As soon as the question left his lips and Katalina's face changed, he knew he'd said the wrong thing. Wasn't the first time, wouldn't be the last time that Charlie said the wrong thing. He felt the smile fall away from his face and he took a sip of his drink, letting her talk. He frowned a moment, thinking about what he might be able to say to save the conversation. Plus, he was really not so good with the whole "hey, guess what? you're stuck here" part. Would he ever really get used to it? People dealt with it in all different ways. When she rolled her eyes and looked away, Charlie found a smile again, though it was more self-deprecating than anything. "Oh, I might be stupid, but at least I know that much," he said, laughing a little and holding his smile in place. "Not asking for you to be sorry."
He waited a few minutes before he found the words he wanted. "Look. I can't say I know how you feel because I chose this job, this hotel. Kinda my thing, "protecting" people," he made the air quotes with his fingers. He waited, knowing that that wasn't exactly what he wanted to say. "Point is, I can't say a damn thing to you to make it better. It just is. So why not enjoy it while you're here? Stupid, I know. Crazy, probably. But what else have you got to do?"