Who: Sappho and Lewis Carroll What: Old friends being adorable When: Monday afternoon Where: Sappho's summer residence
There were very few women Charles could handle being around, but Sappho was one of them. The two of them had met decades earlier and had kept in touch since then. To Charles, she was non-threatening. She enjoyed the fact that he wrote long, introspective letters to her, and he didn't complain when she wrote back half in verse. Their friendship was easy, almost like breathing. So when Sappho opened the door to find her dear friend on the other side of it, grinning away, she couldn't help but grin too. "Charlie!"
Charles grimaced at the nickname but he stepped inside to hug her tightly. "It's been years, Sappho."
"You're thinner," Sappho noted with a hint of worry as she let him go to look him up and down.
"I am not!" Charles insisted. "You look wonderful."
"I look dusty," Sappho corrected. And she was a little dusty, as he had caught her going through boxes of things, her hair up in an awkward bun with strands falling into her face. She blew some of it out of her eyes with a puff of breath and then she smiled widely at him. "You told me you were coming to New York but I didn't expect you so soon."
"I wanted to be somewhere with people I knew. I was staying with the Grimms for a while. Now I am staying with Hans Andersen while his roommate is away."
Sappho noticed the flush that came to Charles' cheeks when he mentioned Hans' name, but she graciously chose not to mention it. She would let Charles bring it up when he was ready, which was one of the reasons he was comfortable around her. She understood, too, why he hadn't wanted to stay with her. Safe or no, Charles didn't do well sleeping in the same apartment with a woman. She knew from experience that he paced around all night, which kept her up thanks to creaking floorboards.
"Well I'm glad you're here," she finished up. "I was rearranging some of my things for storage while I have time before I have to go through the late applicants to my school. You would be surprised at the excuses some people find to try to get in late."
"Dear Miss Clemens, I regret to inform you that our family dog ate our application paper and we have only now been able to secure another application to send it in."
Sappho laughed and she swatted Charles' arm. "I've been sent bribes before. It's madness, these parents who decide that their children will have no future if they don't get in to a private school." Sappho rubbed her hands on her jeans and then she led Charles from the entry way into the kitchen. "I've done enough re-arranging for today. You catch me up with your life and I will make us some lunch. Then you are going to watch a movie with me and relax for five minutes, hmm?"
Charles smiled and he nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"That is what I like to hear," Sappho grinned back at him. She had missed him a great deal. He caught her up, mostly avoiding the topic of Hans. Then she caught him up while they ate, filling him in on her latest relationship which was now incredibly over. By the end of the afternoon, they were curled up on the couch, Sappho leaning against Charles' shoulder, fast asleep while he watched the movie without her, letting her sleep.