Roomie (Matt Sturniolo)

29

"Matt, the boss wants to see you"

Matt had a bad feeling when he heard those words. His boss never asked staff to go into his office, and whenever he did, it was for a promotion or getting fired.

The assistant opened the door for him and closed it when he entered, leaving him alone with the boss. Mr Cole was typing something and told Matt to take a seat, without looking at him.

Mr Cole finally finished whatever he'd been working on and he closed the laptop. The first question he asked was whether or not the young man knew why he was here. Matt lied by saying no, but he had a feeling he knew the answer.

It was about Jade.

"I want to apologise to you and your fiancé on behalf of my daughter" he started. "I spoke to her and she admitted to buying the dress for a bad purpose. She will say sorry to the both of you"

"It's..no big deal, sir" Matt said, shaking his head. He was mad at Jade for what she did, but now that you had your dream dress, Matt forgot about it until now.

"Jade is having a birthday party at our house this weekend. She wanted me to invite you and your fiancé"

"That's nice, sir. I don't think-"

"You don't have to decide now. Talk to your fiancé about it and let me know tomorrow"

"I'm sorry, sir. We already have plans this weekend" Matt lied. "We'll send her a present, if that's okay"

It was clearly a lie and his boss knew that. Matt just didn't what to have anything to do with Jade anymore and he knew you'd agree with him and tell him to decline the invitation. Thankfully, Mr Cole was a wise man and knew there was no point in persuading Matt to go to the party.

~

"You want me to go with Jason to a party?" Your jaw dropped and your eyes widened. You knew something was wrong when Chloe dragged you to a secret corner to be alone. "When? What party? Why?"

"I'm supposed to go with him but..." She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I have a date that night"

You laughed when you heard her reason. You thought it would be an embarrassing excuse, but a date? Why were you both whispering about a date?

"Just tell him. He'll understand"

"No he won't. When he asked me to confirm my free schedule, he said I wasn't allowed to make other plans if I agreed to go with him"

"Why did you then?"

"I forgot!" She exclaimed, then went on to explain how the party was a 'rich people only' party. The problem was, he had a presentation with the clients the next morning and needed the night to prepare for it. Jackson asked Chloe to go with him, and she said yes.

"Would he get mad if I went and not you?"

"No!" She shook her head and grabbed your hand. "He praises you so much!"

"I don't know.."

"Please" she begged, pulling on your arm. "I have so much hope for this date. Help me out"

~

You got the offer on Wednesday, and the party was on Friday night. There was a lot of pressure because you hadn't been to a party this big before. You were fortunate Lilly was your guardian angel and gave you a dress to wear.

Of course, Matt knew about the party and that you were going with Jason, but he knew it was for business and he was excited for you. But because he couldn't come as your date, you wanted to surprise him with your dress, which was why you waited till that night to show him what it looked like on you.