back to my apartment, and watched TV. We fell asleep on the couch. I woke up once, around two in the morning, to get more comfortable, but when I woke up around four, he’d gone. He let himself out and went over to his apartment next door.” Melissa picked up her coffee and took another sip. “He left this morning before I got up and went to the store. He said he only needed me one to five today because he was likely going to close a little earlier than the normal six that they do on Saturdays. He said, regardless, he would let me know and work the last hour himself.”
Alecia looked at her watch and checked the date. “Didn’t you tell me your mother was going to work overnight this weekend?”
“She is,” Melissa said. “They’re changing some of the document systems there, and she and the department have to do the entire switchover this weekend. It’s a good deal: two twelve-hour shifts, all overtime, and a comp day off.”
“If he’s going to let you go earlier than him, and this is the last day you get to spend with him unimpeded with regards to Donna, why not make him dinner at your place? You can call just before he leaves, put things in the oven, let him go home, shower … he can come by, and you two can talk uninterrupted,” Carrie said.
“Oh, I hate that sometimes,” Alecia said with a scowl. “Why is it that women are always expected to cook?”
“I don’t mind it, honestly,” Melissa said. “It used to bother me more, but I’m getting comfortable doing it, and it’s not expected. I enjoy it a little, and to be honest, Matthew is worthy of it.”
Alecia rolled her eyes. Carrie nudged her and spilled a little coffee doing it.
“I’m serious,” Melissa said. “There are some guys that maybe expect it, and they do so with the mindset of demeaning the act, but that’s not Matthew. He treats me nicely. He will pay for my part of the pizza when we go out.”
“He’s sometimes paid when he was with Donna, too, and we all went out together,” Carrie said.
“What are you talking about?” Melissa said. “I always chip in my five dollars.”
“You never told her?” Alecia said to Carrie with a surprised look on her face.
“Told me what?” Melissa asked.
“Matthew knows you’re terrible about keeping track of how much money you have on you,” she said with a smile. “He was right about that with spades. He made me promise never to tell you, but I can’t stand it anymore; plus I got caught by this one—” Carrie pointed to Alecia. “—so the cat is going to be out of the bag shortly, I’m sure.”
“What did he do?” Melissa asked.
“He would always give me back your five dollars; he’d palm it to me or make too much change back to me on purpose right in plain sight. He knows you don’t have a ton of hours for work, and that you’ve been putting money aside for books for college. He had me slip the money back into your purse when you weren’t looking.”
“For how long?” she asked.
Carrie looked over at Alecia.
“Not her,” Melissa said. “Me.”
“Freshman year,” Carrie said and dropped her gaze.
Melissa put her hand over her mouth and gasped.
“He loves you,” Carrie said. “He just can’t figure out a simple way to say it. It means so much to him that it’s beyond his ability to tell you.”
“And there’s not much he can’t do,” Alecia said softly.
“I know that sounds like the dumbest thing to come out of my mouth, but you can’t make something like that up,” Carrie said.
“Oh my God. What am I supposed to do?” Melissa asked, lowering
her hand, which trembled.
“Make him something to eat tonight, spend meaningful time with him, and make your move before Donna gets home. Make it a night he’ll remember for the rest of his life.” Carrie brushed Melissa’s hands. “Make it so that even if he can’t tell you, he knows you feel the exact same way about him.”
***
Matthew locked up the store. He stepped behind the counter to the phone and dialed the number to Melissa. “Hello,” he said when the phone stopped ringing.
“Hi,” Melissa said. “Are you locking up?”
“Yep,” Matthew said, looking back to the clock. “I should be all done in the next ten minutes or so.”
“Are you hungry?” Melissa asked.
“I’m starved. I wanted to eat that half a sandwich, but you told me
‘no,’ so I played along. You better be making a whole cow or something because I could eat until tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Melissa said. “So, you’re going to run to the apartment and take a quick shower first?”
“Yeah,” Matthew said, pulling on his shirt and sniffing. “I got a little dirty in the garage, and my spare shirt here is a little ripe.”
“Okay,” Melissa said with a light laugh. “I’ll leave the back door open to the kitchen; just come in once you’re home and all cleaned up.”
“Sure thing,” Matthew said, looking at the near counter. They exchanged goodbyes, and Matthew hung up the phone. He reached into his wallet, took five dollars out, and put it into the register at the counter. Then he stepped around the counter and bolted the front door.
Matthew looked around the store and smiled in contentment. At the arranged display, he grabbed the biggest mixed assortment of flowers from the pail and walked into the back office area.
***
Melissa stood near the stove, stirring some mixed vegetables when Matthew knocked lightly and stepped in through the back door.
“Flowers?” she said.
“I grabbed them from the store before I left,” Matthew said while he closed the door behind him and handed them over. “I wanted to do a little something extra for you since you helped me out all week.”
“You paid me for all my work time,” she said softly, pulling the bouquet up t
o her nose.
“It was still a favor to me. You had to request time off from your regular part-time job; you worked twice as much for me as you normally do.”
Matthew stepped a little closer. “All that aside and, if for nothing else, I offered to take you out to eat again, and you wanted to make me dinner.
Flowers were appropriate.”
While the words rolled from his lips, a lump formed in Melissa’s throat, and she swallowed hard.
Matthew went to sit at the kitchen table.
***
The two made small talk while Melissa continued to make dinner, and then later while they ate. By the time the evening ended, the two had never left the kitchen.
Matthew got up to stretch. “Man, that was good. Usually, no matter what I eat, I want a little something later in the evening before I go to bed.
Not tonight.”
Melissa stood. “Are you leaving?” she asked, looking over at the clock.
“Yeah,” Matthew said. “It’s a little after ten, and I’m tired. I had a busy day and need to tinker with my lawn equipment tomorrow. I usually try not to do anything on Sunday, but with working the store all week, I don’t have much choice.”
Melissa stepped partway between the kitchen table and the back door.
Kiss me, please, kiss me goodnight. “So, you’ll be over your dad’s?”
“In the morning.” Matthew jangled his door keys. “Your mother’s working overnight, right? If you need anything, I’m right next door. Make sure you call me if you need something, and lock this door behind me.”
“I will,” she said. “I’ll be fine.”
“Do you want me to leave my back door open? In case you need anything?”
Melissa paused before she answered, remembering her key from her desk. “No, I should be fine. If I need anything, I’ll let you know.”
Matthew smiled, and then the smile got away and ran wide. It made her smile as well.
“Such a big smile,” she said. “I enjoyed the company too.”
“Goodnight, Melissa; thank you for everything.”
Melissa said nothing but stared at him intently.
Matthew walked past her and stopped at the door, opening it just a crack. “I remember when I first came here with my father. I was so unsure of what my life would be like. Leaving my friends behind and coming here, I never could have imagined my very best friends would be the misunderstood class bully and the tough girl up the block. Now Tim is a lot more of a level-headed person with a lot of drive and direction. And you …”
Melissa held her breath.
Matthew smiled. “Have I ever told you, you’re the nicest woman I ever met?” With little more than a grin, Matthew exited without saying another word.
Melissa waited a moment, walked over, and tipped her head on the back door while tears of joy ran down her face.
***
Melissa sat up in bed and looked at the clock. “12:36,” she said in a whisper while stepping out of bed. She put on her slippers and her small robe.
A peek out of the window to the street showed her Matthew’s van sitting in the dark.
Her heart pounded in her ears as she reached into her drawer and took out the spare key.
With the key held tightly in her left hand, she moved her right hand along her long t-shirt inside the open robe. Then she stepped over to the mirror and looked at herself. She touched up her hair quickly with the brush, and then dropped the robe to the floor.
She exited her room, went through the kitchen, and out the back door to the connecting platform to Matthew’s apartment. When she tried the knob, she found it locked. With her key, she unlocked it and let herself inside.
Melissa closed the door behind her and locked it. Then she walked through Matthew’s apartment in the dark. Her breaths came short and her hands trembled. When she stepped into his bedroom, she could hear quiet music playing from the Hartford rock station. She stepped over to Matthew’s desk, set the key down, and turned around.
Her eyes had adjusted to the dark, and the added illumination from the stereo allowed her to see Matthew asleep in his bed.
She stepped over beside it and watched him sleep for several minutes.
The covers weren’t pulled all the way up, and she noted that he didn’t have on a shirt. She had no idea if he was wearing anything else, but removed her long nightshirt and stood for a moment with nothing on.
Still all a-tremble, Melissa grabbed the covers and drew them back.
Matthew stirred and turned his head. Melissa froze, and her heart skipped a beat. She let the covers back down and Matthew stopped moving.
For a moment, she stood motionless, and then bent down to get her shirt from the floor. She stood and turned to walk away, but her foot hit something and made a clatter. Panicked, she turned back to the bed. Matthew opened his eyes, and then he jumped when he realized someone was in his room.
“Melissa,” he said, still not completely registering everything. “What
… did you need something?”
Melissa dropped her shirt back to the floor and climbed into his bed.
“Just you,” she said and leaned in to kiss him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Melissa walked into the burger place, and Carrie and Alecia nearly knocked one another over to go to her.
“You did it?” Carrie asked.
Melissa nodded. “It still hurts a little,” she said quietly as the three made their way back over to the booth.
“It’ll go away,” Alecia said. “It gets better each time after.”
“When you called me, I could hear it in your voice,” Carrie said.
“How was it?”
Melissa took in a deep breath and bummed some fries off the tray. “I was so scared. I didn’t know what I was doing. I went into the house and didn’t hesitate until I got all the way into his room. I took my t-shirt off and stood naked, looking at him sleep. Then I chickened out, but I tripped over something trying to leave. I startled him and woke him up.”
Alecia covered her mouth. “Oh no. What happened?”
“I was standing there naked. All I could do was what I originally set out to do. I climbed into his bed and kissed him.”
Carrie’s face lit up. “He’s never done it before, either, right? Oh! That had to be so awesome.”
“No,” Melissa said with a nod. “He’s never been with anyone. Not that I’m an expert, obviously, but I couldn’t tell he didn’t know what he was doing. To me, it seemed like he did. I felt way more nervous than him—if he got nervous at all.”
Alecia leaned in. “Did he try too hard? Was he rough? How did you handle the rubber?”
“He was careful and gentle,” Melissa said with a smile. “He kept asking if I was okay, was I comfortable, and did ‘that’ hurt.”
Carrie and Alecia continued to look at her.
“And?” Alecia said.
“Well, we kissed, and he moved; I tried to move with him … it didn’t
last that long, but I liked sharing that with him,” Melissa said. “I laid there with him for a while afterward. He held me and kissed me. I wanted to stay longer, but I was worried I would fall asleep and wouldn’t wake up before my mother came home. Plus, I wanted to go home and clean up.”
“Was there a lot of blood?” Carrie asked.
“I didn’t look at the time really, and it was dark. I used my t-shirt to clean up some; there was a little. It was hard to tell between the blood and …
you know.”
“Oh my God!” Carrie said at squealing pitch. “You didn’t use anything?”
“No,” Melissa said and looked down at the table.
“Are you crazy?” Alecia asked.
“Quiet … we’re attracting attention.” Carrie bumped Alecia.
Melissa looked around as a few nearby people left and others sat in their places. A new group sat in the booth behind them.
“I get my period in two days; I know trying to time i
t isn’t always successful, but I figured other than that, he’s safe and clean, having never been with anyone else. It might be a long time before I can have that kind of sex again … you know, unprotected. Considering things with Liz, if the worst happened, at least I know he’d stand by me.”
“What do you mean?” Carrie asked. “You are so in with him now.”
“Well, maybe,” Melissa said. “I went over to the apartment today, but he’d left already. Then I walked to his house when he said he’d be there; he was supposed to work on his lawn equipment, but he wasn’t there either. I had to grab the bus to get here, but he hadn’t called the house before I left.
Donna is going to be home today.” Melissa looked up because the girls behind Carrie glanced over when her voice carried. “Maybe this is all a big mistake,” she said, trying to lower her voice. “Maybe I should never have done this. We’re good friends, and despite what I feel, is this something I’ll regret?”
Carrie looked behind her, and then scooped up the tray. Alecia got up,
took Melissa by the hand, and all three made their way out to Carrie’s car.
“This is better than in there,” Carrie said. “People were listening.
Look, Melissa, you’re worried about too many things all at once. I don’t even know where to start, but let me rattle off. You can’t have unprotected sex with Matthew; you will get pregnant, so either go on the pill or use something. There’s no reason to think you can’t be a couple. Why are you even going that way?”
“Well, to begin with, there’s Donna,” Melissa said.
“She’s been out of the picture a while,” Alecia said.
“But she’s been trying to get back in.” Melissa crossed her arms.
“Intensely yet ineffectively,” Carrie said. “Matthew’s been pushing back hard. There’s a reason for that. She’s been trying to manipulate the situation.”
Some girls came from inside the restaurant while Melissa looked over at her friends with sadness in her eyes. “Isn’t that what I’m doing?” she said, lowering her voice a little as the girls looked over. “Manipulating things?