Chapter 25--Here's the latest chapter of this Cross-FF story. Matt's still a bit dense but he might be closer to seeing the light, then again this is Cicely, lol, thanks for reading and hope you enjoy it.
C.J. looked at herself critically in the mirror and narrowly stopped herself from swearing up a blue streak. She couldn't use that kind of language in front of her baby. Even while in utero, babies could hear what was going on around them and she didn't want hers to arrive with a salty vocabulary. So she calmed herself down and tried to snap her pants closed…again. But the two ends of her jeans that were supposed to attach, shaping the jeans perfectly around her body weren't cooperating with her efforts. She thought about lying down on her bed and trying again but knew it wouldn't work.
Her jeans wouldn't fit her for a long time to come because she was pregnant and her body was changing every day it seemed. She eyed the dresser where she had stashed the maternity clothing that the women of Cicely had collected for her and realized it was time to bite the bullet and change her wardrobe to accommodate her current reality. When she had looked in the mirror even while standing in profile, she really hadn't noticed anything different in her profile. It's not like she blew up overnight or something although she had read that this could happen. She knew what was happening to her was completely normal for pregnant woman but darn it, she felt like crying. Oh no wait, was that because of all the hormones her body was kicking out?
She shook her head to clear it and roamed her dresser looking for some pants that would actually fit. As she spotted a promising pair of larger sized jeans, she heard someone at the door. Now who would that be, she thought pulling on a robe and walking to see who had dropped by. Hopefully someone who would help her sort through the dilemma of what to wear at Chris' poetry reading in about an hour. She opened the door and saw Matt standing there, dressed in really nice pants and a long sleeved shirt.
"What are you doing here," she asked.
If he felt taken aback at her words, he didn't show it.
"I'm here to see if you'd like a ride to the poetry reading," he said.
She looked at him doubtful.
"Houston, you like these types of events?"
He shrugged.
"It sounds…interesting and I'd like to take you if it's okay."
"You know what they say about just showing up at a woman's doorstep," she started.
"I know, I should have called," he said, "but I thought since I was in the area…"
She folded her arms.
"You know I'm going out with Chris for coffee, well tea for me," she said, "so if you drive me, he'll have to give me a ride home."
Matt nodded.
"That's fine," he said, then looked at her with a brow raised, "Is that what you're wearing?"
She made a face.
"Don't laugh Houston," she said, "The truth is…I'm a bit…thicker in certain areas than I was yesterday and I'm trying to find some clothes that fit."
"C.J. you look just fine," he said, "You're just pregnant."
She nodded.
"I know that Houston," she said, "but I also know that I tried to put on my favorite pair of jeans and I couldn't close them which is appropriate considering I got this way because a certain someone charmed me out of them."
Matt just smiled.
"I was just returning the favor."
She shook her head and started to head back to her bedroom.
"I think I found some clothes on loan that might just work," she said, "but don't laugh at me when I come out."
His face turned serious.
"I could never laugh at you," he said, "And I'm sure you'll look as beautiful as you do right now."
She looked like she could burst into tears at any moment and Matt had read somewhere that pregnancy caused a woman's emotions to shift unpredictably.
"Just go get changed," he told her gently, "and I'll be waiting out here for the prettiest girl in town."
She smiled at him for that but she went and got changed. Matt watched her go, wondering how she could think otherwise. If anything, her pregnancy had given her a softer appearance, a glow that Matt couldn't put his finger on but he enjoyed witnessing it anyway. And he still felt the intense physical attractiveness he had felt for a long time before he could admit it.
Of course when she walked out a bit self consciously in her larger jeans and long woolen sweater, she looked beautiful in a way that took his breath away. He had told her how good she looked and she had smiled warmly. He had helped her into his car and they had driven off to the Brick to listen to Chris read from his latest collection of poetry. The restaurant had been packed as it appeared that the entire town had come out to listen to Chris give his reading. Matt had heard the guy favored poems that were somewhat…erotic but the guy clearly had talent with stringing the words together that evoked that strongly in his readership and that concerned him. He looked over at C.J. several times and he saw that she completely had fallen under his spell…like just about every other woman in the room. Magnetism didn't begin to describe the attraction that he triggered in women when they crossed his path. The guy could bottle what he had and sell it, and retire a billionaire on a tropical island somewhere. Especially if someone like his own company president Murray got wind of it.
"It's a bit warm in here don't you think," he finally said to C.J.
She shrugged, clearly involved in the poetry reading.
"A little maybe," she said, "I had no idea Chris was so talented."
"Yeah…Would you like anything to drink?"
She didn't look at him.
"No I'm fine thanks."
Matt thought about whether or not Chris was aware of the impact that he had on the women around him or if he remained oblivious to it all. But then what red blooded man could not know that women were surrounding him for his attention? Matt didn't care about those other women but the thought of C.J. hooking up with Chris shook him up.
Shelli looked over at C.J.
"Isn't Chris just fabulous," she said, "He's got such a way with words."
Eve who sat nearby bouncing her baby on her lip shrugged.
"If Adam started sprouting words like that at me, I think I'd push him to this highly skilled behavioral therapist at the Mayo Clinic."
"Wow," Shelli said, "That last line just is so right on."
Maggie grumbled.
"I love Chris," she said, "but surely he would know that in this liberated era, woman don't fall for sweet talk anymore."
"This gal does," Shelli said, fanning herself, "I can't wait to hear what he reads next."
C.J. agreed with them that Chris had great talent for picking just the right words to appeal to women and he appeared to be genuinely unaffected by the way women were drawn to him. Then she looked over at Matt who appeared distracted.
"Houston, are you okay?"
He looked over at her and nodded.
"He's not bad," he said, "but the poets we heard that time at the Elko reading were much better."
C.J. had to smile at that because those poets reading their works had been cowboys who gathered annually in the small town in Northern Nevada to provide readings. She and Matt had stopped by to attend the event while driving to Denver to attend a conference.
"Houston, Chris might not be a cowboy," she said, "but the man can make words sing to a woman."
Matt hesitated.
"I can see that C.J.," he said, "You certainly seem to be enjoying yourself."
"Why yes I am," she said, "Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean that part of me is off in hibernation. And it's a nice evening to spend with some nice folks in a cozy restaurant."
Matt couldn't disagree with the surroundings. He just wondered if C.J. kept thinking about her date with Chris after the reading. After all, of all the women that Chris could take out for coffee afterward, he had chosen C.J., the woman pregnant with his child.
"Don't look at me like that," C.J. said, during an intermission in the reading.
Everyone had gotten up reluctantly to stretch and check out the refreshment tables where Adam reminded them to line up in an orderly fashion like a bunch of school children before he would start serving one of his prize desserts.
"Look at you like what?"
She folded her arms.
"Like you think I can't wait to get it on with the poet afterward," she said, "Houston, we're just going out for coffee…I'm a pregnant woman for Christ sake."
"What would he want…"
Now she felt anger begin to fill her.
"Why don't you just say it?"
Matt knew he was trapped but he also knew that was his own fault.
"C.J. I didn't…"
"Oh yes you did," she said, not willing to let him off the hook, "You're wondering why he would be interested in a pregnant woman."
"Did I say that," Matt asked.
"You almost did," C.J. said, "and who said I was interested in getting it on with him anyway?"
Matt felt his face flush.
"C.J…"
She spun around and faced him.
"I'm going out to coffee with him because he asked and he's been very nice to me," she said, "but he's my friend and that's all."
Matt nodded.
"I know that," she said, "and I trust your judgment. I just wish we could spend more time together and work out whatever is going on between us."
She softened.
"I understand that," she said, "But I'm not the one with the problem Houston. I told you how I felt. That night after we were intimate and I told you that when you came back."
He ran his hand through his hair, knowing she spoke the truth. The problem existed with him and every time he tried to fix it, he created more of a mess. He just had never been in this situation before where his best friend became his lover and then the mother of his child.
"Look, we'll spend some time tomorrow," she said, "We'll have lunch. I've got to meet Ed to reshoot some footage at the Elk's lodge."
"I'll be faxing more papers to Murray," he said, "But I'll be done by lunch."
She nodded and they went back to their chairs to listen to the rest of Chris' mesmerizing poetry reading.
Afterward, she met Chris after he had talked with the other people in attendance who had raved about his poetry and the two of them headed off to a small coffee spot that had opened up not too long ago with paintings hanging on the wall from a local author which were up for sale.
"I like this place," Chris said, as they looked around, "I come here soon and my creative juices just start flowing and out come just the right words."
She smiled.
"You sound like you're describing the relationship game," she noted, "It's hard to get the right words to come out when you need them."
He felt the wistfulness in your voice. They had sat at a corner table in the quiet spot and ordered their drinks.
"You really dig him don't you?"
She looked into her tea, as it continued to steep.
"I told him that I loved him," she said, "I don't know what else he wants from me. He just seems really clueless all of a sudden."
Chris nodded.
"That happens to some men I've read when the women in their lives get pregnant," he said, "Experts think it might be hormonal."
She laughed.
"I thought only the women got overwhelmed with hormones created in pregnancy," she said, "I didn't know men were affected by those things."
Chris nodded again.
"There's a lot that happens in our bodies and minds that we still don't understand," he said, "It could be biological, or psychological, social or environmental or a combination of any of these things."
She considered that.
"It must be hard on him to realize that he's got all this responsibility for a new life," she conceded, "But it's been really hard for me to spend several months facing single parenthood and then to have him come back and pick up as if nothing happened."
"He's probably just as confused as you are," Chris said, "But he seems to be someone who values family above all else."
"That's certainly true," she said, "He was raised by his father after his mother passed and he's close to his uncle and cousin back in L.A."
"When family means everything, it tends to really affect how a person looks at life," Chris mused sipping his coffee.
"Enough on me and my problems," C.J. said, "Tell me about what made you decide to become a poet…"
Matt sat in the Brick listening to Joel's tirade about how he couldn't understand why women were drawn to Chris' poetic voice. Maggie had argued with him right back about how Joel was clueless about what women wanted from men and after all, hadn't even had a date in months.
"We went out two months ago," he pointed out.
She threw up her hands.
"We locked lips in the barn in passing," she said, "Not that it meant anything. I did it because I felt sorry for you."
That upset him.
"Sorry for me," he said, "That's not what you said at the time."
Matt put up his hands calling for a time out.
"You two need to go to your opposite corners and cool off for a while," he said, "If you like each other, you should just go out with each other and give it a shot before you kill each other."
Joel mumbled.
"How could I like her," he said, "She's impossible. Her social skills…"
"Are underdeveloped due to my overprivilaged childhood," she interrupted, "I've heard it all before Fleischman."
"Well if the truth fits…"
She scowled.
"What about you Fleischman," she countered, "You don't have the social skills of a…flatworm."
Matt decided at that point that he had heard enough of what for all he could know could be some strange form of verbal foreplay. He wondered if they realized that. Being a physical kind of guy, he found all of this baffling.
"Excuse me," he said, "I'll just leave you two to your…conversation."
Both of them nodded absently and continued berating each other. Matt put on his coat and left the Brick, wondering how C.J. was doing on her coffee date with Chris. Then deciding that it was none of his business as he walked back to his hotel calling it a night.