The "Burn" man

He wanted to leave as soon as he had arrived. Charlie and I were still not ready but we threw all our kit in the back of his truck and left anyway, which meant we had to make one return trip to get my camera charger. There might have been a second, if we'd realized we'd left all our bedding for the tent behind earlier.
2 hours into the journey Nathalie calls to let us know that we'd left the largest bag we could have forgotten in the middle of her room. I lived with Nathalie for the last year in college and so she wasn't surprised we'd left stuff behind, nor was I, or Charlie, my best mate who I'd been traveling with all summer. I'd already set the tone of our seven weeks traveling together when I came a day late to pick her up from the airport.
~
I was on time and extremely happy with myself about that I remember, until instead of a hug I got a slap across the face.
"Where the hell have you been?" she yelled.
"What do you mean?" I was still innocent.
"I arrived yesterday" she looked at me with those 'typical Soph' eyes.
I was shocked, "No!" and couldn't help a nervous giggle, "Ooops..."
"I thought you were dead!"
"What! Why?"
"You said don't leave the airport until I pick you up and so I waited for hours and then I couldn't get hold of you, coz you don't have a fucking phone and after a while I just began panicking, imagining you lying in ditch somewhere dead!"
"You are so melodramatic!"
"Soph! How would you like it arriving in a huge city the other side of the world and your best friend just not turning up to meet you."
"So what did you do..."
"I called dad and he told me to go and buy a phone, which you can pay me back for by the way."
"You bought a phone!"
"Yeah, i've already spent 2oo dollars and I've only been here 24 hours. I had to stay in the sketchiest place last night."
"I am so sorry, Babe, I honestly thought you were arriving today."
"No. I told you in the email I was arriving on Wednesday the 30th. Did you even read the email..."
"Well sort of glanced over it, I can't remember. I just always thought it was Thursday. Shit, I'm sorry..." Last time I had to pick her up from Heathrow airport I was 4 hours late and this is how I had tried to make it up to her, on time on the wrong day.
"Yeah you might want to call your parents. They are all going crazy back at home..."
~
"We're going to freeze, Soph!" Charlie coughed and lit up a cigarette.
"Fuck! I knew we'd left something more important than a camera charger. I guess we'll just have to wear all the clothes we have and cuddle up."
Laughing Shawn obviously liked the idea of that. "We can stop and buy one on the way if you want. I had to buy one on the way a couple of years ago."
"How much was it?"
"$50"
"Shit, can't we just buy some cheap blankets?" said Charlie
"Yeah, I guess. I know where we can find yous some. Yous are'nt going to sleep anyway..."he glanced back at Charlie, one eye brow raised, grinning.
"Do you want to keep your eyes on the road, mate!"
Later Charlie wouldn't be joking.