Page 110 of Santa Has a Six-Pack
“I wanted to tell you!” I say. “But Keira told me not to.”
“She’s still with him, right? She’s okay with the fact that her husband is a cheat?” He’s staring straight ahead as he walks, not giving me any eye contact.
“Yes. No. Sort of,” I puff out as I hustle along beside him.
“What does that mean, Penny?”
“It means Tagg was cheating on Keira. Past tense. Keira found out, but decided to work on things with him after he and Elinor broke it off.”
“It didn’t look broken off to me!”
Matt weaves through pedestrians, not even checking to see that I’m still beside him.
“I know! Me neither! I guess they– Could you slow down, please, and really talk to me?”
He whips around to face me when we reach the crosswalk.
His eyes, usually sparkling with kindness and humor, are cold and empty now.
“What is there to say, Penny? You lied to me! I asked you what was going on with Keira! I asked you why she was so weird around Eugene, and you lied to me!”
A group of pigeons startles at the fierceness of Matt’s voice.
I watch them fly to the sky as I struggle to find the right words. “I didn’t lie. I just didn’t… tell you the whole truth.”
“Same thing.”
The light changes, and he crosses the street, me trailing him.
“Is it, though?” I ask.
“Yes!” he shouts back.
“Matt! I promised Keira I’d keep her situation private! If the situation were reversed and Eugene asked you to keep something in confidence, wouldn’t you do the same for him?”
He doesn’t respond to that, just keeps speed walking ahead of me.
I really don’t like being ignored.
For years—decades really—I tried to talk to my parents about how their behavior affects me. They never listened, and I eventually gave up.
I’ll be damned now if I literally chase a man who’s refusing to listen to me.
I’ll give up on him, too.
Anger rises in me, red hot and overwhelming. “You know what, Matt? Who fucking cares?” I yell. “Everyone cheats! It’s what people do!”
This finally stops him in his tracks.
He turns and slowly walks back to where I’m standing in the middle of the sidewalk, tears I didn’t even know were falling now streaming down my cheeks.
His eyes, so dark and stormy before, soften when he sees me cry.
His voice does too.
“What are you talking about?”
“My dad cheats on my mom constantly,” I say. “Every boyfriend I had in the dance world did the same thing to me.”
