Charlie and Thea, meanwhile, had got right on their plan to get a holiday booked.
Within a couple of days of deciding getting away from it all for a week or two was necessary, they'd booked ten nights in Crete. They'd even got it at a bargain price considering it was the start of the school holidays, although it did mean they were headed to the party capital of the island.
"Are we a bit old for Malia?" Thea had asked worriedly, before shaking her head. "To be honest, I actually don't give a crap. I just want to escape!"
"Likewise," Charlie nodded. They were booked to leave the following weekend. She had went into the office on Monday and booked a fortnight off to give them a bit of leeway with days, so she just had the rest of that week to get through.
"Will you still make it to the work party?" Josh had asked anxiously when she had asked for the time off. The party coincided with her last official day of annual leave.
"It just depends on what we can get booked and, if I'm back in time, how much I'm still recovering," Charlie had replied lightly. "I'll do my best though." She had her fingers tightly crossed behind her back though; she wasn't sure if she could face it. And, more importantly, she wasn't sure if she could face Aaron in a drunken environment without making a complete fool of herself.
"God, the office is going to be dead this next few weeks," Josh sighed. "With you off after this week, and Aaron requesting this week off last minute, along with all the folk already off, I'm going to be bored out of my mind!"
"Oh, Aaron's off? He didn't say," she tried to be casual but Josh's words made her realise that she wouldn't see Aaron for three whole weeks. The thought of not having him around actually made her feel a bit sick. She was like a teenage girl with a crush on the guy in the year above, she thought with disgust. One step away from writing "I heart Aaron" in all her notebooks.
Thank goodness she had her holiday to distract her!
She spent the rest of the week sorting out a holiday wardrobe and hoping her last minute return to the gym would result in a super-toned physique in seven days, before giving up around Thursday and ordering her and Thea a massive pizza. "Holiday mode," she justified it, as well as the huge glass of wine she poured herself and Thea to accompany it.
"So Aaron's been MIA all week?" Thea queried, lifting up a slice of pizza and staring at it in delighted awe. "How much cheese is on this thing?"
"I may have asked for double cheese," Charlie admitted. She picked up her own slice. "Yep, not sure why he's off, he's been completely silent on social media too." She scrunched up her face, slightly embarrassed. "I might have tracked down his Instagram and twitter accounts too just to be sure."
Thea laughed. "I don't think this holiday can come soon enough for either of us!"
Sunday seemed to take an age to arrive but before they knew it they were waiting to go through security at the airport. "Why do I always feel guilty at this part?" Charlie whispered, giving herself a quick self-frisk to ensure she wasn't concealing anything dodgy on her person that she had forgotten about.
"Just remember that in ten minutes this will be over with and we can have that early morning drink that's only ever acceptable in the airport," her friend hissed back.
"True story." Charlie cheered up at that thought and, sure enough, in a matter of minutes they had wine in front of them and were waiting for a bacon butty each to be delivered to their table.
"Okay, you know what we need to do! It's a rite of passage." Thea pulled out her phone and edged closer to Charlie in their booth.
"Ah yes, have you even went on holiday if you don't have a photo of your airport drink on social media at five in the morning?" Charlie giggled, putting her arm around her friend as Thea snapped a photo of both of them holding their drinks.
"And... shared." Thea tagged her and posted it on Facebook before she took another sip of wine. Her phone had barely went dark before it lit up with a notification. Her eyebrows shot up towards her hairline.
"Someone can't sleep," she said archly, pushing the phone over the table.
Charlie's heart sped up as she spotted Aaron's name underneath their photo. What was he doing awake so early on a Sunday morning?
"Have a great time x," she read out. "What does that mean?"
"He's telling you to have a good time?" Thea suggested, not without a hint of sarcasm. She shook her head. "He is definitely still keen."
"But Kayla . . ." Charlie started.
"I dunno what's going on there," Thea interrupted gently. "But I wouldn't be happy if my boyfriend was constantly all over another girl's Facebook profile. Maybe it's not what you think." She frowned. "Or maybe he is just still a prick."
"Maybe," Charlie replied vaguely. But she knew the one thing she felt sure of now when it came to Aaron was that he really wasn't a prick. And that wasn't her just looking through heart shaped rose-tinted glasses - she completely believed he was a good guy now.
"Anyhoo, here comes our food!" Thea announced. "Thank God, that wine has went straight to my head." They clinked their glasses together. "Happy holidays!"
Charlie took a massive swig of wine and hoped it would indeed be happy.
YOU ARE READING
Charlie's Web (A Romantic Comedy)
ChickLit"We met earlier, kind of," he smiled at her. "I'm Jake." "H-hi!" How had she missed him before? He was delightful. Dark blond hair, slate grey eyes . . . and oh my goodness, that smile!!! To be fair, back in the bar, all of their faces had been merg...
