GTFO

                                    

                                          
"I'd rather not," Charlie replied as he prepared to slam the door in Ben's face.
"Don't be a baby," Ben scoffed as he offered Charlie a filled tote bag.
"What's this?" he wondered, cautiously taking the bag from the last man on the planet he wished to speak to.
"The rubbish you left behind. A hat, a jumper, crap like that," Ben informed him as he brushed his dark hair from his eyes. 
Charlie couldn't help but glare at him. "You went through my things?"
"You didn't leave me much of a choice, the way you left. You know, you could have handled this situation, well..." he thought on it, "a little more maturely. No need to throw a tantrum."
Charlie quickly scoped out the tote bag then firmly placed his hand on the door. "Thank you for bringing my things but you really shouldn't have come here."
"I wanted to," he tried to peek behind Charlie into the flat. "Nick's not around?"
"You should leave. And stop texting me," Charlie grumbled as he shut the door on Ben. 
A moment later, another ring of the doorbell.
Angry now, Charlie charged the door, flung it open, and snapped, "just piss off, would you?!" 
"Rude," Tao sneered before he elbowed his way into the flat. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion as Charlie locked the door shut and set a tote bag down on the kitchen counter. "I bumped into Ben in the hallway."
Charlie, who was still only in a t-shirt and his boxers, sat back down on the couch and put his head in his hands.
"I swear," Tao warned, "if you are sleeping with that twat, I will literally murder you for your poor judgement."
"Don't worry. I wouldn't." Noticing that the sweater and pants he had taken off for Nick were still splayed out on the couch next to him, Charlie quickly got dressed, humiliated that both Tao and Ben had seen him in this state. 
"What was all that, then?"
"I don't really wanna talk about it," Charlie confessed before shifting subjects. "What are we eating tonight?"
Although Charlie knew Tao wanted to press the issue, he focused instead on Charlie's enthusiasm for their meal.
That night, after Tao went home and Charlie was snuggled up in bed for the night, Charlie scrolled through his messages from the last three days. They were mostly from Ben and his boss, Patricia. 
Charlie didn't bother reading any of Ben's texts, opting instead to delete every single one and block his new number. 
After a string of messages Charlie had left unread until now, Patricia accepted Charlie's abrupt resignation. He had only worked at her bookshop for a few weeks before she gave her nephew, Ben a job. His shifts nearly matched Charlie's. Had he known that his boss was related to his sort-of ex, Charlie would have never applied for the summer position. 
He had tried to muscle through. He really had, but Charlie broke. Three days earlier, he had taken a lunch break and never returned to the bookshop. At this point he was so humiliated that he couldn't see how he could ever go back. 
He should have told Nick today on the phone. They usually talked about everything. Nick had been so proud of him, though. Plus, hearing about Ben would only cause him to worry on his trip. Charlie would tell Nick everything when he got home. He promised himself as much.
After a while of stewing in his own thoughts, Charlie was finally drifting to sleep when a quiet thud sounded from outside of the bedroom. Then footsteps. Someone else was here.