Charlie's Web (A Romantic Comedy)

Chapter 15

It was a few weeks before Christmas.

The work Christmas night out was in full swing, and Charlie was dressed very festively in a red silky shirt-dress and a Santa hat. The shirt dress had been her choice; the Santa hat had not. This was her punishment for "forgetting" the dress code was meant to be Christmas jumpers.

Spoiler alert: she hadn't really forgotten. She hated Christmas jumpers with a passion previously reserved solely for her hatred of bananas and Donald Trump. She loved Christmas and all its accoutrements but she could not get on board with the comeback of the Christmas jumper at all.

She took a big swig of her Christmas cocktail and took a glance around the room. The "cocktail" in question was actually a glass of wine with a candy cane in it, and she wasn't particularly fond of the minty taste the candy was leaving in the wine... but it made her look like she was more in the spirit of things and she knew Josh, despite the Santa hat punishment, had not quite forgiven her yet for her lack of jumper.

She was probably going to have to sing a Christmas song at karaoke later just to seal the deal with him. Although, she reflected dryly, given her lack of a tone of any sort when she sang, this would be more of a punishment for him.

"Hey Charlie." She'd know that voice anywhere. Biting her bottom lip, she looked around and there was Aaron, all big brown long-lashed eyes, easy smiles and puppy dog friendliness. Immediately she relaxed; she always did in his presence. There was just something calming about being around him, despite their constant flirting and the fact she knew she was more than a little bit crazy about him. Despite Dan . . . She nearly frowned at that thought but tucked it away just in time.

"Where's your Christmas jumper?" She asked archly, placing a hand on her hip. He'd been sporting a suitably tacky one earlier but now was just in a black t-shirt which emphasised his lean torso and toned arms... She tried not to drool as he laughed, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Okay okay, I might have lost it." He put on his best "I'm innocent" face. It was surprisingly good. "It . . . Fell off? Possibly into a bin? Alright, I admit it, I fucking hate Christmas jumpers."

She smiled. "Agreed. Which means... I think it's your turn for the punishment hat." She removed her Christmas decoration and he popped it on his own head without arguing. "How do you even make a Santa hat look adorable?" She wondered... out loud. Oops. He did though.

"I'm just naturally blessed, I guess," he smirked. "I need another drink; would you like one?"

"Another Christmas cocktail please." She ran her hands through her blonde hair, which felt a bit sweaty thanks to the hat. "You should probably have one too; that's also part of the punishment I've been told."

"Are we going to have to do a duet of Fairytale of New York later to atone further for our sins?" He asked, apparently reading her earlier thoughts as he took her empty glass from her. "Because I can't sing for shit and I don't want to murder the best Christmas song that ever existed."

He walked away, whistling what was also her favourite Christmas song in the whole world, and she couldn't help but wonder what it was about him that just made her light up when she was around him. He was such a lovely looking guy but it wasn't just that; it just felt like he got her. Got her sense of humour, saw her in a way other guys didn't... appreciated her in a way she was doubting Dan did or ever had. She wasn't even sure, despite their flirtation, that he actually fancied her, but she thought he might. She felt more certain of that than she had any other guy in the past but she'd been wrong before.

"So Miss Tyler, what are your plans for Christmas?" He asked, passing her another "cocktail" and clinking his own glass against hers.

"Not sure yet," she replied, keeping it light, definitely avoiding any mention of the Dan-shaped elephant in the room. "I'll pop back to my folks for a couple of days; apart from that I'll be taking on couch potato form and watching all of the Christmas films."