Take Two (28 page)

“
I have to taste some catering
examples
with Selena
. The OWN network wants to capture all the wedding preparations.”

“Right…I ke
ep forgetting about that
.”

“Hey,” he tilted my chin. “Don’t look like that. I told you it’s not real.”

“Why are you going through with it then? Why can’t you just back out?”

“It’s complicated. Believe me, I’ve tried breaking things off with Selena but she…I signed a contract with the OWN network, a very unforgiving one.”

“And you can’t buy your way out of it?”

“Not exactly. There’s more than money attached to this wedding.”

“Oh,” I spread cream cheese across my bagel. I didn’t want to ask any
more questions.
He didn’t owe me anything
, and we technically didn’t even know each other that well. All of a sudden I wanted him to leave.

I felt him rubbing my shoulders and immediately changed my mind.

He
whispered in my ear,
“When
can I come over
again?”

Jen sat down and slid me a beer. “
Mel, you’re glowing!
D
id you guys do it?
Was it good?
”

“Really Jen? I’m fine
. T
hanks for asking.
What’s up with your shirt?
”

“You like?” she looked down at her chest. “I made it myself. I really should’ve majored in art.”

In
bright blue and red
letters were the words, “Eff My Thesis, Let’s Drink!” Below the
words was a picture of a large martini glass with a pencil hanging out of it.

“You’re really not going to tell me about Matt Sterling?”

I changed the subject again, watching her squirm in anticipation of an answer
.

“Tell me!”
she beat her hands on the table like a toddler.
“Tell me right now!”

“
We did it
,” I laughed. “We also watched movies and cooked way before that
even happened
.”

“He cooked for you? Aw! T
hat’s
sweet!
I’m so jealous, Mel!”

“Don’t be. I think it’s just a fling.
I’m sure it won’t last long.
”

“Why would you say that?”

“I’m not sure how I f
e
el about the Selena Ross thing.
I think I’m just using him as
a
deflection from Sean.”

“Oh my god, shut up! Just go
with the flow. Stop thinking so
much.”

“Go with the flow?”

“Yes!
He likes you,
you like him. No big deal.
I understand you’re not
completely
over Sean, but I think dating Matt is helping you
get over him.”

“You sure you’re the
little
sister?”

“
Not at all
,” she took
my
beer and ch
ugged it. “When are you
see
ing
him again?”

“I’m not sure. I told him I would let him know later this week. If I have time Saturday I might ask him to come over.”

“
Do I even want to know what lame activity you’re doing on Saturday? What’s so important that you can’t hang out with your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfrie
nd, Jen. And I thought you and me
were going to Coney
Island
.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right. Can I use your phone for a second?”

“Sure,” I handed it to her. “I have to run to the restroom.”

I splashed my face with water and looked in the mirror.
Jen was right. I was glowing.

I
wanted to call Matt before coming to the bar, to see how his day was going, but I didn’t want him to know I was thinking about him.

I slid back into our booth and noticed Jen had ordered four more drinks.

“I have to work tomorrow, Jen. I can’t drink all night.”

“Only
one
of these is
for you,” she
scoffed
. “I’m taking advant
age of you paying
. Oh, and I texted your boyfriend for you. You can thank me later.”

“Jen!” I snatched my phone from her. “What did you text him?”

“That you’re head over heel
s
in love with him and that you can’t wait to
d
o
it
again.”

“Okay. Those were your last drinks of the night
.”

My phone vibrated. A text from Matt:
“I was thinking about you too. This Saturday works just fine. I’ll have to pick you up really early though. Can’t wait. Call you later :-)”

Matt shook me awake. “
Wake up. W
e’re here.”

I sat up and looked out
my window. There was nothing but a gas station with two pumps and
a
small dusty building that read “
T&M’s
.”

“Where are we?”

“This is the diner where my dad used to work.
The owner said we could
help
open up today.
”

“Who’s the owner?”

“Me,”
he shook
a set of
keys.

“You don’t think the paparazzi are going to show up?”

“
I doubt it
. W
e’re technically in the middle of nowhere.
Some truckers might ask to take pictures with me but that’s about it.”

I followed him inside the small
café
. Despite the drab exterior, t
he inside was bright and cheery.
The checkered floor shone underneath
yellow halogen lights, bright red bar
stools with silver metal legs sat
up against the bar,
and each of the tables
w
as
set with fresh cut flowers.

“Why are you sitting down?”
he planted a kiss on my forehead.

“I’m watching you open up
the diner
.”

“I don’t think s
o
. You’re going to help.”

“You know I don’t—”

“You can always
learn
,” he slid me
a
b
ox
of
syrup dispensers
.
“
W
e’ll start with the basics. Put one of those on ea
ch table and m
ake sure they’re all filled.”

I took my time placing them on the tables, stepping back to examine each one. I was trying my best to avoid any real cook work. The last time I attempted to make breakfast
,
the fire department came
to put it out
.

I felt Matt’s
arms around my waist. “Why is it taking
you so long
to set
tables?”

“I’m making sure
all the syrups are
perfectly aligned.”

“You’re so full of it, Melod
y. Come on
, let me show you how to make
breakfast
.”

I watched him make
a batch of
blueberry waffles from scratch. He was so meticulous, making use of every fresh blueberry and stirring the
beige
batter until it was perfect.

I cut
strawberries for the pancake
toppings
, and fried the bacon with little help.
I burnt the first
and second
batch of scrambled eggs and couldn’t get him to stop laughing
at me
.

I was setting napkins on the
bar
w
hen an elderly man walked into the diner
.

“Matt!
” he beamed. “
How you been?”

Matt walked over to the man and hugged him. “I’m good Tony, you alright?”

“Better than
ever. Business is good. Your dad would be really proud…How come I didn’t get a wedding invite? My wife is beginning to think you don’t love us
anymore
.”

“I’ll get you one
,” he laughed. “T
ony,
I want you to meet someone. This
is my friend, Melody Carter. Melody
,
this wa
s my dad’s best friend
and the
current
manager of the place
, Tony.
”

“
Are you the
Melody Carter from
The New York Appeal
?”
Tony’s eyes lit up.

“Yes,” I shook his hand. “That’s me.”

“You’re a lot younger than I
thought
! A lot younger!
My wife loves your stuff
!”

“Thank you sir.”

“
My AM staff should be getting in
any minute
.
You kids staying for the morning rush?”

“
Sure,” Matt winked at me.

For two hours we took orders, made coffee, and helped the staff however they needed us. Most of the truckers were unaware of who Matt was, but the few that did recognize him simply asked him to autograph their napkins—after he took their order.

When things slowed down, we headed back to
the car. Before I could ask
where we were going ne
xt, he
leaned over
and kissed me
.

“
Ready to go to the beach
?” he asked.
“There’s a private one
twenty miles
over the bridge.”

It didn’t seem real. Everything in my life was like a dream. Matt
was going
out of his wa
y to spend time with me, and I was relishing every second
.

I was falling for him. Hard.

For the first time in my career, I was
ahead of
all
my assignments
and
wasn’t waiting until the last minute to complete my
writing
pieces
. I wanted to
make sure I couldn’t use
“work” as an excuse
. I wanted to
be with Matt
as much as possible.

Even though our dates were a bit unconventional and he had to make major preparations for each one—driving a different car
to and from
,
involving his security detail, wearing different clothes—he made each one special.

Matt

No one else had ever made me feel this way.
No one. Ever.

I wasn’t sure if it was the beginning stages of love, infatuation, or both. Melody Carter was all I could think about.

The closer the wedding c
ame, the guiltier I fe
l
t
. I knew Melody was slowly accepting the terms of my engagement to Selena, but I felt bad about not being able to walk away from it all.

Last Saturday, while we were at a secluded beach, she asked me to explain why I couldn’t walk away. I wanted to tell her that Selena had threatened to ruin my career with a domestic abuse claim, but I
knew she wouldn’t buy that. So
I just told h
er the truth about the contract—
that Selena and I would need to stay married for seventy
two
days past the wedding. I told her that I didn’t want our relationship to change and that I would do anything to prove it to her.

She sat quiet for several minutes af
ter I finished my explanation and
I cou
ldn’t
tell
if she was upset or not
. Then again, we did end up having sex on th
e beach so maybe she was okay with it.

“You’ve got it really bad,” Joan brought me into the present. “
When
were you
plan
ning
to get out of the car
?”