World of Endless Days

There was nothing to wake up for the next morning. Absolutely nothing. There was no point setting the tiny alarm clock, no point to jumping out of bed the second her eyes opened, no shower, rushed breakfast, slap dash make up applying or hair styling. It was lunch time when Charley finally slipped out of her cosy bed. She had been awake since half past seven, but she decided to break her usual routine and simply lay there, thinking, letting her imagination take her to new worlds far more interesting than her own.

She glanced at the phone, willing for it to ring. She wanted nothing more than to be put out of her misery right this second. She had near enough convinced herself that she was jobless, that Chuck had gotten his rotten way and forced their boss to sack her. She made a mental note to go out and buy a newspaper and look for a new job, whilst she popped two slices of bread into the toaster. She retrieved the butter from the fridge and a knife from the drawer whilst she waited for the bread to toast.

Whilst she waited, her mind began running away with itself again. She thought back to yesterday. Her time spent with Nick had been fun. There was just something about him that was refreshing, different. He seemed to take notice of her, but he held back, he didn't push her to explain things, she had taken it upon herself to reveal certain things to him. And she only revealed those small facts because she felt so comfortable around him. It was a strange feeling, but she wasn't complaining. It was nice.

The toaster popped up and Charley jumped slightly. She scraped butter across the warm, near burnt bread and took a bite out of a piece. She looked around the apartment, wondering what she could do with herself today. She wasn't used to having nothing to do, there was always something, she was always busy.

Just as she was in the middle of a mental 'to do' list, the shrill sound of the phone echoed throughout the tiny kitchen area. Charley shoved the rest of her toast into her mouth and dived for the phone, answering it quickly, "hello?" Her mouth was still full of food.

"Charlotte? Gillian here, I'm calling about the incident yesterday."

Charley's heart sped up a little. Yesterday. She replayed it in her mind. The words that had spilled from her mouth like vomit as she cursed Chuck, her worst enemy, the only person in the world she hated with such a passion. She swallowed hard, her throat scratchy, "um, yeah?"

"Yes, and it was out of order, you have to admit, Charlotte. I know you and Charles have your differences, but in future I'd appreciate it if you could deal with those outside of work and especially not in front of paying customers."

"I know it was wrong of me, and I'm sorry, I'll never do it again, I swear."

"I know you won't. Now, you're suspension is going to last for ten days. It should be fourteen, but I managed to lower it, since we'll be needing you for the new window designs when the new clothes arrive. So I will see you on the twenty fourth."

She sighed heavily, annoyed at the amount of nothing days she was going to have to endure before she was back to being busy again. "Okay. Thanks." She hung up before Gillian could speak again.

A sharp knock on the door made her jump again. With a curious frown etched into her forehead, Charley made her way through the apartment and unlocked the front door.

Standing on the porch was Nick. A sat nav in his hand, a look of pure annoyance on his face, which softened when he saw her. "Hi."

"Um, hi, Nick, how did you get here? I don't remember telling you where I lived," she stepped aside, allowing him entry, before closing the door behind him.

He laughed awkwardly, "yeah, well, I kinda followed you back last night. You seemed really, distant. I didn't want you driving off the edge of any cliffs or anything horrific like that."

She chuckled. "I don't care what you say, you're so stalking me."

"I'm not, I swear."

She smiled at him. "Whatever you say. So whats with the sat nav?" She nodded towards it.

"I think I broke it. So I thought I'd try and fix it on my way up here, but I think it's dead," he tapped the small screen and shook his head. The tiny device seemed to bring itself back from the dead, and the woman's voice chimed up, 'when possible make a U-turn'.

Nick frowned at it. "Not gonna be possible." He switched it off completely and pushed it into his jacket pocket. "Did your boss call you?"

Charley groaned and nodded. "Ten days of nothingness. I don't know what to do with myself."

"You could do something productive. Use your time wisely." He nodded, an attempted 'wise' look on his face.

Charley giggled. "I could. Or I could just lay in bed for ten days and be really lazy, now what would you do?"

"I'd go for the lazy option."

"My thought's exactly. So, not that I don't want you here or anything, but why are you here?"

"Just making sure you're okay."

"Well I'm fine, thank you. Now I haven't had any proper breakfast yet, so do you want something?"

He grinned and nodded. "Yeah, but only if you're not going to give me food poisoning or anything."

Charley walked across to the kitchen, her jaw slightly agape. "I'm actually an amazing chef. You'll see," she reached into the cupboards pulling out pans ready to make bacon sandwiches.

Nick sat himself down at the short counter. "Okay then, surprise me, Charley." He smiled across at her. If only she knew how much she had already surprised him.