Mateless and Luna Bound (Self Published)

Chapter 10: A New Job

Authors Note: So Charlie is basically the opposite of me. I like to be lazy and stay in bed most of the day writing, and he likes to be up and moving all the time. The early bird with the friendly smile is back in action and itching to get out of bed! Thank you for getting this far, and enjoy!

-Saturn

The next day, Charlie woke up bright and early to another big breakfast. His stomach was slowly getting used to this meal plan, but he still wound up with a lot of food left over. He still felt guilty about wasting so much of it.

This time he was by himself for breakfast. Usually Dr. Button would sit with him in the mornings. Max liked to sleep in, so he would always wind up eating at a later time. Charlie was glad that Max didn't try to wake up as early as he did. It wasn't healthy if he didn't get a good night's sleep. Although it would be interesting to see how he looked like when he first got up in the morning.

Did he sleep with clothes on? Or....

Ever since what happened in the hallway, Charlie couldn't get these thoughts to leave his mind. He could still feel the man's arm around him, and his hand cupping his face. It was almost impossible to sleep.

He wished he could get himself to believe that there was no way that this would work out. Charlie still had work and an apartment. Max wasn't meant to be with someone like him. He was meant to be with someone else who was rich and successful. Charlie didn't have either of those things. He was just the guy that everyone either took advantage of, or took pity on. As much as Charlie hated to think like that, it was true. He wasn't meant for anyone. He was meant to work and struggle until he could finally get success. That's something he realized when he got out of school.

Tears started welling in his eyes. This was not the time to think these thoughts. He was alone, which is when his mind liked to wander into things like these, but he couldn't eat when he was getting upset.

Instead of trying to force himself to eat anything else, Charlie left it on the tray and slipped out into the hallway. He needed to get out of the room. Hopefully, the library would be open so he could find something to read in there. He knew that Max wouldn't be up for a couple more hours at least. And Charlie desperately needed a distraction from his thoughts - all of them.

The library was locked. It must be too early for someone to open it. He wondered why they kept the library locked at night. But he figured that if you had such priceless things, you'd probably want to lock them up at night too.

Charlie wound up wandering. There wasn't really much else to do. He got up at five and hadn't really seen anyone else up this early. He had the sleeping schedule of an old man. Even if he stayed up late, he would wind up waking up at the same time as always. Even when he closed the restaurant at 2am. He'd wind up getting home at 4am and only getting an hour or two of sleep before his mind would be up again, wanting something to do.

It helped when he opened the restaurant, though. That was his favorite shift, though it wasn't the best shift if you needed tips. The people were always nice, and there was always something to do in the kitchen to get it all started up. Charlie would always help Ryan whenever he had extra time. Whether it was starting up the coffee, or washing some extra dishes for him. It always helped put Ryan in a cheery mood. They worked well together.

He missed working, honestly. He loved keeping his hands busy and meeting new people. It always led to an interesting conversation. And it was much better than not being able to talk to anyone in the morning.

There were always so many elderly people that loved talking in the morning. They would talk to him about just about everything. Whether it be about the wars they were in, or just about how adorable their grandchildren were, Charlie loved to hear their stories. Most of them were more talkative than the rest of the people who came in. Although, he did have a few women that were really talkative towards him.