have less. do more. be more.

charlie tate . twenty-seven physical therapist & nature enthusiast @yeahcharlie

[ninabeatriceadams-deactivated20]

“I guess, except he took out three of my bras to put in it, so I don’t know how cool it was.” Nina said as she inspected the plastic thing. “With this heat, I think so too. But did you really want to get soaked? Right now?” She asked, arching an eyebrow. “I’m Nina by the way.”

[charlottetate-blog]

“Oh, yeah, that kinda sucks,” Charlie admitted with a laugh, lowering her arms. Bras weren’t exactly cheap and she could only imagine having to replace three of them. “Sounds like a pretty good idea to me,” she said, sticking her hand out even as her cheeks flamed. “You’re saying you can stand the New York heat? --I’m Charlie. It’s nice to meet you, Nina.”

[ninabeatriceadams-deactivated20]

“Hey!! Freeze sucker. Put your hands up where I can see them.” Nina yelled as she hopped out from behind her door. Pointing the plastic gun at someone, the woman then broke out in a smile as she lowered the weapon. “Sorry, I don’t even know where I got this. My brother must’ve packed it for me. I swear I heard him say, ‘Nina it’s a big city, you’ll need protection.’ Like this could really protect me. I don’t even think it has foam bullets in it.” 

[charlottetate-blog]

Charlie had just entered the room, and at the voice, she spun around, surprised - though it didn’t stop her from obeying the command as she held her hands up in the air. When she saw the plastic gun aimed her way, her expression changed from one of confusion to mild amusement, though she kept her arms up. “Well - that’s kind of cool of your brother,” she admitted with a grin. “But you know what would’ve been even better? A super soaker.”

[charlottetate-blog]

birthday ice cream || Harriet&Charlie

[ispyharriet-blog]

        “So what you’re saying, is that I am the hero of this story…” She pursed her lips as a meek smile was trying to escape, “so where is my cape? or —my Hollywood star on the Boulevard?” A small fit of laughter fell from her lips as she played on coyly. Charlie had a air with her that made Harriet not feel like she had to stay tucked away in her awkward, and lonely corner of isolation. She felt comfortable, to say the least. “There’s always next time. Don’t give your hopes up.” She slid the spoon out of her lips, the chocolate bite chilled against her. “Many more adventures await. You never know if a Zombie is going to groggle down the street after you…but even if you were bitten I’d probably still hang out with you,” her cheeks blushed, “I’d be the weird girl who is friends with that one gorgeous zombie…man if you’re a gorgeous zombie…you must really be something…because zombies are…..not attractive…” Harriet’s blog was personal, it was her desperate attempt to make sense of herself. “It’s alright, I hate reading about myself… or being any center of attention…it’s…”she gulped down her bite, “embarrassing.. I’m just..awkward, I don’t know..but you can snore as much as you’d like.”

[charlottetate-blog]

Charlie nodded enthusiastically along to Harriet’s words. “You’re definitely the hero of the story,” she told the other girl confidently, though her brow furrowed at the mention of a cape. It wasn’t long, though, before she brightened. “You’re sitting on it.” Laughing, she gestured to the picnic blanket below them - a great choice for a cape as any, in her opinion. “I can’t help you with your Hollywood star, though, unless we want to go scribble on the walk of fame with some chalk or something.” She looked amused at the thought. “Aw, that’s kind of sweet of you to hang out with me even if I were a zombie. I’d try not to give you my zombie cooties. Maybe us hanging out would de-zombify me - like in that movie, where this one girl falls in love with a zombie.” Not that she thought Harriet was going to fall in love with her - that was pretty presumptuous. “I know what you mean. Reading about yourself, or seeing yourself on TV, is pretty weird to me.” She took another bite of her ice cream, considering for a moment before piping up, “Why’d you decide to join the show?”

[charlottetate-blog]

birthday ice cream || Harriet&Charlie

[ispyharriet-blog]

        “I was…” Her pupils dilated at the memory of her well filled back pack. “We could have climbed mount Everest with my pack…and clumsy me slipped on a rock…” She chuckled hugging her knees to her chest comfortably as she sat on the blanket in the park with her company. “I was embarrassed…” She sighed shying her eyes away from Charlie now as she remembered their first adventure meeting. “Good thing I brought that first aid kit, or I probably would have caught some….zombie disease.” the brunette joked flashing a meek smile to Charlie. She was glad the girl insisted on spending her birthday with her. “Mhm…I blog, about my life…like a public journal. It embarrassed me at first, but you know there are people out there who are just as lost as I am…and it’s comforting…but I’ll definitely be typing away about you later on. Just a heads up.” The blushed cheeks Charlie wore were endearing to Harriet. “Flaws make a perfect person. —but I draw the line at dognapping…” She joked before dipping her spoon in the dessert again. 

[charlottetate-blog]

Charlie grinned, shifting herself forward so she was propped up on her elbows as she continued eating her ice cream. “We definitely could’ve climbed Mount Everest with that pack - and see, if you hadn’t brought the first-aid kit, we may not have lived to tell the tale.” In all honesty, she was glad Harriet was fine after the tumble she had taken. “Maybe I should’ve gotten you a zombie survival guide for your birthday,” she mused aloud. “--Does this mean I should stay away from your blog? I don’t think I’d like reading about myself.” Which was a funny thing for a girl on a reality TV show to say, but Harriet’s blog seemed much more personal than the show was. It was a little scary to think that all she had to do was turn on the computer and she could know how Harriet really felt about her. “Oh, that’s where you draw the line?” She laughed. “So I can snore as much as I want?”

[charlottetate-blog]

birthday ice cream || Harriet&Charlie

[ispyharriet-blog]

    “No…-no…” Harriet’s head shot up from the other’s shoulder as a concerned worry washed her face. “I’d much be here..” The last thing she wanted was to make Charlie feel insecure about the time she was spending with her. “This is already the best birthday I’ve had….seriously, did I say thank you?” She scrunched her brows in wonder over her gratefulness as a small smile quirked the corners of her lips. “Oh—yeah of course…” Harriet held the woman’s ice cream briefly looking around to the others around them. She couldn’t believe that she was openly out with a girl she had grown to like. The brunette had closeted herself from the public for so long, it felt good to be in the park–even more so that the other was Charlie. “—and this day keeps getting better.” She mused at the blanket Charlie had laid out for the pair. “You came prepared… makes me feel like less of a ….loser for last time we hung out..” She spoke nervously taking a seat. Her emotions had no boundaries and she had felt too rushed with already liking the girl the night the road the bikes to the stars. If anything Harriet wanted to hold the girl that night, it seemed perfect, and if she had enough courage she would’ve kissed her…but she was Harriet..”You know I’m going to blog about you late, right?” She beamed a little as her spoon dug into her desert after handing Charlies back to her. “because this is…too perfect…like….can I ask how you’re real, because there has to be some deep flaw somewhere?…I mean,…c’mon, you’re a knight-ress who what road in on a shiny star ice-cream and all of your glory…”

[charlottetate-blog]

“You did,” Charlie said with a smile, and though she couldn’t quite remember if those exact words had been said, that wasn’t the point. Harriet seemed happy, and Charlie was glad for it. She waited until Harriet had sat down before sitting herself, and grinned at the other girl. “I’m pretty sure part of the reason I had as much fun as I did is because you were super prepared,” she told Harriet. It was rare she found someone she clicked with so well, and if she were being honest with herself, she was interested in Harriet - very much so, and probably more than she should’ve been. “So I decided to take a page out of your book, and try to do the same.” She blinked, alarmed, but found herself laughing anyway. “Blog about me?” She shook her head, still grinning, though a red blush painted her cheeks at Harriet’s words. “I have plenty of flaws. I mean, I probably snore. Or, maybe I’m a dognapper by night. You never know. --You’re probably better off writing about the ice cream.” Food was very interesting to Charlie, after all.

[charlottetate-blog]

birthday ice cream || Harriet&Charlie

[ispyharriet-blog]

        “Are you kidding me? ‘If you want to?”” Harriet mocked the blond with another playful nudge. She found herself opening up to a lighter air around Charlie. Something about the other girl made her want to be closer, which sent her to become playful. “Didn’t you hear me talk about how I typically spend my birthday’s along with my furry Zep eating a carton of ice cream?” She chuckled holding her small bowl of ice cream in one hand, while her other looped her arm within the others as they strolled through the park. “I mean, yeah, i’ve got ice cream either way, but this way is better because I get to eat it with the company of you.” She shied away, resting her forehead on the girls shoulder as she cursed her mind for saying such things out loud. Any confrontation or rejection was fearful to her. 

[charlottetate-blog]

“Like I said: that sounds like a great birthday to me,” Charlie said with a grin. “I would get it if you’d rather do that.” She said this without an ounce of self-pity; she really would understand, after all - even if she would feel a little sad about it. Her smile widened as Harriet looped her arm around hers, and she gave it a squeeze, blushing at Harriet’s words. “Yeah?” she said, almost shyly. “Well, I’m very glad you decided to come get ice cream with me.” She led them towards a large field of grass in the middle of the park, where others were already enjoying the sunshine. “Would you mind holding this for me?” She handed Harriet her ice cream, a little sad that she had to displace Harriet from her shoulder (she liked her there) and proceeded to reach into her backpack: first pulling out a picnic blanket, and once that was settled, she gestured for the other girl to take a seat. “I thought we could have a picnic,” she told the girl brightly, though there was a hint of nervousness in her tone as well. She busied herself with taking out a carton of juice and some small snacks.

[charlottetate-blog]

birthday ice cream || Harriet&Charlie

[ispyharriet-blog]

   “You should pat yourself on your back. Mission accomplished.” Harriet thanked the cashier behind the counter kindly, as she took the ice cream thankfully from her. Turning, she moved beside Charlie, there was an urge to be closer to the girl. If anything, Harriet felt most comfortable around Charlie, and ever since the girl had come out unexpectedly to her mother- she was breathing a new air–and there was something slightly more confident to the brunette. “Wait–what?” Harriet stopped nearly stepping on her shoe laces. “An extended adventure awaits?” She questioned nudging the other girl playfully. “Charlie, you really don’t have to do anything with me. I really appreciate the ice cream. You’ve already done plenty for me to be happy.” It was true, it didn’t take a lot for Harriet to be content. She was very appreciative. -but a part of her was egging on to carry on with Charlie. If it meant she was spending more time with her, then she wouldn’t argue. At a loss to argue against anything furthermore, Harriet lifted her spoon and dug it into a scoop of ice cream in hopes that the bite would hide the blush that took over her cheeks.

[charlottetate-blog]

A large grin tugged at the corners of her lips, and she took another bite of her ice cream, leading Harriet out of the ice cream shop and across the street - to the park. “But I want to,” she told Harriet honestly, and when it occurred to her that maybe Harriet might not want to - or maybe she already had other plans - Charlie added, “Only if you’re up for it, though. I didn’t think to ask if you have somewhere else to be.” She looked a little sheepish. “How’s your ice cream?”

[charlottetate-blog]

birthday ice cream || Harriet&Charlie

[ispyharriet-blog]

        “He would love you….it may boost his ego a bit,” she added to the topic of Zeppelin. “but, you know, he loves it, and you’ll be a babe magnet so it’s a win, win for everyone, right?” The brunette gave a subtle laugh before her teeth trapped the laughter behind her teeth as she nibbled on her lip. Something about Charlie’s humor had made Harriet feel more comfortable. Comfortable enough to begin to come out of her shell. “Oh my god….” The girls jaw dropped in a slow audible tone. She couldn’t protest against the kindness Charlie was giving her, and her three words were merely a sigh of appreciation for the girl sharing her kind nature with her. It was something Harriet wasn’t really used to. At all. “Thank you…” She nudged the other with her elbow in a playful manner. “I know you’re going to say ….it’s my birthday…I don’t owe you anything…but for paying maybe you can camp out on the roof with Zep and I for a night. He’ll show you all the ropes of how to impress a girl, but honestly I think you’re doing a fantastic job all on your own.”

[charlottetate-blog]

Charlie blushed, cheeks reddening ever so slightly - it wasn’t every day that someone called her a babe magnet, even in passing. Though with Zeppelin, Charlie was sure it was true. “No problem,” she replied, grinning slightly as Harriet nudged her gently. “You definitely don’t owe me anything, but I would love to meet Zeppelin.” And hang out with you, Charlie didn’t say, because her cheeks felt like they were on fire once she registered what Harriet had said. “I guess inviting a girl out to ice cream works sometimes,” she said with a laugh, picking up her ice cream from the girl behind the cashier as it was handed to her. She waited until Harriet had hers as well, before speaking again: “You ready for part two of our ice cream adventure?”

[charlottetate-blog]

birthday ice cream || Harriet&Charlie

[ispyharriet-blog]

    “It must be Christmas.” She spoke her thought out loud as she pressed the palms of her hands to the glass of the ice cream display. It was all very childlike. Her pupils were dilated with amusement and Harriet felt more than overwhelmed with choices. “I’m terrible at decisions…” Her teeth tugged at her bottom lip. “Don’t make me jealous….he’s my man.” She snickered playfully over their talk  of Zeppelin. “You should see him fresh out of the bath. I’m telling you, he’s a real heart melter.” Her amusement landed her to order quickly before she changed her mind. “A sundae please with blue moon, and chocolate explosion scoops.” Harriet grinned ear to ear. “—and may I have a small container of cherries too?” She practically pleaded to the cashier before turning to Charlie. “You know, out of the kindness of my heart I am going to try to be sneaky and pay for the both of us….you know that right?”

[charlottetate-blog]

Charlie grinned at Harriet’s delight, pleased that the girl was as into ice cream as she was. “Yeah,” she said thoughtfully, “but maybe he can be my man - for an afternoon, at least.” She was kidding, though she wouldn’t mind borrowing Zeppelin just to play with from time to time, assuming Harriet was okay with it. “Oh, don’t even joke about that, or you might find him dognapped tonight. --Could I get a double scoop of rocky road ice cream? In a waffle cone. Oh, with whipped cream, too,” she piped up right after Harriet had placed her order, a small frown coming to her face as Harriet spoke. “It’s your birthday,” Charlie protested, shaking her head as she turned to the cashier to address her. “It’s her birthday - she’s not allowed to pay, right? It’s practically a rule.” And with that, she dug out her card, handing it to the cashier.

[charlottetate-blog]

birthday ice cream || Harriet&Charlie

[ispyharriet-blog]

“oh–hush, I will thank you because normally I would just buy myself a cake from the super market and eat it alone at home– so really, thank you.” She gave Charlie an endearing grin. “He’s….a mut…” Harriet scrunched her nose at the question of what breed her companion was. “Terrier and schnauzer mix. He’s the one that keeps me warm at night.” She gave a light chuckle as they approached the stand, her tongue licking along the curves of her lips in anticipation. “He’s such a ladies man. I can’t take him anywhere without him reeling in the ladies…sometimes the fellas too.” Harriet had spent her life alone for the most part, and once she adopted Zeppelin- he went most places she did. “He would probably swoon you away.” 

[charlottetate-blog]

Charlie blinked. “That’s not such a bad way to spend your birthday,” she told Harriet with a grin. “You won’t have to share your cake with anyone. Maybe I should do that for my next birthday.” Her grin quickly turned into a smile. “Aw, I bet he’s handsome- and he sounds like a good wingman. Maybe I can borrow him sometime,” she joked, turning the corner and coming to a stop in front of the ice cream shop. “He probably will, if he’s such a ladykiller,” she laughed, opening the door for Harriet and gesturing for her to step inside. “See any flavors you like?”

[charlottetate-blog]

Text Messages || Charlotte & Jasmine

Jasmine: Charlotte -- if you're trying to tell me that you broke up with me for me, I am seriously -- I don't even have words. In what world could you breaking up with me be good for me?

Jasmine: Ironically, she thinks she's terrible for me and is making that decision for me.

Charlie: i didn't say I was doing it for you.

Charlie: well, you're not going to let her walk away, are you?

[claricevanowens]

“It’s so nice of you to, oh–” Claire said as some paintings fell out of a moving box. “Sorry, I’m a big unorganized, this usually doesn’t happen.” She said before picking up the painting and smiling at the memory. “One of my kids made this, I mean uh, not my kids like I gave birth, my uh kids that I teach. I teach kindergarten and when they found out I was leaving, they were heartbroken so they all kind of made me paintings. My mother told me I was stupid to bring all of them and they would get crushed, but I have about twenty more of them and I just couldn’t bear to part with any of them!” The woman rambled on before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Anyway, I think this is my room yeah? You can just set that over there, I’ll probably procrastinate a lot before actually unpacking but doesn’t everyone? I’m sorry, what did you say your name was? I’m Clarice, but Claire is just fine.” She said before biting her lower lip to keep from talking. 

[charlottetate-blog]

Charlie had been here about two months or so now, but she still wasn’t getting any better at navigating it. Thankfully, this other girl seemed to know where she was headed, and so all Charlie had to do was follow her. “That’s kind of cute,” she said with a grin, carefully setting the box down on top of the table. “I mean, sad that you left, but cute that they made you all of this stuff. Where did you move from?” She glanced at the painting that had fallen out, lips curving into an even larger smile. “Oh, I’m Charlie.” A pause. And then, mirroring the way Claire had introduced herself, she shared, “--Charlotte, really, but nobody calls me that. It’s nice to meet you, Claire.”

[charlottetate-blog]

Text Messages || Charlotte & Jasmine

Jasmine: Yeah well, what was best for you was the worst thing that's happened to me. Although, I hope it wound up making you happy. In the end, even now, that's all I've ever wanted for you even if I wasn't the cause of that happiness.

Jasmine: There isn't much to say. Maeve and I are -- well complicated doesn't even begin to explain it, but she doesn't want me around, so I'm not going to be. Plus, burying myself in work is what has worked best for me for the last however many years it is now. No need to change that routine.

Charlie: i didn't do it for me.

Charlie: i'm sorry to hear about you and Maeve. Maybe you guys can work things out?

[charlottetate-blog]

Text Messages || Charlotte & Jasmine

Jasmine: Honestly, I want to go back to before my heart was broken which so means you aren't who I should talk to about this. But Lee, you're my best friend. It just sucks that you're the person that broke my heart too.

Charlie: i did what I thought was best at the time.

Charlie: if you don't want to talk about it with me, that's okay.

[charlottetate-blog]

Text Messages || Charlotte & Jasmine

Jasmine: I've been better. Benefit of this show is that I'm sure you know some of what's happened. I don't need to completely explain things. I'm glad you're doing well though.

Charlie: wanna talk about it?

[charlottetate-blog]

Text Messages || Charlotte & Jasmine

Jasmine: Hey Lee, how have you been?

Charlie: hey Jazz, good! You?

[charlottetate-blog]

very zen || Jazz&Charlie

[jasminejlandry-blog]

When she heard Charlotte say that she hadn’t given Jazzy much of a choice, the doctor could feel anger and pain begin to bubble up within her. She didn’t want to explode right then though. Honestly, a part of her was terrified of exploding after so many years of keeping it all in. The idea of letting someone know just how much power they once had over her, how they had hurt her so much terrified her. “I’ve thought about you so much over the years,” she said with a humorless laugh as she shook her head. “I want to be mad at you, Lee. Don’t think that I don’t know that you hurt me or did something I never would have dreamt of because I’m aware of that. I just,” she paused for a moment as she tried her best to find the right words. The more she thought though, the more she realized that there were no perfect words for this. It just was what it was. “You’re a part of me. Being without you was like losing a part of me, and I don’t want to be just the other part anymore.” 

The question that she so badly wanted to ask was right on the tip of her tongue, but she wouldn’t voice it. She couldn’t ask the other woman why she had been left; why if there was so much love there it wasn’t enough for Charlotte to want to keep her forever like they had promised. The doctor deciding that enough was enough, took steps forward until she was maybe half a foot away from where the blonde was. A single tear slipped from her eye, which was even too dramatically cliche for her liking, so she roughly wiped it away with her hand. “You were my world, Lee, so I understand. You don’t have to try and put words to what we had to me because I know that none of them are enough.” All of the worlds in the world seemed to still lack the beauty to describe the love the two of them shared. They were so young, and maybe they shouldn’t have been trusted with something so special. Maybe they couldn’t know the true value of it until it was lost. It was almost cruel really that now as adults they could look back and see just how rare it was. “I want to have you in my life again. I’ve tried the whole living without you option, and it wasn’t exactly my favorite. But if you think you’re getting out of this without giving me a hug, you are so sorely mistaken. I will tackle you right on that yoga mat.” Changing things to a lighter topic was easier. It didn’t seem like Charlotte felt nearly what she did, and it was just too hard to be alone in this. So, Jasmine did what she had become so good at, she avoided the things that hurt. 

[charlottetate-blog]

Charlie bit her lip as she heard Jazz explain her side of things - how could something she had done out of love have such bad consequences for the both of them? She had only wanted the best for Jazz, and it hadn’t been her - why couldn’t the other girl see that? It’d been for the best, or so she’d been telling herself all these years, but the more she spoke to Jazz, the more unsure she felt of it. “You should be mad at me,” she said quietly, looking away. “I just thought—” She stopped, huffing out a sigh. It didn’t matter now, what she’d thought. “You should be mad.”

She fell silent again, not trusting herself to speak. Words definitely weren’t enough, couldn’t describe what she felt for Jazz. Couldn’t describe what she was feeling now, even. She glanced up as Jazz took a step forward, her heart skittering in her chest - though it stopped altogether as she watched the other girl wipe at her cheek. But then, at Jazz’s next words, she laughed. “Tackle me? That sounds pretty serious. Let’s go for a normal hug. I prefer my limbs in working condition.” She stood from her mat, crossing over to where Jazz stood and wrapping her arms around her.