Happy Merry Everything (Charlie Barber)

Now What?

Charlie was up early. He did his best not to disturb you when he rose, leaving you in bed to sleep in. It had been a late night for the two of you. You had been up for hours on end attempting to find a way to navigate the whole "married" situation. New York's theatre elite suddenly thought you were husband and wife. It went without saying how amusing it was considering you and Charlie only slept together for the first time a couple of nights days ago. You had wracked your brains trying to devise some sort of solution but, try as you might, kept coming up empty. When you woke, the conversation was still at the forefront of your mind.

"Can't we just contact them?" you had mused. It made sense to you. They made an error in publishing. Surely they'd be apologetic and want to be accurate in their reporting.

His words were heated."And say what exactly? 'Sorry to bother you, but the woman you listed as my wife is just my girlfriend?' It would be different if we were related and they had fucked up. Asking them to change it just makes me sound like I'm saying, "Please! No! Don't give her any ideas. I'm not ready to give her a ring yet!" Charlie Barber. The divorced commitment-phobic dick. Christ. We made Playbill. Do you want us to make Page Six too?"

He held his face in his hands and took a deep breath, calming himself down. He slowly reached over to touch your arm. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have--there was no need for that. It's not your fault any more than it is mine. We're in this together. I'm sorry I lost my cool for a second."

You knew deep down Charlie wasn't angry with you. He was frustrated and you were too. It was an annoying conundrum for the both of you to have to endure and although his career was of a higher profile, you, too, would have to deal with the ramifications.

You couldn't lie there any longer. You got up, made the bed, and quickly got dressed. You could hear voices coming from the living room. Charlie, Henry...and Nicole. Why was she here?

You quickly fixed your hair and put in your earrings. There was no way you could brush your teeth without them noticing you were up so as you quietly crept out of the bedroom you did the next best thing: mouthwash.

You looked presentable, pretty even, but still felt self-conscious. For whatever reason, you thought you had something to prove. You gently reminded yourself you weren't in competition with her, that she had willingly given him away. As you came out of the hallway, Nicole and Henry were stepping out the front door, Charlie behind them closing the door. You were a little sad you didn't get to say goodbye to Henry, but realized it might have been for the best.

You dashed back into the bathroom to brush up while you still could and by the time you were swishing water around in your mouth to rinse, you heard the front door open and close again.

You made your way out and stepped into the living room. Charlie's eyes lit up when he saw you. He was holding a rather large box. "Hi," you said softly.

"Morning," He said, sitting the box down. "Did we wake you?" You shook your head, crossing your arms. "No, today was supposed to be a work day so I woke up when I normally do. I just wasn't sure if it was better to come out or stay in bed."

He looked panicked. "Shit. I'm so sorry. I didn't even think about it." You held your hand up, shaking your head again.

"It's alright. I'm using my PTO. I wanted to be able to support you no matter what happened with the play so I took a few days off."