Stella and the Boxer

Chapter 12

He does too much for me. If I’m going to be staying at his house often, I need to be able to take care of things alongside him. I decide to make the bed. I hurry to straighten the sheets and the comforter, and by the time that Charlie returns, I am arranging the pillows – both practical and decorative – in their usual display.

“Stella, you didn’t have to do that.” Charlie says, referring to the nicely made bed. Wrapping his arms around my waist from behind me, he leans down to kiss my cheek.

I finish placing the last pillow and I turn in his arms to face him.

“Should I shower here?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

Charlie rubs his nose and lips along the un-bruised side of my face.

“I think I still have some making up to do for last night and this morning.”

Of course, I want to remind him that it’s not his fault again, but I can’t pass up his offer to make it up to me, not with him so close…

I feel goose bumps rise on my skin as he turns me around by my waist and we head back into the bathroom.

***

After having taken two showers with Charlie, I decide that I never want to shower alone again, for obvious reasons.

As I stand in front of the mirror with my towel wrapped around me, I decide to immediately apply my makeup. The whole bruise covers easily, and I feel like the slight swelling in my eye has already gone down. I’m extra relieved, because I was sure that my persistent crying would have caused puffiness in both of my eyes. I do all of my makeup at once and then I comb through my still damp hair and use my blow-dryer.  

Charlie is ready long before I am, but he sits on the edge of the bathtub. He glances at his phone now and then, but mostly, he is watching me dry my hair.

As I finish with my blow dryer, I turn around to him.

“You don’t have to wait in here with me, you know. Not that I don’t appreciate the company, but feel no obligation if there is something more interesting that you’d like to be doing.”

He smirks at me and blinks slowly, “I’m actually enjoying myself fine from here. You look hot, fixing your hair in only a towel.”

I giggle, because Charlie calling me “hot” sounds so young and casual, and he is usually very careful with his word choice.

I leave my loose curls down and tie a scarf in my hair like a headband, knotting it on the top and tucking the loose ends around the rest of the scarf.

My scarf is a pale pink color with a subtle, darker pink and baby blue floral design. The weather is supposed to be chilly today – chilly for South Carolina, that is – so I’ve brought a flowy, long sleeved, heather grey shirt that hangs to the middle of my thighs to wear with black leggings and short boots.

After I’m dressed, I’m still not sure whether to pack up all of my things or not. Charlie said that I could leave them, but did he mean for last night only? I don’t know if I’ll be staying here again. Charlie is still sitting on the side of his bathtub, toying with his phone now that I am organizing my things to leave.

“Are we going to hang out again tonight, or should I take everything with me?” I decide to just ask honestly.

“I don’t know that I’ll be able to see you tonight. I promised Mason that I would help him out after his football practice and then I think…”

Charlie starts to trail off, but I relieve him.

“Okay, that’s alright,” I start to pack my things neatly into my bag. Charlie doesn’t owe me a full explanation on why he can’t be here with me. Besides, I can use the night to work on assignments that I have coming up, especially since I will be away this weekend.