Hope Begins to Fade

Serenity and Poise

I groaned as I looked at my phone. It was completely dead and I didn't have a charger with me. I'd put it on silent before Matt and I had driven away from Cathy's house and now I had no way of checking what I was sure would be several messages from Cathy and Steph and maybe even Mel.

Oh well. It couldn't be helped.

After some industrious digging through the cupboards I'd managed to come up with the necessary kitchen equipment to make omelettes. To my vast surprise the house, including the kitchen, hadn't been in too much disarray. Sure there were a couple of dirty plates in the sink and I noticed a couple of empty beer bottles on the patio table but overall to my astonishment the house had not been trashed. My feelings must have been pretty obvious on my face because Matt had informed me with smirking satisfaction that he had a cleaner who came in every second day.

That was a huge relief because when I'd insisted that Matt take a shower he'd offered me the use of the spare bathroom. After a day of helping to pack and move Brian's stuff followed by a night of sleeping in my clothes I felt disgusting but if I'd had to deal with a cesspool of male neglect I'd have happily forgone the shower. Fortunately for me Matt's cleaner had left the bathrooms in a state of pristinely sparkling tiles and glass.

So there I was sockless in my sneakers and clad in Matt's sweatpants and hoodie as I whisked eggs. His clothes fit me surprisingly well. Despite what you may hear men's clothes don't engulf all women leaving them looking adorably cute. For a start I was not a short girl I was the opposite of a short girl. I was a tall girl, in fact take the girl part out of the equation I was just tall full stop. While Matt's hoodie definitely swam on me his sweatpants did not because although most people would describe me as slim I have never been a skinny-hipped giraffe girl. Child bearing hips? That description could have been written for me. So although I may have been looking...something...in Matt's clothes it was not adorably cute. 

As I flipped an enormous ham, cheese, tomato and herb omelette onto a plate I heard a noise behind me.

"Coffee?" Matt asked.

"God no. I have no interest in the brew of the devil. Now tea, that is a beverage worth consuming." Matt made a scoffing sound of disgust as I picked up the plate in one hand and my mug of tea in the other and turned to face him. My mouth dropped open and I stood there watching him slack jawed as he punched a couple of buttons on the coffee machine. This, this, was the guy who's starred in my Pinterest fantasies. He'd shaved and although the flannel shirt, t-shirt and jeans he wore were faded and worn it wasn't in a hobo sleeping under a bridge kind of way it was more of a let me burrow in and make myself a little nest in all that soft comfort kind of way.

"That's some twisted thinking right there Sunshine," he said as the coffee machine roared to life with a sound that would not have been out of place at a missile launch.

Pulling my self together I set the omelette down on the kitchen island and dropped a couple of pieces of toast down on the plate. Fortunately I'd recovered the power of speech so I was able to say, "There you go. Breakfast is served."

Matt waggled his coffee mug in my direction as he took a seat on the stool in front of his plate. "Sure I can't tempt you?"

I screwed up my face. "I'd rather drink ditch water."

His lips tilted up in a smirk, "Your loss." His eyebrows lifted up into his hairline as he took a good look at the omelette before him. "Holy fuck Sunshine, this looks really fucking great." He picked up his knife and fork and began to eat. "Shit this is good," he mumbled around a mouthful. I smiled with pleasure at his compliment. It had been while since I'd cooked for adults. My job with Cathy didn't involve cooking and although I helped out with Harper's meals at times Cathy refused to let me cook saying that she hadn't hired me to be her slave. Generally I managed to make myself scarce at mealtimes. I hated to intrude on Cathy and Jeff's or Mel and Aaron's time together as couples.