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Charlie
* * *
Charlie thought about how to avoid Eve the entire ride to work, only for her stomach to keep churning. Not just because there was no real way to escape her but because a part of her didn't want to.
She paused in front of the reception where she could see Eve sitting behind the desk. Even though she'd only been there for a few weeks, it had quickly become a familiar sight.
With her heart practically hammering out of her chest, Charlie stepped inside. Her mouth was dry like the desert and her lips still tingled from the memory of their kiss.
"Good morning," she said, her voice slightly shaky with nerves.
Eve looked up from her computer and smiled politely. "Good morning, Charlie."
Unsure what else to say, Charlie just stared. She always knew that Eve was going to be professional and reserved and yet, she had expected something more from their first time seeing each other again. More than such a dry greeting, maybe a different kind of smile, just... more.
“It’s cold,” Charlie noted.
“It is almost winter.”
“Yeah, I don’t know where the year has gone.”
Eve smiled again, but it was a totally different type from the one she wore in the bar. “Time sure flies.”
The stunted conversation made Charlie want to sink through the floor. She wondered if she’d completely misinterpreted the events of Saturday. Maybe Eve had been drunker than she let on and considered the kiss a mistake.
Charlie should’ve been grateful because that kiss should never have happened. It made her a bad friend, which was the last thing she wanted to be. And yet, the idea of them pretending there hadn’t been a kiss left her uncomfortable to her core.
An eternity of silence passed, filled by the clicking of Eve’s mouse and the faint hum of machinery.
When it became clear the conversation was over, Charlie gestured to the garage. "I should start work then."
"Okay," Eve said simply, almost like she didn't care. She didn’t even look away from her screen.
It made no sense, Charlie thought. The kiss had been entirely Eve's doing and yet, now she was the one acting aloof and like it never happened. Charlie should've been glad and relieved that everything could return to normal, but she wasn't.
Charlie waited a few more seconds in case Eve was going to bring up yesterday, but she didn't.
On her way out of reception, she could feel Eve's burning gaze on her back but nothing else was said. It baffled Charlie to no end but she decided not to let it bother her. She had other things on her head, like making sure Jack never found out about their kiss and the endless slew of MOTs.
Despite her best intentions, she entered the garage feeling frustrated and dismissed. Guilt only added to the feeling when she spotted Jack sitting on top of a pile of old tyres.
Maybe she should've just called in sick today.
With her best smile, she approached her friend, desperately hopeful that he wouldn't be able to tell something was off. Jack was never the most observant so maybe he wouldn't notice anything was amiss.
"Morning," Jack mumbled, the dark bags under his eyes rather unflattering. He was eating a child sized box of cereal and looked like he hadn't slept in weeks.
Charlie kicked a tyre down so she could sit in it too. "Morning. You don't look so good."
"Oh, don't mention it. I had a terrible weekend, I can't believe I'm glad it's Monday." Jack gave a nearby tyre a miserable kick. "How about you? Did you have fun with your friends?”
Memories of the Saturday night flooded Charlie's mind with the moment that Eve kissed her as the most notable one. It was seared in her brain vividly, like a video on repeat. Just thinking about it made her flutter and fluster.
Jack tossed a cornflake her way. "Charlie?"
"Sorry. Umm, yeah, I had a good time with my friends," she said. It was not a lie although the technicality didn't make her feel any better. It was a lie by omission, and a bad one at that.
Charlie told herself she didn't have another choice but to hide the kiss with Eve. Jack already looked like he was having a rough time, her confession would only be kicking him while he was down.
