Six Months To Love: Charlotte's Redemption (4 page)

Even though she was still sore Magda couldn’t wait to get to her phone and tell Alex about her new information. As she attempted to crawl out of her wonderfully uncomfortable hospital bed to get her purse she thought to herself about how her son may react to this new useful information. So Charlotte had reached to her roots and pursued a nursing degree? Madga was sure that she would go crawling back to her father and beg for forgiveness, well if she was smart she would, but Madga knew that was far from the truth, as she tried to tell her equally stupid son the day he announced her loved her. Madga sneered at that word…Love … Ha! What a joke!

This was going to hurt tomorrow; she just hoped that the other cars insurance paid well, t better since he was driving a new BMW. Right now they needed this settlement to keep up their expenses.  Her son had better be thankful that she “Tapped” her breaks just in time for the other car to slam into her. What a dumb fool, playing on his phone while driving, which just made him an easy target for Magda.

Charlotte knocked on the door, her stomach in knots she waited for the answer from a voice she was dead set on avoiding. “Come in” yelled a cool and confident voice. Collected as well as she could be Charlotte entered the office with her shoulders back and head held high. “Please sit Mrs. Jackson.” Mr. Norman was the head of the hospitals human resource division and the one people normally went to with complaints or called to if they were getting fired.  Quietly Charlotte calmly complied.

“It has come to my attention that there was an incident earlier in the ER with a car crash victim”…. “Would you mind telling me what happened?”

Confused slightly and in slight fear of what Magda may have already done to yet again try to ruin her happiness Charlotte explained that she and Joanna were stalking the carts on down time when the call came in. Charlotte was honest in telling Mr. Norman that she realized it was her ex mother in law on the stretcher but did not let that information affect her job as she step by step help prepare the victim for the doctor by taking vitals and information related to the crash.

“That is my point exactly Mrs. Jackson.”

“Your point sir? I apologize but I’m a bit confused.”

“Joanna told me how collected and on top of things you were and frankly I must say I’m impressed. You were faced with a moral dilemma and handled yourself with more character than some of my best doctors do.”

Shocked Charlotte just sat there stunned, this was a complete 180 from the way she thought this meeting was going to go. “Tha-thank you sir.”

“Here’s the deal Mrs. Jackson, we have a few new openings for shift supervisors, you have just the moral and ethical character that we need. The pay is substantially more as are the responsibilities but I am confident that you can handled the job.”

Even more stunned than before Charlotte considered what to say next.

“There is a training program of 60 days that will give you temporary pay of that of a supervisor, at the end of the period, if you survive, we will either make cuts or officially promote you, the choice is yours Mrs. Jackson, but remember opportunities like this don’t come along often.” Mr. Norman eyed her like a hawk waiting for her response. 60 days? Charlotte didn’t have 60 days, well maybe 60 but not much more than that. The question is does she tell Mr. Norman her secret or keep it to herself for now?

“Mr. Norman I need to tell you something first.”

Mrs. Nelson was busy reading herself for Andrews’s dad to come for his Visit after Andrews’s school program. Every Wednesday Alex picked Andrew up at 6pm sharp utilizing a car service, from Mrs. Nelson at a place of her choice. Mrs. Nelson preferred a public place where Alex couldn’t let his temper and attitude get the best of him. A place where Mr. Nelson felt safer from his hard and domineering hand. Never once had he tried to raise a hand to Mrs. Nelson but early on in their encounters Alex had tried to intimidate her through her bark, which she was sure was just as bad as his bite.

“Andrew my dear were going to be late meeting your mother at the school. Please hurry my love.”

“Yes ma’am.” Andrew replied with slight annoyance and boyish charm that always made Mrs. Nelson laugh. He was such a care free child and a sweetheart to boot. Mrs. Nelsons only fear was that he would lose some of his mother’s influence to that of his father’s hate. 

Once at school Mrs. Nelson could see the excitement in Andrews face. They were giving a play on the presidents for a class project. The school prided itself on early education and hands on learning, something that both Charlotte and Mrs. Nelson loved. Mrs. Nelson thought of herself as the unofficial grandma to Andrew, a position that both Andrew ad Charlotte welcomed with open arms.

“Are you there yet?” Victoria almost spat out the words with her on-going annoyance as she thought of Andrew in a less than Ivy League school. This was supposed to be the first night that Victoria was introduced to Andrew as part of the family as Alex’s new fiancé. No doubt this would be a shock to Andrew as he had known her for a long time. Still she thought this was a bad idea as she was almost sure Andrew would run and tell his mom the new family development, a release she did not yet want. Victoria was nothing if not meticulous in her plans, she waited until the précised moment on anything she did for the chance at extreme pleasure over others pain and shock. Without a doubt, she knew this would hurt Charlotte to know that her “best friend,” was now marrying her ex, but Charlotte deserved this for stealing Alex from her many years ago and almost ruining his reputation at the same time.

“I’m pulling up now my dear, please for the love of God stop badgering me; it’s really starting to piss me off.”

“Oh please shut up, you’re not stupid enough to follow through with your threats and temper anyway, you need me much more than I need you, I promise!” Victoria all but spat out the words at Alex.

It was true, Alex did need Victoria and her money to survive and get out of debt. His mother’s recent insurance scam couldn’t guarantee a lot of financial gain and even then it would take 6-8 weeks to get an initial payment, one which was already gone and spent keeping their tax problems out of the paper and out of people’s mouths so their “reputation” could still stand, barely but stand. Victoria stood to inherit almost 60 million from her father on top of her already sizable trust when she married. Her father didn’t care who she married as long as he had a decent social standing.

After Andrew’s presidential performance at school, Charlotte decided to head to the coffee shop that she went to earlier with John. She wanted to look over the manual that her boss had given her. She was determined she was going to prove herself.  She was grateful for this opportunity, even if it would only last a short time. Sighing she pushed that thought out of her head as she walked into the coffee shop. It was late, 8pm, but the coffee shop hosted poetic visionaries, or wannabes at the very least which kept the shop open until 11pm on Thursday and Friday evenings.

After ordering coffee she decided to immerse herself in the atmosphere and begin her readings.....

John was sitting at home when his father came bursting into the study. “I need your help” his father snapped more frantic and overwhelmed than angry.

“What now?”

“Don’t talk to me like that, you may refuse to work at the office but the least you can do is respect me and help out when needed!” His father must be desperate, he only asks for help when another idiot associate at his office couldn’t handle the case load given to him.

“I’m busy right now; I’ll look at it later”

“Why did I ever pay for you to go to law school if you were just going to throw it all away? Honestly John it infuriates me that you refuse your calling.”

“What I refuse father is to be controlled by you, let me be and explore my options in life and just enjoy myself, how hard is that?”

“That’s your mother talking, God rest her soul.”

“She was a bright woman, Father, you should be happy I listen to her”

“Sometimes not!” His father mumbled under his breath, growing more frustrated he slammed the case file down and stormed out.

Quite amused with his considered win, John set his feet back on the desk and opened the case file that was so damn important and urgent to his father.

The next few days flew by at work; Charlotte was happy with her new responsibilities and even happier that she was finally finding a balance between her growing friendship with John, and the new visitation schedule. Andrew seemed adjusting though he was sometimes sad coming home but refused to tell Charlotte if anything was wrong. Brushing it off as the adjustment and divorce trauma that she read kids often go through, Charlotte went on as usual, though in the back of her mind she still couldn’t shake the feeling that she was missing something.

At home Charlotte frantically searched her closet for something to wear that didn’t scream money. All her clothes were designer brand, at Alex’s insistence. He refused to let her wear anything that he considered would ruin or tarnish his reputation.  Appalled by the thought Charlotte let out a frustrating sigh. John was meeting her at the restaurant at 7pm and she only and 30 minutes to finish getting dressed and out the door or she will be late, something that Charlotte hated yet had a habit of.

Wondering what was taking Charlotte so long, Mrs. Nelson knocked on Charlottes door. “My dear are you okay?” A welcome voice for sure Charlotte was relieved to find Mrs. Nelson standing with a basic black dress that had an open back. The dress was fitted in all the right places, it could only be described as simple and perfect. “I thought you might need this, it was my nieces but she never wore it and looks to be just your size.”

Mrs. Nelson never ceased to amaze her with her instincts and intuition that at this moment saved Charlottes night. Shoeing Charlotte off after she got dressed, Mrs. Nelson assured her that Andrew was fine and in zombie mode at his favorite cartoon show. Thankful and hesitant Charlotte left. Her first date in months, though she should feel as if it’s too soon, something inside her was screaming for a taste of her hunky date.

The sight of him made Charlottes knees weak. This man, shorter than her, wore his confidence that made him seem 6ft tall to her. It wasn’t an arrogance that she was use to with Alex, no, this was the confidence of a man who knew he was good and Charlotte wanted a taste of it. He walked towards her smooth and cool.

“You clean up nicely Mr. Ranger.”

“Nicely? What was I a bum the last few times I’ve seen you?” John was always a jokester, something she learned that got on her nerves, but she couldn’t help but like about him as well. She had a deep feeling that this would be the trait that she would hate and love the most about him.

After ordering their food, Charlotte couldn’t help but feel a bit on impatience, all she could think about were those lips and how much she burned to kiss him. Uhg what was wrong with her? She never acted this way, come on Charlotte get ahold of yourself.

Just then John’s hand brushed ever so slightly against hers as he reached for her water glass so the waiter could fill it again. That touch set her on fire.

“Are you okay? You seem distant.”

“Huh? Oh I’m sorry, I was um just day dreaming I guess, the view is gorgeous here.”

“Yes I’m sure seeing the rain driven streets of New York is a gorgeous site that we never see”

“Ha ha, always a jokester. Trust me Mr. Ranger if you have been through what I’ve been through you would find beauty in everything.”

Just then John knew there was something special about her, a light that strived to push through the darkness of her broken and fragile soul and all he wanted was to help through the tunnel and forever make her days sunny.

“By the way my dear call me John, I think were past formalities.”

“Not yet were not but we will be soon”……

After dinner Charlotte took a leisurely stroll through the park with John, the whole time she couldn’t quite thinking about how much she wanted him to invite her back to his apartment. After all they had known each other for a few weeks now and this was technically not her first date. In her mind she only had a short time and she wanted to experience freedom and fun for once in her life, and this man set every bone in her body on fire, a fire that burned with the need for a touch in her most sensitive areas.

“Well this is goodnight I guess, unless of course you will allow me to kiss you goodnight on your front porch in true cliché fashion?”

Feeling gutsy, or maybe it was just the dinner drinks Charlotte didn’t respond but simply drug John up stairs into her apartment with a fierce kiss that lasted the entire way up the stair well.

Once inside Charlotte and John both shed their coats and shoes before making their way to the couch. Suddenly charlotte felt slightly embarrassed by her behavior and pulled back.

“What’s wrong?” John was slightly shocked at the sudden push away and cold shoulder he was getting.

“I’m , I’m sorry I don’t ever act like that, I am honestly embarrassed by my behavior.”

“Shhh I could never think less of you”

“Less of me? What do you think of me? As an easy lay? I assure you sir I am anything but!”

“No that’s not what I said, why are you twisting my words, listen I think highly of you as a lady and as a person, why are you so defensive?”

Just then Charlotte, to add to her embarrassment, let out a sob followed by a string of tears. All the emotions she was feeling and the constant pull of her conscious had taken its toll and quick.

Now flabbergasted even more John put his arm around her and took her into his arms without a second guess, his poor broken soul. Just then he knew she had been put through the ringer and she needed to be held while her emotions let out a release that was long overdue.