Lost in their Past

Chapter 20:- The Man-Child

Charlus smiled, "Yeah." He said sadly, "he would have."

Delia knew Charlus was still mourning, she didn't want to sympathize with him because out of the things that she'd learned over the years, the first one was that sympathizing never worked. If it did anything, it was making things worse than they already were.

"You can borrow some of his clothes," Delia said. "After all, he borrowed yours."

Charlus tilted his head as he sighed, "Stepping in a dead man's clothes?" he exclaimed sadly, "I can't do that, you know Diane."

Delia bit her lip sadly, "Wear Lark's." she suggested. "He was a neat freak, I reckon his closet is untouched."

That rang a bell in Charlus's ears, Lark was slim and they were almost the same size. "That will do," he said. "Now scram, I have to freshen up."

Delia patted him on his cheek and left, Charlus excitedly closed the door, more likely slammed it shut. He jumped up in excitation, for as long as he could remember, Lark Raider had always been a neat freak, Charlus had dreamt of seeing his closet ever since day one. But sadly neither James nor Charlus ever got the opportunity to see it. Lark was like a barbie, he used to dress up in a new suit, every day. Although he was a businessman and wearing a suit was his code, still, a man doesn't need to wear one on picnics.

Charlus ran towards the walk-in closet, whose gate was decorated with an ornamented crystal. He took a deep breath and pushed it aside, instantly blinded by what he was seeing. The interior was whiter than milk, even though the room was probably being opened after more than twenty years, it didn't have a speck of dust. The drawers were lined with silver and they shone so intensely that they nearly blinded him.

He gasped like a child at those towering wardrobes. Just in front of him was a lavish dressing table with little crystals at its edges. It looked as if it was carved from ebony, Charlus didn't take a second look at it and straightforward opened the doors on the left side. Luckily for him, it was Lark's closet and not Mrs. Raiders, that would've been embarrassing.

The sliding door opened, revealing an enormous collection of shirts, suits, belts, and pants- thank the gods. Charlus swept his hand across the elegantly tailored chain. He curiously opened the drawer beneath them, only to find an exquisite collection of watches, ties, and cuffs along with a few empty Pokeball. But he had no interest in watches, he loved the black one he had for more than twenty years, after all, it was given to him in a secret Santa session.

The man-child eagerly took out a linen white shirt along with navy blue pants and a brown belt. He wanted to take a coat too, but it was one hundred degrees outside for crying out loud. He wanted to gape at the color-coded arrangement for a whole day, but unfortunately, if he was gonna dye his hair, he didn't have much time left. Charlus sadly closed the door shut and carefully laid his outfit on the bed. He went inside the bathroom, it was a little dirty but the brown interior didn't give much. He took a few toiletries from the shelf, including a towel, a razor carefully placed inside a sealed box, and some other things.

He bent down as he opened a drawer beneath the sink, hoping to find a brown die. Unfortunately, it was empty, he sighed as he got up. He then opened the drawer behind the mirror and just his luck, he found a package of Aiken's Natural Brown dye. With the catchphrase, have shining brown hair within minutes!

Charlus took off his shirt, wet his hair, and tried to apply the dye without dying his skin. He couldn't do it properly, after all, this was his first time but he still managed to apply it without giving himself a tan. He wasn't sure whether it would work or not, for the worse, he could still see his streaks. But he paid no heed to it and as soon as it dried, he walked towards the shower. There was no soap, but luckily, in his bag pack of crap, he found one, along with toothpaste.