Chapter 1 - Charlie (Part 2)

"Oh, Charlie..." her friend laughed, visibly touched "That's why the sun only seems to rise after you arrive. There is no one who is not infected by his enthusiasm. Just promise me you'll forget to pay our debts out of your grandfather's inheritance." Vivian insisted, serious "I know how much this money means to you. So you must use it for the most important thing of all: getting out of those two vipers' house and finally making a life for yourself."

“This place is a big part of my life." Charlie waved around at the slightly grimy walls and the old but very clean instruments. "Believe me, if my grandfather were alive, he would agree with me." she opened a sad smile, to try to keep the tears from accumulating in her eyes "Nothing would make you happier than knowing that I found people who helped me to endure life with my father and who can help me to make difference."

"Oh, sure... People..." Vivian repeated, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "I'm going to pretend not what's the first face that comes to your mind when you think who you'd like to help you after you finally break free from that mansion."

"Leave Morgan alone, Vivian." Charlie insisted, cheeks flaming. "And he is not old! He is only 34 years old. Nobody in their 30s can be considered old..."

"I know it isn't. I'm 32, in case you don't remember..." Vivian crossed her arms, provocative "And don't bother justifying yourself to me. After the last time I saw you pretending to help him take off his belt so you could rub your tits in his face, I realized he's just a poor prudish man who's constantly being attacked by a horny young woman."

"I thought buying that low-cut shirt would make him stop seeing me as a little girl, but all I did was waste fifty bucks. I don't even have a reason to keep using that crap if it doesn't have any effect on him." Charlie complained, in a mix of grunt and whimper. "Three long years of trying and no matter what I do, he just doesn't seem to realize that I'm as grown up as he is. I mean, how difficult is it to understand this? I could understand what he must have been thinking as a 17-year-old and I admire him for not taking advantage of a teenage crush, but damn it, I'm already twenty!"

"Be careful not to explode trying to contain all this frustration." Vivian laughed.

“

"It's not funny, because it's true. Time is just ticking away and I'm running out of ideas on how to get him to see me as a woman. What do I have to do to make this happen? Getting naked in front of him...? Or maybe this is a good idea…" she muttered to herself, quickly considering her possibilities "So I don't have to waste money on a pair of lace pajamas that he'll avoid looking at as much as possible…"

"Have your exhibitionist tendencies reached this point yet?" a falsely scandalized male voice drew their attention to the hallway nearby, where Jack was coming out with a box of empty rabies vaccine vials in his hands "Shame on you, Charlie. Oh, and just so you know, Boss, while your other volunteer is about to be arrested for indecent exposure, I vaccinated the two Chihuahuas we found on the bridge last week and have already checked out all the new puppies. They look great. And also happy birthday, before I forget."

"You idiot, you stole my favorite part of the job!" Charlie complained, going to poke his friend's cheek as soon as he put the box on the table "You know that taking care of the puppies makes my day 100% better."

“Oh, sorry I stole that from you. To compensate, I'm going to hope even harder that today is the day you finally seduce your sugar daddy. In return, don't forget me when he gives you a yacht and a Lamborghini."

"Will you stop picking on it?" with the cheeks puffed out, Charlie crossed his arms "You know very well I don't want to be with him because of the money."

"Oh, believe me, it's not hard to see why you want to be with him, Charlie…" Jack laughed slyly.

"Okay, I think that's enough of so much lowliness for today. We have work to do, in case you two don't remember." Vivian snapped her fingers in their direction, though she couldn't contain her amused expression. "Hurry up and do your homework, children."

With a huff, Charlie turned and hurried back to the big shed Jack had come from and where they housed the dogs. As soon as she opened the door and crossed the threshold, a multitude of dogs began to jump on top of her and lick her face, causing her to let out a loud laugh. It didn't matter how bad her day had been or how rude Anthony and Samantha had been to her; all it took was a flick of the tail from those fur balls and everything looked better. If Vivian allowed it, Charlie would spend day and night in that shed, examining, cleaning and caring for the dogs, cats, rabbits, birds and countless other stray animals that Vivian had taken in since the institution had opened.

She could count the number of human beings who really cared about her on her fingers, but when it came to her four-legged friends, there was no need to be afraid of being abandoned, scorned or stabbed in the back. They loved with everything they had inside of them, and in those precious hours that she was able to be with them, Charlie made a point of returning that affection with equal intensity. And that consumed her and made her happy in such a way that the day always flew by, to the point that she was only able to realize that night had fallen when the dogs began to howl at the moon rising in the sky.

"Well, time to go." Charlie realized sadly, after putting down the last full bowl of dog food, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Though most of them didn't pay any attention to her, too preoccupied with eating, a few dogs stirred at the sight of her walking toward the exit, whimpering loudly, as if they were begging her to stay.

"I'd love to stay here with you too." she lamented, crouching down to be able to caress them "But it's time for me to go back to my prison and pay another installment of my sins, so that next year I can be sure that you will only eat rations from the best quality and sleep in the biggest and most comfortable shed in the world." With that promise, she showered them with kisses and allowed them to lick her for a while longer, before finally gathering enough willpower to distract them by throwing a small ball away and storming out of the shed.

With a sigh, dejected as she always was when she left, she had already dragged herself almost to the exit and was ready to say goodbye to her friends, when Jack spoke, with a wicked smile.

“Take that mood, depraved." he nudged her, lifting her chin toward the window "The best present you could receive today has just arrived."

Confused, Charlie looked up at the window and her heart immediately skipped a beat. Standing beside a sleek black car parked directly in front of the institution was Morgan, dressed in a black suit with no jacket and his tie loosened, as if he'd just gotten out of the work. When he lifted his head and their eyes met through the glass, a beautiful smile spread across his face and he waved, starting to walk towards the door.

"He came for me!" Charlie gasped in pure ecstasy.

"Doesn't he come every year?" Vivian laughed "I have the impression that he would come every day, if it were possible."

"But not today. He had an important meeting and we had agreed that he wouldn't be able to visit me until much later." Charlie explained, running to the door so she could open it, anxious.

And the breath rushed out of her lungs as she found herself face to face with that dazzling smile and dark green eyes that had stolen her heart the instant she'd first seen him, injured ankle and sunk in the water of a source. And, with the same warm, caring expression she'd given him that day, Morgan reached out and gently stroked her hair, tucking one of the strands behind her ear.

"Your father tried to keep me locked up for a few more hours in the meeting, but luckily I managed to escape." he teased, still with a smile that made her heart rise in her throat. "Sorry I didn't say that was a possibility. I was afraid to make a promise that I might not be able to keep and end up disappointing you."

“Well, thanks to that you just gave me the best surprise I could ever ask for." not even bothering to try to control herself, Charlie leapt towards him, not only hugging him, but also wrapping her legs around his waist, which forced him to grip her thighs tightly, to keep hold it firmly in that position.

"Charlie...!" he gasped, apparently much more out of surprise and embarrassment than the effort of having her in his arms "We've already talked about this… It's not good to act so impulsively…" he cleared his throat, seeming to be trying to scold her. there, but sounding nothing more than kind and patient, as usually "Especially in public."

Oops..." She did her best to contain a shameless smile and put as much innocence into her voice as possible as she slid to the floor, grinding herself as hard as she could against the hard wall of muscle that was his chest. "Sorry about that." Even when her feet hit the carpet and they came face to face, she remained with her arms around his neck "And I'm sorry I missed the rest of your meeting."

"Are you joking? It's your birthday." He raised his eyebrows, as if surprised that she was questioning something so obvious. "Nothing in the world could be more important than that."

Biting her lip to contain the urge to kiss him then and there, Charlie just smiled shyly, knowing she would never be able to find enough words to tell him how much he meant to her.

"Hello to you too, Mr. Sullivan." Vivian mocked behind the two, while Jack just let out a low laugh.

"Hello, Vivian. I was planning to steal your volunteer a little earlier today, but unfortunately I wasn't able to come quickly enough. You've already finished your work, right?" he asked that question directly to Charlie, who nodded excitedly "Great! Then it's time for our annual birthday ritual."

"Burger and ice cream?" Charlie flashed a bright smile.

"With french fries and whatever else you want." He smiled, looking delighted to see her cheer.

Waving quickly as she said goodbye to Vivian and Jack, Charlie wrapped her hand around his and practically ran them out to the car, eager to carry out the tradition they'd been carrying out since her 18th birthday. Over time, Morgan had become more and more attentive and protective of her, even making a point of cooking for her and making sure she had a balanced diet. Her birthday, however, was one of the only days of the year when he made sure she ate and did whatever she wanted, even though he couldn't quite hide the fact that Charlie's love of fast food worried him a little.