Chapt 15
Matt's phone rang and he reached for it, hoping and praying that it was Claire. He had chickened out on going to the café that day to talk to her and he was regretting it already. He saw Stephen's number and answered his phone with no enthusiasm what so ever.
"Man you sound like hell. Are you sick?"
"No, I'm not sick. I just feel like the world's biggest asshole. What's up?"
"I stopped by the café today thinking that you would be there. I saw your girlfriend and she looked about as bad as you sound. Anyway, I was thinking we need to go out and grab a pint and talk tonight man. I have questions and I'm thinking that you are the only one with the answers I'm looking for."
Matt sat up straighter in his seat and felt more awake than he had in days it seemed. "You went to the café today? Why? I told you to leave Claire be, she isn't out for a relationship."
"Yeah, a fact that I have been thinking about since you told me. Unfortunately today I put my oversized foot in my even bigger mouth and made a huge mess of things. I went to see if you were there to talk to you about some things and saw her on her lunch break. I asked her to talk; I just wanted the chance to at least be friends. Now that is shot too because I have let my mouth get ahead of all logical thought."
Matt shook his head, knowing that his friend had most likely had the best of intentions when he started talking to Claire. He also knew the man on the phone well enough to know that if he said he messed it up, then he had done it good. "I have a feeling that I don't even want to know what you've done man. Drinks sound good though. I'll meet you at the sports bar around six tonight okay?"
"Sounds good, but come ready to talk and give me answers. I've got tons of questions running around in my head." Matt hung up and headed to the shower. He was dressed and in the living room half an hour later.
Matt walked into the sports bar on Palm Drive at six fifteen and saw Stephen sitting in a back booth, away from the stage where there was bad karaoke going on. He headed to the table and when he slid into the booth he signaled the waitress for a beer. When she had brought it and sat it on the table he and Stephen ordered their usual, wings in hot sauce and a side of fries and onion rings. As she walked away Matt turned to face his friend.
"So, now tell me what you've done. I'm just dying to know how deep you are in shit."
"I will tell you if you promise to answer my questions honestly." When Matt shook his head in resignation Stephen took a long drink from his dark Guinness beer. "Alright, so I finished a muffin and coffee and sat down at her table where she was reading her book thinking that this would be a great chance to talk and start up a friendship. I asked her what it was about me that she couldn't stand. She looks at me with that pixie like face and I swear to you my brain went blank. She says that she just isn't interested in a relationship and my dumb arse says to her, why do you think I'm looking for a relationship? I told her that I wouldn't do that to you since you are my friend. Now she thinks all I bloody want is a one night stand kind of thing. She tells me that she isn't easy and that you guys are only friends only now she's not even sure of that. So she walked away before I could clear it all up and now she thinks I'm a pig who only wants in her pants."
"Wait, you basically told her you didn't want a relationship in a way that made it seem as though you only wanted sex? My God you are a moron!"
"Yes I know that, now you get to answer my questions. What's going on with you two? How'd you get her to talk to you when she obviously doesn't have any use for men at all?"
The waitress sat their food in the center of the table and Matt snagged an onion ring before he said, "I was just me man. I don't know what she saw about me that made her want to talk to me. I guess maybe it's the size thing with you. I told you before that wasn't a good thing for you when it comes to her."
"Why though? What is it with bigger guys that turn her off? You made a comment once that she didn't think that all guys were pigs but that they all wanted a punching bag instead of a partner. What was that supposed to mean?"
Matt shook his head and took a long drink of his beer. Sitting it down, he ran his hands through his hair and looked down at the table. "I don't know what all I should tell you man. She told me things in confidence and I don't want to betray that more than I already have."
Nodding as he ate a chicken wing Stephen said, "Okay then, tell me what the hell happened with you two Saturday night. What was that mess all about?"
With a deep breath Matt said, "I let her down, I lied to her. She found out, and now she's hurt beyond belief. She won't even answer my calls. I don't know what else to do."
"Wait, you lied to her? About what exactly and how did she find out?"
"I didn't tell her what I did for a living, she is the new intern at the arena and she saw me signing autographs when she headed home. It's a long story about why what we do is an issue but it is. Now that she knows you wrestle I would say that your chances with her just took a nose dive."
Stephen let out a laugh. "Like I had a chance to begin with, you can't nose dive when you've not even left the ground. Talk to me about her man, help me understand her. I won't tell her that you've said a word to me, I can promise you that. I don't know what it is with her, but she's got my brain all twisted up and I'm having so many issues getting her off my mind. She's amazingly beautiful, so innocent and kind hearted even if she only shows me her cold shoulder."
"Fine, but if you tell her or anyone else for that matter what I'm about to tell you, I will beat your ass. Are we clear on that?" Stephen nodded his head and Matt sighed. "Alright then, she just moved to Tampa earlier this year because she got divorced. She was in a marriage that was far too abusive for far too long. Her ex husband is Logan Maxwell, quarter back for the New Orleans Saints. He beat her often and the last beating before she left and filed for a divorce caused her to be scarred from a severe burn with a flaming hot metal spatula. That beating also caused her to have a miscarriage with a child that he didn't know she was carrying. After she went to live with her mom he broke in and attacked her, breaking her ribs, nose, and doing major damage to her on a whole. He violently raped her and she still doesn't know that she will ever be able to have children again because of that. She refused to press charges, and when the divorce was final and her maiden name had been restored, she packed up and moved here on his money that she got in a settlement. Are things a little bit clearer for you now?"
Stephen was silent and he was staring at the scarred table. His pale face was even paler than normal and Matt felt his emotions pouring out of his friend. He felt them too, and his stomach was turning with the telling of Claire's story. He hated to even repeat the horrible things that Claire had told him but maybe it would make a difference somehow, even if he couldn't see how now.
"What a bastard, what kind of monster does that to a woman, to her? My God no wonder she wants no part of me or this job of ours. Is she going to stay on as an intern?"
Matt shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know really. I haven't talked to her."
"If I ever see that idiot excuse for a man I will beat the living hell out of him. Matt you know me; I would never do that to her, or anyone for that matter. I just, I never would have thought that she had been through that kind of hell. She seems so tough on the outside but… I never would have thought that she had been through this kind of thing."
Matt could see that his friend was visibly shaken and he knew just how the big man was feeling. He had been sent reeling too when he first heard her story. Seeing the horrific scar on her thin belly only caused his stomach to reel more. Throwing down a twenty on the table Matt stood, suddenly needing to escape the smoky bar. "Just be careful with her, I don't want to see her hurt anymore than she has been. In all honesty I think you would be good for her, but her walls are high, and made of stone. They won't be easy to break down, but nothing is impossible if you really want it. Just be sure that you want her, all of her, and not just one night. For her sake, make sure that you can love her." He turned and walked out of the bar leaving Stephen to think about the load he had just been handed.