Chapter 2
Matt dropped Jason off at the ER. He offered to stay, but Jason forced him to go. "Go to that meeting man! Or else you'll have to reschedule! Besides, most of the cast is probably already there."
"Are you sure you're okay? I hate for you to miss the meeting," Matt said.
"No problem!" Jason replied. "I already met the cast members that Jared picked out. I just need to meet the ones you picked, and I can do that later. Plus, I can't wait for you to meet this one girl I picked!" Matt's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"A girl you picked? Oh come on, you're not trying to set me up with someone, are you?"
"You need a girlfriend, dude! And this chick is super cute, trust me. She's a good actress too! Now go meet her!" Jason encouraged. Matt rolled his eyes and headed back out to his car. He turned on his radio to distract himself as he drove down the endless roads. Finally, he pulled into the studio parking lot. Several other cars were already there.
Matt hopped out of his car. He walked up to the door of the studio and pulled it open. The nervousness hit him as he was making his way down the hallway. He wasn't sure what he was nervous about. He certainly wasn't nervous about speaking in front of people, that's for sure. Maybe he was scared that something wouldn't work out. That his dream wouldn't be all he had hoped. He was so lost in thought that he nearly crashed into someone, but managed to stop short.
The person he was about to run over turned around. His mouth dropped open. Hers did too.
"It's you!" the both said at the exact same time. His tone was that of surprise. She had a tone of anger.
"Running into people while you're walking now too?" she asked him angrily. "What are you even doing here?"
"I'm really sorry about that!" Matt tried to apologize again. "I normally wouldn't touch my phone when driving, but-"
"There's really no excuse you can make," the blonde woman said exasperatingly. "You could have killed someone!"
"I know! I'm sor-"
"I don't want to hear apologies! You're not forgiven!" she snapped, cutting him off. "Who even are you?"
Matt gave up trying to apologize. Why was this woman even here? "My name is Matt," he introduced himself. "Matt Meese." He watched her jaw drop as she stared at him in surprise.
"You're Matt Meese?" she asked in disbelief. Before he could answer, the door swung open and Jared ushered the two of them inside.
"Glad you could make it, Matt! Is Jason going to be okay? He texted me and told me what happened," Jared said. He dragged Matt into a conversation that Matt couldn't politely get himself out of, even though he really wanted to apologize and explain everything to the blonde woman. But if she was here, she was clearly one of the cast. He could apologize to her after the meeting. Besides, right now she was squealing and hugging a woman with short, dark hair.
"Alright everyone!" Jared said loudly. He waited for everyone to fall silent. "My name Is Jared Shores! I am the producer of Studio C. Why don't we all introduce ourselves before I hand it over to my buddy, Matt! Everyone say their name and a few interesting facts about themselves."
"What are we, in middle school?" Matt thought to himself, chuckling. But this type of introduction would help him remember the cast members more.
The woman with short, dark hair started the introductions. "My name is Whitney Call," she said. "And I'm married to one of the nicest men in the world, Stephen Meek!" She squeezed the arm of the man standing next to her. He blushed slightly and introduced himself as well.
"I'm Stephen Meek, and this is my wonderful wife, Whitney!"
"I'm Natalie Madsen, and I enjoy skiing," a red-haired girl said. Matt wondered if this was the girl that Jason was trying to set him up with. She was pretty, but not really Matt's type.
"I'm James Perry, and my favorite food is bisque!" a blond-haired man said.
"I'm Jeremy Warner, and I have a lovely wife and a son named Felix," a man standing in the corner said.
"You also have an awesome mustache!" a black man said loudly. "I'm Stacey Harkey, and I love all food!"
The blonde woman smiled graciously, avoiding Matt's eyes. "I'm Mallory Everton, and I love kittens!" she said.
A very tall man in the corner opposite Jeremy said, "That's cat-solutely purr-fect!"
The entire room turned to look at him and he blushed a bit. "My name is Adam Berg and I enjoy puns," he said. Stacey groaned.
"Not puns!" he exclaimed.
"Puns are actually an excellent form of humor," Adam countered. "You have to be intelligent and quick-witted to come up with them!"
"Whatever you say, man," Stacey said.
Matt decided it was time to take over. "My name is Matthew Meese. You can call me Matt. Running my own sketch comedy show has been my dream since high school, and I am very excited to work with all of you!" he said. "We have one more cast member who couldn't be here today, my good friend Jason Gray. Hopefully he'll be at Monday's sketch session."
"Anyway, this first meeting is to go over the details about the shows production, our work hours, and stuff. Obviously this might change in the future, but we're required to discuss it," Jared explained. Everyone took a seat and prepared to listen.
###############
Mallory drove over to the studio, as it was much farther away from her house than the grocery store was. She checked her watch. She would be a few minutes late. She bit her lip. Hopefully they wouldn't get angry at her for this. She had been casted been Jason Gray, and she had met Jared Shores before. Both of them had been extremely nice, and Jason had talked to her for several minutes about how nice Matt Meese was.
She pulled into the parking lot and hastily parked. She locked her car and headed for the door. She randomly heard another car pull into the parking lot as she shut the door behind her and walked down the hallway. "Good," she thought. "At least I'm not the only one who's late."
Mallory ended up getting lost in the maze of hallways. She finally asked a friendly janitor where Studio C would be meeting. The janitor pointed her in the right direction. Finally, she found it. She was about to open the door when she heard someone walk up behind her. She turned around and saw the stranger stop himself seconds before he would have bumped into her. Her jaw dropped.
"It's you!" she exclaimed at the same time as the man. She was extremely angry. Did he follow her here or something?
"Running into people while you're walking now too?" Mallory asked the man angrily. "What are you even doing here?"
"I'm really sorry about that!" the man said in a pleading tone, looking desperate. "I normally wouldn't touch my phone when driving, but-"
"There's really no excuse you can make," Mallory said, exasperatingly. Seriously, he could have ended both of their lives. There really was no excuse for complete carelessness. "You could have killed someone!"
"I know! I'm sor-" the man tried to apologize again, but Mallory cut him off. Who even was this creep?
"I don't want to hear apologies! You're not forgiven! Who even are you?"
The man sighed, looking guilty and desperate to beg for forgiveness, but he gave in and finally told her his name. "My name is Matt," he said. "Matt Meese." Her jaw dropped again before she could stop it. This was her new boss/co-worker! This man nearly killed her!
"You're Matt Meese?" Mallory asked in pure disbelief. He opened his mouth to say something, but just then the door opened. A tall man with brown hair herded her and Matt inside. Mallory immediately spotted Whitney and ran over to her friend. She wanted to never have to interact with Matt Meese again, even though that would be literally impossible if she wanted to keep this job.
"Whit!" she cried, giving her best friend since kindergarten a hug. Whitney enthusiastically returned the warm embrace.
"Mal! I haven't seen you for a few months! How've you been?" Whitney asked.
"Have I got quite a story to tell you!" Mallory exclaimed, glancing over at Matt, who was talking to Jared. "Hi Stephen!" she greeted Whitney's husband.
"Hey Mal!" Stephen said. "Isn't great we all got into this cast!"
"Yup! Great…" Mallory trailed off. Suddenly, Jared called for everyone to be quiet.
"Alright everyone!" Jared said loudly. He waited for a moment and Mallory stopped talking. "My name is Jared Shores! I am the producer of Studio C. Why don't we all introduce ourselves before I hand it over to my buddy, Matt! Everyone say their name and a few interesting facts about themselves."
Mallory chuckled to herself at the icebreaker game he told them to play. Oh well, it would help her to know more about her castmates. On her left, Whitney took it upon herself to get things going.
"My name is Whitney Call," she said. "And I'm married to one of the nicest men in the world, Stephen Meek!" She squeezed Stephen's arm. Mallory smiled fondly.
"I'm Stephen Meek, and this is my wonderful wife, Whitney!" Stephen said.
"I'm Natalie Madsen, and I enjoy skiing," said the red-haired girl standing to Stephen's left. She looked really nice, and was the only other girl present besides Mallory and Whitney.
"I'm James Perry, and my favorite food is bisque!" a blond-haired man said.
"I'm Jeremy Warner, and I have a lovely wife and a son named Felix," a man standing in the corner said. Mallory smiled warmly at that. She also took a minute to admire his mustache. Apparently, the black man sitting casually beside Jeremy did too.
"You also have an awesome mustache!" he said loudly. "I'm Stacey Harkey, and I love all food!" Mallory giggled quietly. Stacey seemed like a fun person.
She realized with a start that everyone was looking at her. She smiled and avoided looking at Matt as she introduced herself. "I'm Mallory Everton, and I love kittens!" she said. It was kind of a stupid fact to say, but she had been taken by surprise, and she did love kittens. They were so adorable.
The tall man in the corner opposite Jeremy said, "That's cat-solutely purr-fect!"
Mallory turned to look at him along with the rest of the people in the room. He blushed a bit. "My name is Adam Berg and I enjoy puns," he said. Stacey groaned loudly.
"Not puns!" he exclaimed.
"Puns are actually an excellent form of humor," Adam countered. "You have to be intelligent and quick-witted to come up with them!"
"Whatever you say, man," Stacey said. Mallory smiled a bit. She personally had no opinion on puns, but at least Adam had cleared the awkwardness of the room.
Suddenly, Matt started talking, interrupting the pun debate. "My name is Matthew Meese. You can call me Matt. Running my own sketch comedy show has been my dream since high school, and I am very excited to work with all of you!" he said. "We have one more cast member who couldn't be here today, my good friend Jason Gray. Hopefully he'll be at Monday's sketch session."
Mallory wondered where Jason was. She hoped he was alright. He seemed like a very awesome and cool person when he casted her.
"Anyway, this first meeting is to go over the details about the shows production, our work hours, and stuff. Obviously, this might change in the future, but we're required to discuss it," Jared explained. Mallory took a seat next to Whitney and Stephen and prepared to listen.
After the meeting, Mallory introduced herself to Natalie, and the two girls hit it off immediately. Whitney came over and the three girls started chatting and laughing, as girls tend to do. On the other side of the room, Stephen and James were discussing their favorite types of bisque. Stacey interrupted and said that all bisque was cool. Jeremy had left right after the meeting, and Adam was talking to Jared and Matt.
Everybody slowly began to trickle out of the room. James, Stacey, and Adam left. Then Stephen came over and told Whitney that they needed to go. Whitney hugged Mallory again and promised that they would have lunch soon, and invited Natalie as well. Mallory and Natalie worked out the plans for lunch until Natalie looked at her watch. "Gotta dash!" she said apologetically, grabbing her purse and heading out the door.
Mallory grabbed her own purse and her light summer jacket. She was about to head out the door when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned.
"Mallory?" It was Matt asking.
"What do you want?" she asked. Her tone wasn't as harsh and cutting as before, but it still held some vinegar. Matt frowned.
"A chance to explain," he replied. Mallory sighed.
"Matt, I don't want to hear your explanations. I know we have to work together, but could you please make it easier on me and just leave me alone?" she requested. His frown deepened and his brown eyes dimmed.
"But-"
"Please?" Mallory asked again. "Please just let me be. I don't want to talk to you right now. Or maybe ever. Please just leave me alone." She just wanted to forget about today and the fact that Matt Meese ever existed. Her stupid angry stubborn side wouldn't let her drop the situation. Mallory knew that if he left her alone, she would probably get over it and forgive him eventually. Maybe even be friends. But not right now.
"Okay," Matt said quietly. He took his hand off of her shoulder and she turned and left.
###############
Matt watched sadly as Mallory left. He had hoped that he could apologize and explain, maybe make it up to her somehow. He almost didn't let her leave. But when she looked up at him with her sparkling blue eyes, it sent a jolt through his body. They were so pretty. And they were pleading. He couldn't refuse those eyes.
"Okay…" he said, closing his eyes tightly and removing his hand from her shoulder. She turned and left. Matt watched her walk away sadly. He frowned. For some reason, he felt overly-sad. He typically was a worrier (even though he generally was an extremely happy worrier), but for some reason even his heart felt sad. It felt like his heart had tied itself into knots.
Matt sighed deeply and forced himself to move. He grabbed his keys and headed out the door preparing to drive himself back to a very empty and very lonely home.
