Charlie

 

Why did I do that?

       Why couldn’t I stop?

 

Her mouth parted, accepting my tongue as it swept across her lips, hungrily deepening the kiss. Her hand cupped my cheek, the skin on her fingertips like velvet against the coarseness of my beard as she held me close.

Unable to control my own movements, my hands ran down her arms to her waist, tugging her closer which she happily accepted by straddling my lap. Instantly my dick was hard and ready to go pressing against her center. She radiated heat from between her legs and I moved her hips grinding her against me while our tongue danced to their own rhythm.

I wanted more. I wanted so much more.

My tongue slide down her jawline to her neck and she moaned, running her fingers up through my hair to hold my head closer, locking them in. Her hips grinding against my length as it ached for friction and release all at once and I’m sure she did too.

Then just as suddenly as it’d begun, it ended. We both pulled away, looks of guilt sweeping our faces.

Jessica licked her lips, looking at mine then meeting my eyes. Her cheeks pink and flustered.

“I’m so sorry.” She said suddenly. “I should go -”

Clearing my throat, I nodded my agreement, unable to get out any words. Not that she waited for any as she hurriedly stood and left through the glass paned doors into the apartment building.

What was that?

I cringed at the thought of having ruined whatever relationship I had been building with Jess. Let alone kissing another woman while my girlfriend showered upstairs.  

I couldn’t help it! I’d never seen that woman as vulnerable as she’d just allowed herself to be. Acting was one thing, seeing that side of her in real life had brought out a primal instinct in me. She was small, fragile. To be holding that much sadness inside of her made me want to bare some of that weight.

 

I stayed out a while longer, finishing a cigarette before heading back upstairs. I had quit smoking a little after Sons of Anarchy, but this may have just started it up again.

When I walked into the apartment, Morgana was on the bed, one of my t-shirts thrown over her, reading a book. She took a bite of a strawberry that had reddened her lips and lifted her eyes to look up at me adoringly.

“Coming to bed?” She asked, closing her book to place it on the nightstand.

Slipping under the covers, she held the sheets open for me and I threw off everything but my boxers to slide in next to her. I couldn’t tell her what I’d just done downstairs. I could feel the guilt well up inside my chest but the action itself hadn’t felt wrong. In fact, it felt to right.

She sniffed the air as I laid back and leaned up on her elbow to look at me. “When did you start smoking again?”

“I uh.. It’s just the stress from filming. I won’t make it a habit. I promise.” I replied, leaning in to press my lips against hers. “I gotta get some sleep babe. Early morning.”

She kissed me back and nodded understandingly before  I turned off the light and turned my back towards her to get some sleep.

 

Jessica

 

With barely any sleep last night, I arrived on set at 3:30 in the morning for hair and makeup, praying to God that the guys wouldn’t have to be in yet. Rob – I didn’t mind – but Charlie…. I wasn’t ready to face him.

What in the hell had I done last night? Charlie was my friend. He was my co-worker. He was practically married for Christ’s sake. How could I have kissed him? What happened to my “no hooking up with co-workers” rule? Ugh – what about Chris?

The worst part is that I liked it.

I wanted more. I wanted to take him upstairs with me, lock the doors, and never come out again. What the fuck was wrong with me?

“Jessica – Earth to Jess”

I snapped to at a hand waving in front of my face. Lisa looked down at me concerned before going back to fluffing my hair.

“You okay? You’re like a zombie today.”

“I-I’m fine. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. What were you saying?”  I replied, looking back into the mirror to see the work she’d already done.

The process of putting on the prosthetics wasn’t a pleasant one but the visuals were amazing. Black and purple around the fake cuts. My eyes just as bruised. At least I got to be dry this time.

“I said you’re all set for wardrobe.” Lisa repeated.

“Oh, right. Thanks Lis.”  I stood, just as the doors opened and Charlie walked in followed by Rob.

“Morning.” Rob said, unaware of the eye contact between Charlie and I.

“Morning.” I returned hurriedly, giving them both a wave before walking out of the trailer.

I couldn’t look Charlie in the eye but I’d have to learn to. In less than an hour we’d have a scene together and I’d have to work with him for the rest of the day. How could I do that knowing I almost sabotaged his relationship with that sweet sweet girl?

 

Dressed in the same outfit as the first day of filming, wardrobe had added a few extra cuts in the fabric of my shirt before I was back on set. Rob wasn’t going to be in this first scene so it would literally be the two of us. I had stalled getting to the location but sooner or later I couldn’t avoid it.

Charlie was seated in the corner of the set, reading his script. HIs eyes lifted to meet mine and I quickly averted my gaze and walked over to a PA to grab a copy of the script. Sitting in one of the chairs, I flipped through the pages to get to today’s scenes and skimmed through my lines.

“Hey.” Charlie’s voice made me lift my eyes to see that he’d walked up to me.

I cleared my throat, offering a small smile. “Hey.”

“Listen, I think we have to talk about last night…” He began, taking the seat next to me. “What happened was -”

“Alright everyone!” Hugh’s voice filled the studio. “On your markers.”

“Can we talk after?” He asked, placing his hand on my lower back as I stood.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I think we should.”

I walked to my marker on the bed edge of the bed and Charlie walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

It was probably better that we talk. We’d gotten close over the last couple weeks and maybe it was too close. I’d never gotten these types of feelings for another co-worker but Charlie was different. Just the simple feel of his hand on my back sent shivers throughout my entire body. Nobody should have that effect on me. Much less a man in an eight year relationship of his own.

“Action!” Hugh called out and I snapped into character.

 

I opened my eyes slowly. My body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds and my head was pounding. I sat up on the edge of a bed and everything had slowly started to come back to me.

Collin had found me. I knew he’d catch up to be eventually but I never expected it to be in the middle of bumfuck South Dakota. I still don’t know how I managed to hold myself from flying through the windshield but I did. I don’t know how I managed to get far enough to hide but I did that too.

What I couldn’t remember was how I ended up here.

I heard a flush behind a closed door and I did my best to stand but my knees seemed to have a hard time holding me. With my heart beating a million miles a minute, I grabbed a beer bottle from the nightstand to use as a weapon when the door opened.

“Hey. You’re up.” the blonde stranger said, his voice deep and smooth.

“Who the fuck are you?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. “Where am I?”

“Woah, woah” He ran his hand over his hair before holding them up in surrender. “My name’s August. My brother and I found you in the side of the road. Looked like you were in some sort of hit and run. You were bleeding pretty bad so we did our best to patch you up as best as we could.”

I looked at him skeptically, my hand still clutching the neck of the bottle, but I lowered my arm. “Why not just call an ambulance?”

Not that I would’ve wanted him too but any normal person would’ve.

“You told us not to.” He answered. “Something about someone finding you. Who are you running from?”

“Wait – “ I stopped, suddenly relaxing as I took him in. “Why do I feel like I’ve seen you before?”

His cheeks surprisingly turned red with blush and he lowered his eyes to the ground with a smirk. “We – uh – met a little over a year ago in Louisiana.”

Louisiana? A year ago…?

My eyes widened and I dropped the bottle to lean back against the dresser holding myself from falling.

“You’re the man from the bar.” I barely got out in a whisper.

He cleared his throat. “Yeah.”

“Jesus Christ.” I sat back down on the bed.

Never in my life had I expected to see him again. Much less in this scenario.

I felt the bed move next to me and turned my head to see he’d taken a seat, his hand running down my back.

“I need to know who’s following you. Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“And cut!” Hugh called out. “Beautiful. Stay put while I review footage.”

We both nodded and stayed seated on the bed. Charlie looked me up and down before his eyes landed on my cleavage in the low cut top.

I wanted to close the distance and kiss him. I wanted to feel his lips again. Not as Blake Creston but as Jessica. No acting involved. I couldn’t deny the sexual attraction between us. Sex with him must’ve felt amazing. Morgana sure as hell voiced her enjoyment.

Lucky bitch.

“Last night…” He began, his fingers stroking the exposed skin on my lower back.

“Charlie, last night was a mistake.” I whispered, making sure nobody was around. “You have Morgana. I have Chris. I’m so sorry for doing that to you.”

“What?” he said, slightly taken aback. “no, you didn’t do anything wrong, that was my fault…”

“Alright, let’s pick up where we left off!” Hugh called out.

I sighed at the second interruption before taking a deep breath to get back into character.

He yelled action and I started.

 

I wasn’t sure how much to tell him. On one hand I knew they were in trouble of their own since I helped them get away from the cops last time we met, but on the other, there was a bounty on my head and no one was going to turn that down.

“Do this have anything to do with your kidnapping?” He asked.

Kidnapping? Who the hell was kidnapped? Is that what Collin told the press? How would this man know who I was anyway?

With my brows raised, I looked him over. “How do you … how do you know about that?

He stood, grabbing a newspaper off of the dresser and handed it to me. There it was, my face on the front page with some pity story from Collin.

“Ugh.” I rolled my eyes. “Great.”

“So? Is he the one that did this to you?” August pressed.

“Amongst many many other things.” I replied vaguely.

 

Charlie

 

We wrapped filming around 10pm. Rob had joined us on set and we couldn’t continue our conversation but it needed to be had. What we had was a moment and I couldn’t say I regretted it but she seemed to. I knew we’d crossed a line but we still had almost a year of filming left and the last thing I wanted was for her to be uncomfortable around me.

I looked for her after filming ended and was told that she’d headed back to the apartments. Rob and I caught a ride together and said goodbye once we got to our floor. Rob headed towards the opposite end of the hallway and I waited for his door to close before taking the chance and knocking on Jessica’s door.

I could feel my heart beating through my ears as I heard footsteps from the other side. I knew she was checking her peephole and debating on whether to invite me in or not before the door opened and she stood before me. She’d cleaned off her makeup from the day. Her hair was damp from her shower and her skin had a freshly lotioned glow. She was dressed in her pajamas consisting of a silky pink tank top and matching shorts as she stepped further into the doorway, leaning against the doorframe.

“Hey. You disappeared after we wrapped up.” I said, clearing my throat to get focus back.

She sighed, peaking out into the hallway to make sure nobody was watching before she pulled me inside and shutting the door behind us. Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked down at the floor as if she was thinking of what to say before looking back up to meet my eyes.

“Charlie,” She began, keeping her distance from me. “Last night I lost control… I took advantage of you when you were just trying to comfort me and it wasn’t right…”

“Jess,” I stepped closer. “That’s not what happened. If anything, I’m the asshole who took advantage of you when you needed a shoulder.”

“No! You weren’t an asshole at all! I – I wanted that…” Wrapping her arms around herself she paused for a moment letting her words wash over me. “Truthfully, I still do. I want you and I know I shouldn’t. You wake up these emotions inside of me that I didn’t even know I was capable of feeling. Let alone how incredible our chemistry is and we both feel that. But I know it’s wrong. I shouldn’t feel that.”

I closed the distance between us, placing my hands on my arms to hold her from running away. “Jess I do feel that same thing. That’s why I’ve been trying to talk to you. I’ve never felt anything remotely close to how I feel when I’m with you and I need to figure out what it means.”

She looked down at my hands on her arms and shrugged. “It means we’re bad people, Charlie. I shouldn’t feel that way about you. You have a beautiful girlfriend and a loving relationship. I have Chris… We can never happen and I think we let our character’s feelings bleed into our own lives in an incredibly stupid – heat of the moment – mistake.”

“I don’t even think you believe that.” I said bluntly, letting her go.
I wasn’t sure where I wanted this conversation to lead but what she was saying wasn’t true. I could feel it.

“It doesn’t matter what I believe.” She pulled away from me. “It can never happen again. We’re actors. We work together. But it’s clear we can’t be more than that. I think we should just keep it professional.”

“Is that what you want?”

“It’s whats for the best.” She said firmly, holding the door open for me.