Bitter things

I tapped my foot, glancing at my watch. I was annoyed. Tonight was the night we were supposed to meet Matt. Sunny had left to run some errands and had been gone the whole afternoon. She had been floating in the clouds ever since we left the park after her proposal, which was understandable, but now it was starting to affect work and we couldn’t afford to do that. Still, I wasn’t quite sure how to say “stop being so damn happy and come back down to earth please.”

I heard a tap on the door and looked up to see a very tall blonde man standing outside – we had been closed for about a half hour now, so the door was locked.
“Matt?” I asked, through the glass, noticing shockingly blue eyes. I had never met Matt before – he was Noah’s friend from school, and our paths just had never crossed. He nodded, and I unlocked the door and let him in. “Sorry, I’m not sure where Sunny is, but come on in. It’s nice to meet you.” I shook his hand and then reached for my phone to send Sunny a text that said ‘Matt is here, where r u???’

“Hi, Lanie, right?” He said. I never thought I had small hands before, but his dwarfed mine.
“Lanie, Mel, Melanie. I go by many different names. Are you hungry? I have some leftover pizza or I could make a salad really quick. There’s also drinks in the cooler, feel free to help yourself.”
“Pizza sounds great, thanks. I rushed over here from work and I’m starved. Noah says your pizza is the best.”
I laughed as I walked back to the kitchen, motioning for him to follow me. I noticed he had to duck to fit through the kitchen door. “Noah has to say that. He’s marrying a part owner. And it was nice of you to be on time, even though Sunny’s not.”
“It’s no big deal.” He said, leaning against a stool set by the counter.
“So.” I said, turning to plate his pizza. “Sunny hasn’t told me much about this. Has she discussed anything with you?”
“Well. Let me do my little spiel for you.” He said, smiling a half smile. “I work with inner city kids. Right now I’m working with our teen group, and one of our goals is to expose them to new things and skills. We sometimes ask businesses to sponsor things, like trips, but we also need people to volunteer their time to teach their kids their skill.”
“I don’t think I have a skill. I just make pizza.” I said, setting the plate down in front of him.
“You’re young and you own the place. You run your own business. That’s a skill.”
“Kind of. But it’s not like I built it from scratch. I kind of got it by default.”
He nodded. “Sunny told me the back story, and while I’m sorry for your loss, I still think you’ve managed to accomplish quite a bit here. Just letting the kids come and see the place would show them that being a business owner isn’t out of their reach.”
“Here’s the thing. I want to help. My uncle used to do all kinds of things for the community and I feel like a way to honor him would be to start that tradition back up. The reason we haven’t is because frankly we haven’t had the money. My time is also scarce, but I would be willing to give up some of my nights to do this – but if you want them to cook… I’m just not sure how much money I can put into that.”
“I understand completely. The economy sucks.” He said, shrugging a little sadly.
“I’m not saying no.” I correctly myself quickly. “I’m just saying it would be a trial basis, if that’s OK? One day a week for a month, and then we can re-evaluate and see where we’re at.”
He nodded. “That also gives me time to look into grants.”
“What day works best for you?” I said, reaching over to pull out my planner. “I’m not sure. I’d need to go back and talk to the agency to see when we could get the van. I also need to talk to my kids, some of them have practice and such.”
I handed him a card. “Email might be the easiest way to reach me. I tend to avoid the phone.”
He laughed. “Me too. My friends are always getting on me for just texting, but…”
“Well, apparently my friends can’t even text me back.” I said. “Sunny’s been on cloud nine since the proposal. I bet she forgot you were coming tonight.” Even though I had reminded her, twice.
“Love makes people stupid. Not a big deal.”
“So. I don't know much about you, personally.” I said, tapping my nails on the counter. “Girlfriend?”
He snorted. “No.” He said very definitely.
“Boyfriend?” I ventured – his reaction to the girlfriend question had been so strong I worried I had offended him.
This time he laughed a real laugh. “No. I’m straight. I just… Am bitter I guess.”
“Well. That’s no good.” I said, not quite sure how to respond.
He chewed his pizza for a moment. “What about you? Boyfriend? Girlfriend?”
“I have a…” I trailed off. I don’t know what to categorize John as. I was meeting him after this meeting for Matt – he wanted to cook me dinner. That wasn’t just a friendly thing, was it? “A thing.”
“Ohhh. One of those.” Matt said. “My one of those made me bitter.”
“It’s not…” I trailed off. Again, I was left stumped with how to respond.
“Oh. I see. I’m sorry, I just assumed… I’m sure it’s not…” He got awkward then. “How’d you meet him?” He asked, clearly at a loss.
“He’s one of Noah’s friends. Actually he went to school with Noah too. John?”
“Yeah. I know John. I just didn’t realize he had a girlfriend.”
“He doesn’t, we’re just…”
“A thing.” He completed for me with a nod. “John’s a good guy.”
“I’m seeing him tonight. I’ll tell him.”
“Am I keeping you?” He asked, starting to stand.
“No. Not at all.” I was lying. I was dying to head over to John’s house, but I didn’t want to seem like I was kicking him out yet. I had planned on Sunny being her and ditching him with her to work out the details.
“Well. It is getting late.” He said, glancing at his watch. “I was trying to wait for Sunny to show up, but I don’t think she’s coming any time soon. You tell John I said hi, and…” He reached into his pocket. “Here’s my card, just in case you have any questions before I contact you to hammer out the schedule. Thank you for your time, Lanie. I appreciate it.” He said, holding out the card.
I took it and examined it. “No problem.” I said, suddenly feeling very awkward.
“Thanks for the pizza.” He said, throwing a wave over his shoulder.
“No problem.” I echoed again, only this time, he was out the door.

I walked over and turned the lock, listening to this silence of the store. I felt uneasiness settle in the pit of my stomach, and couldn’t place it. Matt had left me unsettled, and I couldn’t figure out why. His thing had left him bitter? What did that mean? And was it just me, or did he hesitate when he said John was a good guy? I had been OK with the choice to not label it was I was doing with John. We were getting to know each other, relationships take time, right? But with Matt’s reaction and Sunny’s warning a few days prior ringing in my ears, I suddenly wasn’t so sure.

I felt my cell phone buzz and was jolted back to reality. Sunny, finally.
But no.

John: Dinners ready and I miss you. Come soon?

And suddenly I didn’t care what the rest of them thought. I was happy for now, and that’s what mattered, right?