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“Yo,” Alex immediately answered. “What the fuck, man?”
“It’s not my fault,” Rick said.
“Like hell it’s not,” his brother growled. “I got a spotty explanation through Sarah from Charlie, but now I want your side. What the hell were you doing?”
“I didn’t do anything. I was waiting for your ass when Charlie got into my car and told me to book it. What am I supposed to do, throw her out?” Rick challenged. “She was a hysterical mess.”
“You could’ve talked her out of it!” Alex retorted. “Calm her down.”
Rick laughed. “Try telling a woman to calm down, let alone a bride under stress. You didn’t see her. She was crying. I tried telling her to talk it out with whoever she needed to, so don’t turn this on me.”
A silent pause strewn before Alex said, “Okay, you’ve got a point. But this doesn’t look good, dude. There is already talkcirculating that Charlie abandoned her fiancé for another man.You, my brother, are the felon as we speak.”
A flush ran through Rick’s body, feeling the tension of the day pouring in. He already knew how it looked. He’ll have Charlie explain all of that, since it was her doing. As the innocent party, he did his best to help the situation at hand. After this, he was done.
“Charlie should clear that out with her people. There are no ramifications for me. We don’t have any mutual friends,” Rick reasoned. “I’m just the sap who was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“I hope it’s really that simple and none of those ‘rich bitches’, as you like to call them, come after you and sue you for shit like emotional damages,” Alex said. “Especially since it looked like you’re the illicit lover who took Charlie from her groom.”
Rick’s throat caught. “Shit, you don’t think they will, do you?”
“I don’t know. They could be vicious.”
Groaning, Rick scrubbed his face. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. No—it shouldn’t matter. Charlie needs to handle it. She owes me after today.”
“Make sure you talk to her about it. This is a mess. Luckily, Sarah and I are leaving tomorrow. I’d hate to leave Charlie while she’s down, but I’d also hate being in the middle of what she’s going through.”
“She sounds like she’s had it rough.” His tone was a touch sarcastic. Rich people had their issues, and he didn’t envy them, but he also couldn’t sympathize with them much. Charlie could afford the financial consequences.
He wouldn’t have advised her to go through with it just to salvage the money, but maybe better handle it than run off. Of course, he couldn’t be so critical. Rick had never been in her situation, nor will he ever, so he couldn’t judge. Not entirely.
“Is she really staying with you?” Alex asked. “I can’t say this isn’t weird.”
“Itisweird, but this is unforeseen circumstances. She seems set on avoiding her mother, especially,” Rick mentioned. “I felt sorry for her.”
Alex grunted. “Yeah, her mom’s a piece of work. I wouldn’t want to be around her, either.”
Rick had never met the woman, and from the sound of it, he was content with the fact.
“I’m glad you’ve got Charlie’s back, though. You didn’t really like her,” Alex commented. “Having a bias towards the wealthy folks and all.”
“I like her fine. Don’t put words in my mouth.” It was the truth. He didn’tnotlike her. They were just different, and he had little time to spare for things that wouldn’t work out. Life was too short.
“Take care of her. She can be a little high maintenance, but she’s a good sport,” his brother said.
Before hanging up, Rick wished Alex a successful honeymoon trip and gave himself quiet time on the balcony. It was already dark, past dinnertime, and he was hungry. If he had gone to the pastrami shop with Nick as he had planned, then he would have been satisfied by now, but he could do worse than spending the time with Charlie.
They rarely conversed aside from the greetings and superficial small talks. This may be a good chance to get to know the friend his brother was fond of.
As he stepped into his kitchen and opened up the refrigerator, he remembered then he was supposed to go grocery shopping as part of his errands for the day. What can he make with two stalks of green onion, four eggs, four bottles of soju, baby carrots, a six-pack of beer, and a two-week-old container of baked chicken?
He shut the refrigerator and dumped the chicken into the trash bin. His next search was in the pantry and saw his stash of junk. Instant noodles and overly salted chips. Rick kept a healthy lifestyle, but carbs were his weakness.
Pulling three bags of instant noodles out, he settled for the quick and easy meal.
As he got to cooking, he heard the soft footsteps of his guest coming into the room. She had the scent of fresh after-shower that he could smell through the onions and gochujang sauce.
“Something smells wonderful,” she commented brightly.
