"Mmhmm," Alicia couldn't repress the smile. She knew now that he must have some form of an idea at how women pack their clothes. It was just how they were. They thought of everything before a trip. At least that's what she did. She packed everything shy of her blow dryer because the hotel already offered that.

Stepping out into the hallway, she took a few turns before arriving to the hallway her room was at. She slid her keycard in and entered the room. It was neat, but you could tell that room service had been by to clean up. "Come on in and make yourself comfortable while I change," she told him.

Heading straight for one of her bags, she opened it up and dug through. She pulled out a pair of faded blue jeans, and a pale blue t-shirt, which brought out her blue eyes. "It'll only take me a minute." She went to step into the bathroom then quickly stepped out. "Oh, don't let me forget my laptop bag," she pointed over towards the breakfast table. Sitting down next to it was a black bag. Then, she went back into the bathroom to hurrily get ready.

Charlie nodded a bit, "Alright" he responded to the request about the laptop bag. He walked over and grabbed it, putting it on the bed so it wouldn't be forgotten. He looked around the room- it was definitely better than his place... He had warned her too, and she still wanted to go with him. Maybe he should warn her again, he thought before saying: "Are you really sure you wanna give up this room? I mean, yeah, I've got Bailey, but this room is far nicer than any of the ones in my house..." he said, looking around still.

Alicia popped her head out of the bathroom. She already had her shirt on, but she was working on her pants. She was hopping on one leg before she stepped out. "Do you think I care about what it looks like? I really don't. This is the place the secretary at the office booked for me. They have certain hotels in each city that they have their own input on. This happened to be one of them. Honestly, don't worry about it. My apartment isn't that nice, but I love it because it's lived in. These hotels are just that, so lonely."

She walked towards him and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "You worry too much." Then, as if it was no longer part of the discussion she sat down on the bed to get her socks on. "I just have to get my shoes on and we can go."

Charlie nodded, and looked up at her looking out from the bathroom, "They're lonely and so formal... They focus more on luxury than actual comfort." he said, "But that's just my experience." he said, half smiling.

"Well, if you're sure, then you're completely welcome to my house." he said, "And I don't mind waiting." he smiled, rounding up her stuff so he could carry what he could."[/b]

"Actually, you're exactly right."

Alicia finished getting her shoes on. She got up from the bed, grabbing the laptop case as she did. Then she went over to grab one of her suitcases. She didn't want Charlie to carry everything.

"I am completely sure, and thank you," she told him, yet again. She really did appreciate that he was going to allow her to bunk at his place. It would be nice to do her thing in an environment that wasn't so lonely.

"I could take that." he said, grabbing what she had left for him, "Weren't you going to call down to the front desk? Or did you change your mind because we have time to spare?" he smiled, she had asked him to remind her, and even though she had possibly changed her mind, he wanted to make sure he did so anyway. He was trying to he helpful, thoughtful even.

"Thank you," Alica told Charlie. He was being very gentlemanly. He had even remembered that she needed to call down to the front desk, which she had forgotten about. "Oh, that's right! Well, if you're planning on carrying most of the load I'll just check out downstairs as we exit. It shouldn't take me but a couple of minutes," she said.

She did one last check of her room before she went to the door and held it open for Charlie. She couldn't believe she was doing this. It excited and thrilled her to get to spend more time with him and know him better.

((Sorry I didn't post sooner! I thought I posted sooner, but it didn't submit, I guess! Sooo sorry! Why didn't you say anything? Lol))


Charlie nodded, "No problem. I'm here to help." he laughed, "So yeah, I've got the bulk." he said, taking the bags he was left to carry. They were, as he expected, a bit on the heavy side. "Lead the way." he said, walking out the door she had open. He stood out in the hallway, smiling a little.

((LOL! I'm sorry. I kind of forgot myself. :( It was these damn holidays.))

She did a quick last sweep of the room, making sure she didn't leave anything on the floor or the nightstand. Then, she followed Charlie out, closing the door behind them.

Once in the lobby Alicia stopped at the front desk to checkout, which didn't take but a few moments, as she figured. They already had all the billing info for her company, she just had to give them her signature.

"That was pretty quick," she came back up next to Charlie. "Are you sure I can't take some more of this?" If he declined, which she thought he would, she quickly got the doors and held them open for him.

When they were at the desk, though it was only breifly, Charlie took the opportunity to set her thigns on the floor. Momentarily or not, the rest was welcome to his red fingers. When it was time to move, he picked the bags back up, waving off her offer, "No, I can carry them." he said, thanking her for opening the doors for him. It wasn't far to the truck anyway, and when he got there, he placed them in the back, in the truck bed. He knew they'd be alright back there, but he checked the tailgate anyway, just to be sure.

Then, he went around to the passanger side and opened her door for her, once again, smiling.

As she suspected. Charlie was always the gentleman. That was one of the traits Alicia loved about him. There weren't a whole lot of men like that these days. "Thank you," she murmured as he did all this for her, even when he opened the passenger door.

She hopped on in and buckled up. She didn't think she'd need the safety harness by Charlie's driving, but it was the other drivers she was worried about. It wouldn't be much longer before she'd get to meet his dog. She was so excited about this! "So, when you're at work or whatever, do you mind if I take Bailey on walks?"

When he got in the truck, she was already buckled and asking about Bailey. Charlie laughed as he buckled his own seatbelt, "Of course you can. I'm sure he'd like that. Just be careful where you go. My place is surrounded by woods and there's no sidewalks. Bailey can protect you from animals, but not so much cars." he told her, backing out of the space and heading towards the town, which he would have to pass through to get to his road, "Is there anywhere else you need to stop before we get to my place?" he asked, looking at her a moment before back to the road.

"Oh good," Alicia smiled. She loved animals but, more importantly, dogs. "You really are outside of town." Not that she minded. She liked being away from the city. She lived and worked in the city. If she could have a life outside of it she would think it was pleasant. It'd be nice to get away from the everyday hustle and bustle.

She shook her head to his last question, "No, I think I'm good for right now, but thank you."

Charlie double backed to look at Alicia, "Yeah, yeah I am pretty far out... That's not a problem, is it?" he asked, continuing straight through town and towards his place. Eventually, as they drove, the trees started getting closer and closer together and the woods became denser. Then, the houses became less and less, one every hundred feet or more.

It was about ten minutes after the left town that you could see the flower-painted wooden mailbox at the end of Charlie's driveway. He turned down it and took about half a minute to see the large, gray painted house with dark blue shudders. The fence that went around the house extended to meet the sides of the wooden porch, and Bailey came running around and jumped up, putting his front paws on and shaking the fence before they had even parked. "Damn dog, he gets any bigger and I'll have to put up a new fence." he laughed a little, shaking his head and putting the truck in park in the dirt to the right of the house. "We should bring your stuff to your room before we let Bailey in the house. Once he's in, he'll be all over you and everything." he smiled at Alicia, getting out of the truck and immediately pulling the things out of the bed.

"Oh, no! Not a problem at all! I love the outdoors. I don't get out in it often enough, living in the city and all." It wasn't long before they were pulling up into Charlie's drive. The moment Bailey hopped up on the fence Alicia's face lit up. "Awwww! He's so adorable!"

She didn't even give Charlie time to hop out and help her out of the truck, like his usual routine. She had unbuckled and hopped out, heading straight over to the fence. "Hi Bailey!" She brought a hand over the fence, scratching the dog behind the ears. "You're a cute one!"

Charlie laughed, grabbing her things as Bailey sniffed and licked at Alicia's hand, his tail wagging so quickly the whole time, it barely looked like he had one at all. He carried the bags up to the stairs, laughing he said, "Come on, Alicia, the sooner you can get settled in, the sooner you can meet him without the fence." he reminded her.

Alicia gave the dog one more scratch behind the ears. "I'll see in just a moment, Bailey." She left the poor dog. He looked like he was ready to bust through the fence. She hoped she hadn't gotten him too riled up.

She ran over to the stairs, quickly moving up them to follow Charlie into the house. So far she loved the place. "It's beautiful out here," she told him.

The walked into a foyer with hard wood floors, which also extended into the dining room to the left of them. To the right was a dark blue carpet under mismatched furniture: a green sofa against the wall paralell to them, an old red and yellow plaid arm chair diagonal from where they stood in the foyer, and a wooden stool with white legs sitting alone in the corner farthest from him, near an open doorway that led to the kitchen, as well as sheer green curtains on the one window behind the television. In the living room, there was also a television placed on a metal rack, and a DVD player on the shelf directly below it, straight across from the couch. There were pictures on the wall: a family portrait of Charlie's mother, father, sister and him, one of Charlie and his sister, Charlie's mother and sister and one of the three of them; their father was only in the one.

Peeking in the dining room one could see an oval wooden table with matching chairs and a plant hanging in one of the two windows on the same wall as the door in the foyer. There was an open doorway that lead to the kitchen in that room as well.

Charlie led Alicia up the stairs, which were carpeted in a beige which had dirtied over the years and Charlie never thought to clean. At the top of the stairs, you could see all the doors to the three rooms: To the left was Charlie's room, the door was shut, straight ahead was the bathroom, whose door was open, and the room its self was sandwiched between Charlie's and the guest-Alicia's- bedroom. Charlie kept that door closed so Bailey couldn't get in and tear anything apart. Charlie took the closed door as an opportunity to set the bags down and he turned around to look at Alicia, "Now remember, I warned you, it's not exactly a five star hotel..." he smiled.

Alicia was taking in everything as they strolled through the house. She thought the place was homely and cute. Her blue eyes gazed over the pictures of him and his family on the wall, but there was no time for her to ask questions. She knew there'd be enough time for that later. For now, she needed to figure out where she would be set up.

She knew she had a lot of work to do, so she would do that once she settled in. One, she needed to call the office and inform them where she was staying, so if they really needed to get a hold of her, maybe her cell didn't work for some strange reason.

Once they got upstairs, she glanced at the closed door then the bathroom then over to the other door that was closed. It looked like on each side of the bathroom was a bedroom. That's what she was guessing. "I like it, Charlie. I think it's homely and looks lived in," she smiled, waiting for him to open the door to her room.

((Homely means ugly. You think Charlie's house is ugly and cute? Lol))

Charlie smiled at her comments, "Alright." he said, opening the door to her room. It was the only room in the house where nearly everything matched. There were two windows in the perfectly rectangular room: one on the wall to the left and one straight ahead, to the left of the bed, which was straight ahead when one entered the room. The floor was carpeted in off-white, and the walls were white, matching the bed which was white with dark red flowers, with one matching pillowcase and the other two cases were the dark red. The curtains matched that, as well as the lapshade on the bedside table. The walls were bare, except for a painting on the wall to the right, which was a landscape of a river and a large amount of flowers and shrubbery.

Charlie grabbed the bags and stepped into the room and to the side so he could set her luggage out of the way and so Alicia could enter and look around. While putting the bags down, "My sister picked out the bedding and stuff a long time ago, and she did the painting as well. She was always so damn proud of that painting." he laughed, "Better than most people who call themselves artists can do, I'd say." he said, feeling proud of his sister, just as he was always reminded when he walking into that room. It was hard not to be proud of his sister.

((Dammit! I meant to type comely, not homely!! D: Or did I? Maybe I meant to say it was cute and ugly! XD))

Alicia stepped into the room. She couldn't find anything that she didn't see that wasn't pleasing. The painting on the wall. That's where her blue gaze fell and stayed for a period of time. It was beautiful, no - that didn't justify the painting, "That's breathtaking."

But she didn't stand and stare at the one wall. She glanced around, taking in the rest of her surroundings before she went over to the bed and sat down on it with a little pounce. "It's comfy," she looked back at Charlie and smiled. "I love it. I really do," she told him.

((It's fine. xP Cute in an ugly way? Lol))

Watching her with a smile he noticed how she seemed to be honest about what she was saying,, "Thanks, I'm sure my sister would be happy to hear you say that." he smiled wider. "I'm glad you like the room, Alicia." he said, moving away from the wall he was near, "So, do you want to unpack now, or go meet Bailey, who's probably trying to tear down the gate by now." he laughed.

"Your sister is so talented," Alicia smiled. Her eyes would dart towards the door with his last question. "Unpack? Are you kidding?! I'll do that later! I can't wait to meet Bailey. I'm going to spoil this dog while I'm staying with you." She laughed and stepped out of the room. Bailey was going to be so much fun. She was so excited!

Charlie smiled and nodded in agreement, not quite able to bring himself to say that his sister was talented, when she was alive. When her reaction to Bailey came up, Charlie couldn't help but laugh, "That shouldn't be hard. He's already spoiled, being an only dog and all." he said, following her out of the room. He smiled and looked at her as he moved in front of her to lead her out to Bailey, hoping she wouldn't push him over for getting in front of her- and between her and Bailey. Though he half expected it, it was only a joke in his mind, to himself.

Hopping down the stairs one by one, he went in through the living room and into the kitchen, where the sliding back doors were. "Prepare yourself," he warned her, "He'll jump right on yah. Just push him off and tell him no if he does." he said as the dog came bounding up that back stairs onto the porch as the door began to open. He laughed as the dog could hardly contain himself. Charlie tortured him by opening the door very slowly, until Bailry could fit his nose in and force it open.


Once the dog was inside, he was beside himself; running around in circles, viciously wagging his tail and barking happily, until he finally found Alicia. Bailey sniffed all around her, circling her too like a vulture, then he began to jump with his fron t legs barely getting off the floor. Charlie was sure he'd knock her over if he jumped on her, so every time the dog began to jump, he told him 'no' and all four paws would be on the floor again. Bailey was a huge yellow lab, who still thought he was an itty bitty puppy. Just because he had been the runt of the litter, he thought he was still a small dog, when in fact, he had grown larger than his brothers and sisters in the litter.

Alicia nodded. It wasn't hard to spoil pets or people, for that matter. She didn't mind spoiling animals though. They weren't as intelligent to understand that what they were getting things handed to them in a silver platter. She followed Charlie down the stairs, unable to contain her excitement to meet Bailey.

She followed Charlie into the kitchen. "I'm prepared," she nodded in understanding what Charlie was requesting. She smiled as the dog pushed its nose between the door and wall, pushing the door open.

The dog was just excited as she was. She laughed as it ran circles around her, sniffing and pushing its nose against her pants. The jumping didn't bother her that much. She brought a hand down onto Bailey's head, trying to calm it down. She crouched down, sliding her hands over the dogs neck. She pat the sides of Bailey's neck and talked to the dog in a soothing voice. "You're just a cutie," she grinned.