Even After All

Part Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

The top-hatted man at the door of the Ritz gave her a smile as she approached. Mattie smiled back. The nature of her night meant that she was anything but glum. She’d been to the Ritz several times, for tea with her mother for her eighteenth birthday, dinner with her old boss on a couple of occasions, and drinks with Dylan when they were married a dozen or more times. He had loved to impress would be contacts and investors. Usually they, or rather she, ended up footing a huge bill and nothing came out of the soiree such had been his luck when they’d been together.

Tonight was a different story, tonight he was a self made man, and he was entertaining his mother. And she was about to gatecrash.

At the door to the restaurant, the suited maître’d met her.

                “Hello Ma’am, can I help you?” He gave an incline of his head, as ever the staff here were the most courteous in the business.

She smiled, that was a habit at the moment, “I understand Mr Dylan Wallace is here, I’m supposed to be joining him,” leaning forward she whispered, “he’s with his mother, wants to dilute her attention. I declined, but there’s been a change of plans. Could you show me to his table please?”

The man looked a little concerned, this was against the protocol of the place, but as he dropped his head to the reservation list, Mattie looked behind him and was rewarded to see Maggie Fredricks sat at a table in the window, facing her. Dylan was sat opposite his mother, whilst she could only see the back of him, she could tell that he was tense, his shoulders were hunched, she could almost see the whiteness of his knuckles as he gripped his cutlery.

As the man in front of her lifted his head his face all set to question her further, she grinned in her most genial yet authoritative way, “there they are, in the window. I’ll head over; could you get me a Manhattan please? They truly are the greatest here. And an extra chair of course.”

Before he could protest, she started the slide across the room between the tables in her most elegant way. She should be nervous, Mattie thought as she sidled across to them, but she wasn’t. She truly had nothing left to lose. Over the last ten years this man had created every emotion in her, she was left with nothing to be scared of. Nothing to fear anymore, and that gave her a confidence that she hadn’t felt in years, maybe ever.

Maggie spotted her first, eyes lifting and staring for a moment, it took several seconds to place her, and Mattie could see the exact moment that she realised who she was. It was at the very same moment that Dylan looked up, sensing something distracting his mother, and Mattie was gifted with two awe struck, stunned faces staring at her.

In that initial split second she saw anger in Dylan’s eyes, he hated that she’d crossed this line, but Maggie was pleased, a smile growing as she stared at her ex daughter-in-law.

                “What are you doing here?” Dylan asked trying his best not to hiss. But completely ignoring that, Maggie stood and stared at her.

                “Matilda? I can’t believe you’re here! How are you?”

Mattie accepted a fairly sterile hug from the older woman then gave another of those genial smiles in her direction; her cheeks were beginning to ache from the effort. Dylan was still sat in his seat, his face sullen. Maggie sat and gestured to the seat that the waiter was approaching with, and as Mattie sat down the ice cold VERY appetising Manhattan was placed in front of her.

With an appreciative nod, she reached for the martini glass full of cold dark liquid and a maraschino cherry and took a well deserved sip. Then she looked up at Maggie.