All Dolled Up!

Charlotte

Charlie walked in not long after, and saw the bowl. "So, you're trying cereal today?"

"Ah, no!" I said. "I uh, made this for you." Maybe I should have just pretended it was for me in case it had turned out wrong?

"Oh..." he said, expression changed, though I couldn't read what emotion was written on his face. "Um, thanks for it..."

He wandered over to the bowl, and I tried to hide my eagerness at finding out what he thought of what I had made. He stirred it, took a sip, and then said, "It's a bit cold, how long did you put it in the microwave for?"

"Ah, one minute," I said.

"I usually put it in for a minute and a half," he said, and put it in the microwave for another thirty seconds. "So, how was the beer?"

"Ah, it was fine, I guess," I told him.

"Did you happen to get drunk?"

"I only had one can - and I don't think that this body can absorb anything I put into my stomach anyway," she said.

"Yeah, I guess we'd need to give you something stronger to see if you could get drunk," he said. "Something like vodka."

When I heard the word 'vodka' what appeared in my mind was an old Russian gentlemen getting drunk and falling on the street- something appropriate for vagabonds and harlots, not a proper lady. "No, I don't think we need to take it that far- but, you don't... mind me taking that can do you?"

"Eh? No, not at all, I mean, everything that's in the fridge, you can take too, whatever you want," he said nonchalantly, as if it did not bother him at all. "Oh, by the way, I did what you wanted to and took some photos."

He showed me a picture of May's tombstone, and the flowers he had kept there. "Can I... keep this photograph?'

"Keep it? How would you keep it?" he asked.

"As in, can't you put it onto an actual... photograph?" I asked him. I didn't know how it worked given that I didn't think the phone had any photographic film, but I had heard of cameras that printed out photos almost immediately.

"Oh, there's not really a way I could do that," he said. "I mean, I could give you a printout but that's not the same... hang on for a moment, though, give me a few days and I think I can give you something that'll help you keep it with you always. Just give me some time..."

"Alright..." I said. I was happy that May's grave had something- though I felt like I should've done something more if possible. A message - or a letter I could leave there? That might work, but Charlie had already gone there once this week, and I didn't want to bother him by asking for it again.

Speaking of which...

"...do you mind if I ask you something?" I said.

"You just did," he retorted with a smirk. "But I think you want to ask two things- right? Sure, go ahead."

"Why... are you helping me?" I asked him.

"Hmm? What'd you mean, what else would i do?"

"I mean... I am terribly sorry for what I did to your things," I said. While I felt it was justified at the time, now I couldn't help but feel intense regret. "I ruined some of what you had purchased, and you seem to be tight on money so.... given that... why are you going out of your way to help me? To... do so much for me when you don't have to?" Though I didn't voice it, there was no obligation from his side to do anything for me. He could've gotten rid of me easily if he wanted to - he would just have to take me outside the house, and that would be it. I would languish outside its walls forever - and even if he hadn't known that, he could simply lock me up in a cage inside my room. There was no way that I could've broken out, and no one would come to my rescue. That would place me out of his sight, and out of mind.

And yet, he hadn't done any of that. Once his anger had cooled down, he had even done things for me like helping me pay respects to May. He was even doing it now - being so generous as to say that anything I wanted to eat, I could feel free to help myself.

I still thought of this house as mine - it was mine, I would agree with that to my dying breath and beyond. And yet, he was right in the sense that there was no way that I could stake my claim over it. I couldn't rely on the law- people would likely burn me at the stake as a witch if they saw me or worse, and I did not have the strength to overpower him.

If I had slit his throat while he was sleeping, while he had been unaware of my presence - that would've worked for a short time. But I knew I couldn't do that - I didn't have it in me to kill another person. I didn't even like hurting animals. I couldn't even justify it as self-defense - it would make me a murderess, plain and simple. I couldn't stain my conscience like that.

And say I had murdered him, then what? It would only attract more attention from the police and others, and someone might find me, and they might burn the house down or just throw me out.

As such, I had to come to terms with the fact that he could essentially do whatever he wished. If this was a game of chess, it was checkmate for me.

Only, he never went about matters as if he was the sole owner of the house. He even let me know when he was repairing things, and sometimes even asked for my input on them, as if I was an equal shareholder in the house rather than, as I must have seemed to him, an unwelcome intruder.

I also could tell from his habits that he was a person who preferred to be left alone, and had likely come to this place in order to be left alone- though he had found that I was there already.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Helping someone in need is common sense, I suppose. And... no one's ever been able to help you before, have they? I won't lie that I'm slightly interested in what caused you to become like that, but that's just a part of it." He turned towards me. "When I look at you, I see a young woman in an unfortunate situation she didn't ask for, and I can't turn away from that. It's what any decent person would do... well, either that or just leave the house, but again, sorry, I can't do that."

"I see..." I said. I had seen pity in his eyes multiple times when he looked at me. In truth, that hurt more than if he had just looked at me with disgust or horror- I did not want to be pitied, though I supposed on the other hand, I should be glad that he was willing to help me.

Silence then settled between us, and I thought that this might be a time to broach a topic that I'd been curious about. "So... I wanted to ask... why did you place that ring on my finger?"

He made some odd sounds like he had accidentally choked on what he was eating. "Do you need a glass of water?!" I asked, alarmed.

"No, no, I'm fine," he said, coughing but able to clear his throat. "Uh... I just didn't expect that question."

"I was just curious is all," I said, trying to hide how invested I was in learning the answer to the question. "I mean. you did put it on that finger of mine."

"That was uh.. because well..." he trailed off, seemingly not wanting to answer, or thinking of an appropriate answer as he finished his breakfast first, then turned to me. "That ring used to belong to my fiancé, or the woman who was going to be my fiancé. We... to make a long story short, we had a falling out and it never happened- the wedding I mean. I kept the ring and the plan was to sell it, but I guess jewelers have a real racket going on because I couldn't get a reasonable price for it, so I just kept it."

"I see..." I said.

"And, when I first saw you," he continued, "well, I didn't know that you were you, you know, as in, sentient, so I just kept it on that finger as a symbolic gesture, I guess. Of keeping it safe."

"Right," I said, glancing towards my left hand instinctively. But there was something else I wanted to ask him. "So, your engagement broke off... but, do you have... another woman that you're... ah... speaking to?"

He shook his head. "No, I mean, Josephine and me broke up pretty recently, and I guess I thought it was too early to move on from that... and anyway, I'm here out in the middle of nowhere to collect my thoughts, not really interested in anyone else right now..." He yawned. "I'd like to keep things simple for now."

"I see," I said. So... he didn't have anyone in his life currently.

"Were you ever married? Or engaged?" he asked.

"No... my parents were definitely looking for a suitor, though I guess because of my sickness they would've had to abandon those kinds of efforts," I told him. It was a bit of a depressing thought that my life had been cut short before making that kind of leap, but given that nothing had even started let alone an engagement, I couldn't say that I was too saddened by all of that. "Well, I guess we should get to work then," he said.

"Ah, wait," I said to him. "I don't want to ask for another favor so soon... but I was wondering if you'd consider it. Could you... teach me how to ride a bicycle?"

"A bicycle? Sure, but why-"

"-well, I initially thought that I would've wanted to learn how to ride a horse," I said. “Though I don't think that you'd be able to buy one, and where would we even keep one? Then, I would've liked to learn how to drive an automobile like you do, but I don't think we can fit one here either, so I settled for bicycle."

Charlie scratched his chin. "Ah, it might take some time for it to arrive - but where would you even ride it? You can't take it outside the house."

"I could ride it indoors!"

"That um... I guess it could sort of work, but it wouldn't really be like riding a real bicycle," he said, then noticed the eagerness in my face and then relented. 'Alright, we can see, but like I said, it would take a few days for it to arrive - I don't have a bicycle that would be your size as it is."

"Ah, thank you!" I said.