Chapter 35
Drew
I had been with Ethan every day at his law firm helping him out with his sports agency sector. This had kept my mind off everything yet every day I felt more and more anxious with the unresolved matter.
It had been a week since Charlie and I had our argument.
Every time I would try and talk to her, she refused to utter a word.
The silence was killing me.
I couldn't bear it a second longer.
Knowing I would have to talk to her now for the sake of my sanity, she would most likely kill me for it, but I didn't care.
I needed to fix this and I needed to fix this now.
"Hey Blake. Where's Charlie?" I asked as I walked in the kitchen.
"She's been at the office." Blake responding pouring her a glass of orange juice.
"She's giving you the silent treatment too?" I asked sitting on the barstool across from her.
She sighed, "Yes and no. She's not upset with me but she's very quiet in general. I feel awful for her, I don't want her thinking that we are hiding her life from her."
Nodding in agreement I spoke, "Knowing Charlie, that's probably what she is thinking. But we know that's not the case and once we tell her, she will believe it."
"But will she though? Drew, we hadn't told her about two major life events for her. That's huge. How the hell is she going to trust us now?" She asked concerned.
"Because we are her best friends at the end of the day. It's instinct, and she of all people can't fight that." I responded.
My faith in her was stronger. Stronger than anything else.
I knew she would eventually come around.
"I just need to speak with her, talk to her about everything." I told Blake while running my hands through my hair.
"Then let's talk," I heard Charlie say walking into the kitchen.
I turned my head to see her.
She looked absolutely flawless.
Wearing just a black tight work dress with heels and a coat, she looked like Boss Charlie who hadn't missed a day in the office.
I felt my jaw clench.
"Come on," She stated walking outside the door to what I assumed was the guest house.
Following suit, we didn't utter a word until we reached the couch.
She took of her coat and shoes and sat on the couch with the legs propped to the side and her head resting on her elbow.
She looked stressed yet torn, as if she was thinking too much.
"I've missed you so much Tiger-"
"Drew I said let's talk about the issue, not sweet talk me." She stated firmly.
She was not having it.
I felt a knot building in my throat, sensing that this conversation wasn't going to be easy.
I sat down beside her and realized that touching her in any way would make matters worse.
I sighed and rested my head in my hands.
"We fell in love without even trying. In the utmost unexpected way and time for us." I started.
Wanting to look at her for the rest of conversation, I fixated my gaze to look at her, not once leaving eye contact.
"You were kicking ass at work and we had happened to go to the lodge for a break with the Bradley's, including Ethan's cousin Mitch and our friend Jack."
"Jack from high school?" Charlie interrupted.
"We're still friends with him?" She added.
Nodding, I continued, "We were out there just doing our thing and one thing led to the next and we had our first kiss."
She shook her head, "Exactly like how we had ours now."
"Yeah, that was completely unplanned. I had no idea that that was going to happen when we went last month. It was pure coincidence".
More like fate I thought.
Her face looked torn, as if her head and body were fighting each other.
"Your company had partnered with my football team so that you coordinated all the events for us. You did a lot for the team but my favorite was the night your team did the Gala in New York."
She might be overwhelmed with this one, but I knew I had to tell her.
I had to tell her everything now or I would really stand a chance of losing her.
"You're meaning to tell me that you've recreated that night for us? Is that why you kept saying that? That night was epic to us, for that reason?" She asked in disbelief.
"I wanted to let you relive some of our greatest moments together. I felt as if that was deserved at the least considered the situation that we're in." I replied.
Shaking her head profusely, "You kept hinting at me all this time. And I'm just an idiot, once again not knowing a damn thing about my own life. How f*cking pathetic."
She looked angry, but more so defeated.
Her shoulders slouched and her eyes wore a pained expression.
My heart broke at the sight.
I felt so angry at myself for making her feel this way.
I never wanted to see her upset, ever.
Telling her more about some of the things we did together, she finally asked a question I had been nervous on answering.
"Did we have sex?" She asked bluntly.
I grabbed her hand and felt my heart in my throat as I spoke, "Yeah, we did."
A silence fell over us.
I knew this would hit her hard.
I gathered her expression and wanted to console her all at once.
A single teardrop fell from her eye and I wanted to kill myself for ever being the cause of it.
She was silent for a good minute.
I reached out to grab her hand.
"Charlie.." I began.
She interrupted me, "I had been looking forward in telling you how I felt. How I felt now, about us. And here I am finding out that we had already been in love prior, been intimate, and god knows what else, and I can't for the life of me remember any of those moments."
Her tears were slowly streaming down her face and with every one that fell, felt like a knife was stabbing me in my chest.
F*ck me.
"Do you have any idea what that's like Drew? To not remember times like those that are meant to be cherished forever? You'll never be able to understand the emotions I'm feeling," She cried.
"Baby, I don't think you get it. Every day since I got that phone call, I prayed to God it was me instead of you in that fire. I will never forgive myself for you being in that position and for putting you where you are now." I shrieked.
I felt my heart in my throat as I spoke and I couldn't muster how I was feeling.
Her voice broke as she spoke out, "We were serious. That just about breaks my damn heart Drew."
Grabbing her and consoling her was just about the only thing I felt was right in the moment.
She struggled against my hold but I didn't let her refuse. I clenched my eyes tight as I pulled her tightly against my chest.
I let her cry on my shoulder for a few minutes. I struggled hard to contain my emotions.
I didn't deserve her.
I deserved to have been in her position, not her.
"Is that it?" She stated, breaking the silence.
Knowing this last bit would affect her, I knew I had to rip the band aid off.
Reaching into my pocket, I grabbed the necklace I had held onto the last few months everywhere I had went.
She looked at me confused as I placed the necklace in her hand.
"I hadn't actually formally proposed to you, but we had a mutual understanding about where we were." I breathed out to her as she glared at the ring in her hand.
Her eyes opened wide and she glared from the ring to me several times.
She sucked in a deep breath, "No."
She shook her head in disbelief.
"We... were engaged?" She asked mortified.
I shot her a sad smile, "Yeah, we were. We are."
She shook her head, "No, no no no." She said repeatedly.
I grabbed her to hold her steady yet she was refusing to let me stop her.
"I can't. This is too much." She stated freaking out.
I felt my heart in my throat.
"Just breathe, baby. Breathe." I stated trying to calm her down.
"How can you tell me to breathe when I feel like I'm f*cking drowning Drew!" She laughed out sarcastically as the tears continued streaming down.
"It's one thing after another! How the hell could you have kept this from me?!" She shouted.
She was pacing the room, necklace in hand, as I stood in front of the couch trying to calm her down.
"I cannot believe this right now." She continued, "I've been mentally trying to grasp the fact that everyone around me had known about everything and hadn't filled me in but what on Earth type of Soap opera am I living in right now."
She stared at the ceiling and let her tears profusely run down her cheeks.
I had no clue what the hell to do. How the hell I was supposed to fix this.
"I know that this is a lot of information right now, but I couldn't hold back on it. Not anymore. I never wanted to hurt you, Charlie. It kills me to know that I ever hurt you to begin with." I told her truthfully.
I felt my voice trembling.
My God this was painful.
"Is there anything else?" She spat out.
I held it together.
Or at least I tried to.
"No," I responded.
Nodding, she walked past me right into her room and slammed the door.
I had a feeling that she wasn't coming out any time soon.