Blind, Thick-Headed and Handsome - 1
Another take on what happened after the last episode …
For almost an hour Matt Houston stood gazing at the view of the city lights from his office. Normally the view was an enjoyable one, but not tonight. Elizabeth left. Another relationship ended because he couldn't reconcile his career with his personal life. He really loved her. He really thought she was 'the one'. Now he wondered if he would ever find that special someone to share his life with or was even meant to marry.
He knew the drill: go home, have a few beers, listen to some sad country songs, go fishing, work out, take a lot of cold showers and so on. In a matter of days he would be back to the normal routine of things, using work to occupy his time and his mind. He was good at his job. He could spend all day being a private eye and never regret the fact that he had no one to go home to at night.
He could only imagine the conversations he would have with some of his friends and family. Uncle Roy, for instance, would tell him to stop being so hard on himself. He was still young, 33, with plenty of time to find someone. And Cousin Will, like so many of his close friends, would ask why on earth he hadn't hooked up with his best friend CJ. He'd have a litany of answers, always ready for the draw on that one: "She's my business partner, my friend, it's never been like that between us, we've always agreed to keep things platonic, we're better off this way, blah, blah, blah." Yet, all he could think of right now was how much better the mere sound of her voice would make him feel. For some unexplained reason she was the one person who possessed that power.
On the other side of town, CJ Parsons stood at her kitchen sink taking a slight break from cleaning a few dishes to do some thinking. Even though she knew that Matt had a date with Elizabeth, she had this uncanny feeling that he was going to call her any minute. She didn't know why, she couldn't explain it, but that's how it always was between them. Instinct. Intuition. Chemistry. Over the course of twenty-odd years they had been through so much together. There was a connection and a bond between them stronger than any other people they had ever been involved with romantically. Any other couple who had that type of relationship would be married, or at least be sleeping together. But no, they hadn't ever done that. Only a few light kisses here and there, plenty of hugs, but no physical contact of the lower extremities, no sensual touching, foreplay, intercourse, or … wait, is it getting hot in here? Must be time to adjust the thermostat.
So for several reasons she was weary. She was getting tired of the single scene, as any reasonable 30something who's never been down the aisle would be. Every guy who was claimed by a friend to be perfect for her all turned out to be frogs - and she was tired of kissing frogs. She wanted to kiss a Prince – her Prince. The one man who day in and day out she had grown so close to. Besides being the best friend a girl could have, he was smart, good looking, funny, caring, good looking, passionate, kind, generous, not to mention good looking … How she could possibly find someone better than him?
She witnessed Matt date more than enough women that left him heart broken. Most of them didn't even make her bat an eye, except for Elizabeth. For some unexplained reason his latest fling really got to her, so much so that she even confessed to him her jealousy. She hoped that hint just might be enough to clue him in without hurting his feelings. But it wasn't. He just recited a line about how their relationship would never change except for the better. She might be an 80 year-old woman before Matt finally realized that she was the best thing to ever happen to him. She could humorously daydream about that, picturing them both as the last two people at the old age home until he finally concluded such.
The phone rang and she didn't even flinch.
"Your date over?"
"How'd you know it was me?"
"Lucky guess."
"Ah, yeah. It's over. In more ways than one."
Her heart skipped a beat. Did he just say that his relationship with Elizabeth was over? Not surprising, really. They had only known each other two months – hardly enough time to establish a deep meaningful relationship. It seemed to be a reoccurring pattern in his life - going from woman to woman. They could explore the psychological reasons as to why that kept happening at a later time. For now, she knew he needed her compassion and understanding, so she shifted her attitude and put her best friend hat on.
"What would you like to do, huh?"
"Mind if I come over?" he sheepishly asked.
Oh, boy. Another fun night of Matt wallowing in a tale of the woman that got away. This one almost made it down the aisle - could be an extra long session.
"On one condition: bring food."
She would need the extra nutrition to help her get through it.
"Deal. See ya soon."
Now that he had someone waiting for him, his mood suddenly improved. Being alone after a breakup was always the worst. Normally he would've just found one of his many one-night stands to keep him company but this time he needed something more, and for reasons he didn't totally understand, only wanted his best friend's company. He knew that she, more than anybody else, would understand what he was feeling. She had her share of loss in the romance department and would listen to his remorse and gently offer sound advice. He headed down to the gym to change into a sweatshirt and jeans before leaving the office.