I first met Charlie in the university bar in ordination week. She was just about to start university and I was about to begin my PhD. I was wondering around with no specific aim as it seemed inappropriate to be working during O-Week and as always at university this had led me to the bar. To my great surprise I had found some people I knew who were still undergraduates (friends of my brother I think). I sat down at their booth to have a chat and waste some time.
There were a bunch of people I did not know who kept floating in and out of the booth to get drinks and play pool. One girl especially caught my eye. She was short, pale and skinny with dyed black hair, wearing tight black jeans and a thin light red t-shirt, through which you could see her black bra. I remember checking out her arse as she leant over the pool table to take a shot and wondering what she would look like naked (hey, my head is a crude place).
As the afternoon progressed she disappeared to do O-Week things and I stayed in the bar as you will tend to do when you have been at university at the beginning of six previous years. To say I had given up hope of meeting her would be slightly incorrect, I had in fact almost forgotten about her like all the other cute but seriously too young girls I had ogled that day. You will therefore appreciate my surprise when she dropped into the booth next to me and said "Hi there, I'm Charlie. I noticed you staring at my bum before. What's your name?"
Despite my shock we did then proceed to have a fairly normal conversation. I discovered that she was about to start a degree in International Relations and that her real name was Charlotte, but I was never to call her that. I, of course, tried to impress her with talk about my PhD and the law degree I had just finished. I made the traditional noises like "If you need help with an essay come see me" and gave her worldly advice about which courses to take, what lectures to avoid and most importantly how to cheat the system.
Charlie and her new residential college friends had tickets to do the pub crawl that evening and she insisted that I come with them (what can I say; I've never been able to say no to a cute girl with big brown eyes). For those who have not been on an O-Week pub crawl, the group move around a set of bars and you get a wrist band with entitles you to a drink at each. For those of us who have survived law school with intact livers this is not much of a challenge. The going is slow and it's hard to get a second drink at each venue due to the large volume of people. On the other hand, for 18 year olds who have never really drunk publically before, the pub crawl can be diabolical. I therefore found myself a chaperone of a group of five or six (it was tough to keep track) quite inebriated teenage girls.
I think at this point it may be prudent for me to tell you a bit about myself. In many was I am Mister Average. I am on the shorter side of average height with brown hair and grey eyes, have an average body (fairly fit, but by no means ripped) and even, if the internet is to be believed, a slightly above average sized cock (although it is well above average girth). In fact, apart from being quite academically gifted, there is very little that is memorable about me.
However, the thing about me that will have the greatest bearing on this story is that I have a girlfriend. Her name is Emma and ironically enough I met her in the same bar I met Charlie almost six years to day earlier, although it took me almost six months to get up the courage to ask her out. Emma is one of the few people I know who is actually smarter than me and consequently landed herself a plumb job working on a government outreach program in Southeast Asia that is seeking to educate people about the increased risk of tropical pathogens due to climate change. I will tell you more about Emma later as she will come up again, but she is important to place my interaction with Charlie in context. This is definitely not a cheating story. Emma appreciates that a man has needs and went as far as to suggest I seek out casual sex partners while she was away. In fact I keep her informed of my exploits which provides fuel for some pretty good cyber-sex. Consequently, I had no interest in taking my 'relationship' with Charlie any further that the pure physical, a desire that I believe was mutual.
Back on the pub crawl, we had finally made it to the last stop, the town's most famously dodgy nightclub. Charlie's friends had behaved surprisingly well, only limited random making out and not one had tried to walk off with a stranger. Consequently I had actually had fun. I had danced with each of them and they had only laughed at me a bit. Although they were all definitely drunk they had not progressed to the point of falling over and throwing up, always a problem when drinking with teenage girls.
Finally at around 2 am it was announced that the organisers would be walking those who were finished drinking back to the residential colleges. I pointed out to the girls that this was a good offer as drunk first years are renowned for getting lost and the university grounds have been the backdrop for the rape of a number of students as they walk home. My house was on the route back to campus so I joined the group and we headed off. When we got to my turnoff if hugged each of the girls and sent them on their way.
Actually it was not until I was opening my front door that I noticed I was not alone. I do not know how Charlie got away from her friends, but she certainly gave me a surprise when she squeezed my arse as I was haphazardly trying to get my key in the lock. As I spun around to find out who was assaulting me she quite literally grabbed my face and stuck her tongue in my mouth. The smell of her perfume and conditioner combined with a hint of sweat from dancing all night was intoxicating. The smell of a girl the first time you kiss her is always burned into your memory. To this day when I catch a whiff of something similar to how she smelled that night I am instantly back in that movement of combined confusion and arousal. Her mouth was pleasant, her tongue felt smooth against mine and her lips tasted of grape lip-gloss. I do not know who she managed to get the door open behind my back (I guess I had the key in the lock), but the next thing I knew I was being pushed into my apartment while Charlie continued her attack on my mouth.
My apartment is not large so the path to the bedroom does not take long. I know a flicked the light on the way through the door. Charlie and I stood just inside the bedroom door next to the bed and continued to make out in earnest. Just when I was beginning to wonder if I would have to start making the pace Charlie broke our kiss and looked straight at me. As I said previously I have a weakness for cute girls with big brown eyes, so you will understand when I say that I can recall that moment with perfect clarity, more than any other with Charlie. For that split second I felt I could see straight to her soul, her excitement and her fear. However, this moment of perfect connection was broken when her face spit into a brilliant, mischievous grin.
At that moment I was struck by a bout of paralysing guilt. Here was a girl who was giving herself to me and I was not available to receive it. I reached forward to cup her cheek and said and a low serious voice, although every fibre of my body was screaming for me not too, "There is something you need to know. I have a girlfriend who is currently living overseas who I love very much." I saw Charlie deflate a little from her exuberance so I quickly continued "She is quite happy for me to see other people while she is away, but you need to know what this is."
Charlie cocked her head to the side and observed my face for a couple of seconds before saying "Most guys wouldn't tell a girl that."
I shrugged and replied "I'm not most guys I guess."
