CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Charlie walked into his New York apartment and Sam greeted him with a kiss.
"Hi Charlie."
Charlie smiled and set down his bag. "Hey Sam."
"Did you have a good day?"
"Eh, sorta." Charlie sat down on the couch. "I ran into Jody."
"Oh really?" Sam sat next to her boyfriend. "How'd that happen?"
"She was waiting at ABC for Eva because they were going to lunch."
"Oh, so how is she?"
"Ok, I guess. We only talked a few seconds."
"Oh. Well at least you're over all that."
"All what?" Charlie asked.
"Not talking. I mean, you haven't talked to her in over 2 years."
"Yeah. Maybe it would have been better if we hadn't talked though."
"Why?"
Charlie shrugged. "Nevermind." Charlie sighed and remembered what had really happened.
~*~
Charlie walked out to the lobby of ABC and saw Jody standing there. He walked slowly over to her.
"Uh, hey Jody."
Jody turned and gave Charlie a quick hug. "Hey Charlie."
"What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for Eva. We're going out to lunch."
"That's cool. So, how have you been? I mean, it's been two years."
Jody nodded. "Yeah, I know. Wow. Uh, I've been… not to good to tell you the truth."
"Oh, why?"
"I'll tell you in a minute. But first, how have you been?"
"Pretty good." Charlie debated telling her about Sam for a minute in his head. "You know Sam, my friend?"
"In Washington? Yeah, I remember her. Why?"
"We're going out now. She actually… moved into my apartment a few weeks ago."
"Oh, wow." Jody trued to sound happy for him. "That's so great. How long have you been together?"
"Well, that's not really important."
"Sure it is, come on!"
"Um… it's been a little over 2 years." Charlie said quietly.
Jody was speechless. She wanted to cry, slap him, and die right then and there all at once. "Oh… wow. Do… do you love her?"
"Jody-"
"Come on Charlie. I don't care either way. Do- do you love her?"
"… Yeah, I do. I've always loved her as a friend. Now, it's just more I guess, you know?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Jody nodded.
"What's that mean?"
"Well, um, it's kinda a long story. See, there's this guy and we've been really good, close friends for about a year now. He's had this girlfriend for about 4 years. And he's proposing to her tonight. He-"
"That sounds pretty familiar." Charlie noted.
"That's not funny, Charlie."
"Sorry. Please, continue."
"He told me about a week ago and as soon as he did, I realized how much I love him. You know, more than a friend."
Charlie didn't know what to say. "Oh, wow."
"That's not half of it."
"What else is there?"
"Well, Cooper's talking an extremely long time to write a new ballet and I don't know what's gonna happen there. And… I guess there's a few other small things."
"Wow, Jody, I'm so sorry."
Jody nodded sadly. "I just don't know what to do. I mean, my friends and my dancing- that's my whole life. And now it feels like my whole world is crashing down on me." She started to cry.
Charlie stepped closer and hugged her, not sure what else to do. Being back in Charlie's warm embrace only made Jody cry harder. She had missed him a lot.
Charlie stepped away. "Are you okay?" He asked softly.
Jody shrugged slightly and looked deep into his eyes. "I've missed you Charlie."
Before Charlie could respond, Eva came rushing over.
"Oh, hey Charlie. Sorry about the wait Jody, but- why are you crying? Oh well, tell me on the way to lunch, we're late for our reservations." Eva grabbed Jody's arm and led her away.
~*~
Sam rested her head on Charlie's shoulder. "I love you Charlie."
"I love you too." Charlie said mindlessly. By now, it was just an automatic response, unlike how it had been with Jody. Back then he had meant it 150% every single time, from the bottom of his heart.
"Are you ok?" Sam asked.
"I just… need some time to think, ok?"
"Ok honey, whatever you want." She kissed him softly.
Charlie got up and staggered off into his room.
Something wasn't right, and he knew it. He didn't love Sam as anything more than his best friend, and nothing would ever change that. For some reason, he didn't realize this until today. Today… when hew saw Jody again for the first time since she had walked out of the old apartment 2 years later. And she looked great. But-
She had moved on. She was in love with this new guy, who didn't even love her back. Charlie knew this guy was going to break Jody's heart again. He already hated him.
The bottom line was- Charlie loved Jody, and he'd never stop.
