bathroom and give the door a tap before pushing it wide open. It’s empty, and clean—the cleaning people were here this morning, scrubbing the kitchen, floors, and shared bathrooms.
Breathing a sigh of relief that the place isn’t disgusting (usually there are pubes all over the toilet seat), my hand rests on the brass doorknob, poised to pull it closed behind me so Charlie can do her thing alone.
“Let me know if ya need anything, ’kay?”
“Mmkay.” She beams up at me, pushing a strand of silky blonde hair behind her ear. “Do you have a toothbrush I can borrow?”
“Sure—I mean, no. You can use mine if you don’t think it’s gross.
“It’s gross, but I’d rather not have bad breath. Haha.” She pulls the cutest sour expression, followed by a long pause. I strain to hear her muttering. “In any case, my mouth was on your dick—does it matter if I have my mouth on your toothbrush?”
Wow.
Wow, wow, wow.
“Uh…good point? My toothbrush is…” I lean into the bathroom, reaching for the closest drawer. Yank it open. “Here.” Hand her the blue toothbrush, along with the toothpaste. “All my shit is in here and on the top shelf in the closet behind the door, like towels and stuff.”
“I love how you say stuff. It’s so cute.”
I laugh—she’s so weird. “How do I say it?”
“I don’t know, like, stuuf. I can’t describe it. All I can say is that it’s adorable.”
Oh. Well in that case. “Stuff.”
Charlie shifts on the balls of her feet. “Give me five minutes.”
“Duh! Sorry.” I back out of the room, pulling the door along with me. “Knock if you need me.”
I hear her laugh through the door as I lean against it, back pressed against the wood. I cross my arms and ankles, standing vigil like a guard. The water runs. The toothbrush gets tapped on the sink.
I try not to hear her pee, but it’s impossible—the walls are thin, and the hall is quiet, so I’m relieved she doesn’t take a dump. I’d never be able to look her in the eye otherwise.
The toilet flushes.
While Charlie is washing her hands, a door at the end of the corridor opens and out walks Carlos. We regard each other, and both his black eyebrows shoot to his hairline.
“What the fuck are you doing?” He doesn’t mince words.
“Waitin’.”
“For what? Since when do we wait for someone to finish taking a dump to use the bathroom?”
A laugh escapes my throat. “I have a guest.”
I didn’t think it was possible, but his brows shoot higher. “A guest? Is it the cutie who was here carving pumpkins?”
Another laugh. “Yes.”
“What was her name again? George? Frank?”
“Charlie.”
“Right.” Now he’s standing next to me. “What’s she doing in there, shaving her pussy bald?”
“No, she’s brushin’ her teeth.”
“She brought her own toothbrush?!”
“No. She’s usin’ mine.”
“That’s asquerosa. Disgusting.”
“Tell me how you really feel.”
“You know, I can hear you,” Charlie calls through the door with a laugh—thank God.
“Sorry,” Rodrigo calls back, but he shakes his head at me. “Not sorry. It’s disgusting, sorry bro.”
“I can still hear you.” At least Charlie is giggling as she turns the sink back on. “I’m ignoring you now—you can keep talking about me!”
“I like her,” my friend says.
“Same.” He continues standing next to me, watching the wall—as if Charlie is going to materialize so he can entertain her with his wit and charm and good looks. “You can go now,” I tell him.
“Don’t really have anywhere to be.”
“Then why’d you come out of your room?”
“’Cause I was bored, amigo.”
“Please go away.”
“Why? I like Charlie. I wanna hang out with you guys.”
I stare at him, hard. Is he fucking serious? “Carlos, I’m not… You know how I am. This is a big deal.” I can’t be more eloquent than that, can’t speak any more plainly. If he doesn’t walk away before Charlie comes out of the bathroom, I swear I’ll have a stroke.
“I’m just giving you a rash of shit, buddy. Calm down—your face is so fucking red.”
I can feel the heat covering my entire body, not just my face, blood pressure surely shot up past what’s considered healthy. Simply because I have a girl in my house and she’s about to spend the night.
“Maybe this was a mistake.”
Carlos puts a lip to his finger, hissing, “Shh, she’ll hear you!” He steps in closer and puts his paws on my shoulders, squeezing his palms into my muscles—hard. “Listen to me: relax. Take a deep breath. You earned this, mi hermano. Relax.”
Relax. I can do that.
“She likes