......
Returning Christmas gifts was not Matty Bell’s style. However, neither was the multitude of frumpy sweatshirts and sweaters that her family and friends had bestowed upon her this year. To add injury to insult, just before the holidays, she was reorged out of her job of five years. And if those weren’t clear enough signs to tell Matty things had taken a wrong turn in her life, certainly the empty seat next to her on the plane was a solid one. Something was deeply amiss, and as she sunk into her window seat and gazed out into the pre morning sky, she felt it now, heavily in her heart.
[I'd spell out reorganized, or use another term. And first I thought she was returning her gifts, but she's on a plane. I wouldn't cut, just movet things about.]
From the outside one would venture to say that she was just letting herself go, getting caught up in her work, and didn’t mind that there wasn’t a man in her life. Unfortunately they would be dead wrong. Sure, Matty had let her blonde hair slump, her clothes became nondescript, her spirits stifled, muted. But it wasn’t all her fault. No, correction. It wasn’t her fault at all. She gritted her teeth and held her hands tightly in her lap, determined not to think about that night. She had become accustomed to calling it the worst turning point in her life. Not wanting to dwell in the past again, she forced herself to relax, look around, and become a part of the outside world today.
[I don't think hair can slump. You've got mixed tenses in this sentence, " let her blonde hair slump, her clothes became nondescript, her spirits stifled, muted" I'd go with "calling it the worst night," or "the biggest turning point in her life." I related to the last sentence, 'become part of the outside world."!]
Looking up she saw the long line of passengers waiting to find their seats, get situated, and head off on the long flight out to San Diego. It’s a vacation, Matty informed herself, and even though you’re jobless, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself. Five years in the same job had secured her with a nice severance pay. Six months in fact. It was a nice way to say thank you for your commitment, but we don’t need you anymore. It was probably the best way to loose your job. However, Matty knew the truth. She had stopped working there two years ago. She had in fact stopped living two years ago.
['lose your job' not 'loose'.]
Glancing up again to see how the line was progressing, she met the stare of a man in line, one that looked much like him, which made her heart jump with fear and her breath catch in her throat. In all of her daydreams of what she would do if she ever came face to face with him again, this was not one of those reactions. Instead of meeting him with anger and rage, she was frozen in fear. Her fright must have registered on her face because immediately the man in line held up his hands apologetically. Embarrassed, Matty quietly cursed at herself for letting her imagination get the better of her, and shacking her head, she tried to smile back, if only a little. He did look like him, but she knew it wasn’t him. Yet old habits died hard. She was still haunted by him. Still saw his face every time she closed her eyes.
[mattie is on the plane, with an empty seat beside her. Not in line. I know, I never notice these things in my own work either! 'shaking her head'
Went back, see now that you mean that matty was thinking about having an empty seat inteh plane besdie her. You'd need to make that part clearer.]
Matty returned her gaze to the ground crew outside and then to the rising sun. Matty [since she's the only character so far, use 'she' ]couldn’t remember the last time she caught a man looking at her and [sub 'that' for 'and' ] it didn’t make her heart jump with fear. Every glance. Every stare. It made her feel singled out from the crowd. Naked when fully clothed. Although it was getting easier as the months went on, she still couldn’t help the nervous uneasiness she felt most of the day. Matty [she] was always relieved to come home at the end of the day, making damn sure her door was securely locked. Living in a state of constant fear, she thought, was fast becoming her new way of life. However, it hadn’t always been this way.
There were many years of clueless inhibition, playfully flirting back with batted eyelashes and glancing over her shoulder one last time before rounding a corner. It was fun, she remembered, to be the center of attention. Her long wavy blonde hair and curves in all the right places had made sure of that. It was easy to move to the front of the line at night clubs or get the best table at her favorite restaurant when there was a man to toy with. Matty enjoyed stringing men along left and right, knowing full well that it would never go any further than that. It was a game she played and it was exhilarating.
{ I might be worng on this one. I think you mean she was uninhibitited]
However, now, Matty was more than cautious with men. No longer did she yearn to be the center of attention. She tried desperately to avoid being seen by anyone. She had become accustom [-ed] to tucking her wild hair into hats or hiding its beauty in a messy haphazard ponytail at the nape of her neck. For the remainder of her appearance, she didn’t dare wear anything tight or revealing. On the contrary. Frumpy baggy shirts and long black pants, ending with low or no heal at all were her new wardrobe. The only part of her skin that she allowed to show was her face, and that too {I'd take out the 'too'] she protected with a downward cast.
If someone thought she was trying to become invisible, they would be hitting the nail on the head. The more invisible Matty could make herself, she thought, the safer she would be. Furthermore, Matty comforted herself, if no one saw her beauty, saw her as a woman to be desired, she could protect herself from ever being hurt again.
[I'd lose the first sentence. The paragraph is more powerful without it.]
With that thought she curled her legs under her, tucked her hair under her Nationals Baseball cap, and tried to rest against the window. Even though she was still in really good shape physically, she had let herself go on the inside, was now jobless, and she didn’t have anyone special in her life. She tried dating, but it always ended before it got serious. She just wasn’t ready for that type of commitment. Wasn’t ready to tell all. Matty didn’t like [tell not like] anyone what she had gone through. The details. There was only one other person who knew the truth. Matty knew one day she’d tell her story, but not now. It was something she was dreading, however, nothing she had to do right now. No, right now she was determined to find her ability to live life again. That was the whole point of this vacation.
I have more of it online:
http://www.magothydesigns.com/write/LiLaLo.html
: We think he is bipolar (he is threatening suicide)
So I started a thread called 'Lisa'. 
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