Chapter10
Her phone rang early the next morning and she struggled to open her eyes and wake up. She had been having sweet dreams, though she couldn’t remember what they were. All that she knew was that she didn’t want to wake up from them.
Charlotte fumbled her hand over the bedside table, searching for her cell phone with one eye partly open. She found her phone and brought it close to her face, trying to focus on the name of the caller.
“Hello?” She mumbled, her voice muffled by the pillow her face was buried in.
“Charlotte? Honey, it’s Rita. Did I wake you up? Are you up?” her best friend sounded through the earpiece.
Charlotte groaned and slowly pushed herself up out of the pillow and bedspread to a sitting position. She rubbed her hand over her face and took a deep breath, unwilling to open her eyes fully as she brought the phone to her ear.
“Hello?” Rita asked again. “Charlotte?”
“I’m here. I’m here.” She finally answered. “Sorry. Just woke up.”
“You just woke up? It’s eight in the morning! You never sleep that late! Where have you been? I’ve been trying to call you for two days!” Rita scolded her slightly. “I’ve been worried! I got your message, and I’ll be honest, you sounded terrible. What’s going on?”
Charlotte did not want to deal with her whole mess first thing in the morning, but there was no choice. “Oh Rita. There’s so much.”
There was a pause at the other end of the line. “That sounds bad. Why don’t we meet up? Do you want me to drive out to the house?”
“I’m not at the house.” Charlotte sighed and finally opened her eyes.
“You’re not? Well, where are you?” Rita asked in surprise. “Did you stay the night with your new guy? Are you at his house?”
“No. I’m at my new apartment in the city.” Charlotte told her. “It’s part of the long story.”
“Your new… what?” Rita groaned. “Oh, my word. Listen, just give me the address where you are, and I’ll be right over, okay?”
Charlotte gave her the address, and half an hour later, just as she had gotten the coffee going, there was a knock at the door. She opened it, and before she could say two words, Rita came through the doorway and hugged her tightly. She held on to her so long that Charlotte began to cry; only a little at first, but then the weeping became sobbing, and finally she broke down completely in her best friend’s arms, and Rita didn’t let go until Charlotte had cried herself out.
Then she freed her, and looked at her. “Now, are you okay? At least enough to talk?”
Charlotte nodded. “Yes. I made coffee. Let’s get some coffee.” She went into the little kitchen and poured them both a cup and then they sat together on the couch in the living room.
“First, I want to know what in the world you’re doing in this apartment. Who lives here?” Rita asked, looking around suspiciously.
“I do. I rented it for a month until I can figure out what I’m doing. I got it like this, already furnished. I didn’t have anything, so I needed a place that was ready to go.” Charlotte answered.
“You’re kidding!” Rita stared at her. “You… you moved here into your own apartment? Are you gone from the house? What happened?”
Charlotte sighed and took a long drink of her coffee, hoping to find some courage, strength, and energy in it.
“Okay, well, you know how his wife came back?” She asked, hating the word in her mouth.
“Yes.” Rita nodded.
“Well, he said that she was just going to be staying in the guest room at the end of the hall, but when I got home from my date with David, I decided that I wanted to talk with him and tell him that I’m in love with him and tell him that want to be with him. I thought that if I was just honest with him and told him the truth, maybe he might feel the same way, but then I thought about how he said it was only business between us, how he didn’t want anything like that between us anymore, and I decided not to do it. I was close.
I made it to his bedroom door on Friday night when I got home, but then all those thoughts went through my head and I gave up on it and went to bed. Well, when I woke up Saturday morning, I had myself talked into it again. I was a girl on a mission. I was just going to throw caution to the wind and see what would happen.” She stopped and closed her eyes, taking another long drink of her coffee.
“What happened?” Rita asked, sitting on the edge of her seat, her hands clasped tightly together.
“I walked into his bedroom expecting to find him and I found Evelyn in his bed without any clothes on.” Charlotte answered, wishing she could bleach her mind of the image of Evelyn nude.
“Oh my god.”
“She told me that they were back together, that they were lovers again and that they were going to be a family again. She said that she didn’t need me there, that she was Abbie’s mother and that she would take care of her, and I needed to get out. She fired me and told me to pack my things and leave, so I did. I left, and I found my way here, and that’s where I’ve been.” She stared straight ahead and felt a knot building in her stomach.
“Oh honey!” Rita shook her head and covered her mouth with her hands. “I’m so terribly sorry you went through that! What a rotten man! What a rotten woman!
Charlotte shrugged. “I can pick them, can’t I? Well, it hasn’t been all bad. I did go out on a date with David again last night, and he practically begged me for another dinner date tonight. I said I would go.”
“How is it going with him?” Rita asked hopefully.
There was a knock at the door, and Charlotte frowned and stood up, giving Rita a curious look. “I don’t know who that could be, only you and David know that I’m here, and I think he’s at work.”
Charlotte opened the door and her jaw dropped. There was a delivery man standing in the doorway with a beautiful vase filled with a huge bouquet of roses. She signed for it and closed the door, staring at them.
She set them on the coffee table and pulled the card from the flowers. ‘I can’t wait to see you again tonight, xx David’
Charlotte read it aloud and then looked over at Rita, who was giggling lightly. “I guess things must be going pretty well with him! Those are gorgeous!”
Charlotte reached up and scratched her head, running her fingers through her long wavy hair. “I haven’t even kissed him yet! I can’t believe he’s sending these to me! The man can’t be desperate. He’s good looking and pretty well off I think, and he’s smart and clever, and really funny. What is he doing sending me roses when I haven’t even kissed him?”
“Maybe he knows you’re a good catch.” Rita answered, giving both David and Charlotte the benefit of the doubt.
Charlotte shook her head doubtfully and leaned over to breathe in the scent of the blooms. “Well, they’re certainly beautiful. Points for trying. I’ll give him that.”
“I think he wants more than points.” Rita teased her.
“Oh, he’s made it perfectly clear that as soon as I’m ready, he wants a lot more than points.” Charlotte told her as her cheeks warmed a little. “The problem is that I’m in love with Brady. I can’t help it. Every time David gets close, it’s only Brady on my mind, and there’s no getting around that. There’s no stopping it. I have no idea how to fall out of love with the man. I’m in such a terrible spot right now. I lost my heart, I have no idea what I’m going to do with my life, and I have nothing to hold on to right now. I have no real home, no job, no plan, no direction, and no life! I don’t have anything! I have no idea what I’m going to do.” She dropped her head into her hands and moaned miserably.
Rita got up and went to her, sitting beside her on the sofa and wrapping her arm around her. “You have a best friend holding on to you. You have a safe and nice-looking place where you can rest your body and your head while you’re trying to figure everything out. You have a good chunk of money in your bank account and you’re not broke or truly homeless. You have a man you like who is genuinely interested in you. Things are not that bad.
You need to stop looking behind you at what’s in the past and start looking toward the future. You have a new beginning to look ahead to. You have a future wide open with every possibility. You just need to let go of the things that are hurting you. They’re not going to do you any good, so let them go and carry on. Look to the future honey, the bright future ahead. The past holds nothing for you, so let it go.”
Charlotte smiled at her. “You’re the best, do you know that? You truly are. I’m so grateful for you.”
Rita nodded and hugged her again. “I know I am. Now, let’s refill these coffee cups and start working on a new plan for you.”
Two hours later, Charlotte was feeling much better, and she hugged Rita goodbye. Left to her own devices, she looked around the room and decided that since she was going to be in the apartment for at least a month with an option to go longer if she wanted to, she had better unpack. It was one step toward a new life, and a new life was just what she needed.
She was partway through the second box when she pulled out her day bag and set it on the sofa. There were still things in it, and she opened it up to see what they were. She pulled out a pack of gum, her umbrella, a pair of gloves, a cell phone charger, and a doll. She stood straight up and gasped. It was Lula. It was Abbie’s favorite doll.
She covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes went wide and she thought back to the last time she and Abbie had left the house together. Abbie had been playing a game and told her that Lula was asleep. She asked Charlotte to put Lula in her bag so Lula wouldn’t wake up, and they had both forgotten her there.
She knew without a doubt that out in the countryside, there was a little girl whose heart was broken because she had lost her most precious and favorite baby doll. Charlotte felt like the worst nanny ever. She couldn’t believe that she had left with it.
Turning where she stood, she picked up her cell phone and called Rita. Rita answered right away.
“I just left! Are you okay?” She asked, half joking and half not.
“I am, but Abbie isn’t. I have her favorite doll with me. I packed it on accident. Could I please borrow your car if I fill up the gas tank?” Charlotte pleaded.
“Of course, and don’t worry about the gas. You can drop me at school and then come pick me up this afternoon. I’ll be right over.” Rita was smiling, and Charlotte could hear it over the phone.
“Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this is going to mean to that little girl.” Charlotte told her adamantly.
“Oh, I have some idea. I had a favorite teddy bear when I was growing up.” Rita answered.
An hour later, Rita was at school and Charlotte was heading toward the Douglas house; a place she swore that she was never going to go back to. It was half past eleven in the morning by then, and Charlotte knew that Abbie was going to need to go down for her nap soon. She felt somewhat relieved that at least Abbie would be able to sleep with her favorite baby doll that day.
She pulled up to the house and saw a strange car parked outside of the garage. She wondered if Evelyn had gotten a new car, and cringed at the thought. When she went to the front door, she saw that it was partway open, and she frowned, wondering who had left it that way. She was always extremely careful about keeping it closed.
She knocked and called out, but no one answered. A distant noise tickled her ear and when she recognized it, her heart gave a jump. It was Abbie, and she was crying. From the sound of it, she realized that Abbie was probably in her room. Looking around and seeing no one, Charlotte raced up the stairs and headed to the nursery, hoping and worrying that everything was okay with her little girl.
When she tried to open the door, she found it locked. Her heart began racing faster and she moved down the hall to her old room. The door there was unlocked, and she went inside and headed for the door to the nursery. It was locked from her side. She could hear Abbie crying loudly, and she called to her.
“I’m coming baby, it’s Charlie, and I’m coming! Don’t you cry, honey.” She unlocked the door and pulled it open. Abbie was sitting on the floor by the door of her room, red faced and sobbing, her cheeks and her shirt soaked with tears. She was almost hyperventilating when Charlotte got to her.
Abbie cried out and held her arms up, looking at Charlotte with desperation. “Charlie! You… were… gone! Where… were… you?” She barely breathed, “Charlie! I… can’t… open… the door!” She rubbed her eyes and buried her face in Charlotte’s neck. “It’s stuck!”
Charlotte was furious. “No honey, it wasn’t stuck, it was locked. Who locked your door? Why was your door locked, baby?”
“Ebbalin!” she continued to sob. “She said… I have… to stay… here.” She wrapped her little arms around Charlotte’s neck and held her tight as Charlotte soothed her and calmed her down.
“There now, Charlie is here and you’re okay. Don’t you cry, baby.” Then she rubbed her back and said, “Look who I found! I brought her back for you. She’s missed you so much!” She held the doll up for Abbie and the little girl’s eyes grew big as a smile formed over her mouth.
“Lula! Lula!” She cried out, hugging the doll with one arm. She didn’t want to let go of Charlotte.
“Come here, honey. You must be so tired from being scared and crying.” She stood up and carried Abbie to the rocking chair in the nursery, turning on the crystal carousel so that the song played softly, and she sat down with Abbie held gently in her arms. She rocked her back and forth until the little girl passed out cold in her arms, and then she kissed her face a few times and carefully walked her over to her bed, tucking her into it and placing Lula beside her.
Charlotte was ready to go after Evelyn. The woman might have been a pain in the neck to her and ruined her happiness, but locking Abbie up in her room and leaving her to cry was going much too far.
She headed down the stairs and began to search for the woman. She didn’t have to go too far. She heard her talking in Brady’s office, and then she heard a man’s voice talking with her. Curiosity and confusion stopped her in her tracks, because it wasn’t Brady’s voice she heard. Taking a few silent steps, she neared the office, getting to a place where she could see everything through the open door without bringing any attention to herself.
Her jaw fell open and she covered her mouth to stifle any sound of shock that might come out. Standing there in a negligee was Evelyn; she was leaning against Brady’s desk. Facing her was a tall, well built, blonde haired man.
“Look Darren, this isn’t going to happen overnight. He’s got to feel like he can trust me again. I’m working on it. We knew going into this plan that it was going to take some time. Stop trying to rush me! I’m getting there, but it’s just taking some time. I have to get him to trust me again. It won’t take long; he’s a sucker, especially for me. You’re just going to have to be patient, baby!” She cooed to him, reaching up and kissing him before she leaned back again.
Charlotte’s heart was thudding heavily in her chest and her blood was pumping so fast that she could barely hear anything outside of her body, but she could hear well enough, and she could certainly see. Without even really thinking too much about it, she reached for her cell phone and held it up, hitting the record button and zooming in a little bit so that everything happening before her was captured perfectly.
The man Darren reached for Evelyn and kissed her again, long and slow, bringing his hand to her breast, but she pushed him away gently and gave him a playfully scolding look. “Now, patience, lover of mine! Patience! We take this a step at a time. We each have our parts. I’m working on mine. I needed to get back into the house, and I’m here. Then I get back into his bed, then I get back onto all of his bank accounts and the house, and then I kick him out and we get everything.
I finally found his will, and he never bothered to change it after the divorce. If he doesn’t sign it over, then we send him off of a cliff in a car, and the world thinks he committed suicide. I still get everything; all the money, the properties, the businesses, and you still get me, and that’s what you want isn’t it, baby? You want me.”
“Of course, I do. I’ve wanted you since you were married to him before. That’s why I took you from him the first time.” He answered, and something about his voice sounded strikingly familiar to Charlotte. She held her phone steady and recorded. Darren continued. “I did my part. I got the nanny out of the way for you, so Brady is all yours. She won’t be bothering him again. She hates him, and she was pretty well distracted with me. Also, she thinks my name is David, not Darren, so she’ll never make a connection and we’ll be safe from her.”
Evelyn grinned. “Good.”
Charlotte realized who she was looking at and her stomach clenched. She held her hand fast over her mouth to stop from vomiting on the floor. She couldn’t believe that she had fallen sucker to a man who was sleeping with Evelyn. David was no great guy. He was a liar and a cheat, and he was up to a whole lot more than just trying to distract her away from Brady, lying to her, and using her.
“You can do whatever you have to do to get Brady interested in you, and if he doesn’t get interested in you, then we kill him.” Darren smiled and reached for Evelyn’s breasts again. She pushed him away and gave him a sharp look.
“Did you only go on that first date with Charlotte? You haven’t seen her since, have you?” Evelyn asked, her voice taking on a note of jealousy.
He shook his head. “No, not at all. It was just that one first date, just like we planned. I came to the house when you told me that Brady would be gone. I told her I was an old college buddy of his and I flirted with her. She bought it, and I asked her to meet me in town for dinner. She agreed. She hasn’t seen my car, she doesn’t know what I drive, and she doesn’t even know my real name. I met up with her, I took her to dinner like we planned, I distracted her from Brady that night, and that was it. I haven’t seen her or talked to her since. It was just that one time.”
Evelyn frowned darkly at him, “Are you sure? You’re telling me the truth?”
He reached for her and kissed her hard, peeling her bra off of her and lowering his mouth to her breasts, “Baby, would I ever lie to you? How could I ever…” He pushed her panties all the way down off of her legs and unzipped his pants as she grinned up at him and wrapped her legs around him, “…ever lie to you?” He pushed himself inside of her, ramming himself into her over and over as she cried out blissfully, and Charlotte stood there trembling and shaking, tears streaming down her face, her hand over her mouth.
She stopped the recording, knowing that she had far more than enough of whatever she might need to prove to Brady that he was in big trouble. She backed away from her spot quietly and ran back upstairs to her old bedroom.
Once there, she quickly dialed Brady’s number. He answered almost right away. “Charlotte? God… I can’t believe you’re calling me. I… I heard that you quit and I was told why and I…”
She interrupted him. “Stop. Listen to me. You have to come home right now. Right. Now. I’m here, and things are so wrong! Abbie was locked up alone in her room, crying and scared to death and Evelyn is downstairs right now with some guy having sex with him on your desk! Get home! They’re planning all kinds of terrible things to do to you!”
“I’m already on my way.” He snapped furiously, and ended the call.
He was already on his way, she discovered, because five minutes later, he strode through the wide open front door and went straight to his office. Charlotte had been keeping an eye out for his car from her old window upstairs. When she saw him coming up the drive, she raced downstairs. They got to his office at the same time.
Brady stomped in through his open office door, startling the lovers on his desk. They jumped apart from each other and both of them tried desperately to pull their clothes back on.
“What in the hell are you doing here?” He shot at Darren. “You didn’t get enough of my wife when you stole her from me the first time? You have to come back here to my house to keep screwing her?”
Charlotte walked in right behind Brady and shot daggers at both Evelyn and Darren. Darren’s mouth fell open. “What in the hell are you doing here?” He asked the same question of her that had just been asked of him.
She raised her voice and planted her hands on her hips. “I wish I hadn’t gone on all those dates with you. You know, you can take those fancy roses you sent to me this morning and shove them. Stop calling me, and stop coming after me. I’m not going out to dinner with you tonight, and I wish I hadn’t seen you last night or any other time either. You can go straight to hell, jerk!”
Evelyn doubled up her fist and punched Darren right in the face. “You liar! You were still going after her! I knew it!”
Charlotte turned to Brady. “They are planning on taking you for everything. Your money, your business, your house, and your properties. They said if you don’t give it to Evelyn, they’re going to kill you so she’ll inherit it because you never changed your will.”
“No, we aren’t! She’s lying!” Evelyn screamed furiously.
“I have it all recorded.” Charlotte held her phone up and Evelyn gaped at her. Charlotte shot her a cold look. “Don’t you ever go near Abbie again, or I’ll tell the police that you locked her up in her room and left her there.” She turned on her heel and walked right out of the house. She got into Rita’s car and headed back to Manhattan. She was finished.
Brady fumed at Darren and Evelyn. “It wasn’t enough that you took my wife! Now you want my business, my home, and my money too? Go get your own damn life!” He pulled his fist back and let it fly, sending Darren to the floor with a bloody nose and mouth. Evelyn screamed in horror.
“Get out now, or I’ll have you both arrested! Get out and don’t either of you ever come back!” Brady yelled at them.
Darren clambered up off the floor and he and Evelyn held on to each other as they headed for the front door. She shook her fist at him and screamed at him.
“I never want to see you or that kid ever again!” She flipped him off.
“You won’t! Now get out and stay out, or you’re going to prison!” He yelled at them again. They climbed into Darren’s car and drove off, leaving Brady standing in his doorway alone.