“So…she just sat there?” Matthew asked. “Pasta sauce dripping down her face and she orders Barolo?”
“She’s a weirdo, Matt. No normal person reacts like that.”
His friend smiled at him from across the table. “That intrigued you.”
“It was damn near bizarre.”
“But you stayed?”
“I had to stay.”
“No, you didn’t. Trisha wasn’t there. You had the perfect excuse to call the whole thing off and you didn’t. You…” He narrowed his eyes and nodded. “You had fun last night.”
Tyler rolled his eyes and stood up. “I wouldn’t exactly call it fun.”
“Then what would you call it?”
“I would call it a failed attempt to get Trisha back.”
Matthew sighed. “Why do you find it so hard to admit what you really feel?”
“Who are you? Dr. Phil? This is not a therapy session. There is nothing to admit. I took Jordan out to make Trisha jealous and it was all for nothing. The way I see it, I have one more shot at this and next time there can be no room for failure.” Tyler walked back to the desk and sat down.
“What do you have in mind?”
“I’ve been thinking—”
“It’s already a bad idea.”
“Matt, I have listened to every despicable scheme you have had for nineteen years. The least you could do is afford me the same courtesy.”
Matthew sighed his submission. “Fine. What is it?”
“Trisha left some of her things at my penthouse. Jewelry and clothes and some other stuff. Why don’t you call her and arrange a meeting to give her stuff back and I will make sure Jordan and I are at the very same place.”
“It will never work, Ty. It’s so obvious it’s a ploy. Trisha isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but even she could figure that out.”
Tyler was getting a little annoyed with him constantly bad-mouthing her, but he didn’t complain. Matt had his reasons. He’d always been on and off about Trisha, fluctuating between“Yeah, she’s okay.”to“Tyler, why are you with this woman?”
But when she left, it tipped the scale rather unfavorably. It was the way she did it, callously, cruelly. She just left, giving him no explanations or reasons. He came home one day and she was gone. Bags packed. Cupboards empty. She didn’t take his calls. She refused to speak to him. Not even a text to say:Thanks. It was a great three years.
It was all too familiar. It hit too close to home, not just for Tyler, but for Matt too. All circumstances considered, it was something they had both not taken well. Tyler was willing to look past it. Trisha made him happy and he was willing to fight for what he wanted. Matthew, however, wasn’t so forgiving. He was only going along with this plan because Tyler had asked for help.
“Well, what else can I do, Matt? There is no other way to guarantee that Trisha will see us together.”
“Just sit tight.” The wheels in his friend’s twisted head were already beginning to turn. “I’ll think of something better for…Operation Cupid.”
Tyler’s face scrunched involuntarily. “We’re spies now?”
“I thought it had a nice ring to it.”
“It sounds dumb.”
“Would you prefer Operation let-her-go-man-you’re-better-off-without-her?”
Tyler smiled a fake smile. “Operation Cupid, it is.”
*****
