Charlie's Web (A Romantic Comedy)

Chapter 16

Later that day Charlie was stretched out on a picnic rug, can of flavoured gin in one hand and an ice cream cone in the other, looking out over the water and basking in the sunshine. "This is the life," she sighed, briefly closing her eyes. "I can almost pretend I'm in Ibiza."

Jake laughed. "If only." He'd thought of everything, it seemed, packing booze, sandwiches, even suntan lotion, and rushing to get them ice cream as soon as they'd located a prime position on the beach at Ayr. 

It felt, to Charlie, like he was pulling out all the stops to impress her. That being said, she didn't have much to compare it with, so possibly her bar was extremely low. But . . . She couldn't help but feel he did care a lot about her and making sure she was feeling happy. Which went a long way in her books. 

"I'd love to be there right now," she mused. "Watching the sunset, or dodging the folk trying to sell you 300 euro club night tickets on the beach. Been so long since I've last been abroad." Oops. She was forgetting the fictional proposal trip to Paris! "A sunny holiday, I mean! What about you?" 

He paused from stroking her bare leg, looking up with a slightly perplexed expression. "What about me?"

"When were you last abroad? Somewhere sunny?" She asked patiently. People couldn't always keep up with her train of thought so she was used to having to repeat herself. Probably a social skill she should work on, she thought wryly to herself.

He looked thoughtful. "Oh, Santorini near the end of last year," he replied. "It was really nice."

Sartorini eh? That didn't sound like a lads' holiday.  "Nice, I've always fancied there! Who did you go with?" Did she sound casual enough? She really had no cool.

"My ex Louisa," he said awkwardly after a pause. She instantly regretted asking. "It's fine," he waved away her apologetic expression. "We were actually struggling a bit already at that point when we went over there so it was all a bit . . . Well, it wasn't the best holiday, let's put it that way. We split up shortly after we came back. She works away now . . . Singapore, I think? We don't really speak." He shrugged. For the first time since she'd met Jake, he looked a bit sad. Was Louisa the one who'd gotten away?

She didn't want to press further though. As far as she was concerned, she didn't want to bring any exes up more than she had to. Especially if he potentially still had feelings for the ex. It seemed that, possibly, Charlie was even the rebound for Louisa. In theory, she was the perfect substitute, commitment-free due to her own apparent ties. 

It didn't mean that there was no hope that Charlie could still ultimately be the one Jake was meant to end up with though. Okay, so the hen night scenario itself had been engineered… but it could still have been fate that they had both been in the right place at the right time, right?

God, this whole situation was screwing with her head so much!

"Tell me about your fiance" he broke into her thoughts. "How did you know he was the one?"

Oh god. That was a bitch of a question, Charlie thought. How do you describe how you fell for a guy who doesn't exist? She sipped her gin while she collected her thoughts. 

"It was just . . . Right," she said finally.  "There wasn't a particular moment of epiphany, it just felt like everything had fallen into place. We have the same sense of humour and make each other laugh so much. He looks after me; can sense when I need extra assurance or support, without me even having to ask. And I want to look out for him in the same way. I never felt like that about anyone else."

Wow, she seemed to have had more to say than she had thought. Was this her blueprint for the perfect relationship? It certainly wasn't a relationship she'd ever experienced herself! She glanced at Jake and his eyes, to her surprise, were soft. 

"That's sweet," he remarked. "I bet you make an attractive couple." He took a swig of his beer. "Would it be weird if I asked to see a photo of him? Would be nice to see what my competition is like," he said teasingly.

Shit. For the second time in as many minutes, Charlie was seriously panicking. Describing a feeling was one thing, producing a photo of a fictitious fiance was quite another!

"Um, this is quite a new phone and my photos didn't transfer over from my previous one properly, let me have a look though" she stalled for time as she angled herself, casually, slightly away from him and fumbled through her phone into Facebook. She quickly scrolled through her friends list. She needed someone unattached, good looking, believable as her fake other half… her mind briefly turned to Aaron but then her eye caught a name and inspiration struck. Perfect.

While still pretending to search through her phone, she slipped into Dave's profile and screenshotted his picture, editing it slightly to remove the telltale signs of a screenshot. "I must have one somewhere…" She mused, glancing over at Jake under her eyelashes. Thankfully he was staring out at the water and not watching her. "Oh here we go!" She turned her phone towards him and tried not to wince when he took it from her, hoping he wouldn't scroll along as she was pretty sure the next photo in her gallery was an unflattering selfie of her and Belinda from the previous night. 

He studied it for a moment then handed the phone back. "Good looking guy." He nodded. "I can see you two together, it makes sense!"

Charlie smiled to herself, both for getting away with her ploy, and also at the idea of her and Dave being a couple. She had always been fairly sure that Dave had a massive crush on Thea, although she had never told Thea of her suspicions. Otherwise maybe she would have went there, he was hot and sweet after all; but she wasn't interested in being someone's second best.

"He's a good lad," she replied, the most honest she had been so far in their conversation. But a change of subject was definitely required! "I feel like I'm starting to burn," she hastily improvised. "Shall we go find a pub to hide from the sun in for an hour or two? Or maybe even just a beer garden with a wee bit of shade?"

Jake looked like he wanted to say something else but after a moment of hesitation he nodded. "Sounds like a plan," he laughed, and they started to pack up their picnic. 

As they did so, Charlie stifled a sigh of relief. She had made it through another lie… but how long could she keep up the facade? She really wasn't sure her nerves could take it.