George - Chapter Four: A Challenging Puzzle - Part One

So sorry this has taken awhile to post! The flu visited our house and has taken it's time moving out. 

Couple Notes:

- Because there's quite a bit of dialogue in this chapter, there are more pictures. To help with loading time to view the chapter, I split it into two parts.

- There is some language and also the song that goes with this chapter has language and references adult situations. Please take that into consideration before listening to it.

- A big thanks to Amandralynn for suggesting the song! It really helped set the tone for this chapter!

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As I walked my last patient for the day out the door, I felt my phone vibrate again in my pocket. That was the third time in the last two hours that I had felt it go off. I had been booked solid with patients that day and hadn’t had the time to check my phone. I continued to be social with my patient and tell them goodbye but I was having a hard time concentrating since I was thinking about who could have been calling me. As soon as they walked out of the office I pulled my phone out to see who had been calling me. I was somewhat shocked to see Charlotte’s number. We had talked multiple times each week since I had been to Bridgeport but we usually talked at night. I was somewhat concerned since it was early evening and she had called several times.

I selected her number to call and put the phone up to my ear.

“I guess I’ll be leaving, Dr. Davila. I’ll be here bright and. . .Oh! I’m sorry! You’re on the phone! I’ll leave you alone! See you tomorrow!” Mrs. Greene said.

“It’s okay, I’m just calling my sister. Have a good night, Mrs. Greene!” As she walked away I heard a voice on the other line.

“So who’s this Mrs. Greene?” I heard Charlotte’s voice on the other end ask. I hadn’t noticed that the ringing had stopped and that she had picked up.

“She’s my secretary, Charlotte.” 

“Is she young. . .”

“What is with you and Trev trying to set me up? No. She’s older than Mom and she’s married.”

“Damn. Well, there’s always you know who here. . .” Ever since I had come home from Bridgeport every single time I talked to Charlotte she would hint about Stephanie. For  two months; and no matter how many times I tried to convince her that I wasn’t interested, she just kept hinting. It had gotten to a point where Trev had hinted several times when I had talked to him.

“For the hundredth time, Charlotte, no.”

“Why not?”

“Because, the last thing I need is to get involved with someone who has issues. I’m telling you, it’s not just her ex or whatever he is. I’m pretty sure her problems come from long before that. Never mind the fact that we live in two different places. I tried a long distance relationship before and it didn’t work.”

“God! You’re such a psychologist! You had a long distance relationship? What happened?”

I really didn’t want to get into it with her about Christine. It had taken me quite a while to get over what had happened between Christine and me and even though I wasn’t angry or upset anymore, it just wasn’t something that I wanted to discuss.

“It didn’t work out. Maybe I’ll tell you some other time. As for this Stephanie obsession you have, stop; and tell Trev to stop too.”

“Fine.” She sounded disappointed.

“Is that what you were calling about?”

“No. I had an idea for Trev’s birthday.”

“Trev’s and Will’s birthday isn’t until later this month. Why would you do something now?”

“Because it’s so close to Christmas and we’ll be in Appaloosa then. Plus, I wanted to surprise him and he wouldn’t be surprised closer to his birthday so I thought we could do something now so he’ll be surprised.” I had to think about what she said for a second. It made sense; at least I thought it did. . .

“It’s too bad Will doesn’t live closer, we could do something for the both of them.” I admitted.

“I know. There’s no way we’re going to get Will to come here though.”

“No, not with Emily being pregnant and then he’s already said he won’t be coming for Christmas this year; so there’s no chance he’ll travel to Bridgeport for a birthday celebration. We should at least invite him.”

“Well, I’ll let you do that since out of the two of us you’re the one he seems to be comfortable talking to. I’ve talked to him twice since October and he’s acted like it was very uncomfortable for him.” Will and Trev had always been close because they were twins and he and I had gotten closer after Charlotte had run away but he and Charlotte had never been really close.

“Give him time, he’ll get comfortable with you again. You know him; he has to feel comfortable with someone before he’ll open up.”

“Anyway, you do that and I’ll plan what I’m guessing will be Trev’s party.”

“What exactly do you have planned?”

“Well, he and his teammates have been in the bar a couple times.” I rolled my eyes. “Stop rolling your eyes! He’s been doing really well.” I chuckled at the fact that she knew I had rolled my eyes.

“He’s still going to a bar. . .” I challenged her.

“I know but believe it or not, he’s been trying. I’ve only seen him have maybe two drinks the several times he’s been there.” I bit my lip trying not to respond. To Charlotte that was great, but in my opinion he needed to stay away from alcohol completely.

“Anyway, I talked to several of his teammates and we all thought it would be a good idea if we threw a party at his place.  You and I could take him out to dinner and then when we get back to his apartment, everyone else will be there to surprise him.”

“Who is everyone else?” I inquired.

“Some of his teammates, a few of his friends. . .”

“Friends, like girlfriends?”

“I’m guessing that’s what his teammates meant.” I once again rolled my eyes and bit my bottom lip. “And several people he knows from the bar. They’re going to get a DJ and, don’t freak, but Ethan is going to bartend so there will be drinks.”

I stood in my office thinking about how I really wanted no part in being an enabler to Trev’s drinking. I really would have just been happy to go out to dinner with him and Charlotte but I knew she was going to twist my arm and make me feel bad if I didn’t go to the party too. Plus, I would probably stay at Trev’s so it wasn’t like I could escape the party if that was the case.

I sighed. “So when is this all supposed to go down?”

“Can you come Friday night? I know that’s short notice but his teammates talked to me about it last night. We can go out to dinner after you get to his place and then everyone else can get into his place after we leave.”

“That’s four days away, Charlotte.” I knew Mom would be slightly disappointed too that I was going to see Charlotte again before she was getting to see her once.

“I know, but it’s for Trev. . .” She had always known how to make me feel bad.

“Fine. let me look at my calendar.” I walked to my computer and pulled up my schedule for Friday. “I only have two appointments. I thankfully try to keep Friday’s light so you’re lucky. I should be there by five. Will that be okay?”

“That’d be perfect! He’ll be so surprised and glad that you’re there! I’ll see you Friday!”

“Yup. See you then.”

I hung up and sat down in my computer chair. I wouldn’t have had such a negative reaction about this surprise party if there wasn’t going to be alcohol there. I could understand how Charlotte wouldn’t know how bad Trev’s battle with alcohol had been in the past, but what I didn’t understand was Trev’s teammates lack of caring. They knew firsthand how it had affected him. His football playing, attitude, even his overall personality was affected when he was drinking heavily. Sure, right now he didn’t seem to be drinking very much but it was a cycle with him; he would stop drinking then have a couple drinks here and there, eventually that turned into several drinks a day, and then it was like the flood gates were opened until something happened that made him go into treatment and then the cycle would start again. I knew that he wasn’t at the point where he would listen to anyone though. Unfortunately, it seemed that Trev was the type of guy that would have to hit rock bottom before he would snap out of it. At least I hoped he would snap out of it eventually. It was going to take more than just me trying to convince him though.

I got up and got my things together. I had another day that was full of patient sessions the next day and I needed to go running before I dove into the records I needed to review for the next day. The next several days flew by the same way that Monday had and before I knew it, Friday had arrived and I was on my way to Trev’s. 

I had called him Tuesday evening and told him that I was going to be in town and wanted to take him and Charlotte out for dinner. I had tried to convince him that I would stay at Charlotte’s, which I would have even though she had a studio apartment and I’d have to sleep on the couch, but he insisted that she and I stay at his place while I was in town. I had started to wonder why he just didn’t ask Charlotte to move in with him but I wasn’t sure if Charlotte would be happy living there with all the girls that Trev seemed to bring home.

I went through my usual routine when I arrived at his apartment; I pulled up to valet parking, talked to the man at the front desk, rode the elevator with the attendant, and then got off on Trev’s floor. Before I could even walk up to the door he was meeting me in the hallway.

“Hey little bro! Glad you could make it into the city this weekend!” We hugged and he grabbed my bag. “Charlotte’s in the living room, I’ll put your bag in the usual bedroom.”

“Thanks.” I walked into the living room and saw Charlotte staring out one of the windows. She heard me walk in and then ran over to give me a hug. She pulled away suddenly and had an excited look on her face.

“Isn’t this fun! He’s going to be so surprised! I really don’t think he has any idea! He’s been so excited about you coming back into town that he hasn’t talked about much else.”

“Are you sure? You know Trev, he’s one of the hardest people to surprise.” 

“I’m pretty sure. And as far as the title for the hardest person to surprise, that goes to you.” She joked but she was right; I was hard to surprise but Trev was a close second. “Shhh. He’s coming.” I started to smile because as secretive as Charlotte thought she was being, to me, all you had to do was look at the excited look on her face and you would know something was going on.

“So, where are we going to dinner?” Trev asked.

“Charlotte was telling me about a new Japanese place that just opened. . .”

“Did she happen to mention that it’s almost impossible to get into?” Trev pointed out

“No, but surely Trevor Davila can get us in the door. . .” I challenged him.

“Of course I can.” He smiled and patted me on the back.

We hung out for a little over an hour and then headed out to the restaurant. There was already a decent line waiting to get in even though it was only six o’clock. We walked up past them and Trev slipped the doorman some money and we were quickly rushed into the restaurant. The place was called The Jade Lounge and the inside lived up to the name. There were accents of the color jade spread throughout the restaurant. 

We were shown to three stools and were soon enjoying our dinner. I was glad that it was a Teppanyaki  style restaurant since that meant that our meal would take a little longer to eat which is what Trev’s friends needed, time. Charlotte and I had already discussed that if we needed more time between dinner and going back to Trev’s place that we would stop by her work and make up an excuse for her to have to stop there. We were just about finished with dinner when Charlotte’s phone rang. She excused herself and went to the opposite end of the restaurant to take the call. When she came back she turned to me and winked. That was our code for that everything was set at his place for us to return. I argued with Trev for several minutes about paying for dinner. I finally won by saying that it was an early birthday present from me. I paid our bill and we made our way back to his place.

 As we got in the elevator I wondered how his teammates were able to get up to Trev’s apartment. They had really tight security in this building. I was going to have to ask Charlotte at some point how people were able to get into his apartment. The elevator doors opened and we walked down the hall and then into his apartment. He was so busy talking to Charlotte and me that he didn’t notice that the furniture in the apartment had been moved and that there was now a DJ booth sitting in the living room. I noticed one of Trev’s teammates put his fingers up to countdown from three. When he got to zero everyone jumped up and yelled surprise. Trev turned around and looked surprised.

“What the hell is this?” He asked with a smile.

“Well, we figured the only way we were going to surprise you with a birthday party was to throw one a couple weeks before your birthday. So surprise!” Charlotte told him.

“You pieces of shit! You actually surprised me!!” He turned and looked at me. “And you were in on this?” I nodded. “I am so getting you back for this, bro.”

“I’d like to see you try.” I challenged him.

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll get you back.” He smiled and then turned around to talk to everyone. The DJ started the music and soon people were mingling, dancing, and drinking. Trev introduced me to some of his teammates that I didn’t know and I spent the first thirty mintues talking with Trev, Charlotte, and some of Trev’s teammates.

 I decided to take a break from mingling and made my way over to one of the window walls so I could do some people watching. I always enjoyed watching people at parties. It was fun to people watch and try to figure out their personality by their actions. As I stood there, leaning against the glass, I noticed a guy who was eyeing a girl that was dancing in the middle of Trev’s living room. 

I started placing bets in my mind about how long it would take him to make his move. He was a decent looking guy and seemed to be pretty sure of himself. I looked over at the girl and she was occasionally looking over at the guy but he still wasn’t making his move. 

I began to wonder what was holding him back; she didn’t seem to be there with anyone, at least not a guy. Maybe he was just one of those guys that liked to look.

Suddenly Trev was shouting at the DJ to play a song. I could tell by the way his speech was slurring that he had already had several drinks. I looked around him to see if Charlotte was close by but she wasn’t. I hadn’t heard the song he had requested but the second it came on I knew what it was. 

I heard the “Everybody get up. . .” and I rolled my eyes. It was then that I saw the guy that had been eyeing the dancing girl make his move. Really?! He waited till this song?! This was the last song that I would ever approach a girl with. I watched as the girl and guy started dancing together and they were leaving very little to the imagination. 

I was slightly embarrassed by what I was seeing. I turned my attention back to Trev and saw him dancing almost the same way with two girls. 

Leave it to Trev to one up someone. I looked back at the people dancing again and couldn’t help but think about how absurd the song was that they were all dancing to. Did they even listen to the words? What it said about what the guy wanted to do to the woman he was singing to? I mean I wasn’t a prude but this song was one that just got under my skin. Obviously Trev liked it. . .

I continued to stand against the glass and watch most of the people there dance to the song. I soon couldn’t take anymore and turned my attention to the people that weren’t dancing. I saw Ethan standing behind the bar bopping to the music as he mixed drinks. I saw him look up and across the room. I looked in the direction he was looking and saw Charlotte. She was completely blind if she didn’t notice that he was interested in her. 

I was definitely going to give her a hard time about that later. I chuckled thinking about it but stopped as I noticed someone walking in my direction.  She was walking up to me with a smile on her face. Before I had time to stop myself, I was smiling back.

Credits:

Poses:

Traelia's - Smile Pose Pack

IMHO's - Do not be sad, baby!

gergana creations - Secret Santa Pose Pack

Spladoum's - Quiet Storm (Dancing poses)