Chapter 5: Unconsciously Protective

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I would have put this author's note at the end of the Chapter but to avoid unnecessary corrections and critics, I decided to put it here. PLEASE NOTE the male protagonist begins to speak in this chapter and his pattern of speaking is... Unique. This is deliberate. The reason for this will be disclosed in the next chapters.

UNCONSCIOUSLY PROTECTIVE

The next day, first thing in the morning, Charlie runs to the living room to check if the panda bear is still here.

An unconscious smile appears on her face. The man has his knees curled against his chest in a fetal position. His fingers are in fists and are tucked under his chin. A bouncing baby boy; that's what he looks like.

Charlie runs back up to her room to do the needful. She puts her hair into a very loose bun. Her chest is covered with a blue long-sleeved shirt and black bottom shorts.

As she runs down the stairs, she dials the police department.

"Hello and good day, How may we help you?" A monotone voice drawls from the other side of the phone.

"Hi...uh... Last night, I fou-"

"Hold up. What's your name?"

"Oh, It's Charlie. Charlie Jordan."

"Okay, you may continue,"

"Thanks, as I was saying... Last night, I found a man on my backyard patio and I think he's lost?"

"You think?" The reception lady questions.

"Yes? No... No! I don't know!" Charlie stumbles on her words.

The lady sighs loudly, "Can you describe this...man?"

Charlie spares the sleeping man a glance before walking into her kitchen, "Okay...er, he is tan-skinned. He is really big and tall an-"

"Look, lady, I told you to describe the man in your house, not his dick," the lady interrupts her.

Charlie gasps, "What? No... No!"

"Don't you think someone your age shouldn't be pranking the police by this time in the morning?"

"Excuse me? I'm not pranking you!" Charlie perches her phone between her ear and shoulder.

She turns on the coffee machine after scooping a minimal amount of coffee beans into the machine. She would have made two cups but something at the back of her mind tells her that the bulky man in her living room is not a huge fan of coffee.

"Okay. Okay..." The lady clears her throat, "I'll send two officers over to your house to look at this 'man'. I'll need your house address,"

Charlie sighs, "Thank you!" She recites her address to the policewoman before the call-line cuts off.

Charlie pinches the bridge of her nose before shaking her head. She didn't bargain for this. All she wanted was to have a peaceful week dedicated to mourning her and Mario's relationship.

She raises her head and instead of looking at the 20 inches window in her living room, her gaze meets the lightest blue eyes she's ever seen.

"Jesus!!" She yells while clutching her chest.

"Sorry," the man says in a small voice. His voice is light and a tad raspy maybe from the cold. 

"It's fine," Charlie says, more to herself. She takes a shaky sip from her coffee while she attempts to calm her racing heart. "You just scared me, that's all."

The man shrugs lightly. Charlie shakily sips from her creamy coffee before remembering...

"Oh, I just got off with the police, and two officers are coming by later today to ask you some questions about how you got here, is that okay?"

The man nods.

Speaking of asking questions, Charlie suddenly realizes that she's been staying with a stranger for roughly six hours and she doesn't even know his name.

Charlie notices how the bulky man scrutinizes her with his wide orbs. The young woman suddenly feels insecure and small. She purses her lips and tugs the sleeve over to cover her fingers.

"Why...uh... Why don't you go watch a movie while I make breakfast? Is bacon, eggs, and pancakes okay?" Charlie raises a nervous brow.

'Great, Charlie! Just great! Feed the stranger till he gets the strength to stab your eyes with a sausage!'

The man looks down at the counter for a moment before raising his head and nodding, "It fine."

Charlie scrunches her brow and watches as he walks back to the living room where he plops on the couch. 

Finishing her coffee immediately, she washes the mug and starts on breakfast. It takes roughly thirty minutes for two steamy plates of three strips of bacon plus two pancakes with a touch of two sunnyside each. 

Just as she's about to call Bulky—yes, she's calling him that now till she finds out his name—, her phone rings.

"Char-poo!"

"Hey, Deedah. How are you?" Charlie sighs.

"How am I? Bitch, you just got dumped, how are you?!"

Charlie laughs slowly. 'If only you knew.'

"I'm alive," she laughs, "Something odd happened last night,"

"What is it? Mario came crawling on his ass begging for forgiveness? 'cos if he did I'll go ov-"

"No. No. Not that. Look, I'll call you later and explain, okay?"

"Why you tryna cut me off? Is— Oh... OH! You have some D over, don't ya!" Dee's high-pitched voice causes Charlie to blush madly. It's the voice, not the words!

"Goodbye Dee, I'm about to eat breakfast," she rolls her eyes before cutting off the call.

       After breakfast, Charlie hears rapt knocks on her door.

"Hello, good afternoon. Thanks for coming by." Charlie greets once she opens the door.

Two average-sized men on police uniforms nod their heads in apprehension. Charlie waits for them to finish shaking off snow from their boots before stepping in. The first thing Charlie notices is the lack of guns in its holsters. She rolls her eyes with a sigh. Of course, what'd she expected?

The slightly taller one with a mustache pulls out a small notepad from his breast pocket, "Good day, I'm Officer Bradford and this is my partner, Officer George," he says, pointing to his partner.

Officer Bradford continues, "We received a call this morning from a Charlie Jordan about a suspicious break-in," he recites from his notepad.

Charlie nods and goes to stand beside the stranger in her house. She didn't know why, but she did. "Yes, I'm Charlie Jordan. I called this morning,"

"Okay, Charlie— is it alright if I call you Charlie?"

Charlie nods.

"Alright Charlie, did you make sure that any of your property is not stolen?"

"Yes. Nothing's stolen. I think he's just lost or something," she mutters.

His partner, George nods before jotting something down.

"Okay, this is he, yes?" She nods.

Both officers focus their attention on Bulky. Their brows are furrowed irritatedly.

"Okay, mister. I'd like your name, age, contact address, thumbprint, National ID, bank statements, rent receipt, phone number, and your next of kin's name, address, and phone number."

'Silence.'

Charlie peaks from the corner of her eyes at the stranger. He says nothing as he stares deadpan at the two officers.

"Are you dumb or retarded?"

Charlie gasps, "He's not dumb! What is wrong with you!"

"Mister, I expect an answer now!" Officer Bradford states as he takes a precautionary step backward while his hands inches towards the walkie-talkie on his shoulder strap.

Bulky still doesn't say anything.

"Miss, I advise you please step away from that man,"

It takes everything in Charlie's spine not to give him the middle finger. Instead, she gives him an incredulous look before looking back at Bulky.

Her skeleton almost leaves her body when she sees those intense eyes staring at her. Bulky stands up and walks towards Charlie.

"Do not fret, miss! We've called for back up! I promise this vile criminal will be put behind bars!" It's Officer George that exclaims this time.

"Not fine." Bulky mumbles as he shakes his head. Honestly, he is more than disappointed.

Walking into a potential crime scene without a gun? Even the dumbest police officers wouldn't do that. It seems Steinfeld police department has the dumbest police officers.

He walks closer till they were almost breathing the same air.

"Cold." He whispers. 

Charlie bites her bottom lip.

Maybe calling the police was a bad idea. They're dumbbells and they don't even know how to type well. But who could she have called?

There's a huge man in her apartment. Sue her for calling the police! Charlie knows Dee would have done worse. Maybe beat him to a pulp with her heels then tie him up and dump him on her neighbor's lawn to avoid calling the police. She detests The Steinfield police.

"I'm sorry, this is all a mistake."

'What am I doing!'

"What do you mean miss? He looks like a killer,"

"I... I... was just...uh... Pulling off an early Halloween prank! Um... Happy Halloween!" She laughs nervously.

'Shut up, mouth!'

"What?" Officer Bradford raises a brow, "Who is he, then?"

'What do I say? What do I say?'

"Him? Um..." She looks down at his big palm and winces.

 'Please, don't kill me for this!' She prays internally.

She takes in a deep breath and curls her palm around his. She's pretty sure her heart has its arteries crossed.

"He's my... Um...?"

"Your what? Is he holding you hos-"

"Husband!" Charlie blurts.

"Husband?"

"Yes, Officer Bradford, he's my husband. Please can you leave? We were about to paint our doors,"

"Are you sure miss?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm sure," Her fingers tighten unconsciously, "Please leave," she whines.

"Okay, okay. If you have any other problems, feel free to call."

With the close of the door, exits her sigh.

Looking sideways, what she sees is light blue.