Chapter 11
CHARLIE
In a strange way, it hadn’t even occurred to Charlie that he should feel nervous about being on a date with Sam. Mostly because he knew in his gut that this was, in fact, not a real date. He had assumed it would be like any time they had dinner together.
But now he knew how naive he’d been.
The flowers had been a bit of a risk, but if Sam was looking for romance, flowers were a start. He’d ordered them from the florist down the street from work, grabbing them on his way back home to get changed.
He hadn’t even had to sweat the choice on what to get her. It wasn’t as universally known as her love of strawberries—a fact evident by the collection of strawberry-themed items she had at home—but he knew she liked having them in her apartment when they were in season.
He’d gone straight to her apartment after changing and cleaning up a bit, despite knowing that it would make him early. He’d been so confident that things would go smoothly. That is, until he’d caught sight of her emerging from the bathroom, fidgeting with her earring.
That dress.
It was a long black number with sheer sleeves puffed out at the shoulder and adorned with little cute strawberries pressed into the fabric that felt so very… Sam. Beautiful was the understatement of the century, but it was all he could muster at the time.
Though, Sam could wear a sack and still look divine.
It was, however, completely unlike something Sam would normally wear, and with that dangerously low neckline, Charlie knew he was already in trouble.
Plunging down just low enough to tease and revealing a hint of cleavage that strained against the fabric, it took most of his strength to not look every chance he had.
He held the menu up in front of him like a shield, determined to keep his gaze away from that neckline at all costs. She deserved exponentially more than him acting like… well, like such a guy, as she would put it.
They had fallen into a relatively comfortable silence as they tucked into the appetizer.
Her phone had dinged a few times as they had sat down, which had seemed to annoy her a bit, and Charlie could only guess it was her aunt, though he couldn’t be sure.
She seemed a little more stressed as she apologized and yanked her phone out to respond, so Charlie simply watched her.
She worked her lower lip between her teeth as she typed, unaware that he was watching her so carefully.
He couldn’t help but wonder if she was even aware that she often did that whenever she was deep in thought.
It was a habit he’d noted over the years that always seemed most prevalent when she was trying to figure something out.
Usually book-related, but he doubted she was texting with Angel with the way that little wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows.
His eyes began to wander down, landing on her lips.
Her lower lip popped forward from beneath her teeth as she released her hold on it.
He was enraptured by the way their fullness immediately came back into shape.
Full and oh-so-inviting, her lips began to move and he suddenly wondered what her lips would taste like with that cherry red lipstick she had on…
“Charlie?” she prompted, smiling at him as if she’d been trying to get his attention.
Dammit.
He blinked a few times.
“Sorry,” he apologized swiftly and cleared his throat. “I was thinking about something at work. Everything okay?”
She nodded, her eyes darting off to the side as she adjusted herself in her seat. “Uh, yeah, I just had to send someone some files I had.”
“Gotcha. You talk to your aunt since she called last?”
“No, thankfully not, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I heard from her again soon.”
Neither would he. He hated the chokehold that woman seemed to have over Sam, but he understood that it was a…
complicated relationship to say the least. He tried not to pry too much, but he remembered the blowout they’d had back when they were in college and still held his own personal grudge about it.
“What do you think she wants anyway?” he asked carefully.
Sam shrugged. “Probably something for Tommy, knowing her.”
“After the way they treated you?”
She chuckled, trying to appear unaffected by the situation, but Charlie could see the lingering sadness hiding in those green eyes of hers. “You know how she is.”
“Why do you still put up with them?”
She shrugged again. “They’re the only family I have left, so it would feel weird just completely cutting them out of my life, even if I hardly ever talk to them these days.”
“Why?” Charlie prompted, though he wasn’t sure why he wasn’t dropping it and leaving it be.
She pursed her lips, staring off into the distance for a brief moment before turning her attention back to him and shrugging once more.
“My grandparents on my mom's side died before I was born, and my dad’s parents died when I was in college. Cutting them off just feels … I don’t know, it just feels like completely closing that part of my life.
Like, as shitty of a family as they are, they are all I have left. ”
Charlie hated that. She deserved so much better than the hand she’d been dealt.
Even before their big blowout, Sam often would come to his house, crying after some fight or another that she’d had with them. It was part of the reason his mother had become so protective over her. Especially after Erica…
“You deserve better than that,” he said, forcing himself to take a drink before he continued pushing. “But anyway, how is the book writing going?”
“Good!” she replied with a soft smile. “I started actually writing yesterday. We don’t have to talk about that stuff right now, though. I don’t want to bore you.”
He shook his head. “You could never bore me, Sam.”
The truth, if he had any to offer at the moment.
Every second he spent with her always felt like a gift, and that was just as true now as it had always been. She was the one thing he wanted more than anything, but she was also the one thing he could never have.
Regardless of his feelings, however, he would always care about her. She was, at the end of the day, his best friend. And that fact would never change.
The waiter traipsed over to the table, thankfully saving him from saying or doing anything else, and popped open a bottle of wine for them.
“So, I’ve been doing some thinking...” she said as she collected her glass.
“About?” he prompted.
“It was what you said when we were at the bookstore, about it feeling a little awkward about what to call each other. I know we said fight club rules, but I agree calling each other fake girlfriend and fake boyfriend is a bit awkward. Maybe we should come up with a name or something else to call each other exclusively for this?”
He pursed his lips, leaning back in his chair. “That’s not a bad idea.”
She nodded and scooted forward, glass of wine in hand. “Right? It’ll help make this feel a bit more natural, which is the whole point.”
He smiled. “Alright. What should we go with, then?”
“It should be something you would call a romantic partner but something we would normally never call each other.”
There were a thousand names he’d love to call her, but he quickly pulled out one from the list. “How about babe?”
“Babe?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, it’s a common name people call their partners but isn’t something we say to each other.”
She leaned back, resting her glass of wine against her lips as she chewed on the idea. After seemingly coming to a decision, she gave him a nod of finality and grinned. “I like it! It’s cute and feels personal without being too weird. Are you sure you’re okay with it?”
He’d call her whatever she wanted if she smiled at him like that again. “Yeah, it works for me.”
“Good. Alright, babe, tell me about work. Let’s not talk about book stuff anymore. This is a date, after all,” she said before taking a sip of wine.
A delightful tingle at the name shot up his spine, and he had to lean forward and rest his elbows on the table to distract himself from just how much he was going to enjoy hearing her call him that.
He shrugged. “It’s been alright. Nothing too exciting to report.”
“Oh, that’s not true, and you know it. You told me recently that you were up for a possible team lead role, right?”
“Yeah, they made the offer earlier this week.”
“Oh, Charlie, that’s great!” she exclaimed, reaching forward to pat his arm a few times. “Are you gonna take it?”
He shrugged again. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I want to.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“It’d mean longer hours and more responsibilities. The pay increase would be stellar, I won’t lie, but I’m not sure if I want to bother.”
She smiled. “What do you want, then?”
He leaned back in his seat, relaxing into the conversation a bit. “I think I’m pretty content where I am, honestly.”
“You haven’t thought of doing anything else?”
It had been a while since he’d really thought about what he wanted beyond his current role.
In actuality, this wasn’t the first time he’d been offered the role.
It had been proposed to him last year, which he had turned down to focus on helping to get the data lab center fully up and running at the time.
But if he really thought about it, he still leaned toward turning it down again. The happiest time he’d had at his job recently had been when he’d been working in that data lab.
“If I had to choose,” he said carefully, “I think if there were any lead role I would want, it would be in the data center lab—maybe even run the lab at some point.”
She took another sip of wine before responding. “I’m not super technical. What’s the difference between the two?”
“I wouldn’t be managing people so much as I would be managing equipment and the couple of people who work in there. I’d still be the same level as a team lead, just with less of the hassle. I’m not so great at managing people.”
She reached forward and gently smacked his arm again. “Don’t say that. You’re great with people.”