Unmasked

Matt told them he had plans that night. They could have sent anyone to get Phantasma, but claimed he was the only one who stood a chance against her. Now she’d done something to the elevator so it was stuck between two floors, and the doors weren’t opening. He looked in the top corner of the elevator and saw that there was a security camera there, but the camera had clearly been busted as well. No loose ends. He was stuck there.

He checked the time on his phone after giving Audrey a call to let her know he’d be late. It looked like he was going to be really late. He growled in frustration, taking the opportunity of being totally and completely alone to take the mask off, the rest of the suit disappearing and leaving him with his normal clothes. He’d put some effort into the way he looked that night, using what little spending money he had to buy himself nicer clothes worthy of an Italian restaurant. And a little hair product he managed to steal from Cyrus while he was napping. And now, thanks to Phantasma, he was probably still going to look like a mess when he showed up.

Matt crammed the mask into his pocket and looked up at the roof of the elevator, where the planks were slightly loose. He had to hoist himself up on a handrail to be able to kick it open, climbing out on top of the elevator. He climbed up the cables holding up the elevator, praying it didn’t start until he got to the door. Thankfully, he was able to get on the ledge and pry the door open. When he stumbled out on the floor, a young woman was standing there, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Are you… um… alright?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Matt groaned, rolling over and stumbling onto his feet. “Hey, if anyone asks, you have no idea what happened here.”

“Oh… okay…”

Matt booked it out of there as fast as he could, before the police and media had a chance to stop him. He managed to escape out of a back door, running straight out into the street and nearly getting hit by two cars before he made it to the restaurant. He was lucky it was so close by.

Audrey was already there, sipping at a glass of red wine and looking like the calm and cool supermodel on the cover of a magazine. She glanced up and gave Matt a bright smile when he got there, holding up a hand to silence him when he tried to apologize.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t been here long,” she promised. “I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of picking out a bottle of wine already.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Matt told her, trying to calm his heart rate.

She was about to sit back down, then paused and stood again, eyeing Matt up and down. He felt himself turn red as she ran her fingers through his hair and straightened out the collar of his shirt for him, moving her hands to smooth out the jacket next.

“There you go,” she said quietly, giving him a half smile. “Like you didn’t just run a mile to get here on time.”

Matt didn’t say anything, sitting down and taking a much needed gulp of the wine in front of him. It was better than anything he was used to, but he wasn’t exactly an expert on wine, either. He’d down anything that had alcohol in it.

“So,” Audrey said, setting her napkin back in her lap, “Who’s Cyrus?”

Matt choked on his wine, attracting attention from a nearby table. Audrey just laughed softly, holding up a business card. Cyrus’s business card, which included his contact information for anyone who wanted his artistic services.

“Where’d you get that?” he frowned.

“Out of your jacket pocket,” she said simply, reading over the card.

“You pickpocketed me?” he asked flatly.

“Just a little bit.”

“Cyrus is my roommate,” Matt sighed. “And a good friend. Best friend. The jacket is his. But everything else is mine.”

“Matt, it’s okay,” she laughed. “You’re getting all red again. Honestly, I’m flattered that you’re even trying.”

“The efforts are worth it,” he said, taking back the card when she gave it to him.

This time, she was the one who blushed lightly, though she looked cute when it happened, rather than like a complete moron. Matt smiled back at her and looked down at the menu, gaze moving immediately to the prices. It seemed like he’d be splurging again for the sake of spending time with this girl. He just hoped he wouldn’t end up regretting it.

However, when Audrey talked, he forgot about everything but what she was saying to him. He forgot that Phantasma had gotten away again, and that he’d made a fool of himself again, and that he didn’t have the money he was spending. He’d fallen so head over heels for the girl that nothing mattered other than trying his best to impress her. When they’d finished their dinner, he took out his credit card to pay, but was surprised to find that she’d already covered the bill.

“You paid last time,” she explained casually. “Besides, you’ve got to save up your tips for our next spectacular date.”

Matt just raised a brow at her as she stood up, fixing her dress. He stood up too, a little surprised when the waiter gave them a bright smile on their way out. She must have tipped him really well. As Matt walked her to her car, he decided to be a little bold and brushed his hand against hers, taking it when she didn’t flinch away. She linked her fingers with his, smiling up at him.

When they made it to her car, Matt’s eyes widened. He was sure he had a picture of a car like that on a poster once, when he was a teenager. He never imagined they even existed in real life. But, as usual, Audrey was cool and collected like it was no big deal.

“Can I give you a ride home?” she asked him.

“No, that’s alright,” Matt told her, still looking at the car. “I’m not too far away.”

That was a lie, but he really just didn’t want her to see the shithole he lived in. She seemed disappointed in his answer, still holding his hand and rocking on the balls of her feet a little bit.

“Well... do you want to come over?” she asked. “We could watch a movie, or something. Maybe have a little more wine. Maybe order a pizza.”

“You had me until you suggested pizza.”

“Alright, forget the pizza then,” she laughed.

“Wine and a movie sounds great.”

She bounced slightly, unlocking the car and getting into the driver’s seat. Matt was a little bit more hesitant, scared of tracking dirt into the car or leaving fingerprints anywhere on it. The fine leather seats were a far cry from the cheap delivery car he was used to driving.

“Is this model even out yet- WOAH!”

Matt yelped as the car suddenly jerked backwards. He’d never seen someone back out of a parking lot so fast. He had practically melted into the seat when she started driving, at speeds Matt wasn’t even sure the delivery car could make. By the time they pulled into the garage of her building, Matt felt like his bones had turned into noodles. Audrey looked at him, raising a brow.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, I just need a minute,” he said, feeling nauseous.

She hauled him out of the car, and the next thing he knew, he was back at the apartment he’d been delivering pizzas to. This time, he got to see the inside. As Audrey hurried through the apartment to turn on the lights, he wandered about the place. He’d seen homes like this on television, but never imagined he’d actually be inside one. It was remarkable, and nothing close to anything he’d ever lived in.

“Do you like it?” Audrey asked. “I had a lot of it custom designed.”

“It’s really nice,” Matt said. “I’ll admit, the nicest place I ever lived was this pleasant two-story in the suburbs, when I was nine. An older, religious couple. They kicked me out because they thought I was a troublemaker.”

“A troublemaker?” Audrey grinned, pouring out two more glasses of wine.

“I thought I was great,” he shrugged, sitting beside her on the couch as she handed him the glass, “But I guess they thought I brought the devil into their home or something. They put me in a catholic school for a week, and the nuns called my foster parents twice to talk about how I was well on my way to hell.”

“What did you do?” she asked.

“I convinced one of the other kids that I had ‘voices in my head’ that told me to take his fruit cup at lunch,” Matt said. “He told the nuns. You can guess the rest.”

“Oh gosh, you were that kid,” she laughed.

“And I grew up to deliver pizzas,” he shrugged. “I’m a stereotype.”

“Not really,” Audrey said. “The stereotypes grow up to be jerks. You’re a really nice guy, Matt.”

“I’m the nice guy?” he repeated, with a slight grimace.

“Don’t give me that look,” she said, rolling her eyes. “The whole ‘nice guys finish last’ thing is a lie.”

Matt just nodded, quiet for a few moments before inching closer to her, testing his boundaries. Then he rested a hand on the back of her neck and leaned in to kiss her. Part of him expected her to move away, but she eagerly pulled him closer. They’d completely forgotten the movie idea at that point, and by the time they went back to reality, it was around two in the morning. They’d finished off the bottle of wine and Audrey was curled up against him, starting to doze off.

“You’re ready to go to bed,” Matt remarked.

She just made a quiet “mmph” sound, resting her head against his shoulder. It became pretty clear that she didn’t want to move, so Matt picked her up, carrying her to the bedroom and putting her in her bed. Her half-open eyes watched as he pulled the covers up over her shoulders.

“You’re leaving?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got to keep my nice guy status,” he said quietly. “I’ll call you.”

“Okay.”

He stood up and turned out her lights, then picked up his things and headed out. He didn’t mind the walk home. It was chilly out, but he was in a good mood. He wasn’t surprised to find that Cyrus was still awake at the computer, eyes red from staring at the screen for so long while putting in the last details of the picture he was working on. He blinked a few times and glanced away to look at Matt.

“I see that it went well,” he said.

“Yeah,” Matt said, shrugging out of his jacket and kicking off his shoes.

“You didn’t want to spend the night?” he asked.

“We didn’t have sex,” Matt told him. “A little light fooling around, but we talked most of the night.”

“About what?”

“Stuff.”

Matt flopped onto the couch, not even bothering to change before lying down and feeling the exhaustion catch up to him for the first time all day. He didn’t even feel bothered that he slept on a couch.