Charlie's Web (A Romantic Comedy)

Chapter 20

Charlie, meanwhile, was struggling to concentrate on her date. The earlier run-in (if you could even call it that given it had been a perfectly pleasant conversation) with Aaron and Kayla had shaken her up a bit and thrown her off her game more than a little. Given her game had always been a bit ropey anyway, this wasn't good. 

"Are you okay?" Jake, to his credit, looked worried about her. He put down his fork and squinted at her. "You seem a bit . . . Off tonight. Has something happened?"

Charlie shook her head, continuing to push her pasta around on her plate. Normally spinach and ricotta cannelloni was her favourite pasta dish but tonight her stomach was in knots. Apparently it took utter devastation to rid her of her appetite. 

"I'm fine, honestly," she insisted. "Just having a bit of a stressful week."

"What kind of stress? Work? Or is it to do with the wedding?" He asked astutely.

Yeah, she answered inwardly. I'm stressed about the wedding. The fact it's imaginary. That it's just a couple of weeks away and I don't know how to stop this lie. That I really like two guys and one of them has a girlfriend and the other one might only be with me because of the aforementioned lie. And it's definitely not about work . . . Well, apart from the fact that the guy I like with the girlfriend also works there.

In reality she just shrugged. "A bit of everything, really."

"Can I help at all?" Jake sounded like he really did want to help. Not in a "I'll run up the aisle and save you" type way but in a practical way. He was one of those "Tell me your problems and we'll find a solution" type of people. Normally Charlie hated that type of person but Jake could pull it off somehow. Probably because he was hot.

"Thanks, but I don't think so," she sighed.

"Okay… so in that case, how about I pay the bill and bring you home with me and try and take your mind off everything?" He said, lowering his voice and turning on a full-watt smile.

That was more like it. She smiled back. "Sounds good to me."

They left the restaurant and started wandering down Buchanan Street. It was still a warm, bright evening, one of those gorgeous nights when the sun is still up until late. Charlie could feel her worries melting away.

"Hey, isn't that your fiancé?" Jake asked, abruptly pulling to a stop and letting go of her hand.

Charlie's heart skipped a beat as she looked up and saw Paul walking towards them.

Or, in other words, Dave.

Maybe he wouldn't see them.  Maybe he . . . 

For the second time today, fate was not in her side.

Dave had spotted her. He waved. 

Shit. 

"So it is!" She cried, her brain at risk of meltdown as she tried to figure her way out of this situation. He was coming over, looking at Jake curiously and he was definitely going to blow her cover.

"Um, let me do some damage control here," she muttered to Jake, who was understandably looking very tense. She started striding towards Dave to meet him. 

"Charlie, what a nice surprise!" He said, holding out his arms to give her a hug.

She hugged him back, her heart thudding in her chest as she realised what she had to do.  "Please please go along with me on this, I'm desperate," she hissed in his ear, catching a glimpse of his confused face before she kissed him full on the lips.

She knew he wasn't remotely into the kiss immediately but she tried to act enough for both of them in that 5 seconds. "Sorry," she mouthed, pulling back. "You're my fiance, Paul, okay?" She whispered.

Still looking a bit stunned, he nodded and, relieved, she turned to face Jake who was walking towards them but was pretending to look everywhere else but at them. "Paul, this is Jake from work," she said to Dave, clinging on to his arm for support. "He was just walking me to the station."

"Hey, nice to meet you," Jake said. Charlie could see he was really struggling to act natural - if she had actually been cheating with him then he was really blowing her cover. "Look, now you've ran into Paul anyway I'll let you go, okay? See you in work tomorrow." 

Dave watched him walk away, looking a bit amused. "So I'm assuming he's the one you're seeing behind my - or Paul's - back," he said wryly. Obviously Thea had clued him in a bit on her situation, which meant Charlie didn't feel as awkward as she could have under the circumstances. After all, she didn't exactly make a habit of running up to her male acquaintances, calling them by a different name and snogging them. 

"Yep," she nodded grimly. "Dave, I am so sorry about that! It's just he asked to see a photo of Paul a few days ago and I panicked and showed him a picture of you.  I didn't think it would be an issue but then he spotted you just now and I didn't know what else to do."

"Oh don't worry about it, it's cool." Dave laughed. "It was a bit of a surprise but hey, at least we've got that awkward first kiss out of the way."

She couldn't help but join in laughing at his joke. "Do you mind just walking me to the station before you head wherever you're going?" She asked. "Just to make sure Jake is gone and doesn't spot us?"

"No worries. I'm meeting a couple of mates for drinks but I'm early so I've got some time to spare." They fell into step with each other. "How's Thea by the way?" He asked, much to her surprise.

"Didn't you see her today?" She asked. 

"My car is in for its MOT," he said after a brief pause. Charlie didn't notice though, still high on the adrenalin of nearly getting caught out. 

"Yeah, she's good. I think." She shrugged. "I guess now my plans with Jake tonight are slightly scuppered, I should probably go home and check on her."

"Tell her I said hi," he said softly as they reached the station. 

"Will do!" Charlie gave him a quick hug. "And thanks again for helping me out of a jam there."

She stepped into the station, checking her phone as she did so. Jake had texted her. 

Fuck. That was close. Raincheck on tonight I guess. I'll be thinking about you though. X

She decided not to reply just yet. After all, she was meant to be with Paul.

And she really needed to go home and talk to Thea.