I tried holding on to my pleasant dreams of Eric as my eyes fluttered open. But as I stared at my ceiling I struggled to remember the specifics. I only knew he was there, even in my subconscious. I glanced at my clock, it was nearly nine in the morning. I was shocked that Julia hadn't barged into my room at the break of dawn to wake me, she had always been an early riser. I stood out of my bed and pulled my flannel robe on, it was a chilly morning. I grabbed my phone off my nightstand and was disappointed when I didn't see any messages from Eric. I sighed as I left my room and headed down the hall. I could hear laughing from the kitchen, I stopped dead in my tracks when I suddenly heard a man's laughter.
Charlie.
Charlie was in my house, in my kitchen, laughing with Julia. Why was he here? I hadn't even said goodbye to him last night, what made him think I would want a surprise visit? I braced myself for whatever hell was about to occur inside my kitchen. I took one deep breath and stepped through the doorway, my jaw dropped when I saw that my mother was here too. What was she doing here? Their backs were to me, the three of them were standing at the counter, shimming to the music. Charlie had exchanged the powerful Beethoven for Queen's "Under Pressure". I cleared my throat and the three of them jumped and turned towards me, even I was surprised by the sound. I could have stood there silently all morning until they noticed me.
"Hey!" They all said in unison and broke into a fit of laughter.
I laughed awkwardly and stood completely petrified. Julia was grinning, clearly impressed by Charlie. My mother's eyes were wide and glossed over as if she had been crying from laughing so hard. I knew Charlie had won her over too. Charlie's smile was beyond glorious. I was tempted to look behind me to see what he was looking at but I knew that would have been silly; he was beaming at me. He was so handsome, what had I done to deserve the attention of such a sweet man? I had only been cruel to him, whether he was aware of it or not. Only a moment passed as I assessed them and Charlie didn't hesitate to cross the kitchen and plant a firm kiss on my cheek.
"Morning sunshine. Hungry?"
"Very." I said assuredly. "I'm surprised you're still standing after last night."
Charlie smiled and took a moment before looking into my eyes again, I'd be embarrassed too if I were him. "I celebrated a bit too hard I think. But I forced myself to drink practically a gallon of water before bed and after a Bloody Mary this morning I'm right as rain."
"Good. I'm glad. So what are my chefs making for me?"
"We've got quite a spread cooking honey, I hope you're hungry."
My mother was grinning, I hadn't seen her have this much fun in a long time, she was always so consumed by her job. Julia stood quietly next to Charlie, she was grinning as she popped a strawberry into her mouth. I did not want to know what she could possibly be thinking, she looked too pleased with herself.
"Coffee?" Charlie asked as he handed me a cup of the sweetest smelling liquid.
I eagerly took the cup from Charlie's hand and his hand lingered on my arm. My heart twitched as he touched me. I instantly recalled what I had felt for Charlie on our first date at his restaurant. This was the Charlie I liked, not the pompous jerk I had seen last night. I started to feel like this was the true Charlie, I had been too hard on him before. Charlie returned to the stove and I sipped the coffee, it was amazing. Unlike any coffee I had before.
"It's homemade creamer El." Julia said as she raised her eyebrows.
"Can I talk to you for a second Jules?"
"Sure Ella." Julia said teasingly.
I rolled my eyes and Julia followed me out of the kitchen. I folded my arms over my chest and glared at her.
