Being Alive [Charlie Barber]

Chapter 5: Brat

When you woke up the next morning, you felt like complete shit.

Sure, you were hungover. Pretty badly hungover, actually. But also, you were instantly reminded of the way you had literally sucked on your married boss's thumb in the middle of your kitchen.

You groaned and pulled your pillow over your head, running your hand along your nightstand to silence your phone's alarm that was blaring, letting you know that you needed to get up and start getting ready for work.

You were dreading work, not just because... well it was work. But because Charlie would be there. And you weren't sure if you would be able to face him today after what happened the night before.

You slowly sat up in bed and ran a hand over your face, trying to remember everything that happened. You had been pretty drunk but not drunk enough to forget about the way that Charlie had you pressed against your sink, staring down at you with lustful eyes.

He had been the one to make the first move, really, you tried to tell yourself. You might've rubbed against him a little too sexually to be considered an accident but he had been the one who put his hand on your cheek, his thumb over your lips.

Your body heated up at the realization. Charlie wanted you.

You started to piece it together now, all the small ways he'd make excuses to touch you or be alone with you, the way you'd catch him looking at you, the way he took care of you...

Slapping a hand to your forehead, you started laughing. You were so fucking naive, how could you not have noticed it before? As much as you had been pining over your boss, he was feeling the same way about you.

You repeated the idea over in your head: 'Charlie Barber wanted you'.

Although there was still a sinking feeling of shame in your stomach as you got out of bed, you couldn't help the small smile that was working its way onto your lips as you shuffled into your kitchen.

Grabbing your essential hangover supplies, you made your way into your bathroom, popping a pain reliever into your mouth as you got together your makeup for the day. You had been almost completely done getting ready when your phone lit up on the counter top in front of you.

Charlie's number.

You tried to ignore the nervousness that hit you when you unlocked your phone, clicking on the alert that he texted you:

"Take the morning off. See you at 1 o'clock"

You frowned as you read it over and over again. Take the morning off? He hadn't mentioned that to you at all before.

"Fuck." You said out loud to yourself. Maybe he was taking the morning to interview other interns, wanting to see if he had other options before he fired you. Or maybe he just didn't want to see you so early in the morning after what happened the night before... Your mind was spinning, trying to come up with any explanation for why he decided this so last minute.

You made your way back onto your bed, trying to calm yourself down. You sent a text back to Charlie, a simple: "Okay".

Then you quickly dialed your sister's number, needing to talk to someone about this before you spiraled any more than you already were and starting really panicking.

"Hi." You heard Erin's voice on the other end.

"Hey, what are you doing?" You asked her, bringing your knees up to your chest.

"Yoga." She answered, "Are you okay?"

You rolled your eyes at that. Of course. You woke up hungover and hating yourself and Erin probably woke up with a smile on her face before floating over to her yoga mat. She always had her shit together. "I just need to talk about something out loud so I don't go crazy."