Charlotte McCartney
“Hey! Stop there! Where are you going with that bouquet of flowers and box of candy?” The receptionist at the hospital where Josh Xavier had been admitted held my arm. Her grip jolted me to reality. I had been too immersed in my thoughts that I had forgotten to sign in at the entrance. “Oh I'm sorry. My name is Charlotte. I have been here before. I am looking for one of the patients. He was brought in here some weeks ago. The accident victim. His name is Josh Xavier. I brought him these gifts”, I raised the bouquet of flowers as well as the box of candy so she could see it. “And who are you supposed to be?” She examined the flower. “I’m just a friend. My sister is his ex-girlfriend”, I smiled. “So what are you doing here? Please leave here! Don't you know he has been discharged?”She looked ready for a quarrel. TCHHHHHHH! I heard her hissing loudly as I turned to leave. I felt very stupid as I walked away. Why did she have to be so rude? I was there to see a patient. All she had to do was tell me he had been discharged. It was not her fault though. If Whitney had not dumped Josh Xavier the way she did I would not have been there trying to make things right so desperately. I liked Josh Xavier when he was my sister's boyfriend because he always made an effort to be there for my family when we needed him. But my family had been really unfair to him since the accident. No one even cared to visit or call him. It felt like everyone stopped liking him the day he had that accident. Even if everyone deserted him, Whitney's reaction must have hurt Josh Xavier more than anything else. She broke up with him when she saw his condition. The poor man. My sister left him when he needed her the most. Mom treated him even worse, refusing to visit him despite all the love he showered on her. I felt bad I could not see him but I was happy he had recovered enough to go back home. I decided to go home since I could not see Josh Xavier. I drove home still thinking about how badly my family had been treating him As I walked into the house, I heard a strange sound coming from the sitting room which distracted my thoughts. “What is this sound that I'm hearing? I wondered and went to see who was there. “What!” I stood there with my mouth open, the bouquet of flowers and box of candy I was carrying fell from my hand causing a light thud on the ground. Ron and Whitney jumped at the sound of it, and immediately they saw me, they shifted uncomfortably as if they were trying to cover up something. “What is going on here?” I asked, still trying to process what I’d just seen, my brain refusing to believe it. It felt like I was having a bad dream. One where my boyfriend Ron was kissing my sister, except this had really happened. “It's not what you think Charlotte”, Ron said as he buttoned his shirt with quivering hands. “Oh really? It's not? What is it then?” I asked, staring at him with malicious intent. I wanted to rip his face off that instant. I’d clearly caught him kissing my sister, so how dare he try to lie to me? “It is nothing serious. I know it does not look good but I swear to you it's nothing”, he said, cautiously approaching me. “You really want me to believe this was nothing Ron? How am I supposed to believe that? Tell me Ron, tell me!”I snapped irritably. I wanted to hit him, push him or do anything as long as it would hurt him instead I took two steps back not wanting him to touch me. My heart was breaking, tears welling up in my eyes at the sight of their betrayal. How could they do this to me? My sister and my boyfriend. How could they hurt me like this? “Trust me Charlotte we've only done this twice”, Ron looked into my eyes and I could tell he was lying. “How could I have been so blind? How long have they been doing this? It must have been pretty obvious, I just wasn't paying attention. I slapped my forehead realizing how stupid I had been. “Charlotte please don't act like this. I know we shouldn't have done this but I promise you we didn't mean to hurt you” Ron stretched his hand to hold me. “Yes Charlotte we did not mean to hurt you”, Whitney finally said something. Hearing the sound of her voice, I became more irritated. “How did you not think that this would hurt me Whitney?” I glared at her, my fist tightening till they became white. “Charlotte please this only happened because you were too busy working. Ron and I only started talking and hanging out because you are never around. That's also how we fell in love. This is as much your fault as it is ours. And I did not betray you Charlotte. You and I know that you were not really into Ron. You've never cared about him romantically. Do you even care about his sexual desires? Please stop saying I betrayed you”, Whitney blurted defensively. I looked at my sister for a long time unable to utter a word. This was the most appalling thing I had ever heard. Did she just blame me for her betrayal? The nerve of her. “Charlotte, if you love Ron and I, you would want us to be happy and support our relationship rather than dwelling on this,” Whitney added with a straight face. I felt like I was losing my mind. I wanted to run out of the sitting room, to scream, just anything not to stand here and listen to the nonsense she was spewing. I l could not believe she was my sister. It was all coming to me then. That was why she dumped Josh Xavier. To be with my boyfriend. Their betrayal stunk deeply and finally I could no longer hold back the tears. “Are you kidding me Whitney?” I yelled angrily, stepping furiously towards her. “First you steal my boyfriend, then you blame me for making you steal my boyfriend now you are telling me to be happy for you two. How can you be so selfish and insensitive? You did not even consider that I was your sister. How can you do something like this to your sister? You did not care about our sisterly bond. You know I would never do that to you yet you went on with it. How could you?”, I shook with anger. “What is the problem Charlotte?” Mom’s voice interjected from nowhere. I was so blinded with rage, I didn't even see when she joined us. She looked like she had just woken up from sleep. I turned toward her, consoled that I could pour out my frustrations to her. Finally someone could talk some sense into Whitney, I thought. “Mom I came home and Whitney was there kissing my boyfriend”, I wasted no time in explaining the situation and pointed at the spot I found them kissing. “It’s a good thing you're here Mrs Ashley. Please help us talk to Charlotte”, Ron said with a relieved look. Slap! I recoiled in shock, holding my cheeks, nursing the red hot prints on my right cheek as she slapped daylight out of my eyes. “What is wrong with you Charlotte? Why are you behaving like a child? It was just a kiss. Did you not hear that? You are creating a scene over nothing. So what if they have fallen in love with each other? Why are you still fighting them? Can't you get over it?” mom asked me angrily. I looked at mom with my eyes and mouth wide open. I could not believe she was taking Whitney's side in this, and finally the tears I’d been fighting to hold back slid down my cheeks. This wasn’t happening, I thought. How could they all turn on me like this? “I already knew they were in love. How did you not know? Move on, be happy for your sister. You will find someone else. There are so many important things to worry about and you are here making a big deal over something as trivial as a kiss”, mom said, looking at me with irritation. “You already knew about this mom?” I wanted to ask her again to be sure I heard correctly. But my lips were sealed tight. Whitney and Ron held each other’s hand proudly with satisfaction and right then, I wished the ground would open and swallow both of them. “There is no need to keep crying.” I thought, trying to console myself. “I should just dry my tears and move on. They don’t deserve to see me like this. I’m not going to give them the satisfaction of creating a scene.” I thought, feeling even more hurt and isolated and with that, I walked away wordlessly, headed to my bedroom and locked the door behind me.Charlotte McCartneyTired and drowsy, I started the engine of my car and headed home. It had been more than one week since I walked in on my boyfriend Ron and my sister Whitney kissing in the sitting room, and I had still not gotten over the fact that my sister had stolen my boyfriend.I had also not gotten over mom’s reaction when I explained the situation and the stinging slap she gave me for getting angry and making a big deal over Whitney’s relationship with my boyfriend Ron.So everyday for the next one week, I lived like a ghost, avoiding everyone in the house. Luckily I had my job to escape to and my daughter Elsie to distract me. Still Whitney always found a way to rub their relationship in my face. She took Ron everywhere around the house kissing and fondling each other.For some reason Ron was visiting too frequently. I hoped he would have the decency to stay away for a little while but he did not. He and Whitney were constantly acting like two lovebirds, smiling, laughing a
Untitled documentChapter TwoCharlotte McCartneyCharlotte McCartney For your information, in case you are looking for your money, you will not be able to find the money. Your sister and I have removed it from the safe and moved it somewhere else. You can search if you want. You will never find it”, mom said looking at me devilishly.My heart skipped when I heard mom make this shocking revelation. That was all the money I had. The money in my safe which mom and Whitney found and claimed to have kept was not a small amount like mom had said. That was my nine months savings“How did they find the safe? I made sure it was well hidden”, I asked myself feeling very uneasy and my face did nothing to hide my feelings especially with my mouth hanging open as it was.“Why do you look surprised? You didn't think we would find out that you were planning to run away did you?” Whitney asked and laughed like a little demon.“I was not planning to run away with the money. I only hid it there to pr
Charlotte McCartney The morning that I moved to Josh Xavier's mansion marked the beginning of our marriage. I used to have dreams of my wedding to my prince charming when I was a little girl. I would imagine my wedding dress to be as beautiful as Cinderella’s wedding dress and my husband prince charming. But that was before I got pregnant. It was a long, long time before I gave birth to my daughter Kelcie. Even though I loved her and could not imagine life without her, I knew that my life took a new turn when I got pregnant. I could no longer marry Prince Charming or a billionaire. Mom made sure she sang it to me every day. “No billionaire will marry you after what you have done to yourself. Which billionaire wants a woman as trashy as an Afterone?” Mom constantly repeated, referring to me as an Afterone, a name she used to describe women who gave birth to children for men who refused to marry them. In my case, though, I did not know the father of my child, so it seemed worse.Meet
Josh Xavier“Many times bad things happen to us and everyone expects us to get over it quickly and move on with our lives. But it's not always so easy to get over things, nor is it so easy to move on. And it's stupid of anyone to expect that”, I said to myself angrily the morning Charlotte and her daughter, Kelcie arrived.My life was different from what it used to be. Three months ago I was involved in a fatal car accident which changed the course of my life. Everyone who has come to visit me since the accident has expressed how lucky I am to have survived the accident. “But what is the use of being alive if I can never walk again? What sort of man have I become? A handicap? I, Josh Xavier a disabled person ", I said and angrily flung the teacup I was holding out of my hand, smashing it against the wall.I hated my life many times I attempted to kill myself but even that I didn't have the balls to do. “Not this Josh Xavier anyway, the former Josh Xavier though. That one had the ball
Charlotte McCartney After the incident with Josh Xavier, I decided once Kelcie was properly fixated on playing chess on my phone that I was going back to confront him for being such a demon and worse of all he didn't even consider the presence of my little girl while he was being so demon possessed. Whatever it was, I resolved that I was going to tell him to at least have the decency to deal with me personally and for the sake of whatever keep it away from Kelcie. I walked to the same room I first found him almost unconsciously. It wasn't exactly his bedroom from what I heard from Lydia. But from the look of it, it seemed like a place you could find him. In my heart I hoped to find him there. The house was still too unfamiliar and that seemed to be the only place I had managed to take note of. On getting to the room, I found the door slightly ajar and he was inside this time though he did not look as disoriented as he looked at first. “Mr Xavier, I'd like a word” I said breathless
Charlotte McCartney I was awoken by Lydia’s polite but firm knock. Polite because she took minutes in between knocks to probably give me time to get up. Its firmness was in its repetition which went on for almost an hour. I was finally awake. “What's the time?” I thought to myself, then I turned to check the time. “11:30!” I screamed, noticing it was already pretty bright. I looked around and Kelcie was nowhere to be seen.“Good morning ma'am”, Lydia greeted as I opened the door to her.“Not to worry your daughter is not lost, she's down in the stables with the horses. She awoke earlier to have breakfast. We both tried to get you out of bed but you seemed too tired. We gave up and just let you sleep”, she said and gave me a warm smile.“I must have really been tired”, I thought aloud feeling a bit embarrassed “Yes ma'am”, she replied. “Would you need me to do anything for you? Breakfast has been served but I can have something sent up for you or if you want to come down to the di
Charlotte The evening seemed to go on pretty fine, better than what happened yesterday. It seemed like all we had to do was to keep away from Josh Xavier's way and all would go smoothly and well. Josh Xavier’s mansion was so well provisioned. I had to do nothing except bathe Kelcie, which I insisted on doing myself. So far, Josh Xavier has kept his side of our marriage agreement by providing for Kelcie and me.Dinner that evening was served with a bowl of chocolate marshmallow as dessert. The meal was as sumptuous and tasty as ever but Kelcie could not get over the chocolate marshmallow. “This chocolate marshmallow is very sweet, Mom. I love it”, she said to me immediately after she tasted it. She looked like she could cry from its sweetness.“Is that so honey?” I asked, tempted to taste it as well and I did. It was the best chocolate marshmallow I had ever tasted in my life.“Yes, honey, I agree with you. I think I love it too baby”, I said to Kelcie as we dug in.“Mom will Ms Lyd
Charlotte McCartney There was something really strange about seeing Josh Xavier lying helpless on the ground like that. I stood there for what seemed like a while completely shocked and unaware of what to do “What the hell are you doing here?” I heard him yell and that was enough to jolt back to reality.“Are you alright Josh?” I asked, in utter thoughtlessness. Of course, he wasn't all right; he was bleeding and in serious agony.“Get the hell out of here! Get out!!” He made an attempt to get up but failed and fell back. “Didn't I warn you to stay out”.“Josh, you need help”, I said, bending down and trying to take a better look at what had happened. “You're bleeding what happened?” I asked.“None of your fucking business”, he yelled loud this time that I feared that Kelcie, several doors away, would wake up. “I can take care of myself I don't need any help from you. So stop the pity party and get the hell out of here right fucking now”.“Do you know that staying there like that co
Whitney McCartney For the first time in my life I feel so insignificant. This house, this mansion where I was born, where I have always called home feels like a strange land to me. “What is this?” I asked rhetorically, noticing a fading drawing on a small part of the mansion’s entrance. I walked closer to see what it was. “What is this? Why am I just seeing this?” I asked myself as I stared at the fading image of a lion. “Oh it's probably Grandfather's lion painting, the one mother was planning to have redrawn. So this is where it was?” I thought. I had not noticed it in all the years I had walked past that entrance.“Everything feels so unfamiliar. This unusual silence that is screaming so loudly only began after Charlotte’s uninvited and unwelcome visitation. Why did she have to come here anyway? Why could she not stay where she was? Why did she come here? She should have stayed there, where she belongs, with that broken piece of shit that calls himself Josh”, I thought, angrily.
Charlotte McCartney“Weeeeeeee! That's how the plane goes mommy, weeeee!” Kelcie said completely ecstatic. I wondered how it was possible to not have been infected by this cheerfulness. Evidently Josh had made it happen. Her dream of flying was finally coming through and yet I couldn't find it in me to be happy because I knew what happened and certainly what lay ahead may only have looked good but was not at all. “Before I forget, your friend Maddie will be joining you two at the resort”, Lydia informed me. “She will be coming with a couple visitors”, she added.“Which visitors?” I asked, a little worried. I did not mind Maddie joining us at all. She would even be good companion. “But who else would she bring?” I asked myself, not wanting strangers. “It would be easy to face my embarrassment with Maddie and Kelcie alone. Maddie could even defend me if the need arises” I thought.“Don't worry, it's not too many people. She will be coming along with her sister and her sister's daughter
Charlotte McCartney“Mommy! mommy! Get off the bed, we are already late”, Kelcie said, shaking me from my sleep.“I must have fallen asleep again”, I thought, recalling I wanted to shower earlier.“Late for what?” I asked, still very much asleep. Apparently, her shakes were courtesy of the fact that her baby strength had very little impact in doing what she had intended to do.“Come on now Charlotte, you can't still be this sleepy”, Lydia said. I hadn't even noticed she was also here too.“I'm really having a hard time knowing what I'll be late for”, I answered her.“Oh so you really have forgotten then?” she replied even in my daze I could hear the mild surprise in her voice.“Mommy, we're supposed to go and see the dressers today”, Kelcie replied this time.“Oh yes Charlotte”, Lydia joined in,”Your appointment was set for this date, today”.“Oh that”, I recalled loudly. “Is that even still happening?" I thought to myself. Today I was supposed to go to check out my wedding dress, fin
Charlotte McCartney By the time I came out of the bathroom my baby was no longer sleeping. She had turned on the bedroom light and was already out of the room as she usually did in the mornings. I looked up at the antique wall clock in our bedroom, “7:41am”, I said. “Kelcie must be having her milkshakes by now or just talking to Lydia”, I thought, then it hit me like a blow.“Lydia knows”, I said out loud. “She knows. There is no way she doesn't know. She was the one who called Josh to come and conduct the wine tasting. We were supposed to do it together but she excused herself. I'm sure she would have expected me to do the same as soon as Josh arrived but I stayed, foolishly”, I thought.“That's what mother always talked about. This is the same thing mother always said about me, the same reason she's always complaining. I'm so stupid. I never think before I act. I'm just so stupid. I could have left. There was nothing stopping me from leaving. But I stayed. Why? I could have left it
Charlotte McCartney “Baby”, I said as I stretched my hand to reach my baby. “Oh she's out already”, I concluded to myself as my outstretched hand met an empty bed. “She's probably watching the sunrise now”, I added, as I tried to sit up in bed. “There is something hard about this bed”, I thought, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand. “Did someone replace the bed when I was out?” I asked myself.I yawned and laid back down to sleep but my eyes flew open almost immediately and I sat up at about the same instance. “Where am I?” I asked myself, looking round to check my surroundings. “Where am…” I was going to repeat the question again, when realization dawned me. “This is Josh's room. How did I get here?” I questioned, quite confused.“Oh my God! No! No! It did not happen again”, I said, wrapping my hand around my naked body, as I realized I was lying naked under Josh's sheets. My clothes were folded neatly at the foot of the bed.“Oh God please! This did not happen. How could I ha
Charlotte McCartneyThe sound of his name had butterflies swimming around my stomach all of a sudden. I had deliberately avoided talking about him all morning and had tried my best to not spend my whole day thinking as well as talking about him but he was everywhere nonetheless.“What Is that?” Lydia teased. “You think I'm going to be carrying you around afterwards?” She asked, pausing dramatically. “No young lady, not when you have a loving husband”.I bowed my head feeling slightly embarrassed and mildly amused. “Lydia and her mean little humour could somehow take one off guard like that. But it's alright the lady means no harm”, I said to myself.“Don't you worry though? I'll go call him for you. I bet he's still in his room but definitely awake by now. Come on I bet it'll be fun too”, she said assuringly.As she hurried off, thoughts of the last night we were together filled my mind. I yearned so much for his presence but yet was still shy and scared to admit it. It just felt too
Charlotte McCartney “The sugar is literally making me drunk”, Lydia exclaimed “It's too much don't you think?” she asked. “I love it Mommy”, Kelcie said to me. “Ms Lydia, why do you not like it?” Kelcie asked, turning to Lydia. Then, she chattered on and on as though the sugar was really getting her excited as Lydia had complained.“Too much sugar like this baby will have me living in the toilet for a couple days or weeks maybe”, she said, squinting her face. A proper look at the lady and you'd know that she had been a beauty in her youthful days and still, till this day gave off the impression of a beautiful aged lady.Kelcie laughed, “Ms Lydia you're saying the cake is going to make you poo poo?” She asked, amused. “Oh lots of poo poo I'm afraid”, she said, still squinting up her face.“But they do taste creamy as well”, I said. I personally thought it tasted quite good, heavenly to be exact, everything felt heavenly right now.“Yeah there's cream but there's sugar as well but p
Josh Xavier “Come on, go and get your things!” Ashley McCartney yelled again, louder this time.“Please mother! I don't want to leave”, Charlotte said, pleading.“Get out of the way sister!. We are getting you out of here. You can't live with this cripple”,Whitney said, pushing Charlotte out of the way finally. “Josh talk to Grandma, she'll listen to you”, Kelcie said to me with tears in her eyes. It broke my heart to see my little Princess cry.“Ashley, listen to me. Let's talk about this. Don't do this, remember our agreement”, I said, trying to reason with her.“There is nothing to talk about Josh. I have told you what I had to tell you. There is nothing to discuss. The agreement is over. You cannot have her anymore. She's going home”, Ashley replied, stamping her feet on the ground.“Have you finished packing Whitney?”. She questioned, sidelining me.“Almost mother, just a few more things and we'll be out of here”, Whitney screamed from inside. “Josh do something please”, Charl
Josh Xavier If she did not kiss me back, I'm not sure what it would have done to me, to my fragile heart. It's not like I've never been heart broken in the past. Because I have. I'm an old man, I've lived through different experiences with women. Good and bad ones I must say. But mostly good ones. The good ones were in my hay days. The days of my youth, when nothing could stop me. The days when I could have all the women I wanted, yet I rejected them all. I have been with women and I have had my fun with them. That's all I ever wanted from them. Fun. Nothing else. It changed over the years though. I changed. It's probably something that comes with age maybe. The desire to be stable, have a family and build a legacy. I already had one, one that was built by my father and his father before him and even before him. So all I needed to do was continue. Keep the legacy on. You don't want your family legacy to end because of you. “No, noone wants that” , I thought out loudThat's when my