Faded Love

10

"This is me."

It wast past midnight, Emilie and Charles had gotten back on the boat and spent hours talking about everything and anything. Emilie had told Charles about her childhood to her karting days. Most of which he knew of already, but other parts were new to him. They had known each other so long that they didn't find it necessary to tell each other every little detail of their lives. But now that he was a stranger to her she shared everything.

"Thank you, for everything," she smiled, turning to look at Charles, stepping on the first step of the entrance. Her hair was slightly damp and it smelled salty from the water. She was wearing one of his hoodies and the Monaco breeze got chilly.

"We can do it again tomorrow, if you want?" Charles asked, taking a small step towards her.

He made her blush yet again, "That doesn't sound too bad."

"Too bad? Emi, you spent a whole afternoon with me and it doesn't sound too bad?" he joked.

A laugh escaped her lips as she placed her hand on his shoulder, "Buonanotte, Charlie," [Good night] she said, placing a kiss on his right cheek before heading into the building of her flat.

Leaving Charles on the footsteps of the building he softly touched his cheek as he slowly sat down. He was caught off guard by her actions yet again. What was she doing to him?

"Charles?" He looked up to see where that was coming from. "Charles? Mate, where have you been? Where's Emilie?"

"Carlos, mate..."

"What did she do? What did she say?She hates you," Carlos suggested, not knowing what Charles current state represented. "She hates you and doesn't remember you at all. Mate, I'm so sorry."

Carlos brought Charles into a comforting hug but Charles pushed him off, "What? No!"

"No? No, what?"

"She made me fall in love with her even more."

"What?" Carlos asked, completely confused by Charles' confession. "Did you not love her enough before?"

"I did. Believe me, I did. But the Emilie I'm getting to know now is, she's just wow. I don't know how to explain it!"

"Mate, you're making no sense. I've been looking for you two everywhere. She needs to be resting, you heard the doctor. Let me go up there wait for me here." Without another word Carlos went up to Emilie's flat, leaving Charles on the footsteps of her building. Knocking on her door he was greeted by a blushing Emilie. "Emilie? Are you ok?"

"Carlitos!" She exclaimed bringing him into an unexpected hug. "You missed out on so much!"

"I did?" He said, cautiously hugging her back. His brows furrowed and his head spinned even more than it had with Charles downstairs. "What happened?"

"What didn't happen!" She laughed stepping into her hallway towards the living room.

"WHAT!" he exclaimed, following her into the living room, shutting the door behind him. Every possibility of what could have happened between the two running through his mind.

"Charlie is just...wow!" She said, lifting her hands dramatically.

"Charlie? Wow?"

"Yes wow! He's so genuine and attentive. He's so interesting, Carlitos. I can't believe you never presented me to him," she exclaimed sitting up from the couch and pacing back and forth.

"Yeah... me either," Carlos sighed, completely dazed and confused from what was coming out of the girls mouth. "So you like him?" He slowly sat down on her couch, watching as she paced through her living room.

""What's not to like?" She laughed.

"I don't know, you tell me."

"I haven't found a single flaw in this man. NOT ONE! Can you believe that, Carlitos!" She sat down beside him on the couch, sighing as she did so. "I'm exhausted. I better get to sleep if I want to be ready for tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?" He asked, eyebrows scrunched together as he watched her head into her bedroom.

"The same thing," she chuckled. "Good night, Carlitos! Make sure to lock the door on your way out."

Without another word the girl made her way into the bathroom to get started on her nightly routine.

Sitting on her couch, in awe, Carlos slowly stood up made his way out the door, making sure to lock it. He stood still outside her flat, his mind lost in its own confusion. After some minutes he made his way down her building.