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Dante
“Wow, you know how to pick’em Charlie. That’s my kind of chick flick. They could have named it better though. The Long Kiss Goodnight – doesn’t exactly say action thriller. When you told me the name, I was ready to settle in for a good chick flick, and make myself enjoy it no matter what.”
“You’d do that for me?” Charlie teased. “Aren’t you sweet.”
“It’s the least I can do, considering ...”
“Considering what?” she asked.
“Considering that I got you into this mess.”
“Dante?”
“Yes,” I asked.
“Do you really plan to keep me under lock and key with Bull every day?”
“I wish you wouldn’t put it like that Charlie. But yes, I’m afraid so. That’s the way it has to be until I find Stefan.”
“I’m used to doing my own thing,” she protested. “And really, this is between you and your brother. It has nothing to do with me. I want to go home,” she said, the pleading in her voice disturbing me.
“I can’t let you do that Charlie,” I said, getting up to put away the remains of our takeout. It was as much to avoid the helplessness in her eyes as it was to clear our mess. What is it about tears or sadness in a woman that punched men in the gut? I’d rather take bat to the head than see that look in her eyes right now.
I looked over at her as the credits at the end of the movie slid up the screen. She looked out the window, a determined set to her profile that belied her helplessness. She was strong. She would get through this. It was my job to see that she did in one piece. I hoped that in time she’d realize that. She had to because I didn’t know if I could live with that look in her beautiful eyes.
I came up behind her and put my hands on her shoulder. She didn’t pull away, and I sighed in relief. Could we be coming to some kind of understanding, I wondered as I massaged her.
She relaxed into my touch.
I spoke huskily. “You and I are two of a kind, Charlie.”
Her lips curved into a sad little smile. “If you mean we both have a tendency to get sucked into a black hole of chaos, then yes, I guess we are.”
“That’s not exactly what I meant,” I said, taking in the same starry night view. I gave her shoulders a final squeeze and came around to sit beside her.
“Better,” I asked.
“It felt good,” she responded, the helpless look from earlier now more of a melancholy gaze.
“I’m sorry Charlie.”
“So you keep saying,” she responded without acrimony.
“It’s not that bad here, is it? You have everything that you need at your disposal.”
“Except my freedom,” she interjected.
“I know that there’s nothing I can say to change your mind about being here. But I won’t apologize for doing what I think is best.”
“I don’t expect you too. You’re not the kind to apologize, right?”
“No. But I’ve done it a few times to you within a twenty-four hour span. You must have some kind of special powers over me,” I only half-joked. This woman ... the more time I spent with her, the more I felt like I was under a spell. Yet, I knew very little about her.
“What makes you tick Charlotte Everhart? You fell out of favor with your family because they didn’t like the guy that you were dating. Tell me more.”
“I lied about that,” she stated matter-of-factly.
“Why?”
“Because I wished I had somebody who cared about who I dated.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I left home when I was sixteen,” she explained. “Or rather, I was put out – by my mother. And before you ask about my father, I didn’t have one. I wouldn’t know him if I bumped into him on the street.”
“What happened?” I asked.
She held her head back to stop a tear from falling. “I always wanted the fairy tale of a family that cared.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I know, but since I’m stuck here with you, why the hell not?” she said, anger giving a menacing edge to her words.
“Remember I told you that I had a habit of picking the wrong guys? Well, it’s not by blind luck. I learned from the best – dear ole mom. She had a few when I was growing up, but the last one, he was evil personified. He tried to pimp me out.”