Plus One. How to Catch a Cloud - viii

Sweat dripped down his forehead and a tiny trickle was at the tip of his nose. On the verge of irritation, he wanted so badly to wipe it away, but he couldn't. The bar bell he was holding up was way too heavy to lift with just one arm. As gently as he could, he put the weight back into its brackets, then sat up and wiped at his face. The summer sun was getting worse day after day, but that didn't stop Charlie from working himself hard with exercise in his garage.

Charlie worked out when he was frustrated. And now, that was the best way to describe how he felt. What else could be the reason for his need to flex some muscles in this weather?

It had been a few months since he made the resolution to start taking things seriously. There had been a point when his partying had gone overboard and he never reined in his morals or cared for life or even invested futures. Recently, however, he found that things had changed. He wanted things he thought he never would.

The week after their stay in Marsdale, he couldn't stop thinking about Ara. He opted to stay back and rent a room because he had to get away. Knowing how Phoenix felt about the idea of any of his friends hitting on his younger sister didn't sit well with him.

They had a talk many years ago during highschool the first time Charlie laid eyes on her and didn't know that she was related to Phoenix. He had only seen her from afar and it was their graduation year. Heck, he hadn't even known they were related until one day he made a passing comment about her when Phoenix warned him not to ever make a pass at his little sister. As funny as it sounded, Charlie was never introduced to Ara until about three years ago. He knew of her, but she knew nothing about him.

These past couple of years, when he saw her at parties he'd wind up leaving the party with someone just to stop thoughts from floating where they shouldn't. He could swear that since that first night they met, there was some kind of electricity, but they never spoke about it. Instead, she was always so angry at him.

He needed to figure out what he did to rub her the wrong way. He couldn't stand not knowing or remembering what could have made her dislike him so much. He savored the times she'd let her guard down.

Heck, he stayed back at the lounge on their weekend with Georgia and Phoenix because he couldn't have a repeat of what happened the day earlier. He had been stupid enough to fall asleep in her bed. What if Phoenix had seen that? Even though nothing happened, he couldn't dare disappoint his friend, not when he was part of the reason behind these thoughts of a lifestyle change. If Phoenix could find someone to make him happy and dream of a future, why didn't he give himself a chance too?

One step at a time, he told himself.

He had already cut down on the amounts of partying. He never felt good about himself when he thought back to the careless days. He used to throw caution to the wind and get so hammered he wouldn't remember a blasted thing the next day. That had changed in the span of a bit over three months. It was still new, but he didn't miss the big amounts of booze or the endless hours of self-loathing after waking to find his friends had dropped him off half dead in his townhouse. Stopping to think about it now, he realized how much he owed his friends for sticking around after being such a shoddy person.

That night in the Marsdale motel room just around the corner from the lounge he was in awe at how easy it would have been for him to have overnight company, but instead he opted to be alone.

Things definitely have begun to change, he thought as he took a long swig at his water bottle. Putting his boxing gloves on, he began punching his frustrations with himself into the bag.

Jab. Jab.

Jab. Jab. Jab.

His heartbeat was strumming in his ears as he jabbed continuously at the punching bag that he didn't hear footsteps.

"Charlie!"
"Ha," he muttered to himself. "Now I'm hearing her voice?!"
"CHARLIE!"
He turned around and there she was the object of his determination.
"Hey!" he said with suppressed surprise.
"Get ready!" she ordered.
His brows knitted together, "Where are we going?"
"Marsdale," she answered.
"Why?"
"Why not? Do you have somewhere you need to be tonight, or this weekend? Just tell me now. I want to get there before it gets dark."
"No, I have nothing this weekend. Just working out."
"So I see. Let's go, then."
"Are you driving?"

"Yes. We could take separate cars if you want."
"Is that what you want?" he asked cautiously.
"Just get ready, alright?"
"Ok, just give me time to take a shower. How long are we staying there?"
"I think this weekend should be good. Phoenix just told me to get you and hurry over for the weekend if we could afford it. I made plans to have my weekend off. If you want to go home early you can drive yourself."
So she was here out of obligation, was she?
"You know what? Go ahead without me."
"Come on! I'll wait, just hurry."
"Forget it, Ara. I'll go alone."

Was it his imagination or was her lip trembling a bit?
"Charlie... Just get ready, ok? Please? I can't drive this alone, this close to the afternoon."
"Why do you insist on driving anyway?"
"Because if Phoenix forced you to drive again, it would be eating your mileage."
"Aww, so you DO care," he mocked.
"GET READY!"
"Are you sure you want to drive? Because I can. Who cares about mileage?"
"Apparently you don't."
"I don't."
"What is wrong with you?! Are you getting ready, or not?"
"I'll drive my car."
"What is it with you wanting to drive? Don't like it when you're not behind the wheel? Is it a guy thing?"
"No, I just like driving."

"Fine, whatever. Just get ready, they're already expecting us to be on the road. We don't want them staying up late again."
"Hold on," he ordered and grew more serious.
"If I drive us there, this means I drive you home, right?"
"If you don't want to then I can drive myself!"
"Hey, I'm not the one who hopped on the next train home! You didn't even wait!"
"Yes I did! You didn't show up!" Her eyes teared at his accusation.
His heart ached when he realized that she had believe he ditched her.
"I did show up! Ask your brother! I was half an hour late because of traffic. You can't imagine how much traffic there was with people wanting to go down the hillside and into the heart of that damned thriving city! And it's no fun to drive with a hangover!"

She didn't want to argue with him. She was done with it.

"I don't care," she said sternly.
He had walked around his garage collecting his dirty towel and his water bottle but tensed because of the things she would spew next.
"You know what Charlie? You can sleep with half the country, be late as long as you want to pick up your charge, and be hung over for the rest of your life... I don't care! Just get ready, my brother is waiting for us to be at their place by 10 PM," she said deliberately.

A brief look of pain flashed over his face, but was replaced with a sullen expression.
"You know what, Ara?" He began calmly, "I think you'd be better off driving this alone."
"Chuck," she started.
"Go..." he told her as he walked towards his front door. She stared at his back willing him to turn back and say he was just joking. He slowed and turned back.
"Ara?" he began.
"Yea?" she asked hopeful that their blow up would pass and that they could forget it ever happened.
"Don't ever call me Chuck again."
"But everyone else does..." she explained quietly.
The only response was the house door slamming leaving her alone in the garage.