Carter Benett

‘thank you.” she bit back, with a sigh. She spent a few moments, seething with annoyment as she worked, casually sipping her beer. She started to mellow out once the ale and shot started to kick in. Now feeling bad that she snipped at the stranger sitting at her table she looked up, folding her hands over her book. “I’m sorry.” she started. “it’s been a rough day. I didn’t mean to be short with you.” she finally said, breaking the silence between them.

His eyebrows still raised, Carter turned his head away from the woman and started to look around the room for maybe another free chair, when she eventually lifted her head again to look at him. Frowning a little as he hadn’t really expected an apology from her, the man finally shrugged his shoulders a little. “It’s ok.. mine actually has been pretty tough as well, so... probably wasn’t really the nicest man around either. Shouldn’t have interrupted you in the first place.”

She could sense that nothing else was going to happen, today was a one off for the two. She rolled out of bed, walking across the room to her dresser grabbing a gray camisole and black pajama shorts, sliding the both on her body before rejoining him in bed. “there’s no better time then now.” she chimed. “if you want, I can help you go look.” she offered, knowing there was a ninety five percent chance he’d decline her offer.

His eyes following her for a while when she got up, Carter let out a little sigh before grabbing his boxer shorts as well. Maybe it would have been better to not say anything about his feelings at all but on the other hand it wouldn’t really have made any difference, would it?! Lying down on the bed again, the man finally put his arm around her shoulder, when the girl joined him again, so she could rest her head on his chest. At her offer though, he only glanced at her sideways, not really sure what to think about it. “You would..?”, he simply asked after a few seconds, frowning a little.

Gen ignored that he was there. Trying to find some peace in his presence was difficult for her, especially when he was watching her every move. Her eyes looked up from the book when he spoke, her head followed shortly after. “both.” was all she said before taking a drink from her pint. she asked her face almost void of expression with a hint of annoyance in her voice. She typically wasn’t in this bad of a mood and she was sure he was a nice guy but he had caught her on bad day.

Slightly raising his eyebrows at her quick and short reply, Carter just nodded. Obviously she didn’t want to talk to him, the annoyance in her voice was pretty obvious. Something that he normally just would have ignored but after a long day at work, that still hadn’t led to any useful results, he was pretty short-tempered as well. “Wow, sorry for asking..”, he mumbled, “I’ll just sit here, drink my pint and be quiet then..” As if to underline his words, he quickly raised his glass before taking another sip.

She finally realized her doing this probably didn’t help his situation so she slowly took her hand away, giving him an apologetic smile. “going to a shelter is the way to go. It works out perfect for you. You need a companion and one of those dogs gets a home. Remember; adopt don’t shop.” she said to him. Pets in shelters was one thing that Cecily felt strongly about.

If he hadn't been sure about it yet before, seeing the apologetic smile on her face, Carter immediately knew that she had indeed understood his hints. Especially since she moved her hand away from his chest again as well. And maybe she was right by doing it, maybe it was better. They’d never be more than this anyway. Something that he better accept sooner than later. “Exactly!”, listening to what she said, the man eventually nodded, “I always kind of waited for the perfect timing but maybe that is now...”

Cleo: Well, of course I'm going to go, she's messing with you, with your feelings and with your head, and I really don't that you know it.

Cleo: You deserve someone who will love you and not use your because you're hot and nice.

Cleo: I mean it.

Cleo: Just tell me her name?

Carter: no you're not! seriously cleo!

Carter: i know, you're right. it's just not that easy when you're basically spending most of your time at work

Carter: cecily

Cleo: Impossible, you know that

Cleo: Very angry.

Cleo: oh okay. So rude of her. Was it all in your head or did you kiss or have sex?

Cleo: Do you have her address? I'm going to tell her what I think of her behaviour

Cleo: Also, there is nothing wrong with you, okay? She doesn't know what she's missing. You're one of the most amazing people in the world, okay?

Cleo: I loved you after all.

Carter: we might have slept together a few times..

Carter: i have but i'm not going to tell you or you're really going there, i know you after all

Cleo: Definitely. Who's fault would it be otherwise?

Cleo: Oh yeah? What did I tell you?

Cleo: Who is she?

Carter: idk, your own maybe..?!

Carter: how angry would you be if i already forgot what you told me..?

She had pulled out her notepad from her bag, she began to work on a few sketches while sipping her pint. Even when it came time to play she still found a way to slip work in. She was completely oblivious to the man talking to her. Hearing the ending of question she looked up, trying to gather what he had asked her. piecing together a few words she used context clues to figure out what he said. “oh, sure. Help yourself.” she said, motioning towards to open seat before looking back down to her book, continuing on with her sketch.

Staring down at the woman, Carter wasn’t even sure if she had heard him at first but when she finally looked up, he tried to give her a little smile. Finally sitting down he took a sip of his beer at first before glancing at the notebook that lay on the table in front of the brunette. Trying to figure out what she was drawing there, he didn’t even realise that he had probably been staring for quite some time. “Hobby or work..?”, the man finally asked, not even thinking about the possibility that she might want to finish whatever it was in peace and without talking to someone she didn’t even know in between.

She laid there, looking at him she moved her hand to his chest, her fingers tracing the outline of his muscles. She felt bad for not wanting what he wanted. He was a catch no doubt but not the catch for her and she knew need down he knew that too. “yeah?” she asked, her face lighting up as she made eye contact with him. “What kind of dog? I think you should do it.”

Closing his eyes for a few seconds when he felt her fingers moving on his chest, Carter still thought about what she had said earlier. Maybe she was right and he really needed to spend less time at the office, not necessarily because he already had a reason to leave earlier but to actually find one. Another one. Finally opening his eyes again, he turned his head back towards the blonde and shrugged a little. “Haven’t really thought about it yet.. I think I would just adopt one that someone else didn’t want anymore..”, he mumbled.

Gen had a rough day at work to say the least. She had a few members on her staff but she did most of the work, causing her to stress about things that she shouldn’t even be stressing about. All her alterations were up to date but she was worried about the stuff she had coming up tomorrow, which was an ‘all hands on deck’ type of day. All that on top of some pieces she was working on independently for a few key clients. She thought a pint was a good way to unwind.

Picking her favorite bar a couple blocks from her flat she chose a seat in the middle of the bar, ordering her usual. Whatever ale they had on tap and a shot of whiskey. She threw her shot back, chasing it with the beer before letting out a sigh.

Athough he had actually planned on leaving work earlier today, Carter eventually found himself walking out of his office at the same time he usually did. Which was anything but early. As he still didn't want to get home straight away, he decided to grab a beer at the next bar. Pushing the door open, he walked straight to the counter to order a pint before looking for a free table. The only problem was that there obviously wasn't one. "Of course not..", he muttered under his breath while grabbing his glass. Looking around the room again, he finally spotted a woman who was obviously sitting at a table all alone and as those seemed to be the only free places right now, he walked over to her. "Do you mind if I sit down..?", he asked, nodding at one of the chairs, "Everywhere else is full.."

“I guess.” she said with a laugh. Cecily rolled onto her side to face him, wanting to be able to look at him while they talked. She knew he was hinting at their relationship but didn’t want to say anything to upset him, the two were having such a nice time together.  “ You’ve got to put yourself out there, you never know what could be waiting for you.” She said, offering him a sincere smile, unsure of what to say. “Or you could get a pet.” she added, jokingly.

Only quickly glancing at her when she rolled onto her side, Carter eventually continued staring at the ceiling for a little while, trying to hide his feelings that way. Although she was smart enough to have probably understood his last hint anyway. Finally turning his head back towards the blonde again, he chuckled at her last comment. “Don’t laugh but I have actually thought about getting a dog once, maybe it’s time to pick that idea up again..”

Her heart sank like a stone as he grabbed her arm, she’d thought maybe her words have been surreptitious enough to gloss over her real reason for going to the bathroom but apparently not. Should have known, Carter knew her better than anyone else with the exception of her family, he could see through her even if she built up a brick wall in front of her face. “Maybe they won’t in the long run but they are right now, and if you want me to make it to tomorrow you’ll let go of my arm.” She whispered, glancing down at his hand before meeting his eyes steadily. Maybe the sentiment seemed dark but it was her truth, getting through each day was a struggle at the moment, so she clung onto anything she had to make it just that little bit easier. Only problem was those things were becoming few and far between. “Please.”

Not moving at all until she finally looked up at him again, Carter swallowed when he finally met her eyes again. He just didn't know what to do. Maybe she really needed those pills right now and who was he to try and stop her. But on the other hand he had already seen so many times how badly this could end if you weren't able to live without them anymore. "Please don't do this..", he whispered, realising that his voice had become a bit shaky, "Please don't make me do this.." They both knew that he wouldn't force her to stay away from those pills but he just couldn't stand watching his best friend trying to numb her pain this way. Still staring into her eyes with a pleading look on his face, he releasing the pressure on her arm a little bit, hoping that she would somehow change her mind again.

“it’s best you not.” she winked which was followed by a small, delicate laugh. “They have been so kind to me. I want to repay them any way I can.” she said with a shrug. The blonde was pretty much running the shop herself and had no issue with it. To her it was like running her own shop without having to deal with any of the business aspects of it. She smiled sweetly at him, not wanting to show that his comment caught her off guard. “I’m sure if you looked you could find reasons to come home.”

A grin appearing on his lips again, Carter started playing with a strand of her hair before looking up at her face again. “Pretty sure that they’re lucky to have you as well. I mean who wouldn’t..?!”, still grinning at her, he tried to pretend like it was some sort of joke, even though he was actually being serious. Until now he had enjoyed every second with her and couldn’t really imagine anyone else thinking different about her. “Yeah, maybe I could.. sometimes it still doesn’t work out the way one hopes it would though..”, he replied, avoiding her eyes this time.

Charlotte smiled on a outward breath as he said he just wanted to see her smile, rubbing her left eye carefully with her hand, not wanting to smudge the eyeliner that lay there. She’d brought up Max but wished she hadn’t because hearing his name still hurt, even though it had been two weeks or so since the incident. She’d put herself out there in a big way with him, and her heart had ended up crushed. “He looked at me like I’d ruined his life when I first saw him after I did it, but when I saw him that last time…he looked at me like I didn’t matter in the slightest and I don’t know which one haunts me more.” The brunette swallowed hard, taking a slow breath to force herself not to cry, or pass out, or anything else equally embarrassing. God she wanted a drink, or she wanted some of the medication that sat in her medicine cabinet. “I’ll be back…I need to go to the bathroom, i’ll be back okay?” she whispered, pushing herself up from where she sat.

Carefully watching her face, it was more than obvious how much she was still hurting because of the entire situation with Max. But at least she was talking about it now. And not in a sarcastic way but more honest. "I know how hard this must be for you..", he said, even though he wasn't exactly sure that it was the truth. His last serious relationship had already been a few years ago and to be honest in the end the breakup hadn't been that bad at all. When the girl tried to get up, he immediately reached for her arm, knowing perfectly well what she was about to do. "Hey Charlie, please!", he whispered, getting up as well, "I know that you are hurting and it might seem like those pills are helping you right now but in the long run they won't. It will only makes everything worse!"

“I do say so, therefore i’m right.” she said, trying to smirked but it came out more of a smile instead. There was no doubt in her mind that she liked carter. He was good looking, sweet, nice to her, and everything else in between but she’d never admit that. She did not want to open that can of worms with someone who was so wrapped up in their job. “I understand. I feel that way when it comes to helping out at work as well. I’ll stay late or work doubles to help out the owners since they’re getting pretty old and can’t do as much now.” she stated, knowing that a florist and MI5 agent had nothing in common but she understood where he was coming from.

"I guess there's no use in arguing then..", Carter replied with a little shrug and a grin on his face before starting to play with a strand of her hair. He still wasn't sure what exactly the blonde thought about him but he didn't dare ask her about it either. Because he was afraid of what she might answer. "It's pretty nice of you to help out then.. not everybody would do this!", he stated with a smile, although he had already known that she was someone who would always try and help others. It was actually what he liked about her most. "Sometimes I wish there would be some reasons to stay at home mor often though..", he finally admitted, slightly turning his head in another direction to avoid her eyes.