Read Charlie All Night for Free Online Page B

the restaurant
and he'd followed them home, parking
behind Joe on a side street away from the blare of the traffic.
He
joined them, and Joe gestured to a three-story white brick house. "This
is us. Three apartments. We've
got the second floor."

The house was simple but elegant in its proportions, and Zharlie felt
good just looking at it. "Very nice." he said and bllowed them up the
wide stone steps and into the cream-valled hallway.

It was a great house. A comfortable house.

That made him uneasy. Getting too comfortable would be bad because
he was leaving in November. Maybe he'd be better off in a really
ugly motel.

"Come on up, Charlie," Allie called to him from the stairway, and her
voice was husky, and he began
to climb the steps to her without thinking
about it.
    *  *  *
They showed him around the apartment: a big cream and peach living room
with two couches and lots
of lamps and bookcases, a white kitchen
big enough for a full-size oak table and a mass of cooking
gear, a
large sea-green bathroom about the size of the bedroom in Charlie's
last apartment with in old clawfoot tub about the size of his old bed,
and two arge bedrooms, one in gray and red for Joe, and
one in peach md
white for Allie. It confirmed all Charlie's suspicions that Joe and
Allie
were wonderful, warm, generous people who shouldn't be allowed out
without a keeper.

"This is great," Charlie said when they were back in the iving room.
"But you people are nuts."

Allie flopped down on one of the overstuffed couches. "Why?

"I'm a complete stranger and you just invited me into your ipartment
and showed me everything you own." Charlie hook his head at both of
them. "You're asking to be ripped off."

"Nope. We know BUI." Joe headed back to the kitchen. "Want something to
drink?"

"Iced tea, please," Allie called after him, and Charlie sat down across
from her.

"What does Bill have to do with it?"

Allie snuggled down into the couch cushions, and Charlie let his mind
wander for a moment. Allie
was as well-upholstered as the couch. A
comfortable woman. The kind of woman without angles
or sharp bones or—

"Bill owns the station." Allie said. "And nothing or nobody gets in the
station that Bill doesn't know everything about. If he hired you, he's
seen your baby pictures."

Since Bill was Charlie's father's college roommate, this was truer than
Allie knew, but Charlie was
still not convinced. "You're telling me
it's impossible for Bill to have hired a creep? Then how did
he get
Mark?'

Allie grinned. "You're biased. Mark's not so bad. He's a little
insecure, and he's ambitious for his
show, but who wouldn't be?"

"Me," Charlie said.

Joe came back in the room bracketing three iced-tea glasses in his
hands. "You're not ambitious?"
he asked as Charlie took
one.            

"Nope. I'm just here to have a good time." Charlie leaned back
and sipped his tea. It was full and
rich, sun tea laced with just
enough lemon and sugar. He settled more comfortably into the couch.
"And it's a good thing I'm not ambitious since I'm on from 10:00 to
2:00 a.m."

Allie smiled at him brightly. It was a smile he was learning to
associate with Positive Career Talk.
"The time could be a lot better,"
she told him. "But don't worry. I'm going to make you a star."

"No, you are not." Charlie narrowed his eyes at her. The " only thing
that was going to save him
was that he was on so late, nobody would
notice how inept he was; All he needed was Allie drawing attention to
him as he stuck a microphone in his eye or something, and then
questions would be asked. "Don't you
even think about holding up a cue card for me. I told you. I don't want
to be a star."

Joe snorted. "You don't have any choice. If Allie wants you famous,
you're going to be famous."

"Forget it," Charlie told Allie. "Wipe the thought from your mind."

"We can talk about it later," Allie said smoothly. "Now, tomorrow
night's your first show and
I thought—"

"Don't." Charlie scowled at her. "Thinking is