Rebound (14 page)

Me: Matt, sorry that I missed your
calls, messages, and texts. I appreciate your picking me up this
morning and getting me breakfast. You’re sweet. I can’t wait to see
you this afternoon. Don’t be late-2 p.m. XOXO.

Within seconds, my phone pinged. When
I went to retrieve the text, I was called by one of the members
that an older woman had fallen in the ladies room. I asked if
paramedics were needed. The response was that she was bleeding from
the forehead, but that someone was with her. I asked the woman to
stay with her. I called emergency response and gave all the details
for the club, and I waited for them to arrive. Once they arrived, I
guided them to the ladies locker room. We saw that an older woman
was sitting on the floor. Another woman, in her swimsuit, was
sitting alongside her holding a red tinged towel on her
head.

After a few minutes tending to the
accident, my phone rang. I looked to see that it was Matt. I
pressed ignore. I’d call him back later. I needed to ensure that
the woman was okay. She asked me to gather her things so that the
ambulance could take her to the nearest emergency room. I went to
the locker containing her things and gathered her belongings,
bringing them to her side. The paramedics already had her strapped
on the gurney. I smiled as I rested her bag and jacket in between
her blanketed legs. She smiled and held my hand. I assured her that
she would be fine as we continued out the corridor of the locker
room.

I escorted them to the front door. I
went back to the locker room and found the bathing suited woman and
asked her a few questions about what she witnessed. She offered the
story that she saw the woman stumble over the shower lip and fell
onto her knees, but had hit her head on the tile, which caused the
gash. My phone rang again. I pressed ignore a second time. I took
her name and thanked the woman for her information. I stalked out
to the front desk to write an accident report.

As I was retrieving the paperwork, a
text pinged. I didn’t have time to respond, needing to report all
the details. I filled out the forms and signed, filing a copy and
putting one in the manager’s box. I took a deep breath. This was
the first time that I’d ever experienced a medical emergency at the
gym. I could still picture her sweet face and her shaking hands.
She was definitely rattled, and that made me unsettled. I had a
flash back of my mother; ill and dying. I shook the thought
away.

When I finally pulled myself together,
I looked at my phone. There was a couple of voicemails. I didn’t
want to hear his voice in that moment. I opened up the
texts.

Matt: You’re all I can think about
since last Wednesday. Thanks to you, I can’t get rid of this
erection. Nothing will keep me away from you at 2.

I couldn’t believe how open and honest
he was about his feelings so soon after meeting. Texting allows
some disconnect when writing to another person. You feel like you
can pour your heart out and not have to observe the physical and
emotional response of the recipient. I looked at the second
text.

Matt: Are you okay? Your response was
cut short. Was it something I said?

I decided to respond so that he
wouldn’t worry. I looked at the time and it was already noon. I
will see him in two hours, and I didn’t want him to come
here.

Me: Matt. I’m okay. There was an
accident at the gym that needed all my attention. I had to finish
the report. Sorry. See you at 2?

Within a minute, my phone pinged with
his response.

Matt: You were about to see me in 5
minutes. Thanks for responding. I don’t want to bother you at work.
Sorry about the accident. You’ll tell me all about it at
2.

Me: I will be busy doing other things
to you at 2, so there will be no talking about it.

Matt: Naughty girl!

Me: You like it. Must get back to
work. Don’t be late. XOXO

I smiled at our virtual interaction. A
nervous chill ran up my spine as I considered what I was getting
into. I tried to reason that no matter what happens with Matt, I
was going to enjoy the time spent with him. He may be the rebound
guy. After being single two years, would he still be considered a
rebound? He broke my two-year celibacy. We went on a first mini
date this morning. He has been thoughtful and attentive this entire
time, so why shouldn’t I enjoy this?

I don’t want to be left hurt and
broken. Ben broke me. He tried to curse all my future relationships
by his actions during the last year of our marriage and dragging
out the divorce for over a year. It was brutal. My heart was made
frozen and then shattered into billions of pieces. And I don’t want
to give another man the opportunity to screw me over like
that.

I wanted to listen to Matt’s voice
again. To hear the reassuring tone that told me that he wanted to
see me, to be with me, and that I wasn’t mistaken when I thought
that he missed me when we weren’t together.

I pressed to hear his
voicemail.

Matt: “Hey Perla, I didn’t hear back
after the last text. Just want to make sure I’m not pushing it with
you. Call me, please.”

I saved it. Why am I saving these? I
started to feel ridiculous. I needed to just be casual about this.
I needed this to go slowly. I pressed to hear the last
voicemail.

Matt: “If you don’t call me back in
the next ten minutes, I’m just going to show up, Perla. If there is
something wrong, let me know. Call me, please.”

He was truthful when he said that I
would see him in five minutes. I wondered if, when I texted, he was
already en route to the gym.

The rest of my shift was uneventful. I
cleaned up the service desk area, and waited for Gina to relieve me
of my shift. When she came in, I gave her information about the
day’s events and alerted her to the incident in the morning. I
logged out of the computer. She clocked in and I clocked out at
2:02 p.m. Matt didn’t appear in the gym when I clocked out. He was
late by a few minutes, which surprised me. He was at my apartment
at the precise time I leave for the bus, which indicated that he
was unusually late. I didn’t want to text him, which would fall in
the realm of desperation.

I waited outside of the gym in the
main corridor of the large building. I checked my phone to see if
he called or texted and I just didn’t hear the sound. There was
nothing. The time on my phone said 2:13 p.m. I persuaded myself to
wait. As a doctor, he could have been called away. I checked the
sound level on my phone and turned on the vibration to
simultaneously buzz with the ring. I held onto my cellphone to
ensure I didn’t miss his call.

I walked toward the glass entry doors
to look to see if his black Range Rover passed by the building.
Traffic seemed pretty light, which didn’t give me any comfort
because I couldn’t excuse his lateness because of heavy traffic.
Disappointment was starting to creep in and settle in my
heart.

By 2:37 p.m., I’d had enough of
waiting and decided to go to the library, which was my usual
waiting place in between shifts. I could read for a couple of hours
and relax before starting my next shift. I thought it would be
appropriate to text Matt that I was no longer waiting.

Perla: Matt, I’m sure something came
up, so I’m going to leave and run some errands. We’ll connect
another time.

I walked out of the glass front door,
and walked toward the subway. My phone rang. I looked at the number
and recognized it as Matt’s. Tears of frustration welled in my
eyes. I took a deep breath to compose myself from the mix of anger,
disappointment, and excitement. I pressed to answer.

“
Hello, Matt.” I tried to
sound upbeat as I suppressed my sadness.

“
Perla. I’m so sorry. I’m
on my way. I was on the phone with an injured athlete’s medical
team. They wanted me go to New York City today to consult. I was on
video conference and couldn’t call you. My attention was on the
treatment plan and couldn’t text. I feel like I failed you.” He
sounded so dejected.

I sighed. “I thought you had second
thoughts about me.”

“
No. Never was a thought.
Where can I pick you up?” He sounded hopeful.

“
Maybe we should do this
another time. Our time together feels rushed. And at this late
hour, we wouldn’t have enough time together.”

“
Please, Perla. I’m right
here. I can see you. Can you see my vehicle?”

I heard a honk reverberate from both
the phone and in front of me. He pulled over to the curb and
parked. He stepped out of the car and ran over to me. I hung up the
phone, and met him. As much as I tried, I couldn’t change the
disappointed look in my face. I wanted to believe that he was there
for me and that we could spend time together. This is the second
time that his job had caused him to be late for me, which made me
wonder what life would be like as his girlfriend. How many dates
would he cancel or delay because work came first? And while I dared
not think farther into the future, I wondered how marriage and
parenting would work on his busy schedule. I could imagine that I
would be a married, single mother. He did mention that he traveled
a lot when married, but ‘slowed down’ after it ended. I shook the
thoughts away.

“
I’m sorry. I didn’t
expect this call. I couldn’t disregard the group. Having another
sports team . . .”

“
No need to explain, Matt.
I’m disappointed, but I do understand.” I looked at the time on my
phone. “It’s 2:50. I have to be at my next shift at
five.”

“
Come home with me. We can
just hang out and talk until I have to drop you off at the Inn.
Please?” He put his hand on my arm. He came closer and leaned in
for a kiss. He smelled so wonderful. I touched his face and felt
his beard. Waves of desire mixed with insecurity coursed through
me. He took my hand and I followed him to his car. He opened the
passenger door for me, and I sat down. He closed the door and
jogged to the driver’s side. He swiftly sat down, turned on the
car, and peeled off down the lane.

“
I’m sorry, Perla. I
didn’t want to disappoint you. I really meant to be here at 2. I
was planning to be here fifteen minutes early and wait for you
instead of you waiting for me.” He reached out and touched my knee.
I released myself from a self-hug and put my hand on his.
Immediately, we interlocked fingers. We seem to have a mutual need
to touch.

“
When you didn’t show or
call, I thought you changed your mind.” He squeezed my fingers and
rubbed my skin with his thumb.

“
Never.” He looked at me.
I looked into his eyes and saw a longing for me.

“
Watch the road.” I
cautioned, needing to pull away from his sincere glare. “Never say,
never. We don’t know each other well. You may get tired of me
sooner than you think.”

“
I already know what I
like and why I like you. You showed me yourself at the club and the
next day in my home. You’re caring and attentive. You were
concerned and committed to your friend who was celebrating a major
life event. You stayed in my home when I asked. You didn’t steal,
which is always a good start.” I slapped the back of his hand, and
laughed. “You cooked for me and waited till I got home to eat.
You’ve made me feel more wanted and alive than I have in a long
time. And I don’t plan on changing my mind. Unless, you
have?”

“
No.” I whispered. Despite
his sweet response, negating that he’d changed his mind about us, I
was still upset by his lateness. His arriving late stirred
something in me. Ben constantly disappointed me by being late for
dinner or changing our date night plans. The excuse was always work
related. I never believed it because we both worked at the same
company, but I never had proof that he was lying or worse,
unfaithful.

I believed Matt when he said that he
was on a medical call. I had determined that I would show him my
disappointment when we reach his apartment. Soon after, we drove in
silence, our hands remained locked, and it was comfortable. We
arrived at his apartment building. He stopped the car in front of
the valet. The valet opened my side of the door and I collected my
purse, leaving the cooler in the front seat. I had no intention of
eating. My appetite was done and I wanted my time to be spent
enjoying him.

“
Joe, please keep the car
close. I’ll be going back out in about ninety minutes and I don’t
want to wait till you retrieve it.” Matt pulled out his wallet and
handed the valet twenty dollars.

“
Yes, sir. Thank you.” He
smiled at both of us and I returned the smile with a small one of
my own.

Matt took my hand and walked us
briskly to the front door. He pulled the glass door and held it for
me as he ushered me inside. Once he was right beside me, he sought
my hand again and walked me toward the elevators. Without releasing
my hand, he punched the button to the elevator with his free hand,
and he leaned into me for a kiss. “Don’t change your mind.” He
whispered before giving me the a sensuous kiss.

The elevator dinged its arrival. I
felt a tinge of nerves in anticipation of being alone with him
again. It was fine when we were in his car, still in view of the
passersby, but this tiny confined box made me quake internally. The
doors opened and with his hands on my lower back, Matt led me
inside.