All three women stood and stared towards the entrance of the living room. They heard keys in the lock of the door, and then heard it open. A voice then called,
“Val? I picked up some food for dinner, I thought we could eat then…” He trailed off as he entered the room, looked up and saw them all staring there. “Shit.” He said.
“Shit indeed.” Said Michelle before walking into the kitchen, leaving them to it.
“Wh…What’s going on?” he asked fearfully, as he could see the anger in their eyes.
“Well I’d like you to tell me.” Val replied, “Do you know who this is?” she pointed to Maddie. He started to deny it, then stopped, clearly considering his options. He sighed,
“Yes, this is who I was with after I left you. What’s she doing here…?” he asked quietly.
“I met Val a few weeks ago. We’re friends.” Maddie said, not looking into his eyes. “You’re married.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Mads I’m so sorry.” He started to say until he got a glare from Val, “I wanted to tell you, I was going to but…” he looked frustrated; like he was wary of what to say while Val was still there.
“But what?” she said sadly, looking up into his eyes, his grew even more pained when they saw the heartbreak in hers, her anger had vanished the instant they looked at each other. There was silence.
“I think I need to talk to you both, on your own.” He said finally. Val sighed,
“Ok, whatever you want.” She left the room, tears rolling down her face. Maddie and Matt were left alone.
“What do you want to talk about?” She said softly.
“Come and sit down.” He replied, taking her hand. She shivered at his touch.
“Firstly, I just want to apologize. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was married, I should have done and believe me I would. And I shouldn’t have ended it like I did; I was being a dick. It’s just… well I’m sure you know that Val’s pregnant; I couldn’t leave her with a baby, my baby. That’s just not the right thing to do, I have to be there for her, but my feelings haven’t changed about you. I don’t know what to do about it, I just want to do what’s best for everyone.” Maddie sighed; she knew his heart was in the right place, and that he meant everything he said.
“Well, I understand; but you need to figure it out, it’s not fair on Val, it’s not fair on me and it’s not fair on you either. I’ll give you some time, you know where to find me.” She got up to leave, but Matt grabbed her arm, and stood up, he turned her round.
“Maddie… thank you.” He said. They were so close together, neither one moved. A few more inches… Maddie thought to herself, but shook the thought from her head and forced herself to leave. As she was going she paused by the kitchen door, she could hear Val crying.
“…The worst part is I just know he doesn’t love me anymore, I’d give anything for him to feel the same way I do, but he doesn’t.” She kept walking, out of the front door. It was dark now; she really didn’t want to walk home. She pulled out her phone and called Zack.
“Hey, Zacky?” she asked.
“Yep?”
“I’m at Val’s. Can you pick me up?”
“So…”
“Yes I know about Matt. Please just come and get me, I don’t want to be alone.”
“Of course sweetie, I’ll be there in 5.”
“Thank you.” She said, and hung up. Minutes later he pulled up on the curb, she got in the car.
“Can we talk about it when we get to yours?” She asked him, pain in her voice. He nodded, and drove in silence. The radio creating enough noise to keep her distracted from what just happened. It wasn’t long before they arrived at his, he opened the front door and held it for her; she smiled at him,
“Thanks.”
“It’s alright, come into the kitchen and tell me what happened, why were you at Val’s?” He replied as she sighed.
“It’s a long story really. I met Val a few weeks ago when I was shopping, we got to know each other and became friends, she told me she was pregnant but I had no idea Matt was the father, or that she even knew him. She told me she was going to tell him she was pregnant, the same evening was when he came and ended it with me. I called her today to meet up; I went to hers and told her what he’d done. Neither of us still had any idea we were talking about the same guy, until Michelle came round. It all got a bit confusing and angry, and then to make it worse Matt got there. He said he wanted to talk to us both separately; she got upset and went to speak to Michele. He basically told me he still likes me but wants to do the right thing by Val and the baby, so he doesn’t know what to do. I said I’d give him time to think and left.”
Zack was staring at her, looking slightly confused.
“So you actually knew Val, while you and Matt were together?” he asked as she nodded, “how weird is that… So how are you feeling now?”
“Confused mostly. Knowing he still likes me, but might not be with me… I don’t really know what to think, and I don’t want Val to be sad. She’s too nice. How much did you know?” she asked.
“Well Brian told me today that Val was pregnant and that they were kind of together. Michelle told him, that’s why I left earlier; I didn’t know what to say. I’m sorry I should’ve told you.” He looked down. She moved towards him, and lifted his face back up to look at her.
“You have nothing to apologize for, you’ve been too good to me. I owe you big time.”
“I just want you to know that I would never hurt you. Ever.” She could see the sincerity in his eyes, and she was sidetracked looking into them. He took a step towards her, put his hands on her waist, and slowly, not breaking eye contact, moved his face closer to hers. Her heart started beating double time, and she closed the gap between them, crushing her lips to his. The kiss was intense; she moved her hands up to his hair, bringing them closer together, as he pulled her hips towards him. After a few moments he pulled away, breathing heavily.
“So what do you want to do know?” he asked smiling.
“Well I think I’d quite like to do that again” she replied, smiling back at him. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards his bedroom.