Falling For Charlie

Part 15- Opening & Closing Doors

Mary Anne heard Daniel's chuckling and started to blush angrily. She was tired, she hadn't slept at all the night before and drove straight to Daniel's home without eating any breakfast. Her face was drained and her hair unkempt in clumsy curls around her waist. She was worried about Charlie, Briana had been vague in the message she had left for her but Mary Anne knew it must have been something serious for Charlie to come back to New Jersey when Charlie had wanted to leave it behind so badly before.

Straightening up after a few moments Daniel opened up the door wide enough so Mary Anne could see inside the living room where Charlie was standing with a anxious expression on her face, also there was Andrea still a mess with eyeliner dripping down her cheeks and smeared red lipstick but Mary Anne did not even see her, her eyes only stayed focused on Charlie. Leaving Mary Anne wondering why those eyes she had come to consider sweet as a daffodils was more like ice chips staring at her now. 

"Charlie is right over there, Ginger Lee." Daniel said playfully pointing in Charlie's direction and winking at her, Then moving aside so Mary Anne could walk into the room.

Mary Anne walked up to Charlie ignoring Daniel but when she got at arms length distance from Charlie then Charlie pushed her back until Mary Anne staggered away having to catch her balance or risk falling on the floor where she was sure her left leg would snap like a twig, it was already weak from where she had turned her ankle in her high heels getting out of the car in a rush.

"You shouldn't have came here, I am not in the mood to have to deal with you Mary Anne." Charlie said not angrily but more in a devastated tone of voice.

Daniel had enough drama for one day as he looked from his sister to the ragged woman named Mary Anne at the same time feeling in his pocket for his lighter and pack of cigarettes pleased to feel both and zipped up his thin jacket "whatever, I am out of here for awhile." he said in a commanding voice looking sourly at Andrea "And don't you try and come find me, I'll be back to settle with you later. If you have any sense of what is good for you, then you will keep your distance."

Andrea laughed bitterly and blew into a tissue shouting at Daniel's retreating back "Don't worry I don't care if you ever come back."

Daniel pointed his bird finger at Andrea before he slammed the door shut behind him.

"What are you looking at Miss Prissy Ass?" Andrea said noticing Mary Anne's eyes on her for the first time since she got there. Andrea smoothed her hair out, straightened  her bra through her shirt, smoothed under her eyes with her fingers. The transformation was easily back to stunning as Mary Anne looked questioning from Andrea to Charlie.

"Did I interrupt something?" Mary Anne said with a small growl to her voice.

Andrea shook her head in disbelief " How dumb can you be? No honey we were having a party just now and you broke it up" Andrea said sarcastically. "Yeah we kinda were in the middle of something." She said a bit louder.

Charlie gave Andrea a grimace "Go upstairs for a few minutes, I want to talk to Mary Anne alone."

Andrea opened her mouth to make a smart retort but was cut off by an irritated Charlie "I said go, now!" Andrea got up in a huff and looking mischievously at Mary Anne strutting slowly up the staircase to the upstairs bedrooms one step at a time.

Once Andrea was out of sight Charlie motioned for Mary Anne to sit down on the couch while she sat in the hardwood chair near the living room window. Charlie sat and rubbed her hands together as if she were cold but the heat was on and it had to be at least eighty degrees in the small room.

"Charlie what's wrong, you can tell me." Mary Anne pleaded up at Charlie. She felt hurt, thinking that they were close enough to share secrets but now she could see maybe that she was imagining Charlie's feelings for her. Not seeing the struggle for words for what it was only seeing it for it wasn't. She wanted to walk over and grab one of Charlie's large hands stroking it as a lover would console her partner who  had been hurting, but she reminded herself they were not lovers and it was a line she could not cross ..yet.

Charlie having a hard time finding words and her heart already stressed from the earlier drama just blurted it out finally "I am a girl." she said matter in a matter of fact tone, void of most emotion.

"What, I don't think I heard that right." Mary Anne said in disbelief.

"You heard me right, I got tits and I don't have the male equipment down there, I am female." Charlie said still looking down at her fingers but she was no longer rubbing them together. She felt weightless and free, free of all the secrets and despite everything she smiled. Until she looked up at Mary Anne.

Mary Anne's pale face was like porcelain but it wasn't fragile just hard as a rock. "you have been lying to me this whole time." Raising her voice to a high pitch squeal she continued "Why?"

Charlie's phone went off before she could answer. Happy for the distraction she answered it right away without even looking at who was calling her, surprised to find it was her brother on the other line.

Turning the phone off and squeezing the face of it til her knuckles went white she looked scared up at Mary Anne and told her "That was Daniel, he found Briana unconscious on the sidewalk at the edge of the forest near the park up the road. He took her to the hospital."

Mary Anne held her anger back and spoke up at Charlie throwing her the keys to her car  "You drive."