Chapter Two: Charlie Goes Out for Breakfast
When Charlie awoke that morning, he recalled falling asleep next to a gorgeous angel with remarkable eyes. He blinked rapidly, adjusting to the bright morning light that filled his apartment. Through his blurry gaze, he could make out the shape of someone lying next to him.
His lips curled into a small smile. "Good morning, beautiful." He whispered.
Then, his vision cleared, and Frank rolled over to look at him incredulously. "What did you just call me?"
Charlie's eyes widened. "Frank? What are you doing here?"
"I live here, you asshole." He reminded Charlie and sat up in bed.
Charlie followed his lead, and that's when the repercussions of all the beer he drank last night hit him. The light streaming through the windows blinded him, and even the sound of the mattress creaking as they shifted in bed was too loud. It felt like his skull was being chipped away at with a hammer.
An angel getting into bed with him. Either it had been a wild dream, or he really needed to stop drinking.
Suddenly, the moment the waitress entered the bar and declared that she had slept with Frank replayed in his mind. Holding back his tears, Charlie gave the man in bed next to him a stare as cold as ice. "I thought you would be out with the waitress."
Frank gawked at him. "Charlie, again, I'm really sorry. I didn't know you had a crush on that girl."
"It doesn't matter, Frank." He climbed out of bed. "The deed is done, and no amount of apologies could reverse it."
Frank watched in confusement while Charlie pulled off his clothes from last night and threw on a decently clean pair of pants and a shirt. "What are you doing?" He questioned him.
"I need fresh air. I'm going for a walk." Charlie replied, zipping up his fly.
"Well, would you look at that! Charlie Kelly voluntarily going out on a walk!" The old man guffawed.
Charlie didn't respond. He merely stuffed his wallet, his phone, and his keys in the pockets of his jeans and headed towards the door.
"Come on, Charlie. Let's work this out." Frank pleaded again, but Charlie slammed the door behind him before he could say anything else.
Charlie wandered the streets of downtown Philadelphia. He kept his head down and his hands in his pockets. He made eye contact with nobody and walked at a brisk pace, lost inside his own mind.
How could his plan have backfired? Who should he be mad at? Dee for not convincing the waitress to sleep with Charlie well enough? Dennis for seducing her in the first place? Frank for sleeping with her? Or the waitress herself for choosing to sleep with an ugly, old man over Charlie?
Or maybe himself. There was just something about Charlie that the waitress did not like, and no matter how hard he tried, she rejected him anyway. Maybe he should be mad at himself for not being able to woo the waitress in the first place.
Charlie got so wrapped up in his thoughts that he stepped into the street just as a car drove by. The driver slammed on the horn, jolting Charlie out of his trance just in time for him to assess the situation, jump back onto the sidewalk, and avoid getting killed.
"Watch where you're going, shithead!" The driver screeched out of their open window as they passed by.
"You almost killed me, you bastard!" Charlie yelled after the car, though the driver was long gone by then. He watched as the car drove away, and just as he was about to retreat into his vegetative state again, he saw something across the street that caused his jaw to drop to the ground.
It was the angel. In the flesh. The memory of her helping him home last night flooded his brain, and he realized that she had not been a dream or a hallucination. She had curly, brown hair, glowing skin, and wonderful, seafoam eyes, just as he remembered. She was inside a small, local diner, talking to customers and passing out plates of food. The angel was a waitress. How ironic.
Immediately, Charlie knew that he had to talk to her. He jaywalked across the street and stood in front of the diner, watching her through the large windows in the front. The way she smiled at every person she talked to and the way she rushed around with total elegance and complete grace caused him to fall for her more and more.
The bell on the door chimed when Charlie entered the establishment, signaling to the staff that another customer had just arrived. It looked like your stereotypical diner. It had red booths and checkered floors. There was a lunch counter and a window in the wall that revealed the cooks in the kitchen preparing meals. A decent amount of customers occupied the diner as well, although it was still relatively quiet besides the old fashioned music drifting out of the jukebox in the back corner.
Charlie slid into a booth and looked at the door that lead to the kitchen, waiting for the angel to emerge from it at any minute. After a while, he got distracted, and stared out the window at the passing cars.
Then, he could hear someone frantically burst out of a door and run up to him. "Hello, welcome to the Galaxy Diner. How may I-"
Charlie turned his head to see the angel standing over him, and as he did so, she stopped talking. Her eyes widened with shock and her mouth hung open.
"Hi," she began slowly. Her voice was as sweet as honey, and he remembered it from last night. "You probably don't recognize me, but-"
"I do recognize you." Charlie cut in. Chuckling slightly, he confessed, "That's kind of why I'm here."
"Oh." She said, partly laughing as well. It was music to his ears. "I'm Seraphina by the way." She offered her hand to him. "But you can call me Sera."
"Hi, Sera." He shook her hand and smiled. "I'm Charlie."
"Charlie." The angel - Sera - repeated. "So, how's your hangover?"
He grinned. "It was awful this morning, but I'm starting to feel better."
"Good, good." She murmured. She stared at Charlie for a moment before drawing herself out of her daze. "I'm sorry. You're probably starving." She placed a menu in front of him. "I'll come back and take your order."
And with that, she scurried away. Charlie watched as she went, admiring how cute she looked in her teal uniform. Once she disappeared behind the door, he looked back at the menu. The letters switched around and blended together until the words were unreadable. He lifted the menu closer to his face and squinted his eyes, but it was no use. Finally, he gave up and dropped the menu to the table.
Minutes later, Sera returned. "Alright, Charlie, what can I get for you?"
Charlie's gaze bounced back and forth between Sera and the illegible menu. "I'll just have a coffee." He faked a smile.
She looked somewhat taken aback. "Oh. Okay." She said. She grabbed a pot of coffee and a mug from the lunch counter and came back to the table.
While Sera poured the steaming, fragrant coffee into the mug, Charlie said, "Thanks for taking me home last night. I probably didn't leave the best of first impressions on you."
"Don't worry about it!" She dismissed him. "Trust me. I've had to deal with plenty of drunks, and you were definitely one of the easiest to handle." She winked.
Charlie smiled at her before his face became serious. "I mean it." Sera stopped what she was doing to look at Charlie. "You didn't have to help me last night, but you did. Who knows where I would be right now if it wasn't for you."
Sera looked down at the table to see her hand touching Charlie's. Instinctively, she retracted her hand. "I'm going to go get your bill." She stated and scampered away.
Charlie dumped a packet of sugar and a container of cream into his coffee before stirring it. Did he do something wrong? Had he scared her away? Maybe he was coming on too strong. The last thing he wanted to do was make her hate him like the waitress.
The waitress. Of course. How could he forget what happened last night? But, for some reason, being here in the diner with the angel made him not care about that anymore.
He blew on his coffee to cool it down before taking a sip, but it still burnt his tongue. Sera returned to the table with his bill, and Charlie quickly swallowed his drink of coffee. "Here's your bill." Sera said, setting it down on the table.
He opened it and tried to look at the cost, but the numbers danced across the page until he thought it said nine hundred and twenty-two dollars. "How much is this?" Charlie asked sheepishly.
Glancing over his shoulder at the bill, Sera answered, "Two dollars and ninety-two cents."
"Oh." Charlie replied, digging in the pockets of green jacket. He pulled out a wad of crumpled bills and some change, counted two dollars and ninety-two cents, and handed it to Sera.
"Have a good day, Charlie." She chirped before walking away. Charlie went back to drinking his coffee, feeling rather disappointed. Then, on her way to the kitchen, Sera abruptly stopped in her tracks. Spinning on her heel, she called his attention, "Charlie?"
He set his mug down on the table and looked at her expectantly. Smiling, she told him, "Come back tomorrow."
Charlie nodded, attempting to hide his excitement. "Okay."
Sera dazzled him with another smile before turning away and going into the kitchen. Only then, when Charlie was sure she would not return, did he allow a wide, stupid grin to appear on his face.