CHAPTER NINE

 

 

Inside her flat, she dropped her bag by the door and took her coat off, hanging it on one of the hooks on the wall, and headed straight for the kitchen. It was so good to be home. Although small, Charlie loved her flat. As soon as she’d moved in she’d decorated to make it feel more like her. Warm beige and white in all the rooms with contrasting soft furnishings, she’d themed it on the Scandinavian style that was popular right now. A few throws, cream and black cushions, and some fake plants dotted about made it cosy. Her bookshelves behind the sofa were crammed with all her favourite books, the bottom shelf reserved for uni stuff. She lit some candles, turned the lighting low, and was ready to chill for the rest of the evening.

In the kitchen—with the light-wood cabinets, and black, speckled worktop—she’d tried to contrast it with the rest of her decor, with more plants, also fake, because who had time to keep foliage alive?

Just as she started pouring a glass of wine her phone began to vibrate in her pocket. It was Cara. She answered, taking her glass and heading into the living room.

“Hey. You home?” her friend asked the minute the call connected.

“Got in five minutes ago. Literally just sat down to take my shoes off.”

“Well, buzz me in. I’m downstairs.”

It wasn’t often Cara turned up without calling or texting first. In fact, Charlie couldn’t remember her doing it at all. Hopefully there was nothing wrong; she wasn’t sure how much more drama she could take.

After a few minutes there was a knock at the door. Charlie opened it and got a wine bottle held in front of her face.

“Surprise!”

Cara wasn’t on her own. Jas and Selina were also there. Jas was holding takeaway bags and she was hit with a delicious smell of food that made her stomach grumble. He held one up. “Chinese?”

“Guys? What’s going on?” Charlie moved out of the way and gestured for them to come in. And no, she absolutely did not glance down the hall towards Jake’s before she went in and shut the door. She was losing her bloody mind.

“We thought, after all your hard work, you deserve a treat. Chinese and wine.” Cara took control as everyone else removed their coats. “You lot sit.”

“Oh my God, you are awesome. I was literally just thinking of ordering Chinese.”

Her best friend gave her a wide grin. “We know you, babes,” she said before proceeding to ransack Charlie’s kitchen. “Where the hell have the plates gone?”

“Bottom left. I had a clean out a couple of weeks back and moved everything.” Squeezing past Cara, Charlie reached up and got the wine glasses from out of the top cupboard. “Everyone wanting glasses?”

“Just a normal one for me,” Jas said from over on the sofa. “I’m designated driver tonight.”

After the food was put out and they’d piled around the coffee table, they chatted about everything and anything, laughed themselves into indigestion, and as Charlie took another drink of wine, she couldn’t help feeling blessed to have such great friends in her life. She’d really needed this. Her second uni year had been so much harder than the first. Caught up in assignments and studies, she’d barely had five minutes to spare for herself never mind her friends. The year had gone by in a blur and she couldn’t believe it was almost over. There would be lots more of this over the summer; Charlie would make sure of it.

Just as Cara started to gather the plates, placing them on top of each other ready to do what Cara always did and take over the clean up, Charlie’s stomach sank a little as she prepared to tell them what had happened last week. She had a feeling there were going to be safety precautions and rules set out in her future, which was exactly what she didn’t want. Her friends were fiercely protective of each other, and Charlie didn’t want them thinking her neighbourhood was dangerous. It was the first time anything like that had ever happened.

She’d felt bad about not mentioning it, but with the pressure she’d had to finish her dissertation, she couldn’t let it affect her work. So she’d tried her best to put it out of her mind until she’d handed her work in. Now that she had, she couldn’t keep it from them any longer.

“Cara, leave that for now. Sit. I need to tell you guys something.”

Her friend paused mid stand and instantly dropped back down the sofa, placing the pile of plates down. She wasn’t backward in coming forward, none of them were, which is why they were looking at her with oh-so-serious expressions. Even Selina who she barely knew.

“I don’t like the way your voice was just then.” Cara looked prepared for the worst. “I knew something wasn’t right. What’s happened?”

As the peanut gallery waited, Charlie took in a deep breath. “So. . . let me tell you about last Friday.”

After explaining everything about the group of lads, it felt pretty good to off load it. Charlie hadn’t realised how much it had shaken her until now. She’d barely had time to really think about what could have happened if Jake hadn’t showed up when he did, but talking about it now brought forward everything she’d feared, the worst being the image of that prick’s face while he’d gripped onto her arm. How she’d managed to push it all out for so long she didn’t know, and now she was actually feeling a little shaky again. Still, she tried her best to hide it.

“Shit, Charlie. Why the hell didn’t you tell us?” Jas looked like he was about to burst from anger.

“I can’t believe you kept that from me.” Cara looked about ready to cry.

“Are you okay?” Selina asked, and she surprised Charlie by reaching over and placing her hand on her arm.

Bloody hell. This wasn’t helping her shakes.

“Look, honestly. I’m fine. And Cara, I didn’t mention it because I had to knuckle down and get my dissertation finished. I didn’t want the stress of it all to impact on my work. I’ve worked too bloody hard for a group of idiot juvies to ruin it.” Glancing around at them all she lightened her expression. “But I’m okay.”

Jas got up and walked over to the breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the lounge. “What have the police done about it? Did they get them?”

“No. They came here and took my statement. I got a phone call from the same officer on Tuesday. They’d had no luck. But she promised they would keep trying.” Charlie hadn’t expected anything else really. Those lads knew she’d report it so they were probably laying low.”

“You can’t walk from the station on your own after dark anymore, Char.” The worry on Cara’s face made her feel like shit. “God knows what could have happened if you hadn’t had help.”

It wasn’t even possible. She didn’t have a car and couldn’t afford taxis all the time. “I’ll be fine. I’ll get one of those alarm thingies.”

“You need a spray. Or a fucking bat.”

“Jas! Pepper spray is illegal. It isn’t going to do me any good getting arrested for possession of an illegal weapon.” This was the reason she hadn’t mentioned it until now. Getting up from the beanbag she’d been sitting on, Charlie took the plates from in front of Cara, needing to do something before her anxiety spiked. She had to let her friends go through the emotions they so rightly felt. But all Charlie wanted was a nice night with alcohol and laughter, not this tension that was hanging in the air now.

“It’s such bullshit.” Jas turned to her. “How are you supposed to protect yourself?”

“Jas. what’s the point in getting angry about something we have no control over. I’ll get a taxi in future if I have late classes. Okay?”

He put his hand on the back of his neck and took a breath, seeming to calm down as he looked at Selina. She gave him a melancholy smile. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything like that happened to you,” he told his girlfriend as he sat back down next to her. “I’m already out of my mind with worry whenever I can’t take you home and you have to get the bus late.”

As Charlie looked at the couple, she felt a warm glow in her chest accompanied by a slight feeling of envy. She’d honestly never seen Jason like that with any of his past girlfriends. It was nice. And she wondered what it would be like to have someone look at her the way he looked at Selina.

When she’d finished putting the dishes in hot soapy water in the sink, she went back to join them, plonking herself down on the saggy beanbag.

“So who was the guy?”

For a second she wondered what Cara meant. “What guy?”

Charlie didn’t think she deserved the eye roll. “The one who helped you? Who was it? Does he live around here?”

Clearing her throat, she tried to act all casual when answering, but anticipated Cara’s reaction, nonetheless. “My neighbour.”

“You were so lucky he was passing—” Her big brown eyes widened. “You mean the neighbour?”

Grabbing the wine bottle, Charlie poured the last of it into her glass while pretending there was no big deal. “Yep. The guy that lives down the hall.”

“The neighbour? What are you talking about?” Jas asked. Of course he would, because now Cara had a wide grin stretching from ear to ear, and both Jas and Selina were looking between the two of them.

“I cannot believe I have had to wait a week for you to tell me this.”

“What do you mean?” Charlie asked, trying to stifle the desperation to blurt everything out about Jake like some excited teenager. “You didn’t know so how have you had to wait?”

“That’s not the point. Now I do know that you kept it from me for seven whole days.” She had now moved to the edge of her seat.

“Ok,” Jason interrupted. “What the hell are you two going on about? Can we get in the conversation too?”

“A new guy moved into the flat down the hall about two months ago and Charlie has been stalking him.”

“Cara!” She looked at Jas and Selina. “I haven’t done anything of the sort.” Liar. “He always seems to keep his face hidden whenever I see him and I’m just curious about what he looks like. That is all.” The last part was said through her teeth while glancing back to Cara. “He lives in the same building and he was giving me strange vibes. Not even Mrs. Hughes knows who he is and she’s an expert at knowing everyone’s business.”

“I told her to be careful because it was weirdo behaviour.” Cara held her hands out like she was about to burst with impatience, her focus now back on Charlie. “And now? Come on Char. . . What does he look like?”

Try as she might, Charlie couldn’t hold the smile back as an image of Jake popped into her mind. A towel had never looked so good on anyone. “Good.” She looked down into her glass with a silly smirk on her face.

“What’s that now?” Cara pressed.

When she looked up at her friend, Charlie knew she was grinning like an idiot. “He’s really good looking.”

“I knew it!” Slapping her hand on her thigh, Cara beamed.

Charlie laughed. “No you didn’t.”

“I had a feeling. I did. Now he’s your hero.” Throwing her head back, Cara’s hands went to her chest and she went all dramatic. “And you’re going to fall in love. . .”

“Oh God.” Leaning over the table Charlie hit her friend’s leg. “Stop. Just, stop that.”

“Yeah, Cara. A minute ago you said he was acting like a weirdo.” Jas looked across at Charlie, eyebrows low. “I’m glad he sorted those lads out, but just be wary of the guy. Sounds to me like he’s hiding from something.”

“You don’t know that,” Selina chimed in. “He might just be shy.”

Nope. Charlie never got that from him. Broody? Yes. Closed off? Definitely. Especially since last week. Granted, she’d only seen him a few times, well, she’d seen a lot more of him earlier—Christ. Those abs. Until their recent exchange, he’d barely acknowledged her.

“I highly doubt that. Charlie, just watch the guy, ok.”

I intend to, she thought as she smiled at Jas, nodding to appease him.

Thankfully, a change in topic of conversation meant the rest of the evening went by in a flash after they’d got back to having some fun. Another bottle of wine and a few games of Cards Against Humanity and Charlie’s face was aching she’d laughed so hard.

At the door, they were hugging and saying goodbye when Cara suddenly grabbed Charlie’s arm and leaned in, putting her face right in front of hers. “Hot guy alert,” she said through the side of her mouth. And then everyone went quiet. When she followed Cara’s gaze down the hall, Jake was just reaching his door, hood up, helmet in hand, and he stopped and looked up for a second. There was no movement in those rigid features, no hint of a smile like he’d given her earlier. It was like they weren’t even there. He unlocked his door and went inside. The slam that followed made her blink. Honestly, you would think there would be a head nod or some kind of smile between them, an acknowledgement that they did know each other by name now as opposed to complete strangers. Nope. It was like everything in the past week hadn’t happened, which was fine by her. If he wanted to keep to himself that was his choice. She was the one that owed him something not the other way around. He certainly didn’t owe her any conversation and she accepted that. Now he was back to not even acknowledging her.

It was Jas that was scowling now. “Stay away from that one, Char.”

Cara also had a look of concern for a moment until the side of her mouth went up. “You were right. He is gorgeous. All that brooding and mystery I could get on board with.” She leaned in and kissed Charlie’s cheek. “See you tomorrow. Sweet dreams.” That last part was said with a wink.

Charlie nudged her friend.

“Goodnight,” Selina said. “It was fun.”

“It was. Thank you for coming round.”

As her friends wondered down the hall, failing to keep the noise down, Charlie hesitated, glancing at Jake’s and wondering what the hell was up with him. She was pretty sure she hadn’t done anything to upset him while she’d been in her flat all evening.

Whatever, she thought, going back inside.

Right then, Charlie was honestly too tired to care.