Double M is My Man

~ 11 ~

"Thank you for joining me for tea Zada but are you sure you shouldn't be at the vet with Whiskers?"

My grip on my lemon earl grey tea tightens as I sent angry thoughts Reece's way. He tried his hardest after Bio class ended to make sure I went home. He even told Charlie that I had an imaginary dog at the vet, suffering from a bad stomach ache. Reece even gave my imaginary dog a name meant for a cat. Charlie should have instantly been able to figure out Reece was lying by the dog's name but nope, Charlie believed every single sour word that flew out from Reece's mouth.

"Don't worry Charlie. Whiskers is at the best vet in New York. The veterinarian texts me hourly updates on my poodle's condition." I tell him through gritted teeth. Reece even had the nerve to lie to Charlie that Whiskers belonged to my least favourite dog species. Now Charlie believes I part take in dog shows.

Charlie takes a sip out of his orange flavoured tea. "I still feel horrible from pulling you away from your responsibility."

I scoff, "my dog is at the vet and I can barely feel my shoulder. I need this sort of relaxation." Otherwise I'd be stuck at home, doing homework and hoping Reece wouldn't walk in. Who am I kidding? Reece will be the first person to greet me when I come home. I can already picture the scowl on his handsome face as he would lecture me on my childish behaviour while I'd be silently hoping he wouldn't mention my confession. When I notice that Charlie still doesn't look convinced of our actions, I smile as I motion my head towards my cup, "this is some ridiculously delicious tea. The Queen of Hearts herself would be jealous if she found out us peasants were drinking better than her."

"The Queen of Hearts?" Charlie repeats in a rather confused tone but it doesn't bother me. I'm just glad I managed to distract him from my imaginary poodle by the name of Whiskers.

One things for sure, if I ever decide to own a pet, I will not give Reece the honor of naming my animal companion. Then again, I'm not so sure Reece and I will be a good terms when that time comes but Reece is not the center of my attention. Charlie is therefore I nod my head at him as if everyone should know who the Queen of Hearts is. When I realize that the confused look hasn't disappeared off of Charlie's face, I clarify by saying, "like the Queen from Alice in Wonderland."

The only reaction I get from the British hunk is more uncertainty. I give him a wary look, "it's a Disney movie."

Understanding swims in his eyes as Charlie replies back, "I haven't watched that many Disney movies."

My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets after when Charlie admitted to me his outrageous confession. Charlie, noticing my unbelievable expression, smiles sheepishly and shrugs his shoulders, "those type of movies never caught my attention."

"Not even when you were a kid?" I ask to which the guy sitting across from me shakes his head. "Not even the Lion King?!" I shriek, causing a few heads to turn in our direction in the far corner of the small café.

Charlie chuckles under his breath, bringing his arm up to cover his smile with his hands. I have to admit, Charlie looks quite adorable doing that because the sleeves of his dark grey sweater are too long, covering his hands. The one thing that stands out are his light hazel eyes that sparkle in amusement.

I have to look away for a few moments in order to stop myself from blushing. "Your childhood must have been awful."

"On the contrary, it was a blast. I spend most of my time outside either playing football with friends or making my own adventures rather than staying inside and watching TV." Charlie informs me, his gaze aimed behind me as he goes down memory lane.

I take a good look at his lean form before raising my eyebrow in surprise, "you play football?"

"I mean soccer," he immediately clarifies. I reply back by nodding my head in understanding. I keep forgetting that the majority of the world refers to soccer as football which makes sense because is a sport that requires a ball and your feet! I sometimes wonder why instead of American football we called that soccer while we called soccer by its literal name: football. I used to actually bring this topic up during conversations but was immediately shut down because as others put it: soccer is soccer.