I bet if Xander asked to marry me tomorrow, my mother would probably send me off without a second thought.
“Should I be worried about our marriage?” my dad teased her, earning himself a mock scowl.
“All I’m saying is, he’s definitely suitable for our Charlie. I can already picture the grandbabies-”
“Eww, Mom!” I groaned, and Mel laughed. I didn’t even know his middle name, and my mother was already thinking about grandkids. I guess that was the downside to having a romance novelist for a mother. She saw love in everything. She was a staunch believer of fate, soulmates and destiny. I wasn’t allowed to read her books until just a few years ago, so I spent my early adolescence listening to stories about her books from my friends. My parents met when they were just fourteen and had never loved any other people. So, my mother believed that everyone deserved that type of love. But I had my doubts.
After being forced to answer a few more questions about Xander, during which my dad grunted disapprovingly and my mother gushed with approval, I left for school.
I found Xander leaning against the wall outside our Sociology lecture room, his medium length dark hair gently swaying in the wind. His dark jeans, brown boots and white T-shirt looked effortlessly great on him. The open-buttoned blue shirt and the leather jacket gave the illusion of afterthoughts that added to a fashion masterpiece. Who styled this guy? When he raised his head to look at me, those dark eyes halted my steps and I conceded with irritation: he did look like a young Johnny Depp.
“Hey,” he grinned, flashing me his perfect teeth. Something about the way this boy operated should be made illegal. I was just too flustered to figure out what.
“Hey yourself,” I smiled briefly, trying to calm my raging insides.
“Umm, can I talk to you for a second?” he asked, running a hand through that dark shoulder length hair.
His request had my walls going up. “Class is about to start,” I hedged.
“That’s alright,” he stood up straight, towering over me. “We can talk tonight, on our date.”
I nearly choked. What had made him think that I wanted to go on a date with him? You mean between the way you’ve welcomed his kisses and you spending a lot of time with him? My snarky subconscious could always be relied on to remind me of my actions.
“Date?” I breathed. I didn’t know whether to accept. Yes, I liked Xander, but then there were the red flags waving right before my eyes every time he was near. And the secrets he kept from me about himself.
Chill out, it’s a date, not a marriage proposal! Damn that subconscious.
He smiled disarmingly, “Yes, Charlie. I’m asking you to go out with me tonight, if you’re available.”
Tonight was my turn to make dinner, but I had the feeling my mother would gladly take on the task for me to go out with Xander. “Okay, I’ll go out with you. I just need to talk to my mom first.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” he smirked.
I rolled my eyes at him, “Right.”
“What, your mom likes me. I was starting to think I’d lost my touch when it took you so long. Now I realise you’re just a bit slow.”
I lightly punched him in the stomach, and he started howling in mock pain. “Geez, I didn’t even hit you that hard and you were insulting me.”
“But it hurts!” he rubbed at a spot above where I’d hit him.
“If only my mom knew this side of you,” I mused shaking my head at his dramatic performance.
“I’ll pick you up at six,” he said, squeezing his eyes shut as if to ward off pain.
“Fine,” I said, hiding my smile behind pursed lips.
As soon as I confirmed our date, he nodded and briskly walked away.
“We have a class right now,” I called after him.
He turned, walking backwards, “You do. I have a hot date to prepare for.”
I returned his smile with one of my own, certain that that smile would stay plastered on my face for the rest of the day.
I called my mom before I started my shift at the hospital and her reaction was worse than I had predicted. After repeatedly expressing her joy at my shirking my responsibility to make dinner for a date with Xander, she asked me to ‘send her love’ to him and ask him to dinner with the family the following week. I know that everyone wants a cool mom, but my mom was too cool. As in, alarmingly, call-the-social-worker cool.
I waved at the nurses at reception on my way in, stopping to listen to Nurse Jill talk about a comatose patient whose elder brother had imagined responsiveness. As a volunteer, I heard these stories a lot. It was heartbreaking to know that there were people whose lives were paused, waiting for their loved ones to recover. Many people took health security for granted. I excused myself, going to start my shift.
We read Thumbelina twice for the youngest in the group, a doe-eyed three-year-old named Delia before I asked them what they thought about the story.
Tyler raised his hand, sucking his thumb. I smile at the adorable way he blinked up at me, “Yes, Tyler?”
“Charlie, is that boy from last time your boyfriend?” he asked with the genuine curiosity of a child.
I was sure my skin was boiling with embarrassment. Was I really about to discuss my love life with kids, and field the ensuing questions? However, I was not given the chance to respond because a voice spoke up from behind me.
“Not yet, but soon,” I was frozen in my kid-sized red chair by Xander’s voice. What was he doing here?
He bypassed me to squat in front of Tyler, “Why, you got a problem with that, little man?”
I could feel his smile, and Tyler returned the gesture with his toothy grin. “Nope.”
His thumb returned to his mouth and he looked questioningly at me, as if seeking confirmation of Xander’s words.
“I-he’s a friend” I stammered, feeling stupid for being nervous.
“For now,” Xander added, smirking up at me.
I narrowed my eyes at him before one of the girls, Phoebe, said, “Your boyfriend is cute, Charlie.”
Good Lord…
Xander laughed and reached out to poke her dimple, “Why, thank you, little miss. You have a good eye.”
She giggled, and I smiled, obviously because of the effect he was having on these precious children. Not me, I was perfectly calm.
They all gathered around him in a semi-circle, asking him random questions about Santa Clause and fairy tales. I laughed when Tyler asked him if he had ever seen a real-life dinosaur, to which Xander seriously replied that he wasn’t that old.
Before I knew it, our two hours together were up, and I had to go home and get ready for my date with Xander, whom I still had no clue what he was doing here.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, as soon as we were out.
“Nothing.” He answered, fisting his hands in the pockets of his denim jeans.
I looked sideways at him, “Oh, so you just frequent hospitals for fun?”
“You do, so maybe I do.” He said flatly.
“I don’t visit hospitals for fun, I volunteer,” I replied sharply.
“For what, an impressive college resume?” He asked, staring straight ahead.
I stopped dead in my tracks, “You know what? I resent that. Not everyone is out to use people in tough situations just to fulfil personal agendas, and if you think that’s who I am, then maybe you don’t deserve to get to know me.”
He looked down at me, waging a battle in those dark eyes, “Charlie, I didn’t mean it like that-”
“But you still meant it in a related way?”
He waved his hand in the air between us, “I just…I’m trying to figure you out, okay?”
“By accusing me of exploiting sick children for my own personal gain? This may surprise you, Alexander, but there are people out there who have done nothing to deserve the hand that life dealt them. So, if it bothers you that someone is trying to alleviate their suffering, then you and I shouldn’t hang out anymore.”
“It doesn’t.” He winced.
I took a deep breath from my passionate outburst, “It doesn’t what?”
“It doesn’t surprise me that there are people out there who have done nothing to deserve the hand that life dealt them,” he repeated, before walking away, leaving me confused about him, and unsure of whether we still had a date tonight.
Two hours later, I sat in my room fuming. How dare he walk away after insulting me like that. With no apology whatsoever! Was that the kind of person that he thought I was?
He called, for the third time since I’d gotten home, and I hit ignore. There was no way I was talking to him after what he’d said. My phone beeped, and I walked over to the bed to check it. His name flashed on my screen again, this time, he was asking me to give him a chance to explain. Well, that wasn’t happening.
“Charlie,” Mellissa called from my doorway.
“What’s up?”
“You should come downstairs,” she said. “Let’s watch some TV shows.”
I stopped massaging my hair, which I had started to stop visualising myself strangling Xander for being rude. “I don’t know, Mel. I’m not in the mood.”
“Okay,” she sighed. “I’m just lonely, and we haven’t hung out in a while.”
I considered reminding her that we had watched a movie together just yesterday, but I couldn’t say that when she was lonely and clearly needed company.
“Sure, let’s go,” I conceded, walking over to her.
We left my room in comfortable silence, and I could hear my mother laughing in the living room. It was too early for my dad to be home, and the profile facing my mother was definitely not my father. I could recognize that dark shoulder-length hair and basketball height anywhere. I turned to see Mel trying her best to look contrite and failing. I frowned and mentally screamed at her.
“Oh, she’s here. Come, Charlotte. Alexander is here to fetch you for your date” my mom announced, looking at me in my sweatpants and t-shirt disapprovingly.
He turned to face me, smiling tersely. His hair rested on his hoodie and grey coat. He was wearing blue jeans and converses. Here he was, looking like a clothing ad, and Mel had not even prepared me not to look like a pumpkin.
“Hi,” he said.
I looked past him to the flowers that were in the vase on the table, “Hey.”
“See, he brought flowers,” my mother beamed, gesturing towards the daisies.
I rolled my eyes and turned to Mel, “What did he bribe you with?”
“Charlotte!” my mother snapped like I had insulted her son. “He didn’t bribe anyone, he just offered to ask his cousin to help your sister with cheerleading.”
There it was. The bribe.
“Can we talk?” he asked, and I couldn’t ignore the sincerity in his voice and eyes.
“Sure,” I said, walking into the lounge and out to the patio, all the while sensing his presence behind me.
“I’m really sorry, Charlie,” he said, as soon as we were out of earshot.
“Ah, my daily dose of apologies,” I remarked, my anger returning as I recalled every detail of his crime.
He looked down at his feet, and I immediately felt bad for him. “Charlie, what I said today was uncalled for, and I didn’t mean a word of it. I’ve just not been around many people who would willingly sacrifice their time and expect nothing in return, so you’re a breath of fresh air.”
I crossed my arms, trying to keep my irritation, “I didn’t appreciate you calling me a phony who preys on people’s situations just so some stuffy dean from some fancy college can fawn over my decorated application.”
He looked over at me, and I hated the sudden urge I had to feel his hair as it covered one side of his face. “I know what I said was wrong, and maybe I haven’t had many people call me out on my actions, but I’m glad you did.”
Okay, so I wasn’t expecting it to go this smoothly. I had geared up for a debate, a bloody war of wills, but there was none. He’d just admitted he was wrong, and apologized for it.
“It’s fine,” I said, kicking at a spot on the ground. “I forgive you.”
He let out a breath I hadn’t realised he was holding. “Thank you.”
I nodded, not knowing what else to say to him (yes, the words ‘you’re welcome’ had abandoned my vocabulary).
He cleared his throat, “Can I still take you out on that date?”
Yes! Freaking subconscious. “Yeah, I guess so. Let me just get ready.”
We walked back into the house together, and I left him in the hazardous company of my mother while I was changing into something more appropriate. It took an extra fifteen minutes to leave the house, at the end of which he had promised mom that he would come to dinner soon. For the sake of his stomach, I hoped he had his fingers crossed behind him.
Charlie
He drove in the direction of the setting sun, and there was a certain beauty to seeing sunset in a new light every time we curved around the mountains. Every day, I found something to like about Whitfield County. Today, I concluded that it had the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen, and I had seen a lot. My calm turned to dread when Xander parked his car close to the cliff where he had been on the day we first met.
“Xander, why are we here?” I asked, my voice coming out nervous.
He turned off the ignition and turned to look at me, “There’s something I want to show you, but you can only see it in half an hour or so.”
At that moment, the golden rays of the sun caressed his face, lighting a fire in his eyes. Sometimes he was too beautiful, too dangerous and too overwhelming for me. “Alright,” I said.
I was pleasantly surprised when he grabbed a picnic blanket at the back and walked out to get a basket in the trunk.
“How did you know I would still agree to go out with you after what happened?” I couldn’t help but smile at him as he tried to spread it on a smooth surface in the gentle breeze.
“I didn’t, until I spoke to Mel and she told me you could be persuaded to come,” he grinned victoriously at the blanket which was securely spread.
I was too excited to think about scolding my sister after this. I sat down with him and he started to take food items out of the basket. He had bought some of my favourites, which meant he had spoken to Mel before coming to our house. I smiled gratefully at the packet of Lay’s Salted chips, the chocolate coated biscuits and my favourite vanilla yoghurt.
“Looks like you came prepared,” I said, smiling at him.
“Yes, I’m very efficient,” he joked.
I giggled, shoving his shoulder playfully. Surprising me, he put his hand over mine before I could retrieve it. “Seriously though, I’m just showing you how a guy acts when he’s interested in a girl.”
I must’ve been staring at him forever, completely caught off guard by that statement. He smiled at me, silencing the reservations in my mind. It was like he had this ability to drive away my doubts and make me forget our less than friendly moments. He was my anxiety-whisperer, and that just baffled me.
We ate in comfortable silence, save for the occasional jab at my preference for vanilla yoghurt, which he claimed was tasteless. I took a swipe at his taste buds and their tolerance for lemon creams, which he passionately defended.
“So, what did you want to show me?” I asked, popping a grape into my mouth.
I hadn’t seen him take anything else from the car, and my curiosity was getting the better of me. Instead of answering my question, he put some food on my plate and gestured for me to eat up.
“Xander, why are we here, specifically?” I tried again.
He smiled at me, “One day, I’ll answer all of your questions, because you seem to have a lot of them.”
“Probably because you’re so cagey most of the time,” I shot back. I wasn’t sure if this is what people here did on their dates, throw insults over good food.
He looked over at me, his eyes serious. “The day I met you, I opened up more than I had done
with anyone in a long time.”
I thought back to that day, unable to believe that it was just a few weeks ago. Sometimes I forgot that I hadn’t known Xander for that long. I would never forget the haunted look in his eyes and his hopeless smile when he had told me that he was planning on killing himself.
“Relax,” he said, as if reading my mind. “That’s not why I brought you here.”
I visibly relaxed, marvelling at his ability to both enrage and calm me with just his words.
He moved the picnic basket that was between us to the side, scooting closer to me. Xander flustered me, he invaded my senses and made it difficult to think clearly. He studied me beneath hooded eyes, smiling nervously. I blinked up at him, and was about to ask him what was on his mind when he shook his head at me.
“Shh,” he said, turning my head to face the setting sun. It was breathtakingly beautiful. “Look at that.”
The bright ball of orange sun slowly sunk behind the mountains, leaving astonishingly perfect rays in it’s wake. The sky turned into a canvas of pink, a hint of purple and remnants of the sun’s golden light. I stared at the wonder of it all, temporarily rendered speechless. “It’s…amazing.”
He sighed contentedly, “Of everyone I know, I knew you would be the only one to really appreciate it.”
I felt his eyes on me even after I had broken our eye contact, “You’re missing out on the view.” I smiled.
“I’ve got the view I want to see,” he returned my smile with one of his record- breaking ones.
I laughed nervously, “Yeah, right.” What was it about this one guy that made me tumble into a pile of bricks with nervousness?
“I brought you here so I could watch you watch the sun,” he said seriously. Perhaps noticing my shock, he added, “Alright, that sounds creepy, even to my own ears.”
We both laughed at that, before he went back to his brooding expression. “Your eyes and sunset make the most beautiful picture.”
“Thank you,” I turned away from him, trying to delay the crumbling of the walls inside me.
“Charlie, please look at me,” he asked. I had never heard him say ‘please’ before, but this wasn’t the time to bring that to his attention.
With Every Sunset Page 9