Mat Barzal Imagines

Bad Time

Warnings: Swearing/language, alcohol, toxic relationship, angst

Word Count: 1.5k

"So what do you do for a living, Chip?" you asked, trying your best to be polite.

"I'm a financial analyst."

"So you work in finance?"

"Yes, but it's so much more than that. You see..."

You tuned him out from that point on. You tried not to be rude, but you reached the end of your rope. Chip was one of the most boring people you had ever met, so much so that you'd rather watch paint dry than listen to him drivel.

Your phone started buzzing incessantly. You sighed, having a pretty good guess as to who was calling.

"Do you want to get that?" Chip asked.

You looked at your phone in your bag. The familiar number that used to have its own contact confirmed your suspicions: Mat.

"No, it's not important," you said as you declined the call with a harsher than necessary tap on the phone. You weren't going to let that smug bastard get to you, even if it meant listening to Chip drivel.

"So, as I was saying..."

The phone started to buzz again.

"Seriously, (Y/N), answer the phone: it's rude," Chip snapped.

You hit him with a withering stare. In addition to being boring, Chip was a pretentious prig who had a ridiculous amount of privilege and didn't have the smarts to back up his newly acquired Harvard degree.

The phone kept buzzing, and you sighed. "I'll be right back."

You pushed your chair out, stood up, and walked away from the table to the bathroom in the back of the restaurant. You huffed before accepting the call.

"Why do you always call me when I'm on a date?" you asked.

Your ex-boyfriend chuckled on the other line. "Still trying to get over me, huh?"

You scoffed. "I've been over you ever since I dumped your ass. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my stunningly attractive date," you said, even though Chip was average at best in that department, too.

"Baby, wait..."

You hung up the phone in disgust. He had some nerve calling you "baby," as if he owned you.

Mat Barzal was the biggest regret of your life. You had dated for a little more than a year, and you were the only one invested in the relationship. Mat, meanwhile, was only interested in himself and his career and didn't even pretend to care about you. Whenever you called him and asked if he wanted to hang out, he'd say, "It's a bad time for a good time, baby." It drove you absolutely crazy how cocky he was. Even worse, you let him get away with it for months before finally finding your self-respect and dumping him last month. You initially didn't hear from him for a little bit, but for the past three weeks, he had been calling you non-stop, begging for another chance. You had had it up to here with his antics.

You walked back over to the table, only to find Chip's chair empty. You let out a loud groan in frustration, and a waiter came rushing over.

"Is everything alright, Miss?"

"Yeah it's just...did you see a brown haired guy who looks about 23 years old leave the restaurant?"