Girl in the White Dress: Sam's Story (19 page)

             
He stopped me. “Sam, don’t. Dance with me?” he pleaded. How could I resist those eyes and that smile?

             
“Ok.” Air Supply was over and another sappy love song came on. I had to admit it was nice being back in his arms again. He always made me feel safe, until he screwed it up.

             
“Can we go outside and talk?” he asked.

             
Oh hell… Was I really that irresistible? I laughed to myself. That was a joke. “Sure.” Why not? I liked to make bad decisions.

             
We went out into the hotel lobby. It was huge but we found a secluded corner. “So, how have you been?” I asked.

             
“Ok. I’m working at WSC now as the assistant football coach and I’m taking some art classes, too.”

             
That’s great!” Matt had always loved to draw. My mind drifted to the lily drawing he had given me before we started dating.

             
“Yeah, it is. What about you?”

             
“Oh, a little of this, a little of that…” My life is a mess, I added silently. “I am graduating in May.”

             
“Great! Will you be teaching?”

             
“I was substituting but there isn’t much open at home. I still need to complete my student teaching before I can actually get out there. I passed all my teaching exams though.” This was not awkward at all, I thought sarcastically.

             
“That’s good.” He fumbled with his fingers. “Sam?”             

             
“Yeah?”

             
“I know we didn’t really leave things very good last time we saw each other.”

             
“Mmhmm.” That was putting it mildly, since I had stormed out of the restaurant.

             
“I truly wanted to apologize again. For everything. I did not like how we left things and you have every right to hate me. I just wanted you to know that I am so unbelievable sorry and I hope someday we can maybe be friends. I miss having you in my life.” He sounded so sincere. I could not really stay mad at him forever, could I? I was pissed at him for cheating on me but I had done the same thing to Danny. I did not want to be a hypocrite.

             
Maybe because I was still drunk or maybe because it was about time it happened but I burst into tears. I was a blubbering idiot.

             
“Oh my God, Sam. Are you ok? I am sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

             
I got a hold of myself enough to speak. “It’s ok. It is not you. There’s just a lot that’s been going on.” He wiped a couple of tears from my cheek. “I forgive you, Matt. It was a long time ago and people change. It is ok. You broke my heart but it’s in the past.” I stuck my hand out. “Friends?

             
He smiled. “Friends.” He stood up and motioned to the reception hall. “What do you say we make that other ex-boyfriend jealous by grooving out on the dance floor?”

             
I laughed. “Grooving, eh?”

             
“Yup.”

             
The rest of the night, I actually managed to have a good time. Matt was hilarious all night and made me feel much less awkward about Danny being there. (Although, do not get me wrong, I still felt horrible for hurting him but he was clearly trying to throw his new girlfriend in my face and I had to react somehow and having fun was a much more pleasant option than self-pity.)

             
“Hey, when are you heading back home?”

             
“Um, probably Monday morning. I’m crashing at Trinity and Derek’s tonight because they got a hotel room and tomorrow I’m bringing them to the airport for two.”

             
“Do you want some company bringing them to the airport?”

             
Hmm, that could not possibly be a good idea. “Sure.” I just keep making one bad decision after another. Go me.

             
“Ok, I’ll meet you at their apartment then?”

             
“Sounds good.” Not. I did not know why my mouth was not listening to my brain. Had I learned nothing from the Jay experience? I got to the apartment about three. I had not realized how exhausted I was until I stopped and actually sat down. Next thing I knew it was morning and the sun was pouring in through the shades. I had slept in my bridesmaid’s dress on the couch. That explained my stiff neck and the four-inch heels on the floor explained my sore feet. It was eleven according to the clock in the living room. Matt was coming by at one thirty so we could pick up the newlyweds for two and get them to their flight to Italy. Derek had turned into much more of a romantic than anyone of us had given him credit for. He surprised Trinity with the destination a couple days ago. He had started a savings account without her knowing so that he could surprise her. He thought he would have a few more months to save, so instead of the two weeks he had originally planned, they are only going for one.

             
I decided a long, hot bath was in order before Matt arrived. The warm water and bubbles felt fabulous. I must have soaked longer than I thought because I heard a knock on the door. I threw on my robe and hoped I was decent enough.

             
“Hey,” Matt said when I opened the door. The fact that he gave me a quick once over did not go unnoticed. “I know, I’m early.” I glanced at the kitchen clock; it said noon. I knew I had not been soaking for three hours.

             
“Just a tad,” sounding obviously annoyed.

             
“I’m sorry.”

             
“You’ve been saying that a lot lately.” Ok, yes, I was being bitchy. In my defense, I had not had any coffee yet and I had not planned on Matt seeing me wearing only a short robe.

             
“I know.” He held up a bag. “But I came bearing ziti. Truce?”

             
“Depends. Blue Bird?”

             
“Of course.” Damn. How could I stay mad when he brought my favorite food? That was not playing fair.             

             
“Ok, fine, sit. I’m going to make myself decent.” He mumbled something as I went into the other room. “What was that?”

             
“Nothing,” he said.

             
I quickly put on jeans, a T-shirt, and my pink fuzzy slippers.

             
“Sexy,” he eyed my slippers.

             
I stuck my tongue out. “Comfy.”

             
We at lunch and made small talk until it was time to leave. I hated how easy it was to slip back into the comfort zone with him.

             
Trinity gave me an odd look when I showed up at the hotel with Matt. “I picked up a stray,” I joked.

             
“Ha. Ha. Ha.” Matt said.

             
“So, are you two ready?” I asked.

             
“Uh, yeah. I just have to grab one thing. Derek, sweetie, will you and Matt put the luggage in the car?”

             
“Sure,” he kissed her head. Aw. “See you ladies in a few.”

             
She turned to me as soon at the hotel room door closed. “Care to explain?”

             
I could not really get upset at her reaction. “Friends.”

             
“Friends? Did he sleep over? Do I need to burn my sheets?”

             
“Whoa! Back up! First off, I crashed on your couch as soon as I got in. Secondly, thanks for having such a high opinion of me.”

             
“It wasn’t meant to be insulting. I saw the two of you at the reception.”

             
“I repeat: friends. He came over, brought ziti, and accompanied me on the ride. That’s all.”

             
“Just be careful. I saw how he was looking at you.” I had also noticed and secretly liked it. Bah.

             
“Everything will be fine.” I assured her.

             
“Whatever you say. Are you still heading back tomorrow?” We started walking to the car.

             
“Depends on the weather. Supposedly, we are getting one hell of a storm tomorrow afternoon and I don’t feel like driving in it.”

             
“Good plan. You can stay at the apartment all week if you want anyway.”

             
“Thanks.” The drive to the airport was uneventful. Trinity and I sang loudly from the backseat.

             
I gave her a big hug when we arrived at the airport. “Have fun! Be safe! Take lots of pictures!” I yelled as they headed to the security gates.

             
“Absolutely! Even if we don’t leave the room!” she yelled back.

             
“Ew! I don’t want to see those!”

             
She winked at me as Derek tapped her on the behind and shook his head.

             
Matt and I headed back to the car. “Dinner?” he asked.

             
Sigh. Oh, why not? “Sure.”

              No, no, no! Oh, God. I woke up Monday morning and panicked. I tried to remember the night before. Matt and I had gone to dinner and shared a bottle of wine. Then we went back to his apartment to watch a movie, shared another bottle of wine… ok well this was not heading in a good direction at all. I really needed to stop drinking. Ok, maybe nothing happened. I looked under the covers. Damn, naked. I slowly turned around and saw Matt sleeping. Shit!

             
Ok, after that second bottle of wine everything was a bit fuzzy. How did I get out of here without making an ass of myself? I slowly got out of bed and tried to find my clothes. That was fun. I then realized I was stuck here because he drove yesterday. Really? Could this situation get any worse?

             
As in response to my rhetorical question, my phone dinged indicating a new text. “Sam, we need to talk. Please call me – Tim.” Oh, you have to be kidding me. I looked at the bed and saw Matt stir. I quickly tossed my phone into my purse.

             
“Hey, where are you going?”

             
“Um, coffee?” Sure, that sounded feasible.

             
“I just bought the new Keurig machine and there are some K-cups in the cabinet.”

             
“Ok, thanks. Want one?”

             
“Sure.”

             
I put my coat and purse down silently cursing to myself and tried to find the K-cups. This should be interesting, as I had never used one of these before. Just as I was about to put the cup in the machine, I felt arms wrap about me. Clearly, his new favorite thing to do was surprise me.

             
“Good morning, beautiful. I thought maybe you might like some help.”             

             
“Uh, kind of. Do I just put the cup in or do I open it?” He took the K-cup from me and demonstrated how to use the machine. (That was ridiculously easy and I totally would have screwed that up.)

             
“So, um, what happened?”

             
“Yeah, could we maybe have this conversation after my essential morning coffee?” I had no answer for him and stalling seemed my only option.

             
“Yeah, ok.” He made our coffees and I scrounged the cabinets for food. Score, bagels. Hangover food. (Yeah, I really needed to stop drinking.)

             
We settled in on the couch. “Alright, what happened?” I asked. I really needed some clarification on that, as I was still fuzzy about the events of the previous night.

             
“Well, we know what happened.” True. “But I guess the more important questions are why and what does it mean?”

             
“You do realize it is way too early to contemplate these things. Plus, I’m supposed to be driving back to PA today.” Wow, good coffee. I was definitely going to get me one of those machines. As much as I love coffee, I have zero coffee making skills.

             
“Stay,” he said simply.

             
“What?”

             
“For the week. Stay and we can see what this is,” he said. “It clearly happened for a reason and maybe we should see where it goes or what it means.”

             
I did not know if that was a brilliant idea or the stupidest idea but I found myself agreeing to it. I had already told Mr. Mooney at the video store I needed the week off. I had some homework to catch up on and technically online classes could be done from anywhere. Boo. “On one condition,” I said.