Chapter 3

CHARLES

 

 

I feel a grin stretch my lips, blinking away a little of my incredulity. I’m very happy for my friend, but I’m also having a hard time believing what he just told me really happened.

“So you guys spent the night together and you are still at Lara’s?” I ask.

When Aston doesn’t immediately answer I clear my throat and call his name.

I hear his sigh on the other end of the line. “Sorry, Chuck, what did you just say?”

I laugh. It really is something to hear my usually no-nonsense, serious friend sound so faraway and distracted.

“It’s okay, it was nothing. Anyway, am I correct if I think you won’t be joining me and Sterling for breakfast today?”

My friend chuckles. “You are kidding yourself if you assume you’ll be seeing Ster for breakfast, old chap, but yes: you’re right about me. I won’t be there.”

I smile. “Man, I’m so happy for you. This, whatever it is, it’s clear to me that it means something to you.”

“It does. I don’t know how to explain; I really don’t think there really is a way to make you understand. I just… she is just everything, Charlie. Everything I didn’t know I needed. I’m sorry I can’t be more clear, I only wish there was someone in your life that would give you what Lara has brought into my world.”

I look out of the window, staring at the glass jungle of skyscrapers surrounding me and sigh.

“You and me both, my friend. I don’t see it happening any time soon, but at least I’m a step closer to making it possible right now.”

“What do you mean?” Aston’s voice gets suddenly more firm, like my own tone brought him closer to the conversation at end.

“Lulu is no longer in the picture,” I explain.

“Finally! She was a poisonous lunatic cow, but when did it happen? You said you wanted to wait past her birthday, didn’t you?”

I laugh, but it’s a bit more bitter than I intended. “Oh, I did, but she didn’t apparently.”

“What? You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I am… she broke up with me last night, she was none too pleased with me it seems.”

“What? Why on earth would she be upset with you?”

“Well remember that small matter of her talking with that gossip rag about us being engaged?”

Aston sighs, probably remembering all the headaches we shared during that week trying to keep the Board at bay. “Vaguely…”

“Well, it seems somehow I should have been happy about it, I don’t know take her to Cancun to thank her or something?”

Aston chuckles. “Preposterous! The nerve of that woman! We have now confirmation that she is the most nonsensical, ridiculous being that ever was. I can hardly fathom her behavior. Well, you’re better off without her. Good riddance, I say.”

“And you will be right in your assessment, my friend, but let’s talk about more important stuff. How is your Lovely Lara this morning?”

“Don’t even try, Charlie, you know I don’t kiss and tell.”

I laugh. “Alright, you keep on kissing and telling me nothing about it. I, on the other hand, can’t really promise I’ll keep this from Ster, major teasing coming your way Monday, I’m afraid.”

Aston chuckles. “Surprisingly, I really don’t care. You guys can mock me all you want.”

I smile. “Aww, aren’t you cute?”

“Fuck you, Charles,” Aston says, but I can hear the smile in his voice.

“You’re practically giddy, man, unbelievable!”

“Stop it,” he grumbles.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop and you know what else? I’ll tell Ster all about it today so he’ll get over most of his jokes without you. What do you say, aren’t I the best of friends?”

“Absolutely! You’re a doll, mate,” he deadpans and we both laugh, concluding the call after arranging a time for meeting on Monday.

 

 

—*—

 

Two hours later I open the door to a flustered and disheveled looking Sterling.

“What’s up with you, man? Still jet-lagged?” I ask.

“Hardly, I’m wide awake, famished and horny as fuck!”

I chuckle at his usual bluntness. “Well I do have your favorite scones in the kitchen. For the other thing, though, no can do, man, no matter how much I love you.”

“I really don’t need your bloody jokes right now, Chuck,” my friend grunts and he follows me in the kitchen where I have our brunch —or rather a half-Brit, half-American, heavy breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns, toasts, beans, fresh orange juice and Earl Grey— waiting for us.

Sterling looks down the length of his body with a disgruntled grimace on his face and shakes his head. “My dashed cock won’t go bloody down!”

I feel both my eyebrows raise. “Way too much information, pal.”

Sterling covers his face with both hands and sighs. “Charles, do be serious. I’ve been in your building for over twenty minutes now, but something unexpected, or rather someone unexpected delayed me in the lift.”

“What?” I ask laughing at the thunderstruck expression in his green eyes, peeking from between his spread fingers.

He slides his hands off his face. “I met this sexy bombshell in your bloody lift. She was stunning and so hot, my legs are still fucking shaking.”

I chuckle, taking a seat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. “You sure it was a real woman and not a jet-lag-induced hallucination?”

Sterling sits in front of me. “Well if she was a bloody hallucination she was a pretty damn concrete one, ‘cause I stuck my tongue down her throat.”

I shake my head. “Again, Ster, way too much information.”

I look on as my friend downs a tall glass of water and practically slumps over the breakfast bar. “She was a fucking bloody vision of perfection, man…”

I smile at his wistful look. “Well, that’s great that you met her then. What’s her name?”

He shoots me a look I don’t understand.

“That’s the bloody fucking problem, Charlie. I don’t know.”

My eyes get as big as saucers. “What? You kissed her and you don’t know her name?”

“Oh, I definitely did more than kiss her, Chuck.”

“How the fuck does a thing like that happen?” I ask.

“Well, it’s easy enough, Charles. You might have forgotten being that you are shackled to that batshit crazy Miss Frigidity-socialite, but it can happen and it totally happened to me, although I can hardly tell you what occurred.”

“Okay, settle down, man. I get it, I mean I don’t get it get it, but I see what you mean. And just for your information, I’m no longer shackled.”

Sterling glances up at me finally smiling and looking more like the friend I know.

“That’s bloody fantastic, chap. I swear after all Lulu has pulled if you were going to mention giving her another bloody possibility I was really going to advise you seriously had your head shrunk.”

I laugh. “Funny you should mention, my sister Cora said something very similar to me yesterday.”

Sterling nods. “Well it’s good to know someone in your family has some sense left, even if it’s that little brat.”

I roll my eyes at him. “Again, Ster. Not a brat. You can’t base your opinion of her on a meeting that occurred what? Basically when we first met, a little over five years ago. She was seventeen back then and I know that she liked to snipe at you a little, but she has done a lot of growing up since then.”

Sterling waves away my words, dismissively. “And where is she? Wasn’t she supposed to be here? Got tied up playing with her Barbie doll?”

I laugh. “You don’t want to know where Cora would shove that Barbie doll if she heard you, Ster. Anyway, you are the one who’s over two hours late. She waited until she could, but then she went out for a run about half an hour ago.”

Ster scoffs with a hand on his chest. “I’m heartbroken to have missed her I’m sure especially if we— wait where the fuck is Aston?” he suddenly asks looking around the room.

I burst out laughing. “He is with the woman of his dreams apparently. I don’t think we’ll be seeing much of him until Monday at least, but don’t tell me you just noticed that he is not here?”

My friend shakes his head, raking one hand between his short, sandy brown hair.

“Fuck, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Chuck. This girl has me upside down, I can’t explain. I’ve never felt like that, never felt such a connection. One second we were staring at each other and there was something akin to a fucking roar in my ears and the next we were all over each other and then she was gone.”

I sigh. Apparently there’s something in the air in New York city these days. Though not for me it seems.

“I need to find her.”

I pat Sterling on the arm. “I know, dude, don’t worry. I’ll help you. The head of security in the building is away right now, but he will be back Monday afternoon. I’ll ask him to show us the surveillance tapes for today and we’ll see if your girl is someone who lives here, maybe I know her.”

“Thanks, man. No matter how, I really really need to see her and hold her again,” he says and looks at me with a desperation I’ve never seen on his face; he couldn’t be more removed from his usual devil-my-care, suave self.

So it seems I won’t have to curb his jokes at Aston’s expenses after all. There will be no mocking his infatuation for Lara from our mutual friend, not if he is himself quite occupied with thoughts of this mystery elevator sexy bombshell.

I don’t really know what to say.

I’ve never seen him pining for a woman.

I serial date, looking for something elusive that I’m sure is out there somewhere waiting for me, Aston is —was— the stoic one never even looking for love and very much resigned to be alone, and then there’s Sterling, the player, the funny one, the only one of our trio that seemed to actually have an unbreakable equilibrium and was quite happy with his life, the one who didn’t even believe in love and was content to sample around and look at him now: half-mad, haunted light in his eyes, a huge pile of food in front of him that for the first time since I’ve known him he is completely ignoring.

While I can readily admit I’m very happy for how Aston found Lara, I shouldn’t feel a longing in taking in Sterling’s present situation, yet I can’t help but almost envy his sweet pain.

He wasn’t looking for love and he is feeling out of himself right now, but at least he found it, whereas I’ve failed until now.

He found the spark I’ve being searching for in every pair of eyes I meet.