Chapter 27
Scarlett
Three hours later, my place is so clean it’s sparkling.
I’m meeting my friends to chat at the café.
After I told Matt I was meeting my business partners, he left with his chest puffed up more than usual.
He’s proud I listened to him about talking to them, I guess.
Cleaning helped me keep my mind off what the future with Matt will entail, but now my mind is still on overload.
I hope my friends will be able to help me talk this out.
Lana and Paige are at a table outside, so I grab my usual latte and then go sit down with them.
“Hi, ladies!” I smile.
“What happened last night? Angry sex?” Paige teases.
I blush.
“Looks like you’ve made it to the fun side!” She smiles ear to ear.
“Is this what you needed to talk to us about? How many times you got laid last night? I’m not interested.” Lana scrolls on her phone looking like she wants to throw it.
I sent them both a text saying I needed them to meet with me today. “Needed” being capitalized so it looked urgent.
“Those toys aren’t working for you anymore, huh Lana?” I sip my drink.
“I can’t deal with both of you being jolly little girls after you get laid.”
“Lana, stop being jelly,” Paige tells her.
“I’m not jealous.” She crosses her arms. “Okay, maybe I’m a little jealous. Don’t mind me, it’s been a weird morning. Tell us about your night.”
“You know Matt showed up last night.”
“Yup, we saw. Are you okay with Matt showing up?” Lana asks. “I thought you were trying to get over him.”
“I was happy to see Matt. Not at first. I was still mad at him, but he explained why he didn’t call. He was helping his sister who was in the hospital because of her boyfriend. Matt left to help her. She’s staying with him now so she could have a fresh start. He showed me a whole new side of him.”
“I knew he wasn’t so bad,” Lana pipes in.
I give her a small smile. “Anyways, I needed to talk with you because Matt asked me to go on a little vacation with him. Would you guys hate me for taking off before we close on the gym? I can handle a lot from away and can do most of what I was thinking before I go. I think I can swing it, but I want to make sure you guys would be alright with it.”
“Yeah, if anything it’s better to go now then once we open. Lana and I can handle it,” Paige insists. She said the exact same thing Matt did. I swear those two are talking to each other.
“You agreed to a vacation? Where?” Lana asks.
I let out a sigh. “I don’t know.” I rest my elbows on the table and pull at my hair. “It’s making me anxious because he won’t tell me anything. Said he has it all planned. You guys know surprises are not my friend. My mom leaving was all the surprises I could ever want in life.”
“I know some surprises aren’t good,” Paige says, putting her hand on my shoulder, “but some people show love or thoughtfulness through surprises. He probably thinks he’s being cute.”
“Psh, everyone knows I’m the planner,” I murmur.
“I thought you were letting go. Live a little. Some surprises are good—like the size of dicks. I bet he surprised you with a good one.” Paige winks.
“Are dicks all you think about?”
“It makes my world go round.” She looks dazed.
“Okay, if I do this, call me any time you need something! I’ll come back immediately if you need me to.”
“You’re going to do this. We’ll be fine,” Lana insists. “I’m sure you’ll give us a whole color-coded outline of everything we need to do. As long as you come back before the opening, we’ll be solid.”
“Yeah, one of us should be having some fun with a hunky guy,” Paige says.
“Who says hunky anymore?” I squinch my face.
“Hunky is a fabulous word.”
I turn to Lana. “Lana, are you okay? I know you’re still trying to get over your ex, but I’m worried about you. Can we do anything to help?”
“I know I’m not myself right now. Thanks, you guys, for hanging in there with me. I guess I’m not sure where to start. Seeing random guys doesn’t seem to be the route I want to go. No offense, Paige.”
“None taken.”
“I’ll figure it out,” Lana says, dismissing the air with her hand.
“Okay, well we’re here if you need anything,” I reiterate.
“Always,” Paige agrees.
“So, let’s schedule a date to do a lookover of the gym. Lay out a plan for what we should work on first. ”
“Oh geez,” Paige smacks her forehead.
“Let me know what day and I’ll be there,” says Lana.
I take out my phone to make sure we have a date and time to review everything that needs to happen. We all need to be on the same page if this is going to work.
“Thursdays are out for me. As long as my dad doesn’t cancel again. How about Tuesday?”
“Works for me,” says Paige. “It’s the slowest day at the spa.”
“Okay, perfect.”
Once we schedule our day, we carry on chatting and planning for the gym for an hour before we decide to call it.
I have a lot to prepare before I leave with Matt.
I’m excited to see where things lead with him.
Why not travel with him? The girls have given me some clarity.
For some reason, I can let go and be fun around him.
He’s showing me a new side of myself and the things I want in a relationship.
I don’t know where I’ll end up, but I’m hoping for a hot “horse” to ride into the sunset with me.
I video call him once I get home. He answers wearing casual clothes and with wet hair like he just got out of the shower.
“Hello, Miss Scarlett.”
I smile while my cheeks heat. Why does talking to Matt make me blush?
“Hey there. Guess who’s going with you to some location she has no idea about?”
“I already knew that. There’s no news there, sweetheart.”
“I said I would have to talk to my business partners before I agreed.”
He stares at me, looking bored with my reply.
“Anyway, do I need a passport? I don’t have one,” I ask.
“Why don’t you have a passport? You should have one.”
“We all can’t travel whenever we feel like it, you know. Some people have to be at a place to work.” The idea of work has me fidgeting with my hair. I hope I can have things figured out before we leave.
“You won’t need a passport for this trip. We won’t go too far.” I hear some rustling in the background. “Listen, sweetheart, I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? I have some things I need to take care of right now.”
“Oh, right. Sorry, talk to you later then.” I smile and wave goodbye.
He waves goodbye and hangs up. My leg bounces at the table in anticipation. I just agreed to go on a trip and I have no idea where I’m going. I get up from the table with the need to move around and do something. I go to my closet and start reorganizing it, wondering what to pack for this vacation.
This trip is going to solidify our relationship or end it. You learn a lot about a person when you’re with them all the time. There’s also the issue of us both wanting to live in different states, so I hope he’ll come around.
It sounds like Matt has had several of these trips with other girls. I don’t know how long I can do casual before I start to fall for someone. If I start falling, I’m going to have to end things between us before I end up with a broken heart.
Agreeing to step out of my comfort zone with someone—dating, surprise trips, letting them take control—might be an indication it’s too late and I’ve already fallen.
I hope he’ll fall too.