Lingering Kisses

"Yes. There are 5 rooms to choose from. You can come and see it for yourself... alright, bye." Charlie said as she hung up and sighed loudly. Paul came in to her office with two cups of coffee, he stared at her in amazement, "Wow, another possible tenant?" he asked then gave her the other cup. She smiled, "Thanks. Yeah, his daughter will be the new tenant. I really hope we get this one." she added as she drank her coffee.

Charlie leaned back and stared at the young artist, who was sitting across the room with his sketchpad covering his face. She could still remember his kisses from the other night and it made her giggle. Paul glanced at her but went back to his work. She was too busy to notice that Paul looked at her. The young landlady stood up, walked towards him and grabbed his sketchpad. Paul looked up to her and raised his brow, "What're you doing, Charlie?" he asked as he stared at the woman in front of her trying to tease him.
The young woman pushed him back to his seat and sat on top of him, it happens to be a very difficult situation for Paul since he can't really control his urges. "I want to see how far can you hang on to your virtue." Charlie said as she leaned in and placed butterfly kisses on his neck. It was getting harder for Paul to resist.

Before Charlie could tease him more, the phone rang. She groaned frustratingly as she stood up and picked up the phone, "Hello, Charlie Spencer speaking.---Yes, You can choose from 5 rooms. Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then." she spoke and then hung up after a few seconds.
She diverted her attention towards Paul but he had already started working on his sketchpad again and was too busy to do anything else. Paul threw his sketchpad on the table, stood up and grabbed Charlie by the waist.

"Do you want a massage?" He offered teasingly. She couldn't help but agree but before they could proceed, Chuck came barging in.

"Paul, I need your advice on--" Chuck blurted out as he saw Charlie and Paul flirting with each other, "Flirt later, sis. I need your boyfriend's advice." he said as he sat and placed brown envelopes containing some photographs of models and landscapes.

"Wha? He's not my boyfriend." Charlie stated as she sat comfortably on Paul's lap. "Right... so, am I suppose to believe that or just let it slide?" Chuck said as sarcastic as possible.



The next day, Charlie found Riley cooking breakfast in the kitchen. It was supposed to be her job but since she slept in, it was fine. "Morning, Riley." She lazily greeted the teenager.

"Morning, Chao. Are you okay? You look like you could use a cup of coffee." Riley greeted back and then poured Charlie a hot cup of coffee.

"Your boyfriend made me and Paul stay up 'til 3am rendering his proposal." Charlie said. She rubbed her temple and slowly reached for her coffee.

Riley chuckled, "Sounds fun. It's moving day, right?" he said.

"Yep! Finally, we'll have another shopping buddy, Riley. The other tenant is a girl." She said.

"Goody! What's her name?" He asked then placed a waffle on Charlie's plate. "Her name's Anna Baker and she's the same age as you. But it's really weird though." Charlie said as she nibbled on her waffles.

"What is?" A familiar voice came from behind. It was Chuck followed by Paul.
Paul's arms immediately found its way around the young landlady's waist. "Morning." He murmured to her ears and it made her smile.

"Chill, love birds. What's weird?" Chuck asked again as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "Well, both of the new tenants are teenagers. I mean, it's really weird that their parents would let their kids live alone." Charlie replied as she played with Paul's hands.

"Well, some parents are like that, sweety." Paul kissed her forehead and sat next to her.


A few hours after breakfast, Anna Baker came with her things. She stayed in the room next to Charlie's, which was in front of Paul's. "Anna, do you need help?" Charlie came knocking on the open door of Anna's room.

She was very pretty but the way she dresses hides all of that. Anna had a long black curly hair, pale skin, pretty black eyes and she stood between 5'5'' and 5'8'', and she wore glasses that really made her look like a nerd, which apparently, she is.

"Thanks, Ms. Charlie." Anna timidly said. She was shy around people. "Just Charlie, alright? That's what everyone calls me here. Besides, we're friends so it's cool." Charlie emphasized on the honorifics that Anna just used. The teenager smiled shyly and nodded, "Alright, Charlie." she agreed. "If you don't mind me asking, why did your parents decide to make you live here?" the landlady asked.

"Well, my dad is remarrying and his fiancee wants to have their own kids." The teenager said as she hung her clothes in the walk-in closet. "So, your dad just sent you here because of his fiancee? That's a bunch of bull. No one is better off without their parent." Charlie said.
It made Anna smile, "I really appreciate that, Charlie. It means a lot. But it's their decision. I can't---"

"What about your decision? Look, I have no intention of kicking you out but doesn't he care about your decision?" Charlie asked as she eyed her new tenant, who toss aside her clothes and sat next to her.

Anna breathed in heavily, "I should've said something but I was too scared." she mumbled under her breath.

"If they don't want you then, you can stay here as long as you want. I'll be like your sister and friend as long as you want me to, alright?" Charlie reassured her as she hugged her. "Thanks Charlie." Anna smiled.

In the afternoon, the other tenant came. "Hi, you must be Tyler Cruz." Charlie opened the door and saw a young man with light brown hair, hazel brown eyes, a bit tanned, and he stood between 6 and 6'3''. He looked like a model though.

"Yea, that's me. Nice meet you, Miss?" He said as he reached for a handshake. "Just call me Charlie. Everyone here calls me that. Oh, guys, follow me." Charlie said as she instructed the moving team to follow her.
On the way, Tyler saw a tall man like him but had the same hair as Charlie. "Um, who was that?" he asked.

"Oh, that's Chuck. He's my brother but he's also a tenant here." She replied. "He's pretty tall." He remarked. Then they went on their way.

"This will be your room. It's next to Paul's room. If you need anything, you can knock on his door or mine, right here." She said to Tyler as she pointed the door in front of Paul's room. "Sure, thanks. Where are the other tenants?" he asked as he placed his bag on the bed.

Charlie went to the window and pointed at her friends, playing by the pool. "That's them. You should join us. Actually, Anna, the new tenant came in early today." She said as she led the young man out to the pool. Along the way, he saw a lot of interesting things around the house. There were scattered painting materials in the living room as well.

"Chao! C'mon, jump in." Riley waved at her. Charlie waved back, "Later. Guys, this is Tyler Cruz. He's staying next to Paul's room." Charlie introduced the young man beside her. "Hey." Tyler greeted.

"I'm Chuck, her big brother. That's Paul, her boyfriend and Riley, my boyfriend. Where's Anna?" Chuck took the liberty to introduce everyone but was surprised to see that they weren't complete.

"I'm not gonna come out, Chuck!" A voice came from the kitchen. It was Anna. She was hiding. Charlie, Tyler and Chuck went to see what was going on, and Paul and Riley got out of the pool and followed.

To their surprise, Anna was wearing a flower-patterned two piece. She looked different. It was Charlie's welcoming gift to her. "You're so cute, Anna!" Charlie seemed to enjoy looking at the girl.

"Anna? Anna Baker?" What Tyler said immediately stopped the laughter and Anna's head turned when she seemed to heard a very familiar voice. "Cruz? Tyler Cruz?" Anna said as well.

"You two know each other?" Charlie asked.

"What the fuck are you doing here?!" The two of them blurted out.

It seems like Charlie's life just got more complicated.