Explosions

There was a knock on the door, and Charlie looked over at her roommate, June. June was taking notes off a powerpoint, and she shrugged.

“I’m not expecting anyone,” she said.

Charlie opened the door. Ryan was there, filling the doorway. He was holding a handful of flowers, and he grinned when he saw Charlie. She squealed, wrapping her arms around him. He kissed her cheek.

“Hi, Char,” he chuckled.

“Ryan, oh my god,” she said. “Are you really here? Is this really you?”

“It’s really me,” said Ryan. “Season’s over, so we have a month or so to ourselves. Thought I’d come spend it with you.”

“All of that time?” Charlie said. “With me?”

“Well, maybe not all of it…”

She rolled her eyes and kissed him.

June cleared her throat, “You gonna introduce me or nah?”

“Oh, sorry,” Charlie said, stepping back into the dorm. She pulled Ryan after her and said, “This is Ryan Fitzpatrick. Ryan, this is June Ringold.”

June fell out of her chair. “The Ryan Fitzpatrick?”

“Um…yes?” said Charlie.

“My dad is a huge Rams fan,” June said. “That game where you led them back from a 24-3 deficit, I thought he was going to have a heart attack.”

“It was pretty thrilling,” Ryan said.

“And that was your first game too, right?” June said.

“NFL, yes,” Ryan replied.

“Oh, man,” said June. “Do you think I could get a picture with you sometime? Maybe an autograph for my dad”-

“June, he’s busy,” Charlie said. She tilted her head a little and made her eyes really wide.

“It’ll only take”-

“June,” said Charlie. “Seriously. We are going to get coffee now.”

Ryan set the flowers down on Charlie’s desk and waved to June. He said, “It was nice to meet you. Hopefully I’ll be around for awhile.”

Charlie grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the dorm room. June went into the hallway after them. When they were a few doors down, she shouted, “I can’t believe you’re dating an NFL quarterback, and you didn’t tell me!”

---

Charlie wrestled with the stack of papers in her hands. She wiggled her key out of the latch – it always got stuck. When she’d wiggled it free, the key ring slipped from her hand. As she bent down to pick it up, the papers in her arms went scattering.

“Shit,” she said.

She set down her purse and moved to pick up her mess.

“Can I help you with that?”

The deep voice came from behind her, and she turned sharply. She knew who it was before she even turned around, but he still startled her. He smiled, his teeth showing from behind his beard.

“Ryan,” said Charlie.

“Charlie,” he said, moving to hug her.

She stepped away, and he stopped. He put his hands in his pockets and shrugged, an awkward silence beginning to set in. She looked him up and down briefly; he’d gotten trimmer, but other than that, he still looked the same.

“How are you?” he asked.

“I’m great,” Charlie said. “You?”

“I’m doing okay,” replied Ryan. “Other than apparently trying every team in the NFL, it’s been pretty good.”

“How’s Liza?” asked Charlie.

“Actually, we broke up. She didn’t want to move to Tennessee. That was about a year ago.”

“So you’ve just been flying solo?”

“Basically. What are you doing here?”

“I’m a marketing specialist here for the Texans,” explained Charlie.

“Really?” Ryan said. “I always thought you were gonna do the NBA?”

“Well, after graduation, I had a short internship with the Cleveland Cavaliers,” said Charlie. “I made Lebron James mad. So they suggested I move my internship to Houston with the Rockets. It was going well until their director of marketing quit. He moved to Dallas to work for the Cowboys organization. He told me I had too much potential for an intern, so he pulled some strings and got me a job on the marketing team here. I was promoted to Assistant Marketing specialist after a year or so. I was promoted to Marketing Specialist about 6 months ago. Aaand, here I am.”

“Wow, quite the jump then?” Ryan said.

“Yes,” said Charlie.

“Well, listen,” Ryan said, “do you wanna grab some coffee and catch up sometime soon? Before the season starts to get too crazy?”

“Oh, Ryan, I don’t think that’s such a great idea”-

“It’ll be my treat, Char. I’ve been thinking a lot about us lately. I really messed up, and I think I wanna work things out, you know?”

“Ryan, I really don’t”-

“There you are.”

Ryan and Charlie turned to see J.J. jogging towards them.

“Team’s getting some press pics in, and we couldn’t find you,” he said. “I see you’ve met Charlotte.”

He put his arm around Charlie, and she smiled sympathetically at Ryan. He raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, I was getting a little lost here, and I saw that she’d dropped her stuff,” Ryan said, coming to terms with the situation.

“Well, I’m sure Charlie appreciates the help,” said J.J. He and Ryan bent down to gather her papers, and she turned ten different shades of red.

“Thanks,” she muttered.

J.J. handed her the papers she’d dropped and kissed her forehead. She thanked him again.

“Alright, well we should be going to get those pictures,” he said. “You sure you can handle it without getting lost?”

“Yeah, I think I can get it,” laughed Ryan.

J.J. walked back toward the hall, and Ryan looked at Charlie.

“So,” he said, “J.J. Watt. Not bad, Charlie. Not bad at all.”

“Look, I was trying to tell you,” said Charlie. “I just”-

“I’m not mad, Char,” Ryan said. “You gotta live your life. I don’t know why I’d expected you to not be dating anyone. Look at you – you’re a dime a dozen.” He turned to leave. “I’ll see you around, Charlie. I’ll be here for awhile.”

Charlie watched him go, and she shouted, “Wait, Ryan!”

He looked back.

“Coffee?” she said meekly.

Ryan smiled and said, “That’d be nice."