With a snide smirk, Matt said to Aaron, "You know what's funny? In order to keep your girlfriend you have to threaten to tattle to my wife. It's not even that you believe Julie doesn't want to be with me, you just think you're easier and as long as you can fend off the competition you can keep her."
That petty remark seemed to restore Julie's capacity for speech, and she managed to say, "Matt, please… just go."
Turning his attention back to Julie, he gave her that puppy-dog-eyed look and said, "You don't really want me to go, Julie."
Aaron butted in, "Apparently she does, because she just asked you to. Now leave."
Purposefully maintaining eye contact with Julie, Matt went on. "You're only saying this because he's here. Please give me another chance to make this right, don't let him come between us."
Shaking her head, Julie was suddenly fed up. "Fine, if you won't leave, I will. If you guys would like to continue duking it out like pre-teen boys who both like the same girl, by all means, do that. But Matt, you have a wife and daughter to be getting back to, and Aaron, we had plans and you're letting him ruin them."
With that, Julie spun on her heel and stormed back up to the apartment.
She only had to sit on the couch pouting for a few seconds before she heard footsteps in the hallway and then Aaron came waking in the apartment looking like he had the roughest day of his life.
Stealing a glance at the clock, he saw that they were already late.
Quietly, he said, "I'm sorry, we should have already left."
"Well… something came up," she said evenly.
"I shouldn't have even stopped to argue with him, I should have just told him to leave and ignored him. I should have just…" Aaron trailed off, sighing.
"Look, it doesn't matter," Julie said. "It's over, he's gone…"
"Do you still want to go?" Aaron asked.
"Will the doorman let me leave without my leash?" Julie asked a little sarcastically.
Grimacing, Aaron sighed again and said, "I'm sorry, Julie. I told you I was like that. I never claimed that… it was going to be all sunshine and rainbows, and you know that especially when it comes to M
att I have a hard time with the whole trust thing."
"I do know that, Aaron, I just didn't realize you had actually involved outside supervision for me. I know we joked about our slight age difference, but I kind of feel like I'm your daughter right now, and I've gotta say, it's not very hot. I'm being babysat by the doorman?"
"He isn't babysitting you, Julie, I just asked him to… not let Matt up to my apartment without my knowledge."
"Is Matt a serial killer?"
"No."
"Rapist?"
"No."
"Burglar? Shoe thief? Peeping tom?"
Sighing, Aaron said, "No."
"Okay. So we have established that Matt is not dangerous, correct?"
"Only to my peace of mind."
"Well, that tells me you weren't looking out for me. What it looks like to me is actually right along the lines of what Matt said for once. You don't trust me. Even though I have turned him away, sold all of the gifts that he got me, asked him not to call me, gone to family functions to publicly establish myself as yours and not his… even though I have rejected him when he tried to buy me a townhouse close to campus and decorate my nursery to get me out of your apartment, and coldly told him I didn't want him in my life or my child's life… you can't trust me? What do I have to do to prove myself to you, Aaron—stab him in the heart with a piece of cutlery?"
Frowning, Aaron said, "When did he try to buy you a townhouse?"
Shaking her head, she said, "That isn't important. What's important is that I told him no. I told him it was you I wanted countless times—more than half of those times you were even right there listening to me say it. I have spent every night in your arms, I have taken your shit as penance for the mistakes I made with him, I have done everything in my power to make you see that you're the one I want—hell, I try to seduce you every damn night. Why would I do any of that, Aaron, if I didn't mean it?"