Looking up at the sound of someone coming up to him, Charlie worked very hard not to jump in reaction. It didn't make any sense for him to react that way -- Finley wasn't his enemy, and if things had been different then perhaps he'd eventually like to call her his friend. As it was, his position on the staff complicated things. More to the forefront, the recent dream he had complicated things a great deal more. Even as softly as she spoke and as non-threatening as her posture was, Charlie leaned back the slightest bit away from her. His eyes searched her face in an uncharacteristic way, the once open and friendly countenance he portrayed veiled in a mixture of emotions. There was disgust that flitted across his face as he immediately registered how pretty Finley looked and he brushed his face with one hand to hide it, his palm lingering while he collected himself. He was not upset with Finley, he was just so completely inside his own head because of the dream and he was having a hard time forming a good way to respond. Something like 'sorry, I just checked you out and now it feels wrong because inside my head I'm a rapist' just didn't seem like the thing to say outright. Removing his hand, Finley would no doubt be met with a shadow of Charlie's former glory. His face was a mask of horror and upset as he continued to look at the brunette, trying to find the best way to answer her question.
After what seemed like forever, Charlie merely shook his head, not trusting his voice just yet. He turned his head to take another drag of his cigarette and held the smoke in his lungs. Carefully blowing the gossamer tendrils away from Finley, he turned his face back towards her. "I don't know how to put into words just how not alright I am," came his quiet reply. He dug his teeth into his lower lip, eyes cast down at Finley's shoes for a moment. Sighing softly, he gathered himself, shoulders straightening slightly before he lifted his blue eyes back up with the weight of what he was about to say in them. "Have you ever had a dream about something so possible, something you could easily explain happening, that it completely terrified you? Only, I want to believe that I'm not capable of...that..." He trailed off, his voice softening considerably as he thought. "I'm not the best person in the world, I know I have my vices and problems but..." Again he gave pause, not wanting to say it out loud. Somehow putting his dream into very clear cut words would make it seem that much more horrible. "It was just a dream, I know that. But it felt real and it felt plausible and I think that's the worst part of all." As an afterthought, Charlie found he still could smile, but this one was cynical and void of his normal sparkle. "This morning's melodrama brought to you by our very own Charlie Townsend..."