by Lauren Runow
Charlie is dressed more simply and focuses more on the color to match my costume, wearing black pants that hang off his hips showing his sexy abs and his stunning V-line pointing to what I know is pure heaven, along with a black and blue, feathered bowtie and eye mask to match my wings.
“Goddamn girl!” I yell when I first see Nichole wearing a short, strapless, black latex outfit with her ass and boobs barely covered. She has a silver and black necktie tied around her neck that is tucked into her breasts and her thigh-high latex looking stiletto boots round out her outfit.
“Don’t be jealous just because I can pull it off,” she teases.
“Oh jeez, your head has gotten even bigger since you started hanging out with Paul,” I laugh back.
“How can you talk shit? She looks fucking hot. I already had to take her out of the outfit once before you guys got here,” Paul interrupts as he grabs Nichole’s ass.
Paul matches Nichole’s look wearing black jeans, a black button-up dress top with small silver squares and his cuffs rolled up revealing black latex gloves pulled up to his elbows and a black latex eye mask to match.
“Hey, she can pull it off, no doubt, I was just shocked to see her try in the first place.”
“Thanks sis, you look pretty hot yourself. And Charlie… Look at those abs,” she reaches out to rub his stomach.
“Hey, hey, hey now,” Paul laughs.
“Oh stop it Paul, you know I’m not trying to hit on my sister’s man,” Nichole hits his stomach. “Or anyone else for that matter,” she reaches up to kiss him.
“That’s right,” he smiles.
“Ok you guys, let’s do shots and get out of here,” Charlie pipes in handing everyone shot glasses. “Here’s to a fun, safe night out. Happy Halloween.”
We all say, “Happy Halloween,” in unison as we take our shot and head out.
The party is already well underway and everyone is drunk and having a great time. We all grab another drink as we people watch and check out everyone’s crazy costumes, before heading out to dance and start our night of Halloween fun.
The drinks are flowing and the crowd is getting looser with each passing minute. The four of us are standing around drinking when an older woman stops, wrapping her arms around Charlie screaming, “Oh, Mr. Ashley! Where have you been?”
The woman runs her hands all over his bare stomach and chest. She is obviously drunk and doesn’t notice or seem to care that I am standing right there.
She starts kissing Charlie and rubbing her body tightly against his before Charlie pulls her back, “Gina. Stop. I’m here with someone.”
The woman is stunned that he stopped her from kissing him and she looks at me, “Oh honey, you know we all share him. Ohhh, maybe you can join us. You’re a sexy little thing,” she grabs me, pulling me in, trying to kiss me.
I yank myself out of her grip.
“No, Gina. I quit. This is my girlfriend,” Charlie yells.
“Girlfriend?!” Gina throws her head back laughing. “You lucky bitch. I had to pay to fuck this fine ass.” She leans down to slap Charlie’s ass.
I’m mortified and turn to run away when Nichole jumps up to get in Gina’s face, “Look bitch! He said he quit and now he’s with my sister. You need to back the fuck up!”
Gina laughs, backing up, “Ok, ok.” She looks at Charlie, “I’ll miss you Mr. Ashley,” and she blows him a kiss.
I turn to run away and they follow until I run into the women’s bathroom. I sit in a bathroom stall, crying. “Allison?” Nichole knocks on the door.
“Nichole, give me a minute.”
“Hey, I know that totally sucked and I know you…” she pauses, “um, I mean… shit, what can I say?”
I sigh, “Jeez, thanks Nic. That was, um, very reassuring…”
Nichole laughs, “Hey, I may have a boyfriend now but I’m still me. Come on, come out of there.”
I wipe my eyes and open the door. Nichole wraps her arms around me, “You ok girl?”
“No!” I give her an are-you-kidding-me look.
“Hey, you should be proud. That woman was jealous you don’t have to pay to fuck him.”
“Nichole, really, you’re not helping.”
Nichole laughs, “Sorry, just trying to be real. Hey, it’s his past. Unfortunately things like that are going to happen. But really, you should be proud. He gave it all up for you. I don’t know any guy who would do that. Paul says all the time that he’s shocked he gave it all up.”
“I know, it still just sucks. Especially after what happened with his last client I met.”
“I know. But hey, this one wanted to do you, not kill you. That’s a huge upgrade.”
I shake my head, laughing, “Nichole, you really are too much.”
“I know. That’s why you love me. Now, can we go back out there? I’m sure Charlie is about to lose his mind.”
I fix my makeup and turn to leave the bathroom. Charlie is standing right at the door, anxiously waiting for me to come out.
“Allison,” he wraps his arms around me, “Please, don’t be mad. I swear I want nothing to do with her or anything from my past. Please believe me.” Charlie is desperate and rambling on and on for me to forgive him.
“Charlie, it’s ok. I’m ok.”
“You are?” He looks into my eyes, “Are you sure? I’m so sorry,” he leans in to kiss me.
“I know, baby. I know. I think I want to go home though.”
“Yeah, of course. Let’s go.” He looks to Nichole and Paul, “We’re heading home, do you guys want to go or stay?”
Nichole and Paul look at each other and shrug, “I’m not quite ready to go,” Nichole replies as she grabs Paul, “Come dance with me some more.” She leans over to kiss me on my cheek, “Love you girl. Cheer up. Go fuck his brains out and think of all the jealous women out there.”
“Nichole, again, you’re not helping.”
Nichole winks at me as they walk away, leaving us alone.
“Baby, are you sure you’re ok?”
“Yes, Charlie. Just take me home,” I grab his hand holding on to his arm.
As we walk home I wrap my arms tightly around my body, shielding myself from the cold and the emotions running through me. Charlie swings his arm around me, pulling me close and keeping me warm as we walk in silence.
Once back at the apartment, I take my costume off and hop in the shower without saying a word. The hot water flows down my face making tears start to fall as I let go of everything I was holding in, letting the water fall all around me.
Charlie enters the bathroom already naked and steps into the shower, engulfing my body from behind. I don’t move but welcome his arms that hold me together. I cry even harder as he stands silently embracing me.
After a moment he kisses my head, “Allison, please don’t cry. I love you and only you. I’m so sorry about my past. If I could change it all I would, in a heartbeat.”
I finally turn to look at him, “I know Charlie, that’s why I didn’t want you to see me cry. I’ll get there. It’s just hard.”
“I know baby. It kills me to see you like this.” He leans down to kiss me which becomes all-consuming fast as we’re lost in the intensity of the situation and the one thing we can’t deny, our love for each other.
“Christmas is next week and you still haven’t spoken to your mom, Allison… You know it will kill her if you ignore her over Christmas, too,” Charlie points out.
“I don’t care,” I say as I walk by, brushing off the subject.
“But Allie, Nichole told me that you guys have a Christmas tradition of getting together Christmas Eve to decorate your tree and eat popcorn and oranges together. She’s going to your parent’s and she’s bringing Paul. Do you really want to miss out on your family tradition just because you’re upset with your mother? What about your dad and your sister?”
“You’re my family now. Let’s start our own family tradition, like we did with Thanksgiving. I loved cooking all day with yo
u.” I try to sway Charlie my way.
“Allison, of course we’re family, you have no idea how much that means to me to be able to say that, but I don’t want you to leave your actual family behind. Especially…”
I stop him, “Hey, don’t go there. You can’t compare the two.”
“Allison, I just want to see you put all of this behind us. You need to forgive her eventually. You said it yourself that ‘everything happens for a reason.’ So do you really believe that? Or do you not practice what you preach?”
“Charlie, that’s not fair. This is different.”
“Is it? I mean, if you truly believe that then this baby happened for a reason. And you came into my life for a reason, too. I have to believe that. And I hope you do, too.”
Charlie is sitting on the bar stool at the kitchen counter and I walk up between his legs, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Charlie, I told you, I need time. I’m coming around to the idea but let me get over the baby idea first, then I can deal with my mom. I just thank God I don’t have to deal with the crazy woman birthing your child. That would push me over the edge,” I joke.
Charlie tenses up and I feel the tightness in his shoulders. “Whoa, what was that?”
Charlie tries to blow it off, “What?” he looks to me shrugging his shoulders.
“Charlie, if there is one thing I have learned about you in the past few months it is that you’re a terrible liar. What aren’t you telling me?”
Charlie moves to sit up and walk to the kitchen, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just trying to figure out Christmas.”
I grab his arm, stopping him from walking away from me, “Charlie, look at me. Why did you tense up like that? I felt it. Don’t act like I didn’t.”
“I just want you to have your family back. I know you were close to them before all of this happen.”
“No Charlie. It was something else. Wait,” I try to re-think what just happened. “You were sitting here, your arms around my waist talking about everything happening for a reason. Then you mentioned the baby and you were still calm. I said I was coming around to the idea more then, wait, when I mentioned the crazy woman you tensed up. Why Charlie? Why did you tense up?”
Charlie turns around, digging in the refrigerator, and I know it’s just to avoid making eye contact with me. I walk up to the refrigerator, closing it so Charlie is forced to face me. “Have you gone to the hospital lately? Is there something you aren’t telling me?”
“I did go actually,” he is uplifted a little and smiles as he says, “I… we should be able to find out the sex of the baby the week after Christmas.”
I tilt my head, squinting my eyes, “That’s great, Charlie, but that’s not what made you tense. What else did you learn?”
Charlie sighs loudly, “Ok Allison, you’re right. You need to remember that the odds of this happening are really 50/50 so please don’t jump to conclusions.”
“Ok Charlie, you’re freaking me out. What’s going on?”
“They’ve been doing studies and comparing her case to other similar cases and there was one other case where…” he reaches to me, placing his hands on either side of my arms, “where the woman woke up from her coma after she gave birth.”
I push his hands off of me, “What?! You mean she could live through this?”
“No Allison. Well, I mean, um, there is a small chance. We won’t know until the baby is born. She will either come out of it or officially die. They say her body is in limbo.”
“Limbo?! And when were you going to tell me?” I storm off into our bedroom.
Charlie runs after me, “Allison please, please don’t be mad. I didn’t know how to tell you. And there is such a small possibility that she could wake up, I hoped I wouldn’t have to tell you. Please don’t be mad.”
I grab my purse and put on my shoes, “Charlie, I still deserved to know. We can’t have secrets between us. Not any more. Look where secrets got us the first time. How can I trust you’re telling me everything?”
Charlie kneels down beside me, “Allison, I am. I swear. There are no secrets. I’m just trying to protect you. I didn’t want to upset you with something that might not happen.”
“That’s the problem Charlie. It might actually happen. So what would you have done then? Huh? Say, ‘Oops, sorry Allison. I guess she’s going to live. Now you can be step-mommy with this psycho.’” I get up, storming out of the room.
“Allison, please, don’t leave mad. I wasn’t trying to keep it from you.”
“But you did Charlie. You did…”
“Don’t leave. Not now,” Charlie reaches out, holding onto my arm desperately.
“I told you Charlie, time… Let me go.”
He lets go of my arm letting me walk away, “Where are you going?”
I take a deep breath in and out, trying to calm my nerves. “I have to go to the studio. Alex wants to look at proofs today. Again, Charlie, just give me time. I have a lot I need to think about.”
Charlie steps closer, looking straight into my eyes. “But you’ll come back here right?”
“Yes, Charlie, I’ll come back here when I’m finished. Unless I bring it up when I get back, please don’t. Let me deal with this internally, ok?”
Charlie kisses me softly and pulls back. “Ok, Allison. I love you. I’ll be here when you get back. I’ll make us dinner.”
I turn around and walk out the door, not saying another word.
Our apartment is not far from the studio but I take my time, taking unnecessary turns, slowly walking as I fight tears from flowing.
God, this adds a whole different element to this situation. There is no way I could be a step-mom and have to deal with this woman the rest of my life. But will she come out of it? What if she doesn’t? Then I gave up Charlie for no reason. Can I wait till May to find out? I know the longer I stay with him, the harder it will be to walk away.
The thought of walking away makes me physically ill and I have to stop, putting my hands on my knees to calm my breathing and stop the pain building in my chest.
I finally make it to the studio and walk in hoping that looking at proofs will clear my mind for the time being. The receptionist is off today so I walk straight into Alex’s office as he sits at the computer looking over proofs.
“Hey Alex,” I try to sound happy.
He turns around looking at me, “Hey Allie, everything ok?”
I turn around, fighting more tears as I place my purse on the chair behind me. My voice cracks as I respond, “Yeah, how do the proofs look?”
Alex stands up and walks toward me, placing his hands on my elbows. “Hey, talk to me. What’s going on?”
Tears start to fall down my face, “I’m sorry. This is so unprofessional. I should have been more composed before I came inside. I’ll be fine.”
Alex wipes a tear away from my cheek, “It’s ok. Is it Charlie?” his voice a little higher than it should be.
I sigh, “Yes. But it’s ok. Just a lot going on.”
Alex leans down to look in my eyes, “Allison, it’s ok. Talk to me.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to bore you with our drama.” Because you would never believe me and we would be here all day.
“Allison, are you guys ok? This is the second time you’ve come in here like this. Does he treat you ok? You know you can talk to me.”
“Oh, no, it’s nothing like that. Yes, he treats me great.”
“Are you sure Allison? I mean, you deserve to be treated like the angel you are.”
I look up to him, surprised at what he just said. “I told you, we’ll be ok. It’s just normal things,” I sigh to myself as I say normal.
“Allison I mean it. If you were my girl I would treat you with the upmost respect and make sure you would never feel this way.”
My eyes go big. Whoa, what did he just say?
I sit silently looking at him. Not sure how to respond.
“I mean it Allison. I would do anything
to make your beautiful smile last a lifetime.”
Then he leans down and kisses me, holding me tightly by my arms while he shoves his tongue in my mouth.
I’m completely shocked and sit frozen just as the door opens and Charlie walks through holding a dozen roses.
I push away from Alex, wiping my mouth, staring at Charlie as his eyes fill with immense rage.
Charlie throws the flowers on the ground, turning to leave the room without saying a word.
I run to him, grabbing his arm, “Wait Charlie, it’s not what you think! Please Charlie, don’t leave.”
Charlie looks at me, screaming, “It’s not what I think? You mean I didn’t just walk in on you kissing Alex?”
“No Charlie, let me explain!” I plead.
He looks to Alex who is standing frozen, “You’re right, Allison.” He walks to Alex and socks him right across the face, knocking him to the ground before turning to walk away.
I try to stop him again, “Let go of me Allison.”
“No Charlie, listen to me. I wasn’t kissing him.”
“Goodbye Allison!”
I gasp, “No, no Charlie! You don’t say goodbye.”
Charlie looks straight into my eyes, firmly saying, “Goodbye!”
I fall to the floor as Charlie storms out of the room. Alex stands up and walks over to me. He reaches his arm around me and I stand up, yelling at him, “Look what you did! How could you? God, you said I was like a daughter to you. What kind of sick guy are you? I looked up to you. And you’re married!”
I grab my purse and run out of the office to try to stop Charlie again.
As I run outside, I see Charlie speed off in his Mustang with a look of death on his face. I fall to my knees again, crying into my hands in the middle of the busy San Francisco street.
I drive a few blocks and am stopped by a boom truck putting up a new billboard around Union Square. I look up to see myself. Are you fucking kidding me right now?
Before me I see an ad for Guess Seductive Homme cologne displaying the picture of Allison and I wrapped around each other with Allison’s neck tilted up and me kissing her neck.