Charlie was finishing up in the office. She put back some files in Maxine’s cabinet, stacked a few pending materials on her desk for the next Monday. It was Friday, she was relieved she didn’t have to work on assignments afterwards.
Sometimes she would stay late at the office to do her homework because doing it at home would be too exhausting for her. But staying too late in the office would mean she had to walk to the tram station by herself. Goldstone was not exactly a safe city to do that.
Her stomach growled, she remembered eating a bowl of salad on the way to a meeting at lunch time. She rummaged through her drawer to find a snack bar she usually kept for emergencies. Then she remembered she hadn’t stock up because she hadn’t had the time to do grocery shopping.
She went to Maxine’s desk to look for a left over tea time snack, and saw some folders she’d never seen before instead. It had Tommy’s name on it. She wanted to peek into it, but her heart was pounding faster, it would be rude, she thought.
“Charlie … do you have any plans for tonight?” Maxine came out from the restroom.
Her heart almost stopped, “Hmm … not really … Tommy said he has to go to a closing party or something.”
Maxine walked over to her desk to get her briefcase. She took Tommy’s folder and slipped it inside it. “Oh, right, there’s a wrapping up party tonight, aren’t you going to join him?”
“Oh, no … I’m too tired for that, maybe some other time.” Even though it was the truth, Tommy never really invited her to those parties. She always had the impression that it was private.
“Well … you should go with him once in awhile, just to see the kind of crowd he’s surrounded by nowadays … blend in with his new friends … it’s good to have separate lives when you’re in a relationship, but … you need to make yourself seen too,” Maxine curved a smile with a sharp look in her eyes.
Charlie was so busy with her own routine, she realized she hadn’t really been present in Tommy’s life. She nodded, “You’re right … I’ll go next time.”
Maxine looped her arm around hers, “Good … tonight … I think you should come home with me and have dinner at my place, Deeta is coming to join us,” she invited her.
Dinner sounded delightful, her stomach couldn’t agree more. The thought of having to go back to her apartment and prepared canned food was appalling. She agreed instantly.
It didn’t feel like she was a guest at her boss’s house anymore, their relationship had grown closer than merely work. Maxine was even comfortable exposing her affection towards Deeta, something she was still very private about when in the company of other people.
Deeta greeted them in the foyer. She had arrived earlier and made herself comfortable in an exotic Moroccan night gown. A glass of Martini in one hand and a green olive in the other, she put the olive between her teeth and kissed her lover’s mouth with it. “Welcome home darling … you’re nephew’s been waiting for you … we took a little tour in your gallery earlier … I hope you don’t mind,” Deeta said with her eyes looking at Charlie.
It caught Charlie’s attention, she knew Deeta had an access to the gallery, but her nephew?”
“Of course not my love, he’s family … right, Charlie?”
Charlie swallowed hard. Family … she never thought about that. She never imagined Maxine had any family being a single woman at her age. Now there’s a strange man looking at the pictures of her and Tommy’s naked body having sexual intercourse. Shit.
They walked along the corridor to the dining room. Deeta and Maxine had their arms around each other, they were engaged in a conversation. Charlie stayed a few steps behind, she couldn’t hear what they were talking about. Her mind was in a jumble after realizing someone had seen her naked pictures. She couldn’t protest, she agreed to it, shared it with a handful of selected people in her closest circle, a nephew would fall in that category.
When they entered the dining room, there was a man standing gazing out the glass wall with his back against them. He wore a long sleeve shirt rolled up to his elbows. He had a glass of champagne in one hand, the other in his pocket. His hair is a dark auburn color. He was startled at the call of his name.
“Bradley … my dear!” Maxine’s voice sweetened in a high note.
Charlie stood frozen at the doorway, she recognized him even before he turned around. He kissed his aunt on the cheeks, and finally turned to face her, their eyes met.
“You must know my nephew, Bradley, right, Charlie? He’s a professor at Arch Institute … have you joined his class already?” Maxine asked innocently.
She was lost for words, this was the man who had been on a tour in the private gallery, looking at her pictures. This was her professor. “Professor Winthrop?” her voice cracked.
“Charlene? … You’re Charlie?” he was as aghast as she was. “I’ve heard so much about Charlie but I had no idea it was you,” he added, taking a sip of his champagne.
She recalled telling him she worked for Maxine Roberts, she found it hard to believe he didn’t make the connection. “I didn’t know you were related … I thought your last name was Winthrop?”
“Oh … Bradley had always used his mother’s maiden name rather than Roberts ever since he wanted to dive in in the industry … he didn’t want to get any privileges, you see, he even applied to be a professor at Arch through the mail under a pseudonym,” Maxine’s laughed hid a hint of pride, she patted him on the back.
Professor Winthrop approached her to shake her hand, “I’m sorry I didn’t mention to you about my aunt, I like to separate my work from my family as much as possible … nice to meet you, Charlie … please call me Brad, we’re not in school here.”
She forced an awkward smile, “Yes … call me Charlie.”
“Wonderful! Now that everyone’s acquainted, shall we start dinner? Lewis made us an amazing set of supper,” Maxine announced to everyone.
Brad pulled one of the chairs for Charlie, then he pulled one for himself next to her. She had completely forgotten how hungry she was, her hands were sweating. She was used to looking at Brad from the middle of the classroom and paid attention to his lectures from afar. Sitting next to him in a social setting made him nervous.
It was never brought up at the dinner table, the tour of the private gallery, her naked pictures, nor anything about school. Brad was strict about it, their teacher-student relationship shall remain at school.
He was enthusiastic in telling the story about his stay in Spain, what an exotic experience it was for him, how he started his project independently. He was an amazing explorer, a self-starter, there were so many things Charlie wanted to learn from him. She had always looked up to him as a teacher, but that night, she became an admirer.
Brad was only 26 years old with years of experience under his belt. Being related to Maxine Roberts had everything to do with it whether he liked it or not. But his passion wasn’t in the Box Office movies, he was more interested in capturing the rawness of real life in the night, into the alleyways, beneath the shadows, people of the streets, what they do when the rest of the world was sleeping.
They were engaged for hours listening to his stories, the places he went, the people he met. While Charlie devoured every type of dish served on the dining table like it would be her last decent meal in a long while. They had some wine after dinner in the veranda.
Maxine and Deeta dipped in the Jacuzzi. Charlie politely declined, although she wanted so much to soak in the bubbling hot water to ease her tensed muscles, but there was no way she was going to change into a bikini in front of her professor. She sat on the outdoor sofa instead, pretended the night wasn’t awkward anymore.
She could only pretend for so long when Maxine and Deeta started making out in the pool, she diverted her attention to Brad who was sitting quietly on the sofa. “I think I’m gonna call it a night,” she said.
Brad turned to look at her, “Yeah, me too … I’ll drive you home.”
She wasn’t expecting that, “Oh, you really don’t have to … I can go on my own, I’m used to it.
He stood up, he grimaced in confusion, “This late at night? Don’t worry ’bout it … it’s fine, I’ll drop you off on my way home.”
It was better than having to walk to the tram station, she forced a smile, “Thank you.”
**********
She couldn’t wait for the car ride to be over. She couldn’t tell if it was as discomforting for Brad as it was for her. He seemed calm and indifferent, he started a small talk to break the tension.
Her house was not exactly on his way home, because he lived in a small rented apartment near campus. He was being a gentleman by driving her home.
The car he drove was a ford, nothing fancy or extravagant. He wanted to live off his salary and what little money he made from his small independent projects. He didn’t want to take advantage of his family. He admitted that he basically lived from hostel to hostel around Spain. Sometimes he crashed at someone’s house who was nice enough to welcome a foreigner in their homes.
Charlie nodded along, she still couldn’t shake her nerves. They were almost at her apartment complex.
“I want you to know … your secret’s safe with me.”
It startled her, it came out of nowhere.
“I know why you’ve been very quiet … you don’t have to worry about it,” he continued.
She didn’t say anything, she cleared her throat and fidgeted in her seat.
“I’ve been in her gallery since I was 16, it’s nothing new to me … she didn’t tell me it was you … I recognized your necklace,” he explained.
Charlie held the necklace Tommy gave her for her birthday. She remembered it was captured in one of Maxine’s shots.
“I think those pictures were beautiful … a fine art,” he said.
She looked down, not sure how to feel about herself. They finally arrived in front of her building.
“We should never speak about it again, I don’t want you to feel bad about it … are we good?” he looked at her in the eyes.
She smiled and nodded.
“Cool … I guess I’ll see you in my next class then?”
“Yeah … of course, thanks for the ride.”
She was still holding on to her necklace when she stepped out of the car. She covered her face with both hands as soon as his car drove away. “Shit!” she mumbled. How was she going to tell Tommy about it?