Open House: Sold

Petty and Cruel

The next week, I take a day off and fly to L.A. to square up with Matteo. Of course, I didn't say anything to Penny. Instead, I told her that Valerie and I would drive to Milwaukee for a potential new client, in case she dropped by the office and didn't find me, and since it's not unusual for me to drive to other cities from time to time, she didn't think twice. I hate that I lied to her, especially since our whole relationship is based on not lying to each other about anything, but if I told her the truth, she wouldn't let me, and I really have to do it. I promised myself that I will tell her the minute I'll walk back into the house!

"Hello, Matteo..." I say when he opens the door

"Carlos? Wh-what are u doing here? And how did u find me?" he asks startled

"Um, we sent u an RSVP, apparently, remember? We kinda have to have your address in order to mail those..."

"U're being sarcastic like we're old pals? Really?

"Well, we are old pals in a way, no?"

"Oh my God... The nerve u have to come into my house, after how u treated me and while planning a wedding with the girl u also treated like shit, while cheating on me with her and giving me all this irony!"

"Technically, I'm not in your house, so..."

"And u're not gonna get into my house, u smug son of a bitch!" He yells and pushes the door to close, but I put my hand on it and stop it, sighing

"Please, Matteo, we need to talk..."

"Don't tell me, Penny asked u to make amends and convince me to come to your wedding?" he asks, opening the door again

"Not at all. Penny doesn't know I'm here..."

"More secrets! Oh my, this marriage is going to be good!" he says sarcastically

"For the love of God, Matteo, can't u just give me a few minutes of your time to talk?"

"I don't have anything to talk about with u, I said everything I wanted to say the night we broke up"

"Well, that was 6 years go. And this time, my daughter is also in the mix , and I'm not gonna tell her that uncle Matty doesn't want to be in her life anymore, because he still hasn't gotten over his issues with me!" I say looking him in the eyes, a little angry, and after he looks back at me for a few seconds, he sighs and lets me in

"So, talk" he says as he closes the door behind me

"I'm not gonna talk alone, so sit your ass down and try to remember that this isn't a social call nor it's about u!" I growl and he just takes a deep breath before leading the way to the kitchen

"Anything u want to say for yourself before I start talking?" I ask as we sit around the kitchen table, across from each other

"Nope, I'm good!" 

"Of course u are, because if u weren't, u wouldn't have sent an I'm fine. to Penny after the voicemail she left u, after u decided to be an ass!"

"Oh, I'm an ass? What about u? Huh? Going back into Penny's life after u destroyed her and left her with a baby, making it 10 times harder for her to heal?"

"1. I didn't know about Aurora and u know it, 2. I didn't just go back, we happened to be in the same city at the same time, having made friends with the same people. I would be a fool not to try and fix things!" 

"Please, u only wanted to keep your daughter close!"

"And I could do that even without marrying Penny if I wanted to. Because Penny isn't petty like u!"

"Petty? Petty? She sent me an RSVP for your wedding and expected me to just come like nothing happened?"

"She expected for u to be mature enough to just kindly decline! Yes, her perfect scenario would be for u to come and hug us and wish us the best, but we all 3 know this isn't something that could actually happen, so a  simple no or a curtesy call, for the sake of your friendship and Aurora, would suffice!"

"Well, I felt insulted!"

"So, u would rather she didn't tell u at all? And how would that go, huh? U would talk one day and it would have come up! Hell, we would have to be in the same room at some point! Or were u planning on cutting ties with them once and for all after she told u we're together?" I ask, getting all fueled up, but he just turns his look away

"Oh my God, that's what u were planning!"

"What if I was?"

"Then u wouldn't just be petty, but also cruel..."

"U think it's easy for me? Hearing that u 2 get to have your happy ending on my back?"

"On your back? Matteo, it's been 6 years, man! U can't still feel like that..."

"But I do...because I had made plans for us, we were planning our future, to have a family, while u were screwing your assistant, leading both of us on, until it was too late to come forward! Do u understand how many thing I lost that night?"

"U're right. U're so right, I was a coward and an ass and everything in between. But u think it's fair for u to still punishing yourself for that? I mean, u had more freedom to overcome all that than Penny ever did! U didn't have a baby reminding u all day, every day about what happened...U could have used these 6 years to really heal and move on! And I know it's not right for me to lecture u on how to react and how to live your life, but I know a thing or two about feeling like u don't deserve good things and that u're not good enough, and I want to help u move on. And it didn't occur to me until I heard Penny leaving u that message, that, maybe, I should have just come find u myself and talked to u about her and I...U needed to hear it from me and not from her over the phone"

"Well *scoffs* it's too late for that now..."

"It's not too late, though, to change your mind about walking away from Penny's and Aurora's lives. When u're friends with someone, it doesn't come with terms and conditions! U made her believe that she had found a friend in u, that would be there for her in good and bad, but now that it's supposed to be the happiest day of her life, it's also gonna be a sad day for her, since this marriage cost her someone she depended on. And u know her, even though her profession requires her to be around a lot of people, she doesn't have many friends and doesn't depend on people. But, guess what, Matty, she has a family now. And I don't mean just Aurora and I, but a lot of people that opened their arms and welcomed us in their family, without holding our past above our heads. Imagine that...totally strangers accepted us and her decision to be with me, while the person who actually lived her and knows the both of us, the only person who can objectively talk about us after having spent so much time with us on the past, can't pick up the damn phone and tell his friend that he doesn't feel like attending his ex's wedding! *gets up* Think about that while u're on your high horse, being mad about how we feel for each other, just because u got hurt in the process. Everyone gets hurt at some point, Matteo, and I can apologize only so many times, but the fact is that I can't do much if u have decided to stay mad and hurt forever..." I say, leaning over him at the end, while he looks down. At the end he raises his eyes at me, without saying anything, and after we stare at each other for a couple of seconds, I walk away.

"If u had ran into me before running into Penny, would u have tried to get back with me?"