You Were Meant For Me
Chapter 1: Reunited, and it Feels So Good!
Kelly was so excited to be seeing Matthew again. It was three years, four months, and a week after Gossip Girl had last aired, and they had finally gotten the okay to do a Gossip Girl movie. Filming started in a few days, but tonight was a big cast reunion party. They were going to have dinner, be interviewed, then party the night away. She could hardly wait! She had missed Matthew so very much!
She finished getting ready, then walked over to her closet, and took out a photo album she had on the top shelf. She pulled it down, then sat on her bed—careful not to wrinkle her dress—and opened the book to look through it. It was mainly a collection of pictures from her time on Gossip Girl. There was a picture of her kissing Ed's cheek. There was a picture of Penn, Ed, and Chase holding Blake, who was stretched out on their arms as if their arms were a couch. Blake was laughing. It was an adorable picture that Kelly couldn't help but smile at. There was a picture of Gossip Girl creators and writers, Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz with their arms around each other and their heads resting against the other as they smiled at the camera. There was a picture of Taylor, Leighton, and Blake sitting on the steps of The Met. There was one of Connor and Taylor laughing together at something as they sat on the couch. There was one of her and Michelle posing like models for the camera (just for fun). And then, toward the middle, were the pictures of her and Matthew.
There were a lot of shots of her and Matthew in character, looking happy and in love. Then some, they also looked happy and in love, but they weren't in character.
There was one of them with Chris, the actor that played Rufus and Lily's son. He stood between his two "parents" and they all had their arms around each other, smiling big, and looking like a happy little family.
Then, at the very back of the book was all the pictures of her and Matthew that she had collected. They were all taken off set.
She smiled as she looked through the pictures. She and Matthew used to be so close. At one point, she wanted to date him, but then the whole thing with losing her kids to their ass of a father in France thing had gotten in the way. Then he had met Maria, and that was pretty much the end of their closeness.
It hadn't been that way with Leyla, Matthew's girlfriend before Maria. Matthew still flirted with her, and Leyla wasn't around nearly as much. Leyla worked. Maria lived off Matthew almost right from the start.
Kelly sighed. At first she and Matthew were still close even after he started dating Maria. They'd still be flirty, and they kissed at events just for fun. Heck, they even went to France together one time when she was there to visit her kids. They had had fun, but then he left for a wedding in Rome, and she stayed on a bit more in France before coming home. When Matthew came back from Rome, things were different. He hung out with her a couple times, but it was mainly Maria he hung out with. Then, he started hanging out with Maria more and more, and with her less and less.
Kelly was a little sad at the thought of everything ending between herself and him then. From then on, everything Matthew used to do with her, he did with Maria. Kelly used to go to so many events with him. Now, Maria went to all the events with him. Maria moved in with him, and therefore she and Matthew hung out twenty-four seven, leaving little to no time for her and Matthew to hang out. Maria had taken her place.
After Gossip Girl ended, things only got worse. Matthew was never home. Heck, he'd barely even see his daughter. He was too busy living it up with Maria, being gone for a month or more at a time. They practically began living in California. They even went back to Matthew's hometown to have Maria meet his family. He filmed Maria every chance he got, and made sure to put in on his favorite filming app. They spent quite a lot of time with his family. They also went to meet her family in Argentina, then headed over to Brazil. They barely came back to NYC, except for him to see Aven for a week or less, then he'd take off again for a month or more with Maria. Not Even Aven seemed to be good enough for Matthew anymore now that he had his precious Maria.
Kelly didn't like Maria. She seemed way too possessive of Matthew, and she couldn't do anything on her own. Matthew even had to come with her when she got her hair cut! Also, Maria seemed to think she was Aven's mother at first, spending so much time with her. Now, Maria was perfectly happy with her and Matthew being away from Aven just so long as they could be happy and in love anywhere but NYC.
Kelly didn't know for sure, but she was pretty sure Maria just wanted him away from her. Kelly knew Maria could see the chemistry she had with Matthew. She could from before she started dating Matthew. Still, it didn't stop her from snatching him right out of her grasp, just when she (Kelly) and Matthew were getting close.
Kelly closed the book. She honestly didn't know why Matthew kept wanting to date such young girls. She supposed it was a midlife crisis or something.
She sighed. She didn't want to hate Maria. Well, she didn't hate her. She just didn't like her. Another thing that made her blood boil was the fact that Maria let Matthew pay for everything. Her expensive clothes, all the air fair and trips, her food and drinks, the movies they rented and went to see—you name it! Heck, Matthew had moved Maria out of her crappy apartment and into his big, wonderful apartment shortly into their relationship. She bet Maria didn't even offer to help pay the rent. Oh, and the fact that Maria was always all over him like a sick puppy in heat made her blood boil too. It was sickening and pathetic, and made her want to rip Maria's hair out by the roots, then shove it down Maria's throat!
Kelly hated herself for feeling this way. She was the type that didn't feel this way about anyone. Well, occasionally the father of her children, but that was another story.
She sighed, and got up off the bed. She smoothed out her dress, then picked up the book, carried it over to her closet, and slid it back onto the top shelf. None of it mattered now anyway. Matthew had started talking to her less and less, and soon, he stopped talking to her completely. He had his busy life with Maria. He didn't care about Kelly anymore. And now, three years, four months, and a week later, she hadn't heard from Matthew in a good two years. She had no idea how he was anymore. He would ignore her calls, texts and tweets, so finally, she just stopped trying.
She checked her outfit in the full length mirror, then reapplied her lipstick. Then, she put her lipstick back in her purse, turned on her heel, and left the apartment. She guessed she would finally find out what became of Matthew once she got to the party. That is, if he could pull himself away from Maria long enough to show up.
~You Were Meant For Me~
The event was held at a new place that had just been build about a year ago. A lot of celebrities used it for parties, but tonight, it was reserved souly for the Gossip Girl movie kickoff party.
The building was called A-list, for mainly A-listers frequented the place. Probably because they were one of the only ones who could afford the outrageous prices.
The place was huge. One half was decorated like a five-star restaurant. The tables were and chairs were made of white gold, and the tablecloths were made from the finest white linen imported from Europe. Gorgeous, white gold and diamond encrusted chandeliers that would cost three years worth of paychecks for the average person were elegantly hung from the ceiling. The food was five-star, and the waiters were dressed classy from head to toe.
The other half of the place had a stage, a bar, and a huge dance floor. There were strobe lights and even a disco ball with speakers on every wall to give the full surround sound effect. The floor was the coolest part. Each square flashed a different color when nighttime came. During the day, they just looked like beautifully colored plexiglass.
Both sides were separated by a long, red carpeted hallway, and the dance room half had soundproof walls so as not to disturb any of the diners.
Outside of A-list was a red carpet blocked off by red velvet ropes on the sides. A red carpet led the guests to two big two-way mirrored side-by-side doors. You couldn't see into A-list, but once you were inside, you could see out.
Kelly smiled and posed for pictures that the photographers on each side of the ropes were taking. She also stopped to sign autographs for fans who heard about the night's event and were eagerly awaiting a celebrity sighting. She got a few pictures with fans as well, but she was already a little late, so she couldn't get pictures with everyone of course.
Two bouncers were at the door, whom Kelly didn't recognize, but she smiled politely at them and nodded.
"Good evening, Miss. Rutherford," the bouncer on the left said with a polite nod.
"You're looking particularly beautiful today, Miss Rutherford," said the bouncer on the right.
Kelly blushed, then kissed the left bouncer's cheek." Good evening!" She then turned to the right bouncer, and kissed his cheek as well. "Thank you, Handsome!" She smiled and winked at him, then giggled as the bouncers both smiled like men who had just won the lottery. Then, when they opened the doors for her, she stepped in, eager to reunite with her Gossip Girl family.
The first thing she did when she stepped into A-list, the doors closing gently behind her, was search around to see who had arrived already. Of course, she was mainly looking for Matthew, but she was eager to see everyone else as well.
Everyone had been told to meet in the restaurant half, so she headed into the restaurant part.
The first people her eyes laid eyes on were Stephanie and Josh, who were laughing with whom she was pretty sure was the director. She was going to go say hi when she heard Blake's familiar voice.
"Oh my gosh, Mom!" Blake cried, running over to her.
Kelly grinned. Blake looked as stunning as ever. She still had a perfect body, shiny long blonde hair, and flawless skin. She was in a sequined blue and green dress that fit her like a glove, showing off Blake's hourglass figure. She even had the sequined blue and green shoes to match! "My beautiful daughter, come here! Oh, it's so good to see you again!" Kelly said, pulling her former TV daughter and soon-to-be movie daughter into a hug. "Oh how I've missed you!"
"I've missed you too," Blake said.
"How is Ryan and your gorgeous one-year-old doing?" Kelly asked with a grin. Blake, being a high-profile actress made it easy for Kelly to keep in touch with her. Whatever happened in Blake's life, the media made sure the world knew about it.
"Ryan and Jake are both doing great! They are having a nice daddy and son day at home. Jake is growing up so fast!" Blake cooed.
Kelly nodded. "Tell me about it! I can hardly believe Hermés is going to be ten in October, and Helena will be seven in just over a month!"
Blake smiled. "Where does the time go? How are they?"
"They're great! I know they love their father, but they've been so much happier since I won full custody almost a year and a half ago. That time flew by too. They're visiting their grandma now. She took them to Disney Land! They are beyond happy." Kelly grinned.
"And Daniel's still in jail, huh?" Blake asked with a slight wince, as if she wasn't sure if that was a touchy subject or not.
Kelly nodded. Daniel had been caught embezzling money from his clients. He was sentenced to five years in prison. "He still has three and a half years to go. It's no sweat off my back when it comes to him, but, for my kids' sake, I am sorry they have to see their father in prison. But Daniel brought it upon himself."
Blake grinned. "At least it helped you get your kids back. The judge finally saw what an ass he was."
Kelly laughed. "Very true!"
They made small talk a little bit more, then they both went separately off to mingle with the others.
"Hello, Lily," Ed said, putting on his fake American accent. He winked at Kelly, a smirk on his face.
Kelly's whole face lit up. She had missed him almost as much as she had missed Matthew. Almost. "Charles!" She said, playing along as if she were in character. She pulled Ed into a tight hug. "It's been too long!" She held him at arm's length. "You haven't been keeping in touch with your mother. You never call me anymore," she teased.
Ed grinned. "I know, and there's no excuse for it. I'm sorry."
Kelly swatted the air as if she had just seen a fly. "I was just teasing. I haven't exactly been keeping in touch much either. It's kind of hard when you're all the way in London! So, how have you been?"
"I'm doing great! I have a new band now, and I've also done a few episodes of a new British TV show," Ed answered.
"That's great! What's your band's name?" Kelly asked.
"London Fog," Ed answered.
"I'd love to hear you play someday!" Kelly said.
Ed nodded. "Yes! And now that you have your children back, you guys can come visit me in London."
"And you can come visit us in New York more often," Kelly said with a smirk as she gently nudged him.
Ed laughed, then nodded. "That too." He then placed his arm around her. "Well, I'll be living here for a year while we film the movie. We'll have a lot of time to catch up."
"That sounds great!" Kelly agreed, placing her arm around him as well.
"Let's go see how Leighton's doing. Shall we?" Ed asked.
"Yes! Oh my gosh this feels like a family reunion!" Kelly said, removing her arm from around Ed, and clapping her palms together in a prayer position.
However, before she could get over to Leighton, the doors opened.
She glanced over to see Matthew entering the building.
She stopped short as she stared. He looked good. He looked real good. In fact, he looked just as he had the last time she saw him, only better. Either he had had a little work done like she had, or he had aged really well. She was surprised to see that he was solo. Maria was nowhere in sight.
She watched as he walked over to Chase and gave him a noogie before patting him hard on the back. Chase playfully pushed him away, them smoothed out his hair that Matthew had just messed up.
Kelly felt her heart pound. Matthew looked so handsome in his khaki pants and cobalt blue dress shirt under a black suit jacket that was well-tailored. He had a matching cobalt blue hankie in the pocket of his suit jacket, and a black tie. On his feet were cobalt blue socks, and black dress shoes. His hair looked clean and polished. As the old cliché went, he looked like a million bucks.
She didn't want to take her red lipstick off, or Heaven forbid get any on her teeth, but even so, she couldn't help but bite her bottom lip. He looked so good, she just wanted to run right over to him, and devour him. That was the part that had a secret crush on him. The part of her that missed her friend deeply wanted to run over to him, embrace him, and never let go. Oh how she had longed for his scent that was a mix between his aftershave and his Hugo Boss cologne. She wondered if he still wore the same ones, or if his taste had differed.
She watched as Penn came over, and Matthew gave him a huge hug. They talked for a moment just the two of them, then they let Chase join in on the conversation. Connor entered then, and then the four of them started hugging, joking, laughing, and catching up. None of them noticed her staring.
"Hey, are you coming? I was halfway to Leighton, and I asked you a question. I turned to see why you weren't answering me, and I see you're ten feet away from me!" Ed grinned as if to show he wasn't angry; just amused.
Kelly blushed. "Sorry. I got sidetracked." She looked over at Matthew again, who still hadn't noticed her.
Ed smiled knowingly. "Well, as you can see, he's occupied right now. Let's go say hello to Leighton first, and then you can go say hello to Matthew." He winked at her and smirked.
"I want to say hello to Chase, Connor, and Penn too," Kelly said, a little embarrassed that Ed seemed to know exactly what was going on in her head.
Ed smirked. "Sure you do. Right after you say hello to Matthew, and possibly snog him."
Kelly blushed. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Ed raised an eyebrow, not buying it for a second! "Uh huh! Your blush kind of gives you away, Love."
Kelly blushed even more. "I'm not blushing. I just put too much blush on. It's makeup." She looked down to the floor.
"Funny how the makeup didn't show up until now," Ed said, apparently enjoying teasing her mercilessly.
Kelly rolled her eyes, and latched her arm with his. "Let's just go see Leighton."
Ed laughed. "That's where we were headed before Lover Boy over there distracted you."
"I'm going to kill you!" Kelly said with a laugh, and a gentle push.
Ed grinned. "I'll shut up." He kissed her cheek, then continued walking with her.
Kelly looked over her shoulder as they walked, and that is when it happened—hers and Matthew's eyes locked, blue-green eyes to brown eyes.
Kelly quickly looked away, and kept heading toward Leighton. She wasn't ready to face Matthew quite yet.
~And I Was Meant For You~
Matthew couldn't believe how good Kelly looked. Well, he could. Kelly always looked gorgeous. She was the most beautiful woman in the world in his eyes. She always had been. Still, he expected her to looked like she aged a bit. If anything, she looked younger than he had remembered her to look. He wondered if she had gotten work done like he had, or if she just had really incredible genes. He never could get over how her body looked perfect despite her having given birth to two children. The years certainly hadn't changed that! She looked amazing in her red lace dress. It was cut just low enough to be sexy, yet still left plenty to the imagination. It had sheer lace outlining around the bottom of the short sleeves, and the V between her breasts was made of the same sheer lace. There was a skinny line of sheer lace around her waist as well, making that particular section look like a skinny belt. She wore nude colored stockings and red pumps. Her hair was pinned up, and her red lips made him want to kiss her. Her eyes were lined heavily with black liner, which he found incredibly sexy. Time had definitely been good to her, for she looked even more beautiful than he remembered.
"Yo, Dude, where'd you go?" Chase asked as he gently elbowed him.
Matthew looked over at him, blinking in confusion. "Huh?"
Chase grinned. "You kind of spaced out there for a moment."
"He was staring at Kelly. What's new?" Connor asked with a shrug. He looked at Matthew. "I swear I don't know why you and Kelly never hooked up."
Matthew blushed. "I was not staring at Kelly!" he insisted. "I was just looking to see who else was here."
Penn smirked. "Yeah, right! And I suppose your cheeks are flushed because you're hot?"
"Of course I'm hot. I mean, look at me!" Matthew joked, holding his head high, and tugging at the collar of his suit jacket.
Penn rolled his eyes, and Chase and Connor laughed.
"I don't think that's the kind of hot me meant," Connor stated. He then nodded over toward Kelly. "She does look beautiful. I can see why you'd stare at her."
Matthew was the one to roll his eyes this time. "Again, I was not staring at her."
"So, what have you been up to in the past three years?" Chase asked. He gently nudged Matthew. "It's what I asked you when you were too busy checking Kelly out to hear me."
Matthew shot him a, get off it already look. He then sighed, "Well, I—" But before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Josh's loud, booming voice over a microphone.
"All right, I see almost everyone is here. We're only missing Taylor, but she should be here at any moment, so we can get started. Everyone please take a seat anywhere you'd like, and we can get started with the appetizers!" Josh said into the mic. He was already sitting at the big long table against the back wall of the restaurant. He and Stephanie were sitting in the center with Stephanie to his left.
"Hold that thought," Chase said to Matthew with a smirk, and a hand on his shoulder.
Matthew grinned, then, like everyone else, headed to find a table.
Each table only held four people comfortably. Josh and Stephanie's table was the only long table. The rest of the tables were round. All the middle tables were in front of Josh and Stephanie's long table.
The director and his assistant were sitting with Josh and Stephanie. Blake, Leighton, Michelle, and Kelly had chosen the table to the right. Penn, Chase, and Connor quickly claimed the table to the left, so he headed to that table as well. But Ed got there first. The right middle right table consisted of William, Kaylee, Zuzanna, Margaret, and Wallace. That left only one table, which was the left middle table. Not wanting to sit just him and Taylor at a table, he walked over to the boys' table. "Make room. Taylor will be sharing with the girls, I'm sure. It would be awkward for her and I to share a table just the two of us," he said.
"I have an idea," Ed said loudly. He then shouted over to Kelly. "Hey, Kelly! Matthew has to sit at a table just him and Taylor. Why don't you sit at his table and let Taylor sit at your table? Since you two are close, and Taylor was close with Blake, Leighton, and Michelle, it would make more sense."
Matthew felt his heart race. He didn't know if he was ready to talk to Kelly one-on-one again. They had lost touch mainly because of him over the years. All right, it was all because of him. It was just that... Well, dating Maria had made him lose his head for a bit. He had met her when she was a bartender at one of his favorite bars. She had smiled at him, and he flirted with her, finding her attractive enough. He liked that she looked exotic, and was young, which was exactly his type. He found out she was from Argentina, and she told him about her hometown. He asked her out before leaving that night, she had agreed, and that was that. They were shortly after officially a couple.
He soon became obsessed with having something new i.e. Maria, and it was fun traveling the world instead of being bogged down by work every day. He never stopped loving Kelly, and he tried to keep in contact with her. It was just hard too when he was out with Maria all the time, and rarely home. Also, Maria didn't like Kelly much for some reason, and would get a little insecure every time he'd hang out with her. So, for Maria's sake and his own, he tried to distance himself from Kelly. Hardly ever being in New York had helped, and then eventually not returning her calls, texts or emails helped even more. He just couldn't handle Maria's questions, or her trying to read his texts over his shoulder. He couldn't handle her listening to his phone conversations, or reading his emails. She'd even followed Kelly on Instagram. Matthew was sure it was just to keep tabs on her since he knew Maria wasn't fond of her.
It also helped that Maria was young, and not from North America. He loved his women young and exotic.
Apart from Maria's Kelly insecurities, she was funny, and nice, and he really did love her. He had fun traveling with her, and it felt really good to not have to live alone anymore. He enjoyed the companionship, and of course the sex. He guessed, distancing himself from Kelly to hang out with Maria made him replace Kelly with Maria. Not that that he and Kelly had ever been an item, but, as far as companionship went, he pretty much had. He even started taking Maria to events instead of Kelly. He had no choice. Maria was very possessive and insecure. Besides, it looked kind of weird to chose to go with your friend instead of your girlfriend who lived with you, he knew.
He did get to go to a couple of events with Kelly when Maria had other things to do, but she wasn't happy about it. Heck, she was really upset when he and Kelly kissed just for fun at one of the events. True, he had enjoyed kissing Kelly, and he was pretty sure she had enjoyed kissing him, but Maria didn't know that! And it really was just a harmless kiss for the cameras. The fans had been begging for it.
Then there was the time that Kelly kissed his cheek for his video app. It was a soundless app, but Kelly said something to him, he couldn't even remember what it was now, then she kissed his cheek before smiling and winking at the camera. When Maria saw that, the questions came rushing out. "Why did she kiss you? What did she say? Do you have feelings for her?"
Matthew calmly answered her questions, assuring her that Kelly was just having some flirty fun like she did with all of her male friends. He assured Maria that Maria was the only girl for him.
Even so, Maria instead on doing a duplicate clip. She said something to him (again, he couldn't remember what), and then kissed his cheek. She didn't smile or wink like Kelly had, but he had still found it a little uncomfortable. She was clearly copying Kelly, and even the fans knew it. Two girls commented on her clip that she was copying Kelly's clip with him. They said it politely, and told her Kelly would be flattered. He detected some sarcasm in their comments, but kept his mouth shut. Maria didn't say anything about the comments, so he figured he'd play it safe and not mention them either.
Eventually, he stopped returning Kelly's messages, and stopped coming home to New York as often. He was either traveling with Maria, or living in LA. He missed Kelly terribly, but he knew it was best to distance himself from her. After all, if he didn't, then he'd have been tempted to date Kelly, and he wasn't sure if their friendship could last if they dated. Kelly wasn't his usual type. What if they ended up not meshing well as a couple, and it ended badly? Their friendship would never be the same after that no matter how hard we tried for it to be, and he simply wasn't willing to risk losing Kelly, or the friendship he had with her. Then again, cutting off contact with her was like losing her too, but at least they weren't on bad terms. At least, he didn't think they were. Like he thought earlier, dating Maria had made him lose his head for a bit.
"Aren't you going to sit down?"
Matthew was broken from his thoughts at the sound of Kelly's voice. He looked over to see Kelly sitting at the left middle table.
She smirked at him. "Or are you still avoiding me?"
He felt his palms start to sweat, and he felt a little shaky. He was nervous, which was weird to him because he was never nervous around Kelly. He sat down in front of her just in case his knees gave out. He put on a smile, and laughed nervously. "Avoiding you? I haven't been avoiding you. I've just been really busy lately."
Kelly raised an eyebrow, the smirk still on her face. "For two years? Surely you could have found a few minutes in the two years we lost contact to call me, text me, or tweet me. An email would have been nice. You do know how to use the reply button, right?"
Her tone wasn't harsh. In fact, it had a hint of amusement to it. Still, Matthew felt guilty for cutting off contact with her.
He sighed. "I'm sorry. I guess I had my priorities screws up, and I handled things wrong." He looked down at the table, and picked up his fork. He began gently banging it against the table as a way to relieve some of the awkward tension between them. It gave his brain something else to focus on.
"Handled what things wrong?" Kelly's tone was soft and full of concern now. She placed her hand overtop of his fork banging hand, causing him to stop his fork banging.
He looked her in the eyes, wanting so badly to explain to her why he had cut off all contact with her. But before he could speak, Josh interrupted him once again. "Taylor! There she is! I'm so glad you could join us, Tay! I see you've still got the same Taylor style that is uniquely you."
Kelly giggled, and Matthew looked toward the doorway where she, and everyone else was looking. In came Taylor wearing nothing but torn black fishnet stockings, black motorcycle boots that went to her knees, a black teddy, and enough eyeliner to make a raccoon jealous. Her bright red lips were smirking. "Hello, Bitches!" She grinned. "And Bastards." She winked.
Everyone voiced their hello, happy to see another part of their TV and now movie family arrive.
"Please, take your seat, Tay! You can sit over there with the girls. They're holding a spot for you," Josh said to her.
Taylor grinned at her former cast mates, and did as told, sitting down at their table, and greeting her good friends that she had lost contact with.
"Well! To keep this simple, the menu is the same for everyone. I asked you all to email me with any food allergies you may have, and since none of you sent me in anything, I take it you're all food allergy free! If not, well, you can't hold me accountable. You had your chance," Josh said.
Everyone laughed.
"All right, the servers are going to start coming out with the appetizers, and they will take your drink orders. We will resume with the entertainment between dinner and dessert, so enjoy!" Josh said.
That was that. Everyone began talking amongst themselves at their tables, and Matthew knew that he could no longer avoid talking to Kelly. Really talking to Kelly.
Thankfully, she at least seemed to have forgotten about what they had been talking about before he had gotten interrupted.
The waiters brought out their salads, and placed a basket in the middle of the table filled with packets of different dressings. They also put out a basket with a loaf of Italian bread, and a crystal bowl filled with butter. They also both got a chef's salad, and a bowl of beef barley soup and oyster crackers.
They both ordered a red wine. They also both had a water that had been put on the table when the tables were set.
Once the server had left, they dug into their food.
"If the main course is as good as all this stuff is, which I'm sure is, it will be a great night!" Matthew joked as he pat his stomach.
Kelly grinned. "I'm looking forward to the dessert! I hear it's crème brûlée."
"In that case, let's skip right to the dessert!" he joked back.
Kelly laughed. "Sounds good!"
"So, I hear you have your kids back now," Matthew said to her. "Congrats!"
Kelly smiled. "Yeah! I wasn't sure you knew about that."
Matthew smirked. "How would I not? It was all over the news. Especially with Daniel going to jail."
Kelly looked at the table. "Yeah. I didn't think about that. I just meant, you stopped talking to me, so I didn't think you'd know anything about my life now."
"I know more than you think," Matthew said, looking down at the table as well. Just because he hadn't had contact with her, didn't mean he didn't still keep tabs on her, reading her twitter and facebook posts, and of course reading every article and interview that she was in, and watching the new movies and TV episodes she had been in.
They didn't say much then as they ate their meal. They made a little bit of small talk, but it was awkward. They just weren't flowing like they used to.
Their grilled chicken with mango sauce arrived then. They also had a side of buttered and salted green beans, and a side of mashed potatoes and gravy. Their wines had arrived during their appetizers. Now that the main course had arrived, the waiter topped their wines off.
"Thank you," Kelly said.
"Thanks," Matthew said, nodding a polite thanks to their server.
"You're very welcome," their server said before taking off again.
"So." Kelly looked Matthew in the eyes again. "Why did you cut off all contact with me?" Her eyes refused to leave his as she blinked expectantly, waiting for his answer.
Matthew sighed. He had hoped she had forgotten about asking him that. Then again, he knew it had to come up sometime. It might as well be then so that he could get it over with.
He cleared his throat, then took a sip of his wine before replying. "There's no good excuse. I had my head screwed on wrong when I was dating Maria. To make it short, she had insecurity issues when it came to you, and I felt guilty hanging out with you. Even thought nothing was going on between you and me, she thought there was, and I didn't want to upset her. However, I couldn't be around you and not want to hangout with you and be in contact with you, so..."
"So, you dropped all contact with me," Kelly answered for him. "And made it so that you didn't have to see me ever." She sipped her wine, her eyes still on him.
He nodded. "Whenever I'm with you, I feel the need to be close with you. I liked kissing you for fun, I liked being flirty with you. I liked putting my arms around you. I liked being with you, period. But, like I said, Maria felt uncomfortable with you and me hanging out together. I didn't want to hurt her. I loved her, and I didn't want to lose her. Also, you had so much going on yourself at the time with having to travel back and forth to France, and the custody battle. I wanted to travel, as did Maria, so I traveled, I kept my distance from you, and the problem was solved." He took a bite of his chicken. It was good, but his stomach was too much in knots to enjoy it.
"So, where is Maria now? Won't she be upset if she knew you and I are sharing a table just the two of us?" Kelly took a bite of her chicken as well.
Matthew looked up at her. "We broke up a year ago. Things just didn't end up working out between us." He took a sip of his wine.
"So, who are you dating now?" Kelly asked.
Matthew shrugged. "No one." He nodded at her. "You?"
Kelly shook her head. "Oh, there's been a few guys, but never anything that serious. Right now, I'm just enjoying having my children back." She smiled, then went back to eating her chicken.
Matthew didn't know if it was just his imagination, or what, but to him, she suddenly looked happier after finding out he was currently single. It was okay if she was, for he was happy knowing she was currently single too.
He smiled to himself as he ate more of his delicious mango chicken. He could enjoy it more now that his stomach was unknotted.