"Emm Charlie, you might want to remove your hands?", I hinted at the first aid kit I was about to grab. "Oh, sorry", said Charlie who quickly removed his hands, giving me the best guilty look on his face. "I just wanted to... you know that moment", he smiled.
---
"So you wanted to tell me about yourself right?", I asked as Charlie sat in front of me, sipping Japanese Green Tea I brewed for him. We were again sitting like how we first met in the elevator, however this time it was serious and we were sitting on a floor, in my house.
"Not now, Brooke", he said while trying to back away from the warm gesture I was giving. I sighed, "Charlie, you promised me, only me." I gave him a promise that the conversation was between me and him, no one. I pleaded him once more before he decided to give in. "Alright, I will tell you. Promise is a promise.", he said in a serious manner.
Charlie started to talk about his early life prior to moving to the city. Turned he was a sad child. When he was six years old, his father left him without an explanation, leaving him to be taken care by his mother. To him, his mother was the only person who he die for. She was soon taken away from him when he turned 16.
"Sixteen? No way!", I exclaimed having to know about this fact. "Will you not interrupt?", said Charlie which I soon apologised and he continued. Charlie, at the age of 16, soon knew he had to hustle his way to the top. He was taken in by a bootlegger, Sir Malcolm Chandler and was taught how to handle illegal alcohol business (explained why I seldom see him going for work).
When the bootlegger died, Charlie at the age of 20, was the sole proprietor for the business. The business was doing well and he knew what he wanted to do: expanding the business. "Expansion, the city that never sleeps, how cool was that", he laughed.
"Okay, but that doesn't really tell me why you ended up in such a state", I said. Charlie took a deep breath and continued the story. "I was making profit through selling illegal alcohols here in this city", he stared at the cup he was holding. "I had a partner whom I worked with for some time and sadly he betrayed me."
Charlie's partner begged him to take on the offer of bringing in new set of alcohols, the finest ones from Denmark. The offer went sour once he discovered they were the most dangerous drugs hidden in the bottles. A group of people whom he got attacked, found out about the drugs and started a hunt to look for him (and they did obviously).
I asked Charlie whether did the group of people got what they wanted which he replied, "No, they no longer in my possession... I burned them". "Well that means they aren't gonna disturb you right?", I questioned him innocently. Charlie slightly laughed, "Oh Brooke, my world is funny." "Once you owned it, nightmare will keep coming back", he took a sip from the cup.
After listening to Charlie's story, I pitted him. The soul in him was terrified, scared and lost. Imagined being a six years old child with kind of "Jay Gatsby's mind set", I can feel the anger yet sadness in him. Charlie did not choose this lifestyle, even God did not give him this flaws. I slowly stood up, walked towards him and sat beside, leaving him to automatically cuddle me.
"Don't worry, I'm sure your nightmare will be over someday", I whispered.
---
I woke up on my bed, having no idea how I got here. Amazingly, I was wearing my white singlet and UNIQLO Batman stretchable pants, I do not recall wearing these last night. I walked out of my bedroom and headed out to the kitchen for my usual breakfast routine.
While I was about to open the refrigerator, a 'Post-It' note was placed on it. I took out and the note read:
"I had a beautiful night, truly beautiful. Wish we could do it again. ;)
- Charlie
P.s. You are like Lucy In The Sky With Diamond."
YOU ARE READING
Elevator
Teen Fiction(COMPLETED) Two neighbours stuck in an elevator and were forced to make a conversation. Little did they know this was just a beginning, a beginning which comes with a consequences and dangers ahead.
