Main Bonus #83: Charlie and the Fizzle Sabotage (Patreon)

IMPORTANT: Please do not screenshot and post any part of this bonus scene to other sites or share with non-patrons. All of the Patreon content is exclusive to Patreon and for current patron's eyes only.  Thank you!! xoxo Krista & Becca

RESOURCES:  Check out this narrative timeline graphic to visually see when this bonus scene takes place.

MUSIC: We listened to "Million Dollar Man" by Lana Del Rey while writing this bonus scene.

“SFE LEAD TO OSCAR, Charlie’s requesting to stop the bus. I’m pulling over.” Comms go off in my ear. 

Motherfuck.  

I can’t even be shocked. Tensions have been at all-time high on this mini-marketing campaign for Fizzle—where three Cobalts and two Hales are being tested to see who’ll be named successor to a billion-dollar soda empire.  

Being crammed in a tour bus is a disaster zone for my client. Add in being crammed with his youngest brother—and I knew Charlie was going to lose it at some point.  

I hoped it wouldn’t be in the dark in middle of fucking nowhere.  

I’m already on my feet. There are two tour buses on this excursion, and I’ve been relegated to the secondary one full of security. I click my mic, making my way to the front of the bus while Novak and O’Malley listen to comms and send me questioning looks. Like I have Charlie Keating Cobalt telepathy and can share my extensive notes with the class.  

As interesting as it’d be to dive inside Charlie’s head—and usefully for my job—I don’t really want to be there to that extreme depth, I’ve realized over the many years.   

It’s pain. 

Guy has more going on upstairs than most might realize. 

I ignore Epsilon. The tension between Omega and SFE is legitimately the least important thing right now. “Everything okay?” I ask in my mic.  

I peer out of the windows as my bus slows behind the lead bus. We’re in the Nevada desert on our way to Arizona. 

The landscape is desolate.  

Lonely.  

A long pause carries over the line. I’m sure I have the face of someone who’s severely concerned. Because that’s what I am right now.  

Instead of the SFE lead, Donnelly answers me over comms, “Ben and Charlie fight.”  

Knew it. 

Fuck am I glad Donnelly is on the other bus. He isn’t with me and most of security because Xander Hale requested his bodyguard to ride with him. I trust Donnelly will fill me in as fast as he can.  

“Fists?” I ask my friend.  

“Nah. Harsh words though.”  

A temp guard is at the wheel. I wait at the stairs for him to park on the side of the road. Once the bus comes to a complete stop and the doors slide open, I race out into the warm night. Stars blanket the clear sky, but I’m not looking up.  

I’m not scanning the cacti. I’m not listening out for wild animals.  

I’m in a full sprint toward the headlights of the bus parked ahead of mine. All my severity, all my urgency, all my focus is on Charlie as he walks away from his bus. Illuminated by the headlights, his stride is tight like every tendon in his six-three build is screaming with tension.  

Like he can’t escape his own body fast enough.  

“Charlie!” I call out.  

He’s not slowing. He hikes down the edge of the sandy road as the headlights fade behind us. I’m not shocked he’s still wearing a white button-down and tailored slacks. I reach him in a matter of seconds since he’s not running, and I keep his hot pace.  

He roughly pops more buttons at his neck. Like he’s pissed and choked. “I can’t stand it.” He digs his phone out of his pocket. “I can’t stand this and him.”  

“What do you need?” I ask him instead of asking what he’s referring to. Context clues. Him has to be Ben. This could be a myriad of things. This night. This competition. This life.  

“Things you can’t give me.” He kicks loose gravel. “Beckett. Cell signal.” He shoves his phone back in his pocket. “A lobotomy. A little brother who doesn’t drive me absolutely fucking mad.” He tugs at his hair, inhaling a sharp breath through his nose. “I can’t get back on that bus with him. He’s being a…” Charlie grits his teeth and grips the air. Those same hands go to his head again. The vein pulses in his temple. His jaw clenches. 

“Keating.” I say his middle name with understanding. I know Charlie better than I know a lot of people. As he’s gotten older, we’ve become friends. A word I never thought I’d use with him is the only thing that makes sense now. 

Charlie halts in place. He slings his head toward me with a brutal, agonized look. “Oscar. He is impossible.” 

“I’m sure he feels the same about you, bro.” 

“I’m sure,” Charlie nods hard. “He needs to drop out of this, and I don’t regret doing whatever I need to do to get him to quit. He wants me to sugarcoat it and be sweet?” He cringes. “No. What he’ll face in the corporate world will be far more malicious than me. What I’m doing is nice.” 

I already know what happened at the last stop. 

Charlie told Ben that a board member requested for him to pick up his dry cleaning. Ben missed a photo op being sent on a wild goose chase since Charlie lied. There was no laundry to collect. Charlie wanted to prove to Ben he’s too gullible and to also damage his reputation with the board by being a no-show. Ben felt hurt that his own brother would deceive him.  

He took it personally.  

Charlie considers it fair in the realm of competition. 

I empathize with being at odds with a little brother. The bad blood I had with Quinn—for years—hurt like hell. But I can’t dole out advice on how to mend this rift—not when Charlie keeps tearing at it in the name of trying to help his brother.  

“Ben and you aren’t going to see eye-to-eye on this campaign tour—we knew that. But bro, you’ve gotta go back.” He has too many people counting on him to finish this out. 

Charlie pinches his reddened eyes. “I’d rather fly to Prague.” 

“I’d also love to be on a plane with you and not crammed like a sardine on security’s bus, but what happens if you quit this leg of the competition? Eliot is killing it on this campaign tour. He’s going to shoot to the top of the rankings.” 

“He won’t beat me.” Charlie rubs at his eyes. “He’ll self-implode. He always does. And in the off-chance he doesn’t, I’d still beat him even if I drop out early of this leg.”  

I give him a serious look.  

“What?” Charlie asks. 

“You leave, you’re causing more friction between you and the board. It’s a bigger headache. Don’t do that to yourself.”  

Charlie looks like he’s having the world’s worst migraine tonight, and his irritation toward the Fizzle board is also a contributing factor.  

He drops his hand with a tight breath. “Would you rather ride with me for the rest of the tour?” 

Yes. “Would it help you?” 

“Not to the degree that you would prefer,” Charlie says honestly, his gaze so tormented and aggravated. “You want to help me—the lobotomy is still an option.” 

“Not in my job description.” 

“Help a friend out.”  

“I’m trying.” I click my mic, staring at Charlie while he stares at me, and I speak in comms. “I’m heading back to the bus with Charlie, and I’m going to be riding with him for the duration of the tour.” 

O’Malley asks, “Why?” 

“It was either that or he’s flying to Prague,” I answer, then let go of the mic. “You aren’t trapped, Charlie.” 

He laughs painfully. “I am metaphorically very trapped, and it’s so fucking annoying that I’m arguing with my baby brother over a position he doesn’t want. A position that will eat away at him, enrage him, piss him off more than I did tonight. A position that is going to me, no matter what hoops we all jump through.” Charlie outstretches his arms. “I can’t let Eliot take it—he will destroy the company. I can’t let Ben take it—it will destroy him. I can’t let Xander take it—he…just no.” Charlie rolls his eyes like it’s a waste of time Xander is even here, and though Charlie doesn’t always spill everything to me, he has talked about this competition for successor. I understand his feelings.  

This, for Charlie, is going to be his stark reality. This role, this future. It annoys Charlie that Xander is using the competition as a confidence booster, a way to prove to himself he can stick it out—when Charlie is the one facing the prize that no one wants to win.  

He sighs into a contorting laugh and smile. “And Luna?” His piercing yellow-green eyes graze the sand and cacti. “It’d be a miracle if they pick her.” 

I frown at his choice of words. He never said he couldn’t let Luna take it. “She has severe brain trauma,” I remind him. “She shouldn’t be taking that role.” I’ve been worried out of my ever-loving mind over Donnelly ever since the kidnapping. He’s not been the same motherfucker that me and Redford know best. He’s been angry and stupidly petty—when he’s never been dumb, never risked his job for payback before. 

My worry for him has very much translated into being worried about Luna Hale. The girl who was kidnapped.  

Donnelly’s girlfriend.  

Charlie pushes up his sleeves. He doesn’t offer any insight into his thoughts regarding Luna. My curious ass does want them, but I don’t press. Because I’ve gotten the feeling Charlie doesn’t share since I’m too close to Donnelly.  

He scrapes his fingers through his disheveled hair, his bloodshot eyes on the parked buses in the distance. “If I don’t actively sabotage Ben, he might beat me.” 

“You really believe that?” 

“He is…” Charlie runs his tongue over his back teeth, then shakes his head with distaste. “Very good with people. I am not.” He grimaces up at the stars. “I should just let him take it. He’d do me a favor.” 

“Letting him do his thing sounds like a good move for you both.” It’d stop Charlie from jackhammering at the gaping crater between them at least.  

He stares back at the bus. “I doubt we’re both going to come out happy, but what do I know?” He forces a half-smile. “I’m just a cruel asshole.”  

We're back with a brand spanking new bonus scene! If you've ever wondered what Oscar & Charlie's conversation was like when Charlie left the tour bus after that explosive fight between him and Ben in Nobody Like Us, we have you covered!

This is a particularly great scene as the Cobalt Empire series nears. You get a glimpse into how Oscar & Charlie's relationship has grown over the years and where they stand in 2041. Which is the same narrative year as Burn Bright, which begins July 28th, 2041.

This is also another piece of the Charlie/Ben rift that's been a huge thread since...well, since the dawn of time. And you'll see even more of their interactions and their tense relationship in Burn Bright! We hope you enjoyed this new bonus, and there'll be more content to come for August, including the first chapter of Burn Bright 💙

xoxo Krista & Becca

 “Charlie and the Fizzle Sabotage," Copyright © 2025 by K.B. Ritchie