Call Me Charles

By Holly Day

Charles Bowman was having a bad day even before his friends showed up to kidnap him for his birthday. He lost his nametag, missed the bus, and was late for his shift in the sandwich shop, but that isn't the worst. The worst is he's accidentally been poisoning Hubert, the owner of the candy shop across from the sandwich shop, with gluten despite Hubert ordering gluten-free sandwiches.

When Charles finds himself soaking wet on a deserted road in the chilling October night, the worst gets an entirely new meaning. But right as he's about to give up, Hubert comes driving on his motorcycle. Being responsible for gluten poisoning aside, Charles has never been as glad to see his knight in black leather, but is going home with Hubert a good idea? Or will the worst get even worse?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Oct 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781646569106

Holly Day

Holly Day and Sherman Wick are the authors of several books about the Twin Cities. Sherman Wick received his BA in history from the University of Minnesota and has been a member of the Minnesota Historical Society for several decades. Holly Day has worked as a freelance writer for local and national publications for over twenty-five years and teaches writing classes at the Loft Literary Center.

Book preview

Call Me Charles

By Holly Day

Published by JMS Books LLC at Smashwords

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2021 Holly Day

ISBN 9781646569106

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Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

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Thank you, Gabi Cervenka and Leonie Duncan. You’re the best!

Call Me Charles was written to celebrate National Motorcycle Ride Day which is on the second Saturday in October. It’s a day for riding your motorcycle and being free because soon the riding season is over, at least if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere.

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Call Me Charles

By Holly Day

Chapter 1

Charles Bowman zigzagged through dawdling passengers at the train station. The scent of coffee coming from the magazine shop should have been augmented by the scent of coffee coming from his tiny sandwich shop twenty feet down the aisle, but he wasn’t there. He was here, trying not to push an ancient woman out of the way to get to where he should have been forty minutes ago.

As he made it past her, he spotted Hubert Kane—the large, bearded, heavily tattooed owner of the candy shop across from the sandwich shop. He was trying to see in through the sliding window Charles should have opened thirty minutes ago.

He would lose his job over this.

Whatever he told Lucile, his boss, she would assume he was lying and had overslept, and she had told him when she hired him that if he overslept, he was out. There was far too many looking for a job for her to keep someone who didn’t do theirs. And Charles understood, but he hadn’t overslept.

First, it had been Mrs. Oliver who had locked herself out of her apartment. She’d come to him, panicking since her grandchild was sleeping inside all alone. Charles understood and had done his best to help. He’d called the caretaker who hadn’t picked up. Since Mrs. Oliver’s panic had grown with each passing second, he’d called a locksmith.

Then he’d missed the bus and had to run here in the chilly October rain. Now his clothes were damp from both the inside and the outside. He was panting, sticky, and tasted blood at the back of his mouth.

Charlie. Hubert looked relieved to see him.

Charles. He pointed at his name tag only to realize it was no longer where it should have been. Crap!

I was worried you’d gotten sick.

Charles frowned. He hadn’t known Hubert could worry. Every morning he bought a sandwich from Charles—chicken and avocado. Then he’d grunt, sometimes growl, depending on the people in the waiting hall, and go back into the candy shop.

The candy shop was as tiny as the sandwich shop and the magazine shop—the magazine shop claimed to be a magazine shop, but they only had one wall covered with magazines. The rest was candy, drinks, and one narrow shelf with travel games. And worst of all, they were snobby bastards. If Charles needed help, he’d risk getting growled at by Hubert rather than expose himself to the condescending looks of the magazine people.

A voice came through the speakers, announcing the train on platform twelve arriving shortly, and people bustled toward the exit.

Charlie?

Charles looked at Hubert. Yeah?

Are you okay?

He shook his head. Yes.

Hubert watched him without much expression. Are you gonna open the shop?

"Oh,