I was hovering in that space between sleep and wake. I could feel an arm wrapped around me and I figured it was just Imogen. But as I woke up more, I remembered that Imogen wasn't even in the country. Slowly, my sleep and alcohol fogged brain put together the pieces and I realised it was Charlie. I turned my head, trying to look at him only to find him still fast asleep.
"Charlie," I said my voice just above a whisper. "Charlie, wake up."
"Hmm?" Charlie hummed, stirring a little.
"Charlie, you fell asleep." By now, I was fully awake and I was well aware of a thumping headache I had but I was ignoring it, for now, focusing on trying to wake him up. "Charlie, please."
"What?" Suddenly his arm was gone from around me and he scrambled to the other side of the bed. "Oh, shit. Nick, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep. I, I'm so sorry..."
"Hey, stop." I cut him off, putting one hand on his knee. He looked up at me, running a hand through his hair.
"Sorry."
"It's fine. I know we didn't do anything. And I know you were only in here because I asked you."
"You remember?"
"Mostly. Thanks for getting me home and thinking of Abby."
"Anytime. I know you were upset about Imogen..."
"I should probably call her at some point. I'm pretty sure I drunk-dialled her last night." I interrupted, suddenly remembering. I hung my head, the headache coming on stronger now that I wasn't focused on something else.
"So that's where you disappeared to last night when I was saying goodbye to everyone else."
"I guess so. God, my head hurts."
"I'm not surprised. You want an aspirin?"
"Yeah. Uh, in the bathroom cabinet. Top shelf." Charlie nodded and stood up, heading to the bathroom but stopped halfway.
"If the kids ask, can we not tell them?"
"Why?" I was confused.
"I just-" He sighed and chewed on his lip for a moment. "Nathaniel gets these ideas in his head about me whenever something happens between me and another man."
"Oh." I nodded, understanding his rambling explanation. "Sure. But I have to tell Imogen. I know we didn't do anything but we promised to never keep anything from each other."
"Of course. I wouldn't want you to keep it from her. I'm sure she'll be fine."
--------------------
Charlie hung around till about ten, making sure the kids were fed and I was okay to look after Abby. Once I'd waved him off, I set Abby in front of the TV to watch her shows while I sat at the kitchen counter with my laptop to video call Imogen.
"Hey, babe. How are you feeling today? Is your head okay?" I smiled when she finally answered, her voice filling my ears.
"Hi. I'm doing okay now. I'm sorry for drunk dialling you."
"It's okay. It was kind of funny, actually. A nice thing to wake up to." She grinned and reached behind her to get her phone. "You want to hear it?"
"Uh, no. I'd rather not. This way I can pretend it didn't happen and I didn't make a fool of myself."
"Okay then. But I'm saving it."
"Whatever you like. Um, I have to tell you something."
"Okay," She looked up at me, concerned. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah. Just, um, last night, Charlie drove me home because I was too drunk to drive myself..."
"That's a good thing, right?"
"Yeah. It is. He decided that he was going to crash here with us for the night in case Abby needed anything and I wouldn't be able to do it for her."
"I'm confused. Why do you sound like you're about to tell me the world is ending?"
"Because I'm scared."
"Scared? Of what? Of me?"
"Of what your reaction will be."
"To what?"
"Well, you know how I am when I'm drunk?"
"What? All lovey and clingy?" Her smile was affectionate as she clearly remembered some of our drunken nights earlier in our relationship.
"Yeah. Well, I was missing you and I wanted you to be here, holding me so I got the next best thing: Charlie."
"What do you mean?" Her smile was gone in an instant and my heart skipped a beat.
"I asked him to just hold me till I fell asleep, which he did, but then he fell asleep too."
"So you slept together?"
"No! God, no. Imogen, we were both fully clothed the entire time. I swear. Nothing even slightly inappropriate. He was just being a good friend and looking after me."
"That's what I was worried about in the beginning." She mumbled and I felt tears spring to my eyes.
"Imogen, it was completely innocent. He didn't mean to fall asleep. He was going to stay in the guest room with Nathaniel. But I guess he was just tired."
"I'm sorry, Nick." She barely got the sentence out before the screen went black. I was left staring at the blank screen with tears running down my face. My phone beeped beside me and I snatched it up, my heart instantly soaring when I saw that it was a text from Imogen.
I'm sorry. Just give me some time to process. I'll call you later. xx ~ Imogen
I didn't understand what she was thinking. Did she really think I cheated on her? I wanted to call her back but I knew she'd just decline the call until she was ready.
To distract myself, I decided to do a cooking spree so I raided the cupboards, searching for anything I could use. I ended up with a stack of old cookbooks covered in flour and sugar and sprinkles in one corner of the counter while the entire rest of the counter was covered with boxes of cookies and cakes. Now I had the task of putting them all away. I was about to start when my laptop started ringing; Imogen was calling.
"Imogen, I'm so sorry, I didn't think it would hurt you so much. I just wanted to tell you so that it wasn't a big thing in the future, I-"
"Nick." She cut me off and my mouth snapped shut as I looked at her with wide eyes. "I'm not mad. I just needed some time to think. You know how I felt when we first met Charlie. And when you told me that he was the one who held you as you fell asleep the jealousy came back, stronger than ever."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. I just had to fight the jealousy back and we both know how that ended last time. So I wanted to do it where I couldn't hurt you."
"I love you, Imogen. And I miss you. I know it's only been a few days but I can't wait for you to come home."
"I love you too, Nick. And I'm counting down the days. At least you still get to be in our bed where you can hold my pillow if you want. The bed in this hotel doesn't smell like you."
"Now you're getting sappy."
"Am not. Hey, where's Abby?"
"Watching TV. I'll get her." I pushed myself back from the counter and went to the living room where Abby was still enthralled by the TV. "Hey, Abby, mummy's on the computer and wants to see you."
"Mummy!" Abby cried and jumped up, running into the kitchen. I followed quickly behind, dragging a stool over so that Abby could see properly. "Hi, mummy!"
"Hey, sweetie. What have you been up to today? Have you been a good girl for Papa?"
"Yes. I been watching princesses on TV."
"Oh? The one with the pirates?"
"No. The princesses that fight bad guys, daddy." Abby rolled her eyes as if it was obvious.
"Okay. And have you been having fun at school?"
"Mm-hm. We're making paintings in art, mummy. So I'm making one for you so you can have it when you come home."
"I'm looking forward to seeing it. I'm sure it's very good."
"It's got lots of colours, mummy, like a rainbow!"
"Well then it has to be good."
"Abby, tell mummy what happened last night," I said, picking her up and moving her to sit on my lap as I sat on the stool she'd been kneeling on.
"Amber came over. And Nate and Lexi. We all played pirates till bedtime."
"That sounds like it was fun. And papa tells me you had a sleepover with Lexi."
"Yep. Lexi slept in my room after Amber went home."
"Cool. Did you girls stay up late talking?"
"No. I don't even remember papa coming home."
"He must have been very quiet." Imogen laughed and I heard a beep from her end of the call.
"What's that?"
"My phone's about to die. Sorry, guys. We'll have to talk more another time."
"That's okay. Abby, say 'bye' to mummy for now."
"Bye, mummy. I love you."
"I love you too, sweetheart. And you, Nick."
"Love you, Imogen. Talk to you soon." She smiled at us before the screen went black again and Abby looked up at me.
"Papa, I'm hungry." And just like that, it was back to reality as I set about making up a snack for the two of us, music playing quietly in the background as I worked. I just wished Imogen could be here to make it even better.