desc: charlie always had eyes for her. never thought of the day he would have to confess his feelings to her, but his little ‘assistant’ helped him out to be more confident in himself. It worked.
wc: possibly 2,351 words or more.
cw: a sexual joke, some swearing.
summary: what happened after arguing with Harper, he told himself he has to do better. Charlie then changes into a more casual person for her. Changed every bit of himself just for her.
note: this is for @harveylung , for our 3 months. I love you sunshine.
After a long day, setting up two bosses wasn’t the easiest thing, exposing his angry boss’s secret, telling the truth to Kristen, their marriage fell apart. Mission successful but It was the end of the day for him. Charlie is obviously exhausted but.. he seriously can’t take his mind off after what he said to her. Harper. In that ring shop, arguing in front of the assistant like some old married couple. What Harper looked like broke something in him, I mean, after all that stuff he had said to her definitely made her sad. But he knows her. Mirrors what she says, knows what she likes, despises, her tick-offs, how she’s independent as a woman. Ever since the day that both of them agreed to set both of their bosses’ up, right there, he mimics her.
Charlie isn’t the type of guy to ever admit anything out loud, but if he has the right advice, technique, anything that could boost his confidence to admit, he’ll do it. He usually aims for higher standards so he could look better in front of people that are most definitely crucial considering how high the role is for being a boss. But when it comes for Harper, he immediately loosens up and becomes himself around her. Charlie never really acknowledges himself about it, the party, he was drunk. But staring into her eyes was him. Truly him. Charlie saw the real her and that really boosted something in him. Not confidence, Not anxiety, Love. As again, he stood back from the idea, when the night ended when she left out of the window. The tension was still in the air but never pointed out so.. It made it awkward. Very. Now he regrets pushing back the girl he has his eyes on, saying stuff that wasn't even on his chest. All lies.
He walks the streets of New York, the day dimming, stars glimmering, he thinks to himself what he can do. He took advice from Harper, not really advice but from what she said to him. “Boring girl”? Fine. He broke up with suze for her. “Still working at a job that does not matter”? Easy. He said it right there and then in front of everybody, in the airport, no shame. He called quits. It made him feel good, real good, but still, Harper saying that he knows that their relationship is fake and that they can still be engaged when Rick is cheating on Kirsten, Harper most finely disagreed on what he said. Charlie takes a note mentally then starts thinking to himself on what to say to her. How to apologize. Probably it’s too late.
The door creeks gently in his cramped up apartment room. He takes steps while thinking, as he reaches the living room he flopped down on his own couch. Is he really becoming a asshole? Is he becoming his own boss, Rick? He can’t let that happen. He doesn’t wanna become an asshole, to anybody, to her. “Am I truly an asshole, a douche-tard? I cant believe it.. Cant be.. What do I do..” His voice is low and thoughtful. Charlie bounces his left leg up and down, biting his bottom lip in concentration as he stares off into the air. He then unexpectedly leaned over all the way and stared down at the floor. WWCD.. what would charlie do. His eyes fluttered closed, lifting his back all the way up until it reached the couch. The exhaustion was getting to him, maybe another day. Charlie then took off his vest, letting it drape freely over his arm as he dragged himself to his room to rest for the night. He lays down on top of his bed and immediately shuts his eyelids. Waiting for the melatonin to kick in, barely working, but he is quite old. No lie. Then he doses off slowly, the circadian rhythm working once again.
Sunlight poured through the blinds, shining on Charlie’s face. He let out a soft groan and sat himself up carefully on his bed. What a night he had, very chaotic, but it was missing something. He got up and took every piece of clothing that was on him and replaced it with something much more comfortable. Then he sat down on his couch once again, he grabbed his laptop and started doom scrolling on it. Once he got far enough on the internet, a knock was heard from his front door. Of course, Charlie got up to answer it like the ‘gentleman’ he is. Rick. His boss. Very unexpected after exposing his scandal with a so-called person named ‘kiki’, which sounded very much alike to Kirsten's name which.. It isn't. Unexpected surprise for him to show up to Charlie’s front door apartment. He most definitely needs help. He’ll give him some of his.. technique and advice to get Kristen back. There lies him, Rick threw up the facial expression called ‘the stank face’ as he examined the hallway of my apartment without penetrating.
“Hey..” “What do you want?” Charlie let out a scoff, so amused by his presence. “You.. live here?.. It's disgusting-” He gripped the door, knuckles turning white in seconds, the door about to slam on his ‘boss’s’ face, but Rick stopped it right on time before continuing to talk again. “I’m sorry- I just.. I uh.. I need some information about- about my wife- my ex wife.” “Like what.” Rick then pulls out a black note pad and opens it. “I got a few things written down here.. Uh, assorted favorites, as in, uh, favorite foods, flowers, clothing –” Rick’s hope went down quickly when Charlie cut him off with a harsh tone in his voice, piercing through the desperate situation that’s happening for his boss. “Are you serious?” His eyebrows furrow as he examines his kicked puppy face. “Look.. I realized I should know this. But you used to do all this stuff for me..” Rick paused in the middle of his sentence. A long silence held on until he spoke up almost inaudibly and regretfully. “I want her back.” Charlie smirks to himself mentally before giving him ‘hope’ and ‘confidence’. “I have an old KiKi file. I’ll send it over to you.” Then Rick celebrates to himself silently. “Yes!.. Thank you. Thank you..”
The moment was then interrupted by Charlie’s roommate interrupting the most amusing moment to ever occur, at their apartment now. Duncan walks upstairs and sees Charlie’s boss standing in front of him. He raised both of his eyebrows up, dressed attirely, coffee in hand. “Rick..” Duncan examined Rick for a good second before staring at his friend. “You still work for this guy?” “Nope.” Charlie answered amusingly. Life flashed between Rick’s eyes, his expensive outfit was now wet by Duncan’s cold coffee. He aggressively threw the liquid out, along with cubes of ice, possibly? The liquid creating dark stains blotted on his buttoned up top. Duncan then reveals the cup he was holding. “It’s soy. Nice meetin’ ya, Rick.” Charlie threw a smirk with Rick’s back facing his view before slamming the door he turned around to say something but Charlie slammed the door in his face. Never getting the chance to explain himself.
Charlie gets an unexpected call, answers it, gets ordered by.. Kristen. To come by her office. Or by the building. Minutes later he arrives at the building, he stares at the peak of the building then down to his feet. He stands by the glass, hands by his hips as he looks around the city of New York. A busy day means a normal day. People filling the streets, going to work, doing human things. He stands patiently, quite nervous, he knows that Harper works here. Yes, Harper. His thoughts jumped from one to another, what if’s, ideas, what should he do when he sees Harper. Does he apologize? Do they finally stop becoming friends?
Long enough, Harper was already done talking to her boss. Sharing the article she once promised to publish but keeps on slacking. Never publishing it. Never finishing it. Until now, she finishes while Charlie has a crisis back at his place. Fun. She was on the phone while a humongous sized bag hung on top of her shoulders and a big box balancing on the other palm of her hand. Harper wore a bright red dress, fixed her hair, looking absolutely fabulous despite her crazy looks at work. Charlie, when he turns around, he sees her appearance. Completely mesmerized. Breathtaking if he could admit himself. He stops when he turns around, When Harper feels a pair of eyes staring into her, she does the same. She stopped in her tracks and laid her eyes on him. They both locked eyes. That warm feeling he had back where they both ate pizza like a bunch of rats.. The stare.. The tension.. It came back. At the speed of light. He started grinning, not smiling yet, just a glad grin that he saw her once again. Charlie tries to keep his hopes down when she starts walking, as soon as she gets close enough she stops right in front of Charlie. Now full on smiling, no teeth, just a smile. “Hi..” Harper speaks up awkwardly, considering the argument they had in the ring shop, and a plus one, it was in front of the lady who of course.. Heard everything. “Hi.”
Charlie opens his mouth and closes it, about to say something but can't find the right words to say at this moment. If he had a tail, it would most definitely be wagging right now. “So.. what are you doing here?” “Oh! Kirsten told me to meet her. What are you doing here?..” Harper looked at Charlie before her mouth went agape, she looked away in pure, genuine shock. “Oh, my god..” She then looked the other way and let out a scoff. Realizing what Kirsten meant by.. Meeting up with Charlie. Then it clicked to Charlie.. “She Cyrano’d us.” That. The word Cyrano. He of course never forgot about that word. He pays attention to little detail then uses what she says and says it. It can definitely stick to his daily life schedule in no time. “I googled it. So I know what it means now.” Of course you did you motherfucker! Charlie, The eagle. Never missing a single thing about her! Harper continues giggling before she looks at Charlie once again. Not in a suit, just a dark green jacket, bright blue shirt, and jeans. It was all new to her. Doesn't look like her Charlie. The one who wears a suit and tie. “I don’t.. work here anymore. I quit working for Rick.” Second one. He took her ‘advice’ and quitted for her. For the best of it. She doesn't react very much, just her eyes widened slightly. “Starting over. At 28.” Harper bobs her head up and down, mumbling ‘yeah’. “Actually, I'm a temp, which is technically lower on the totem pole than an assistant, which is kind of a kick in the nuts..” Her facial expression goes all numb, but her inner self is definitely suspicious, questioning, waiting patiently on what he has to say.
“But it’s, uhm, cool.. I get to see a bunch of different jobs. Find out what I actually like.. I like you. So, so much.. You’re not hard to get at all. You’re hard to earn. It’s so much better.” Then, Harper spoke up. True, but quite harsh. “You displayed a total lack of character when it mattered.” He looked down then up at her, locking eyes once again. “I know.” Charlie admits truthfully. “Charlie, you have the romantic and sexual personality of a seventh grader.” “S.. seventh? I feel like it’d be high school.” “You wear suits to sports games..” “What?!” Charlie’s face was totally lost, when he saw her facial expression he knew what she was doing so he decided to play along. “You’re a know-it-all..” “You are unbelievably bad at beer pong.” “You’re a sore winner. And you use too many exclamation points!” “And yet…” Her sentence fades off, Charlie grabs her hand, intertwines his fingers with hers. pulling her in as time slowed down around them..
He stops her before letting off something his chest. “I saw you. The real you. I love the real you. You are full of energy, ideas, noises, and I love to always see that type of thing from you. Every day when I come to work, I think about you. Not in a.. Y’know, a romantic way but you get what I mean. I can’t get you off my mind. The things you say.. I mirror it. Y’know the ‘over-dick-around’ thing? Gosh it’s funny. I love that one.. And the rest of the things you say too. I love it. It’s funny.” He took a long pause before speaking again. “You already made a change in my life by.. Both of us, setting our bosses up together, and hearing that makes me laugh. How can such.. An amusing idea bloomed a whole entire friendship that I didn’t even want?.. I saw every bit of you in our friendship and I never judged any part of you either. I’m always here for you, to do better, to BE better. I love you, Harper.” Charlie awkwardly pauses for a second, she locks eyes with him and she frowns happily.
Harper then leaned in for a kiss, pressing her lips against his, not claiming, just feeling. Just letting Charlie know that she appreciates this. The moment. The talk, His words. Time slowed down for them, the people walking by, the busy streets, the smell of the foodtrucks, all of it didn't matter to them right now. All they wanted to focus on is each other. Harper then pulls away from the kiss, giggling once again as Charlie tilts his head, slightly confused. “What? What’s so funny?” “You make me so happy. You have no idea how much of a fool we both are to people.” “Well we can be both fools together..” “Great idea!”