Charlie's Angel

48

Charlie

"Hey Chris?"

He turned his chin downward to look at me. "Hm?"

I chewed my lip before speaking, "Tell me a secret."

The rising sun reflected off his orbs beautifully. It was seven in the morning on a Friday. The kids were at school and Chris and I decided to just sit outside and watch the sun rise. The air was chilly, so Chris brought out some blankets and pillows for us to lay down on–and of course I wore my hoodie to hide my belly. Chris offered to take both the kids to school, and he brought Chick-fil-a back for breakfast. We rested on separate pillows, his head on one and mine on the other.

"Hm," he thought, "I knew your name from the very beginning."

"No way," I giggled. "How?"

He shrugged. "The day after I met you, when Isaiah and I came to your job, your name was on your lil name tag."

I squeezed his hand in embarrassment; we were holding hands between us under the blankets.

"But you still called me Mystery," I murmured as I smiled a little. "Why?"

"I ain't wanna intimidate you, I guess." He took a moment and smiled up at the pale pink sky, and the sun began to peek through the trees. "Besides, you are my mystery, ain't you?"

I hesitated but nodded. "Chris, you really did hurt me with that girl."

"I know, I know," he mutter guiltily. "I can't say I'm sorry enough, baby. I swear I ain't talk to her since and I told the nigga to delete her number. Only after I knocked the shit outta him."

It was true, Bash and Chris did get into a physical altercation after Chris's arm healed for the second time. But both of them came out with blood everywhere. Busted lips, black eyes, bruised cheeks. Chris had a bruise the size of a softball on his ribs from where Bash had punched him.

I personally thought Chris won, but I didn't bring that up to Sam. I just thanked God that she didn't let that affect our friendship.

"I really am sorry, Charlie," he murmured, stroking my hand with his thumb. "I swear to you, I'll do whatever it takes to get you to trust me again."

"Can we just take things slow this time? I'm not saying I'm your girlfriend yet, but it's obvious we can't stay apart. Everybody thinks we belong together and I'd hate to invest all these feelings and all this time into this for us to just call it–"

He brought his lips to mine to shut me up, then he pulled away and stared deeply into my eyes. "Whatever it takes."

We laid in silence and watched the sky stain blue gradually while the sun rose over the trees. I let out a satisfying sigh and grew warm with peacefulness. This whole thing was Chris's idea, and I thought it was really romantic. Just me and him, watching the sun rise. I knew Chris was romantic, but this was completely different.

Something about starting your day with someone you love was an incredible feeling. It was an amazing way to start any day. Knowing that that person wants the same exact thing–wanting to start their day with you–is the perfect feeling.

I would start my morning with him everyday if I could.

Chris loved me, I knew that. I loved him, too, and he was aware of that. We were just too stubborn to admit it.

But I could wait. I'd wait as long as he wanted. Anything to hear those three words that confirmed everything. Everything between us was pretty much solid. We had a beautiful foundation; I mean, yes there were cracks in it, but what relationship didn't have a rocky foundation?