A Day at a Time / G-Eazy

Four

Gerald left a couple of hours ago. Charlie has the day off, she had just gotten out of the shower and is relaxing on her sofa with her robe and a face mask on. She's laughing at a cooking show on Netflix when there's a knock on her door, she opens it and quickly closes it again.

"Come on, open the door," Gerald yells from the other side.Charlie walks back over to the sofa and unpauses the show, getting comfortable. There's another knock on the door and then the knob twist open. Her eyes shoot up from the television screen to the man in her doorway.

"What's on your face?" Gerald laughs, walking closer to her. She gets up from the couch, stomping over to her front door and closing it obnoxiously, then to the garbage can removing the sheet mask. Gerald is tearing the cushions off of her sofa.

"What are you doing, Gerald?"

"I can't find my phone. Thought it might be here."

"Doesn't look like it is," Charlie mumbles, placing the cushions back on the sofa. "You probably left it at the bar, while you were getting fucked up in the bathroom."

Gerald sighs, "Back off, alright. You don't know shit."

"Okay, well good luck finding your phone." Charlie directs Gerald to the door but he turns around.

"Would you help me?"

"You don't even know my name," Charlie rolls her eyes. Why should she help him?

"Of course I do... Doctor" he mumbles the last part with a guilty smile and looks down.

"Wow, you're really close," Charlie remarks sarcastically. "I'll help you but only to get you out of my hair."

Charlie gets dressed in the bathroom, hair up with leggings and a t-shirt, she has no one to impress. When she's done, she finds Gerald scrolling through her Netflix account, comfortable on her sofa. He looks up at her and smiles, "Sorry I was an ass before. I'm just hungover and stressed. I have a show tonight and I need my phone."

Who is this? She is genuinely surprised, almost suspicious. She looks at his face, he has bags under his eyes and his hair is disheveled but his smile is goofy and brings out small crows feet.

She's not going to let him get away with his behavior though, "I would forgive you but it's your fault you got so fucked up."

"I'm just having fun. I spend so much time, writing and recording and giving a shit about what people think. When I go on tour I just want to let go, live a little."

Charlies rolls her eyes at him, "Whatever, let's get your phone so I can get you out of my hair."

"I really appreciate it, seriously. I have a show tonight, you should come. Think of it as a thank you."

She doesn't answer him, not really interested and continues to walk by him. She makes her way to the door, him following closely behind. "I'll see if I can have Alex open the bar so we can look for your phone, but I'm not promising anything."

They make their way down the hallway to Alex's apartment. Charlie knocks on the door and turns around waiting for a moment. Alex comes to the door, it is obvious that they had woken her.

"Hey, I'm sorry this is so early. Would you mind opening the bar for me? This idiot thinks he left his phone somewhere last night." She apologizes and gestures over to Gerald, standing behind her.

Alex smirks at Charlie, "Hang on, I'll just give you the keys. I'm not going anywhere like this."

She shuffles over to the kitchen and pulls the keys out of a drawer, Charlie and Gerald wait patiently by the front door. Charlie had not been expecting Alex to just give her keys to her business.

"Are you sure you trust me enough?" Charlie asks skeptically.

Alex shrugs, "I know where you live. Just bring them back when you're done."

Charlie nods and thanks Alex before making her way downstairs with Gerald close behind. She unlocks the door to the bar and motions over to the restrooms while taking a seat on the stools, "You probably left it in the bathroom, that was the last place you were."

Gerald comes out a few minutes later, holding his phone and a bottle of whiskey. Charlie scrunches her nose, looking at him, "You're not seriously going to drink that right? It sat in the bathroom unattended all night..."

He shrugs his shoulders and tosses it in the garbage nearby, "I own the company, I can always get more."

Charlie's eyes perk up hearing this, "You do more than just rap about bitches?"

He laughs and pulls up the seat next to her, "Well, as you know, I like to drink. I would always see Stillhouse everywhere I went, it seemed. I loved the whiskey and the guy who created it is great. We hit it off, it was just endorsements at first but soon I became his partner and co-creative director."

"So, you're pretty successful then? Why have I never heard of you?"

Gerald smiles again, the corners of his eyes wrinkle, "I guess you'll have to learn good music, huh?"

Gerald opens his contacts and hits new, sliding his phone towards her, "Put your number in. I'll text you the address to the show tonight. Trust me, it'll be a good time."

She hesitates before grabbing his phone. He isn't the kind of people Charlie gets involved with, she likes her life quiet and simple. Melissa always said she was too comfortable back in Vermont. It's not that she doesn't have fun but she likes a schedule, she likes to spend a Saturday night in, watching movies or playing games. She isn't the type of person you would find out partying. Charlie rarely drinks and when so, she has never let herself get drunk. She doesn't want to be like her father and she wants a better life than her mother had, even if that means being boring.

They get up from their stools and Charlie locks the front door while Gerald scrolls through his phone realizing how much he had missed in the few hours he didn't have it. 

"Shit, I have to go get ready for tonight. I'll send you the address in a little bit. You'll come through, right?" He asks as he walks backward toward the street.

Charlie shrugs and gives him a small wave before walking back to the elevator. Once upstairs she heads towards Alex's apartment. She hears shuffling before Alex opens the door. When she sees that Charlie's alone a smile appears on her face and she ushers her inside, closing the door.

"Hey! Sit down, I'll put on coffee."

Charlie sits on the sofa taking in Alex's apartment, it's not much bigger than her own but does have a separate bedroom. Alex decorates it dark and messy. There are paintings lining the walls, along with some drying on the floor, most likely the works of herself.

Alex comes back, handing Charlie a coffee mug which she exchanges for the keys and joins her on the couch. 

"So, what were you doing with G-Eazy this morning? Is that the reason you left so suddenly last night?"

She has a mischievous smile on her face and Charlie feels like she's in middle school gossiping about a crush, "Yes, I left with him last night but it's not what you think." She shut's Alex down quickly. "He was really messed up and needed somewhere to crash. I couldn't ethically leave him there. He slept on the couch."

Alex rolls her eyes, "So that's it? There's no interest there at all? Come on, I wanted something juicy."

Charlie laughs, "Well, I don't have anything juicy for you, sorry. He did invite me to his concert tonight but I don't think I'm going to go."

"You have to go! You just moved here, come on go out, have fun!"

Charlie sighs, "It's not really my scene. I mean I wouldn't mind going but if I went, would you come with me? I don't want to go alone."

Alex's smile widens, "Of course! I would love to go. I'll have Jack cover the bar for me, he owes me that much."

Charlie and Alex exchange numbers before Charlie leaves to meet Melissa for lunch.