Kate
“I’m just goingto address the elephant in the room,” Harrison said.
Charlie was seated to my left, an arm slung over my shoulder. He hadn’t stopped touching me in some manner since we reunited at the premiere. Not that I complained.
“Since when are you even aware of elephants?” Emma teased. “Usually they have to be sitting on your chest for you to notice and even then, you’d just ask if anyone smelled peanuts.”
We were sitting in Harrison’s highly landscaped backyard, enjoying the temperate California weather trying to come down from the adrenaline high of the night’s event. We’d changed out of our fancy yet confining clothes and now lounged in the padded couches surrounding his firepit.
“I will have you know that I’m always aware of the tension in any room. I just don’t have the compulsion to stick my nose in other peoples’ business.” Harrison stuck his tongue out at Emma, who rolled her eyes. “Or try and fix it.”
Charlie looked at him skeptically as he played with my fingers in his lap. “Okay, out with it,” he said to Harrison.
“The special. The interview segment between you and Kate.” He gestured to Charlie and me.
I was thankful for the darkness that surrounded us. Outside the soft flames from the fire, my blush was well-hidden.
“What about them? Kate did a fabulous job,” Charlie said, a little too casually.
“You did too,” I said, wrapping myself around his arm. In theory, at least.
“The tension. It was palpable!” Harrison shouted dramatically as ever.
Emma laughed. “He’s not wrong.”
Charlie and I exchanged a heated glance.
“Ah, yep. That’s the one. The look that risked a fire on set. Had we been there when you guys were filming it wouldn’t have taken me nearly so long to put two and two together. I can’t believe we missed it,” Harrison said.
“Nobody but you missed it, Harrison. It was literally so palpable, the tabloids felt it,” Emma said.
“This means all’s well between you two again?” Harrison went on. “You can simply thank me. That’ll be enough, but if you insist on flowers, I’ll take a bouquet of poppies. I’m quite partial to the orange ones.”
“Thank you, Harrison, for bringing Charlie and I back together. Thank you. Again. For the hundredth time,” I said.
Emma rolled her eyes. “Please. He was just there. I made the plans to get everyone to LA. I contacted Kate’s work—”
“Gail was incredibly surprised to get an email fromtheEmma Flynn. She told everyone who would listen,” I interjected.
“And what exactly did you do, Harrison?” Emma asked, chin lifted haughtily.
“I was moral support. The cheerleader. I set the morale.” He waved his hand through the air. “Ah, anyway, we’re all together again and that’s what matters.”
“True,” I said.
“Did you two find your on-screen chemistry as obvious as we did?” Emma asked coyly.
“I certainly remember feeling drawn to Kate the moment we met,” Charlie said to me. “Well, before that. From her very first story I read, I felt a connection to her.”
“Same. From the very first message. I don’t normally reply right away, but it was almost a compulsion to respond to your email,” I told him.
“I never read fan fiction about myself. Despite what the internet says. Something about your work jumped off the screen. It was like it was being brought to my attention. Destiny.”
My heart swelled hearing him talk so openly. I was sitting here holding Charlie Downing’s hand, chatting with my childhood idols, and it all felt perfectly natural. Like I was one of their friends.
“It was meant to be,” I said.
He brushed his thumb over my cheek and lowered his head to lightly kiss me.
