Charlie is waiting for me when I walk through the large, glass doors of the office. He leans against the side of his white, vintage mustang and smirks at me, turning to open the passenger door.

“How was it?” He asks, as I thank him for being chivalrous and climb in.

“It went well, I think I’ll really like it.”

Charlie closes my door and walks around to the driver’s side. I look down to the center console and notice two large cups with lids and red straws.

“I got you a cherry coke for the road,” He says, smiling and gesturing towards the one that is mine as he takes his seat behind the wheel.

“Thanks,” I say, “You’re sweet.”

I hope Charlie at least lets me buy him dinner or something on this trip. He has already insisted that I not pay for gas or pitch in on the hotel room, and now he is treating me to free beverages.

Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire,” is the first song to play through the stereo of Charlie’s car as we begin our road trip. It is already dark, but Charlie and I agree to keep the windows down, at least until the air gets too cold.

I sip my cherry coke while the wind blows my long curls relentlessly about my face. For a second, I wish that I’d worn a hair band on my wrist, but then I correct myself, because it actually feels so nice.

After a few more Springsteen songs, we move onto Tom Petty.

“Wildflowers,” begins to play and Charlie reaches down to change it.

“You don’t like this one?” I ask.

He moves his arm from the dial, placing his elbow back on the center console.

“It’s not my favorite, but I’ll listen to it if you like it.”

“It’s my favorite Tom Petty song,” I explain, “I think it’s one of the most romantic songs ever written.”

He doesn’t shift his eyes from the road, but he tilts his head slightly, with an expression both amused and questioning.

“If you listen to the lyrics, it’s about telling someone you love that they deserve to be free. Maybe it’s just because the only boyfriend I’ve ever had was suffocating and possessive, but I appreciate the message,” I chuckle and Charlie joins, but only for a second before he runs a hand through the front of his perfectly messy hair and glances out of the driver side window.

“You can change it though, if you want,” I say quietly, leaning back further in my seat and typing on my phone to my parents.

I see him reach towards the stereo out of the corner of my eye, only to turn the volume up and then lay his warm hand on my knee. I smile to myself, still looking down at my phone. Soon, I take his hand in mine, lacing our fingers. We stay like that, quietly together, for sometime.

We eventually decide to roll up our windows. Charlie decides, actually, when he somehow notices me shiver for a split-second. He asks if I need warmer clothes from his trunk, but I insist that I’m fine.

I ask Charlie what sort of current music he likes, since we’ve only ever really listened to old, albeit good music together. He plays some of his present favorites for me. There are a few artists that I hadn’t yet heard of, and I like them all very much. Both of us listen to an eclectic mix, but we somehow have very similar taste in music both old and current.

His hand now rests in my lap. He is wearing a black, lightweight sweater and the sleeves are rolled to his elbows. My fingertips trace the blank ink on his arm, like they have so many times before, and they look comically small against the size of his smooth forearm.

“Do ever think about getting tattoos anywhere but your arms?” I ask.

“I’ve always considered getting something bigger on my back, but other than that, no. I don’t want to get so many that they run together, either. I like for each one to be distinct, because they all tell a different story.”

Most of Charlie’s tattoos are nearer to the top of his arms, so I don’t have many to trace on his forearm. After, I slip my arm under his and rest my hand on his wrist, still in my lap.

As much as I love his tattoos, I am a bit relieved that he doesn’t plan on getting a full sleeve, or having his entire body covered, because I love how soft and warm his skin always looks, and I would hate to see less of his perfect arms.

“I like that they’re all in black ink. Did you do that on purpose?”

“Not necessarily,” He says, “Every time I drew something, the design was just always black, no color.”

“You drew all of them yourself?” I ask, looking back down at the few designs that I can see.

“Yes,”

“I love that,” I state simply, turning my head back towards of the passenger side window. I of course am interested in every meaning, every story, but I’d rather wait until he tells me, without having to ask. I guess I feel this way because my father had a tattoo done when he was young for his cousin who passed away. He would always clam up when people asked about it, and for a while, he would say that he regretted ever getting it, because every question was a reminder. I could always read the pain on my dad’s face when he would tell the story to someone new.

I spend a while appreciating the dark, but beautiful view as it passes quickly by.

I’ve always loved road trips, but this one is obviously special. Charlie’s car feels amazing to ride in. He must have had someone very talented restore it, because it’s smoother than any new car that I’ve ever experienced.

I feel so safe, too, so I can enjoy the darkness. I feel his fingers start to trace circles around my inner thigh, and my head slowly falls back into the headrest. I still gaze out the window, but my eyes feel heavy, and after a time, I drift off to sleep.

I wake up to my name being spoken softly and smoothly, and I feel a hand squeeze my knee.

I open my eyes and squint at the brightness around me, looking towards Charlie.

“We’re here,” He smiles at me, leaning into the car from the open, driver’s side door.

“The valet has our bags and they’re about to take the car, are you ready?”

“Yes,” I say quietly, still fairly confused. I unbuckle my seatbelt and realize that the abrasive lighting is coming from the hotel’s exceptionally well-lit exterior. I reach for the car door handle, but someone is already opening it for me.

I look up and expect to see Charlie, but instead, it is a nicely dressed hotel employee. I thank him and climb out of the car. Charlie is speaking to the man who’s carting our bags, but he reaches for my hand upon noticing me.

He tips both men and leads me into the hotel lobby.

While he checks in, I call my parents to let them know that I’ve arrived safely. We only speak for a few minutes, but they tell me to have a nice time and to be careful before we say “I love you” and “goodnight.”

I suppose they know now that Charlie and I are sharing a room.

It is nearly midnight when Charlie and I are finally settled. The room is extremely nice, and I feel the urge to reoffer half of the money, because I suspect that this hotel is very expensive. I know that Charlie won’t allow it though, so I decide to just be grateful.

That becomes even harder when we decide to order room service, since it’s late and neither of us have eaten.

“You have to let me pay you for this. I’ll honestly feel terrible if you pay for me this entire trip. You already let me stay at your house, drive me around everywhere, cook for me,” I trail off, and Charlie laughs a little to himself.

“Stella, if it makes you feel so terrible, just don’t think about it.”

He is sitting comfortably at the head of the bed and I am standing over my small suitcase, unzipping it to fetch my makeup bag.

“Do you want to buy a movie? Well, I’ll be buying it of course, but I’ll let you pick.” I look up from my bag to see him smirking.

I roll my eyes at him and walk into the bathroom. I immediately begin to brush my teeth, and I smile to myself when I hear him lift off the bed and start towards me.

I bend over, taking water from the sink into my palm, and splashing it into my mouth. Before I can stand straight again, I feel him arms wrap firmly around my waist, pinning our lower bodies close together.

I straighten finally, and continue to brush as his lips graze the side of my neck. He looks particularly large standing behind me in the mirror, his strong, tattooed arms wrapped around my body and overlapping one another in front. His chocolaty brown hair looks so perfectly tousled from the wind in the car that I desperately want to reach my hand to his head and bury my fingers in it. And even though his lips are on my neck, I can see that his soft cheeks are rounded out and I feel the smile playing on his lips.

I bend over once more before I’m finished brushing my teeth. As I stand up, I turn to face Charlie, simultaneously placing my toothbrush neatly in a cup on the counter.

He connects his lips with mine and I finally let my hands move to the sides of his head, tugging at his hair.

He lifts me up and places me on the counter as I let my lips move to his jawline.

“The shower is really… big,” He says, and I immediately laugh into his neck. I hear him chuckle too, but at the same time, I feel his fingers move to the buttons on my shirt.

“I suppose it’s no secret that I’m not with you for your wit or originality.” I move just enough so that I can look at his face and smile. He smirks, still staring at his hands as they move over the buttons.

“Ah, but there’s no need for me to be witty or original when it’s also no secret that you’re with me for the unparalleled shower experiences.”

He finishes with the buttons on my shirt and his hands move to the hem of my skirt. I stand, so that he can pull it down off of my legs.

“Wrong,” I say, “I am clearly here for the free food and hotel room.”

I am so sleepy after our shower that I consider going to bed in my towel. Charlie offers me his sweater instead, and I take it gladly. I quickly brush through my hair and put lotion on my face, arms and legs before I crawl into bed. Charlie is still in the bathroom, brushing his teeth and hair, while I get comfortable under the clean, white sheets. I’m glad that my fruity lotion doesn’t overpower the sent of Charlie’s sweater.

With my head on a pillow, I bring my hand, which is covered by his extra long sleeve, to my nose. The sent is both warm and clean, a mix between his subtle cologne and sweet fabric softener.

When he finally joins me in bed, he sits up against the pillows and pulls me close to him. I of course lay my head on his chest.

“Will you be able to fall asleep if I watch TV for a while?”

“Yes, I don’t mind,” I let out a small yawn.

I look up at him, resting my chin on my arm, which lies across his chest.

“Aren’t you tired though? And didn’t you say that you have to be in the gym at seven in the morning?”

“Yes, but that shower woke me up,” He looks down at me and smirks.

I rest my cheek against his chest again, closing my eyes, “I’m sorry that your good stamina is wasted with me.”

He chuckles and I smile contently. The television volume is low, but I can see the shifting light reflected through my closed eyelids, and it actually makes me even more lulled. When Charlie’s smooth hand moves under his own sweater and starts to massage my back, I fall asleep very quickly.

Charlie wakes me up by trailing kisses from my forehead to my neck. When my eyes flutter open, he is the first thing that I see. There is a wide, happy grin on his face, his entire body over mine. His blue eyes are a bit puffy from sleepiness, and it makes him look even more sweet and young.

Even though I appreciate how mature and independent he is, sometimes it’s refreshing to catch him in moments where I’m reminded that he’s actually my age.

“Good morning,” I whisper, reaching to play with his hair, which is already being held away from his face by a headband.

Because his hair is long, but not long long, it sticks up a bit just behind his headband, a wave of curl falling forward, over the black strip. It works so well on him though – an effortlessly fixed kind of style.

The shorter, curlier sides usually sneak out of the headband, and they feel perfectly soft when I twirl my fingers about in them.

“I have to leave soon. But I wanted to say bye first.”

As he speaks, he pulls down the sheets that still cover me, and pushes up my – his – sweater. His lips trail from my chest, down my stomach, and then over one hipbone, before slowly crossing to the other. I’m lost in my still-sleepy haze and I let out something between a gasp and a moan.

Charlie notices and his lips leave my skin for a moment, “You didn’t think I would wake you up for nothing, did you baby?”

Charlie leaves me dazed and peaceful, and I end up falling asleep again, waking up around eight. Charlie has already been at the gym for an hour. I told him, before he left, that I would bring breakfast by when I finally get ready.

He told me that he wanted me to stop by, but that I shouldn’t bring him food. Then, he had the nerve to try leaving money on the nightstand, so that I wouldn’t be paying for his food, if I did insist on bringing some.

I stretch before crawling out of the plush, hotel bed and padding stiffly to retrieve what I need from my luggage.

I wear my hair down in its usual, loose curls. I decide to wear a chunky knitted, sage green sweater with denim shorts and boots. I roll my sleeves up and hope that the day is going to be a good temperature for the way I’ve dressed.

I apply my makeup and grab my handbag, along with my sunglasses, and finally leave the hotel.

The first coffee shop that I stop into luckily has oatmeal. I order some with brown sugar and apple slices, adding iced, passion fruit tea and fresh fruit to the order.

The walk to the gym is short. As I sip my tea, I browse the shop fronts while I pass them by, in case there’s somewhere I’d like to stop after I visit Charlie.

Charlie has been in this particular gym many times before, and he told me this morning just to walk right in, and that it shouldn’t be difficult for us to find each other.

I’m glad when he almost immediately sees me, anyway, because it means that I don’t have to worry about ending up in someone’s way.

He is standing with his bare back to me, on matted ground, in front of a boy who looks to be about our age. The boy, who is much smaller than Charlie, holds his hands in front of his chest, and they are clad in red, boxing gloves.

He looks at me before Charlie does, and without looking away, he nods in my direction and says something short to Charlie.

Charlie then turns towards me, and I finally notice that he has large, black punching pads on his hands. He holds one up, waving I suppose, and grins towards me before he starts my way, looking back to the boy and telling him to follow. He takes off the pads and tosses them aside on his way to where I stand.

Charlie often keeps his face downturned just slightly so that, despite his height, he seems to look up at you through his strong brow. His deep blue eyes can be a lot of things in these moments, but right now, they look playful and inviting.

He mouths “Hey, baby,” to me as he approaches, pulling me in for a hug and kissing my forehead. I wrap my hands around his unclothed torso and notice how hot his skin feels. My mind inevitably starts to wonder.

“This is Gabe,” Charlie says, pulling away from me and gesturing towards the boy.

“Hi. Nice to meet you,” I smile, and he smiles back.

Gabe is lankier than Charlie, not quite as tall, and while his arms are much smaller, his muscles bulge more and aren’t as smooth. He has shaven black hair, and friendly, dark brown eyes. Like Charlie, he moves and stands confidently, but in a subtle, relaxed way.

I notice Charlie staring at the brown bag with a coffee shop logo in my hands.

“I feel bad,” I say, offering the bag to Charlie and looking back at Gabe, “If you want me to go and pick you up something to eat, I don’t mind.”

“Oh no, no, no,” Gabe says, raising his hands, “You don’t worry about me, my mom still packs me snacks,” He says, winking at me.

“Some of us aren’t lucky enough to have girlfriends to bring us breakfast.” His fist pokes Charlie’s side as he turns to walk away, “You two have fun. It was nice to meet you, Stella.”

“You too!” I say, and then I focus back on Charlie, “I didn’t interrupt, did I? He doesn’t need to leave – “

“No, babe, you’re fine. I needed a break, and he needed one more than me,” He smiles down at me, “Let’s go outside and eat, where it doesn’t smell.”

I giggle and follow him outside. The gym actually doesn’t smell bad at all; it’s very clean, like the gym that Charlie trains at in Clemson, but much larger. Regardless, I never pass up on the opportunity to eat outside.

We find a nearby bench and sit down, Charlie with his elbows on his knees and I with one knee bent underneath me, my other leg dangling, and my hands in my lap. My body is turned slightly towards Charlie, while he faces straight ahead. The weather is so nice. It’s a rather cloudy day, but the sun is shining more at this particular moment, and a subtle breeze is keeping us cool.

Charlie pulls his oatmeal from the bag, “Thank you so much. You didn’t have to do this.”

I don’t reply, because he needs to learn that yes, I do need to contribute somehow, every now and then at least.

“Is this your fruit?” He asks, moving the bag towards me.

“No,” I say, “I just figured you would get hungry later.”

I lift my tea from beside me and take a sip before resting it in my lap.

Charlie sets the bag down where my tea was, “Is that all you’ve had today?” He gestures towards my cup.

“Yes,” I smile, “This was what sounded good.”

“You should eat some of the fruit,” He says matter-of-factly, opening the lid on his oatmeal. I bite my lip to keep from laughing, because I can tell that he’s more worried than he’s letting on by the way that his voice dropped.

He smiles too, when he removes the lid, “You got them to make my exact order.”

“Of course,” I say, “You don’t mess with a man’s oatmeal preference.”

After my visit with Charlie, I go shopping. It’s nearly ten, and Charlie is to be done at the gym at twelve. We decide to just meet there again, and then decide what else we want to do; though he says that he wants to take me to lunch since I won’t have eaten.

In the short time that I have, I’m able to buy some new clothes for my job at Dr. Keller’s, and two new pairs of comfortable, office appropriate heels. I figure this is the most opportune job for heels, because I sit down the entire time. Besides office clothes, I also find a cute, black chiffon, dress. It short, the perfect length, really, and the lightweight, layered material is flowy below the definitive, empire waist. Both sleeves are off-shoulder and longer, getting looser with length.

I buy the dress mostly thinking that I can wear it if Charlie wants to go out tonight, though we haven’t talked much about our plans.

It’s nearly twelve and I’m making my way back to the gym when I spot a store that I’ve missed somehow. What catches my attention is the collection of simple, but heavier jewelry in the window, and it reminds me of the rings that Charlie always wears. I decide that I have time to stop in.