Charlie
I jolt upright in the bed.
No, no, no, what have I done?
Danny was with Jen before he came here, and now he’s going back to her? What was this, a quick finger fuck visit?
Suddenly I feel stupid … and dirty. It’s not like I expected us to be exclusive after our brief interlude this evening but surely bouncing between two women on the same day is against the rules?
Sleazebag.
Yet I can’t even blame him. Once again, I’ve thrown myself at him. Of course, he wasn’t going to stop me.
His words echo in my head. He warned me, but I ignored him.
There’s a reason why Tristan warned me to stay away from you. He knows me too well.
My eyes well up with tears. I need to compose myself before he comes back. I hear the toilet flush and grab my shorts, fumbling to get them up my legs.
I don’t want to have this conversation. What would I say? It wasn’t like I didn’t know he was with Jen. He never lied to me.
Before he can enter, I yank the bedroom door open.
“Hey.” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear and smiles.
“Look, you need to leave,” I reply hurriedly. “This is a mistake.”
He freezes in the doorway, bewildered. “What happened while I was in the bathroom?”
I move into the hallway sidestepping him, but not before he grabs my arm.
“Charlie?” His brow furrows into a deep frown. “I don’t understand.”
Of course he doesn’t, he’s a pro at casual flings. Trying to explain why I have a split personality would involve admitting feelings that have been bubbling for a decade. But I can’t do that. I’m not letting Danny Walker see me cry.
Untangling my arm, I walk down the hall. “Let’s forget it happened, Danny.”
I hear his footsteps following me into the living room.
Julie, Cat, and Stevie freeze mid-sentence.
“Can we talk about this in private?” he demands, staring at me and ignoring the others. “What the hell is making you blow so hot and cold?”
I cast my eyes downwards. “I got caught up in the moment, but this is not a good idea. Can we just leave it at that?”
“Could you say that to my face rather than the sofa?”
“Can you please just go?” I look up at him pleadingly. If he doesn’t go, I’ll break down in front of him.
Danny watches me with a deep scowl on his face as the room becomes awkwardly quiet.
Julie and Cat sit upright on the couch holding their breath, like if they don’t move, we’ll forget they’re there. Even Stevie sits timidly at the corner of the sofa. They exchange glances between them.
“Is this about the outage report?” Danny asks in a level tone. “You want me to go easy on you?”
“What?” Seriously? Does he really think I’m that childish? I look at him incredulously. “No.” My lips form a thin line, not backing down.
After an eternity, he exhales harshly. “Fine. Whatever you want.”
The other three stare at me gobsmacked as he storms down the hallway to my bedroom.
“What the hell hap—” Cat shrieks, stopping mid-sentence when he reappears with his suit jacket slung over his shoulder and his phone in hand.
“If you figure it out, you can enlighten me,” he mutters, his dark eyes trying to make contact with mine. “Rather than this mindfuck.”
Fidgeting with the drawstring on my shorts, I force a smile. “Bye Danny, sorry about this evening.”
“I’m not sorry,” he replies through clenched teeth.
I fixate on the armrest.
Leave. Just leave.
The room is frozen in a weird pose. Julie and Cat stare at the TV even though the sound is off. Stevie sinks into the sofa in an attempt to disappear from his boss’s boss’s boss.
Danny stands with his arms crossed in front of me, demanding that I look at him. “Is this seriously it, Charlie?” he finally asks in a strained tone. “What the fuck just happened?”
“A mistake,” I croak.
“Bullshit,” Danny barks back, slamming his hand against the wall and making the four of us jump.
He breathes out angrily. “Charlie?” he growls as he opens the door. “Contact me when you’ve grown the fuck up.”
***
“Let’s nail this fucker.”
“I’m not sure, Julie.” I slump into the sofa. “I just want to forget the whole ordeal.”
She smacks her lips in dissatisfaction. “You do realise that dirty dipshit is fucking her right now?”
“Don’t,” I whimper, clutching my chest tightly.
She tuts at me. “You’re letting him treat you like a whore. Didn’t he tell you that you looked like a stripper?”
“She’s right,” Cat chimes in. “He tries to get rid of you from the company, then he plays you for a fool, stopping by for a quick bootie call.”
“To be fair, I got more out of it tonight than he did,” I point out meekly.
Cat groans. “We know, we heard.”
“Sorry.” My cheeks colour.
“Nonsense,” Julie snaps. “If he had the chance, he would have fucked you, but you saw the message. Do you want to be the one-hour booty call? Do you?”
“No,” I reply in a small voice as I stub my toe into the carpet.
Stevie shakes his head. “Honestly, Charlie, there’s no dressing it up. It sounds like you were a stopover. You have to admire the guy for his stamina. Two in one night at his age.”
“Thanks, Stevie.” I poke him hard in the ribs. “Nice to see you admire your new boss so much.”
I’m so stupid. What did I expect? To lift my skirt, and he would be mine forever? I know his reputation. From Tristan, from the media, for Christ’s sake. From my own eyes. I’ve seen him at parties. So why did I ignore the facts?
“What if he tells the management team?” Stevie asks. “I better not be implicated in this; I’m an accomplice.”
My eyes widen. “He wouldn’t do that.”
Julie sneers, “Oh, please. He wants a side fuck. Now you’ve consented, he’ll disclose whatever it takes to cover his own back. It’s always the women that end up being disgraced. You’ll be known as the girl who slept with the boss, and he’ll be the stud.”
Would he?
The small voice in my head reminds me of his reputation.
“You might never work in this town again!” Cat adds dramatically.
I throw a cushion at her.
Staring between the three of them, I open and close my mouth. “What would we do? You know, just to scare him and show him I’m not a pushover?”
Julie sits up in business mode. “I’ll go after him for indecent exposure. You caught him masturbating in public. The grey area is that you burst in through his door, so we might have a hard time arguing that it was in public. Also, we need to prove intent to cause distress by the act.”
I grimace. “I wouldn’t exactly call it distressing.”
“No.” She exhales briskly. “You stayed to watch the show, which weakens our case.”
“Also, you invited him into your bedroom and up your skirt,” Cat points out.
“Irrelevant,” Julie snaps. “His act of exposure left her vulnerable, and he seduced her. Look,” she says impatiently, “when I’m at work, I’ll send you enough ammunition to prove that you’re not a soft touch. Think of it as a legal rough up from the heavies.”
I nod. I’ll read it for entertainment value. I doubt I’ll act on it.
Groaning, Stevie shakes his head. “Keep me the hell out of this. Some of us want to keep our jobs. I still get paid for eight hours a day, even if I’m useless and only work three.”
“So, what’s his deal?” Cat looks at me curiously. “He’s always so moody. At the party, he had a permanent scowl on his face.”
“I feel a bit bad sharing this,” I start, rubbing the rim of my wine glass. “It’s quite a sad story. He grew up on a rough council estate in Glasgow. His father was a proper scallywag. Disappearing for days then when he did come home, he would be so high on drugs that he’d beat Danny’s mum. One day, when Danny was about fifteen, he came home to find his mum lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen. His dad had shot her then shot himself.”
They stare at me, transfixed.
Stevie exhales. “Christ, no wonder he’s so … dark.”
“His teens were pretty fucked up,” I continue. “He went to live with his gran or someone in a remote village in Scotland. Then he went to university in England and met Tristan. They became close, and he started spending weekends at our house. After what happened, Mum felt sorry for him and was happy to get to cook for someone else. He was always there when I was growing up. He became a bit of an extension of our family. Tristan even made him godfather.”
“And you are godmother,” Cat muses.
“Kinky.” Julie smirks. “So you’ve known him since you were ten, huh? I dread to imagine the wild teenage dreams with that walking around the house.”
“I wouldn’t say I know him,” I reply. “I only know his backstory from eavesdropping when I was younger and Tristan telling me the tame snippets. I was never allowed to ask Danny outright.”
“But you used to fantasise about him, right?” Julie questions.
“Of course.” I roll my eyes. “Mega crush.”
I shudder. “When I was thirteen, he brought a girl to our house for dinner. I stormed off to my room and threw a massive hissy fit. The whole house could hear it from the dinner table. Danny had to come up and tell me I was still his favourite girl. Thinking about it, we had a better relationship when I was thirteen,” I add wryly. “He used to buy me little gifts. After the dry humping debacle where I made a total tit out of myself, he grew distant with me. The majority of his communication with me the past ten years has been grunts and monosyllables.”
Julie shakes her head. “You’ve liked this guy for nearly twenty years. You’re supposed to move on from your first crush.”
“This is why your love life is suffering now,” Cat adds. “You compare everyone to him.”
I take a large gulp of wine. “I can’t seem to act rationally when he’s around. I turn into a quivering emotional nutcase.”
My phone bleeps on the sofa.
Don’t play games with me, Charlie.
I read it out loud.
“Is that a threat?” Cat shrieks. “What does that mean?”
I save his contact in my phone, not that I needed it to know it was him. No one else speaks this bluntly. No ‘Hi.’ No ‘It’s Danny, by the way.’ No kisses.
“Look at this.” I show them my phone so they can see the contact picture. Danny is sitting in a plane cockpit wearing a pilot headset. There is a glimpse of a smile on his face.
Cat grabs the phone, moaning softly. “Are you kidding me? Tell me that’s fake before my ovaries explode in a hot mess. Tell me he’s not an actual pilot. Can the guy get any more orgasm-inducing?”
“Every woman’s wet dream.” I screw my face into a grimace. “He has a small aircraft licence. I think he even owns a plane up in Scotland.”
“Send me this picture before I go to bed tonight.”
I stare at Cat. “That’s not helping. So? What do I reply?”
“Nothing,” Julie answers, snatching the phone from Cat. “Not a damn thing. If you reply, he’ll know he’s got you. Just leave it. Don’t forget he’s with Jen right now, texting you. What an asshole.”
My heart sinks. I didn’t need the reminder. I know one thing for sure. Danny Walker will never fully be mine.
“Forget dirty Danny Walker.” Cat lifts out her laptop from under the coffee table. “So what if he’s a zillionaire CEO pilot with a body like Satan? You, lady, are going to be a superstar.”
She beams as she turns her screen to face me. It’s got OpenMic launched on it.
“I’m not sure about this, Cat.” I chew on my bottom lip. “Haven’t I had enough humiliation for one week?”
“Just one song as a tester,” she pleads. “Something to add to Danny Walker’s wank bank.”
“Fine.” I sigh. “But that is not the reason I’m agreeing to this.”
