Page 45 of For All It's Worth
“The rug was a good idea,” Charlie remarked, breaking the silence. He gestured to the hardwood floors of the almost empty bedroom that now belonged to him.
“It should be here tomorrow with the rest of your furniture. Probably not worth unpacking until then, is it?”
He shrugged. “Nowhere to put anything, since the closet isn’t that big. I’ll just get my toiletries and a couple of changes of clothes out for now.”
“I’ll help you make up the bed.”
Together, we got the room set up quickly. We worked so easily with each other and I couldn’t help imagining that this was our apartment and that Charlie was just helping me with the regular chores. I felt my face heat as I thought about waking up with Charlie in this bed after a night of amazing sex. In my dream world, it was perfect and he woke me with gentle nose kisses because morning breath was yucky.
Before my body betrayed me with its reaction to being in such a small space with Charlie, I returned to the living room to wait for him to wash up before heading out to dinner.
During dinner at a great Thai restaurant, I contemplated saying something about what was happening between us. I tried to find the right words. While I tried to speak, Charlie’s phone rang.
“Sorry,” he said as he looked at the screen, “I better take this.” He answered the call, “Hello?”
The restaurant was quiet enough that I could hear the other side of the call and heard the police officer introduce himself. Charlie could see that I was listening and put the call on speaker so I could hear better.
“I’m just calling to tell you that an item of yours has reappeared. There was an inspection at a pawn shop and your watch turned up as stolen goods,” the bored-sounding man said.
Charlie gasped, “You have my watch?”
“We do, but unfortunately, since the pawnbroker didn’t keep records, we don’t know who brought it in, so we aren’t any closer to the culprit of your mugging.” I could see Charlie bristle at the dismissive way the man broke the news.
“So I can come and collect it?” I could see his struggle to brush off thoughts of his attackers.
“You can during business hours, yes. It’s been processed and is ready to be returned. Have a nice evening, Mr. Petraki.”
The officer hung up, leaving us both staring at the phone. I was simultaneously furious and relieved. While I was grateful that Charlie was getting back the item that he cherished, I was horrified at the way that the police were treating him. Charlie had been a victim of a crime and didn’t deserve the lack of respect he’d been given.
“Want me to come with you to pick it up?” I asked carefully, aware that this was a big deal to him and he was already going through a massive upheaval with the move.
“Hmm? Oh, no. I’ll manage, but thanks.” He gave me a soft smile and we slipped into silence for a while, each of us picking at our food.
“Max?” Charlie’s voice broke me from my thoughts.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know what’s happening with us, but let’s not force it, okay?” He looked worried about my reaction.
I frowned and he rushed to explain. “I can feel something changing between us, and it’s as exciting as it is terrifying, but I don’t want to rush it, or force something to happen before we’re both ready. D’you know what I mean?” His voice was imploring, begging me to understand where he was coming from.
After thinking for a minute, I nodded. I didn’t have the words to explain my feelings. I knew that this wasn’t a rejection and I also knew that I’d pushed a lot today and Charlie had a lot of changes to deal with. Only this morning I’d been in Charlie’s lap and goodness only knew what would have happened if the officer hadn’t interrupted. It was out of character for me to be so forward with someone that I was interested in romantically.
This new Charlie seemed to bring something out in me. When it was just us, I could stand taller. I felt stronger. It went against past history to rely on him but he gave me such a feeling of safety, that I knew that I could let this new part of myself unfurl and stretch when I was with him.
We were heading for a major change in our relationship and I could stand to be a little more patient with him. He’d only been out of rehab for just a few weeks and was having to wrestle with a lot. He admitted to being excited about it, so that was progress at least. Now our feelings were sort of out in the open. We were acknowledging that things were different, that there was something more on the horizon.
“Okay, I can wait.”
