Stella and the Boxer

Chapter 42

I shouldn’t be such a rag, but I can’t think of anything that Charlie and I could do right now that we couldn’t do after 9 a.m.

“Wake up, baby,” Charlie whispers. I feel weight on the foot of the bed as he begins to craw up and over me.

I turn underneath him and stare up with squinted eyes and a crinkled nose, “You have a pretty important job to do tomorrow,” I say with some discontent, referring to his fight, “Running on only a little sleep doesn’t seem like a good way to compensate for being injured.”

Charlie starts to frown, but then smiles, “I’ll worry about that later. We have more important things to do today.”

Then, he climbs off of me and pulls the covers away from me, “Come on. I’ve already laid clothes out for you. It’s freezing.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” I fire, sitting up suddenly and motioning to my bare legs that have just come into quick contact with the chilly air in the room. “And what could possibly be more important than boxing right now, Charlie? I know you know what you’re doing, but I can tell you’re still hurt and that scares me.”

He is already bent over, searching through his own suitcase. He sighs and I can tell that he wishes he could just ignore me. “I never lose fights, Stella. I’ve trained nearly every day for years and I know what I’m capable of.” His voice is rather calm, hiding any annoyance that I’m sure he feels at my worrying. He zips the suitcase and stands, pulling a navy sweater on over his gray shirt. “There are things I want to show you and that’s more important to me, so just let me worry about tomorrow later, okay?”

I sigh and roll my eyes before throwing my legs to the side of the bed and scooting off.

“Thank you,” he smiles as I brush past him.

“You’re sassy in the morning.”

 I let Charlie lead me again, keeping close to his side by wrapping both of my arms around his. He keeps a quick pace at first, but then he notices how quickly my feet are moving to keep up and he slows down with a smirk.

Within a few blocks, it becomes clear to me that in this city, unlike Clemson or my hometown, times for starting and stopping overlap. I watch as a woman stumbles in front of Charlie and I, trying to pull off her hot pink, patent leather pumps on her way into a yielded cab. Her bleach blonde hair is wet at the tips, and I look around the streets to try to determine where she might’ve come from.

“Isn’t it strange,” I ask Charlie, “That we’re waking up while some people are just going to sleep?”

“Such is life.”

He removes his hand from his own pocket then, pulling his arm away from mine before catching my hand and intertwining our fingers.

It feels as if we’ve walked the entire city before Charlie finally leads us up the wide steps of a skyscraper. I see no hints of what the building may be, but I am positive that the building is entirely closed.

But as we approach the tall, glass doors, the reflections of light on the glass begins to shift and one of the doors is opened and a man in a dark grey suit emerges.

“Charlie?” he questions, extending a hand to shake Charlie’s.

“Nice to meet you, Stefan. Thanks for getting here a bit early for us,” Charlie smiles at him, “This is Stella. Stella, this is Stefan. He works with my uncle.”

“Works for. No need to be polite,” Stefan raises his eyebrows and shakes my hand, “And it’s my pleasure.”

Stefan motions for us to follow him inside. He’s a short and slender man, just a little taller than me and he walks quickly through the massive lobby, giving us directions that I’m hoping Charlie’s keeping up with.

“…And you can just take that elevator there,” he points, “Straight up to the fifty-third floor and then you’ll have to take the stairs for the rest of the way,” Stefan stops in his tracks, turning and offering another smile while Charlie leads us past him.

“Thanks again,” he says charmingly.

“Nice to meet you,” I call over my shoulder as we head towards the elevator.

Charlie keeps my hand in his as we walk towards the back of the lobby.

“Are we going to watch the sunrise from the top floor?”

“Not the top floor,” he says, pressing the button beside the elevator door. Within seconds, the door rings and opens. “We’re going to watch it from the very top of the building, unless you’re scared,” he says warily.

We’re on the elevator now, facing back towards the grand lobby. Hardly any lights are on, but the huge room is hardly dark because most everything is stark white, pulling in light from the streets and surroundings. There are white walls (where there isn’t glass, that is), white marble floors, white furniture, and hanging at different heights from from the multistory ceilings are huge, modern looking crystal chandeliers, though they aren’t on. The lighting in the elevators glows gold in contrast, and as the elevator door closes, I watch my shadow disappear against the floor in front of me.

“I’m not scared,” I look up at Charlie.

“Good,” he nods. “I’m sorry if you thought I was being ‘sassy’ earlier. I just want you to have fun on this trip, and not worry about things that don’t require your worry.”

“Charlie, I think your wellbeing requires my worry,” I sigh, “But apology accepted. I think this makes up for you sass. Have you ever done this before?”

“No, but I’ve heard it’s amazing.”

When we make it onto the roof of the building, the blackness of the sky is just starting to let up. I begin to walk towards what I believe to be the east side of the building, but Charlie stays behind. “Am I headed in the right direction?” I ask, turning over my shoulder.

“Yes,” he laughs.

I turn back towards the approaching edge, guarded by fence-like ledge. “Aren’t you coming,” I call back to Charlie, and then I hear him start towards me. While I begin to take in the view, I feel his arms wrap around me from behind and he nuzzles his nose against my shoulder.

“Are you cold?” he asks, “I should’ve brought blankets – something.”
“I’m okay actually. It’s not so bad,” I say, wrapping my arms around his at my waist. The first presence of golden light flicks in the horizon, as if someone has tuned on a switch. The nearest buildings that surround us are shorter, giving us a clear view of the city. We stand still, silent, as the sun comes into view, its light spreading over the skyline and taking the stage from the streetlights and glowing neon and fluorescence that lights the city at night. Below us, the sounds have changed from the sporadic sounds of horns and sirens to quick passing traffic and a collective hum from the noise of commuters.

“I don’t know how anyone could feel lonely here,” I say quietly, thinking to myself, mostly.

“Huh?” Charlie asks. His hands are now on mine inside of my coat pockets.

“Do you remember when Allie said that New York City would be a hard place to feel lonely in? Like, it would be even sadder to be lonely among all of this. I don’t think anyone could really feel lonely here.”

Charlie is quiet, and I assume he agrees. He squeezes my hands with his and then withdraws them from my pockets and steps back away from me. I straighten and turn as he walks slowly towards the corner of the building, away from me.

As he walks, he speaks quietly, but I hear him all too clearly, “I think someone could be very lonely here.”  

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The photo in the sidebar is of Lana Del Rey. I don't picture Stella looking exactly like her by any means, but the color and curl of her hair in the photo is pretty spot on for what I imagined. She's in NYC too, so I thought it appropriate. But I would seriously love to hear whom you all imagine as Stella and Charlie, if you're somone who pictures specific people when you read. I tend to imagine compilations and versions of people, but I'm still curious to hear your picks.

I'm tired, and even though there are possibly and probably loads of mistakes in this, I'll find them later. 

Thank youuuuu for reading. :) Not many chaps left!