Explosions

Ryan was lying on Charlie’s couch on a day during their bye week. After a 4 and 5 start, he had given up the starting position to Mal. Charlie came into the room and sat a beer down on the coffee table in front of him, and she sat down in the chair.

“J.J. and I are planning a New Year’s party,” said Charlie. “You and Kelsey are both invited.”

“Kelsey and I aren’t really a thing anymore,” said Ryan.

“I thought things were going well,” she replied.

“She was seeing some other guy, too, and I guess she decided on him,” Ryan shrugged. “I’m not really bitter or anything. I didn’t see it going very far.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Sorry about the starting job, too. That sucks. I didn’t think you were doing that bad.”

“I was doing terrible, Char,” said Ryan. “I know you’re not going to admit it, but I was doing a shit job. Coach is right to put Mal in. Give the kid a chance anyway.”

Charlie smiled and said, “You got really positive in the last few years, didn’t you?”

“I just learned that you can’t take anything personally. The teams are there to win games, and if you’re not getting the job done, someone else will. Sometimes you have to let things go.”

Charlie sat forward and put her elbows on her knees. He looked over at her and smiled.

“I’ll be honest with you,” she said. “I didn’t want you here. I remembered you as you were when you left, but you’re not that person. You’ve grown up a lot, Ryan. And now I’m glad you’re here.”

“There was no one in Buffalo that I knew,” said Ryan. “When I moved there, I had to start being a completely new person. When I had moved to Cincinnati, you were still with me. I was okay. When I went to Buffalo, I didn’t have you or anyone else. After two years, I ran into Liza again, but that was different.”

Charlie took a drink of her beer. Ryan turned over onto his stomach and put his face on the couch. She looked him over once, then cleared her throat.

“Can I ask you something?” she said.

He turned back to her and said, “Yeah, anything.”

“It’s just that it’s been on my mind for a long time, and I never knew when a good time to ask it was,” she said. “Did you ever think about breaking up before we actually broke up?”

“No,” said Ryan. “I didn’t know what I wanted, except that I wanted to be with you. I took a lot of things out on you, but I never wanted to leave you.”

He sat up and scratched his chin for a second. She didn’t say anything to him; he was thinking, and she knew it.

“Did you ever think about leaving me?” he finally asked.

“Not even once,” said Charlie. “We were young, Ryan, but you know I don’t regret any of it. It’s different now. You’re going to be 32 years old in a couple weeks. That’s a lot of time since we dated.”

Ryan chuckled and said, “I can’t believe you remembered my birthday.”

“Oh, you know I don’t forget anyone’s birthday. Birthdays, phone numbers, license plates – I’ve got a weird memory like that.”

“Yeah, I forgot about that. You were always so cute when you could rattle that shit off.”

“Don’t patronize me, Ryan,” said Charlie with a smile. “You had your quirks too.”

“I’m not patronizing you, Char. I’m being serious. You made the weird nerd side of me want you every time you did it.”

Charlie felt her cheeks get warm, and she quickly hid behind her beer. Ryan shook his head.

“Sorry,” he said. “I never know when I’m crossing the line.”

“It’s fine,” Charlie replied.

Ryan smiled as he watched her take a couple drinks of her beer. Her eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she looked back up at him.

“I never thanked you, Ryan,” she said. “You were there for a lot of things in college, and to be honest, I don’t think I would have gotten as far as I did without your help.”

“I didn’t really help that much,” Ryan said.

“You kept me sane, dude,” said Charlie. “I had no fucking clue what I was doing at Harvard, but at least I could pretend when you helped me with my homework and my emotions.”

“You were at Harvard because you were a smart young woman,” said Ryan. “And you know I would never just say that to make you feel better.”

Charlie thanked him and glanced at her phone.

“J.J. will be home soon,” she said. “Are you going to be here for dinner?”

“If you want me to stay, I’ll stay,” said Ryan.

---

Ryan’s fingers were intertwined in Liza’s as they walked down the street in Manhattan. He’d run into her in Albany on his way back from a visit to his parents in Arizona. She’d graduated from nursing school and had been working at the Albany hospital for a few months. He’d been in Buffalo for two years and hadn’t recognized her when the two nearly collided at a sandwich shop near the airport.

They’d been dating for eight months when he asked her to move in with him in Buffalo. She’d gladly accepted. He enjoyed her company. She liked going to museums with him, and he liked going to all the local sites with her. He hadn’t realized it when they’d gone out a few times in Cincy, but he matched her in ways he couldn’t describe.

Now, on their year anniversary, they had taken a long weekend in Manhattan. Their journey around the city had led them to Central Park, one of Liza’s sites on her “To-See” list. They meandered through the trees and around the paths. There were people playing music, kids running around with friends, couples having lunch on blankets. Liza tugged on Ryan’s hand, and he looked over at her.

“I want to go see Balto,” she said. “I think he’s over here somewhere.”

He smiled and followed her down the path. She stopped after a few minutes and pointed to the statue of a dog. She grinned and got out her phone, but as she continued to move forward, Ryan stood in his place.

There was a couple near the statue. The young woman was holding the dog around the neck and making a kissing face, and the man was taking a photo of her. She giggled and moved to see the photo. Her dark hair blew in the breeze as the man kissed her cheek.

Liza pulled on Ryan’s hand, breaking him from his trance. The closer they got closer to the statue, the less attention Ryan paid to the dog.

“Charlie,” he said out loud.

It was definitely her. The young woman looked over, and her green eyes held Ryan in his place. She smiled and took a few steps toward him.

“Oh my god, Ryan!” she said, putting her arms around him. “How have you been?”

“I’m great,” replied Ryan. He wrapped his arms around her waist, maybe a little tighter than he should have, and said, “How are you?”

“I’m good,” said Charlie.

He pulled away from her, and there was a moment where the four people standing there were awkwardly silent. She cleared her throat and pulled the man next to her over to them.

“This is Vince,” she said. “Vince, this is Ryan.”

Ryan held out his hand, and Vince shook it. He had black hair and light blue eyes, and his goatee was neatly trimmed around his chin. Ryan put his arm around Liza’s waist.

“This is Liza,” he said. “Liza, this is Charlie.”

“Oh, this is Charlie,” said Liza.

Charlie glanced between the two of them.

“Sorry, I’ve just heard a lot about you,” Liza said.

“Well, nothing bad, I hope,” Charlie chuckled nervously. “How long have you two been dating?”

“A year,” said Ryan. “Actually, a year tomorrow.”

“Wow! Congratulations!” Charlie replied. “Vince and I have been going out for a couple months now.”

“Do you live in the city?” asked Liza.

“No, actually,” said Vince. His voice was deeper than Ryan had thought. “We live in Houston.”

“Not together,” said Charlie, “but maybe someday.”

Another silence that was a bit too long for anyone’s comfort. Charlie shoved her hands into her pockets and took turns digging each toe into the concrete. Ryan could tell she was nervous, so he looked at Liza.

“Well, it was nice to meet you, Charlie,” she said.

“Likewise,” Charlie said, smiling at her. “Hopefully you guys have a great time here. Today’s our last day in the city, so we’re trying to make the most of it.”

“It was great to see you again, Char,” said Ryan.

The two couples moved away from each other, but Ryan glanced back. He saw Vince grab Charlie’s arm, maybe a little rougher than he should have. She followed closely behind him, though, and Ryan turned back to Liza.

“She seems nice,” Liza said.

“She is,” confirmed Ryan. “I don’t know about him, though.”

Liza shrugged and said, “He doesn’t seem like a terrible person. He’s not really your concern, anyway, Ry.”

Ryan nodded. When he looked back again, Charlie was gone.

---

Charlie looked up from her book as she heard the door open. J.J. smiled at her as he stepped over the threshold, and she returned the gesture. She shoved her bookmark between the pages and closed the book, waiting for J.J. to take his shoes off.

“Ryan’s here,” she said. “He’s been playing PlayStation and waiting for you.”

“Has he been waiting long?” asked J.J.

“About thirty minutes,” said Charlie. “He and Kelsey broke up, so I just let him chill here for a bit. Hope that’s okay.”

“Yeah, absolutely,” he replied. He kissed Charlie’s neck and said, “Think he can wait another five minutes?”

Charlie giggled, “I’m not sure five minutes will do the trick for you, honey.”

“You’re probably right,” groaned J.J. “It was worth a shot, right?”

He kissed her again before leaving to join Ryan in the living room. She heard them greeting each other and laughing about something. She listened for a few minutes before shaking her head and burying herself back into her book.