Page 51 of The Charm Offensive
He’s in no hurry to be alone with Dev, so he takes his time putting on his mustard-colored shorts and the beautiful floral-patterned shirt Jules picked out for him.
“Charlie,now. Get over here right now.”
Charlie sighs, goes into the adjoining room, and promptly freezes in horror in the doorway. Dev’s hotel room is full ofEver Aftercrew members. Skylar Jones has a party hat on her shaved head, and Ryan Parker blows into a noisemaker, and even Mark Davenport is there. Charlie has never seen the host off camera, but he’s here now, lounging on Dev’s bed. Jules stands in the middle of the room holding a cake.
“Happy birthday!” Dev shouts, and the woman standing next to Dev throws a literal armful of confetti into the air.
“Surprise, bitch!”
It’s Parisa.
Real-life Parisa Khadim, standing in Dev’s hotel room in New Orleans, wearing a power suit with her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. Dev’s got his greasy, unwashed hair shoved under a baseball cap. Charlie’s brain can’t fully process the image ofParisastanding next toDev, of these two people from two different parts of his life existing in the same physical space.
“What are you doing here?”
“Your handler convinced the show to let me travel with you for the next week as a birthday surprise!” Parisa claps Dev on the back, and Charlie’s head explodes. “Get over here and give me a hug, Hot-Ass.”
He takes a few shaky steps forward and lets her pull him into a hug. She wraps her round arms across his shoulders, and he collapses into the softness of her chest. He’s so unbelievably happy to see her. His real family doesn’t give a shit about his birthday, but Parisa—Parisa gives a shit about everything, and she’shere.
“Happy birthday to you,” Mark Davenport begins in an absurd falsetto, and the whole crew launches into an off-key rendition of “Happy Birthday.” Jules holds up the cake, and he blows out the candles, and Skylar starts cutting it into pieces, serving it on paper plates at nine in the morning. “Dev had me go all over town to find a gluten-free carrot cake, and honestly…” Jules eyes the cake skeptically. “I’m not sure it’s any good.”
Dev. Charlie turns to find him in the corner of the room, already massacring a giant slice of cake. “Thank you,” he sayswhen he stumbles over to him. “Thank you for this. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me on my birthday.”
The depressing thing is, he means it. No one has ever thrown him a surprise party, let alone flown his best friend across the country for him. But of course Dev would.
Dev stabs at his cake with a plastic fork. “Yeah, sorry if it’s… a lot. I planned the party before, uh, well…”
Before.
“Before what?” he asks seamlessly.
“Before nothing. Never mind.”
“Well, thank you,” Charlie says again.
More cake plates are passed around, and they eat quickly so they can head downstairs to where the vans await to take Charlie and Lauren L. on a swamp tour. Parisa falls into step with him as they leave.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” he tells her.
“I wouldn’t miss the chance to see you on your birthday.” Parisa watches Dev jog ahead to call the elevator. “So… that’s Dev, huh? He’s kind of cute.”
An irrational stab of jealousy lances through him. “He’s gay, Parisa.”
“I didn’t say he was cutefor me.”
Charlie whips his head around to see her knowing grin.Does she know?As his best friend, can she look at his mouth and automaticallytellthat three days ago, Dev’s tongue traced his lower lip?
And if she knows, what does she think?
If Parisa knew, she would probably be furious. She got him on this show so he can triage his reputation. She did not get him on this show to exchange illicit kisses with pretty boys on Bourbon Street.
But Dev isso pretty. Sometimes Charlie forgets, and then he sees a glimpse of Dev, and the perfect geometry of his face catches Charlie unaware, like it’s the first time he saw him. Like he’s falling out of a car at this man’s feet over and over again.
Up ahead, Dev presses the elevator button, lets the rest of the crew go first. Dev in his stupid baseball hat, Dev with his greasy hair, Dev with his cargo shorts, Dev with frosting on his face. Dev, who flew his best friend across the country for his birthday. Dev, who thinks Charlie deserves love.
Dev, who he kissed and can never kiss again.
Dev
