Explosions

The conference was going well. Charlie kept her mind distracted with taking notes and learning new things. She had been there two days now, and she’d met some new people in addition to the ones she’d met last year.

She was glancing down at her phone, leaving on the third day, when she bumped into someone. She apologized quickly, but when she looked up, she stopped dead in her tracks. A smile crossed her face as she recognized the man immediately.

“Ryan,” she said.

“Charlie, hey,” Ryan chuckled. “What are you doing in New York?”

“The NFL marketing conference is here this year,” Charlie replied. “I forgot you lived here now.”

“Well, I don’t live in Manhattan,” said Ryan. “Close, but I’m just in town this weekend for a little sight-seeing.”

“Just…by yourself?” asked Charlie.

“Yeah, well, I don’t really know anyone yet,” he said. “I’m kind of a lone wolf anyway, you know?”

Charlie giggled and shook her head. Ryan shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged.

“Do you have anything planned for this evening?” he asked.

“No. I was maybe planning on going out for drinks with some of the other people from the conference,” she replied. “It’s not super important though.”

“Maybe you’d like to catch up over dinner, then?” he suggested. “Or coffee, if dinner is going to feel too much like a date.”

“Dinner sounds great,” Charlie said.

“Okay, how about we meet at Times Square in an hour, and we can take a bus down to the pier?” said Ryan.

“That sounds wonderful,” she replied with a smile.

When the hour was up, Charlie found Ryan sitting on a bench about a block away from her hotel. She coyly sat down next to him. He turned to her but was completely at a loss for words. He simply smiled at her as their bus pulled up. They sat on the top level of the double-decker bus, and she closed her eyes against the warm breeze as they pulled away.

“So what have you seen here so far?” Ryan asked.

“Well, some of the people from the conference and I took a bus tour,” said Charlie. “We went to Ground Zero, the ferries to the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center…just basically around the city.”

“Have you been to the Top of the Rock, yet?” he asked.

She shook her head and said, “Afraid of heights, remember?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said.

They were silent a moment as the bus turned down another street. He studied her out of the corner of his eye, but she didn’t notice. She was busy looking around at the city. The buildings were beginning to illuminate themselves, and the lights were so beautiful surrounding them.

The rest of the bus ride was spent in silence. Ryan had plenty he wanted to ask her, but he thought it best if he waited until they got to the restaurant. Charlie tried to contain the beating of her heart, and the best way she could think of to do that was looking around her.

The restaurant they settled on was a little seafood place with a view of the Statue of Liberty. They sat out on the patio overlooking the water. There was no breeze, but the air was fresh. Lady Liberty was lit so beautifully across the sparkling water. Charlie took it all in, and Ryan smiled at her.

“How have you been?” he asked.

“Um, I think I’ve been okay,” she said.

“Just okay?” he said.

“Well,” she replied, shrugging. “J.J. and I have hit kind of a rough patch. He spends so much time doing things for other people that he doesn’t have time for me. Not that I mind that he’s helping others, but it would be nice to spend time with him.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Ryan.

“He bought a house,” Charlie continued. “He bought a house in Wisconsin without even talking to me about it. I asked him what he was planning on doing with it, and all he said was that we could stay there when we visit his parents.”

Ryan nodded his head. It was clear she was going to rant to him, so he refrained from speaking.

“I’m 28 years old,” she said. “I thought I would be married by now, you know? I thought I’d have a kid by now. He doesn’t want any of that. At least not right now, he doesn’t. He’s 26 and plays professional football, so of course that’s not on his mind. I just thought things would be better than this, but he’s so distant from me.”

She looked up at Ryan. His fists were balled up under his chin, and he was just staring at her. She chuckled slightly and shook her head.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear about my problems.”

“Charlie, I asked how you were, and I meant it,” he replied. “I want to know how you are, and if it’s not good, what can I do to help you?”

“There’s nothing anyone can do, Ryan,” she said. “I’ve tried. I’ve tried talking to him, but he never has time. I don’t fault him. He’s busy. I get it.”

“You deserve time, too,” said Ryan.

“I just don’t want him to think I don’t want him to do all this other stuff.”

“You should be able to have it both ways. You deserve that, and you should tell him that.”

Charlie nodded and took a deep breath. She said, “How have you been?”

“Good,” said Ryan. “Training camp starts next week, and I’ll actually be able to be back on my leg.”

“You didn’t do OTAs?” she asked.

“No, the trainers didn’t want me to strain it, so I’ve been doing some working out with them to strengthen it.”

“That’s good that it’s healed though. I heard Geno Smith broke his jaw, so you’re starting, right?”

“It hasn’t been decided. Training camp will decide that.”

“Oh, well, good luck then!” said Charlie.

“Thank you,” replied Ryan. “I’ve basically been the same, though.”

“Well, uh, June is pregnant again,” she said. “She’s due in February.”

“Really? Good for her. She and… Sorry, what’s his name?”

“Ben. Yeah, they’ve got the perfect life in Seattle.”

“Wow, that’s incredible.”

“Ryan? Can we just skip the small talk?”

“Oh, okay,” said Ryan. “What did you want to talk about then?”

“Did you know I was having a conference here in New York?” Charlie asked.

“No, I swear on my life,” he said.

“So it’s just purely chance that we ran into each other in Manhattan, of all places,” she said. “There’s a lot of people in this city, and I ran into you.”

“It’s happened before,” he replied. “Char, I had no idea you were going to be here. Even if I did know, I probably would have avoided you.”

“Why?” she asked.

“I would have thought you would have brought J.J.,” he said.

“So you’re scared of him now?”

“I’m not scared of him. I was never scared of him to begin with, and I won’t be scared of him ever.”

Charlie took Ryan’s hands and said, “You are the dumbest person I know, Ryan Fitzpatrick.”

He chuckled, “Thank you. That means a lot.”

“I think you’re the only person I’ve met that’s not intimidated by J.J.,” said Charlie. “Have you ever been on the other side of him?”

“I was,” replied Ryan, “in Tennessee.”

“Did you ever think you were going to see me again?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “I had hoped I would, but I didn’t think it would ever happen. I told myself, though, that if I ever ran into you, I would want to work things out. I hated how we left things between us.”

Charlie opened her mouth to say something, but the server approached the table with a bottle of wine. She pulled her hands away from Ryan’s.

“Chef Marco would like to send you this complimentary bottle of wine,” the server said, “for being the only two people to order his special tonight.”

“Oh, we really can’t accept this,” said Charlie.

“It’s no trouble at all,” the server replied. “If you decide you can’t drink it all here, you can always take the rest home.”

“Tell Chef Marco thank you,” said Ryan. “We look forward to having the special.”

The server grinned as he took his corkscrew out of his pocket and began explaining what it was and where it came from. Ryan was listening intently, but Charlie eyed him from across the table. The server let her try it first, and she melted against the taste of it on her tongue.

“Okay,” she said. “That’s good.”

---

Charlie burst through the door of her hotel room, and Ryan caught her before she fell. She giggled uncontrollably as he struggled to stand her back up. She grabbed onto his arms and pulled herself up. He set her down on the bed, and she looked up at him, her eyes fluttering. He smiled at her, and she flopped down.

“Ryan, come lay with me,” she giggled.

“No, I think I’m going to just stand right here,” he replied.

“Come on,” she groaned, holding her hands up.

“I think you had a little too much of that wine,” he said, crossing his arms. “And I think I should get going before you start”-

She began unbuttoning her shirt.

-“getting undressed.”

“It’s just hot in here,” said Charlie. “I just need to not be hot.”

He knelt down at the side of the bed and took her hand. She looked over, and she turned to him so she was on her side. She put her other hand on his cheek. She giggled again as she felt his beard. He turned and kissed the palm of her hand. She took his hand up to her chest. Using his fingers, she gently traced the lacy pink edges of her bra. She watched his eyes travel down her neck, across her collarbone, and around her breasts. He pulled away from her and leaned against the other bed.

“I won’t be that guy, Charlotte,” said Ryan. “I know you and J.J. have your problems right now, but I won’t be that guy that takes advantage of it.”

“I thought you wanted me,” replied Charlie.

“I do,” he said. “Charlie, I want you so bad – more than anything in this world! But I want you to want me on your own terms. Not because you’re drunk. Not because you’re lonely. That’s exactly what you are right now.”

She rolled off the bed and knelt in front of him. He watched her, his breathing heavy as he tried to focus anywhere but her exposed skin. She put her hands on his face and kissed him. He could taste the wine on her breath as their lips moved in rhythm, and he closed his eyes. He put a hand on her waist and the other on her cheek. His heart skipped a beat, and his breath caught in his throat. Her tongue flicked out against his, and he stopped. He pulled her off him and stood up.

“Charlie, I’m serious, okay?” said Ryan.

Charlie leaned back against the bed and nodded. She took a few deep breaths and blinked back tears.

“Ryan?” she said.

“Yeah?” he said, turning back to her.

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, and said, “Will you at least just stay here with me?”

He sat down next to her. She leaned her head on his shoulder and began to cry. He ran his hand through her hair, trying to calm her. They sat there until she cried herself to sleep on his shoulder. He pulled the blanket off the bed and laid it over them, and he fell asleep shortly after.