Chapter Forty-Four: Charlotte’s Plan:

December 21st, 2010.

8:00 p.m.

Charlotte sat in the living room with her tea. She decided to try a new approach.

“Takashi-kun,” she said. “Let’s go on a date on Christmas Eve.” The angel paused.

“Date?” he asked.

“Yes. We will dress up and go out somewhere.”

“Go where?”

“I don’t know, anywhere.”

“Anywhere?”

“Yeah.” Charlotte leaned forward. “Please?”

“What for?”

She timed herself to keep her patience. “You stay cooped up in the apartment all day. You need to get out and enjoy the city with me. You need this. Please?”

Takashi sat thinking. “Being outside would be nice for a change. Alright, we’ll go out on Christmas Eve.”

Charlotte breathed to calm down. She already began planning their date. It would be best to start off simple. Maybe a concert and dinner. They didn’t have to be all fancy. This was Takashi after all. They had known each other for quite some time. She didn’t have to try and impress him.

“You seem happy,” Takashi said.

“Hm?” Charlotte asked. The angel kind of smiled.

“Did something good happen at work today?” he asked. Charlotte set down her cup and walked over to Takashi.

“Not at work,” she said. “Just now.” She kissed him on the lips. He pulled her into his arms.

Such a move threw her for a loop. Charlotte about reluctantly crawled into his lap. She pulled away, wide-eyed.

“Did you enjoy that?” Charlotte asked.

“Yes,” Takashi said.

“What part?”

“The kiss. Uh… Can we do it again?”

“What? Kiss?”

Takashi nodded once. Charlotte noticed his cheeks turning light red. Her own cheeks began turning red too.

“Oh… Well… Uh… Okay!” She leaned in and kissed him again. His hands rubbed on her back. This… This was progress looked like. Takashi appeared to not get it up until now. Maybe now… Maybe now they could go further and build a real relationship.

Charlotte pulled away and smiled. She already had the perfect Christmas Eve date.

“What?” he asked. She gently put her finger to his lips.

“You’ll have to see in three days,” she said in a low voice. Charlotte gave him a quick kiss before heading to her room. Takashi tilted his head.

“Okay, then…” he said. Meanwhile, Charlotte walked back, snickering and grinning to herself.