Stripped Bare – Chapter 4

Summary: Charlie and Bryce make their way to Jamaica (yes I really did write an entire chapter just about their travel day)

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Charlie lies on her bed the night before the big trip, staring at the post of her and Bryce for probably the millionth time. Word of her new “relationship” had spread like wildfire, but thankfully she had gotten a chance to explain things to the girls before any of them saw the post. By explain, she means she told them Bryce is pretending to be her date as a favor so Charlie can avoid being humiliated in front of her cousin. She had kind of omitted the part where she is paying him $10,000 in addition to his travel expenses. They’d all given her a hard time about him actually being into her, and as much as a part of her would like to believe that, there’s no way the two of them could ever really work in the real world.

There are certain expectations for the type of guy Charlie will end up with, and although she likes to believe she’d never count out a man who had a less traditional career, for lack of a better term, she can’t envision having to explain that her significant other takes his clothes off for a living. Even if she could get past that, or if he moved on to a more socially acceptable career, he’d still be out of her league in almost every other way. She’s got a pretty face, but she would never kid herself and say they are on the same level as far as looks are concerned. He’s got more confidence and charm in his pinkie finger than she has in her entire body. So although it’s nice to to look at the picture perfect couple on the screen, she’s not going to fool herself into believing it could ever be something real.They’ll play boyfriend/girlfriend for this trip, and then he can just fade away.

Charlie feels a tap on her shoulder and looks up from her bloody mary. “Bryce, hi!” Relief washes over Charlie at the fact that he hasn’t stood her up. She knows she was early, like she usually is, but being nervous about flying, on top of everything else has left her seriously on edge. “I hope you don’t think I’m an alcoholic or anything. I don’t usually drink at eight in the morning.”

Bryce takes a seat on the barstool next to her. “I’m pretty sure the normal rules of time and space don’t exist in airports. Plus we are on vacation time now. No judgement here.” He flags down the bartender. “I’ll have what she’s having.”

“Thanks. I’m not the biggest fan of flying, so I need something to take the edge off.”

The bartender hands Bryce his drink, and the two of them make small talk over the next half hour until it’s time to board the flight. Charlie walks in ahead of Bryce, but stops as they reach the seats. “Would you mind taking the window seat?”

“I’d love to.” Bryce puts his carry-on in the overhead bin and scoots in first. “I haven’t flown in a plane in awhile, but looking at the view is one of the best parts. I can’t say that I’ve ever flown in first class though. You are going all out for this trip, huh?”

“I can imagine how I look to you – paying you all this money to come with me, first class seats-”

“Don’t forget your designer luggage.” Bryce Chuckles

Charlie laughs under her breath. “I come off as a pretentious snob, don’t I?”

Bryce cocks his head to the side, looking her over appraisingly. “I wouldn’t go as far as snobby, but maybe a tad pretentious,” he replies with a smirk and Charlie swats him playfully on the shoulder.

“The luggage was actually a gift from my parents, and the seats were purchased with my boyfriend’s, opps, I mean ex-boyfriend’s frequent flyer miles.” Charlie cringes at her slip-up.

“Ah, that’s right. I almost forgot I’m the emergency stand-in. Well from what you’ve said he sounds kind of like an asshole, so at least you got a parting gift.”

Just then, the flight attending comes on, saving her from having to continue that conversation. The plane starts to roll down the runway. Charlie’s breaths became shallow, and she grips the armrests tightly. “Take-offs and landings are the worst part.”

Bryce works his hand between hers and the armrest and gives her hand a gentle squeeze. “It’s okay, Charlie. Deep breaths, in for four and out for four. You don’t want to hyperventilate.“

Charlie takes a deep breath in, exhales with equal measure, and smiles weekly. She’s no stranger to airline travel, and it never gets any easier, except this time Bryce’s presence seems to have a paradoxical effect. She feels safe next to him, yet she still can’t help her heart from racing. Maybe it’s because now that she’s not thinking about the plane crashing down, she’s fixated on the feel of his hand on hers, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on her skin. She needs to get a grip because she’s not going to survive this trip if she turns into a bumbling mess any time they touch. So when the plane reaches altitude and he still hasn’t let go, she doesn’t pull away either – just to get used to him she tells herself.

“Alright, now that we’ve gotten through takeoff, maybe we should start learning more about each other.” Bryce suggests.

Charlie pulls her hand away, suddenly brought back to the reality of the situation. She and Bryce hadn’t had much time to talk or get together again before the trip, but Charlie figured their six and a half hour flight would be significant enough to build a relationship history. “Well the most common questions you will likely be asked will pertain to what you do for a living, and how we met. I’d prefer we don’t mention the strip club at all.”

Bryce rubs his chin thoughtfully. “How about we say we met in medical school – kill two birds with one stone.”

“How is that going to work?” Charlie eyes Bryce skeptically. “It’s not like you can just bulshitt your way into pretending to be a doctor like some other careers.”

“I know some things. How much am I really going to need to say anyway? The wedding isn’t going to be full of doctors, is it?”

“Only the douchebag groom,” Charlie scoffs. “You’ll want to steer clear of him anyhow. I guess you have a point. What’s your specialty going to be?”

“Surgery, of course. I’m great with my hands, if you know what I mean.”

Charlie rolls her eyes at the innuendo to avoid getting flustered by him yet again. “And where do you work?”

“I’m just about to start my intern year at Edenbrook,” he answers almost too quickly, but she doesn’t think much of it.

“You think everyone is going to believe we both ended up with a job at the same hospital?”

“Again, most of them aren’t doctors, so they probably won’t think anything of it. Besides, we both went to school in Boston. It’s not such a stretch to believe we’d both get matched to the same hospital.”

Charlie’s caught off guard a bit by his language, surprised that he knows about the matching process. But again she thinks she making something out of nothing, and he’s probably just watched a few too many hospital dramas. “You’re probably right. So now that we’ve covered that, we should get to know each other better. What are you into…aside from taking off your clothes?”

A wicked grid spreads across Bryce’s face, and Charlie already knows she’s  made a mistake with her choice of words. “Hmm, taking of my clothes pretty much covers it. Whether for work…or play.”

“Oh my god, you are terrible, but I totally set myself up for that, didn’t I?

“I just like to see all the different shades of red I can make your cheeks turn.” He reaches over and twists one of her curls around is finger. “The current one is just about the same as this…oops, now it’s too bright.”

“Stop!” Charlie laughs and batts his hand away.

“But you make it so easy…and it’s cute.”

She has to look away from him before her color transcends to a new shade of crimson. “Anyway, you still haven’t answered my question.”

“Okay, for real, I pretty much like anything active and adventurous. I have to spend a lot of my spare time working out, for obvious reasons, but I like most sports, basketball in particular, and anything that gets my adrenaline going – racing, rock climbing, skydiving…”

“Ahh, hence the cliff diving.”

“I take it that’s not your thing?” Bryce questions.

“Heights in general are not my thing,” Charlie admits. “I’m really not a fan of any activity where I could easily plunge to my death.”

Bryce chuckles. “I could tell, but maybe I’ll change your mind a little bit.”

“Doubtful.”

“Then what do you like to do for fun?”

“Hmm…” She has to think on it because the last four years for Charlie haven’t been filled with much fun outside of med school and studying. “I like to read, travel, go hiking…but on mainly level ground.”

“I could work with that,” Bryce responds thoughtfully.

He could work with that? What the hell is that supposed to mean? “Well, I don’t think you’ll have much time to worry about my interests or your own this week.”

His smile falters briefly before he recovers with his typical cheeky grin. “Oh, right, you almost had me forgetting for a minute we are just pretending. I guess we’ll easily fool everyone else.”

“Yeah… What else do we need to know about each other?” Charlie changes the subject because she doesn’t want to let her mind go where it was starting to go. “Tell me about your family.”

“We’re not close, and I’m going to leave it at that.” His expression hardens, and this time it stays that way.

She realizes she’s touched a nerve and she doesn’t know what to say. “Okay, no family talk then. Maybe we can take a questioning break and just relax for a bit. She has no right to press him on this, so she just stares ahead to the in-flight movie. She’s getting drowsy so she leans back against the headrest, and the next think she knows, Bryce is calling her name.

“Charlie, time to wake up. We’re here.”

Charlie straightens herself upright, disoriented momentarily to time and place. “What do you mean we’re here?”  She peers around Bryce, out the window, to see solid ground. “You let me sleep through the whole descent?”

Bryce shrugs with a smile playing on his lips. “I didn’t want you to have to worry again about your possible impending death.”

Despite his cheeky reply, his intentions had been rather sweet, so she chooses to focus on that. “Thank you,” she says but then out of the corner of her eye, she spots something that ruins whatever kind of moment had been happening, and her jaw drops. “Oh my god, I am so sorry.”

Bryce looks down at his shoulder and back up at her with that same mischievous look on his face. “It’s no problem, really. I’m used to people drooling over me all the time.”

Charlie rolls her eyes and before she can formulate a comeback, the flight attendant dismisses them. “You ready?” She stands up grabbing her carry-on and Bryce follows.

“Can’t wait.”

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