Good Girl

“Mal,” Matt called her from the bed the next morning, his voice still full of sleep. He rolled over onto his back, watching his fiancée as she got ready for work.

“Hm?” She was sitting at her vanity, applying her makeup. She dusted her eyelids with neutral-colored eyeshadow.

“You know I didn’t mean it last night,” He said, his tone asking for forgiveness. “I wasn’t trying to say that I didn’t trust you on the pill.”

Mallory was silent, preoccupied with her makeup. She grabbed the liquid eyeliner, lining her lids and making two perfect wings at the outer edge of her eyes. She wanted to hear him apologize some more.

“You know I trust you with everything, Mal,” He continued. “I’m sorry that you took it that way.”

“Uh-huh.” She pulled the mascara brush from the tube, brushing her long, thick lashes.

“Honestly, those were probably just left in the pocket,” Matt sighed. “You know how long it’s been since I’ve worn that jacket? Forever.”

“Okay,” Mallory said quietly, not wanting to be in a bad mood before the beginning of her day. She opened up her lipstick drawer, trying to decide which color went with her blouse.

“I remember when we first got together you wouldn’t let me near you without a condom…”

Mallory giggled lowly, uncapping her Fuchsia Flash lipstick. It was true. It’d been a long time before Mallory allowed them to have sex without a condom and thankfully, her birth control had been enough since then.

“I mean, when did you get so freaky?” Matt asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Mallory busted out laughing at that, glancing over her shoulder at Matt. He gave her a lazy, flirtatious grin. She turned back to the mirror, ready to actually apply her lipstick this time.

“I think you did that to me,” Mallory told him, swiping her top and bottom lips with precision.

Mallory had to admit once again that Matt had turned her upside down and inside out. He was somehow the only man to unleash the kinky side of her and introduce her to new things. She liked to get down and dirty, and she enjoyed sex a lot. She was no longer shy with her body like she used to be. That was one of the reasons why she said ‘yes’ when he proposed to her.

Mallory smacked her coated lips before standing up and turning to Matt. “How do I look?”

“Gorgeous,” Matt complimented, placing his arms behind his head. “Sexy, hot, perfect.”

“I get it, Matt,” She giggled. She stuffed her feet into her black Jimmy Choo pumps. She shrugged on her jacket, checking the time on the clock. It was time for her to leave now. She grabbed her keys and phone, throwing her leather tote bag over her shoulder. She blew a kiss to Matt as she made her way to the door. She never kissed him before work, not wanting to mess up her lipstick.

“Bye, babe,” Matt waved. “Have fun at work.”

Mallory turned to him at the doorway with a smile, “I’ll see you when I get back.”


Mallory returned home a bit after seven. She’d stayed the extra time at work finishing paperwork because she didn’t want to take the work home with her. Matt had texted her before she left the office saying that he was going to crash at Zack’s for the night. She’d responded with an absent ‘okay’ and went about the rest of her work. Now, as she stood in the foyer of the eerily silent house, she felt lonely.

Matt was always there when she got home, unless something came up and he couldn’t. She sighed and headed toward the kitchen with their dog, Bella following her. Mallory bent down to scratch behind Bella’s ears, causing the dog to roll over and beg for her to rub her stomach.

Mallory laughed, picking up the dog’s bowls from the floor. She filled one bowl with fresh food and the other with cold water. Bella could barely wait for her to set the bowls back down onto the floor before she was devouring the dog food.

Shrugging off her sweater, Mallory tossed it over the back of a chair. She dug through her purse for her phone and sat down on one of the stools at the island counter. She scrolled through her text messages, opening up her and Erin’s last conversation. She quickly typed a new message, asking Erin if she was able to come over. Mallory got a near instant reply, Erin telling her she would be there in a half hour.

Mallory made her way up to the bedroom, surprised when she saw that Matt had made the bed for the first time in months. She changed out of her work clothes and into a pair of Victoria’s Secret sweatpants and a faded purple t-shirt. She’d just gotten finished washing her makeup off when the doorbell rung. She patted her face dry before jogging down the steps to answer the door. Halfway down the stairs, she could see that Erin had already let herself in and was closing the door behind her. The two greeted each other with a hug.

“Thanks for coming over,” Mallory told Erin.

“I wasn’t doing anything else,” Erin shrugged. “And I’d hate to be in this big ass house by myself, if I were you.”

Mallory laughed, knowing that Erin wasn’t too fond of overly large homes. She and Brian would have gotten a bigger place if she had let him. Erin thought that the bigger the house, the more chances there was for her to be robbed while Brian was on tour. Erin was slightly irrational with some things, and they’d settled on a decently sized home.

Matt and Mallory on the other hand, had purchased a near mansion. Matt liked the spaciousness of it with the extra rooms. There were more spare rooms than they had use for. One spare room had been turned into Mallory’s office and two rooms had been combined to make Matt’s studio, but there were still more. Mallory especially liked it because the layout reminded her of her childhood home in South Carolina.

“Where is Matt, anyway?” Erin questioned, getting settled on the sofa.

“He said he was going to stay the night at Zacky’s,” Mallory answered, sitting next to Erin and pulling her knees to her chest. Her facial expression said that she didn’t believe him. She’d been trying not to think about last night for the entire day.

“But you think that’s not what he’s doing,” Erin stated more than questioned. Erin had already been told Erin of the situation from the night before and reassured her there was nothing to worry about.

“I don’t know,” Mallory shrugged. She knew that Matt sometimes stayed over at Brian’s when they were writing and recording.

“Well, I’ll call him,” Erin said, pulling her phone from her pocket. She pressed a few buttons and then put it on speaker. It rang three times before the call was answered.

“Hey, Erin,” Zacky’s voice came through the phone.

“Hey, Zack,” Erin greeted him before asking, “Is Matt at your house?”

“Yeah,” Zacky said. “I’m guessing Mallory’s wondering.”

“Hi, Zacky,” Mallory spoke up.

“Hey, Mal,” Zacky said. “He’s here. We’re just doing some writing. I can kick him out if you want.”

Mallory shook her head, though he couldn’t see her. “No, keep him. I’ve got Erin to keep me company.”

Zacky chuckled deeply, “Alright then.”

“Thanks, Zack. That’s all I was calling for,” Erin said.

“Yeah, no problem.”

After Erin ended the call, she turned to Mallory with a smile. “See? He’s with Zacky. There’s nothing to worry about.”