Chapter 24 - Part 1

                                    

                                          
"I don't understand why you won't take what I'm offering," Charlie said with exasperation. 
Jessica had known he would resist her decision, but it was her choice to make.
"I need to be able to do this on my own." 
He shook his head. "You need help, and it's okay to accept it."
This conversation was just getting more frustrating by the minute.
"This isn't up for discussion, Charlie." She had drawn a line that was not to be crossed. "You have been so good to me, more than I deserve, but this is something I have to do."
He gave her a frown. "You are fragile at the moment and I'm worried any undue stress will set you back. Can't you understand that?"
She nodded. "I know that, Charlie, but I can't spend the rest of my life dependent on you."
He stood up and walked over to the window overlooking the backyard.
"I don't want you to misunderstand that what I'm offering wouldn't just be from one friend to another." He turned to face her, leaning against the counter slightly. "I know that you don't feel the same way I do and I accept that we will never be more than friends, so I don't want you not to accept my help because you're worried I will see it as something else."
He didn't understand that had nothing to do with her decision.
"I have to be able to stand on my own, Charlie. As much as I appreciate all you've done for me, I need to be able to do this on my own." She felt like she was saying the same thing over and over again, but he wasn't listening.
There was a knock at the door and Charlie gave her one last intense look before he strode out of the kitchen to answer it. She followed him to stand in the doorway to see him greet Karsyn.
"What's going on?" Karsyn asked, looking between the tight-lipped Charlie and her.
"You called him," she muttered, glaring at Charlie, who refused to answer her. Why when she didn't do what he wanted did he involve Karsyn? Did he believe Karsyn would succeed where he had failed into talking her out of her decision?
"Why don't you tell me what this is all about?" Karsyn entered the living room, but she refused to move from the doorway.
Charlie shut the front door and came to stand in the room beside Karsyn.
"The decisions I make in my life aren't up for discussion," she stated stubbornly, refusing to allow them to feel they had a say when they didn't.
They had both helped her more than she would ever be able to repay, but that didn't mean they could tell her how to live her life.
Karsyn looked back at Charlie before moving his attention to her.
"Will someone tell me what this is about?" he asked, sounding frustrated that he had no idea what was going on.
Jessica hesitated for a fraction of a moment. "I got a job."
"A job?" Karsyn questioned. 
"Yes, a job," she stated, daring him to argue with her as well.
Instead of then questioning Charlie about why this had upset him so much, he kept his focus on her.
"What kind of job?" Karsyn asked. 
"What does it matter, Karsyn? It's a good paying job for someone who hasn't got any qualifications." She was getting angrier by the second. 
Karsyn studied her for a few moments. She knew what he was doing—he was trying to figure out how to approach her in a diplomatic way that wouldn't put her back up against the wall, but he was too late. She was angry and she wasn't going to budge, no matter what they said.