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‘He is not my boyfriend,’ Charlie corrected me quickly, but I looked down at her hand and she was not trying to pull away at all anymore. I allowed myself a small smile, then focused back on the beautiful girl in front of me.
‘We were on a break, Charlie. I’m still your boyfriend. Didn’t you say you used to watch me, secretly, when I was working and lost in thought? You still do. I always know when your eyes are on me. And you like the way I run my fingers through my hair when I’m frustrated. Was that all a lie?’
Hand in hand, she stared at me for a good long moment. ‘Sounds like I said a lot of things.’
‘I think I should…’ Ralph mumbled, but I cut him off mid-sentence.
‘Charlie, what are you doing here with him?’
‘I’m on a date?’
‘But you’re still mine.’
‘I am?’
‘Aren’t you?’
‘Am I?’ she asked, leaning towards me as she squinted her eyes.
I barely held back my laughter. ‘Are you leaving me for him?’
‘Okay, I think we should…’ Ralph tried to interrupt.
I moved to the edge of my chair, getting closer to Charlie. ‘Would you like me to tell you a few of your favourite things? Just to show you how much I care?’
‘I’m all ears. This should be good.’
‘You don’t think I know your heart by now?’
‘Sounds like we spent years together, I guess you must.’
‘You love lunch dates, you love French fries, you don’t like carrots and love putting them on my plate. You love it when I hold your hand, doesn’t matter when or where. You love it when I leave you notes in your office – especially the ones I leave in your books. You love my hands on you…’
‘You work together?’ Ralphy asked after clearing his throat.
Charlie turned her face to him, but kept her suspicious eyes on me. I struggled to keep my face straight.
‘We do. We’re in the same team.’
‘I don’t want you to leave me for him, Charlie.’
‘But we’re on a break, like you said,’ she answered. ‘Sounds to me like you already gave up on me, so why shouldn’t I go on a date?’
‘Charlie, you didn’t tell me you were in a relationship,’ Ralph butted in.
‘One second, Ralph,’ she grumbled, turning all her focus on me. ‘You were saying?’
‘Are you doing this because I didn’t like the cake you got me on my birthday?’
‘Please. That was the perfect cake. Not my fault you didn’t appreciate the gesture. There was nothing wrong with that cake.’
‘Will you come back to me if I agree with you?’
She tilted her head and smiled at me a little. ‘Why do you want me back, William? Why are you here?’
I leaned forward in my seat and focused on her and just her. I did play pretend because I knew she enjoyed it before, but I was dead serious when I opened my mouth. ‘Because you are you. You’re so rare. So beautiful. Kind. Self-aware. Hard-working. Fun. Sweet. And because I know what you want from a relationship. I know you now. And I think you deserve to have the kind of relationship you’ve always dreamed of having.’
‘What kind of relationship do I dream of having?’ she asked quietly, her smile slowly disappearing.
I know I was going a little too far maybe, but I couldn’t shut my mouth. Not when she was looking at me the way she was. It was all true anyway. I gave her hand a squeeze.
‘You don’t just want someone to share your time with. You want to love someone just as fiercely as you want to be loved. You want to matter to him. You want to be important. You want to always be the first to someone. You’re not an option. You’re the choice. The only choice, and you want to be able to feel that. And you want to laugh. You want to smile. You don’t want to waste your time anymore. You want to be happy about your every day. You don’t want to be alone anymore. You don’t want someone to break your heart. You want to grow old with someone. Have that someone you can laugh with and cry with. You want to be their best friend. You want to trust someone without a second thought.’
For me the restaurant quieted, and I forgot about Ralph and everyone else around us. I reached out and rested my palm against Charlie’s face. ‘You’re… sometimes I can’t take my eyes off of you,’ I whispered.
‘It sounds like I want too many things,’ she whispered back.
‘And why shouldn’t you have all of it?’
‘Does anyone even get to have all of the things you’ve said?’
I caressed her face with my thumb. ‘I don’t know about other people, but I know you will.’
One corner of her lip curled up. ‘You came here to tell me all of this?’
