I grab the handle and swiftly open the door, but I jump when I hear a groan
behind it: I frown and start to apologize, but I am interrupted when I notice of
hitting the jerk with the python ... at home.
"Holy shit!" - I straighten my back, while continuing to keep my eyes closed and
a hand on the nose.
I make a disapproving face at his bad language, but then I realize
to shoot bad words from morning to night: he squints to threaten me with one
stern look, but I don't move an eyelash and I look at him pleased from below,
leaning against the door jamb and crossing my arms.
He points at me with his index finger, and in doing so the ink that wraps around his right arm catches my
attention, so I quickly retrace the tattoos that are linked, intrigued by
some of them in particular.
Before he starts yelling at me, the Hulk walks over and slaps him on his shoulder, laughing:
"Meet Charlotte!" - says and continues to show his teeth, while pointing at me with his chin.
I've never put up with Taylor, but maybe he's the only one who doesn't do drugs out of all those who
I know and who work in this place.
"We've already known each other." - I have the courage to fold my lips into a smile, but the smile
dies on my lips when the man in front of me advances with the same expression as The
Giant Prisoner, and after two seconds I find him an inch from my eyes, so close
that I untie my arms at my sides and widen my pupils, while his warm sigh fills
my nostrils.
His dark eyes are very illegible, while his words are cold:
"I know you ... but you don't know anything about me." - he punctuates every word in order to deny what
I just said, and for a moment I stop breathing, but soon after I recover and get up
one eyebrow: he prides himself on having my private information, as he is in the
position of my employer.
"I don't need a folder to get to know you." - I try to be as firm and sure as possible
with my words, as he just stares at every inch of my face:
"You are Matthew Gray ..." - I continue, remembering the writing on his desk:
"... and you are twenty-seven
years old. "- this time he drops his grimace and takes on a frown.
William has always bragged about having a son born in 1972, as a result of his love
for a mysterious and plump woman.
"You didn't even go to college, but you paid for your degree… by fucking the
director. »- his father returns to help me, as he begins to widen his eyes.
"You have been married in the past ..." - I look at the ring tattooed around his finger, but, as he notices my gaze he clenches his hand in a fist.
"... but she cheated on you, so now you let off steam in your office." - I remember the first
moment when I met him and I try to avoid a grimace of disgust, while I find the
courage to keep eye contact with him.
He starts to speak, but Taylor puts a hand on his shoulder, urging him to step away from
my small body.
He frowns again, avoiding the man behind him, and seems to want to formulate one
sentence, but then runs a hand through his hair without stopping looking at me from above:
"Don't laugh." - he threatens me shamelessly, as if my smile makes him sick, but
his words only encourage me to show my teeth more than before.
He still advances, so I take a step back, but all it does is overtake me and
leave me perplexed in front of Taylor:
"You always get noticed, Charlie!" - he looks at me with pride, clearly showing off the
biceps musculature, then ruffling my hair.
I grab his wrist, squeezing the inside, as he makes a painful grimace:
"Don't call me Charlie." - I glare at him.
"Forgive me, I ask for forgiveness!" - he says in a strangled voice, freeing his arm from my
taken, and then follow me as I reach the giant gym at the entrance.
"Listen ... er." - he clears his throat, putting a hand behind his neck- «Charlotte, I'll give you a friend advice... »- he begins, but I interrupt him with a monotonous voice, while I take a seat on a gym bar stool:
"We are not friends."
"Matthew is a complicated man, it doesn't suit you ..." - as he begins to speak to the wind, I give
a look around, eye catching my boyfriend flirting with a hot brunette with
fake tits and nipples well highlighted.
I roll my eyes, not worrying in the least about his attitude: it's too much
unintelligent to be able to impress.
The first time I saw him try to get a woman's attention was the day in
which I decided to get together with him: I understood that he is someone who does not know what a is
serious relationship and I thought someone like him would never complicate my already complicated life.
"But isn't that Hardin?" - Taylor notices it too, but I shrug and raise a hand to
draw the waiter's attention.
"Did you break up?" - he still insists, but I shake my head and look at the young man that
smiles at me:
"The usual?" - he asks, then I nod, while he begins to prepare my cocktail.
I love alcohol and, if only it didn't hurt, I'd take it with ingections.
While I wait for my nectar, I return to look around me to mind other people's business,
also taking advantage of the fact that Taylor decides to keep his mouth shut for a minute.
There are weird subjects in this place, weird like William, who luckily has
left, but not as much as that asshole who thinks he is a god of sex.
He's so mysterious, but at the same time ... hurt, even if it wouldn't seem by the way
which he caresses the arm of a new client.
I roll my eyes again at the usual Seattle scene: the woman pretends to be
innocent to attract the attention of the man who tries to seduce her, when in reality she is
already looking between his legs to shoot guesses about the length of his genital.
The man, on the other hand, pretends to be attracted to her sweetness, despite knowing that she doesn't
looks forward to moaning under his arms.
Seattle is a microcosm where everything takes on a different connotation: romanticism is
synonymous with wild sex, while love lasts only between those who are able to invent a new sex position every time they have an intimate relationship.
Everyone has so much experience that now it is enough to take a look at some extranger on the street to figure out what kind of man is in bed.
That's how, in fact, I realized that my so-called boyfriend would be a loser.
In a long relationship time he has never pushed me sleep with him, and neither has he invited me to a romantic dinner, fortunately ...
I take my eyes off the powerful figure of Matthew to return to look amused at my
'man', who tries to show himself as... a man, but ends up dropping the red liquid on the chest of the
poor woman.
"Two kilos of silicone wasted." - I analyze without holding back a smile, followed by Taylor,
who nods in agreement.
I swallow the yellowish liquid and squeeze my eyes when I feel the familiar burning in my throat,
then go back to my office without eating any of the diet crap that
proposed at the counter.
My micro-paradise, in this den, is the corner of the machines at the back of the room
entrance, where every half hour I refuel with high value chips and full caloric bars, and then eat them in front of my clients, while I suggest them to avoid fats and
chocolate.
The afternoon, as I expected, was more challenging than the morning and it is already dark
when I can finally breathe the fresh air and retrace the journey back home,
that now I can do blindfolded.
I take a deep breath as I cross the street two meters before the crosswalk and
I hurry up to not miss the new episode of Station 19.
Today, however, and not that it is new, luck is not by my side and I am
forced to wait for the lift to arrive, even though I live only on the third floor: I hate
walking and sweating, especially sweating, and I can't stand the idea of getting in front of my house carries out of breath.
The noise that marks the opening of the doors makes me lift my eyes and press my lips
among them, happy not to have to swear again at a metal door, while
my neighbors look at me in amazement.
I enter with my head held high, then press on the number that indicates my plan and wait
that the lift starts, but as soon as the doors are about to close, a hand
blocks the entrance.
I raise my eyes to the sky in annoyance, while I count the seconds that I lose from the beginning of the new season.
William enters, showing his chin in pride, and then gets
a surprised expression when he sees me inside the elevator:
"It's been a long time, Charlotte!" - brings his wrinkled fingers to the back of my head,
stroking my hair as if I were his daughter.
"In fact, I hoped not to see you since this morning." - I say in a low voice, throwing
a quick glance at the shopping bags he holds up with difficulty: he laughs, tilting the
head, as if to say 'I expected such an answer'.
"Are you going to get drunk to forget you're old?" - I raise my eyes to the ceiling,
while I keep counting the bottles of wine he bought.
"My son has moved to Seattle." - he explains with a half smile, almost taking in
consider my proposal.
"The ... new boss?" - I swallow my saliva with difficulty, having the confirmation of what I feared:
Matthew is really a guy I would like to avoid any contact with, regardless
how bitchy I can appear and able to stand up to him.
"Yes, don't tell me you've already met. He's not good company, have you noticed? "- he says,
looking at me seriously, and is the second person who tells me that today.
At the exact moment the elevator doors open, I start saying :
"For now I have only noticed that he is a whoreman." - but I stop at my steps when I see William's son leaning against the wall, almost waiting for the lift with his arms crossed.
He raises an eyebrow, but I avoid it, and I do everything to keep my expression
severe and not blush, and then I walk towards the entrance of my apartment under hers
insistent look:
"See you again!" - William laughs behind me, but I do not respond to his greeting and open the door of the
my apartment not very far from the two behind me, while Matthew's voice is the last one
I hear:
"Do you know her?" - I can imagine his frown, as I wonder what makes him so
asshole and sexy at the same time.
He has nothing that the other men who work in his gym don't have, just a few
extra pound of muscle, black dresses from head to toe and two eyes so dark and ...
scary.
When I caught him this morning with the redhead climbing over him I immediately thought he was
one of the usual brainless fads, one of those who would have flirted with me immediately after , looked at my breasts to make some sleazy comments.
But he has done nothing but insult or threaten me so far, which only adds to it
my discomfort just at the thought of finding myself in front of him again.
And there is only one person that makes me feel the same and that I am forced to
avoid every time I open the door to my apartment.
I shake my head to clear these absurd thoughts as I decide to slam the door
behind and throw myself on the sofa.
As soon as I do that, I feel my thigh vibrate, a sign of the arrival of a new call.
Reading my best friend's name I don't think twice before answering:
"What do you want?" - I ask sour, waiting for the usual answer that makes me burst out laughing.
"Marry Ash Stymest , win the lottery and become a billionaire, spend all
my money with Tara's and Karl Lagerfeld's latest collection, betray Ash
with Boyka, get divorced, live alone in a house with thirty-five cats ... »- takes a
strong breathing, while I raise the corners of my mouth upwards, and then concludes - «... and I want
peace in the world. "- I burst out laughing, showing my teeth for the first time in a monotone
day like today.
"You didn't come today." - I analyze after a bit of silence.
"I had an appointment." - she says with a serenity that forces me to widen my eyes:
"You're too serious, so I don't believe it." - I confess: the last time she went out with a man
she pestered me, telling me every detail of the evening, as if I really were
interested in listening to it.
After all, with a body that could be the envy of Tila Tequila , and with two blue marbles
which are located in the place of the eyes, she can certainly afford to have many suitors.
"Indeed, now you can hear me!Come and open the door." - she closes the phone, while I widen my eyes
in amazement, even if it's not the first time I find her outside my apartment without
telling me first.
I hurry to open the door for her, although I really needed to pass the afternoon
in solitude, getting lost in thoughts as usual.
I am very excited about her arrival, but only because she never comes without the usual pizza
in her hands.
As soon as I open the door my eyes light up in front of her:
"I missed you ..." - I pretend to be moved, turning to the wrapped pizza, that I take from her hands and then turn my back on her.
"Thank you." - I remember to express my gratitude.
"If I hadn't brought it you wouldn't have let me in." -she whispers with an expression
thoughtful, most likely remembering the first day she came to my house:
in this house there is only one rule! Come up with some crap that contains a
99.9% fat percentage, otherwise I'll slam the door in your face.
"I've already lost half episode!" - I snort, as I turn on the television and realize I have
reason.
My friend catches up with me with a frown, but then she passes me and walks straight in the kitchen to prepare the usual low-calorie salad.
"How was him?" - I raise my voice to make myself heard, still shaken by the fact that she has not started
to tell me about her new conquest:
"Who?" - she returns to keep me company, while I begin to bite into the best thing God gave to humanity, which I keep
resting on crossed legs.
"Him." - I say, rolling my eyes.
"It was a she." - she whispers, closing her eyes, while I turn my head towards her.
"Are you a lesbian?" - I raise an eyebrow, ready to jump for joy, as much as I wanted to have
a gay friend from childhood.
She shrugs and I understand that she is so confused that she has nothing to say:
"She's a bomb in bed..."
Hearing her tell the details of her intimate relationship with another woman doesn't bother me,
on the contrary, it makes me laugh out loud, but that doesn't move her in the slightest and continues talk me about her sex life with this new woman until I feel my eyes get heavy.
"You, instead? When will you let Hardin deflower you?"
I snap my head at her and
I straighten my back, suddenly awake.
"I'm not a virgin." - I say, raising my chin to appear as firm as possible, and she seems to
fall for it when she nods, as she brings her eyes to the ceiling.
"Who is virgin in Seattle aged fifteen and up, anyway?" - she throws herself back on the sofa, which leads me to do
the same on the opposite side, hoping she won't ask anything else about my relationship with Hardin.
"Er, anyway ..." - she clears her throat, interrupting herself, and then resumes speaking
with an unsure voice:
"... I saw Paul checking the entrance."
At the sound of his name I get goosebumps and words struggle to get out, even if I try to appear as confident as possible by shrugging my shoulders:
"I know. "
"Be careful." - regardless of the tone of my voice, she worries about me every time
sets foot in this apartment.
"Have you ever thought about doing karate?" - I raise my eyes to the sky at her words:
"I'm safe, Tessa." - I conclude the speech and let her know that I don't like
the topic, as always.
"Taylor is throwing a party at his suburban home tomorrow. Are you coming? »- after moments of
silence, my friend finally decides to ignore it.
"He didn't tell me about it." - I try to remember if the Hulk told me about a party while I was
too busy with my thoughts... And hating the new owner of the gym.
"Why don't you ever go out, Charlie!" - she shouts, as if she wanted to wake me up for a long time
of sleep.
"Don't call me Charlie." - I begin, taking it back, not for the first time:
"The alternative
would be to spend the evening with Hardin, so I'm coming. "-I saw, trying not to regret about my decision.
"Great progress." - she evaluates ironically , but I avoid her laugh to fix the flaps of my sweatshirt.
"You might change color every now and then. Black is so sad. »-she sticks her tongue out in a grimace of
disgust, but I immediately retort:
"I'm not all dressed in black!" - I exclaim in a high-pitched voice, but in response she raises an
eyebrow:
"My panties are white." - I defend myself, making her laugh heartily.
"Are you wearing your panties?" - she continues to hold hee belly with one hand, as she returns in a sitting position and bends forward.
I just roll my eyes, then close my eyelids to try to
fall asleep amid Tessa's laughter.