It had been a couple of weeks since Charlie and Laura had been on their first date. They had been out a few more times and after each date, Charlie walked Laura to her door and they shared a sweet kiss. Laura was more than ready for more but Charlie didn't seem to want to go further. This confused Laura because in other ways Charlie seemed really keen, she sent Laura a text message most days and they had wonderful conversations on their dates with Charlie never failing to make Laura laugh and feel connected to Charlie.
It was Saturday night and Laura was out with some of the other nurses for a leaving do. Without planning it the group ended up at The Square, Charlie's club.
Laura was quite drunk, which was unusual for her, but she'd drunk a little more than she would normally and hadn't eaten much that day. She was dancing with her friends when she saw Charlie appear at the bar to talk to the staff. Her confidence buoyed by the alcohol in her system Laura walked over to confront the woman she couldn't stop thinking about.
Charlie was talking to the bar manager when she sensed someone behind her. When she turned around she broke out into a broad smile and leaned in to give Laura a hug. Smiling down at Laura she said, 'Hey you, I didn't know you were coming tonight.'
'Why don't you like me?'
'Sorry?'
'We go out, have a great time, you take me home and then nothing, don't you like me?' By this point Laura was leaning against Charlie's chest and prodding her with her finger. Charlie realised how drunk Laura was and eased her away from the bar to a quiet corner.
'Do you want some water or a coffee?'
'You can't even answer the question.'
'Of course I like you Laura, I think you're amazing but you're drunk and this is not the time or the place to have this conversation. Where are your friends, how are you getting home tonight?'
Laura turned back to the dance floor and searched for her friends but had lost them in the crowd. Charlie hugged her and said, 'Why don't you send them a message and I'll make sure you get home.'
'I want to go home with you.'
'What?'
Laura leaned up to whisper in Charlie's ear, in what she thought was a seductive manner to say, 'I want to go home with you, let me show you what I think about after each of our dates.'
Charlie was incredibly aroused but also knew how drunk Laura was so there was no way she would take advantage but she did need to make sure Laura got home ok. She took Laura to her office, sat her on the sofa while she made sure she wasn't needed for the rest of the night.
By the time Charlie was ready to go, Laura had fallen asleep on the sofa. Charlie tried to wake her but Laura just curled into a tighter embrace. Thankful for the back stairs Charlie carried Laura down to her car and drove them back to her own apartment. She carried Laura into the spare bedroom and gently lay her on the bed. Removing Laura's shoes she pulled the covers over her and went to her own bedroom after leaving some water and painkillers out for Laura.
It took a while for Charlie to get to sleep as she was having a hard time ignoring the fact that the woman of her dreams had all but thrown herself at her and was asleep in the room next door. Charlie hadn't realised that her slow courtship was causing Laura to doubt her affections. Laura had seemed so nervous around Charlie that she'd wanted to take things slowly. Charlie resolved to try to explain this in the morning.
Laura up woke with a very sore head and she she wasn't entirely sure where she was. She drank the water and swallowed some paracetamol before attempting to stand and find a bathroom. When she stumbled into the hall she recognised that she was in Charlie's apartment but Charlie didn't seem to be there and as Laura was still dressed from the night before they clearly hadn't slept together.
Sitting on the toilet Laura tried to piece the night together from her patchy memory. She remembered meeting up with the girls from work but that wasn't at The Square so they obviously went there later. Suddenly she had the critical flashback, the one where she confronted Charlie. Laura groaned into her hands and wondered if she had blown the relationship before it got started.
She washed her hands and went into the living room. Charlie had left a note to say she would be back after 11, looking at the clock she saw it was 10.30 and she didn't know if she should try to leave and not have to face Charlie but she realised that wouldn't help her embarrassment and so made herself a cup of coffee and sat down on the sofa to wait and promptly fell asleep again.
Laura woke up to find Charlie sitting on the floor next to the sofa waving fresh pastries under her nose. Seeing she was awake, Charlie said. "Morning sleepy, how's your head today?"
"Oh Charlie, I'm so sorry about last night, I usually don't drink that much, I don't know what came over me."
"Hey, it's ok. I own a club, I've seen drunk people before. Why don't you have some breakfast, I'll make you a fresh coffee. I may even be able to find you a new toothbrush, some clean clothes and you can have a shower."
"But..."
Charlie silenced her with a firm kiss and said, "Then we'll talk, ok?"
"Ok, thank you."
It was nearly an hour later when Laura was back in the living room, fresh and clean from the shower, wearing a pair of Charlie's shorts, t-shirt and hoodie. All of which were too big for her. Her headache had almost gone and she felt more human.
When Charlie looked up her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Laura in her favourite jumper, fresh from the shower. She smiled at Laura and patted the seat next to her on the sofa. "Feeling better now?"
Laura was feeling shy again and smiled at Charlie before apologising again for her behaviour the night before. "I really don't know what came over me, I'm so sorry."
"Well you clearly had something you wanted to get off your chest - do you want to talk about it now?"
