Being Alive [Charlie Barber]

Chapter 6: Thunderstorm

    "Hi." He greeted you, calling you by your name. He kept it casual, a small nod in your direction as he grabbed his jacket from the hook next to the door, trying to stop himself from looking at you for a few seconds too long and making things suspicious. He didn't know how to do this, he'd never had to be sneaky before.

    "Hi, Mr. Barber." You said to him, causing him to look over at you with widened eyes, not expecting to be turned on like this in this situation, it was the last thing he needed.

    Charlie's look turned disapproving as Nicole made her way over to Henry to say goodbye to him. She was currently oblivious. "What did I tell you about calling me that?" He asked you in a low voice, looking down at you with a slightly clenched jaw.

    You bit your bottom lip, trying not to grin at how much it threw him off just to hear you say that. You really hadn't even meant to get him excited, it was still just an instinct to call your boss by his last name. "Sorry." You said simply, glancing over at Nicole who was still hugging Henry.

    Charlie's eyes went over to his wife as well, making sure that she was preoccupied enough for him to lean down, pretending to tie his shoe so that he could mutter out, "Brat."

    You froze in place, the blood rushing to your face. Now it was your turn to be flustered.

    "Bye, Henry." Charlie called out to his son as he stood back up, ignoring the way you were trying to compose yourself as he moved closer to the living room, meeting Henry in a short hug. 

    Nicole was back over by the door, where you were still standing and it caused you to pull yourself together enough to move past her and into the living room so that you could take a seat on the couch, in front of the toys that Henry had brought in.

    "We should be home a little after nine." Nicole called out to you, completely unaware of the moment that you and Charlie had just shared with each other. 

    "Sounds good." You said to her, unable to make eye contact, instead you kept your gaze down at the table and on Henry as he rushed back over to you, talking in a quick voice about things that he wanted to show you.

    The two of them opened the door and started to leave.

    "Be good, okay?" Charlie called out, hand on the door handle. From everyone else's perspective, he was talking to Henry but with the way he was staring directly at you, a smirk on his face, you were fully aware of who he was really referring to.

    You shot him an irritated look but had a grin on your lips as you waved goodbye to him. As much as being around him made you nervous, you couldn't deny the fact that you enjoyed the butterflies in your stomach.

Throughout the night, you played with the toys Henry wanted to show you and watched a few episodes of some tv show that he liked, trying to ignore the way that your mind was constantly wandering to his father.

    You never considered yourself the type of person to be attracted to a married man, let alone act on the attraction. Compared to most people around you, whether back at home in Illinois or here in New York, you were shy and nervous. You weren't the most confident about yourself and a lot of people thought you were naive; perhaps at times they were right.

    You based a lot of your self worth on how others perceived you, as much as you hated to admit it. And you knew in the back of your mind that it was an ego boost that someone as successful as Charlie was willing to put his marriage on the line just because he wanted you.

    The situation between you and Charlie was wrong, really wrong. But somehow, despite that, it made you happy. It was the reason your actions were so bold with him. It wasn't because you were a bold person, quite the opposite actually, but because you were just so eager to please him.