Resurrection of Hope: Chapter Three
Title: Resurrection of Hope
Author: cherimorton
Disclaimer: Ville is mine, all mine. (plz note: there is major sarcasm in my voice and I'm definitely rolling my eyes)
A/N: yeah, there isn't one this time
It had been three days since he'd seen Charli, and he felt an uncomfortable restlessness about it. He'd had that same dream as the night he walked with her in the early LA morning, and he couldn't shake the feeling that meeting her had something to do with it. He still didn't know what, and he couldn't recognize the scent that his dream had, and he couldn't see who was cloaked, and it was frustrating him, to say the least. He decided to do something about it.
He approached the front desk and asked for Charli's room number. The girl behind the desk couldn't take her eyes off him long enough to type accurately, and she had to confirm the name. "Charli Tyson?" she'd asked.
"Yes," Ville said.
"Like the boy?" Ville could feel the frustration building, and said as calmly as he could, "No, like Charlotte." The attendant looked at her screen, then looked back at him and said, "I'm sorry Mr. Valo, but we can neither confirm nor deny that she's here. Special instructions," winking at him. Sighing, he said, "Ok, so she's still registered here. Can you give me a room number? I know she was on my floor a few days ago, but I didn't see what room." The attendant looked at him hesitantly and replied, "I really can't give you that information. If my boss found out, he'd fire me. I shouldn't have told you that she's even here."
"Why?"
"When she checked in, she requested that no information about her registration be given out."
"Oh," was all he said, walking away from the desk annoyed. What was he supposed to do now? Camp out at the elevator? Sighing, he opened his door, pausing as he heard loud giggling coming down the hallway.
"What did you do? Squirt it in his face or something?"
Ville felt his heart lift when he recognized Charli's voice saying, "No! I didn't even... Hey, Ville!" she said, lighting up. He smiled at her, noticing her off- beat style in a My Little Ponies t-shirt and ripped jeans. "Where ya been?" she asked, stopping to talk to him.
"Working. And nothing else... I stay in my room when I'm not at the studio."
She looked at him disbelieving. "You stay in your room all the time? With the Hollywood sign, and the palm trees, and the walk of shame, oh, I mean fame, and..." she said, stopping when he laughed.
"Well, yeah... what with me being 'too pretty not to be a target' and all," he said, making her blush. "Ahem." Ville and Charli both looked at the source of the interruption, Amy. "Oh, sorry, Aim. This is Ville. As if you didn't know," she said, grinning impishly, "Ville this is my unassistant, Amy."
Ville extended his long arm to Amy saying, "Lovely to meet you, sweetheart." Amy looked a little dizzy for a second, and taking his hand slowly, said, "Nice... no, awesome to meet you!" Ville laughed. Charli looked at her watch and said, "Amy. Breathe. You gotta meet Randomosity in a half hour," elbowing Amy sharply in the arm. Amy shook herself and said "Oh yeah," a little deflated. Charli grabbed Amy and said, "See ya, Ville!" with a bright smile. Ville was sure to observe her room number this time before going into his room and sinking on his bed. If Amy was going to be out tonight... would Charli be out, too? Or would she stay in? Deciding to take a chance, Ville called Silke and asked her to send him two dinners from the fresh market where she ordered his food. "Two?" Silke asked, curious. "Yes, two. I'm hungry," he answered. Skeptical, Silke said, "Ok... two of the same thing?"
"Yeah, two of the same. I like that one thing with the thing..." he said, not remembering the actual thing.
This made Silke laugh. "Ok, then... two of the one thing with the thing..." she said and hung up.
Between ordering dinner and it being delivered, Ville took an “extra wet” shower. He was thrilled that he could still get it up, having been so long since he'd had any desire or ability. Now it seemed his smaller head had found its own mind and wouldn't calm down. Smiling to his... companion, he gave it a pep talk.
"Ok, now here's the thing. I'm going to give you a work out before we go and try to have dinner with her. In exchange, please don't embarrass me." The thought of Charli made his erection twitch at just the right time, and Ville took that as an understanding. He grabbed himself and it didn't take long for little Ville to have his second cardio for the day.
He was pulling on a Black Sabbath shirt as the food arrived. Paying the delivery person, he took the food and combined it into one container. Grinning to himself, he walked out into the hallway and down to Charli's room. Taking a deep breath, he knocked. "Hold on!" came the answer from the other side. It sounded like Charli was talking to someone, but Ville couldn't make out a voice; he hoped he wasn't interrupting anything. The door swung open and Charli stood on the other side, her usual bright smile spreading across her face when she recognized her guest. "Ville!" she said, "Come on in!" and he walked in the room behind her. He couldn't help but notice the way her tank top fit her perfectly, rounding out her chest and lining her curves, then transitioning seamlessly into her cotton shorts, and he found his gaze traveling down her short but lean legs and landing on her Homer Simpson bedroom slippers. He chuckled to himself as Charli was saying, seemingly to no one, "I'll just zip this and send it to you... there's some holes that need to be filled in; they're pretty obvious." Then Ville realized she was on the phone, because from the speaker he heard, "Wait, Charli. They're pretty obvious to you. I don't have your eye. What do you want me to do, go on a treasure hunt?"
"Yar, matey," Charli said, grinning slyly at Ville.
The person on the other end of the phone sighed loudly and said, "Ok, fine. Was that a knock at the door? You're alright, right? I mean, no one's holding you hostage?"
Charli rolled her eyes and said, "No Rosalie, I'm not being held hostage. At least, I don't think so. Either way, it wouldn't be unwilling, as my captor is gorgeous and seems to be bearing food. I'm saying goodbye now, give Georgie a kiss for me, k?"
"OK, and stop calling my daughter George!"
"I didn't call her 'George'. I called her 'Georgie'," Charli said with another grin.
"Ugh... her name is 'Dawn'! Please, at least pick something closer to that..." the other voice, Rosalie, said.
"Um... no, I like Georgie. I'll stick with that."
"She's even named after you, dork!"
"Yeah, and if I liked my name, I would go by it. Goodnight, Rosie!" Charli said, reaching for the "off" button.
"Goodnight," came the exasperated answer on the other end.
Charli ended the call and grinned at Ville who’d been observing the room, picking up a delicate, familiar, but somehow unplaceable scent. “So, is that food in your hand, or are you just happy to see me?” she joked. Ville chuckled at her and said, “Yes. Both,” grinning back at her, “My publicist thinks I’m too skinny,” he added, “so she ordered too much. I wondered if you’d want to share. I have two forks, but only one container…”
Charli grinned and said, “No meat?”
Ville shook his head, saying, “Mushroom linguini.”
She shrugged her shoulders and said, “I don’t mind sharing a container with you if you don’t mind my fork in your food.” Again, Ville shook his head and opened the box. “Mmm,” Charli said, with her eyes closed and a pleased smile. Ville thought he could actually hear her stomach grumble and handed her a fork.
“Oh my gosh. This is yummy!” she said after her first bite.
“Yeah, it’s my favorite from this place. I think that’s why Silke ordered so much; she thought I might actually finish it,” Ville said, sarcastic laugh in his voice.
“I can see where she’s coming from. You are too skinny. I’d say you need to eat a steak, but then I’d feel bad for the cow,” Charli answered, gulping her mouthful down.
“Is that why you don’t eat meat? Are you vegan or vegetarian?” Ville asked, interested in her reasoning.
“Uh, well, I mean, I guess I feel bad for the animal, yeah, but I stopped eating meat about a year ago when I saw an episode of ‘Forensic Files’ about how Mad Cow Disease jumped species and they stuck pictures of a slaughterhouse in between hospital pictures. It grossed me out, and since then I can’t eat it. I can cook it still, which my dad is eternally grateful for cause he can’t cook a steak to save his life…” she said grinning at Ville, “You?”
Ville cleared his throat and answered, “I just don’t generally like the taste of it anymore. I quit eating it to help a friend’s cause about 10 years ago, and now it just tastes too… blech,” making a face and making Charli giggle.
They ate their dinner, talking mostly about favorite foods, and Charli told Ville that she wasn’t vegan, she loved all sorts of cheese and she put honey in her tea. Ville shared with Charli that he only stopped eating dairy because it helped his voice.
After dinner, they sat next to the open window smoking their cigarettes as the sun set, turning the sky to brilliant purples and oranges on one side of the Earth and midnight blue, the color of Charli’s eyes Ville noted to himself, on the other side and several stars shone above them.
Amy returned from her “meeting”, which to Amy’s dismay had been a date in the other guy’s mind. “What ever happened to the gaydar? I never have had to embarrass someone like that. I thought LA was full of lesbians?” she said, annoyed, to Charli. Charli laughed at her and said, “That’s the problem, honey. There’s so many, all gaydars go on the fritz. He didn’t try to grope you, did he?” This made Amy laugh hysterically. Between gasps, she said, “Ew… No! I… he… I managed to… set him straight… before we sat down… to dinner…” Amy’s hysteria made Charli and Ville giggle. He chuckled outwardly, but inwardly he worried that maybe there was an off chance that Charli was Amy’s girlfriend for about a half a second before Charli said, “And that’s why I stick with men… well, I mean besides the obvious reason of ‘equipment’… to avoid any confusing situations like this one…” To which Amy responded, “Well, if equipment is what you’re worried about, we can buy that…”
Charli wrinkled her nose and said, “No. We really can’t. I like my man’s equipment attached to my man,” giggling and blushing at Ville. Ville smiled back at her. Amy plopped herself down on Charli’s lap (Ville wondered idly how Charli didn’t break. She was small…) and said “Let’s watch a movie. I’m bored…” Charli looked at Ville and said, “Would you like to stay for a movie? We generally stray from the chick flicks and watch something interesting- well, if I’m picking, it’s interesting, if she’s picking it’s either hilarious or gory- and have pop-aw, man, we don’t have a microwave!”
Amy was just hanging up the phone as Charli said that, and said “Popcorn coming!” Seeing the look on Charli’s face, Amy said simply, “Room service,” with a grin. They both turned back to Ville, having not had an answer. “Yeah, ok, I’ll stay for a movie.”
“Yay. Now get on the couch and get comfortable, cause we will both eventually end up with one or more body parts on you,” Amy said, with a confirming smile from Charli.
As they were getting arranged, Charli getting pillows from the bed and the throw from the chair at the window, Ville flipped through what movies were being offered at the hotel, jokingly highlighting the porn channels, and hearing Charli laugh and say, “Ok, but I am not responsible for my actions…” and enticing as it was, Ville behaved himself and settled on the classic mockumentary, This Is Spinal Tap. Amy arrived at the couch with the popcorn and the three settled in comfortably to watch- Ville against the armrest, legs stretched out to the table, Charli next to him, leaning against him but facing Amy with her feet between Amy and the back of the couch, and Amy leaning against the other armrest, legs stretched out across Charli and Ville, feet in Ville’s lap. Ville felt the electricity course through his body again when Charli leaned up against him, putting his arm around her shoulder. “We good?” Amy said. “We good,” Charli answered and Ville nodded. Amy pressed play and Ville steadied his breathing.
Halfway through the movie, Charli’s phone rang. Stretching and pausing the movie, she noted that Amy was asleep before picking the phone up off the table. Ville instantly felt her tense and look at Amy. “Amy! Amy! Please, wake up!” she shook Amy, to no avail, then pushed the green “receive” button, then the red “end” button. She stared at the phone for a minute, then with a tense sigh, turned and smiled nervously at Ville. He could see that she was shaken, but she interrupted his asking what was wrong by saying, “Ok, let’s con-” before her phone rang again. This time, without even looking at the phone, shook Amy again, this time violently. “AMY! I need you to answer this!” Amy suddenly sat upright and took the phone, walking away with a mumbled and sleepily irritated “Hello?” Charli didn’t look at Ville, instead stared at her trembling hands in her lap. Ville was vaguely aware of Amy arguing with the unknown caller in the background, but his immediate concern was Charli. What was going on? Again, before he could ask, she sighed and looked up at him, guilt and shame in her eyes, and said, “Please, don’t ask… it’s a long story.” Ville nodded at her, respecting her wishes, but curiosity raging his insides. Amy returned, placing the phone on the table, and said, “I’ll have it changed tomorrow. Don’t set up voicemail this time.”
“But Amy, that’s… not my only phone anymore,” Charli answered sighing. “Ok, back to the movie.”
The rest of the evening went without incident. Amy again fell asleep, this time head in Charli’s lap, Charli fell asleep nestled in Ville’s arms as he’d rearranged himself long ways on the couch as well, and had fallen asleep with his face in Charli’s silky red hair. The TV screen was blue, indicating the movie was over when he woke, stretching his neck, and realized that the unidentified scent in his dream was Charli. Her scent had filled the room when he first walked in, and he hadn’t been able to place it, but in his sleep coated mind, it clicked. He lay there for a few minutes, studying her in her sleep, and she looked so peaceful and sweet… he didn’t want any demons to touch her; he needed to protect her from who ever was stalking her. With a sigh, he realized he couldn’t do that without knowing who to look out for.
It was then that he realized that he didn’t know anything about Charli. Oh, he knew her favorite color, brand of cigarettes, food, etc, but nothing of who she was or where she came from. He’d readily believe that she just fell into existence, a gift from the angels (if there were any), but he knew in his right mind that she came from somewhere, with parents, and family. But he knew nothing of her history. His heart hungered for more… he just needed to know how to get there. He decided that he would tell her some of his stories, if he could remember them, and maybe get her to open up. Since tomorrow was Saturday, he thought that if she didn’t already have something to do, he’d spend the day with her, be it curled up on this couch or out somewhere in the big bad world. He shifted slightly, careful not to disturb her or Amy, and he fell back into a restful sleep.
He wasn’t asleep for long, though, because less than 20 minutes after he fell asleep again, Amy stirred, poking Charli in the thigh, causing her to jump from her place against Ville’s chest and waking him up from the shift in weight. Amy laughed first at the chain reaction, then Charli sleepily added to it, causing Ville to chuckle. Amy laughed harder at the second chain reaction and soon, the three of them were stuck in a fit of laughter, mostly at nothing. It made Ville feel good to give actual laughter, even for no reason, having had nothing to laugh at much in the past weeks.
That is, until Charli’s light shone on him like sunshine in the middle of the coldest Helsinki winter.
Comments are music to my ears...
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Author: cherimorton
Disclaimer: Ville is mine, all mine. (plz note: there is major sarcasm in my voice and I'm definitely rolling my eyes)
A/N: yeah, there isn't one this time
It had been three days since he'd seen Charli, and he felt an uncomfortable restlessness about it. He'd had that same dream as the night he walked with her in the early LA morning, and he couldn't shake the feeling that meeting her had something to do with it. He still didn't know what, and he couldn't recognize the scent that his dream had, and he couldn't see who was cloaked, and it was frustrating him, to say the least. He decided to do something about it.
He approached the front desk and asked for Charli's room number. The girl behind the desk couldn't take her eyes off him long enough to type accurately, and she had to confirm the name. "Charli Tyson?" she'd asked.
"Yes," Ville said.
"Like the boy?" Ville could feel the frustration building, and said as calmly as he could, "No, like Charlotte." The attendant looked at her screen, then looked back at him and said, "I'm sorry Mr. Valo, but we can neither confirm nor deny that she's here. Special instructions," winking at him. Sighing, he said, "Ok, so she's still registered here. Can you give me a room number? I know she was on my floor a few days ago, but I didn't see what room." The attendant looked at him hesitantly and replied, "I really can't give you that information. If my boss found out, he'd fire me. I shouldn't have told you that she's even here."
"Why?"
"When she checked in, she requested that no information about her registration be given out."
"Oh," was all he said, walking away from the desk annoyed. What was he supposed to do now? Camp out at the elevator? Sighing, he opened his door, pausing as he heard loud giggling coming down the hallway.
"What did you do? Squirt it in his face or something?"
Ville felt his heart lift when he recognized Charli's voice saying, "No! I didn't even... Hey, Ville!" she said, lighting up. He smiled at her, noticing her off- beat style in a My Little Ponies t-shirt and ripped jeans. "Where ya been?" she asked, stopping to talk to him.
"Working. And nothing else... I stay in my room when I'm not at the studio."
She looked at him disbelieving. "You stay in your room all the time? With the Hollywood sign, and the palm trees, and the walk of shame, oh, I mean fame, and..." she said, stopping when he laughed.
"Well, yeah... what with me being 'too pretty not to be a target' and all," he said, making her blush. "Ahem." Ville and Charli both looked at the source of the interruption, Amy. "Oh, sorry, Aim. This is Ville. As if you didn't know," she said, grinning impishly, "Ville this is my unassistant, Amy."
Ville extended his long arm to Amy saying, "Lovely to meet you, sweetheart." Amy looked a little dizzy for a second, and taking his hand slowly, said, "Nice... no, awesome to meet you!" Ville laughed. Charli looked at her watch and said, "Amy. Breathe. You gotta meet Randomosity in a half hour," elbowing Amy sharply in the arm. Amy shook herself and said "Oh yeah," a little deflated. Charli grabbed Amy and said, "See ya, Ville!" with a bright smile. Ville was sure to observe her room number this time before going into his room and sinking on his bed. If Amy was going to be out tonight... would Charli be out, too? Or would she stay in? Deciding to take a chance, Ville called Silke and asked her to send him two dinners from the fresh market where she ordered his food. "Two?" Silke asked, curious. "Yes, two. I'm hungry," he answered. Skeptical, Silke said, "Ok... two of the same thing?"
"Yeah, two of the same. I like that one thing with the thing..." he said, not remembering the actual thing.
This made Silke laugh. "Ok, then... two of the one thing with the thing..." she said and hung up.
Between ordering dinner and it being delivered, Ville took an “extra wet” shower. He was thrilled that he could still get it up, having been so long since he'd had any desire or ability. Now it seemed his smaller head had found its own mind and wouldn't calm down. Smiling to his... companion, he gave it a pep talk.
"Ok, now here's the thing. I'm going to give you a work out before we go and try to have dinner with her. In exchange, please don't embarrass me." The thought of Charli made his erection twitch at just the right time, and Ville took that as an understanding. He grabbed himself and it didn't take long for little Ville to have his second cardio for the day.
He was pulling on a Black Sabbath shirt as the food arrived. Paying the delivery person, he took the food and combined it into one container. Grinning to himself, he walked out into the hallway and down to Charli's room. Taking a deep breath, he knocked. "Hold on!" came the answer from the other side. It sounded like Charli was talking to someone, but Ville couldn't make out a voice; he hoped he wasn't interrupting anything. The door swung open and Charli stood on the other side, her usual bright smile spreading across her face when she recognized her guest. "Ville!" she said, "Come on in!" and he walked in the room behind her. He couldn't help but notice the way her tank top fit her perfectly, rounding out her chest and lining her curves, then transitioning seamlessly into her cotton shorts, and he found his gaze traveling down her short but lean legs and landing on her Homer Simpson bedroom slippers. He chuckled to himself as Charli was saying, seemingly to no one, "I'll just zip this and send it to you... there's some holes that need to be filled in; they're pretty obvious." Then Ville realized she was on the phone, because from the speaker he heard, "Wait, Charli. They're pretty obvious to you. I don't have your eye. What do you want me to do, go on a treasure hunt?"
"Yar, matey," Charli said, grinning slyly at Ville.
The person on the other end of the phone sighed loudly and said, "Ok, fine. Was that a knock at the door? You're alright, right? I mean, no one's holding you hostage?"
Charli rolled her eyes and said, "No Rosalie, I'm not being held hostage. At least, I don't think so. Either way, it wouldn't be unwilling, as my captor is gorgeous and seems to be bearing food. I'm saying goodbye now, give Georgie a kiss for me, k?"
"OK, and stop calling my daughter George!"
"I didn't call her 'George'. I called her 'Georgie'," Charli said with another grin.
"Ugh... her name is 'Dawn'! Please, at least pick something closer to that..." the other voice, Rosalie, said.
"Um... no, I like Georgie. I'll stick with that."
"She's even named after you, dork!"
"Yeah, and if I liked my name, I would go by it. Goodnight, Rosie!" Charli said, reaching for the "off" button.
"Goodnight," came the exasperated answer on the other end.
Charli ended the call and grinned at Ville who’d been observing the room, picking up a delicate, familiar, but somehow unplaceable scent. “So, is that food in your hand, or are you just happy to see me?” she joked. Ville chuckled at her and said, “Yes. Both,” grinning back at her, “My publicist thinks I’m too skinny,” he added, “so she ordered too much. I wondered if you’d want to share. I have two forks, but only one container…”
Charli grinned and said, “No meat?”
Ville shook his head, saying, “Mushroom linguini.”
She shrugged her shoulders and said, “I don’t mind sharing a container with you if you don’t mind my fork in your food.” Again, Ville shook his head and opened the box. “Mmm,” Charli said, with her eyes closed and a pleased smile. Ville thought he could actually hear her stomach grumble and handed her a fork.
“Oh my gosh. This is yummy!” she said after her first bite.
“Yeah, it’s my favorite from this place. I think that’s why Silke ordered so much; she thought I might actually finish it,” Ville said, sarcastic laugh in his voice.
“I can see where she’s coming from. You are too skinny. I’d say you need to eat a steak, but then I’d feel bad for the cow,” Charli answered, gulping her mouthful down.
“Is that why you don’t eat meat? Are you vegan or vegetarian?” Ville asked, interested in her reasoning.
“Uh, well, I mean, I guess I feel bad for the animal, yeah, but I stopped eating meat about a year ago when I saw an episode of ‘Forensic Files’ about how Mad Cow Disease jumped species and they stuck pictures of a slaughterhouse in between hospital pictures. It grossed me out, and since then I can’t eat it. I can cook it still, which my dad is eternally grateful for cause he can’t cook a steak to save his life…” she said grinning at Ville, “You?”
Ville cleared his throat and answered, “I just don’t generally like the taste of it anymore. I quit eating it to help a friend’s cause about 10 years ago, and now it just tastes too… blech,” making a face and making Charli giggle.
They ate their dinner, talking mostly about favorite foods, and Charli told Ville that she wasn’t vegan, she loved all sorts of cheese and she put honey in her tea. Ville shared with Charli that he only stopped eating dairy because it helped his voice.
After dinner, they sat next to the open window smoking their cigarettes as the sun set, turning the sky to brilliant purples and oranges on one side of the Earth and midnight blue, the color of Charli’s eyes Ville noted to himself, on the other side and several stars shone above them.
Amy returned from her “meeting”, which to Amy’s dismay had been a date in the other guy’s mind. “What ever happened to the gaydar? I never have had to embarrass someone like that. I thought LA was full of lesbians?” she said, annoyed, to Charli. Charli laughed at her and said, “That’s the problem, honey. There’s so many, all gaydars go on the fritz. He didn’t try to grope you, did he?” This made Amy laugh hysterically. Between gasps, she said, “Ew… No! I… he… I managed to… set him straight… before we sat down… to dinner…” Amy’s hysteria made Charli and Ville giggle. He chuckled outwardly, but inwardly he worried that maybe there was an off chance that Charli was Amy’s girlfriend for about a half a second before Charli said, “And that’s why I stick with men… well, I mean besides the obvious reason of ‘equipment’… to avoid any confusing situations like this one…” To which Amy responded, “Well, if equipment is what you’re worried about, we can buy that…”
Charli wrinkled her nose and said, “No. We really can’t. I like my man’s equipment attached to my man,” giggling and blushing at Ville. Ville smiled back at her. Amy plopped herself down on Charli’s lap (Ville wondered idly how Charli didn’t break. She was small…) and said “Let’s watch a movie. I’m bored…” Charli looked at Ville and said, “Would you like to stay for a movie? We generally stray from the chick flicks and watch something interesting- well, if I’m picking, it’s interesting, if she’s picking it’s either hilarious or gory- and have pop-aw, man, we don’t have a microwave!”
Amy was just hanging up the phone as Charli said that, and said “Popcorn coming!” Seeing the look on Charli’s face, Amy said simply, “Room service,” with a grin. They both turned back to Ville, having not had an answer. “Yeah, ok, I’ll stay for a movie.”
“Yay. Now get on the couch and get comfortable, cause we will both eventually end up with one or more body parts on you,” Amy said, with a confirming smile from Charli.
As they were getting arranged, Charli getting pillows from the bed and the throw from the chair at the window, Ville flipped through what movies were being offered at the hotel, jokingly highlighting the porn channels, and hearing Charli laugh and say, “Ok, but I am not responsible for my actions…” and enticing as it was, Ville behaved himself and settled on the classic mockumentary, This Is Spinal Tap. Amy arrived at the couch with the popcorn and the three settled in comfortably to watch- Ville against the armrest, legs stretched out to the table, Charli next to him, leaning against him but facing Amy with her feet between Amy and the back of the couch, and Amy leaning against the other armrest, legs stretched out across Charli and Ville, feet in Ville’s lap. Ville felt the electricity course through his body again when Charli leaned up against him, putting his arm around her shoulder. “We good?” Amy said. “We good,” Charli answered and Ville nodded. Amy pressed play and Ville steadied his breathing.
Halfway through the movie, Charli’s phone rang. Stretching and pausing the movie, she noted that Amy was asleep before picking the phone up off the table. Ville instantly felt her tense and look at Amy. “Amy! Amy! Please, wake up!” she shook Amy, to no avail, then pushed the green “receive” button, then the red “end” button. She stared at the phone for a minute, then with a tense sigh, turned and smiled nervously at Ville. He could see that she was shaken, but she interrupted his asking what was wrong by saying, “Ok, let’s con-” before her phone rang again. This time, without even looking at the phone, shook Amy again, this time violently. “AMY! I need you to answer this!” Amy suddenly sat upright and took the phone, walking away with a mumbled and sleepily irritated “Hello?” Charli didn’t look at Ville, instead stared at her trembling hands in her lap. Ville was vaguely aware of Amy arguing with the unknown caller in the background, but his immediate concern was Charli. What was going on? Again, before he could ask, she sighed and looked up at him, guilt and shame in her eyes, and said, “Please, don’t ask… it’s a long story.” Ville nodded at her, respecting her wishes, but curiosity raging his insides. Amy returned, placing the phone on the table, and said, “I’ll have it changed tomorrow. Don’t set up voicemail this time.”
“But Amy, that’s… not my only phone anymore,” Charli answered sighing. “Ok, back to the movie.”
The rest of the evening went without incident. Amy again fell asleep, this time head in Charli’s lap, Charli fell asleep nestled in Ville’s arms as he’d rearranged himself long ways on the couch as well, and had fallen asleep with his face in Charli’s silky red hair. The TV screen was blue, indicating the movie was over when he woke, stretching his neck, and realized that the unidentified scent in his dream was Charli. Her scent had filled the room when he first walked in, and he hadn’t been able to place it, but in his sleep coated mind, it clicked. He lay there for a few minutes, studying her in her sleep, and she looked so peaceful and sweet… he didn’t want any demons to touch her; he needed to protect her from who ever was stalking her. With a sigh, he realized he couldn’t do that without knowing who to look out for.
It was then that he realized that he didn’t know anything about Charli. Oh, he knew her favorite color, brand of cigarettes, food, etc, but nothing of who she was or where she came from. He’d readily believe that she just fell into existence, a gift from the angels (if there were any), but he knew in his right mind that she came from somewhere, with parents, and family. But he knew nothing of her history. His heart hungered for more… he just needed to know how to get there. He decided that he would tell her some of his stories, if he could remember them, and maybe get her to open up. Since tomorrow was Saturday, he thought that if she didn’t already have something to do, he’d spend the day with her, be it curled up on this couch or out somewhere in the big bad world. He shifted slightly, careful not to disturb her or Amy, and he fell back into a restful sleep.
He wasn’t asleep for long, though, because less than 20 minutes after he fell asleep again, Amy stirred, poking Charli in the thigh, causing her to jump from her place against Ville’s chest and waking him up from the shift in weight. Amy laughed first at the chain reaction, then Charli sleepily added to it, causing Ville to chuckle. Amy laughed harder at the second chain reaction and soon, the three of them were stuck in a fit of laughter, mostly at nothing. It made Ville feel good to give actual laughter, even for no reason, having had nothing to laugh at much in the past weeks.
That is, until Charli’s light shone on him like sunshine in the middle of the coldest Helsinki winter.
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Chapter One
Chapter Two