Chapter 12: Confronting Matt
As I entered the guest room Matt and Jeff were staying in, they both stopped unpacking their bags and
turned their attention to me. "Hey babe, just couldn't stay away, huh?" Jeff asked coyly. Jeff saw the stress
in my eyes. "Jesus, hun, what's wrong? What happened?" He hurriedly asked with great concern.
"Nothing happened. I just wanted to tell you two to make yourselves comfortable. I'm taking Kelly home."
I saw a look of surprise cross Matt' face. "I thought we were all staying here this weekend.." Matt said,
trying to act nonchalant.
I crossed the room and stopped in front of Matt. "Matt, you know I love you, you've become one of my
closest friends. It's not my place so I won't say much, but you and Kelly have some serious issues that you
need to resolve. You're both hurt and the distance between you is killing you. I have never seen Kelly like
this and from what I've seen and what Jeff has said, you're not doing too well either. Now Kelly is feeling
neglected, like you've lost interest in her. She feels like she has to hurt you just to get your attention. I
know that you're on the road almost all the time and that you have a really hectic schedule that doesn't
allow you a whole lot of time. I can see her point and yours. Kelly has said some things that she regrets,
things she knows have hurt you and she's sorry. I know that you wouldn't have come here if you were
ready to just give up on your relationship. I really want you guys to be happy, but you have to work this
out."
"Sammie, I know you mean well and I appreciate it. You're right, Kelly and I do have things we need to
work on and I was hoping that we could get through a lot this weekend. I care about her a lot and I don't
want her to leave, but you saw how she was. Every time I try to talk to her it's like that." Matt replied.
"Matt, she wants to work things out. She wants to make things better. I think that you two need to sit
down and talk. She's willing to make an effort."
"I'll tell you what, I'll go talk to her. Maybe I can convince her to stay."
"Thank you, Matt."
Matt stepped closer to me and hugged me. As he released me he kissed my cheek. He left the room,
presumably to see Kelly.
Jeff sat down on the bed and motioned for me to join him. "You are amazing, do you know that?"
I walked across the room and sat on the bed next t Jeff. "Me? How so?" I asked.
He took my hand in his. "Just the way you handled that. You took control of the situation. You didn't just
hear Kelly's side of things and jump down Matt's throat. You took into account that he might see things
differently, or have reasons for his actions." Jeff explained.
"How else could I have handled it? I love them both. I can see what Kelly means about feeling neglected,
it's easy to understand and I can understand that Matt doesn't have the time he wants to be able to spend
with her. I also know that, to an extent, Kelly wants him to put his life on hold to make her feel better.
The time Matt does get, he spends with his friends, the people you travel with. There's nothing wrong
with that, but Kelly needs to get a grip on that and realize that it's not about Matt not wanting to be with
her. It's just that she's not there with him. It's like she expects him to sit alone in his hotel room every
night thinking about her. I'm sure there's more to Matt's side than I know, but I don't want to be in the
middle of this. At the same time, I have to do something. He's your brother and she's my best friend, I
can't handle seeing either of them miserable." I rested my head on Jeff's shoulder.
"I know, baby." He said as he kissed the top of my hair. "This is hard on all of us. We just have to trust
that they'll be able to work this out." He hugged me close to him. "In the meantime, what would you say
to some ice cream?"
"Sounds good." I answered with a smile.
"Okay, let's go."
We got up from the bed and started down the hallway, towards the living room. We could hear Matt and
Kelly yelling at each other. Jeff took my hand and squeezed it lightly. I looked at him and he raised my
hand to his mouth and kissed it gently. Jeff took the keys from the table against the wall in the living
room. Matt and Kelly turned and noticed us standing there.
"Oh, sorry. We didn't mean to interrupt." I said sheepishly.
"Where are you off to?" Matt asked.
"We're going to get some ice cream. Do you guys want us to bring anything back for you?" Jeff asked.
"No." Matt and Kelly replied in unison.
"We'll be back in a while." Jeff said.
We walked out the door, got into the car, and started towards Smith's Dairy.
