Chess had never been on Matty's bad side before. She wasn't entirely sure he had one, to tell the truth. But she now found herself pressed up against the closest thing to a bad side he had. Which actually felt somewhat more like... intense disapproval. She half expected him to give her the old "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed." It hurt all over, like the time her little sister had gotten her to try acupuncture, a million tiny needles pricking her skin all at once.
"For lying to you." she said, her voice nearly a whisper. She forced herself to look Matty full in the face, the least she could do despite the fact she could feel herself burning in humiliation. "For putting you in that situation, for..."
What could she say? For months and months of incredible, unnecessarily secretive sex? For not letting you get to know me, even though you let me know so much of you? And yet, Matty was the first person she'd let get to know her, really get to know her, in the past seven years. She'd shared so much, let so many walls down, and it all meant nothing - because she'd been hiding away the best part of her, the person she was proudest of.
"I've done a horrible thing." she said, voice wobbling, trying to smooth over her features at his request. As her thumb brushed the pale skin of his wrist, she tried to remain firm and resolute, not some emotionally manipulative idiot he was probably going to curse out in a very detailed text thread with Elias later.
Biting the inside of her cheek, she took one clumsy step forward in her heels, intending to follow him to the back room so they could talk privately. Instead, she found herself rooted to the spot by the sight of his retreating figure, cradling her little girl so sweetly.
It was in those few seconds that Chess became acutely aware of her surroundings, like someone had turned the volume all the way up. She forced herself to stare ahead at the door Matty had disappeared through, waiting for the moment she'd see his face again, but she couldn't help but hear the whispers.
"Was that Francesca's kid?"
"Did you know she had a daughter?"
"Don't be stupid, how could she be?"
She stood firm, pushing her cuticles back, an unflattering anxious tic until Matty returned. She took a few hurried steps to meet him, wrapping a hand around his wrist for the second time and dragging him into a dimly lit corner.
Safely concealed behind a rack of couture, Chess took a deep breath and nodded.
"I did. And I'm so, so sorry." she heard herself say, and finding she was still holding onto his wrist, let go abruptly.
"That little girl back there is Hazel June. She's seven years old. And I'm her Mum."
She forced herself to keep going before she lost her nerve, her eyes never straying from Matty's face.
"I know every Mum says this, but she's the best kid in the world. She's intuitive and never mean and honestly, a little psychic. Her Dad isn't in the picture, and... I've done her such a disservice by lying to you, because she's the best thing I've ever done."
She clasped her hands together to hide the fact they were shaking.
"I will answer any questions you have, and if you want me to never contact you again after this, I completely understand."
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