Perfect Match (10 page)

So I just took out my phone again and called Emma.

“So… It’s okay that I called 10 minutes after I last saw you?” I asked, and heard her giggle. Man, I missed that sound. “I mean, did you actually have time to miss me?”

“Oh, sure, Nicholls, I miss you since I’ve left. You know we can’t be apart,”
I loved she was actually playing along.

“So I didn’t bother you? I thought your muscle boyfriend would call and check out if you’re… You know. Alone? Still dating him? That kind of things.”

“I think there is this thing called “trust” that you don’t know about, Nicholls,”
she teased.

“I know I wouldn’t trust my girlfriend with a guy like me,” I smirked and she laughed.

“I’m sure he has more self-esteem than you think, Matt.”

“We’re back on the first name basis, Ems?”

“We’re back to the “Ems” nickname?”
she teased.
“I haven’t heard that in a while,”
she added.

“I missed it, too,” I admitted.

“Who said I missed it?”
she laughed. God, she was actually driving me crazy!
“So… You know I have one question. Are you planning on staying in front of my building until tomorrow? Because… You look like a stalker out there.”

I looked up, and saw her bent over the balcony with a smile on her lips. She was still wearing the yellow dress that suited her perfectly.

“Weren’t you talking about coming over at one o’clock? It’s nearly one o’clock, so I thought I’d stick around here. It’s a nice neighborhood. Really… empty. Plus, I have no idea how to get home,” I admitted and she burst out laughing. For about two minutes. “I’d like to know what’s so funny!”

“You. How could you walk around L.A not knowing where to go?”

“I was being nice, Ems. I offered to walk you home, so gimme some credit, will ya? I am actually waiting for Ben.”

“So you just thought of giving up that stupid rule and call me to say you… miss me?”

“I just called… to say… I love you,” I started singing and she laughed again.

“Just to be clear, you called me to kill me with your deathly singing skills? Because it’s quite working, Nicholls.”

“You wouldn’t invite me over, right? You just leave me here, alone, in the dark… With nothing but my good intentions… And good looks…”

“Especially good looks,”
Emma emphasized, of course laughing.
“If I looked like you, I’d definitely be afraid to walk around. L.A. is a pretty dark place for hot guys. They’re just so rare!”

“I know. That’s why I decided to come here. To bring some light into the City of Angels.”

“I think your guardian angel is showing up now, Nicholls,” she said, pointing to the car that was getting closer. “Good night, Matthew,” she said smiling.

“Good night, Ems,” I replied as Ben pulled the car next to me.

“Need a ride, hottie?” he asked, and started laughing when I wanted to open the door. “Wait a minute, what would you do for a ride?”

“Shut it, douche,” I said opening the door and waving at Monica who pulled her car along and smiled at me. Or Ben. One of us. Maybe at Ben, most likely.

Of course he made fun of me all the way home. He couldn’t stop it. And he was actually a hilarious person so I couldn’t hide my smile and we both ended up laughing our asses off till we arrived at his place.

He lived in a nice apartment in Santa Monica and because he worked this summer he got to live alone this year. But of course, now he had me.

“How long are you planning on staying?” Ben asked when we entered his apartment.

I really liked this place. It was a typical bachelor’s place, with nothing in particular, in his living room there was a black couch, a coffee table, an oversized TV for football matches, and PlayStation, and I was planning on taking real advantage of that one. The walls were painted in white. He had also a poster with The Lord of the Rings, of course, Legolas’s.

“I don’t know. Do you want me to go already?”

“No, dude, just askin’. I’m glad to have my bro here,” he said, and bumped his fist to mine.

“I think I wanna stay here. Move here, actually. Find a job, help you with the utilities… And…”

“Cool!” He exclaimed. “A beer?”

“Really? I thought you were going to say no or…”

“You’re my bro, Matt. I am happy you’ll stay here. And my last roommate sucked. You’re the man, Nicholls,” he said, throwing me a beer and I caught it casually and shrugged.

“So we’re just gonna be two hot guys living together? We should throw a party!”

“Easy, cowboy. No parties. I’m not cleaning anything after you,” he warned me. “So how did it go with Emma?”

“About that, couldn’t you tell me she’s dating that brainless muscle man?”

“Brainless muscle man?” Ben burst out laughing, holding his stomach as he sat on the couch. “Dude, he’s actually pretty funny and smart. You’re not jealous, are you? I mean, thought you got over Emma!”

“I did! We’re just friends!” I replied.

“Surely! Then why would you be jealous of Morgan? Because I noticed how you reacted when he kissed her. Look, Matt, I know you had a crush on her this summer, and after everything that happened between you two nobody blames you, but you have to get over it. She is happy now, yes, don’t look at me like that, and Morgan treats her really well. Matthew, get over it. If you really wanna be friends with her, it’s okay, but nothing more. Deal?”

“But I…”

“Not buts,” Ben cut me off.

“Not butts? Seriously, it’s been quite a while you know. Not everyone has a smocking hot girlfriend. Dude, she’s hot!”

“I know, right? Now let’s be serious. Let her be happy with Morgan.”

“What if I really want her?” I asked.

“Do you?” Ben glared at me, studying me intensely.

“No. I don’t think so,” I replied sincerely.

“Then let it go, Matt. You’re not the relationship type, and girls like Emma need stability, you know? She’s great.”

“So Morgan guy gives her… stability?” I asked laughing.

“Matt! Stop it. Just get over it. Morgan is acting nicely, so…”

“I just don’t like the guy. But fine. I’ll… get over it,” I said imitating Ben.

“Screw you, dude.” he said turning the TV on.

*

When I went to the kitchen in the morning, I noticed Ben was gone. He left me a post-it note on the kitchen that said “
I’m out. Food in the fridge.”
I nodded silently, opening the fridge and taking out everything out of it. I spent about 10 minutes making a huge sandwich with every item found in Ben’s fridge, including mayonnaise, ketchup, cheese, salami and bacon. It tasted awesome. I sat on the couch, with my feet on the coffee table, I thought that’s why was there, guys don’t drink “coffee” on a coffee table, while switching the channels on TV.

Although I hated everything on TV, I spent about half an hour in front of it. After eating the first sandwich, I decided to make another one. While eating I thought that I should do some exercise. I’ll just ask Ben later about his gym. I could go with him. He actually looks better than last time I saw him. He must’ve been working out. Hard. I remember when he was just a skinny, tiny boy in 8
^th
grade. Then we both entered in our high school’s football team, and he seemed to grow a few inches in a couple of months and started to win some weight too… And muscles.
And I definitely knew Ben ate as much as I did. Mom hated when he stayed the night. Usually the fridge was empty by midnight.

When I got bored I decided to take a shower before going to the store to buy some Pepsi. Ben was a Coke guy. I hated Coke. I liked Pepsi. I still had time to go to Emma’s and I had her address on a paper Ben gave me. So I would just take a cab. And hope he’ll get me where I had to be.

I really wondered what I should wear, because my clothes were still in the luggage and I wasn’t in the mood to do the unpacking thing. So I just took a white shirt out of Ben’s closet and the same pair of black jeans I wore the other night. Maybe Ben will help me unpack. I was such a lazy person.

By 11:30 I decided I could go to Emma’s sooner. Surely she won’t mind. Or would she? I had nothing to do, and I wasn’t ready to start working. When I made sure I had the paper with the address in the pocket, the keys Ben gave me, my phone and wallet, I got out, locking the door, thing that actually made me go insane, because the damn door didn’t lock. What was the matter with it? I made it eventually, after slamming the hell out of it.

I was surprised how easily I found a taxi on the street. I noticed there were a lot of hot girls in short and tight tops, with blonde hair, rocking high heels. Yeah, I liked Los Angeles.

The road didn’t take long and I was at Emma’s building by 12:20. I knew she lived on the second floor, the apartment 205. I found it easily and rang the bell, and I leaned on the door frame, trying to look cool. I was cool, actually. So the door was the one which looked cool now.

A fresh Emma opened the door after I knocked the second time, looking surprise I managed to find her apartment and didn’t even call. Or maybe she was surprised I looked that good. It had to be one of those, I guess. She smiled and invited me in.

“I didn’t expect you so soon,” she confessed, looking at her wrist watch. “Yeap, you’re early.”

I smirked while checking her out. She was wearing a loose t-shirt that actually hung on her really well, leaving her right shoulder bare and a pair of blue shorts. Her hair was a little curly, probably from last night.

“I know, I thought I’d spare you some time of missing me.”

She laughed and sat on the couch, with a lot of papers surrounding her.

“Sit!” she said laughing. “Or are you planning on staying there the whole day? I told you yesterday I have this project to work on, and you’re actually early and I haven’t finished it, but you can… I don’t know… Want something to drink?”

“Nope, thanks. Just finished a bottle of Pepsi,” I grinned, sitting next to her and taking a look at the papers, trying to look interested. “What are those about?”

“Um, inside design actually. Not really interesting, though. So, how was your first day in L.A.?” she asked looking back to her project.

“Not bad. I got to spent time with this awesome girl who used to be my friend, but she moved and… It’s good to catch up,” I said and she lifted her eyes, and stared at me with a serious look. I sighed. Maybe that wasn’t a good joke.

“I’m glad,” was the only thing she said. Yeap, bad joke, Matt. “I was actually able to catch up with this great guy yesterday, too,” she confessed writing something down.

“I’m sure he’s a great guy,” I stated, shifting on the couch and relaxing. I knew she actually was a funny person and could easily understand my stupid jokes.

“Oh, you have no idea. But he lacks at modesty. And that’s kinda awful. But he’s smart, and funny. Sometimes. He’s actually funny when he makes statements about how great he is.”

“Those confident bastards… How do they make it?”

“No idea,” she replied. “Sure don’t you want something?”

“Don’t worry, I’m perfect,” I said with a confident tone. She looked at me and laughed.

“Just what I was saying,” she muttered, but I decided to ignore it.

I took her laptop and decided to surf the internet a little bit while she finished her project and we small talked meanwhile. “Oh, how come I don’t have those pictures?” I asked turning the laptop so Emma could see the pictures of us, looking so perfect together on her Prom.

“Oh. Um…”

“Actual words will do it, Ems,” I told her and she blushed. Blushed? Really? “What, you didn’t know about those pictures?”

“No, I knew, I just…” she took a pause and looked anywhere but me. “I haven’t seen them in a while. I thought they were actually on my home’s computer.”

So she hasn’t even looked at them since she moved here? She really got over it faster than I did. I didn’t say anything else so I just opened my Facebook page, and I started talking with some buddies from college. I was actually bothered she hasn’t thought about me.

“Done!” she announced, about an hour after I got there.

It was weird how at first I thought it would be kind of weird to be there, but while the minutes passed, I felt even more relaxed with her, while she was doing her project, still asking me some questions about what I did in the last few months and stuff.

Being next to Emma was easy. It seemed natural and normal.

“I’m starving,” she said, stretching her arms. “Pizza or Chinese? I haven’t cooked anything recently, so we just have to order something.”

“Pizza,” I answered simply.

“I hoped you’d say Chinese,” she said with a sigh. “Fine! Monica is going to be late today.”

“I know. Ben slipped something about how he hoped I wasn’t in the apartment when they got back from tennis,” I said laughing.

“Oh. Okay. It’s better this way, anyway,” she said with a smile.

Just before she rose from the couch and order pizza, her phone rang. She sighed and sat back on the couch next to me, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging them with her left hand while she hold the phone with her right hand.

“Hello, mother,” she greeted. “I am perfectly fine, thank you.”

Wow, she actually used a cooler tone with her mom. And long words. She never actually talked about her mother. When we were talking about our families she started saying they were nice, but always ended up telling stories about Rick, her younger brother.

“Yes, I was indeed wondering about that. I wanted to call you, but I was extremely busy recently and I thought I… No, I am fine, and college is extraordinary. A bit wearisome. I am eating well, mother,” she said and a smile curled her lips. Yes, what about ordering pizza? I left out a giggle and she looked at me amused. “So I will come… No? Oh. Sure, I agree it is a better option for him. Of course, mother! I will take… Yes, mother, I will take care of him, he is not a baby anymore. I would not use “immature” in front of him, though. Agree, then it is settled. Sure. I will call you later this week to talk about the details. I miss you too, mom. Give dad a hug from me… And Rick. Goodbye.”

She sighed and let her head on her knees. Why would she talk that formal with her own mother?