“We’re going to meet Todd’s parents for brunch at their place. We were just picking up a few things for them first. Oh—this is Todd, I don’t think you’ve met. This is Matthew, and…”
She arches a perfectly-groomed eyebrow at Bernadette, who is wiping her lips, making sure there’s no residual mustard.
“Bernadette. She lives next door to me. She lives next door to my aunt. We’re staying at my aunt’s apartment, until I find a place.”
“I’m Vanessa. Hey,” Vanessa says, looking at Bernadette as though she should know exactly who Vanessa is.
Bernadette waves at both her and the douchebag. He makes a big show of the fact that he can’t shake our hands because both of his are busy holding onto Vanessa and a Zabar’s bag.
“Hi there.”
Douchebag smiles and nods and gives Bernadette the once-over.
“So you live around here, then? How is Daisy doing?”
That’s when Bernadette puts her arm around my waist and rests her head against my bicep. “Daisy’s amazing. We’re all one happy little family here on the Upper West Side. We should probably get back to her. Huh, Babe?”
I’m so numb that it takes me a few seconds to realize she’s doing the pretend girlfriend thing. I don’t know what she’s thinking, but I do appreciate what she’s doing. I finally put my arm around Bernadette’s shoulder, but I can’t look Vanessa in the eye.
“Yeah, we should get back. Nice to, uh…Have a good brunch.”
“Bye, Matthew.”
“Nice meeting you,” says the douchebag in a suit.
Bernadette is pulling me away. It’s not that I don’t want to get away from them, I just seem to have forgotten how to walk for a second. That whole encounter lasted less than two minutes, but I suddenly feel like I’ve had the shit kicked out of me every day for years. How do you go from living with someone and saying “I love you” to running into them on a street corner with someone else and talking like we’re strangers?
“Are you okay?” Without the sassy tone in her voice, I barely recognize it.
“Huh?”
My arm is still around her shoulder, but Bernadette has let go of me now that we’ve turned onto a side street.
“Are you okay? You seem…”
“No, yeah.”
“So that was…”
“Hmm?”
“Was that your ex-girlfriend?”
“Yeah.”
“She uhh…I like her bangs. She has good hair. She seems nice? She’s ridiculously gorgeous. That Todd guy looks like a total douchebag though…”
I have nothing to say to that, although I certainly appreciate her assessment. I realize I should probably remove my arm from her shoulder, finally. She clears her throat.
After half a block, she finally says: “Sooo, did you know she was with someone else, or…”
I shake my head. At least I think I do. I do not want to talk about this.
“I’m sorry, Matt. That really sucks.”
I clear my throat. “I’m not that surprised.”
“Oh good, well…How long were you guys together?”
I glance down at her.
She blinks, when she sees the look on my face. “Right. Not important. We don’t have to talk about it. You just go ahead and process your feelings in your own quiet, masculine way.”
“Sounds good.”
She really does let me stay quiet and masculine, all the way back to our building. I appreciate that a lot. It used to drive Vanessa crazy when I wouldn’t talk to her about my feelings. Like feelings are such a fascinating thing to talk about.
When we get to our floor, Bernadette says: “Matt…If you want someone to talk to…I’ll be here all day. I have a thing tonight, but…”
I nod and say: “Thanks for having breakfast with me,” then go inside to snuggle with Daisy in the bedroom and wonder what kind of “thing” Bernadette has tonight, and who she’s having a “thing” with.
