Michael 2.0

Part 4

“I know, I know! I am late!” Mike said, entering Charlie’s apartment. “And I am so sorry, Charlie. I was caught at work.”

Charlie pretended she had not spent the last 2 hours groaning with frustration and kissed him. “I’m glad you are here now.”

“And as I promised,” Mike said, taking something from his pocket “I will make it up for you tonight. I wanted to give you this yesterday, but well…”

He opened a little jewelry box, revealing a beautiful golden necklace with a single and delicate diamond pendant.

“Oh, Mike!” Charlie whispered breathless.

“I want to listen to that same thing later in bed,” he winked. “Now turn around. Let me put it on you.”

Charlie held up her long dark curls and allowed Mike to tie the necklace on her. Admiring the effect in the mirror on the opposite wall, she smiled.

“It’s beautiful.”

“It suits you perfectly.”

“Thank you, Michael.”

“Now, my turn.” He beamed, pretending to be excited. “What did you get me? What did you get me? It has to be as good, you know?”

“Oh, what are you, five years old?” Charlie laughed. “Close your eyes and come closer.”

She grabbed his hand and walked him to the dining room.

“Open your eyes now.”

Mike could not hide his surprise. The dining table had been carefully prepared; the amazing smell from the dishes were inviting, along with the candles and the red wine in the center of the table. “Did you cook all my favorite meals?”

“I did!” Charlie said with pride. “Caesar salad with bacon, spaghetti with gorgonzola cheese sauce, chicken steak with lemon, mashed potatoes and red rice, and last but not least: vegetable lasagna.”

“Oh God, Charlie, if I hadn’t proposed to you already, I’d do so now!” He hugged her. "Thank you!"

“Shut up and let’s get fat now.”

The dinner started perfectly, just as Charlie had pictured; they spoke about Mike’s sister who had just went to college, and Charlie’s best friend who has also recently gotten engaged.

“I told Sarah today about your project, by the way,” Mike said as he chewed a piece of chicken.

Charlie’s smile immediately disappeared. “You did what?”

“Well, I didn’t tell her everything, just that you were working on a cool robot thing, you know.”

"A cool robot thing?" Somehow, that hurt her feelings, but something was more urgent than this. “Oh, and why in the world would you tell Sarah about this?”

Sarah Fletcher was Mike’s partner on the CBI, and Charlie had not liked her ever since she saw her for the first time, grabbing Mike’s arm and laughing at some stupid thing he had said. That has been years before, but she had never forgotten about it. It was clear in Charlie's mind that Sarah flirted with Mike, and he seemed to either be too ignorant to not notice, or to secretly enjoy it.

“Will you stop being jealous?” Mike frowned. “She’s my partner, we talk about many things.”

“Mike, you know fully well no one should know about this project. It’s still on a testing phase and we cannot leak information until we are sure it is a success.”

“Oh, come on, Charlie, it’s not like Sarah will tell anyone!”

“You know what, I don’t care! You shouldn’t have told her, Mike. I asked you please not to tell anyone. This could jeopardize my job!”

Before Mike could reply, his phone rang. If anything, it only made Charlie angrier.

“Don’t tell me it’s her.”

“I must go. It’s work.”

“Again?”

Charlie was about to cry; why couldn’t Mike see that she needed that night with him?

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, grabbing his coat. “I will call later.”

Mike gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left in a hurry. Charlie looked at the table she had put on carefully, the dishes, the wine, the candles… All in vain. Furiously, she threw everything on the trash bin, not even caring about the tears rolling down her cheeks.