Part Four | Saying Goodnight
It was close to closing time and Roni and Matt were having the time of their lives with their friends. They had met up with Roni’s other friends she had carpooled with on one of the rides and Matt just waved with a smile. They were heading to the exit, and he stopped her for a second. He handed her his phone with a smile, “We should have done this earlier.” He chuckled.
She nodded, “Totally.” She punched her number in his phone and texted herself to make sure she had his. She flipped on her camera by accident and noticed some new photos in the bottom left hand corner. She looked at him and back to her phone screen. “What did you do?”
“Nothing. I didn’t take photos of myself. Or secret photos of you…” he looked away as she scrolled through her new photos.
“Matthew!” She laughed. “What is this one? Were you trying to sneak one of us together?”
“Maaaaybe…” he snapped a quick photo of her with a giant grin. “Now I have so many to send you!”
Roni glanced around him to see if the others had noticed they were at the front gate. They hadn’t, so she decided to get close to him and take a cute selfie. “Say cheese!”
Matt didn’t say anything. He had a plan to make the picture even better. As she took the photo, he pulled her into a kiss. He heard her squeak and then hum with a smile. He pulled away with a warm smile across his lips, “Mind sending that to me?” He asked.
“Sure. But why all the surprise ones?” She asked, sending the photo.
“I want you to get more comfortable with small, good, surprises. You get jumpy at some things. I noticed that today.”
“I do…for reasons I don’t have time to tell you tonight.” She looked around him and noticed her friends were waving for her to get a move on. “Matt, I gotta go. I’ll text you when I get home. Or…call you…whichever you prefer.”
“I’d love to hear your voice before I fall asleep…so a phone call would be wonderful.” He smiled, kissing her on the cheek.
She hugged him goodbye and held her green octopus tightly. “I…don’t want this to end…this feeling…I’ve missed it…”
Matt was curious as to what she meant by her statement, but he kept his thoughts to himself. “Veronica, we both need to get home. Come on,” he chuckled softly, watching as she slowly dozed off against him. He picked her up in a wedding cradle and walked over to the SUV her friends were in.
“She’s all tuckered out!” Trish smiled. She glanced at Matt, who clearly was smitten and in love with her best friend. She got out of the car to help him, “I know about you two.” She whispered.
Matt raised his brows, “What are you talking about?”
“She told me, when you got her ice cream. She said you called her your queen.”
“What? I never said that,” he tried to cover up.
“Relax, Matt. I’m the only one that knows and I won’t say anything until you and her are ready to tell the world.”
“I’m ready, but I know she isn’t. Plus, I’m not completely sure where it’s going. We just met. I’m not really considering today a date, but I also kind of am.” He looked from Roni to Trish and back. He smiled, “She is so sweet and kind, yet fragile and broken.”
“You know?”
“No, she told me she’d explain everything when we were alone. But, I can just tell. She jumped at some things, surprises she wasn’t expecting. An accidental graze of her arm. Me pushing her hair back gently, so I could see her beautiful face. Someone hurt her.”
“You found all that out just from observation?” Nichole asked in a whisper.
“I’m studying human behaviors in college, I have to be observant. I plan to get my doctorate in mental health and be a therapist for teens and adults. And before you ask, Lucas, Veronica isn’t a job or patient to me. She will never be a patient to me.”
“I’m not even paying attention, so…” Lucas commented as he scrolled through Portrait. “Can we get going now?”
“In a second. I gotta make sure Roni is buckled in and safe.” Trish spat. He sighed and kept his nose in his phone. She turned back to Matt with a smile, “We will make sure she gets home safe. You get home safe too. Hope you don’t have too far to go.” She shut the door, after triple checking Roni was secure.
“We have about an hour drive back to our apartment by school. So, not terrible. Seth is driving, so I can at least get some sleep on the ride home. You guys get back safely!” He told them. Lucas nodded and headed out of the empty parking lot.
Matt walked to Seth’s truck and hopped in the front seat, “I saw you make a move.” He smirked.
“Please don’t say anything. She’s not ready and I respect that.” He looked behind him to see the other two asleep. “This wasn’t a date, Seth. I had no idea I was going to meet a beautiful, amazing girl today.”
“Matt, I’m not gonna say anything. I may give you a hard time, and act like a dumbass, but I do have respect for others’ boundaries. She’s a sweet girl who isn’t afraid to put me in my place.” He smirked, “I respect that.”
“Thank you, bud. I really like her…and I don’t want to screw this up.” Matt yawned.
Seth nodded and took off out of the parking lot with some music playing and his window wide open to keep himself awake. Matt dozed off thinking of his sweet princess and how happy she had made him.
——
Matt woke up to the opening and closing of car doors. He groaned, but eventually got out. He felt his phone vibrate and noticed he had missed a call from Roni. He clicked it, listening to it as he walked in the apartment. “Hey, I made it home safe and sound. I had fun today, so thank you for that. Calypso the octopi is on my nightstand protecting me from all the monsters under my bed.” He heard a giggle in her tone and he smiled with a hum. “I was hoping to get to chat with you and fall asleep on the phone, but I have a feeling you fell asleep already. Sweet dreams and I’ll text you when I get up.” She made a cute kiss noise into the phone and then the answering machine woman asked if he wanted to save the message. He clicked one to save it and ended the voicemail call.
“Damn…she is adorable.” He called her, hoping she wouldn’t answer. It rang a few times and then it went to voicemail. “Hey, princess. We made it home safe and I did fall asleep in the car. I am glad Calypso is keeping you safe from the monsters under your bed. I have Lok lying next to me in bed, so I can snuggle him when I need to. I had a lot of fun today too. I look forward to your text in the morning. Good night, princess and sweet dreams.” He did the same kissing noise she did and hung up.
Putting his phone on his nightstand, a text came through. It was from Roni. He smiled, seeing a glimpse of her text and turned his screen off. Matt turned it on, one last time just to look at his lock screen once more before he fell asleep. He set it as the picture he asked her to send to him. “Good night, my sweet princess.” He whispered with a smile and was out like a light.