‘That’s me.’ I paused momentarily. ‘Are you Charlie?’
He nodded, as though relieved to have me confirm his identity. ‘I am.’
‘Nice to meet you.’ I held out my hand and he shook it firmly. ‘Please, come in.’ I stood back to let his sizeable bulk through the doorway, the top of his head missing the frame by barely an inch, then closed the door behind him. ‘Thanks so much for doing this,’ I said, turning to him.
He gave a little shake of his head. ‘Not much choice in the matter. My brother’s got the real hots for some girl in his office. I was roped in to do this so that he could get her to go out with him.’
‘Yeah,’ I said slowly. ‘That girl is my best friend.’
A brief flash of awkward horror showed in Charlie’s eyes. ‘Oh.’
‘Look,’ I said gently, ‘I realise that you’ve been forced into doing this. I’m absolutely sure that you have much better ways to spend your Saturday morning than doing boring paperwork for someone you don’t even know. So, why don’t we sort something out that suits everyone better? Or perhaps there’s someone you could recommend to me, whom you trust?’
Charlie was looking at me now but hadn’t replied.
I tilted my head to prompt him.
He took a deep breath and gave me a tight smile. ‘I didn’t mean for that to sound bad, about your friend, I mean. I’m… I… Look. Would you mind if I went out and came in again and we started from scratch?’
I wasn’t entirely sure he was joking.
‘It’s fine.’ I smiled at him and he seemed to relax a little. ‘Are you really sure you’re happy to do this? I mean, it’s obviously out of hours so perhaps you could give me a rough idea of what your hourly rate is? Just so that I don’t pass out when you hand me your bill?’ I gave a little laugh to show him that I wasn’t serious. Although I sort of was.
Charlie looked at me, a slightly confused expression on his face. ‘There is no charge. Like I said, it’s a favour for my little brother.’
Now it was my turn to look horrified.
‘Oh, no! I can’t possibly let you do that. Giving up part of your weekend to go over a stranger’s accounts for free? It’s just… not right!’
‘Really. I don’t mind. I know it might seem boring to you, but it’s sort of fun for me. It’s different from what I do in my everyday job now, so it’s quite nice to get back to basics.’
He caught my look and a shy smile spread over his face. The gorgeous-o-meter dinged up another few notches. I smiled back automatically.
‘I guess that sounds pretty sad to you, right? That I find accounting fun?’ He shrugged his broad shoulders.
‘No!’ I answered quickly. ‘Really. It doesn’t. And honestly, I’m so thankful for you and your love of figures right now because I have absolutely no idea where to start.’
As I steered the conversation into an area Charlie was more familiar with, he seemed to visibly relax.
‘Would you like a tea or coffee before we get started?’
‘Coffee would be great. Thank you.’
‘Come on through,’ I called as I headed off to the kitchen to get the drinks on the go.
I indicated for Charlie to take a seat as I gathered cups and supplies. He did so, but within a moment was back up again, wandering over to the window to look across the harbour. I came up behind him with the drinks.
‘Do you want to sit outside for a few minutes whilst we have these? There’s a better view there.’
‘Sounds great. It’ll give a few minutes to let the caffeine get to work.’ He gave a little chuckle. Add cute to the list.
I led the way to the balcony door and opened it.
‘It’s a bit of a squeeze but quite manageable,’ I said, before realising that Charlie was substantially bigger than most people who sat out here with me. I led the way and took a seat on the farthest chair, sitting in a cross-legged position. Charlie followed and folded his frame into the other one. I let out a giggle.
‘Sorry. I know it’s not the most practical. They really didn’t look that big at the garden centre.’
‘It’s fine. Cosy.’
