Matt & Doe | Complete

Chapter 1

"Hey, Doe?" I approached her, wiping the sweat off my forehead. She was quickly moving toward the door, probably having somewhere to be.

"Hi... Matthew. Text me later, okay?" her focus remained on the exit only, as she tried to avoid our conversation.

"Oh?" I spun around to look in her direction, "Where are you going?"

I convinced myself to create small-talk, especially since we were going to work together until April.

"To lunch." she maintained a blank expression.

"Great! I was just heading to lunch," I slipped a lie. In church? Damn. No wonder Anthony and Ash brought me here.

Doe gave me an uncomfortable smile. Her voluminous, natural, hair bounced with each step she took, and she sported large, brown, eyes that could kill. Her African-inspired dress hugged her figure and fell in all the right places.

Damn. Again?

My few moments of utter silence gave Doe the chance to slip away to the exit. One would swear we'd never met before. As I followed in her tracks, I hinted to Anthony, and he nodded.

I stepped outside the building and noticed Doe preparing to cross the somewhat busy street.

"No car?" I yelled loudly, a second time. She spun around and marched back up the sidewalk.

"Matthew. What?" she sounded helpless, annoyed, and searched my eyes for an explanation.

"Uh... I thought it might be better to discuss things over lunch," I cleared my throat, "For convenience. Since we both had the same things in mind."

Doe gave me a naturally sultry look, and I watched her take a deep breath as if counting her blessings.

In the parking lot, I cleared the passenger's seat of my car in a hurry, scared that she might walk off.

"I know someone who's one of the people in charge at the orphanage," I announced, referring to an old neighbour Miss Smith. She was an angry woman, as I remembered her. Smith had lived opposite to my family and was nice to my sister and me until we hit our early teens.

Doe tapped the window, "How? Old church group?"

"Pfft...no," I burst out laughing, "A family friend." I corrected my response and took a final turn.

Doe's POV

Matthew was a born gentleman. One way or the other.

When we arrived at The Buffet King, and before we were even seated, Matthew offered to pay. I told him otherwise, but he insisted. So, I tried to spare him a few cents.

The restaurant had a very casual layout, with an open dining area. The main element was the buffet line. It was freshly stocked with an array of food, from Alfredo pasta to pastries like baguettes and vanilla strudels. Dim, orange, lights were set along the top of the walls and radiated a gentle glow on the nutriment. It wasn't too populated. It was an easy crowd.

"Oh come on," Matthew laughed, noticing my sparse plate at the buffet line. He grabbed the dish and piled on a few more chicken wings. That made me laugh a bit, but the charade ended when an old couple eyed us. We held eye contact for longer than was comfortable. Eventually, they looked away.

When Matthew and I were seated at our booth, he dove right in.

"Are you -" he didn't finish his question, instead dug into a saucy, barbecue rib. Matthew was wearing a blue, long-sleeved shirt that was bound to get dirty. I rolled my eyes at his charm.

A few moments later, when Matthew returned from his second serving, I reminded him why we were here in the first place.

"The orphanage needs a complete makeover," I started, stating the obvious.

"It's a small place. The better idea is relocation," he leaned back comfortably, "I would know."

"Oh?" my eyes widened, ignoring his slight arrogance, "Well I've never been there." I shifted in my seat and jotted down his first contribution on a notepad.

A few minutes of going back and forth with the plan passed, and I thanked Matthew for the meal.

"No problem. Call me, Doe," he stood to take my number.

I reminded him, "You've already got it."

It had been a long day, between the meeting at OCF and lunch, which I was supposed to spend alone. I had a lot to organise and was not looking forward to the upcoming project.

I had always had a passion for community service, especially with kids. Serving humanity was serving God. And in one way or the other, the orphans and I shared something in common.

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A/N
Sorry for the POVs being all over the place. I just needed to get some things clear. Thank you for reading and please continue, if you like. It gets better.

I just wanna tag milli_sampson for basically threatening me to finish this, thank you.

And also Smol_Music for reading and getting so excited when I posted the first part. Thank you.

Also, if any of you skipped the Backstory you're not gonna be confused about anything, but still read before the book ends. Thanksss.