Being Alive [Charlie Barber]

Chapter 4: Dirty

Charlie let out a shaky breath, "Almost done! Sorry." He called out, cleaning his hand off that he had just finished in. He tried to ground himself back into reality, remembering where he actually was. He wasn't in your apartment or your shower. He was in his apartment and his shower and his wife was on the other side of the door. And you were his intern and his son's babysitter.

A wave of guilt hit him for what he had just done.

Charlie felt like a dirty old man.

You would be lying if you said that you hadn't had a few fantasies about Charlie since you left his apartment the night before. Hearing him call you a 'good girl' had made your head spin. The entire time you took the subway home, your brain was filled with him, thinking about how it would sound if he said that to to you while he was fucking you.

Just like you promised, you had sent him a text that simply said 'I'm home.' when you arrived at your apartment. Charlie had sent you a thumbs up emoji in response and for some reason that made you roll your eyes. How could he be so casual after dropping that bomb on you as you walked out of the door?

And now you were feeling that same frustration as you arrived at work and it seemed like he barely noticed you were there.

In all fairness, Charlie had been busy when you first walked in. He was on the phone, flipping through pages of something, talking quickly and with importance.

You said "hi" to him softly, not wanting to interrupt anything as you made your way into his office. He was the only one in there currently.

He offered you a quick wave in response. His wedding ring glinting in the light was not lost on you as he did so, making your stomach twist. You thought back to what he had said to you on his balcony, about how he wasn't happy with Nicole. You hadn't stopped thinking about that either.

It seemed like Charlie wasn't paying you any attention but that was far from the truth. He felt like the temperature of his office had just gone up a few notches, staring out of the corner of his eye at the way that you were settling into the chair across from his desk. You were wearing one of your fucking skirts, of course, it was like you knew exactly what drove him crazy.

His mind kept going back to the fantasy he had about you a few hours before, in the shower... Charlie had to tear his eyes away from your thighs, remembering the way that they looked covered in soap in his mind earlier...

You were slightly uncomfortable as you crossed a leg over the other, eyes glancing at your phone as you silenced it for the day, putting it away in your purse.

"Sure thing. Thanks for the help...Yep, you too. Goodbye." You were able to hear Charlie say to whoever he was talking to before he hung up his own phone in his hand, scribbling something on the papers in front of him as he did so. "Good morning." He said to you without looking up.

"Hi. Good morning." You told him, eager that he was acknowledging you.

There were a few beats of silence as he continued quickly writing something down, before he forgot the information he'd just been given on the phone.

"I'm sorry, I didn't have time to get coffee for you this morning." You told him with an apologetic frown.

This made Charlie's sprawling motion stop, glancing up at you with raised eyebrows. He stared at you, gears turning in his mind. You were so different from everyone around him. "You know you don't need to bring me coffee, right? That's not part of your job here."

You shrugged, skin heating up. "I know, I just did it yesterday so I wasn't sure if you were expecting it..." You trailed off, growing slightly embarrassed.