Someone Like Her

16 - Matthew

He wasn't sure if it was his brightest idea. But it was the only solution that felt right for him. Perhaps they could've come up with another arrangement, but they've already agreed on doing the tasks together. It was the first adult/mature decision they made together.

Together.

Now, the gift-wrapping task is at hand, and he hopes everything goes well without a conflict of creative differences.

Miles laid the pair of brand-new ballet shoes on the coffee table, staring at them for the fifth time since it's been delivered an hour ago. "Do you think Chelsea will like them? Mommy said she asked one of her friends to make them the way she likes it."

"I'm sure she will."

"Is aunt Jess on her way now?"

"Yes. She just needed to pick up a few things," he answers with a smile. They've exchanged numbers. It's not that big a deal, but still, progress.

A car came groaning into a stop. Miles' face lit up. "She's here." Miles got up and rushed out of the living room. A few minutes later he was back with an interesting invitation card. "Look, Uncle Matty. Aunt Jess got the birthday invitation from the mailbox."

Jess entered the living room, five shopping bags on her right arm. On the other arm is an enormous handbag.

No spaghetti-straps today. Thank God for that.

It was a nude turtle-neck dress. Not showing much skin but hinting ample chest and glorious curves underneath. It was body-fitting and it really fit hers so perfectly. A far cry from slinky though.

It was a sophisticated kind of sexy.

She doesn't have her trademark red lipstick either. Instead, her lips were as the same color as her nude stilettos. She stood five-inch taller in the doorway.

There's only one thing that was the same: her mane of fiery red hair that must've been in a bun and now curling free over her shoulders.

"Sorry, you guys. I had to meet someone and then pick up a few things." She strutted her way in.

Matthew looked up from where he was sitting on the sofa behind the coffee table, feeling like he should be in tux.

"Is it a client?" Miles guessed.

Jess laid her shopping bags beside the coffee table. "Yes, baby, it was a client. I heard the bride was conservative, so I had to dress like one."

Miles tilted his head inquisitively. "What's conversative?"

She giggles softly. She reaches a hand to her feet, sliding her stilettos off. "It's conservative, Mile-sy." She slumped down in front of the coffee table, so they're now face to face. "Did I miss anything?" She asks.

"Not much. The ballet shoes just arrived an hour ago." Matthew gestured at the shoes on the table.

Miles wiggled his way to her lap. "Aunt Jess, I still don't understand what conversative means." He pouted his lips helplessly.

Jess ruffles his hair. "Let's just say it's someone not like me. The opposite of me."

His brows knitted together. "Not beautiful?"

She laughed. "No. That's not it."

Matthew clears his throat. "Someone who respects and follows traditions or orders."

Jess snapped her fingers. "Yep. That's the one."

"Oh. Hold on, I have to get my origami for Chelsea. It's in my room." In a flash, he rushed out.

"Don't run," Matthew calls out.

Now their alone again. But not with the same thick silence they had back then. Well, there's still silence, just not as thick.

"Thank you," she murmurs, rippling the silence. "I was gonna say someone with a stick up his ass."

Matthew blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah. I couldn't think of anything else. Anyways, wow, pretty shoes."

"Are these supposed to be comfortable?" He asks, scratching off the previous conversation.

That's it. Keep the train of conversation comfortable. He thought.

Jess tucked her legs underneath her. "In my short experience, ballet is uncomfortable."

"How short?"

She leans over and examines the ballet shoes. "Probably three recitals then I threw my shoes at my dad's face," she kidded. But then jokes are half meant.

"What do you think of the shoes, Aunt Jess?" Miles' voice suddenly came from behind her.

They both jumped. Jess had her hand over her chest. "Jesus, Mile-sy. Are you Flash? You almost give me a heart attack."

Hmm.

Flash.

That's what he thought too. Which means, one thing finally in common. Another silver lining. In this case, Matthew needs every silver lining he could get.

Miles replied with a toothy grin. "What do you think ?" He showed a set of origami Disney princesses. "Mommy made them." He laid them carefully on the coffee table.

Jess stared at them in awe. "Your mommy made them?"

"Yeah. I told her I want to make an origami for Chelsea. She likes Mulan, Cinderella, Belle and Ariel the most."

Matthew leans over to get a closer look. He has a feeling that he's just as surprised as Jess that Audrey actually made them – the Audrey Danler (now Parkinson) folding papers all day to get them all right.

"You seem to know more about Chelsea than anyone. Do you know her favorite dessert too?" She asked jokingly.

Miles blinked, unable to catch the teasing in her voice. "Lemon tart."

Jess' mouth hung open. "You're completely whipped."

"What's that?"

She shakes her head. "It's just someone who remembers so much details about someone."

His cheeks turned pink. "I just want to give her the best gift for her birthday. You will take me both to the party, right?"

"Sure, buddy." Matthew replies with a smile. However, deep down, part of him dreaded to go. He knew this would happen one way or another. It wasn't the thought of a children's party that sets him off. It's the thought that he'll be seeing Chelsea's Aunt. There are some reasons that made him okay being away from home for months. There are times that he'd do it on purpose and there are times when he's grateful that he had to go.

When he looked at Miles' flushed cheeks as he talks about Chelsea Wayne, he realized that he had been in Miles' shoes when he was just as young. And he hopes Miles wouldn't end up like him.