Charlie winced as she adjusted her arm ever so slightly, it was the first time she had ever messed up a stunt. She wasn't quite sure what the hell had happened, there had been a sharp pain in her ankle, that had caused her to slow down before she jumped onto a moving truck. She had landed on her arm causing a fracture in her wrist, and several scrapes and deep bruises.
Production had been halted immediately and she had gone straight to the hospital, and she now had this black cast on her wrist. She still wasn't quite sure what had happened, her ankle seemed fine on the x-ray, and there was no swelling or anything. Maybe her body was telling her that enough was enough, and that she'd been pushing it too hard lately.
But despite the fact that she was currently a gimp, she was in a good mood. It was her monthly meeting with Santana and afterwards she was going to take a small vacation and spend some time with her—
"Charlie," Santana called out from where she was hobbling on crutches.
Charlie turned from where she was seated, her train of thought broken as the smile on her face fades when she notices that Santana's on crutches and immediately gets up to help her. "What the hell happened to you?" Charlie asked as she cleared the distance between them to help Santana.
"I was watching my friends morbidly obese cat, and there was an incident with the treadmill—long story short—I sprained my ankle badly two days ago. It currently looks like I wrapped a tennis ball around it. What the hell happened to you?" Santana asked, frowning at Charlie's cast. She hadn't felt anything at all from Charlie the past two weeks.
"Stunt gone wrong," Charlie shrugs. "It happens sometimes. How weird is it that we both got injured on the same day? If you had let me know that you were injured, we could have rescheduled," Charlie says as she pulls out a chair for Santana. "Or you know Dwight could have shown up."
"I think Dwight thinks that you dislike him," Santana places her purse down and takes the offered seat. "Thank you."
"Welcome," Charlie says as she takes a seat in front of Santana. "I don't dislike him; I just didn't want to listen to him drone on. He had a folder the size of all my scripts combined. You're to the point and I like that," Charlie admits.
"I read all your interviews, and you've admitted having a small attention span," Santana said, flicking her eyes to Charlie's wrist. Why hadn't she felt anything. She should have certainly felt Charlie breaking her wrist. Something had changed, and she wasn't quite sure what it was. Charlie looked happy and there was a spark in her eyes that had been missing the first time that they had met.
"I have a regular sized attention span, I do get bored easily though," Charlie says with a small laugh. "If the conversation is engaging, then it's fine. But who wants to listen to detailed finance reports? Just get to the point."
"I probably should have mentioned that to him," Santana mused as Charlie lifted her good arm, her left arm, to grab the glass of water when she noticed a ring on Charlie's finger that shouldn't be there and doesn't fit Charlie's style or personality. Charlie takes a sip and the water and picks up the menu.
"Cibo e Beve is one of my favorite places in Atlanta, I mean I think some of them are better, but I really love the short ribs here. And Marley's been on my ass about not sitting at home and cheating on my keto diet. So, I got off my ass and came here to cheat on my keto diet," Charlie laughed as she looked up at Santana, she was sure that would have elicited something from Santana but she's just staring at her hand. Charlie glances down and spots the ring. "Oh. Yeah, Marley asked me to marry her last month," Charlie said, glancing at the ring.
"It's—nice." Santana says, forcing a smile onto her face as she finally tore her eyes off the stupid ring.
Charlie glanced down at the ring and grimaced ever so slightly. It was an ugly purplish color, and Marley had insisted it was supposed to be like that, as it was some sort of family heirloom. She'd met Marley's family, and while they were nice people, the two of them were from different worlds at least socioeconomically. "I'm pretty sure it's got lead in it," Charlie observed before pausing and looking up at Santana. "I suppose I'll get us some proper non-lead-based rings for the wedding."
"You must really love her," Santana manages to get out, as she slips her hand onto her lap, so she can grip at her knees tightly. She was sure she was going to draw blood.
"She makes me happy," Charlie admits. "Like—I can see colors when I'm with her, when my life up until this point has been pretty grey. She cares about me and she loves me, and I honestly never thought I'd feel that again. So yeah, it might not make sense to other people, but she wants to spend the rest of her life with me, and she didn't quit on me when my world was grey," Charlie flashed Santana a smile and a small laugh as she looked at the ring.
The words are a bullet to her chest, and Santana stares at Charlie. There's a tenderness and longing in Charlie's voice that shreds her heart, and she reaches out to touch Charlie's hand. There is no lightning, or sparks from Charlie this time; her arm doesn't tingle, and every molecule in her body isn't vibrating. "I'm happy for you. You deserve it," Santana pulls her hand away before Charlie can pull her own hand away.
Charlie's eyes lingered on her fingers for a moment before she looked up at Santana. "So, do you," Charlie says as she watches Santana pick up her purse and place it on her lap. Pulled out a folder, opened it slightly to check the contents before stuffing it back inside the purse and grabbing the other folder and placing it on the table. She closes her purse and places it on the ground beside her. "You okay?"
Santana nods her head quickly. "I am. I will be, I just feel a bit jealous."
"You will find someone Santana. It'll just take time," Charlie promises.
Santana blinks back tears that are ready to fall as Charlie picks up her menu and looks at it. It hurt. This hurt. She was too fucking late. She quickly picks up her menu and stares at it, even as her vision blurs.
"So, are we making record profits yet? And I may need your help cutting my short ribs for me. Apparently, it's not civilized to eat with your hands or something. I have one good arm!"