Author's Note: As predicted, work has taken over my life, but I am doing my best not to leave monstrous gaps in between chapters. I hope you are still enjoying reading this, because I am really enjoying writing it. I promise I have an end game, it's just taking me a while to get there. As always reviews are greatly appreciated.
Chapter Eleven
Abby
Abby had mostly decided that the best way to deal with the situation with Buck was to pretend it hadn't happened – and move on. Now that Sam was pretty much out of the picture – or at least he would be once the divorce papers came through, and she knew Buck would be married within a week, the only other thing she needed for closure was to work things out with Matt. She'd texted Matt so that he knew where she was but she hadn't really spoken to him properly since she'd stormed out of his house in Vegas. She certainly hadn't told him what happened with Buck – and she supposed she didn't need to, it wasn't like she would've stayed with Sam either way.
It was summer break, and summer swim schools didn't start until the following week, so Abby had a whole week off work before the new schedule.
"I think I'm gonna head to Vegas for couple of days." She told Alice on Sunday evening.
"Why?" Alice wrinkled her nose.
"I think it's time I worked things out with Matt, you know my brother. We haven't really talked since we fell out over the whole Sam thing." Abby reminded her.
"Are you gonna go stay with him this time?" Alice asked.
"No, I don't think so. I mean I want to talk to him, but I'm not sure I want to do it like at his house. I think if I stay in a hotel and then I can meet him for lunch or something – it's more neutral." Abby mused.
"You gonna invite Buck to keep you company at the hotel?" Alice said, then biting her lip to stop herself from giggling. Abby gave her an unimpressed look and Alice released her lip and smiled, chuckling,
"I'm sorry, it's just, I really think you should talk to Buck." she emphasised Buck's name as if he was so much more interesting than Matt. In fairness, Abby supposed she wasn't wrong.
Abby called Matt on Monday morning and arranged to meet him on his lunch break Tuesday at his office. She managed to find a hotel, only a little cheaper than the one she had stayed in the last time and booked the room for two nights, opting to drive up to Vegas (again) Monday afternoon.
Buck
"She hung up on you? Really? So she wouldn't even hear you out?" Chase asked him. It was clear Chase's opinion of Abby had not improved.
"I'm not sure she believed I was for real." Buck said flatly.
"What would you stand to gain by lying to her?" Chase asked.
"Nothing, but I abused her trust when I slept with her and didn't tell her I was engaged. She's not going to suddenly forget about that." Buck explained.
"I just don't get it. You heard her out when she tried to explain why she left." Chase complained. Buck sighed inwardly. Chase saw it so simply, his relationship with Abby wasn't about trade-offs right now. Buck knew she wasn't going to listen to him just because he listened to her once. In her eyes Buck had done the one thing she thought he'd stopped doing – the thing he had stopped doing. He stopped doing it for her. After he met her, he vowed to be done with meaningless sex and random girls on tinder. He hadn't even really had to try, he hadn't been interested in other girls anymore. He would never cheat on her, he promised her that. Cheating with her was just as bad.
"It's different though. It's not that simple. It's complicated, this whole thing with Abby is complicated, but I still need to speak to her." Buck insisted.
"And how are you gonna do that? I mean won't she just hang up on you again?" Chase asked.
"Yes, if I call her, she might. But what if I don't call her?" Buck got an expression on his face that said he was trying to devise a plan.
"Oh no, hold it right there man, don't even go there." Chase warned him, knowing exactly where Buck was headed. Buck all but ignored him.
"No hear me out. If I go and talk to her face to face, then she has to talk to me." Buck said as if he'd just pitched a much simpler plan than crossing state lines in search of his ex-girlfriend, just days before his wedding.
"No, she doesn't! She hung up a phone – she can shut a door in your face! And besides, do you even know where she lives?" Chase was clearly not on board with this idea any more than he had been about calling her.
"Well no, I mean I know she was living in Phoenix with her husband, but she might not even be with him anymore, I mean she went to Vegas to get away from him after she…wait. Vegas!" Buck looked at Chase holding his hands out as if Chase should know what help Vegas would be in this situation.
"What about Vegas? She's not still gonna be in Vegas, that was three weeks ago." Chase pointed out.
"No I know, but her brother, he lives in Vegas, he runs a security business there, you know like doorbell cameras and stuff." Buck explained. Chase was still completely lost.
"And this is helpful because…?" Chase urged him to elaborate.
"Well I can easily contact her brother through his business, and he will know where she lives." Buck said.
"Do you really think that will work? I mean didn't you say her brother worked for a security business? Doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would just give out his sister's address to some guy." Chase seemed doubtful.
"But I'm not some guy, he met me whilst Abby and I were together, and he seemed to approve. So, if she has left her husband, then why not?" Buck seemed too optimistic about this.
"So what, are you gonna call him, hope he doesn't hang up on you like his sister did?" Chase teased.
"Worth a shot." Buck said.
"Go on." Chase said, he was not going to miss a second phone call.
"Not now, I gotta get ready for work. I might call him at lunch." Buck said, smirking at Chase's obvious annoyance.
Abby
Abby was tired when she finally arrived at her hotel. It was cheaper, but equally as pleasant as the one she'd stayed in last time she was here. This time she chose not to go down to the hotel bar, but instead ordered room service. She ate her food on the bed with some procedural drama on the TV that she wasn't really watching. She was a little nervous about tomorrow. She still wasn't entirely sure where Matt stood on her choice to leave Sam. He had been clear on his disapproval last time and she wasn't sure if he would've changed his mind much since. She knew that Matt was touchy about anything that involved cheating, since his indiscretion at a holiday party years ago. But, as Matt should be able to recognise, this was different. Abby deserved better than Sam, and Matt, of all people, should want that for her.
At eleven o clock, she decided to think no more about it and settled down to go to sleep. She really was tired, and she fell asleep quickly.
She woke early, as usual, feeling refreshed and less restless. She showered and dressed quickly. She wasn't entirely sure what to do with her morning. She wasn't meeting Matt until one. He had a packed morning, but a relatively clear couple of hours over lunchtime.
She decided to head out for a light breakfast, and to kill time. As she walked down the street, she felt good. She really quite liked Las Vegas and could actually see why Matt had opted to move there from LA. It was impressive and quirky, with its high-rise buildings and their reflective windows. She liked the way it came alive at night and in some ways, it made her think that maybe Vegas would be a good place to start over. She'd be closer to Matt and she wouldn't have to worry about travelling over the holidays.
She arrived back at her hotel just after ten and decided to change into a dress and apply some make up as she was going for lunch with Matt, who would no doubt choose somewhere 'nice' for lunch. His office was in a great location in terms of eateries, so she would meet him at the office and then they would walk to wherever he had chosen for lunch. She was just finishing applying her mascara when her phone rang. Matt's name appeared on the screen and she picked up.
"Uh hey Matt, still on for lunch?" She asked.
"Yeah, yeah, but could we meet a little earlier?" He sounded apologetic, which she took as a good sign.
"Um yeah, sure, what time?" It was no problem for her, it wasn't like she'd made other plans.
"Can you do twelve? My assistant has booked in an appointment with someone for one thirty. It's my fault, I forgot to tell her we were meeting for lunch." Matt explained.
"It's fine Matt, I'll meet you at your office at twelve. See you later." Abby hung up as she heard Matt say,
"Bye Abs."
Buck
Buck had found the number to Matt's company, Clark Security, fairly easily online and was thankful that Matt clearly hadn't thought too hard about what to name his company. He needed to contact Matt as soon as possible, so had decided he'd try to call on a break. The opportunity came at about eleven thirty, he wandered into the locker room as was pleased to find it empty. Everyone already thought he was an idiot for cheating on Emma regardless of who it was with, he didn't think them finding out he was now practically trying to stalk Abby would win him much support. He found the number and hit call.
"Clark Security, how can I help you today?" A cheery voice answered the phone.
"Uh hello, would it be possible to speak to Mr Clark himself please?" Buck asked, realising just now that obviously Matt would not be answering his own phones and would have a separate office number.
"What is this concerning please?" The cheery voice asked.
"Uh I'm looking into hiring some security for some offices downtown, and I'm looking to meet with perspective companies." Buck said, simultaneously taken aback and impressed with his own ability to come up with a lie so quickly.
"Okay, I'll just patch you through to his office, one moment sir." The cheery voice said before Buck heard some tapping and then another dial tone. It rang just once before another voice, less cheery but perfectly pleasant answered.
"Matthew Clark's office." Buck was little disappointed to hear it was a female voice and therefore not Matt himself.
"Good morning, would it be possible to speak to Mr Clark himself please?" Buck asked.
"I'm sorry, Mr Clark is out of the office at the moment, may I take a message?" The female voice offered politely.
"I really would like to speak to him personally." Buck figured he may as well try to sound professional.
"Well I could book you an appointment to speak with him, may I ask what it concerns?" The female voice asked.
"I have some offices downtown and I am considering Clark Security for some work on them." Buck said.
"Right well if you can come into the office tomorrow afternoon, then I'm sure he would be pleased to discuss it with you?"
Buck had no idea why he had agreed to come to Matt's office in person, but he supposed all of his quick thinking had been taken up by the lie, which he'd built on by giving them the name Chase Langdon and he now needed to be in Las Vegas by the following afternoon. Luckily Bobby had allowed Buck a little more time off than usual that week on account of him getting ready to get married, and Buck had Tuesday off and was working the night shift on Wednesday.
Now all he had to do was explain to his best man that he was going to Las Vegas – as soon as possible.
"You agreed to meet him in person? What the hell man, now we gotta get to Vegas? How you gonna explain that one? Emma might not being living here, but I reckon she'll notice if you go to Vegas." Chase was reacting about as well as Buck expected him to.
"No, I've got it covered, we'll tell her that there was a problem with your wedding suit so you had to fly back to Hershey to pick one up." Buck said.
"Dude, that is the most ridiculous thing you've ever said. If there was a problem with the suit, I wouldn't fly back to the other side country to get a suit, I'd just hire one, here in LA, you moron." Chase was looking at Buck, like he had lost his mind.
"Fine, then we'll come up with something else, like we'll say we had to leave town to sort something out to do with the wedding, but it's a surprise, so we can't say what." Buck suggested.
"Well it will be fucking surprise when she realises your spending the week trying to contact your ex-girlfriend. Look if anyone asks, we'll say you left a really expensive watch in Vegas and that hotel won't pay for postage and you want it by the wedding, so we had to go collect it." Chase finished, coming up with the most plausible, if still not entirely likely scenario yet.
Buck and Chase set off very early the next morning, Buck drove as Chase grumbled something about it being 'too fucking early'. Buck had told him he didn't have to come with him, but Chase had pointed out that it would look more suspicious if he let Buck go and collect a watch in Vegas on his own, especially considering what happened last time he left him to his own devices. Buck was able to get them a twin room at the same hotel as last time and promised Chase that he wouldn't sleep with any ex-girlfriends this time.
They finally arrived in Las Vegas just after eleven, checked in, and by twelve Buck had changed into a suit and was adjusting his tie.
"Well, don't you look just like a fake businessman?" Chase grinned, after the initial shock of having to wake-up at five, and after sleeping for a further three hours in the car, Chase had reverted back to his normal self.
"Well I need to look the part, at least up until Matt sees who I am." Buck said, still fiddling with his tie.
"So, you reckon this guy will recognise you?" Chase asked.
"Yes, I practically moved in with Abby before she left, we were pretty serious, he won't have forgotten. Get dressed man, you have to look the part too. You need to look like my business partner or something." Buck turned around away from the mirror he'd been looking in as he was finally happy with his tie.
"Right, because you want to be convincing to the secretary who has never seen you before and has no reason not to believe you." Chase sighed.
"You're the one who wanted to come on this trip, so you can suit up." Buck reminded him.
Abby
Abby met Matt outside his office and they walked short distance to, as Abby had expected, a small but relatively upscale French bistro.
"Matt, this place is really nice." Abby whispered to her brother once they had taken their seats at a table in the sun porch towards the front of the restaurant. Matt understood that when Abby said, 'really nice,' she meant really expensive.
"I know, but I'm paying. I insist." Matt smiled at her.
Abby had missed her brother, although they didn't see each other often, they talked a lot on the phone and had come to rely on each other for support following the death of their mother. Matt was really the only family Abby had left, and losing him would've been
devastating.
"So, it really is over, between Sam and me." Abby started. Sam had been what they had originally fallen out about. As important it was to Abby that she patch things up with her brother, she needed him to be on the same page as her.
"I figured. Is that really what you want?" He asked, it seemed Matt had perhaps resigned himself to the idea that Abby was unmoving on this, she wondered if Beth had spoken to him about it. Abby had always liked Beth and the two of them saw eye to eye on most things.
"It is. It wasn't the first time Sam had cheated on me. It was just the first time he got caught, he'd been distant for months – and he picked a time when he expected me to be out for hours. I'm not a fool Matt, I would never be with someone who doesn't want me." Abby explained.
"I understand. It's just, when you married him, you seemed so happy and when you came to us for Christmas. I was happy that you had found someone." Matt said.
"At the start, we were happy, but things changed. I don't know, I guess he got bored." Abby smiled sadly.
"I don't see how anyone could get bored of you. You've always been the fun one, even when we were kids, I was always, 'Abby Clark's brother' even though I was the older one." He laughed a little, and she did too. This was the Matt she knew and loved.
"That's because I was on the swim team and you were a mathlete. Remember, how you weren't cool until you went to college?" Abby teased him.
"Hey, the mathletes were cool. I never understood why you turned that kid down, you know Robbie Gillard. He was a really nice kid." Matt laughed.
"He asked me to junior prom, but I already had a date, I went with Jack Tyler, he was on the basketball team." She said defensively.
"Anyway, I'm sure they're both married with a couple of kids by now." Abby added as an afterthought. It still stung sometimes that she'd never had that, when she really thought about it.
"Hey, it's never too late. You don't know what the future holds." Matt tried to pull her from any negativity. She gave a hollow laugh.
"It doesn't hold having a baby in my late forties." She told him.
"You could always adopt." Matt suggested.
"I'm really not looking for kids, I need to actually decide where to live before I think about anything else." Abby said.
"You're not staying in Phoenix?" Matt asked, he was surprised, Abby really liked Phoenix.
"No, I don't think so. Most of my friends were Sam's friends. I mean there is Alice, who has been great, but there really isn't anything for me in Phoenix, I can't make a living from teaching junior swimming." Abby mused, she still hadn't really decided where she would go, although being in Vegas really did make her consider it.
"You thinking of going to back to LA?" Matt asked
"No, too many memories. Carla is really the only one I still keep in touch with." Abby didn't want to go back to LA. There wasn't really anything there either, especially now that Buck was getting married. She tried to push that thought from her mind a focus on Matt. She and Buck were finished – a long time ago.
"Well do you think you'll stay in Arizona or you going to move to another state again?" Matt asked.
"I don't really know, it's funny, I took a walk this morning and I actually found myself thinking about Vegas. I mean I know I want to be in a city and I'd be closer to you and Beth." The more she thought about it, the more sense it seemed to make.
"That's a great idea. There's some really great places right in the city as well. My company has been installing security for some new apartment blocks, I probably have some quotes back at the office." Matt smiled enthusiastically, as Abby knew he would. He loved Vegas and had always hoped Abby would move a little closer by. Beth and she got on really well and the kids adored her.
It was one ten when they left the bistro and wandered back to the midrise building of Clark Security. She followed Matt into the elevator and up to his office, greeting his secretary politely as Matt beckoned her to follow him.
"It's twenty past one, but if I can give you these places to look at you can see what's in your price range. You're staying in Vegas tonight right?" Matt asked as he moved some papers about on his desk looking for the information on the apartment blocks.
"Yeah, I'm gonna drive back to Phoenix tomorrow afternoon." Abby confirmed.
"Great, why don't you come over for dinner this evening and we can go through any that you like the look of, plus, Beth and the kids would love to see you." Matt said as he found the papers and handed them to her.
"Okay that's sound great, thanks Matt." Abby smiled as she took a folder from Matt, she looked at it, the words Fielding Development were written in silver lettering across the front.
"Okay, I should be finished here by six, why don't you come by at about seven? I wish I could go through these now but my one thirty will be here any second." Matt said apologetically.
"It's fine, I'll look through these this afternoon and I'll see you later." She said as she walked over to the door, opening it. She turned to wave at her brother and then went to leave and froze.
There, sat in one of the cool grey chairs, just outside her brother's office was…
"Buck."