Charlotte's Scars

Chapter 31 - Christian

Chapter Thirty-One

Christian

"Uh - pass me the drill," I called down to Adrian.

Standing on the third rung of the ladder, I held the new light fixture up to my livingroom ceiling and used a pen to mark where the screws would go.

"Don't kill yourself," Adrian said and passed the drill up to me.

Rolling my eyes, I handed him the light fixture. "Unlike you, I know what I am doing."

Adrian shrugged. "Why would I need to know how to fix things when there are people I can hire to do that?"

"Spoken like a true trust fund baby," I said.

"Maybe, but atleast I'm not taking jobs away from the working class, Mr. Do It Yourself."

I laughed while drilling holes into the marks I made. Once I was done, I traded Adrian the drill back for the light fixture. Grabbing the wires hanging from the ceiling, I twisted them up with the correct wires from the new light. Then, lining it up with the holes, I pulled a couple screws and a screwdriver out of my pocket and began fastening them in. When everything was secure and in place, I climbed down the ladder to admire my work.

Nate walked into the living room with a couple beers in each hand. "Now, the real question - will it work?"

"Doubtful," Kale said with a grunt. He reached over and snatched a beer out of Nate's hand - Kale was surprisingly fast considering how robust he was. Taking a long swig, he continued walking over to the breaker box and flipped the livingroom switch.

"Moment of truth," Adrian said, leaning up against the wall. Casually, he reached over and turned the light switch on.

The powerful LED lights came to life and illuminated the livingroom in a blueish-white hue. Smirking, I crossed my arms together and said, "Look at that - and I didn't even electrocute myself."

Adrian rolled his eyes and said, "why do I even bother?" Groaning, he walked over to Nate and flung a ten dollar bill at him.

"Always good doing business with you," Nate took the money and shoved it in his back pocket.

"Really?" I asked in disbelief. "What the hell did I say about betting on me." I shook my head - it's not like I could expect any better from the fools.

Nate, laughing, walked over to me and tried to pass me a beer. I shook my head. After everything Charlie went through, I decided to stay away from alcohol and drugs. It was an unrewarding pass time anyways.

Nate shrugged and took the drink for himself before looking up and saying, "I like the medieval vibe I get from that light - I bet Charlie will love it."

I couldn't help but smile as I stared up at the light. The fixture had brass circles that framed LED lights in the shape of candles. It did have a bit of a medieval feel to it and it really brought the rest of my livingroom together.

"Yeah - I hope she does," I finally said.

"You going to see her again today?" Adrian asked while dropping down on the couch. He was playing some idle game on his phone.

"I think so..." I trailed off and pulled my phone out of my pocket. Still no new messages. "I was supposed to go see her today, but she hasn't answered any of my texts."

"Dude," Kale drawled. "What'd you do this time?"

"Nothing!" I said earnestly.

"Uh-huh," Kale said dubiously before taking a swig from his beer.