My Best Friend's Mediocre Boyfriend

Came Here To Learn, Not Play It Fast And Loose

Addison

I awoke to Matt staring at me with a wide grin upon his face as he sat on the carpet in front of my bed. "Good morning, pal," he greeted jovially.

"I didn't want to startle you with the honk of my horn or the ring of the doorbell, so I just chucked a rock through your window and entered through that way instead," he continued. "I hope you don't mind."

I glanced over at the shards of glass that littered the floor, eternally grateful that platonic friend hadn't spooked me by blaring his horn. I was not a morning person and waking up before ten AM was enough to inspire me to give a hearty shake of my fist towards the heavens.

Leaping up from the carpet, Matt presented a treat as he came bounding over. "I brought you a donut too because I'm a really nice guy that wouldn't do things such as break up with my girlfriend on Valentine's Day. Here. Have it."

Without waiting for an answer, he smushed the chocolate frosted pastry against my lips, urging me to take a bite. "Mm...delicious!" I squeal in delight, choking slightly from being force fed.

"Are you ready to go visit Vanessa?" He asked. "No rush in getting dressed though. I respect your process of needing two hours to get ready and will happily wait."

"No need for that," I replied because with a snap of a finger, I was fully ready. My hair was curled, my make-up was flawlessly done, and I was donning an expensive outfit that had been perfectly tailored to my body and will only ever be worn once because this is a book where time and money don't follow the same rules as reality.

We soon got on the road to Manhattan, but it took us a bit to reach our destination as Matt was a slow and cautious driver. He made certain that every car passed him because he was just that polite. And when a truck whizzed in front of our vehicle, he laughed with delight because he is no longer holding up somebody else.

"Golly," he said. "I really hope that person makes it to their destination on time."

I nod solemnly. "It must be an emergency because why else would they nearly cause an accident to only shave a minute or two off their travels?"

"I'm tickled that no one was injured," he replied, his sights flicking to the rearview mirror as another vehicle moved in close to his bumper. "Oh, lookie, Addie," he murmured. "The car behind us is checking up on us to make sure we're okay."

Matt gave them a friendly wave to assure them of our safety. The driver waved back but it appeared that he was missing four of his fingers due to a tragic accident of some sort as it was just the middle one that he had thrust up at us.

"People are so friendly," platonic friend stated with a grin. "I love driving to New York so that I don't miss out on feel good experiences such as this one."

***

Once we had arrived in the city, Matt patiently circled the block a few times in search of a place to park. "Whoops," he said on his seventh round. "It seems I should have woken up earlier as apparently it is first come, first served."

I nodded in agreement, but his voice faded away into the distance as I spied my best friend on the sidewalk. "Vanessa!" I called through the open window.

She glanced over at me with a beam and once Matt slipped into a spot, had the car parked and the ignition turned off, did I exit the vehicle because car safety is important, and accidents could occur at any speed.

I raced towards her but instantly slowed as I approach. "Can I hug you?" I asked, pausing to wait for permission. I recognized that sometimes, people don't want to be touched.