FRIENDS - BWS

40 | Ouch, Charlie

I run as fast as my lungs and legs allow me to until I finally arrive home, barely able to breathe and covered in sweat. My hair's a mess, sticking to my forehead, and full of knots, courtesy of the wind, but right now it doesn't matter because I'm finally home. I rush through the content of my bag to find my keys, and quickly make my way inside. 

"Brad?", I call out as I throw my bag on the floor next to the door. "Brad, are you home?", I say again, making my way to the kitchen. There's no answer, and I start to wonder if he left for the studio again. And just as I enter the kitchen, my eyes fall on the beautiful bouquet of flowers laying on the table, instantly drawing a faint smile on my lips. I pick up the flowers and bring them under my nose, enjoying their delicate perfume. Brad has never bought me flowers before, so he really must have felt sorry about ghosting me again today. Well at least until our last conversation, because he probably doesn't feel the same way now. I put the flowers back down on the table and check the rest of the place, hoping I'd find him asleep somewhere. Unfortunately that doesn't happen, and I soon realize that the apartment is empty. "Fuck", I mumble to myself as I pace around the living room trying to think of where he could be. It's past 9 pm, he could either be at the studio or with the boys. After calling him a bunch of times without any answer, I decide to give the studio a try, and grab my car keys before making my way there. The closer I get to the building, the faster my heart's beating in my chest. Brad and I have not had a fight like that since the disaster with Ashley and Jay when everything went down. But it was different back then. I truly thought I had lost my best friend after what happened between us, while this time I know we're stronger than whatever stupid words we said. We 're going to talk it out and everything will be back to the way it was. Maybe not exactly as it was though, because I'm still missing my boyfriend and want him to start paying attention to me. When I arrive at the studio, I hurry inside, only to be stopped by the security guard posted at the door.

"Do you have a badge?", he asks, blocking me the way. I sigh as I realized I didn't bring the badge Brad had given me a while back.

"Not on me", I answer, looking in my purse in case it would magically appear.

"No badge, no entry", the guy says, making me sigh again.

"Come on... Charlie", I say as I read his nametag. "You can make an exception, just this one time. I promise I'll be quick", I add, hoping he'd fall for my puppy eyes and take pity on me. He doesn't answer, simply shaking his head negatively. I spend the next ten minutes literally begging him to let me in, but he still doesn't budge. "I wish you weren't that good at your job, Charlie", I say, giving up. He clearly isn't going to let me in, what's the point of arguing with him? So I leave the building and sit on the steps in front of the door. I'm determined to talk to Brad and won't give up that easily. He's ought to leave at some point, right? I stay here, sitting on the cold steps, calling Brad's cell over and over again but he's either too mad or too busy to pick up. And just as I thought the day couldn't get any crappier, it starts raining. Of course, why am I even surprised? Because when one thing goes wrong, everything else has to follow, right? I quickly get up and take cover under the small ledge on top of the building door and wrap my arms around myself to stay warm. It's far from an ideal situation, but I'm determined to talk to Brad, and I'm not going to let three drops of rain get in the way. The minutes go by, and Brad's still not picking up. I'm shivering from the cold night air, my hair dripping from the now pouring rain the wind keeps sending in my face, and I start to question my idea of standing here while my car's parked a couple of blocks away. The building's door suddenly open and Charlie appears, looking at me with a mix of exasperation and pity on his face.

"What do you so desperately need to do here?", he asks, now standing beside me. "I'm not gonna let you in, you should go home"

"I won't leave until my boyfriend comes out", I say, looking at my phone. It's getting late and all I want to do is have a hot shower. But not before I fix things with Brad.