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ThemomentthatIstep outside of the pub, I lose my composure. I’m trying to hold it together for Grant, since the whole mess is technically my fault, but… I don’t know what I’m doing here.
Charlie’s heading across the street, back towards the hotel. He’s walking like a man on a mission. Panic strikes me. I don’t want him to spill the beans to Cheryl and Don.
“Charlie!” I call after him, waving one hand. “Charlie, wait! Just give me five minutes!”
Charlie does stop on the other side of the street, though he doesn’t look happy about it. I bunch the hem of my skirt up in one hand and take off across the crosswalk, my heels clacking against the pavement as I go. I drop the skirt once I’m on the pavement at the other side of the street.
Though Charlie doesn’t look pleased, it seems that just getting away from his brother helped to lessen some of the anger. He seems content enough, at least, to stand there and wait for me. His arms fold over his chest. “What?”
“Walk with me,” I say. It’s the first thing that comes to mind.
“What?” Charlie frowns.
“Please? Just—walk with me.” I request again, jutting a hand out towards him. “You ruined my drink. I think that the least you can do is hear me out before you go off and talk to your father. You don’t want to show up at his room stinking like a pub, anyway. This will give you time to air out.”
Charlie runs a hand over the back of his neck and glances towards the hotel, then lets out a heavy sigh. “Fine. Five minutes.” He huffs as he looks down at me. He’s the same height as his brother, maybe just a touch shorter, but he still towers over me.
“Five minutes,” I say, not planning on keeping track of the time at all. I take him by the wrist and lead him down the sidewalk, not going anywhere specific. That’s the boon of a city like this, there’s always somewhere to walk to.
Still, I find myself missing the lake back home. It would have been so much better, if I could take him out to the lake and we could talk there. Something about the way that the stars reflect against the surface of the water always helps calm me down. I bet it would calm Charlie down, too.
But the only water around us comes from the occasional puddles that have formed, rainbow-streaked with oil and street debris. Definitely not the same.
“Alright,” says Charlie, with a heavy sigh. He shoves his hands into the black pea coat that he’s wearing. “Give me your speech.”
“I don’t have a speech for you,” I tell him, with a bounce of my shoulders. “I don’t really know what to say at all. I just wanted you to think before you ran off.”
“You just don’t want me to tell my dad that you’re both pulling the wool over his eyes,” says Charlie, with a snort.
I bounce my shoulders in another shrug. “Sure, that too.” And then, “Charlie, you understand it, and you know it. You’ve been around my dad.”
Charlie glances at me out of the corner of his eye. We stop at a crossing. He presses the button, and we settle in to wait for the green walker. “Was it really your idea?”
“It was,” I tell him. “Dad’s got a new run this year. I wasn’t lying about that when I was talking to Cheryl. And he’s gotten really overbearing.”
Charlie snorts.
I smile. “Yeah, you know a thing or two about that, right?”
He has to struggle not to smile back at me. “So what, you brought it up to Grant and he just went—that’s pretty fucking convenient for me, sure?”
“I mean, yeah,” I say. “It was convenient for the both of us.”
There’s a pause. The light flashes, and we hurry across the street, keenly aware of the London traffic, even at such a late hour of the evening.
When we get to the other side, Charlie turns and catches hold of me. He presses a hand against the curve of my forearm. “Did you saywas?”
I did. I just hadn’t meant to say it out loud.
“Ashley,” says Charlie. “What’s going on? Just tell me that, bluntly. I want to know. I deserve to know.”
I keep thinking about Grant.
And maybe it comes across clear on my face, or maybe it’s just obvious in my silence, but Charlie gives this soft sort of noise and says, “You’ve got a thing for him.”
“You can’t say anything,” I say, instead of doing the smart thing and trying to protest it.
Charlie’s whole expression changes. At first, I think this is going to make him even angrier, but then he starts laughing. It’s a sudden burst of sound.
