Flashcards On The Wall

Chapter 28: Charlie

"You made it!" Gabriel greets me.

"Well, well, who do we have here?" the guy next to him asks.

"This is Charlie, my cousin," Gabe introduces.

The cousin. Got it. The only real reason Gabe wanted me to show up today.

"Amelia," I say.

Charlie shakes my hand.

"A pretty name for a pretty girl," Charlie tells me.

Okay.

"Uh. Thank you," I reply.

"Did you find someone to cover for you?" Gabriel asks me.

"No. I can only stay a bit," I answer.

"You can't stay?" Charlie asks me.

"I started working at restaurant not that long ago and my friend got me the job, so I can't really ask for time off so soon. She vouched for me and that would make her look bad as well as myself," I respond.

"What a shame," Charlie looks disappointed. Who knows why?

"Something is better than nothing," says Gabriel, "so, James is at the grill. There's burgers if you want to eat now."

"I already ate," I tell him.

"I told you it was a barbeque. Why would you eat before?" Gabe asks.

"I can't eat a burger before a shift. That is way too heavy. I have to be all over that place, a burger would slow me down," I answer.

"Okay well let's go meet James, who by the way, thinks he's feeding everyone today. You can tell him you aren't interested and see if he is not offended," responds Gabe.

"I do want to meet your roommate. I have all sorts of questions for him and you said Abigail would be here too, right?" I ask.

"She hasn't showed up," Gabe answers.

"Oh, okay," I say.

"Who is this Abigail person?" Charlie asks me.

"She works at the reference desk in the library," I answer.

"She's James' girlfriend," adds Gabriel.

"Oh yeah he mentioned her," responds Charlie.

"Thirsty?" Gabe asks me.

"I'll take a water if you have one," I say.

"I'm on it," says Charlie as he walks away.

"So, your cousin is visiting. Is that what all this is for?" I ask Gabe.

"Charlie is a people person and we all gotta eat right? Might as well do both" Gabe answers.

Charlie comes back with an extra beer for me.

"Oh. No, thank you," I say, "If there's no water, I'm fine," I say.

"This is better," Charlie responds.

"It really isn't," I say, "I'm driving to work. Two things I need to be sober for."

"Come on, what are you afraid of?" Charlie questions.

"Not interested at all," I answer.

"I'll take it Charlie, thanks," says Gabe taking the beer from his cousin, "I'll get your water," he tells me.

"Thanks," I say watching him walk away.

Gabe is happy. I like that. For the most part Gabriel is someone that seems generally content. He is by no means a cheery person around the clock. Then again, neither am I. That might be why today it's noticeable. There's an ease about him that I don't usually see. Is the reason Charlie?