I’m Engaged || Dec. 17, 2001 || Char, Torr & Matt
It went without saying that Matt and Torrance were both blindsided by Charlotte’s news. Matt balked, even shaking his head slightly. “Excuse me, what?” He snapped, eyes moving between the ring on her finger and her face. His disbelief was not only in regards to her expression but to her engagement as a whole. “When in the hell were you even seeing someone, let alone ready and willing to get engaged?” He asked, not even attempting to hide the sheer shock in him.
Matt even reached out, took her hand haphazardly to pull close to his face and inspect the integrity of the ring. “Who do we even know that can afford a rock like that? You didn’t agree to marry another fucking doctor, did you?” He blinked at Charlotte, wanting all of the answers at once, appalled that somehow they would just be hearing about such big news from someone they considered so close.
It was only when Matt shut up long enough to take a breath that he realized they had another friend sitting at the table with them. He glanced over to Torrance, who sat stonily still. His gaze had not moved off of Charlotte, though the glimmer of her diamond did threaten to draw his attention. If there were articulate thoughts in his mind to encapsulate how he felt, the did not see the light of day.
Matt instinctively felt inclined to nudge at Torrance with humor, push the calmer man out of his comfort zone as he always did. But there was a way to the look in Torrance’s eyes now that froze even Matt in his tracks. He turned his own gaze back to Charlotte because for a moment he’d began absorbing his friend’s expression to interpret the way he often did, but now he knew nothing good would come of it. Whatever traces he drew were already too much.
“Char, seriously, what gives?” Matt finally carried the conversation on his own, “Since when have you even wanted a man definitely below your benchmark and a shiny ring to accompany him?”
Charlotte didn’t know what reaction she had been expecting, but from Matt, yes. It was probably something along these lines. She pursed her lips at his accusations. He was technically right, but that didn’t mean she wanted to hear them.
Before she could say any word edgewise, though, he had grabbed her hand and was continuing his onslaught of questions. She pulled her hand out of his grip, maybe a little harder than she had originally intended, and frowned. “No, he’s not a doctor. He’s... in finance.” She didn’t know the specifics actually, just that he worked at the financial district and was doing well for himself. At least according to her mother, anyway. When she had asked about his job to Karan directly, his technical industry talk had mostly gone over her medicine-focused head.
“And I’ve been seeing him for a little while, okay? Just because I don’t tell you about every little detail of my life doesn’t mean they don’t exist.” She tucked her hand under the table again, so that the sparkling light of the ring didn’t end up attracting the whole restaurant or something.
The sudden silence seemed to ring through the table and she finally glanced at Torr, who hadn’t said a single word to her yet.
The look on his face. That, Char didn’t expect. A pit grew in her throat that she couldn’t quite swallow down, and she quickly glanced away from him and at her half eaten soup and sandwich. She couldn’t understand the look on his face. Sure, they were close, in a different way than her and Matt were close. He always seemed supportive of the things that she did, and attentive to her questions and needs. Maybe he was disappointed in her? Worried for her? Upset that she had kept something from him?
Whatever it was, that look on his face. It seriously unnerved her.
“I...” She said weakly, not sure how much more of Matt’s interrogation she could take. “He’s not below my benchmark, alright? He’s quite accomplished and pretty chill, actually. Very different from you - not that you’d ever be my type.” Teasing Matt felt more inline with her comfort zone. “And hey, I’m breaking the ‘doctors can only marry doctors or end up single forever’ stereotype. You guys should both be praising me.” She braved another look at Torr.
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