If I was still living here.
A pot of soup was simmering on the stove when my phone rang again. I assumed it was Hannah and answered without looking at the screen.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey, Chloe,” Matt said, nearly making me drop the phone. “I just want you to know I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Matt? What’s going on? Where are you?” I asked, emotion tightening in my throat and making my eyes sting.
“I can’t explain right now. I’ll be back tomorrow. And I don’t want you to worry about me. I’m fine.”
Before I could ask anything else, he hung up. I was trembling and had to go into the living room to sit down. He didn’t sound exactly happy to talk to me, but he also didn’t sound angry. That seemed like something to be positive about. Or at least to keep me from tumbling further into the heaviness that was pushing down around me.
The house felt too quiet and still again. I didn’t want to just sit there anymore, especially now that I knew there wasn’t a chance for Matt to show up. I got dressed and headed into work. They weren’t expecting me to be there, but this time they didn’t suggest I leave. It ended up being a busy night, so they were glad I was there, and I was glad for the distraction.
On break later in the night, Hannah and I shared some fries and talked about the future. She gave me advice about pregnancy and what it was like to have a baby. It made me feel better, but there was still a nagging curiosity in the back of my mind trying to figure out what Matt could possibly be doing.
37
Matt
Convincing her parents to fly commercial was a bridge too far. I could convince them to come to Portland and to try to patch things up with their daughter; I could even convince them that I was a better fit for her than their plans. But convincing them to fly on something other than their own private jet? Too much. So, rather than get back the same day, which had been the plan, I ended up getting a hotel and spending the night there. Graciously, they offered me one of the seemingly hundreds of rooms in their ridiculous mansion, but I felt like that might be too much for me. Without Chloe there, I would feel uncomfortable.
Instead, I found a place closer to the airport that had a movie theater next door and a restaurant attached. That meant I could spend the day watching movies and zoning out as I prepared for the biggest grand gesture I could imagine. I watched the same superhero movie three times and only paid attention to a third of it each time. The rest of the movie I was staring at the screen but not even seeing the film. What I was seeing was how this could all play out in different wonderful and terrible ways.
Eventually, I got back to the hotel and crashed for the few hours I had until I needed to be at the airport. Once on the private jet, it was an entirely different experience. Charles and Beverly were obviously accustomed to flying that way, but it was new to me. I had to laugh at how ridiculously opulent it was and how routine they found it. How in the hell had Chloe adapted so well to my world? She grew up with this as everyday life. How did she just suddenly start walking to work in a bar and living in a nine-hundred-square-foot townhouse apartment?
Charles offered me lunch on the way back to Portland, but I couldn’t eat much. A bite or two of a prime rib sandwich was all I could get down. My stomach was churning at the anticipation of what was about to happen. When we landed, Charles and Beverly ordered a limo, and when it arrived, they followed me in my car back home.
I made one stop on the way. It was pretty comical seeing the limo stopped at a mall, but I had to run in and grab some of her favorite chocolates and a bouquet of flowers to go with it. I saw a lingerie shop and ducked my head inside to see they had some of the comfortable pajamas she loved. I picked those and a bottle of the perfume she wore and headed down to the store I’d really come in for. It was a specialty shop that I had noticed the last time I came into the mall a few weeks before. In the window, there was a display with a pregnancy pillow. I remembered thinking how it looked like it would be comfortable for someone who had that belly, whether it was full of children or beer. I grabbed the pillow in lightning fashion and made my way back out to my car.