Authors: MICHELLE LEE
It’s a short ride back to my house. I can’t wait until Charlie is safely there. It’s driving me crazy being out in the open. I feel exposed and unprotected. I can’t keep her safe if I don’t know where the danger is. I pull up out front of the 2 car garage. When I get out I get the bag out of the back, and go retrieve my mail.
I watch Charlie as I walk back. She is relaxed taking a big inhale of the fresh air she admirers the house and its surrounding. She was with me the day I came to look at it. She is the reason I made an offer. I love my house, but when Charlie is here with me filling it with her energy, it becomes a home. I love to imagine her sitting on the front porch, rocking in the rocking chair with a small child on her lap, and her stomach big and round with another on the way. She would be a perfect mother. That’s what this house has always needed.
A family.
My family.
As I walk and look through my mail, the top of my head is burning. I look up into the green eyes of confusion.
“Hey.
You alright?
You look like you just remembered something you forgot, and you’re panicked.” I wave my hand in front of her face. “Hello?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t know what you mean?” She says with a little giggle. “Let’s go in”
“Huh, that was weird.” I follow Charlie up the front steps to the front door retrieving my keys to unlock the door. Once inside I stand back and let her take it all in. It’s been sometime since she has been here. Steph didn’t want her here. She didn’t like it when I wouldn’t paint or redecorate. She thought it was too stuffy and wanted to add something of her own to “our” place. When she wanted to redo Charlie’s room, I said no, she was furious. She never went in there and would just pretend it didn’t exist. She would even describe it as a three bedroom house and give me a look of contempt.
Charlie always said the stairs were her second favorite thing about the house. They are directly in front of the door, they start wide on the ground level taper in slightly as you go up, then widen back out at the top. The balcony off the stairs goes the entire length of the first floor and about five feet wide with the bedrooms doors breaking off of that.
”Can I still have my room?” Charlie asks. I notice a little nervousness in her voice. She probably thinks it’s been changed. When I first bought it she was here all the time, it was her favorite, so I said she should just decorate it and keep it. Let’s just say when she wants something she gets it.
“You know it. It’s yours.” I say smiling, remembering how she drove me nuts with paint swatches, duvet patterns, furnishing, and carpet ideas. Eventually, she finished and it is the softest, most beautiful side of Charlie I have ever seen. She said it was easy with such good bones to work with. The room told her how to create it.
She smiles and runs up the stairs to her room. I hear the door bang open and laugh quietly; I feel better having her here. This is her home. Walking up the step I turn left and stand in the doorway watching her. She is sprawled out on the bed, like she’s about to make a snow angel. She sits up and smiles at me.
“I still love it here so much. I thought since Steph was here with you for awhile she would‘ve put more of her mark on the place, but it’s still just like I remember.”
“Even if she
wanted to
change things, in here would’ve been left untouched.” I walk over to the closet and hangs up her bag. “I am so glad I can put that down, it’s freaking heavy. Did you leave anything in your closet?” I turn and face her, smiling, and a pillow hits me in face. “HEY!”
“Yes, I left some things in my closet!” She laughs and picks up the other pillow “Come at me.” She is now standing on the bed.
“Oh, yeah?
Really?
Everytime you challenge me…you lose” I laugh because it’s true. She has been trying to beat me at everything since our first year as friends in 8
th
grade. She always wanted to see who ran faster, who could swim farther, who could eat more. Every time she lost. I pick up the pillow that has landed at my feet, and swung at her feet.
She jumps over my pillow and at the same time brings her pillow down on my head. Before I know it we are in a full fledge pillow fight. Really, pillow fight? What am I a 15 yr. old girl? I swing again, this time when she jumps she lands on the pillow as I pull it away, her feet come out from under her and she falls back on the bed arms flailing. I jump up on the bed, with a take no prisoners’ attitude, and pelt her over and over. She curls in a ball laughing till tears are pouring from her eyes.
“Say it!!” I laugh.
“I give, I give.” She says breathlessly. She tries to catch her breath. “One of these days I will get you. I will win.” She uncurls from her ball and lies on her side all stretched out, propping her head with her hand.
I sit down next to her and say, “Sweetheart, the day you win, I will give you the keys to my house.” I try to sound as arrogant as I can.
“Hmmm, that sounds like a challenge. I do love this house.” She rubs her chin with free hand as if she is thinking. “I will think of something.”
“You can try, but you will fail.” I grab her hip and shake her. Before I know what I’m doing, I wrap my fingers around her hip. The air is heavier. The atmosphere, on the bed and in the room changes and I’m swept up in it. Instead of moving my hand off of her I move up her. Up her side and back down past her hip to her thigh. I move slowly back to her hip and pushes her onto her back.
I lie down next to her on my side. My hand moves to her flat stomach. I am watching her face to see if she enjoys me touching her. Her eyes are closed, her breathing slow, when I move my hand up her flat, soft, smooth stomach, she stops breathing for a second and licks her lips.
I run my hand back down and tease the skin between her jeans and tank top; I have wanted to touch this sliver of skin since forever. She is tall so it’s hard for her to find shirts long enough to cover all of her, all the time. It taunts me. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the matching bra and thong I picked out for her this morning. I
dip
my finger into the very top of her jeans and finger the lace of her thong. Her breath catches.
I pull my fingers out of her pants, and pull her into my arms and just hold her there. This has been the most intimate I have been with her. I want to stop before I can’t. I don’t want to rush her. I want her to be sure. Michael is our concern right now. Neither of us is going anywhere anytime soon. I can wait. I softly kiss the top of her head. She gives a sigh and relaxes with me holding her. We lie there with each other for the rest of the afternoon.
Charlie wakes up later and is looking around her room. She loves the windows that go around half the room; three on one wall and three on the other; only the corner separates the large panes. They are the reason she picked out the gauzy curtains. At night she lets them hang all around the bed and opens the windows to let the breeze in.
Everything in the room is soft and dreamy. The queen sized four poster bed; with its cream colored fabric draped over white wood, caresses light maple wood floors. The pale yellow walls look almost white until the sun runs her long fingers through the windows bathing everything in a romantic glow. The corner of the room where the wall of windows meet, Charlie has a circular chair over flowing with soft pillows of different fabrics and textures, all in soft white and yellow hues. She loves to sit there and read.
Brody is sleeping contentedly beside her. She smiles to herself as she remembers his hands exploring her earlier; his touch, adoring her every plane. He was hesitantly fevered, touching her like she would say stop but needing to anyway. She was hot all over. I think I have blue balls, she thinks to herself.
She gets out of bed and tip toes down the stairs. In the kitchen she goes about gathering what she needs to make dinner. It’s gorgeous outside, so she decides on steak, salad, and a nice red wine. She walks outside to start the grill.
The grill is located on the deck. The deck; is out the kitchen door, and directly behind the house. It is very large. It measures 25 square feet. She walks over lights the grill and heads back inside to start the salad.
And the wine.
After she opens the wine, she starts to cut up vegetables for the salad. Friends always used to tease her about her salads. They are a meal with everything she adds to her lettuce. This one has
greenleaf
lettuce, red and yellow peppers, fresh broccoli and cauliflower. She cuts up cucumber for herself but puts it separate from the main salad. Brody hates cucumbers.
She puts the salad in the fridge and sips her wine. She can’t believe how much has changed in such a small amount of time. She should be terrified at the thought of Michael back in her life, but she thinks she can take him this time. She is older, and not naive. She isn’t alone and will never allow someone to take everyone she loves from her. Maybe if he gets desperate enough to come after her the police can catch him and put him away.
For good.
The state’s statute of limitations for rape is 5 years, 3 have passed. What if he hides out for another 2 years, then he will never be prosecuted for his crime against her. Furiously, she gulps the rest of her wine, sets down the empty glass, and heads up the stairs.
She opens the door to her room and marches over to the bed. “Hey, wake up.” She pokes Brody in his side.
“No”
Smiling, she remembers how rudely he woke her up this morning. “SMACK!!” she slaps his ass much harder than is necessary.
“Hmmm,” he opens his eyes and smiles his eyes twinkling “That was nice. I love when you smack my ass. Would you like me to get my fuzzy hand cuffs, then we can really make this a party!!”
“Pig.”
She visibly swallows. “I forgot to tell you something this morning. I’m making dinner and getting drunk, come downstairs and join me.”
“Why are you getting drunk?” She has his attention now. She is not an excessive drinker.
“I am getting drunk because I have a low tolerance, now come on.” She laughs and walks out the door.
Downstairs she pours glass number 2 and promises herself to drink it slowly. She already feels her tongue thickening. The heat in her cheeks tells her she’s flushed. If she drinks too much she may jump on Brody and ride him like a bucking bronco. Wow, that was bad, she laughs shaking her head at her inter dialog.
“What’s funny?” Brody is walking in the kitchen all messy from sleep. He looks scruffy, and beautiful.
Charlie can feel the blush start to creep into her cheeks, “Nothing, just caught me talking to myself. Sleep, well?”
Rubbing his eyes and yawning he says “I think I slept too long. The day is over now and I wanted to take you somewhere to do something.” Looking at me he shrugs his broad shoulders. Then his phone goes off. He takes it out of his pocket, reads it, and stuffs it back in his jeans.
“Well, we will be seeing a lot of each other for awhile, so there’s still time.” sip of wine, I quirk an eye brow at him and ask, “What was that all about?”
“That was work; there is a problem in accounting. Some asshole downloaded a virus watching porn.” He shakes his head. “How much have you drunk?” he asks, lifting an eyebrow.
“This is only my second glass.”
“Your eyes are glassy.”
Ignoring that, “Let’s go sit outside
it’s
really nice and the sun is setting soon. I don’t want to miss it.”
“Ok, I will grab the steaks you grab the salad.”
They get what they need to have dinner outside. Charlie makes three trips in and out making sure everything is there so when they sit they don’t have to move.
The steak is done, the salad is served, and the wine is poured. They eat in companionable silence for a few minutes. Then Charlie speaks, “So I was watching the news last night, and they ran a story about a girl out west who had been raped and murdered.”
Fork halfway to his mouth, Brody asks, “Yeah, so what?”
“The girl was thirty, with curly brown hair.”
“Oh?”
“I think Michael did it. I don’t know why, but that’s what my gut says.” She empties her wine glass. “He was sending me flowers when the girl was killed, but I know it was him.”
“So what?”
He pushes his plate away, “What good is it doing you thinking about all this? What, do you think you can do?”
“I want to look and see if I can find any other related murders.”
“What happens if we find there are others?”
I love that he said we. And that he hasn’t tried to talk me out of it. “We go to the police.”
“Don’t you think they check this sort of thing?”
“I don’t know? I guess it’s possible, but it happened so far away.” I fill our glasses and play with a curl helping me think. “It’s not going to hurt to just check, right?”
“No, I guess not. Just promise me, look me in the eye, promise me you won’t go off alone and play detective? If we do this, we do it together.” He gives her a stern look that says he means business.
Putting her hand over her heart, “I promise.” Then smiling, she sticks out her pinkie, “I pinkie swear.”
He throws his head back and laughs, twines his pinkie with hers, “
pinkie swear
.”
“Ok, good now, let’s watch the rest of the sun set.” She is definitely feeling the wine.
Sitting on the deck, watching the sun turn into every shade of yellow and orange, relaxing with Brody, She feels like the events, of the last couple days, happened to someone else.
She reaches over and takes Brody’s hand into her own, intertwines their fingers, like he did at the police station, and looks at him. He really is the most handsome man she’s ever met. “Thank you.”
He lifts her hand and rubs her knuckles gently across his soft lips before placing a kiss on it. “You are
very
welcome.”
They sit hand and hand, just enjoying each other’s company. Neither speaking too much, too wrapped up in their own thoughts, until it was dark. They cleaned up the table and go inside. Washed dishes, put leftovers in the fridge, and Brody makes them each a cup of coffee. Charlie needs it more than Brody.
Charlie picks up her coffee a heads into the living room and sits down on the sofa. When Brody comes in, she turns and asks, “So, when do you want to start our research?”
“I think we should worry about getting some sleep and starting fresh, tomorrow.” Sighing, he runs his hands through his hair, the way I love, when he is thinking. “I think maybe after you sleep on it you might change your mind.”
“I don’t think I will” I stick my chin out and look him square in the eye, “Now, I’m going to bed, I have a meeting in the morning.” I walk over with every intention of a quick kiss on the cheek, but something maybe the wine makes me kiss his lips, “Good nite” I say a little breathlessly. I turn and walk up the stairs to my room.