Charlie had never experienced love from a parent, and even if she did she was too young to remember it. When her neglectful and no-good mother leaves her behind, an unexpected ghost hunter steps into her life claiming he's her father. Throughout her...
Zak's house-- or our house was about a 45-minute drive from the airport by taxi. I stuck my head out the window the whole time; just enjoying the city that I am now to call home. For someone who had never seen Vegas before, it was really quite a sight. The orange desert hills in the background, the skyline, it was beautiful. Zak was the complete opposite, he was glued to his phone the entire time. To be fair, this was his home, his city, he had probably driven these roads multiple times. This was nothing new to him.
Once the taxi stopped in front of the house, I immediately thought we had stopped in the wrong neighbourhood, or maybe Zak gave him the wrong address. Instead, Zak jumped out right away to get our bags and pay the driver, I definitely didn't expect this.
The house was massive, to say the least. It was beige and two stories tall, with a giant window in the front and a huge driveway and entrance surrounded by desert friendly trees and plants. After I got out of the cab I just stood there staring at the house like an idiot; most likely with my mouth open.
Zak laughed at me, "Are you coming in?"
I gulped. I'm not sure I am ready for this. I mean, I didn't want this, I still have some money left after selling everything. I could just make a break for it right now.
I looked back at the cab, then back at Zak standing in the doorway attempting to find his house key in his deep pockets. Then I looked back at the cab again. As I was contemplating my possible future actions the cab drove off before I could even try to jump in and yell at the driver where to go.
"And there it goes," I muttered as the cab turned a corner and out of my sights for good. I slung my heavy and over-packed bag over my shoulder and the others in my hands and headed toward Zak and the now open (and massive) front door.
Just after I walked through the front door a mainly white dog with a giant black spot over her left eye quietly walked over to me. She was so peaceful and adorable. She was quite timid, and her tail only wagged for a few strokes, but I don't blame her, if a stranger came walking into my house I would be very nervous too.
"Charlie, meet Gracie" Zak introduced. I bent down next to her, carefully to avoid scaring her.
"Hiya there, Gracie", I smiled as I pet her. Her fur was so soft. "My name's Charlie. I guess I'm your new roomie." I was now scratching underneath her chin, which she seemed to like since her tail began wagging a little faster.
"She likes you," Zak said confirming my thoughts. He was looking down at me while I pet Gracie. He seemed to almost have a look of pride while he watched at me. I stood up and fix my hair, which had fallen in front of my face after I got down saying hello to my new furry friend.
"Where do you want me to put this?" I looked down at my bag that had fallen off my shoulder and onto the floor.
"Oh right! Your room" Zak remembered. "Yes, okay, it's upstairs. I'll show you." He pointed down a long hallway of marble floors and beige walls.
The first floor of the house was so open; you could almost see every room just by standing at the bottom of the stairs. The man had a giant aquarium in his living room and a glass wine cellar just across. He was living the life. He led me upstairs and into a quite large and peaceful room. The crème carpet was soft underneath my feet, and the bed looked even comfier. I let out a sigh of relief.
I really was home.
"This is your room now." He smiled. "You can do whatever you want really, it's all yours."
"Thank you for everything." I attacked him with a surprise hug. I was definitely feeling guilty about my last-minute thoughts to bail on him.
He hugged me back tight. "You're welcome, Charlie." I was the first to let go and quickly looked back into my new room.
Feelings. I'm really not a huggy-feely type of person, but considering the circumstances, I understood why I hugged him in the first place.
"Okay, I don't know about you, but I'm really tired, so I'm just going to take a quick nap; is that okay?" He asked. I nodded in response.
"Yeah, no me too, I think a nap is a really good idea." I laughed.
"Okay," he smiled. He walked out first and Gracie followed him behind. Once I heard him walk down the hallway and close his door, or what I assumed to be his door (I hadn't been on that side of the house yet), I closed mine and slid down the side till my butt hit the floor and covered my face with my hands. My very loud sigh filled the room a few seconds later.
All of my anxious feelings began to rise. What if he realizes he can't take care of me anymore? Or what if he's just too busy to parent me? Or worse, what if he turns into one of those helicopter parents? My eyes went wide.
"Stop worrying Charlie," I said aloud. "It's fine, it's all going to be just fine." This was my only attempt to calm myself down.
I stood up and took another glance at my room. The king-sized bed had a white and black bedspread, with black and white pillows. The walls of the room were black, but all the furniture was white, with a tall dresser in the corner, and two love seats across from it. A white canvas with fine black splashes across sat above the bed ad took up a large portion of the wall. Across from the bed was a large mirror, which also took up the majority of the wall. Next to the mirror was a doorway into a walk-in closet and besides that was another into the bathroom.
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"I definitely do not have enough clothes for this," I said aloud.
I walked into the bathroom after taking a long look in the closet. It had a black marble walk-in shower with a glass door and two sinks, and opposite from the shower was a beautiful, marble bathtub.
"Holy shit!" I excitedly whispered. "Holy fucking shit!" I continued. I don't think I could have even dreamed to have a bedroom like this.
I walked around the bathroom, tracing the lines of the marble countertop with my finger and began to stare at myself in the mirror. I was staring at myself so hard, I was practically staring deep into my soul. I turned on the water and splashed my face with some cold water. The ice-cold water soothed any anxious feeling I was having. After drying my face off, I let out a huge puff of air and relaxed my shoulders, then I walked to my untouched bed.
Now I was really tired. I dug into my bag and quickly changed into a big white T-shirt and my snowman pyjama shorts and hopped into my new bed; my nice and soft bed. I closed my eyes and began to think of my future, my now brighter and happier one.
