Chapter Fifteen

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On Friday I left work just after three. Whitney told me that Matt had classes until four so I gave myself plenty of time to get to his campus before he went out for the night. I hadn't told him I was coming but I'd decided to call him when I got close enough. It was just my way of making sure that I didn't chicken out once again.

By the time I was ten minutes away I was ready to turn around and pretend this never happened. Instead I called Matt.

He picked up right away. "What's wrong, Claire?"

"What makes you think anything's wrong?"

He laughed. "Well, you're calling me on your cell before you've left work. More importantly, you're actually calling me. Something has to be wrong."

I waited a second until I'd passed a very slow car before continuing. "Nothing wrong per say. I just need to talk to you."

I could hear a couple of voices in the background get further away as he found a quiet place to talk. "Okay, I'm alone. What do you want to talk about?"

I couldn't help myself, I laughed nervously. "It's something I think we should talk about in person."

He hesitated. "I'm not going to Mississauga this weekend but I could stop by Tuesday if it can wait."

I smiled and forced my eyes not to water. He had to be the most considerate person I knew which meant this was going to be even harder than I thought originally. "Do you have any plans for the next couple of hours?"

He laughed. "I don't think you can get down here that quickly. I'm going out with a couple of friends around nine but it wouldn't be worth it if you were to come by for an hour or so to talk."

"I'm about five minutes away. I was kind of hoping you'd have some time." I heard his intake of breath and mentally slapped myself. "Or I could wait until Tuesday."

"No, no," he said quickly. "See if you can find the Tims just off campus and I'll be able to meet you there in fifteen minutes. I just need to change first."

It was my turn to hesitate. I didn't want to have this conversation in such a public place. "How about we meet there and I take you out for dinner?"

"You sure? Tims would be easier."

I laughed. "I don't expect this conversation to be an easy one."

"Then I guess I'll see you soon."

I was sitting in my car outside the Tims waiting for Matt to show up when the passenger's door opened. I snapped my head around and Matt smiled at me as he slid into the car. "Hey."

I tried my best to smile back but I must have failed miserably because he placed his hand over mine where it rested on my lap. "You okay?"

I managed to fix my smile even though it felt strained. "Of course. I couldn't be better. Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere you want is fine."

I started the car and drove around in awkward silence until I found a restaurant – The Olive Garden.

I was slightly underdressed for a restaurant since I had thrown a large sweater over my dress shirt to hide my belly when I left work but with a single flirty smile I managed to convince the waiter to show us a private booth far away from the rest of the diners.

When we sat down Matt opened his menu and glanced at me over the top of it. "So what do you want to talk about?"

I opened my menu and shook my head. "It can wait; I don't want to ruin your appetite."

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