old soul | matthew gray gubler

40. the men's restroom

The bar was bustling, fitting for a Saturday night, with people hopping from the counter to their seats, drinks tipping over the side of their cups as bodies bumped into one another. Some were dancing, on the shiny floor at the front of the room beneath a disco ball that blinded you every few seconds. Others did it in their spot, bouncing on their heels and waving their gangly arms. They livened the crowds at their tables, drawing laughter and red faced- smiles from the drinkers.

Charlotte was one of those people. A virgin Shirley Temple in hand, olive green dress swaying around her waist, and gleeful passerby's watching her awkward dance moves.

Kirstin held onto Charlotte's fingertips, arm swooshing through the air as Charlotte moved it to the rhythm. Kirstin tugged Charlotte's arm above her head and forced a spin out of the girl. Charlotte giggled and held her drink closer to her to protect it through the spin.

She landed face-forward again and let go of Kirstin's hand. Her feet were tired already, so with loud clapping from her group and a bow in which she tugged out the flare of her dress, Charlotte climbed back up on to her bar stool.

Matthew steadied her by the elbow, then his arm fell over the back of her seat. She'd moved her chair closer to hers and leaned into his shoulder.

"So, why'd you become an actress and not a dancer?" Adam called from the across the table, tipping the beer in his hand her way.

She took a sip to satisfy the dryness on her tongue and replied, "Not enough drama."

"That was pretty dramatic to me," Aisha- Matthew's Aisha, not Charlotte's- laughed.

Charlotte shrugged, "I directed that one."

The table laughed again and Daniel drew up a new topic of conversation. Charlotte sat back- hypothetically- and watched the friends flow through stories and laughter. She dipped a toe in, now and again, but mainly ate the stories they fed her. Stories of Matthew being weird on set, recording his videos that he'd never even released. She didn't pay enough attention to any other tales for them to stick in her brain- the ones about Matthew were the only she truly cared about.

Matthew didn't act embarrassed because he wasn't that type of person. He embraced everyone laughing with him, added his own, "Hey, remember when I did this-!"

Charlotte offered up her own stories of him and knew they'd use those in interviews, over rounds of perspiring beer in another noisy bar. When she finished her drink, she was happy that Adam was leading the conversation again. She had to pee like crazy.

Charlotte tilted her head, lips near Matthew's ear to say, "Going to the bathroom. Want another drink?"

Her pointer finger tapped his empty glass. Matthew glanced towards the noise and pursed his mouth in thought. "I got it. You?"

"Yeah, thanks," she kissed his cheek before sliding off of the bar stool.

Kirstin noticed her feet land on the floor and got up with her. "Let me come, too!"

Aisha called from across the table, "Girl's trip!"

AJ raised her glass towards them and stood. Paget, the final woman, tipped her head back, swallowed the rest of her glass, and joined them. "Here we go, ladies!"