Journey || Erik Durm

♀

CHARLOTTE:

            WHEN I awoke the next morning, everything hurt.

I winced through the memory of the previous night: the pain of being slammed into a textured brick wall, my heart that had responded as if to a catastrophe, and the stranger's calloused hands as they explored the nape of my neck. Then there was the feeling of relief that had overwhelmed me as Erik made his appearance. As I saw him standing by the peripheries in his enraged glory, I began considering the possibility that behind his sensibly grim exterior, there may exist a caring human being.

It was in the way his eyes had spewed fire in spite of what was happening, the way his typically monotonous lips were curled in indignation.

He had been my knight in the shining armor. An unusual one, but one nevertheless. The unlikeliness of him doing something like that again made me wonder if last night had been a dream—but of course it hadn't been. Because as I attempted to rise from bed, my body limply fell onto the bed in pain, resurrecting a flood of unwanted memories.

I released a sigh, resting my gaze on the neighboring bed where Erik had spent the night. It was already neatly made, eliminated of all traces of him. I wondered when he had left.

Why did I care, anyway? I had no reason to. But it had been a while since I got laid and hormones were kicking in with their full effect and I was latching onto a fragile tether of love that should have fractured the day Papa left Mama.

At that thought, I rose from the bed and ambled outside, my legs dragging along the cherry tiles. Carolyn was already awake and writing on a triangular chalkboard that lay on display.

"Good morning, Carolyn," I greeted, walking towards her.

"Good morning, sweetheart," she replied, her gaze not straying from the board. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Yeah," I answered. I hesitated fleetingly before asking: "Is Erik around?"

Carolyn's head whipped in my direction. "Why?" she questioned suspiciously, biting her lip to resist a smile. She engrossed herself in an expression that implied that she knew more than she let on. "Did something happen between you two?"

I furiously shook my head. "No, that's not it—"

"Oh! Are you wearing his jacket? You're wearing his jacket!"

"No, it's not what it looks like," I protested, my eyes widening. I had forgotten that I was still wearing his clothes. I suppose it explained why I smelled lavishly of Earl Grey.

"You two are having an affair," she exclaimed, dropping her chalk unto the holder.

I inwardly groaned, wondering how my wearing his jacket equated to me having an affair with him. Just when I thought the situation could not further escalate, Erik appeared on the doorway, biting into an apple. "Who's having an affair with who?" he asked coolly.

"You are!" Carolyn answered happily.

"As if," he scoffed, walking over to her. When close enough, he placed a fleeting kiss on her cheek. "Good morning, Mama."

She released a stream of airy laughter before saying dreamily, "So, you and Lotte, huh?"

"In her dreams," Erik responded teasingly, making me fume.

"Oh, please," I snapped at him. "I wouldn't get with you if you were the last guy on Earth."

"See how hostile she is, Mama? You want me to date someone like that?"

Carolyn laughed yet again. "I think she's cute."

"Can you guys not talk about me like I'm not here?" I murmured, raising my hands in the air out of habit. "Anyway, I need to make a call!" I digressed hastily, dashing out of the diner. I had no intention of making a call, but I spotted a phone booth nearby, I realized that I should call Mary Anne to tell her that I had done it; I had found a place to live.