AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER FIVE
THE week ground by with snail-like slowness. Carrie was there, a constant presence in his staffroom, hanging around, pestering him for figures while hers drove him crazy in those pinstripe suits. Joe popped in and out with annoying frequency, making banal observations and counting down the days. Angela ruled the place with an iron fist. The jukebox thumped. Kids came and went. Stressed-out parents came and went. Police came and went.
When Friday finally came around Charlie welcomed the day with mixed feelings. It was hard to believe that it had been a year to the day that an HIV-positive drug addict had deliberately stabbed him with an infected needle. And that today was the day of his blood test. His final blood test.
It didn’t seem to matter that all the others over the past year had been clear and it was against all the odds for this one to come back positive—the possibility was still there. What if it was positive? What if he had to shift from maybe having the disease to actually having the disease? OK, the stats were on his side and it wasn’t the death sentence that it had been with the medication they now had but still…
It was a mental barrier that he hadn’t been able to get past. He’d been putting his life on hold for this moment. He’d shelved his expansion plans for the centre, denied himself a sex life and buried himself within these four walls from early morning to late at night. He’d lurched from his separation to his divorce to his health crisis and consequently work had been his solace for over three years. What the hell was he going to do if he didn’t have to do that any more?
‘Today’s the day,’ Joe said, interrupting Charlie’s thoughts and dumping the regulation cup of coffee in front of him on his desk. ‘What time’s your appointment?’
‘I’m ducking out at lunch.’
‘And then it’s how long…?’
‘Should get them back mid next week.’
‘Then we’re hitting the town? Right?’
Charlie nodded unenthusiastically. ‘Right.’
Joe’s brow furrowed. He was getting worried about Charlie. A year of celibacy had really messed up his mind. He’d become a workaholic hermit. The last few years Charlie had been all work, work, work.
It wasn’t even seven o’clock yet and he was at his desk. ‘The Mill is jumping midweek.’
‘OK, sure,’ Charlie agreed tonelessly, sipping his coffee.
Joe shook his head and laughed. ‘Don’t worry, old mate. We’ll get you hooked up and this whole nightmare will be behind you. You’ll be able to get on with your life. It’ll be like it never happened.’
Oh, no. One thing was for sure. This was one thing he was never going to forget had happened. ‘I think I’ve forgotten how to pick up women, Joe.’ Had he forgotten or was it just so completely uninteresting to him now? Facing death had given him pause to review his life.
Joe cracked up. ‘You?’ He laughed. ‘Impossible. Even a wedding ring didn’t deter women. All you have to do is just sit back and let it happen.’
A few weeks ago he’d been champing at the bit to release a year’s worth of pent-up frustration but on D-day it now didn’t seem so important. The thought of picking up a stranger and taking her home left him cold. The only woman that preoccupied him these days was the one who sat in his staffroom all day with a bunch of figures and a pair of lips he was supposed to be forgetting about.
He took another sip of coffee. It was official—he had a thing for Dr Carrie Douglas.
Carrie arrived at work shortly after seven. She was hoping a few early starts would help her complete her investigation sooner. Even if it was just a day or two. That was one advantage of having a live-in nanny!
She placed the key she’d insisted Charlie provide for her in the front door, only to discover the centre all ready open. No clients were in yet but she could hear the murmur of voices from Charlie’s office.
‘Hi,’ she called, smiling at Joe and nodding to Charlie as she walked past his open door.
She ignored the flare of heat she’d seen in Charlie’s steady grey gaze. The same flare she’d seen that night they were supposed to be forgetting about. Heavens, how was she going to get through another fortnight of this insanity?
Her attraction to Charlie was getting harder and harder to ignore. Even at home, away from the centre, she was getting no respite—Dana made sure of that. Charlie was her newest favourite person and she hadn’t stopped chattering about him. Or his damn dukebox.
She was setting up her laptop when he waltzed into the staffroom.
‘How’s Dana?’ he asked, fixing himself another coffee.
