Page 26 of Charlie
“Liv, I got your email. Can you talk?”
“Yes. I’m on the bus, waiting for Charles.”
A family of four Dutch-speaking tourists came in and took the two first rows on the other side of the aisle. I turned in my seat toward the window, listening to Mr. Robertson.
“So, you’re convinced that Charles thought it was a chance meeting?”
“Yes, your contact gave me his whereabouts and I saw him mix in with a guided tour group. It was easy to do the same and make it seem random. It all worked out.
“How is he?”
“He seems fine. A few times he mentioned his mentor, but nothing concrete. I’m hoping to get more out of him today.”
Mr. Robertson cleared his throat and coughed. “Forgive me, this damn cough won’t go away. I’m impressed with your idea of a day trip. If you can, give me an update when you get back to the hotel tonight.”
“Thank you, sir. It’s good to see Charles again.”
“That’s nice.” Mr. Robertson coughed again and I held the phone out a bit, nodding back greetings to some of the people entering the bus.
“Are you okay, sir?”
“Yes, yes. We’ll talk later, and don’t forget to keep me posted.” As he hung up, I returned to my messages to answer Charles’ text from last night, but just as I was about to press send, a deep male voice with a distinct American accent made me turn my head to look out the window.
Charles stood outside talking with the guide while holding two cups in his hands. I knocked on the window and waved at him.
“How can you look so good this early?” he said as he came up the stairs.
“Oh, you like the jet-lagged look on me?”
“Here.” He handed me a cup. “Hot chocolate with whipped cream.”
“Aww, thank you. That’s so sweet of you.”
Charles sat down in the seat next to me and brought with him a scent of shampoo, coffee, and delicious cologne.
“Umm, you smell good.”
“Yeah?” He gave a shy smile, and it made me think of his diary where he’d described feeling blocked and limited because of self-doubt.
“Uh-huh. Are you ready to go on an adventure and see the rugged cliffs of Moher?”
He leaned back in his seat, placed his coffee in the cup-holder, and nodded. “I am. The question is, are you ready to go on an adventure withme?”
“Oh, so it’s not a date now?” I wriggled my eyebrows and grinned a little while holding up my phone for him to see me press send.
On the screen were his last messages from last night calling our day trip a date. My answer stood out in blue below.
Liv: I’d love to go on a date with you.
His eyes lit up as they shifted from my phone to me. “It’s been years since I’ve been on a date.”
“Me too, but my older sister taught me some tips when I first began dating. Would you like me to share them with you?”
“Sure.” He took off his jacket and placed it over his lap.
I held up a finger. “One, go out for drinks or coffee only. A meal takes too long if you have nothing to talk about.”
“You’re saying that now that I’m about to embark on a fourteen-hour day trip with you.” He grinned.
