Was I Ever Innocent?

Chapter Nine

“So you can either come back to the garage with your car or you can make other arrangements,” the stout, balding man told me.

“I’ll give you a ride home Aimee, don’t worry about. You can take the car back to the garage and she’ll ring you up tomorrow. Thanks pal,” Matt said to the mechanic. In a way I was thankful he had sprung up out of thin air, otherwise who knows how long I’d have been stranded for. The mechanic promptly jumped in his truck and drove off leaving me and Matt alone.

“Thanks,” I managed to whisper, my throat still hoarse from all the crying. It had been a stressful day to say the least, with an unexpected twist. I never, in my wildest dreams thought I’d see Matt ever again. How wrong was I? I found my mind wandering back to our last meeting.

Things had been so raw back then, even after not seeing him for so long. Now though it was completely different. All the stuff that had gone on was a distant memory, if anything I was slightly glad he had come to my rescue.

“Wow look at you Aimes,” a voice from behind me whispered.

As I turned to face them my heart stopped beating. How was this possible?

“Matt?” I questioned. I had to be dreaming surely? There was no way that Matt was here on my wedding day; the same Matt that I had ran away from only ten years before. My mouth went dry as I tried to think of a possible reason for his sudden appearance. This was supposed to be a happy day, the first day of the rest of my life. Instead I found myself faced with the guy that had torn my heart in two.

“What are you doing here?” I croaked.

“I came to see you Aimes,” he replied as he shuffled from foot to foot.

He came to see me? What the hell did that mean? I thought that I had made it obvious all those years ago that I wanted nothing more to do with him, usually that’s the conclusion normal people would come to when you ignore their texts, calls and change your number. Apparently Matt wasn’t a normal person. It was even more apparent with the fact that he had chosen to ‘come and see me’ on the day of my wedding.

“Why Matt? What do you want from me? The past is the past let’s just leave it there and never go back again. There is nothing more to say,” I reasoned.

“Aimes, stop being so god damn stubborn for just one minute and listen to me. I never forgot you, you know? There’s never been a day when I don’t think of you. I’ve missed you so much. And when Lee invited me to the wedding, I just had to come. I just had to see you,” he explained.

I rubbed my forehead with my hand trying to make sense of it all and ease the throbbing that had built up in my temple.

“You broke my heart you know that. You told me you’d wait for me but by that point you’d already got that skank knocked up! Do you know how long I was in pieces because of you?” I shouted trying to stop my quivering lip.

“Aimes, I wasn’t with her then. She had got pregnant when we were together, before I ended it for you. That day you just saw me helping her out, I had to stand by my child. Otherwise what kinda father would that make me?” he asked.

“Well, congratulations for being a man and standing up to your responsibilities, but it doesn’t change anything. When I was with you I felt complete, like nothing could break me down. I truly loved you. You breaking my heart made me realise that I wasn’t really in love with Jase just the idea of Jase. Because when you broke my heart it was raw and bitter, it was a dark throbbing that I never want to feel again. You were my first love Matt so I will always remember you, but that’s all I want you to be. A memory. Now please just go, don’t make this harder than it already is.”