Chapter 12
CHAPTER
TWELVE
CHARLIE
The light coming in from the window next to her bed woke her up, and she groaned and burrowed further into the warmth around her. It was the second time she had woken up in Olive’s arms, and she was no less awed by it than the first.
Charlie opened her eyes slowly and did her best not to move too much.
Olive didn’t seem to be awake yet, and Charlie studied her face.
It was hard to reconcile the peaceful woman here with the firecracker that Charlie recognized her to be.
She was getting entirely too comfortable with having her around, but she knew that it was not a guarantee that this would continue once Olive was back home with the usual consequences of fucking someone on the regular.
Though they could theoretically make plans for the future, it seemed that anything beyond the two weeks here was in another realm, another universe that Olive did not dare approach, no matter how much Charlie tried to get her to.
If this was in a TV show, Charlie would probably want to reach in and slap herself for how much power she was willing to give Olive over her.
But there was a part of Charlie that liked it.
On the ice and in her normal life, Charlie was in control. She was the best, and she had to be. But with Olive, Charlie could be herself.
And she didn’t quite want that feeling to go away yet.
Charlie kissed Olive’s cheek, then gently detangled herself out of bed.
She looked at the floor around them, doing her best not to tsk at the mess of discarded clothes.
She’d have to give Olive something to wear.
Well, she could wear her own clothes, but Charlie wanted to give her hers.
Wanted to see her in them. Maybe she really wasn’t any better than all the other hockey players she made fun of over the years who would fawn over their dates wearing their jerseys and hoodies.
Charlie quickly gathered all her clothes and threw them in the laundry side of her suitcase, before gathering Olive’s clothes and using one of the many sponsor-provided bags to pack up hers.
She managed to find her favourite Toronto Succubi hoodie, which she folded neatly and placed next to the bag.
Charlie grabbed her usual hat & team-branded merch and changed in the washroom before stepping out of the hotel room, quietly closing the door behind her.
She had to leave her phone behind to charge, and she practically sprinted to the cafeteria to grab breakfast for them both.
She filled her tray with more food than was reasonable for one person, even an athlete.
The cafeteria employees said nothing, likely used to the varied portions here in the Olympic Village.
When Charlie reached the end of the line, she used the to-go containers there to pack up all the various pastries before shoving them, and several juice and hydration drinks, into the tote bag she brought.
“Someone had a fun night, it seems,” a voice behind her said.
Charlie turned around to find Blake with a shit-eating grin on their face. They were eating the chocolate muffins they were obsessed with, and they had that look in their eyes that told Charlie they knew exactly what she was up to yesterday.
“Team Canada did secure their first win. It was a cause for celebration,” Charlie responded.
“And somehow, I don’t see you here with any of your teammates,” Blake continued.
“Bringing this back for them,” she said, holding up her tote bag as evidence.
“Oh. So I didn’t hear someone on your team drunkenly proclaiming that the great Lucky Lajoie is out there getting lucky last night?”
Charlie sighed. “I’m going to kill Plaker.”
Blake laughed and clapped her on the shoulder, leading her towards the exit with them.
“I’m happy for you, Char. Can I call you Char?”
“Please don’t.” They tried it every now and again, and every time, they were unceremoniously shut down.
“Damn, I thought today was the day. Anyway, I’m so happy to see this new, sexual side to you.”
“Ew. You are not seeing anything. I would never show that to you.” Charlie curled her lips in disgust—not because Blake was unattractive, but because they were moved to the corner of Charlie’s brain where she categorized them like a sibling.
Not that she could ever tell them that. They’d probably buy her a cake for such a declaration of strong, heartfelt emotion.
“How rude. You know you can join my roster at any time,” they said without any hint of embarrassment, or seriousness. They knew as well as she did that joining their roster was not something that would happen in this lifetime.
Charlie shook their hand off her, but slowed down their walk as they approached the lodging set aside for female competitors. It was bullshit that they had to adhere to these arbitrary rules, and Blake was a far better human than Charlie for putting up with it.
“Thank you for your support. It’s… complicated right now,” Charlie said.
Blake stopped, surprise plainly on their face. Perhaps they were shocked at Charlie’s rare bit of sincerity.
“Complicated how?”
“I am already way too into her, and she clearly does not like me in that same way.”
Blake winced while Charlie struggled not to frown. Clearly it must have been bad if Blake, of all people, was sympathizing with her. God, just how pathetic did she look?
“Well, do you know why?” they asked after a moment of silence.
“She said she’s just here on vacation and she was dumped right before coming here, which is why she’s here on a solo trip. I guess if I was her, I wouldn’t want to rush into anything either.”
“Then what’s the rush? Can’t you both just be having a fun time, and that’s that?”
“Yes but… I like her. Really like her.”
Blake clapped their hands. “Oh my God. Charlie ‘Lucky’ Lajoie has a crush. That is so adorable. Adorable!” Blake screamed the last word out, earning us confused looks from all the other athletes streaming by.
“This is why I can’t tell you anything.” Charlie huffed.
“Your secret is safe with me, but that is so cute. Seriously. I know it’s hard, but just… go with the flow. You know you don’t have to control everything in your life, right?”
“I know that. In fact, it’s what I like most about being with her.” The words came out before Charlie could examine what they meant, and Blake screamed again, slapping her on the arm.
“You dirty dog, I had no clue that’s what you were into.”
Charlie shook her head and started walking backwards towards the building, eager to escape the questions that would be inevitable with this accidental slip.
“And you don’t know, because I will never tell you.”
Charlie stuck her tongue out and ran away, beating Blake to the elevator and closing it behind her.
She didn’t bother paying any attention to the team in the elevator, though she could feel their incredulous looks.
Charlie blushed but didn’t bother to explain, and when the elevator arrived to her floor, she walked out as if she was acting perfectly rationally.
When she reentered her room, Charlie was delighted to find Olive already dressed in the clothes she had laid out for her, scrolling through her phone as she rested against the headboard.
“I texted you, but you left your phone here. I heard it buzz,” Olive said as she glanced up and spotted Charlie. She smiled, and despite the confusion Charlie was still battling, she easily returned it.
“I stepped out to grab us some breakfast. Would you like to try the chocolate muffin that went viral during the last summer Olympics?”
“The one that the random Swedish swimmer was obsessed with, that muffin guy?”
“The very same.” Charlie sat down on the bed next to her then and rummaged through her tote bag, presenting Olive with the aforementioned muffin, still in its cellophane wrapped container.
Olive opened it and took a bite, nodding vigorously. “He was right. These are that good.”
Charlie ate her own muffin, and they shared a comfortable silence.
Charlie wanted to talk some more, but she knew that anything she said in this moment would be unproductive.
She decided to just focus on the here and now, and the company of a beautiful woman who made her feel things she wasn’t used to feeling.
It was a rare moment for her, and Charlie was determined to enjoy it.
She finished her muffin and dug through her bag again, handing Olive a water bottle, a bottle of orange juice, and an energy drink from one of the many companies that sponsored the food for the Olympics this year.
“Wow, a full buffet. What did I do to get so spoiled?” Olive asked, clearly teasing her.
“You know,” Charlie said, blushing. In the light of day, and away from the atmosphere of knowing they were about to have sex, Charlie found herself unable to discuss these things with her.
“Do I?” Olive asked, as if they were talking about whether it was raining outside, not as if she was asking Charlie whether she had enjoyed last night.
Charlie shook her head and drank some of the power drink instead. She’d have to get to training soon, and to tell Heather that she was able to return to their room.
Olive moved closer and kissed Charlie on the cheek. “I had fun last night.”
“I did too. It was the perfect reward,” Charlie said.
“If you win more games, we can do that again. Well, I had an idea about the next time.”
“An idea?”
“You’ll have to win to see.” Olive winked at her, and Charlie whined. The sound surprised even herself, and Charlie burst into laughter, knowing her face was fully aflame now.
“I can’t with you…” Olive said and shook her head. “You have practice today, right?”
Charlie nodded.
“I should go,” Olive said, and stood.
Charlie passed her the tote of snacks and walked her to the door. Olive grabbed the bag of her clothes that Charlie had prepared, slinging it over her shoulder.
Olive kissed Charlie lightly, then opened the door. “I’ll text you when I get back to my hotel room.”
“Okay.” Charlie wanted to kiss her again, but with the door open and the sounds of chatter echoing from down the hallway, she was nervous about who would see.
Olive said a final goodbye, and Charlie watched as she walked down the hall to the elevator. She waved from her door, and Olive waved back before stepping in.
Back in her room, Charlie finally grabbed her phone for the first time that morning. She scrolled past the usual congratulations from friends, family, and acquaintances, responding only to her family’s group chat.
Her mother sent her usual cheering platitudes, and her father was kind enough to type, “Congratulations on the first of many.”
Charlie didn’t have the bandwidth to deal with that, so she cracked open a window and texted Plaker that she could come back to the room.
She continued to ignore the messages and opened up Instagram, scrolling past all the videos and photos that she was tagged in.
Later, she’d have to save and upload the photos that the Team Canada social media folks sent her, but in that moment, she ignored it all.
She did notice that Olive had posted a new Instagram story, and it took her exactly two seconds to click into it desperately.
The first post was a reshare of Team Canada’s post after their win, and Olive had simply captioned it with Canadian flag emojis. The next story was a selfie, and it stopped Charlie in her tracks.
It was taken here, but only Charlie knew that. In the picture, Olive was leaning back against this headboard, the print of Charlie’s hoodie plainly visible. The caption read, “rooting for Lajoie!!” and Charlie screenshot the selfie, so quickly she was surprised her fingers didn’t snap off.
Charlie should’ve said something witty or funny, but she couldn’t.
She could barely articulate herself well enough in person, let alone try to send a flirty text.
She responded with a heart emoji via message and then dropped her phone, hoping that by the time Plaker returned to get ready for their practice, she would at least be functioning like a normal person again.