Saudade

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Matt's POV

I stare at the documents in my hand for a good half hour. What now? What do I do now? What is Scarlett doing now?

The only thing I knew for certain is that Scarlett and I needed to sit down and have a long talk about all this. About us. About Georgia. And about that unsettling boyfriend of hers.

I continue staring at the wall ahead of me, as if the wall held some answers to my problems. Sighing, I get up and stroll over to the wall. As I scan the wall, a picture captures my eye. Stepping closer to it, I smile, I remember exactly what happened that day. That was the day I met Scarlett.

"I'm coming! Would a little patience kill you?" I shout at the trainer's daughter, Hannah, who kept screaming at me to shine her shoes.

She looks at me in disbelief, "Watch your tongue otherwise I'll tell mother, and we know you don't want to upset my mother." She finishes her sentence with a devious smile, like the devil she is.

I scowl at her and put the saddle on the saddle rack before going over to shine her boots. I do a shitty job shining her boots before sending her on her way.

After she walks off, out of sight I collapse on some hay bales at the end of our line of stalls. Just as I started to drift off to sleep I feel a spray of cold water hit me.

"Hey!" I shout, jumping up.

"Oh my god! Did I spray you?" a sweet voice comes from in front of the big bay gelding in front of me.

"Kind of," I say, slightly annoyed.

"I'm so so so sorry," she repeats, stepping out from in front of the horse.

Instantly, she took my breath away. She looked stunning in her tan breeches and white show shirt. Her piercing eyes bore right into me.

"I'm really sorry," she says sheepishly, again, after I had been staring at her for a good two minutes.

"It's okay, really," I say, as if I'm in a trance, which I kind of am. "I'm Matt."

She smiles, a genuine smile, "I'm Scarlett."

A knock at the door jolts me from the memory. I shake my head, as if to get rid of what remnants of the memory that was left in me.

I walk back to my seat before I speak, "Come in!"

Alicia waltzes in. I raise an eyebrow, "Can I help you?"

"Yes, you actually can. There's a horse show coming up and I was wondering and hoping if I could come and you could make it official that I'm the assistant trainer?"

I mull over the possibility for a good thirty seconds before saying, "Sounds good to me. I'll add it to the website later."

Her eyes widen at my response. "Really?"

"Really."

"Oh my god! Thank you so much!" she squeals before running out of the room. I chuckle at her reaction.

Sighing, I bring up my email and send Scarlett an email that I knew, she knew was coming.

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Scarlett's POV

I groan the minute I see Matt's email pop up. I knew this was coming but I didn't expect it to be so soon. He wants to meet up and discus the results. What is there to discus? He's the father.

Oh god.

He's the father.

That means he has rights, legal rights to her. If Nate finds out, he'll surely kill me. What am I going to do? When can I even meet up with him?

After a few minutes of deliberation, I send him an email back, telling him to meet me at Starbucks in half an hour. That will give us two hours to talk before I'm expected to pick up Georgia and well before Nate gets home. That should keep me in the clear.

I quickly get dressed in a light blue sundress with a black bow and black heels. I tie my loose curls back with a light blue ribbon and grab my black clutch. Thankfully, the dress hides a majority of the bruises and scars that cover my body.

By the time I reach Starbucks, the half hour has passed. I spot him waiting by the window. Walking in, I force a smile towards him.

"Hey, over here! I got you an iced chai, you still like that drink, right?"

The smile grows on my face. Instantly, I fall right back in love with him, again. How thoughtful could you get? Plus, he remembered!

I walk closer to him, but as I draw nearer, I see a look of horror cross his face. Confused, I stop and look at him.

What he says next, sends my stomach plummeting.

His voice barely above a whisper, he asks, "Scarlett, what the hell happened to your shoulder?"

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I'm so sorry for the lack of updates! I've had so much school stuff because it's almost the end of the year, YAY! That and I've had some severe writer's block and lack of motivation. Hence the shitty chapter. So please enjoy!