𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 - Matt Sturniolo

𝟺𝟶

✽+†+✽―― what a time ――✽+†+✽
Cʜᴀɪsᴇ
₀₆.₂₀.₂₀₂₃

It had been almost a month since I had met Matt in the parking lot and it still haunted me.

Every man who looked anything like Matt gave me palpitations, every night before I went to bed his hurt face haunted me and every time I saw his book in my room the urge to read it grew.

I tried to think about him as little as possible, especially when Kevin was sitting with me. In his gray eyes I saw how much he loved me, but as much as I wanted to feel the same, I kept looking for the blue in his eyes, but I never found it.

Guilt plagued me. I should have told him that Matthew Sturniolo was my ex-boyfriend, I should have told him right at the beginning of our relationship. Because no matter how or when I tell him, I had kept it quiet for too long, he would hate me and rightly so.

And I felt that part of me hoped that he would be so angry with me that he would break up with me.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even realize that someone was asking me about something. I was putting the new New York Times bestseller on the shelf at work and hadn't even noticed the young girl.

"Excuse me," repeated the brown-haired girl who looked about 15. "Oh, sorry. How can I help you?" I asked and turned in her direction.

"Have you read Almost Yesterday?" She asked, pointing to Matt's book in her hand. She beamed at me and looked so happy that the question confused me for a moment.

I looked at the book and wanted to sigh. It felt like Matt was the main character of my story lately.

"Uh, no, unfortunately I haven't had the time yet. But you can tell me how it is next time." I lied, hoping she wouldn't tell me how it was. I wanted to end the subject as quickly as possible, even if it was very unprofessional.

"Oh no, I've already read it. I just wanted to tell you that you look just like Samira, the main prodagonist in the book." She said and I felt my heart tighten.

That couldn't be true. He hadn't really given the protagonist my middle name.

She widened her eyes at my reaction. I don't know what I must have looked like, but I must have looked pretty shocked.

"Oh God, that was a compliment. I thought Samira was just as pretty. With her ginger-colored hair and green eyes."

I tried not to show any reaction. He hadn't written me into the anknowlegements, he had made me the main character of his story.

I breathed a sigh of relief and forced myself to smile, the girl had just paid me a really nice compliment. "Oh wow, thank you, that's... very nice. Maybe I really need to read it."

"You really should. Matt has such a good writing style, you really think it's his story. Well... nobody knows if it all really happened but -" My colleague shouted after me and saved me. "Chaise, will you open the second till?"

Mᴀᴛᴛ

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. This had become like a daily ritual for almost a month. Just lying there, looking at the ceiling and overthinking what I had done wrong and what had happened to Chaise to make her look so unhappy.