#matteline

[martharpsandjunk]

a matteline valentine's day!

Today was a day that people everywhere tended to either love or hate.  Valentine’s Day.  Matthew Kent, frankly, was apathetic toward the holiday, never even recognizing it unless he was in a relationship and felt forced to do so.  If need be, he really could be extremely romantic, but most of the time he considered himself more of a realist. But Maddie Brown made him feel differently.  The funny thing was, they weren’t even close to dating, let alone, being in a committed relationship.  Still, he was, to put it bluntly, smitten with her.  And knowing about her recent break up with her fiancé, he really wanted to do something for her, no matter how little.

There was a small flower shop, not far from his apartment, that he passed every day on the way to her café, The Weary Traveller.  He had made a stop in about a week before the “big day” to order a bouquet for her, knowing all too well that if he attempted picking them up on the actual holiday, he’d be shit out of luck.  Matt had been clueless trying to pick something out.  He didn’t know flowers, he didn’t know anything about giving gifts.  After looking at plenty of arrangements that just didn’t feel right, he was shown something that for some reason, just said “Maddie” to him.  This was the one he had to get.  So he placed his order, and told them he’d stop by to pick the flowers up on his way to work.

The Monday morning came in what felt like, the blink of an eye.  Matt, who was usually very relaxed about getting ready, almost felt nervous today.  He wanted to look as presentable as possible for her.  Hell, he even trimmed his beard, though his hair was still hanging down, brushing his shoulders.  But it was a start, you had to admit, it was an improvement, even if it was small.  He ventured out, just a little later than he usually did due to the change in his routine for the morning. The bearded man swung by the flower shop and picked up and paid for his order.  And finally, he was on his was to The Weary Traveller.

He entered the café and looked around.  At first glance, she wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but Meg noticed his arrival and immediately went up to greet him.  “Hey Matt, staying or going today?” He smiled at the brunette waitress and continued looking for her boss.  “I’m just stopping in.  Is Maddie around?”  Meg smirked and laughed.  “Is she ever not here?  I’ll go get her.”  Matt stood, a little uncomfortably, waiting for the small blonde to show herself.  When she finally appeared, the smile returned to his face.  She looked so beautiful, but that was no surprise.  She always looked beautiful.  “Hey Matt,” her voice rang out cheerfully. “Meg said you wanted to see me?”

“Maddie, wow, hi,” he said, the wow slipping out accidentally. “I, uh, I just wanted to say, happy Valentine’s Day.”  Matt handed her the bouquet of white roses and orchids.  She was definitely surprised, he could tell.  He wanted to stay, but his eye caught the clock and again, work got in the way.  He was going to be late if he didn’t leave soon. “I’ve got to go, but maybe I’ll see you again tonight.”

“Thank you so much Matt,” she said, stopping him from his exit. “I really hope I do.  Have a good day, alright?”  He gave a crooked smile, waved goodbye, and left the café.  There was no chance Matt was staying late at work tonight.  He was going to make it into The Weary Traveller later that day, there were no questions about it.

[martharpsandjunk]

matteline officially introduces themselves

matt had come into the weary traveller a few times now.  it wasn’t like he was in there every day, but he had been in a couple of times a week for the past month.  so maybe eight or nine times total.  the same girl was always his waitress when he stayed, a brunette named meg.  but there was a blonde he had seen almost every time he came in.  she was over a foot shorter than him, this was really just an estimation though.  but the one con?  the ring on her left hand’s ring finger.  she was engaged.

today he was just in for coffee to go just before heading to work.  right as he walked through the door, there she was, right at the counter.  matt shook some stray hair out of his face, well aware that he still looked like a homeless jesus as his friend gemma so often pointed out to him.  “hi, can i get a large black coffee to go?” he asked, clearing his throat immediately after.  the woman smiled and got it for him quickly.  “you come in here a lot, don’t you?” she asked, handing him the coffee. “i’m maddie, this is my cafe.”  matt smiled.  maddie seemed to be a fitting name for her, he wasn’t sure why, but it just was.

“matt, nice to meet you,” he said, taking the cup.  “this is a great place you’ve got here.”  he reached for his wallet, but maddie shook her head and indicated for him to put it away.  “it’s on the house today matt.  i hope i see you again soon.”  he put the money he would have used to pay into the tip jar and looked back at maddie.  “likewise,” he said, almost wishing he had an excuse to stay and talk to her instead of going into work.  that not being an option, he decided he’d just try to make another trip after work.  there was something about her that made him want to know more.  he hadn’t felt this way for a long time and even if she was engaged, he saw it as a good thing.

[martharpsandjunk]

matt finally finds out gemma and maddie are sisters

on the rare occasion that matt did work in a public setting, it was always at the weary traveller.  it never got too loud and no one he really knew ever came in, so no one could distract him all that much.  well, almost no one.  there was still maddie brown, the owner, who he was extremely attracted to.  he couldn’t help it, she was beautiful.  but the place was busy enough today that he wouldn’t be too distracted by her either.  he could actually focus on work.

after about four coffees, matt noticed a familiar face talking to maddie, just out of the corner of his eye.  before he could turn and see just who it was, the woman spoke.  “matt!  i didn’t know you came here.”  it was gemma, there was no mistaking that voice.  “yeah, i’m here pretty often,” he said, a little confused as to why she seemed so familiar with the place when he had never seen her there.  “what are you doing here?”

“oh, just visiting my little sister,” she replied, indicating the shorter blonde.  maddie furrowed her brow, clearly having heard this quite a bit.  “i’m two years older than you.”  matt would have laughed at the exchange but he was still wrapping his head around how he never connected the two.  oh, and now there was the fact that maddie was no longer just the beautiful woman he still wasn’t sure how to ask out, she was now his friend’s beautiful sister.  he had always been told sisters were off limits.  but maybe that rule just applied to the sisters of guy friends.  he was kind of fuzzy on the rules of both dating and friendship.  well, not really friendship, but friendships outside of work that weren’t gabe.  though really, he didn’t count anyway because he was technically a friend from work too.  it was all too confusing.

when he finally zoned back in, the sisters were still going back and forth about gemma telling matt that maddie was her little sister.  gemma seemed to keep coming back to the fact that size wise, maddie was her little sister and that was why she always said that.  he gathered his things, finished his fifth coffee, and stood up.  “i should get going.  i’ll see you at work gemma.  and if i’m not in later today, i’ll see you tomorrow maddie.  have a good one ladies.”  he could tell he was going to be mentally reviewing both unwritten rulebooks for at least the next few hours, if not the whole day.