Being Alive [Charlie Barber]

Chapter 22 : Beginning

When he walked in the door, he attempted to speak with Henry but his son was too busy in the bathroom. Charlie said a quick hello to Nicole's mom and sister, Cassie, but it didn't take long for it all to go downhill. 

He found the manilla envelope with the divorce papers inside while Nicole had been out of the room after he began helping himself to some food in the fridge.

To say that it was awkward to have the papers served to him by Nicole's sister while he had a mouth full of chicken, was an understatement.

It was humiliating.

Charlie wasn't upset with Nicole in the slightest. It took him by surprise, but it wasn't as if he wasn't planning to do the same thing eventually. He would've appreciated it if Nicole would've waited for a moment that they were alone, instead of leaving the folder out on the counter where it was easily found by him.

After processing the fact that she had divorce papers ready for him, she waited until it was just the two of them in the kitchen to let him know that she was aware of what was going on.

"Did it have to be her?" Nicole asked in a hushed voice. The expression on her face wasn't outright mad or sad, more so just exhausted.

"Who are you talking about? Cassie? It wasn't her fault that I found it while she was in the room." Charlie said in confusion. He assumed that Nicole was referencing the fact that he'd been with her sister when he found the folder of divorce papers.

    Nicole sighed and glanced around, making sure that no one else could hear. "I'm not talking about that..." She trailed off, trying to figure out how to say it.

    Charlie locked eyes with her and it began to dawn on him, the gears turning his mind as he thought over all of the possibilities that made him sick to his stomach. He set down the fork that was in his hand from the chicken he'd been picking at nervously.

    "I know about the two of you. I know everything." Nicole said, trying to be vague because it felt worse to say the details out loud, it made it more real.

    "I don't know what you're saying, Nicole," Charlie said simply casually even though he felt like he could pass out. This couldn't be happening...

    Nicole sighed in frustration, her cheeks flushing red with the anger that she felt. "I was suspicious that you were seeing someone on the side but really? Her? You really had to fuck our son's babysitter? What's wrong with you?" She hissed in a quiet voice.

    Charlie went pale.  His eyes were wide and he was frozen in place. He almost choked on the water he just took a sip of.

    Nicole moved closer to him, not giving him the chance to deny it because even if she had been doubting it before, the look on his face just gave him away. "She's our babysitter, Charlie. Your fucking intern. Are you kidding me?"

~   

    As Charlie remembered the events from earlier, he slowly brought a trembling hand up to his lips so that he could take a long drink of beer from his bottle. At this point, hours later, he accepted the fact that the two of you were caught but it had taken hours alone in the hotel room to come to terms with that.

    He wasn't in the right mindset to call you immediately. He had needed some time on his own to process what had happened. Then, the second that the shock wore off, he was dialing your number in desperation.