From Gaia's diary
This morning I received a package containing a book about relationships by post, I think it's from mom. As soon as I have a free moment, I should take a look at it. But not today, I've too much stuff to do. I'll have to remember tomorrow, I guess.
Pixels: Wof!
Matt has been here a lot these last few weeks, to spend time with me or to play with Pixel. I haven't seen him use a disguise again, but he also seems much more uncomfortable than he was before.
I ended up talking to Tommy about it too. To be honest, he dropped into my house to watch the latest episode of our favourite TV series together (I had invited him, but I had completely forgotten about it) and, at that point, he crossed Matt with his real face. Like it or not, I owed him an explanation.
Gaia: (taken aback) Oh, hi Tommy! Well, you see, that was…
Thomas: (seriously) What, a disguise? But it's illegal, everyone knows it!
Gaia: In fact, as you saw, he stopped.
Thomas: If you say so...
For a while Tommy didn't say anything, pensive.
Gaia: What are you thinking?
Thomas: It's just that his face reminds me of someone, where I've already seen him... Ah, got it! He was Mrs Michelle's boyfriend, the one who lives at the end of our street!
Gaia: ...
I didn't say anything, if Tommy lived near Matt's old girlfriend it was likely that he remembered what had happened. Indeed, a few moments later his expression became shocked, and then he said to me:
Thomas: If I remember correctly those two also had a child, but then she kicked him out of the house... You mean that that guy was Matt, all along?
Gaia: Well ... yes.
And, at that point, how could I not tell him the rest of the story, my dear diary?
Thomas: Not to say "I told you so", but...
Gaia: I know, I know... But he doesn't seem to have bad intentions, after all it's still him, right?
Thomas: Well... If he has hidden so many things from you so far, he could still have other secrets, don't you think so?
Gaia: …
Thomas: (thoughtfully) Maybe I know how to verify it.
Gaia: How so?
Thomas: He said he spends every Saturday afternoon with his son, right? They're my neighbours, it shouldn't be too difficult to spy on them from my place, to see how they behave.
I have to admit that, down deep, I was suspicious too, or I wouldn't have accepted that suggestion. There were several days until Saturday, it would have been hard to keep our plan a secret from Matt. But I wanted to see the truth, with my own eyes.
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Saturday is still quite far away, there's not much else I can do other than try to get back into my routine. I have so much to do at work that it's easy to forget about the rest, actually.
Gaia: I have big plans for this place, you know Tommy?
Thomas: (slightly disgusted) Like picking up all the garbage with your bare hands?
Gaia: Oh, this is just the beginning! I designed a project for this community space, I really think this place would be a perfect market for recycled objects!
Thomas: Well, anything would be better than its current state… But it seems these decisions have to be approved with a vote, right?
Gaia: Exactly, that's what that board over there is for! And those who live here, like me, also vote for many other projects designed to improve this place, isn't it fantastic?
Thomas: Erm... As I said many times, this old port certainly can only improve, and if the local tradition is to use neighbourhood plans... go for it!
Yes, this place is taking a lot of work, and even if many people don't agree with me, I still think there is so much potential!
I like it, Pixel likes it and even that old cat Nacho, I really don't understand why the others only focus on the garbage and turn up their noses when I say where I live. Don't they realise how quickly all this can be rearranged with a matter recomposer?
Nacho: Uhm...
Bam!
Gaia: Sorry Nacho, it's my fault, I didn't want to make all that noise! The hammer fell on a piece of metal, it's nothing!
Matt: What are you doing?
Gaia: I'm trying to add a lightning rod to the wind turbine, I don't want it to break at the first storm! And then, in a minute, I'm going to the community areas to vote!
The voting for the neighbourhood plans has just opened, what could I vote for? I certainly want to encourage renewable energy sources and recycling, and I want to clean up this neighbourhood from all that garbage. And then... Uhm, actually I don't think I have many votes available, that's enough for now.
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With all that stuff to do the week ended up passing by in the blink of an eye, it's now Saturday morning. Matt and I decided to go skiing, just to make some exercise!
Matt: (cheerfully) With that suit you look like a pro!
Gaia: Well, today I'm determined to learn how to ski!
With Matt everything seemed so normal, if it hadn't been for that little detail of the disguise I would have thought we went back to the good carefree days of when we started dating.
That afternoon I had planned to go to Tommy's house to spy on him through the window, but was it really the right thing to do? At that moment I had so many doubts in my head…
... thoughts that slipped away the moment I went down the first slope, skiing required all my concentration.
We skied non-stop until the end of the morning, when we bought something to eat at the kiosk at the bottom of the skiing plant. Maybe lying and spying on him wasn't the right path after all, maybe just talking with him would have been a fairer solution, doesn't it sound mature and reasonable?
Gaia: So this afternoon you're going to see your son, right?
Matt: (evasive) Oh, that. Well, yes, as usual, you know.
Gaia: Do you have any good programs?
Matt: Erm... I don't really feel like talking about it, let's say.
Gaia: …
He seemed particularly vague, I honestly couldn't understand if he was sincere or not. It made me suspicious when I would have needed all the opposite, that's what. And perhaps it was for that reason that in the end I decided to actually go to Tommy's place, whether it was childish or not I wanted to verify with my own eyes that he hadn't lied to me.
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Thomas: I didn't think you would really show up... So you're really suspecting he's hiding something else from you?
Gaia: Well... I don't know, maybe I'm too curious.
We waited a long time, lurking behind the curtains of Tommy's bedroom window, talking about random stuff. The Comicon he'd been talking about for weeks was yesterday, so I couldn't help but ask him how it went.
Thomas: The Comicon, you say? Well, it was worth the wait, it was amusing! And then I also found a couple of rare posters that—
Gaia: In the end, did you dress up as a superhero too?
Thomas: (cautiously) Yes... But I don't intend to be laughed at, so...
Gaia: C'mon, I'm just curious! Did you take any photos?
Thomas: Well, yes, obviously.
It took me a while to convince him to let me see the photos he took, and he still seemed a little wary when he grabbed his phone to scroll through his photo gallery with me.
Gaia: This is crazy, you looked super pumped in that costume!
Thomas: It took a lot of work to finish it, for instance—
Gaia: Hey, who is she?
Scrolling through the photos I came across a selfie that Tommy had taken at the Comicon with a beautiful smiling girl. How could I not ask for details?
Thomas: (embarrassed) Oh, she's... um... a Supergirl cosplayer.
Gaia: C'mon, didn't you ask her name? Or her number?
Thomas: Well, technically I have her number, she asked me to send her the photo, but—
Gaia: It's obvious that it was just an excuse to get your number, don't you see it?
Tommy really seemed to be struggling in that moment, he was so embarrassed that he didn't know how to respond. The only solution he found was to change the subject, so he ended up saying:
Thomas: By the way, didn't you come to spy on Matt?
Gaia: Gotcha. But don't think I'll forget, next time I want the details!
Thomas: ...
So we went back to the window. And we seemed to be just in time, because Matt had just teleported right in front of the house at the end of the street.
We couldn't hear what they were saying, but all three of them seemed to be having fun. Matt played with Lucas all afternoon, while his ex-girlfriend kept an eye on them from nearby. She smiled a lot when looking at the kid, while she seemed way more cautious when passing to Matt.
Well, at least he didn't seem to have lied about this. On Saturday afternoon he plays with his son, and the kid seemed to have fun too.
I was about to leave, if it wasn't for a rather important detail we'd been ignoring all afternoon: if we could see Matt from the window, he could also see us from the street.
Matt: Hey, but those are…
Matt: I didn't know you lived here, Tommy.
Thomas: (to himself) Why does everyone call me like that?
Matt: And here you are too, I really didn't expect to see you here, Gaia!
From the tone of his voice I couldn't really understand whether he had understood the reason why I was there or not, what should I say? Should I have made up an excuse?
Gaia: Yes, we had a couple of work projects to look at, I was just about to go home.
Matt: Oh, okay.
Matt: Well, see you then!
Gaia: Yes, see you soon!
On the one hand I'm relieved, I really risked getting caught red-handed and making the situation even worse.
On the other hand, however, I can't help but wonder: where did he go this time? Perhaps he had told me the truth about her family, but as for the rest I continue to think that he is still hiding many things from me about everything in his life. Why can't I trust him yet, I wonder?
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