The Sidewalk Incident

20. The Freudian Slip

I snuck out of James's room when I saw the blue tint of sunrise creep in beneath the blockout curtains of his room. I refused to look at him, at his likely perfect, peacefully asleep face, or that he subconsciously searched for me when I wiggled out of his hold. I also make a point to ignore how perfectly peaceful I actually slept... in his bed... wearing his Harvard jumper... in his bed.

This fake dating shit is getting too much. First New York. Now we're living together?? How much do I want this job? I brushed aside the Cleveland Proposal because of how badly I've always wanted to beat James at everything, yet now I seem perfectly content with sharing everything with him... my job, my place of shelter... my bed??

My mood is all sorts of turmoil as I shower and angrily wash my hair and scrub my body as if it's going to rid me of my current state of affairs. It doesn't help that while I'm getting ready for work, Meera sends me a message to say I've got another day off since I scrubbed in for the organ transplant. James is on call but only if he has to go in. So... great. That means we're bonding today.

I'm annoyed as fuck and because I'm annoyed I want to do something to make him equally annoyed. So I stroll into his room and rip open the curtains.

"Rise and shine, sleepy beauty."

"Fuuuuccckkkk!" He groans, his voice broken and croaky. "Jesus Christ, Charlotte!!" He huffs as he throws the duvet over his half naked body. Seriously, does he not own clothing??

"We're going for a hike." I instruct. "Get your ass up. You're on call today so you've got to sweat it out, Princess."

"Charlotte. I mean this in the nicest way possible. But, please could you... get the fuck out of my room?" He says it calmly, nicely. But with meaning.

"Fine. I'm taking Rocco. If I get lost and die in the middle of Topanga State Park, I'll make sure Rocco manages to find his way back and eats you alive." I scoff. "Come on, boy."

_______________

5.... 4.... 3....

I'm standing outside James's condo, waiting for the Uber driver to arrive. Then, I hear the click of a door handle. Jackpot. I don't turn around, mainly because I can hear him stomping angrily towards us.

He stands next to me and it's the first time I see him worst for the wear. And I do an internal victory dance. His face is pale and unshaved, and he dons a pair of dark sunglasses beneath a baseball cap. But he's dressed in a shorts and T-shirt combo, ready for our hike.

"Drink up, Princess." I tease as I hand him a cool bottle of water.

_______________

James grunts almost as much as Rocco does and eventually hurls behind the bushes about 20 minutes into our hike. I snigger with mild satisfaction that it's him struggling for a change and not me. Since it's a weekday it's pretty quiet on the trail. And while James empties out his stomach's contents, Rocco and I enjoy some water and the upcoming view.

"I fucking hate you." James groans as he downs another bottle of water, but he admittedly looks better.

"The feeling is mutual, boo." I continue my trot, feeling a spring in my step that perhaps all the additional training James and I have been doing at work, has actually paid off. I'm surprisingly enjoying this, not that I'd ever utter a word of that to James.

"To what so we owe this spritely attitude this morning?" He catches up to us, slowly breaking into a sweat... eventually.

"Meera said I get to have today off. And you once suggested I should go on a hike on my day off... so here we are." I pant. "Not that I care, but how are you feeling?"