Into the Fire

CHAPTER TWO

Matthew Preston pushed his handsome 6 ft. frame out of the chair and stood, looking down at the woman he loved—more like a girl in a lot of ways. Truthfully, he was relieved to see her choked up. He’d half expected her to congratulate him with an enthusiastic smile and wish him well. He reached down and pulled her up to him.

     “If you change your mind, I’ll be waiting.” With a sad expression he took her face in his strong hands and kissed her lips tenderly. “I love you, CM.” Then he walked out of the room and down the hall, leaving her to her life.

     Matthew Earl Preston decided a month ago to take this new job—to relocate back in his home state of California. So by the time he told his company he’d accept their lucrative offer, his younger brother James had agreed to take over his lease and apartment, and they squared it all up with the manager. His parents looked forward to spending time with Matt and having him around the area again.

     Matt’s first thoughts upon receiving this promotion went immediately to CM. He’d already determined she was the one with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life—no one had achieved that status in his life, although many had certainly tried. Until she dropped her Tully’s double mocha on his brand new shoes as she rushed out of the coffee shop one early rainy morning on her way to work, he’d convinced himself he was having fun playing the field.

     He smiled as he remembered the mixed expressions instantaneously crossing her face at that moment. First, there was utter disdain that someone had gotten in her way and wasted her full mocha when she was in such a hurry. Then as she looked up to see who this scalawag might be, she was obviously taken aback by his handsomeness – this blondish tall guy (compared to her petite height) dressed in a black cashmere overcoat, exposing a pinstriped suit. Those shoes had cost him plenty.

     “I—oh, I’m sooo sorry,” she stammered, her hands almost transfixed in a surrendered position. “Uh, let me get some napkins,” she said as she turned around quickly to head back into the shop and nearly separated another patron from his fancy cup of coffee.

     At that point, Matt smiled at her and gently led her by the arm out of the way and back into the coffee shop. “It’s alright,” he’d said. “They’re just shoes, you know.”

     She’d blushed a hot shade of red and apologized again. “Is there anything I can do?” she asked, exaggerating her hand gestures in complete embarrassment.

     “Well, yeah, now that you mention it, there is,” he’d replied with some seriousness and then nearly laughed as he watched a new expression of pure panic appear on her face. “You can let me replace what you dropped.”

     His proposal didn’t register on her face for a few seconds, but when it did, she replied, “Oh, no. I couldn’t let you do that—it was my fault. Too big a hurry as usual. Always cutting it too close, you know? No—let me buy yours this morning,” she’d added, fumbling in her purse for her wallet. “It’s the least I could do.”

     Gently he stopped her search. “I insist.”

     She blushed again and remained silent.

     “Since you’re in a hurry, I won’t keep you, but here’s my card,” he offered, reaching smoothly into his inside coat pocket. “I’d like an opportunity to talk to you. Do you come here every morning?”

     “Well, yeah, but—”

     “Then I’ll meet you here tomorrow, say 6 AM?” he suggested, looking at his watch. “What are you having?” he asked as they arrived at the counter.
     Once they got their coffees, he gave her his last pitch. “I know you’re in a hurry, so I’ll be waiting here tomorrow morning. See you then, alright?” He hadn’t waited for her answer.

     She’d stood there with her mouth ready to make an excuse but unable to get one formulated in the brief time he gave her to decide.

     Matt smiled at the memory. It was a year and a half ago – seemed like a couple of weeks ago in more ways than one because he remembered the way he felt when she finally looked up at him after dousing his shoes. She wanted to snarl but was overcome by what he looked like, and it gave him a charge he hadn’t expected – not because of the effect he had on her because, honestly, he was used to getting the double takes from females but rather because of the effect she had on him. There was this undeniable look of innocence in her eyes, something so rare in nearly every woman he knew these days.

     She was only 5’ 3” tall and had a slender frame. Her medium brown naturally curly hair was still wet from a morning shower or from the rain outside, and her blue eyes were absolutely penetrating when she’d looked up into his. He was captivated by her being flustered and couldn’t wait to have some time with her, but he sensed the only plausible thing to do with her would be to meet her in a public setting on familiar turf – asking her out would’ve endangered any further contact with her, and he was right about that he later learned once they’d started dating. But, it also seemed like their first encounter had only been a short time ago because once they’d gotten to a certain point in their relationship, CM shut down and what might have grown into true intimacy never materialized on her part. She drew this invisible line in their relationship and refused to cross it, and although she kept redefining the line for Matt, she would never let him cross it either.

     The last couple of months had been especially hard. He was convinced he loved her and wanted to marry her, but talk of any commitment was beyond that sacred line, and rather than risk her running off, he remained quiet and endured. Until he just couldn’t do it anymore. When the job offer came up, he waited for the opportune moment to bring up the possibility of her joining him in his endeavor, but it became clear to him that special moment wasn’t going to happen, and he began to realize having her only partially involved in his life was not what he wanted. He couldn’t take the casual relationship anymore. He was a firm believer in moving forward—treading water was tiresome and pointless—something you did only when you hoped to be rescued. Clearly, she wasn’t throwing him a lifeline.

Father, thank you for all the characters you create in my head, for the words to bring them to the page, for the life experiences shown in fiction. Never enough thank yous to be offered. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.