ghost light.

cigarettes & chopsticks.

The days went on. Mornings, afternoons and evenings were filled with Charlie and his near insane ideas, his intensive focus and his small rebuttals to your pleasantries. Your hours were split between fostering his creative vision at the theater and at home in your studio, still attempting to save time for your creative practices. You'd both settled on a routine—something that made it all somewhat tolerable and balanced between the long hours, something you evidently found yourself looking forward to each time.

In the mornings, you'd meet Charlie at the same subway stop without a coffee in hand, or at least finished before you'd met him—you were still weary from the first incident. Charlie would always arrive first, waiting for you with his back against the railing by the stairs. Some mornings, after a long night of working or one that really seemed to bring out his short temperament, you'd catch him smoking, attempting to put it out before you made your way over to him.

Charlie didn't like smoking in front of you. He'd confided in you during a late night rehearsal a few weeks ago, saying how he'd hated the habit but couldn't curb it.

—

Charlie had stepped outside to take a phone call—why someone would call him at that hour, you were unsure of. It happened frequently, usually anywhere from 9-10pm when you both were either in the house finishing notes with the company, or when you both were in his office tying the last little details up for the day. You'd started to pack up as Charlie took his call, having finished your duties for the night and would rather have everything ready to go.

His footsteps echoed through the hallowed hallways, leaving you to the company of yourself with only a mere frantic "Sorry" before he rushed out. It'd never make itself known out loud but you couldn't help but admit to yourself that the action in itself had somehow hurt you in the slightest. While you respected his privacy, there was something about the way he hurried out with only a word—on a good day—that made you feel as if he lacked a certain amount of trust in you. With that, you gathered your belongings, making your way out, not wanting to let the mild concern fester and bloom into a flagrant jealousy.

Ash. A cloud of pestering smoke.

Charlie had been smoking with his phone in one hand, held tight to his ear, cigarette in the other and right outside by the door to exit, leaving a puff of smoke trailing in the walkway. You couldn't help but give a subtle wave to part the lingering substance, making your way just barely past him, turning to give him a slight nod 'goodnight'. His eyes widened slightly as he glanced from you to his watch and back again, attention still half on the call. His expression made a silent plea for you to stay, even just for a moment while he tied things up on his end.

His brows furrowed as he talked to the being on the other end, not from anger or confusion but more of a sympathetic type of way.

"Well, it's getting late for you, isn't it? Mhm. Okay well, you and I should call it a night. Yeah, of course sweetheart. Same time tomorrow, don't worry."

A pause. You'd almost turned and left, feeling guilty for intruding on this private occurrence, one he'd purposefully taken outside but a small signal from him stopped you stone cold in your position. Charlie held a single finger to you with his keys dangling comically around his big fingers, signifying a moment longer and you waited patiently for him to finish up.

"Alright, well goodnight," Charlie stopped and smiled, "I love you."

A chill ran up your spine as the last little bit of his conversation registered with you, lingering like the stifling smoke. Here it is, well after 9pm and here Charlie was, saying 'I love you' to someone on the other end. You'd gotten so comfortable with him in a work and professional setting that you'd forgotten that he was a normal human being and with that, having a normal occurring life and social being outside of this setting. You'd been taking hours away from that and whoever may be in that scene.