Charlie's Web (A Romantic Comedy)

Chapter 19

Don't deny it, you've been wondering what happened with Thea and Dave, haven't you? Charlie might be our heroine but Thea is an intriguing supporting character and, let's face it, she's been in a bit of a tricky situation of late.

And we did leave you on a cliff-hanger about what had happened on Friday evening in the wine bar.

But let's back it up a wee bit first. Let's go back to three years or so ago, where Thea and Dave met again for the second time. 

Thea, despite having a minor crush on Dave for a good few months after their kiss at uni, had moved on. She had ended up seeing another guy on their course for about six months and then had another longer relationship between that one and Craig. Dave had been dismissed way into her past and although, as one often does, she had occasionally thought about him along with other "could have beens" in her life, he was rarely in her thoughts. 

But after she and Craig had met again and already already been on several dates, he'd invited her to a dinner party.

He'd laughed at how formal it sounded as he had issued the invitation. "Sorry, it sounds like something out of Bridget Jones, but they're usually really good fun. Someone orders takeaway as none of us can cook, we play some Cards Against Humanity and get shit-faced," Craig had explained. "It's basically the opposite of a classy dinner party."

"Sounds like fun!" Thea agreed, although she was nervous. Meeting a lot of new people in one go had never been her bag. 

"Oh, and I'm forgetting you'll know Dave already so at least there will be one friendly face."

Good god. Thea had forgotten that Dave and Craig were friends. Her breath caught in her throat for a second. "Oh wow," she said, trying to keep her voice level. "Dave! Will be good to catch up with him!"

Inside she was pretty sure she was having a panic attack. 

A few days later she found herself sitting around a long table with several other couples, watching the doorway with trepidation and gulping down half a glass of wine in one go as she heard the doorbell ring. "That'll be Dave and Kerry," Jenny, the host, cried out, jumping to her feet. Thea thought her heart might stop. She was 21 again, with a ridiculous crush on a guy who wasn't interested remotely in her.

Kerry, Dave's girlfriend, entered the room first. Craig had told her they'd been together for about a year but they didn't really seem that serious. She was pretty and friendly and immediately hugged everyone, including Thea, before unravelling layers of clothes to reveal the beautiful Top Shop tea dress Thea had been coveting for weeks.

And then Dave appeared in the doorway. Thea choked on her wine. 

He looked the same. Dark hair, clear blue eyes. Smiley. He'd barely aged. It was weird to see him... but nice. She felt her heartbeat slow down. It was okay, that build up to seeing an old crush could be terrifying but in reality, it was fine. She was fine. 

Objectively she could see he was cute and why she had crushed on him so hard. But she didn't feel anything anymore, apart from feeling happy to see an old friend. 

"Thea." His bright eyes met hers and he came forward to gather her in a hug. "It's so nice to see you again." She accidentally took a big sniff of his neck and inhaled the same cologne he had always wore. Which of course set off other memories involuntarily.

It was fine though, she repeated. Fine.

And it was. Had been. 

Thea and Craig had kept going out and fallen into an easy relationship. Dave and Kerry had split up when she had decided to move to London a couple of months later to pursue a career in fashion. Thea had started working in a school really close to where Dave's was and Craig had suggested they car-pool, which they were both happy to do as they always had a great laugh together. 

She wasn't sure when her crush had crept back. It happened gradually. She started to look forward to her commute to and from work more and more. That moment of anticipation when she saw his car pull up outside in the morning grew by the day. 

And then, about a year ago, on a night out, Thea had met Dave's eyes briefly across the bar they were in and it had hit her like a smack across the back of her head. She wanted him.

She pushed it firmly to the back of her mind but it had been around about that time that everything had been starting to go wrong in her relationship with Craig and- well- you know the rest. 

Skipping forward to the night in the wine bar, they'd had a second bottle of wine. Then a cocktail each - French Martini for her, a Mojito for him. Then a whisky. Then they'd stood out in the street, looking at each other, smiling awkwardly, not knowing what to do next.

Thea found herself sighing. "We can't do this, can we?" She asked. 

"I know." He nodded, his eyes sad. "God knows I want to, so much. But I just can't see how it would even work."

"It's too hard." Thea tried not to cry but all she wanted to do was have him hug her, kiss her and tell her that they could be together and everything was going to be okay. 

But how could they? How could it be okay? Craig and Dave were best friends. Thea had already inadvertently been driving a wedge between them for years and even once she and Craig inevitably split up, it's not like she could immediately move on to Dave.

As if he couldn't help himself though, he gathered her face in his hands and kissed her. A proper kiss this time.  It was everything she dreamed of. Everything she had wanted. But it was over too fast. He backed off. "I'll order you a taxi," he said, looking away and pulling his phone out of his pocket. "It sucks because it goes against everything I want to do right now."

She got in the taxi after he kissed her again, but on the cheek, unaware that in a different area of the city Charlie was in such a similar scenario at almost exactly the same time. The synchronicity of it, had they known, would have been something they would have laughed over. 

In the taxi, she had closed her eyes briefly, then asked the driver if she could be taken to a different address. She knew Craig was staying in that night. 

She arrived a bit drunk and worse for wear and they'd finally had the talk that both she - and he, it turned out - had been putting off for way too long. They'd cried, held hands, and eventually spooned each other to sleep. She had crept out in the morning and, hearing Charlie singing tunelessly in the shower when she'd reached their flat, decided an impromptu weekend visit to her family was in order. She definitely wasn't ready yet to discuss her newfound single status. 

But now it was Tuesday and as she sat on the bus home from work (she and Dave had agreed it would be best to take some space from each other) she realised how incredibly guilty she felt on account of keeping such a massive part of her life a secret from her best friend. 

Tonight, she resolved, nodding her head firmly.  She would tell Charlie all about it tonight.