Chapter 7 – To New Beginnings

The door opened and Timo pushed a cart in with two plates, two glasses, and a bucket with two champagne bottles. He set it up on the table in front of them, pouring their glasses from separate bottles.

“Uh, I thought you said I shouldn’t drink?” Timo showed him the bottle. Non-alcoholic. “Oh, okay,” he laughed awkwardly.

“Don’t worry; we have everything covered,” she held her wineglass up and waited.

“Oh, right, sorry,” he raised his glass to hers.

“To new beginnings.”

“To new beginnings…”

Clink.

Charlotte sipped on her wine, and they started eating their meal.

Holy crap! This tastes so good. Unable to help himself, Eric mowed through his plate of food, shoveling food into his mouth like he hadn't eaten in days.

“He he.”

Eric glanced up with his last fork full mid-way to his mouth. “Oops… I guess I should pace myself.” I have no manners!

“Oh… don’t worry about it. I was happy to see you have such a hearty appetite. I’ve been worried you’d hold back or end up unable to adjust to a new location and might not eat much. Sometimes people are even intimidated while just having dinner with me and barely touch their food…”

“I’ve been eating hospital food; I needed something more. Besides, this is way better than my frozen TV dinners.”

“Is that what you lived off of before?”

“Yeah, well, no time or money to put into hearty meals. And then, there’s the fact that the only thing I’m good at making is omelettes.”

“You can make an omelette? Would you make me one sometime?” she glanced over her glass at him, taking another sip.

“I’m sure you already eat better food than I can make,” he pointed at their plates. "I'm definitely not a professional."

“So, you won’t?”

“Ah… Well, if you really want me to, I will.”

“I look forward to it then.” She refilled her glass.

She really likes her wine.

Timo came back with their second set of dishes and dessert on the cart.

“I hope you like sweets; I got us some cookies’n crème cheesecake for dessert.”

“I love sweets; it’s my favourite part of the day.” When I can afford it.

“Oh, good. We have something else in common then.”

One bite of the chicken pasta dish and Eric was digging into his food again like it was going to be taken away.

“Oops… I meant to pace myself this time.” Eric even licked the plate clean, leaving a speck of sauce on his face.

Charlotte giggled and reached over to wipe it off. “Don’t worry about it. You can even ask for seconds if you want to. Besides, I like a man with a hearty appetite.”

Eric patted his belly. “I better not have seconds. I’m not getting much exercise right now with my ribs being injured, and I don’t want to pack on the pounds.” Not that I exercised much before this anyway, though. I'm probably only slim because I don't eat enough...

“Ah, I see. Well, if you change your mind, ask and you will receive.”

“Thank you.”

She slid the piece of cheesecake in front of him. “Please say you’ll at least have dessert.”

“Of course; I find it hard to turn down dessert, especially if I haven’t had it before. I love trying new ones, but it’s hard to afford it all.” Cheesecake has always been too costly for me, unless a special occasion.

“No worries on it now; you can try any you want.”

He almost melted when he tasted the cheesecake. It's so good... I could eat this every day and I'd be happy!

“So,” Eric fiddled with his thumbs, having finished his dessert. “What is it you want me to do? I definitely can’t stay here without doing something; my conscious wouldn’t let me.”

“Well, be my company,” she waved her hand at the table. “Once you’re well enough to walk around, you could greet me when I come home from a long day at work. Once in a while, you can accompany me on a business trip or vacation. Vacations alone are so boring…” she trailed off, thinking about her solo trips to the Caribbean countries. "Not that I regularly have time for trips, anyway; I tend to be too busy."

“Anything else? I feel like it’s not enough.” Especially since most of that still sounds like leisure time. She really does want me to be her pet, doesn't she? Not really a bad position, though...

She bit her lip, reluctant to ask. While it was her idea to keep him around, she wasn’t sure what was too much. She'd never done anything like this before.

Cute. This powerful woman has trouble asking for little-ole-me to do something. “What is it? I know you thought of something.”

She gazed at him thoughtfully for a moment. “If you don’t mind listening, could you lend me an ear as I rant?”

“Sure, no problem. I’m actually a good listener.” Although, I don’t normally have people to listen to, other than Karen...

“Thanks,” she smiled and took another sip. She reached for the bottle of wine and Eric picked it up.

“Allow me,” he poured her a refill.

Bing. She got a text and quickly sent one off.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Charlotte called out.

Timo came in with a present box. “For you,” he placed it on the floor beside Eric.

“Me?” He looked at Charlotte. “Can I open it?”

“Of course; it’s your welcome gift.”

Pretty sure she's given me enough, but okay. Eric couldn’t remember the last time he got a wrapped gift. He tore through the paper to reveal a boxed laptop. “You… bought me a laptop?” Holy crap… This looks high end, too.

“Yes, it’s all yours. How else would I expect you to entertain yourself in my absence? The paper there is the wi-fi password and you can use the credit card I got you to buy anything you want online. Please rely on Timo and the others for in-store purchases at the moment. I don't want you to push yourself too much and hinder your recovery.”

“This is too much…” What did I do to deserve this amazing woman coming into my life, never mind everything she’s trying to give me? I also wouldn’t even know what to buy. I even avoided window shopping since I knew I couldn’t afford to waste money on material things, no matter how much I wanted them.

“No, it isn’t. I know I don’t know you well, but I can tell you’re a good person who’s fallen on hard times repeatedly. You deserve to be taken care of and enjoy your time here.” Charlotte set her empty glass down. “I think I’ll leave it at that for today. If I stay any longer, I might drink too much and not be able to work efficiently. Goodnight, Eric; enjoy your new laptop.”

“Goodnight, Char.”

She paused halfway to the door. “Did you call me, Char?”

“Oh, do you not like nicknames? I’ll—”

“Oh no, it’s not that,” she smiled at him, biting her lip. “I like it.” She left while trying to hold back an even bigger smile. No one had called her in such a familiar way in so long; it was nice to feel close to someone again.

“To think a nickname can make her look like that. What kind of lonely life has she lived?” Maybe we're more similar than I thought.

After they left him alone in his room, he sat down on his new bed while holding onto his ribs, and tried to absorb it all in. Everything was so different from what he was used to, but different didn’t mean bad.

He laid back with his eyes closed. Wow, this bed is so… comfortable… He drifted off to sleep.