7 Years Later

Part 14 - Present Day

On Monday, I expected to go into work and have Allison act weird toward me.

She was as sweet as ever toward me.

"Thank you so much again for coming on Saturday!" Allison said to me, "It means a lot. I was wondering, do you want to grab lunch with me today? There's a new vegan place that opened close by. I'm not a vegan, but the food looks delicious."

He didn't tell her.

"Sure." I said, "I'm not a vegan either, but I am always down to try some new food."

"Yay, sounds good!" Allison said, "I can drive us."

I felt my blood boil as I realized that Matteo still didn't tell her.

I really am just a dirty little secret.

He's going to be digging himself into a deep hole here.

All morning I felt apprehensive to get lunch with Allison. When it got to 1 PM, we got into her car, which was a Tesla.

Allison started driving and she said, "The restaurant is only a few minutes away. My sister is a vegan, and she's coming into town to visit me next weekend, so I figured I could try this place and tell her how it is."

"How old is your sister?" I asked Allison.

"Savannah is 20. She goes to college in Pittsburgh." Allison said, "Do you have any siblings, Cassidy?"

"I have a 24 year old brother and a 19 year old step sister." I said, "Is Savannah your only sibling?"

"I have an older sister as well, Olivia. She's 27, she has a baby, my nephew Grayson. I love being an aunt so much. I can't wait to have kids of my own." Allison said.

And she might have them with Matteo. That's who she is probably aiming for.

An overwhelming sense of sadness came over me thinking about that.

"Cassidy, are you alright?" Allison asked, her voice concerned, "You got really pale out of nowhere."

"Honestly, I'm just really hungry." I lied, "I haven't eaten anything since like 8 PM last night."

"Good thing we are pulling up. Let's get you some food ASAP." Allison said.

Allison and I went into the restaurant, and she got a vegan grilled cheese and tomato soup, and I got a veggie sandwich.

We sat together outside the restaurant, as it was a beautiful day out in May.

Allison dipped her sandwich in the soup and took a bite.

"Wow. You wouldn't even know this is vegan." she said.

My sandwich had a bunch of different grilled veggies and avocado hummus on it. I took a bite as well and said, "Oh, wow. This is delicious. Great suggestion coming here."

"We should grab lunch together more often." Allison said, "I really like working with you, Cassidy. You've been so welcoming to me. I was so nervous to move here, as I'm leaving my friends behind. I'm glad to make friends like you."

It was in that moment that I knew-

I need to tell her about Matteo.

"Allison, I ask you this because I am glad we are becoming friends as well. What has Matteo told you about me?"

Allison dipped her sandwich in the soup again and said, "He told me that you two met senior year, and became friends. He said you lost touch in college, but that you were pretty good friends in high school. Why do you ask?"

"Allison. That's not true." I said.

Allison put down her sandwich and she looked at me, her blue eyes wide, "What do you mean?"

"Matteo was my boyfriend." I said, "We started dating in our senior year and broke up at the beginning of college."

Allison looked like she could cry.

"Was it...serious? Matteo told me he had a girlfriend in high school. He didn't say much about it, and I figured a high school relationship couldn't be that serious." she asked me, her voice meek.

"Yes. It was serious." I said, "Allison, I've been waiting for Matteo to tell you. I didn't want to have to be the one to tell you, as Matteo is your boyfriend. I'm not. I can't keep it from you any longer."

There are plenty of details I am leaving out.

Tons.

Allison was silent for a moment. She then said, "I really appreciate you telling me, Cassidy."

"Are you angry?" I asked her.

"Not at you. I understand why you weren't the one to tell me." Allison said softly, "Can I ask you a question though? And please be honest with me."

"Go ahead."

"Were you two in love?"

"Yes." I said honestly, "We were."

I saw tears prick Allison's eyes.

"I'm sorry." she said, "I'm not meaning to get so upset. I'm just...so mad that Matteo didn't tell me."

For the rest of lunch and the drive back to work, I tried to calm Allison down. She was upset- very understandably so- but she kept telling me that she wasn't upset at me.

"This must hurt you as well, Matteo keeping your relationship a secret." Allison said to me.

"That doesn't matter." I said, "Right now, I care more about how you feel."

To my surprise- Allison pulled me in for a hug, "Thank you, Cassidy."

For the rest of the day, I was in a daze. I drove to the store to get wine- and got two bottles.

When I got home, I was alone. Kylie was working overnight, so it was just me.

Maybe I should get a cat or something.

I was about to go open one of the bottles of wine- when my phone started vibrating on my bed.

When I picked it up and saw the name of the caller, a chill went down my spine.

Matteo.

I hadn't seen that name appear on my phone screen in years.

When I picked up my phone and accepted the call, Matteo immediately started talking.

"Cassidy, why did you tell Allison about us?"

He sounded pissed.

The conversation got intense quickly.

"Oh, I don't know Matteo, maybe because your girlfriend deserves to know the truth." I said back.

"You told her we had a serious relationship and that we were in love." Matteo said back.

"What, are those not true statements?"

"Of course they're f*****g true statements. But I should have been the one to tell her." Matteo said.

"So why didn't you?"

"I was going to!" Matteo exclaimed, "She called me after work today, crying. So I had to explain to her the details of our relationship."

I felt another chill go down my spine.

"What details exactly?"

"Don't worry." Matteo said, "I didn't tell her that I got you pregnant. I wasn't in the mood to go into that."

"Okay." I said, my heart pounding, "So...what's going on now? Is she alright?"

"Not really. She's mad at me, thank you for that. She made me swear up and down that nothing was going on with us."

"Matteo, you did this to yourself. You should have told her the moment you knew." I said, "You and her have been together over a year, how did it never come up that you had a serious girlfriend, not just a high school fling?"

"You ever think that maybe it's really hard for me to talk about?" Matteo said to me.

"Then why didn't you tell her the moment you knew she was working with me?"

"I was worried that she would freak out and quit her job." Matteo said, "I didn't want her to do that."

"She seems a bit more rational than that."

Matteo sighed, "Just stay out of my relationship, okay?"

He's about to act like I am intruding on his relationship?

I felt my anger and frustration rising, "You know what, Matteo. Don't talk to me if you see me. Don't f*****g call me. And don't tell me to stay out of your relationship. Like I'm trying to intrude on it."

"Cassidy, that's not what I meant-"

"No, Matteo." I said, my voice breaking, "It's been hell since you came back. You don't even understand what it's been doing to me."

I knew I was about to start crying.

"I can't have this conversation anymore. Goodnight, Matteo."

I then hung up the phone.

I was about two seconds from blocking Matteo's number- when he called me back.

Why is he calling me back again?

I didn't answer.

He called me again.

I picked up, already crying.

"What?" I said, "Why are you calling me? I was about two seconds away from blocking you."

"Don't block my number. Please." Matteo said, his voice calmer.

I started breaking down, "Matteo, you have no f*****g idea what this is doing to me."

"Cassidy, please calm down." Matteo said, "I don't want you to cry. I...don't like hearing you this upset."

"I've been like this almost every single night." I said back.

"Do you want me to try to avoid you as much as possible? I won't come out on nights that you're at the bar. I promise I won't call you. We can go back to just not knowing what we are doing with each other's lives." Matteo said, a certain sadness to his voice.

"I can't do that, Matteo." I said.

He paused and then said, "Neither can I."

"I think we need to agree to just be civil. And try to be friendly when we see each other, because we are bound to." I said.

I don't know how I'm going to do this either.

"I-okay." Matteo said, "We can try."

"Okay." I said, taking a deep, shaky breath, "Goodnight, Matteo."

"Wait. You're not going to block my number, I hope?"

I chuckled sadly, "No. I'm not."'

"Good. Goodnight, Cassidy."

Neither of us hung up for a moment.

Until I finally did.

Even though I really didn't want to.