Charlotte paced around her room as she held her phone to her ear, waiting for the only person she could talk to at that moment to answer the phone. It rang twice and went to voicemail, but that was expected. Private had an official call line, but he rarely used it because of the type of job he did. It was just there to let him know who was calling and then he would call the person back with a new line. “Charlotte,” his deep warm voice greeted when she answered the unknown number. “Hi,” she greeted, now unsure what to say now that she had his attention. “How are you doing?” “I’m alright, and you?” He asked politely. “I’m great,” she said in a tight voice that showed she was anything but. There was silence. “I assume you didn’t just call me to ask me how I’m doing,” he said wisely. “Go ahead, I’m listening.” Charlotte sighed. How was she even supposed to start? She knew keeping people’s secrets was his job, but so was revealing the secrets of others to those who
“I got you some presents,” Kate said with a smile when she stepped into Charlotte’s new house. “Thanks,” Charlotte muttered politely and took the bag her sister offered her, without looking at her face. She carried the rest of her luggage into the room next to hers and remained idle in the living room while Kate made herself at home in the room. Charlotte didn’t know how to react now that her sister was here and she was being nice. She had never forgiven herself for the stupid mistake she had made that had broken her family and her tight relationship with her sister and she didn’t think she or anyone else would ever be able to move past it. The Tv was on as it had been for a while, showing the cartoon she and Xavier had laughed at during their honeymoon. It was just a coincidence that it was the channel showing, Charlotte convinced herself. “This place is so big and it looks expensive,” Kate said, appearing in the living room and looking around. “I suppose getting married to
Xavier knew Laura probably had something up her sleeve when she asked to meet him at her penthouse instead, but he agreed to go, not because it was the least he could do since he would be taking her son away for a whole month, but also because he knew that if he didn’t, she would continue to nag about his conference room. “Sorry I’m late,” Xavier said and took the empty seat in front of what he could only call a picnic table. Laura smiled, not at all offended. “It’s alright. I pulled you out of space so you weren’t under any obligation to come so early. How have you been?” Xavier nodded without giving an audible answer. One hand held up his jaw while the other held onto the side of the chair as he tried to get used to this new setting. The penthouse was scattered with toys, yoga mats, pillow and whatnot. He didn’t like how lived-in it looked, neither did he like the fact that Laura hadn’t even bothered to tidy up the place before inviting him. She was giving off the hidden
For the first time in weeks, Charlotte felt at home. She and Kate had been cooped up on the couch all day, binge-watching a series on Tv and eating chips. “I can’t feel my butt,” “We’re all out of chips,” Kate and Charlotte said at the same time. They looked at each other and began to laugh. “I just came up with a great idea to solve both our problems,” Kate said, flicking her wrists. “Stand up and exercise your dead butt, and while you’re at it, go to the kitchen and get more chips.” Charlotte gave her a look. Kate rolled her eyes and pushed her. “Go. I’ll pause the show,” she assured her. “Ugh, okay,” Charlotte said resignedly as she stood up with the empty plate of chips. “I’ll be sure to keep my butt issues to myself from now onwards.” Just like her sister, Charlotte was obsessed with chips. Ever since she left Xavier, chips had become her comfort food, which was why on her first day out of the house to do grocery shopping, she had purchased an entire truckl
Charlotte felt ridiculous wearing her sister’s clothes, but she knew that the real reason she kept tugging at it was because she was nervous. Charlotte had told Kate everything, well everything except that Xavier had driven her home after she assaulted his sister at his company and tried to get her to open up to him, but she refused. If she did tell her, she would never hear the end of it. After several confusing turns and exchange of borderline unpleasant words, Kate finally announced, “we’re here!” “Come on,” Kate said as she opened her side door. “Or do you want me to open the door for you?” Charlotte rolled her eyes. “You literally just stopped the car. Can you just chill?” Before they walked down to the gate, it opened for them and the guard in charge for the day greeted her with a smile like he had been expecting her. Charlotte squinted at him. He had never been this excited to see her. “Welcome, Mrs Roman,” he said, making way for her to enter the premises. “J
There was an awkward silence for a while as Xavier and Charlotte stared at each other. “So uhm, the maid told me he lives with you now? Your son, I mean,” Charlotte said to break the silence, even though the words hurt her as they left her lips. “He’s not my son,” Xavier corrected quickly, and the boy jerked back a little. “I just asked her to let me have him for a while so that she’ll finally leave me alone. It’s complicated. I’ll explain later. Just know he isn’t staying here permanently…” Charlotte ignored Xavier and left the couch to go to the boy. Caleb’s little body shook as she approached, but he remained at a spot. He no longer clung to Xavier, who had vehemently refused him. “Hey, are you okay?” She asked him in the softest tone she could muster, but he didn’t answer. She reached out to touch him, but he kept moving back until his back touched the wall. Xavier sighed when she looked up at him in question. “That’s how he has been for days now. He’s always scared, ev
“Charlotte,” Xavier called out, catching up to her just before she started going up the stairs and holding her hand. “What?” She snapped, making Xavier take a step back, even though he didn’t let her go. “You just got here,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “Did I do something wrong? I thought you would want to talk to me.” Charlotte chuckled drily and slapped his hand away. “Did you do something wrong?” She mimicked. “I think the correct question here should be ‘when have you ever done something right?” Xavier’s jaw tensed as he let her go and put his hands in his pockets. He was silent. “You won’t say anything now? Do you think that just because I’m back, we can just carry on from where we stopped and pretend like this whole thing didn’t happen? You have a child. A child with a psychopath. No matter how hard you try to act like that’s not a problem, it is.” “He’s not my child,” Xavier said with a frown. Charlotte scoffed. “Well he’s currently living in your house and
Charlotte nodded and cleaned the stubborn tears that came out of her eyes on Xavier’s suit. She pulled away from his embrace and pressed her lips together as she stared at the Tv that wasn’t even on. “I’ve missed you,” Xavier said, without taking his eyes off her. She wit-held herself from smiling. “Thanks.” “Thanks?” He asked with a smirk. “No ‘I missed you too’?” She smiled. “Maybe you don’t deserve to be missed.” “Wow.” They both laughed. Unfortunately, her temporary relief was interrupted by a thought. “You said Laura now has a successful tech company?” She asked. “Yes, why?” “And she has a lot of money?” “Yes…” Charlotte wrapped her arms around herself. Now she knew that Laura wanted Xavier back, the pieces of the puzzle all fit perfectly and her suspicions had been confirmed. “What’s wrong?” He asked, noting her discomfort. Charlotte suddenly felt cold all over. Was it not better to let it go since he didn’t seem to know what was going on? No. It was better she sp