His Heart

Chapter five: Charlie

This forced vacation was driving me crazy. It dawned on me that I had made work and the kids my whole life. I didn't know what to do with myself anymore. I dropped the kids off at school, came home and pottered around until they got home again.

You've got to get a life. Jasmine's voice chimed in my head.

I decided to ring the one person who would be free at 11am on a Wednesday.

"What's up?" Sebastian said. I could hear the sound of a video game being paused.

"Are you free this morning?" I asked.

"Of course, but you shouldn't be." He said. "Mr. I-never-have-time-for-anyone-because-I'm-so-
stuck-up-my-own-arse."

"Right." I said after a beat. "I'm taking a vacation."

"You don't take vacations, my boy." He laughed. "You wouldn't know what to do with yourself."

"Exactly. You free?"

"I can be."

"Good. I'll be round in ten."

~*~

I knocked on the door, wondering if he would be able to hear me over the crashing sounds coming from inside the apartment.

"It's open!" He yelled.

I opened the door carefully and Daisy, his Springer spaniel jumped up at my feet.

"Hey Daisy-girl." I smiled, rubbing her behind the ears. "How you doing?"

She looked at me with baleful eyes.

"I want to go outside too." I agreed. "This is no place for a pup like you, right girly? You need space to run."

"Why is everyone trying to force me outside?" Sebastian grumbled, entering the room.

"It's good for you."

"Ok. I'll come. But you better have some interesting stories to share." He muttered.

We set off outside towards the park, Daisy pulling up the lead in Sebastian's hand.

"So what did you do to get fired?" Sebastian asked.

"I'm not fired." I said.

"So what are you doing here then? Forced break?"

"Yeah."

"I knew it! My guy would never stop working voluntarily." He said, triumphantly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Charlie, come on." He said. "I love you, but you don't know how to relax. It like ever since she died, you've worked yourself off your feet."

I didn't bother disputing this.

"You getting paid for this break?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Great. We'll find something to do. Get you a hobby. How long is this break?"

"Three months."

He whistled. "Good for you. We can find something to do whilst the kids are at school."

"We? Won't you have to work?" I asked.

He laughed.

"You know I don't commit to anything I can't walk away from in two minutes." He reminded me. "Besides, you need me. That's more important."

"What story are you working on now?" I asked.

"The pay gap between women and men. I get paid about £34k a year. If a woman was doing my exact job with all the same responsibilities, she would still only be getting 22% what I make a year." He shook his head. "Even if she had more responsibilities, she may still only get less than £7500."