Please Don't Forget About Me

Flames

Charity finally makes it to lower Manhattan, and parks outside her parents' place. She glances at the clock, it's just past 6:30pm. Trying to find a decent place to park was no easy task. This is something which has been the bane of Pale's life since moving to New York, the parking and the crazy, unbearable traffic. Ezra insisted on staying away, not wanting to get caught up in the middle of a marital dispute. He scarpered off and promised Charity that he would meet her at their hotel later on in the evening. Still reeling from her confrontation earlier on, she watched as he walked away from her. He still has the same swagger that he had when they were teenagers, I wonder if he will come back; she thinks to herself as she begrudgingly enters the apartment building.

Nothing has changed since Charity can remember, she was raised here by her parents and their best friend, Larry, in the same apartment since she was born. The same deep red antique couch sits right in the centre of the lounge area, it's the first thing that hits you as soon as you walk in, and the view of the city from behind is break taking. Anna was never one for curtains or blinds, so the window invites a gorgeous backdrop for the apartment, especially with all the colours of the sky at sunset. Still very much minimalistic, however, there is a glass table in the far right corner which seats up to eight people, six are taken and two are missing.

"Charity, love. Finally, I'm so glad you're here," Pale beams as Charity breezes in through the door. She quickly takes off her caramel coloured coat and matching scarf, hanging it up on the rack. Her blonde hair flows in soft waves down her back, she is the spitting image of her mother as Pale has reminded them both on countless occasions. "Charity, honey, I saved you a seat right here between me and your father. A Larry, Charity and Pale club sandwich with extra relish and cheese," the flamboyant Larry gushes as he engulfs Charity in a big hug. "Gee, thanks. Hi guys," Charity waves over at her half-siblings, Allan, Cece and their respective partners, Nicole and Barney. "Nice to meet you, I'm Nicole," She smiles warmly at Charity extending her hand out to shake. "Yes, I remember Allan's little x-rated picture on Facebook," Charity sniggers as she takes a seat next to Pale and Larry. "Sis, you don't have to start bringing up the past, that was over a year ago and I was plastered that night," Allan shrugs. "Hey, I'm not judging. Just stating the facts, dear brother," Charity said as settles in her seat and examines the assortment of food in front of her. "So, sugar, how are you holding up?" Larry asks as he squeezes Charity's hand. "As good as can be expected, considering everything. Where's mom?" She asks turning to looking at Pale. "She's back, she just went to the grocery store to grab some wine as we'd run out," he replies looking like a deer in headlights. "You could have told me," a relieved Charity mumbles to herself in frustration. Pale looks over at her apologetically and kisses her cheek, "It's so good to have you back home where you belong." She nods tentatively, still pissed that she worried so much about her mother on the long journey over here. Finally opting for the more adventurous dish on the table, Charity loads up her plate with some pilau rice, vegetable curry and a garlic naan bread, taking in all the aromas of the Indian cuisine. Pale made the whole banquet on the table himself. A restaurant manager for many years he prides himself on knowing a thing or two in the kitchen. Needless to say they all sit in silence as the delicious food in front of them is devoured. Larry finally pipes up, "It's been a year, have you done anything to mark the occasion?" He asks inquisitively. "Nothing, what have you done to mark your breakup with Tony?" She responds sarcastically. Running his hand through his thick dark curls, Larry frowns, "Hey, don't forget who you're talking to here. Show some respect for your elders," He laughs, his brown eyes glistening. "You're like the second brother I never asked for, Larry," she responds, folding her arms in satisfaction with her witty response. "I'm the Godfather, your godfather, in case you have forgotten my little chicken," He laughs as he scoops up a spoonful of macaroni from the glass casserole dish. "I'm a vegetarian," Charity says, tilting her head. He nearly chokes on his pasta in shock, "What the fuck, since when?!" Her bottom lip curls in as she tries to suppress her giggles. "Since forever, you just never paid attention to it, Vito Corleone," She says, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "Shit, so the meatloaf?" Larry gasps as Charity cuts him off. "In the bin, like the steak, gammon, chicken breast and that God awful pasta bake," She laughs. "Pasta bake, what are you a Vegan now, missus?" Larry nudges her, still in shock at her confession. "I basically don't eat anything that smiles," She replies, taking a sip of her white wine. "So, let me get this straight. Since when does cheese smile?" He asks dumbfounded. Before Charity can respond Anna flounces into the dining area. "Charity! My gorgeous girl, how are you sweetheart?" She smiles gleefully as she rushes over to her daughter. Her hair is swept up in a high curly bun with a few loose waves cascading down the side of her face, for fifty-six she still looks elegant and youthful. "Good, good. How's everything going?" Charity whispers in her mother's ear. "Not now, hun. Later, after the whole motley crew have cleared off," she whispers back referring to Pale's children from his first marriage. "Mom, what on earth are you wearing?" Charity asks bewildered. Anna is wearing a silk emerald green wrap dress which is halfway up her thigh. "Oh doll, she wore that on the night when she and your daddy officially got together. It was a lot longer back then though, I took the liberty of shortening it. As the saying goes, you can shorten it and then bippity boppity boo you can wear it all over again," Larry beams admiring his handiwork. "Yes, thank you hun," Anna smiles down at Larry as she takes her seat next to Pale. "How's work going Cece?" Charity asks her sister who is fully engrossed in her phone. She shrugs nonchalantly as she briefly glances at Charity, "Same old shit different day, you've met Barney before haven't you?" She gestures towards her unassuming boyfriend who resembles a young bearded Tom Hiddleston, he's not bad to look at Charity thinks to herself. "Yeah, at Christmas. You bought the salted caramel trifle that gave us all food poisoning last year," Charity tuts at the memory of last Christmas. "What's your problem today? Jesus fucking Christ!" Cece exclaims, chucking her phone on the table. "Me? I'm peachy, but I've just had enough of the lies and the bullshit that takes place without fail every time we are all sitting around this fucking table," Says Charity as she glares at her sister. "Who is lying, what are you talking about?" Barney asks looking from Cece to Charity. "Ask your girlfriend, or maybe you should check out her phone. Oh look, bang on cue. "Hey sexy, I can't wait to see you Saturday night. I know you've been dreaming of me, you'd better sit on my face you filthy cunt whore," Charity announces smugly as she throws Cece's back phone at her. "You evil bitch!" Cece screams as she lunges towards Charity. "Girls! For fucks sake, sit down! This is my fucking birthday party and you spoiled brats are destroying it yet again. Can't you for once get on for my sake?" Pale hisses as he jumps in between his two daughters. "On her side yet again, daddy. Since we are confessing our sins this afternoon why don't I..." Cece snarls before Barney cuts her off abruptly. "Back up way back, are you sexting some other guy?" She looks down at her boyfriend and throws her hands up in the air. "Yeah, so what? It's not like we are married." Anna turns to face Cece, "You'd better watch what you say, if you are not careful you'll be out of this apartment so fast your head will spin." Cece cackles as she stares Anna down. "You have no right to speak to me like that, you're not my mother. You're just some whore that wrecked my dads marriage and destroyed my family," She says through gritted teeth as she starts to cry. "Don't you dare speak to my wife like that you little bitch! Who do you think you are?!" Pale rages at her. "I'm your daughter, that thing over there isn't even biologically yours!" Cece screeches as the whole room goes into a deadly silence. "What did you say?" Charity says looking gravely at her sister. "Angel, let's talk about this in private," Anna says as she takes hold of Charity's shoulders. "I'm not going anywhere, what does she mean?" She responds as a lump forms in her throat. Pale looks at Anna with tears starting to form in his hazel eyes, "We should tell her," He stutters. "Baby, this doesn't change anything. You're my daughter and you always will be. When your mom told me she was expecting you I was just on cloud nine, I was over the moon in fact. We'd only been together two months but nothing felt more right to me than starting a family with her. We both knew straight away that there was a possibility that you could be Bruce's baby, we never found out as it's never mattered to us. At the end of the day it doesn't matter whose spunk it is, what makes a father is who is there from day one and I was!" Pale cries as he tries to take hold of Charity's hand. She angrily slaps it away and gets up from the table. "How could you? You've lied to me my whole life, does Burton know?" She says whilst glaring at Anna who shakes her head. "He didn't, not up until recently. He's got his own life now and a family," She mutters, unable to look Charity in the eye. "That's nice for him isn't it? Is that why you've been having secret rendezvous with your ex lover then, rekindling an old flame?" Charity responds. "No, no. Hang on, how do you know about that?" Anna asks as she looks over at Pale who rubs his hand on his temple. "You've been going through my phone again haven't you?!" She bellows at her husband getting all up in his face. "Oh my, oh my. This is like an episode of Jerry Springer!" Allan chuckles as he leans back in his chair. "More like Ricki Lake, although I prefer Steve Wilkos," Larry says as he sips his chilled glass of Chardonnay. "That does it, I'm out of here folks. Have a nice life you slut," Barney hisses as he grabs his coat and leaves the apartment before anyone can respond.

"So, you've known about this too Fairy godfather?!" Charity exclaims turning on Larry. "Not really. Uh, okay yes I did. What was I supposed to do, they promised me to keep quiet and at the end of the day very special old Pale is your father and he loves you more than anything? What's the big deal?" He asks, downing the last couple of drops of his Chardonnay. "He's right, sweetie. I love you so much, it doesn't matter to me. Even if you were Bruce's daughter, which I don't believe you are, I'd still worship the ground you walk on," Pale whispers as he edges closer to Charity. "Back the fuck off now before someone gets hurt!" She responds, exasperated. "This is like that film Mamma Mia, right?" Allan laughs, pointing towards Larry for backup. "Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight," Larry starts singing, trying to lighten the mood and fails miserably. "That does it I'm out of here, screw all of you!" Charity screams as she storms out of the room. "You fucking arsehole, you had to make everything worse, didn't ya?" Pale growls over at Larry. "Hey dude, I wasn't the one who cheated on Barney, was I?" He replies smugly gesturing over towards Cece. "I really couldn't give a Rhett Butler damn about him, anyway. He's got the personality of a goldfish and a proper wet weekend too, such a mama's boy. We can't carry on babying Charity forever, she needs to get over her miscarriage at some point," She shrugs in dismissal as she looks at her chipped nails. "Stillborn, you ignorant bitch," Anna say as she gives Cece a violent death stare. "Is anyone going to go after Maury's guest? The DNA test results show that the biological father of Charity Engle is....plot twist, Larry!" Allan chuckles to himself as Nicole nudges him angrily. "Good one, my boy!" Larry beams as he leans over and gives Allan a high five.

Outside Charity is gasping for a drink, a real stiff shot of something, maybe a Tequila to take her mind off of the ordeal she has just faced. Her dad, the man she has loved all of her life, might not be her biological father. The anguish running through her heart and her soul is almost too much to take. The neighbourhood is quiet for a Saturday, everyone must be drinking up a storm in the bars. Charity waltzes alone through the district, the street lamps are dimly lit, the sky has turned into a dark blue colour and a cool breeze is making her shiver in her lightweight coat. Where the fuck is Ezra when you need him, she thinks to herself? If he was here now, he would be mortified and he probably would have said something that he would've regretted. Hopefully, he should be back at the hotel when she returns, if he isn't still pissed off with her after this afternoon's heated conversation. After walking a couple of minutes, she spies an old haunt of hers and Ezra's, a quaint little bar called Attaboy. "It's my right to get totally wasted tonight," Charity mumbles as she turns to enter the pathway to the bar, not seeing the guy in front of her. "Ouch, shit!" His cup of freshly brewed coffee splatters all down the front of her coat. "Holy fuck, I am so sorry! I didn't see you," He exclaims as he tries to wipe the spilt coffee from her coat. "Get your hands off of me!" She exclaims as she slaps his hands away. She looks up at him, he's youngish with thick black hair just below his ears. He is sporting a tiny bit of stubble along his lip and despite the circumstances, he looks rather cute. "Sorry, miss. I was just in a rush to get home, it was a very late shift for me," He says apologetically. "Don't worry, I've just been having a real fucked up day and this was just the tip of the iceberg," Charity sighs heavily. "Ah shit, I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you?" He asks shyly as his cup falls from his hand, the rest of its contents splattering all over Charity's boots. "That was your way of making it up to me, genius?" Charity huffs as she takes a tissue out from her bag and bends to clean it up. "I could take you out for a drink," He replies nervously. "Is that so? Well, I am in desperate need of a shot or maybe a..." He cuts her off before she can respond. "A cocktail, is that something you'd need, want or like? Sorry, I'm rambling," He stutters getting even more flustered. Charity laughs at his nervousness. He reminds her of Ezra when they first met. "Okay then, maybe some place better than here," She suggests as she chucks the dirty tissue in a nearby bin. "Bar Goto!" He says a little too loudly. "Sure, sounds great. I'm Charity by the way," She smiles as she offers her hand to him. "Oh, that's very charitable of you," He jokes, "That's a nice name, I'm Adam," He continues, shaking her hand gently.