Tales of Bette: Charlie Who?

We drove up the snowy, winding road towards the cozy A-frame cabin. 'We' it still feels weird to say think of 'us' like that. "There is no way we are not lost," Bette said. She looked at her phone again: no signal. "Do you have a map," she asked curtly, she tried her hardest to remain calm, but she was failing. Charlie had been generous to surprise her with the cabin getaway between Christmas and New Years', but it wasn't what she expected.

Friday December 27, 2013 6:30PM

"No, this is it, I'm sure." Charlie protested.

"I hope you're right." Bette shifted back and forth in the seat, unbuckling the seatbelt before he even came to a stop. "I need the key."

"It's in my bag," Charlie answered.

Bette launched herself over the center console and started looting through his bag in the back seat. "Are you serious? Do you mind?" He said back. Bette's bulky coat shifted into him.

"Unless you want me to pee in here, yes, I'm serious." She found the cabin key fob in his side pouch next to his toiletries. In a swift turn, she launched herself out of the car and to the cabin door before he put the car in park. With every step into the cabin, Bette was a fury of chaos, she shed her coat, unbuckled her belt, tried to control her bladder, and find the bathroom. She found it, and sat down on the toilet finding relief - the deep sigh after holding it in after Charlie had them in the car for over an hour longer than was anticipated. Had he made the turn when I told him to, we would have been here earlier. By the time she was done, she realized it didn't matter whether or not she would have made it in time, she got her period on the drive and her panties were already ruined. Great. She heard him come in the cabin, he stomped his shoes and closed the front door. How do you want to do this?

Monday December 31, 2013 11:30 AM

Bette's work was surprisingly minimal that day; no appointments. The rental office would close at one, and even thought the announcement went out to the tenants over a month earlier about the schedule that day, she still found herself mostly taking calls about holiday hours: closed at one today, closed New Year's Day, open regular hours Tuesday. She wasn't in a rush to get home; she never did care much about New Year's Eve, not after all the bad ones she had.

Friday December 27, 2013 7:10PM

Bette changed out of the clothes she'd been wearing all day and into her cozy pajamas. Charlie was poking around the fireplace trying to get it going while Bette started heating up the tea kettle in the kitchen. By some dumb luck, there was a hot water bottle in one of the bathrooms. Some woman at some point had their period while staying there and understood how good it felt before the ibuprofen kicked in. Some relief will be nice.

Monday December 31, 2013 1:45 PM

Bette didn't get to the gym in time for any of the fitness classes, and there wouldn't be any in the evening, and after tomorrow, they'd all be packed for weeks. She resigned herself to the elliptical machine for an hour listening to the Broadway Cast Recording of 'American Idiot' on her Ipod. She took an extra-long time in the shower and doing her hair in the locker room. Much like the classes in January, the locker rooms would be just as crowded. She knew she already put in for the cancellation of her membership for the end of January anyways. She took advantage of the amenities while she could.

Friday December 27, 2013 8:40PM

Charlie put another log on the fireplace while Bette washed the last plate and pot from their dinner. She dried the last dish while the sink water drained. Something oddly satisfying about that sound. The feeling quickly disappeared when she heard the refrigerator open, a bottle crack open, and she could Charlie pour the beer into one of the pilsner glasses. She closed her eyes and took a controlled breath. He approached close behind her, put his hand on her hip, "Thanks for doing the dishes." He tapped her hip and walked away. Bette saw the bottle and the cap on the kitchen counter and seethed.

"Are serious Charlie?" She turned and looked at him sitting in the armchair.

"About what?" He turned in the chair without getting up.

Bette made a crooked face, picked up the bottle and the cap, walked the two steps to the garbage can, and dropped them in. "Does that look like it was so hard?"

"Nope. You made that look easy."

"And you can wash that glass too."

"I didn't ask you to wash it."

Bette crossed the room and stood in front of him. She held herself for a moment, "You don't ask me anything."

"That's not true."

Bette scoffed. "There. Right now. You could have asked me for an example, and you didn't."

"Fine. When did I not ask you something?"

"You didn't ask me if I wanted to come here this weekend--"

"You said you had nothing planned," Charlie piped in.

"I planned not to do anything, not that I had nothing planned, there's a difference. I knew I was getting my period this weekend, I wanted to be left alone."

"Why didn't you say so?"

"I told you last week that I was looking forward to a quiet weekend at home next weekend. I've told you how much I don't like the time between Christmas and New Years'."

"I wanted to make it better. I wanted to surprise you."

"I didn't ask you to do that."

"It wouldn't be much a surprise then, would it?"

"Unbelievable! I can't believe I used to think when you did this kind of thing was thoughtful and generous."

Charlie stood and spoke calmly, "That's because you don't do anything with your life and you never have."

Bette thought of sitting in the car on the way up to the cabin and how beautiful the rising moon looked in the trees and the first starts appearing in the night sky.

Monday December 31, 2013 4:30 PM

The parking lot of the liquor store was busy, and that didn't surprise Bette one bit. She walked into the busy store and perused the aisles feeling like a kid in a candy store. She stopped and picked up bottles for items she never would normally buy and read the labels. She never bought cordials and didn't want to today. Some of the liquor bottles caught her attention and took pictures of ones that made her curious. Future cocktail ideas. She eventually made her way to the wine section. She picked out a couple bottles of red wine by the pretty labels that got her attention first then read the descriptors on the back. As she stood in the long line to check out, there was a tall display of champagne. Damn it, it worked. She took one of the bottles.

Friday December 27, 2013 8:48PM

"I've never done anything with my life? You actually fucking believe that, don't you?" Bette said back. She said surprisingly calmly.

"How could you not? You were working in that hotel restaurant and another job when we met. You think you'd be leasing apartments if it weren't for me?"

"It's called networking. And I was doing perfectly fine financially."

"Sure. But what ambition?"

"Oh my God! I'm not having this fight with you again about my career. Nothing I ever do is good enough for you. That is not what this is about."

"No, you said this is about me not asking you anything, because you never decide on anything."

"I make decisions on things that are important to me."

"When I ask what you want to eat for dinner, you say you don't care. When I ask what movie do you want to see, you say it doesn't matter."

"Those things aren't usually important. Then when I do have something that is to me, you don't listen and I always have to sell you on it and put up a fight to defend my choice. Because those things, unlike a proposal, aren't important!"

"Yet you said yes."

"Because you gave me no other choice."

She thought of the beautiful night sky again. She glimpsed over Charlie's shoulder and tried to see out the window, she couldn't see the stars through the window's glare.

Monday December 31, 2013 4:48 PM

Bette sat in her car outside the apartment and played a game on her phone. She waited.

Friday December 27, 2013 8:51PM

"You asked me to marry you on Christmas Eve in front of your family. What else was I supposed to say?"

Charlie's face twisted. "You didn't want to say yes? When were you going to tell me?"

"When was I supposed to? When did I have a chance to? We were with your family Christmas Eve, and Christmas morning. My parents Christmas afternoon and evening. I worked yesterday and today. When? When in that time was I supposed to have this conversation with you?"

"Which did you want: do nothing on your period, celebrate our engagement here, or pick a fight? I see one good option in there and you're not picking it. So I picked it."

Bette stood quietly for a moment and took a deep breath. "While you were driving, I was looking out the car window and I had a very clear thought looking up at the sky: Why, oh, why am I with Charlie? I watched the sky grow darker and the moon rise and it was so beautiful. And I realized even if I mentioned it to you, you wouldn't give a shit about it. You wouldn't appreciate it. Then I thought of the things I used to appreciate about you: how gun-ho you are, your almost arrogant level of confidence, how succinct you are, I no longer do. And the things that I want appreciated about me: my opinions, a willingness to try things, and my boundaries, you don't. The things you like or love about me: my amenability, bland work attire, or how I act around your family and friends, I don't necessarily love about myself. And just because you love my flaws, doesn't mean it's a good thing. Just because you want me to have bigger ambitions and aspirations, doesn't mean I'm not still growing. So what do I want to do this weekend?" Bette took off the ring Charlie had given her on Christmas Eve and set it on the table. "Just like I said. I want to go home and do nothing, because I don't like week between Christmas and New Years'. I'm having my period. I want you to get your stuff out of the apartment by the end of the month. That's important to me. Is that decisive enough?"

Monday December 31, 2013 5:02PM

Bette unlocked the apartment door. She dropped her keys to the floor, she wasn't used to the table being gone, but that was okay, she'd find a new one soon enough. She put her purse and the bag from the liquor store on the kitchen counter and looked around the apartment. The random missing items: couch, TV, recliner, George Forman grill, blender, and more made it look like she had been robbed by a specific-intentioned thief. But then again, Charlie had stolen away her time and energy longer than she had realized. She put the champagne in the fridge for another day, she had no intention of staying up until midnight. She opened the red wine and poured a glass into one of the glasses she got from her Grandma Wheelan a couple years earlier. She stood at the living room window with the lights off and looked up at the colorful, dimming sky. Bette tapped the wine glass against the window and silently toasted with the last twilight of the year.