by Haley Cass
She let out an exasperated laugh. “Caleb, I swear. You and grandmother are the worst. Besides, if you didn’t know that she was back in Virginia for the next month, working on the Foundation’s business in its home state – as her schedule has always been – then all hope is truly lost for you.”
Caleb only shrugged, though he gave her a cheeky grin.
“I’m surprised I haven’t heard about her calling you after your interview today,” he commented, as he walked closer to bend down and pick up the paper she’d put on the table.
Charlotte scoffed, “I received a phone call from her first thing after the article was released, of course.”
“I imagine she’s pleased?” Caleb murmured, as he skimmed his eyes over the article.
She found herself grinning, thinking about the phone call in question. It had started out with her grandmother complaining about the fact that all of her meetings could be shorter, if they could all sit down and focus on what was important, how they all had important things to do.
And it had quickly escalated into her grandmother telling her that she was counting on Charlotte to win, because the day Naomi Young was a Congresswoman, would be the day she went into early retirement.
Charlotte had joked, “That’ll be the day,” because her grandmother was well past a respectable retirement age, but she didn’t let that stop her. She never let anything stop her, and Charlotte respected that so much.
She nodded, “Well, grandmother says that she doesn’t worry that I’ll let her down.”
Which Charlotte loved, because she loved knowing that her grandmother had so much faith in her. That she didn’t doubt Charlotte’s abilities or knowledge, despite her youth or anything else. But it also did make her feel the pressure more.
Caleb placed the article down on the side table next to her couch before he sat on the arm with an exaggerated sigh, “Yes, she never worries that you will let her down, unlike her grandsons.”
He said it with the same agitated affection that their grandmother used when talking about Charlotte’s brothers. Others might miss it, or mistake it for the impatience it often sounded like, but Charlotte knew them all well enough to know better.
It was no secret that Charlotte was their grandmother’s favorite – something she’d reveled in during her youth, though as she’d gotten older, she also recognized that there could be potential downsides. There was a heavy expectation for her to uphold everything Elizabeth was and what she wanted for Charlotte. She supposed it was kismet that she held herself to those same standards.
Or perhaps it was a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Regardless, Charlotte knew that her grandmother had wanted all of her grandchildren to uphold her legacy in some matter. She’d had high hopes, at first, that William would grow more ambitious, as he had the intelligence and an affable demeanor for politics. But as he’d gotten older, it was clear that he didn’t have the absolute ambition and motivation he would need for the game, and by the time he was going to university, he’d declared his major as veterinary science. Not to mention his aversion to big cities; he’d moved to a smaller city in Virginia than where they’d grown up and rarely ventured out.
Caleb, did, obviously, move away from Virginia and was happy to build a life here in New York. But much to their grandmother’s chagrin, while Caleb had the looks and charming personality that would make a good politician, he was much more concerned with right and wrong in black and white.
Charlotte, as her grandmother had told her since her youth, was everything Elizabeth thought good about the Thompson name. It was both a bit heavy, yet something she was extremely proud of.
Charlotte reached up to scoop her hair up, twisting it into a ponytail even as brown eyes rolled. “You know she loves both of you.”
“Oh, yes, grandmother is always thrilled enough to call Will and me whenever something happens in our careers,” Caleb snarked back. “But I did get a great phone call about how none of us are doing our job carrying on the Thompson name. At least that is something where you fail in grandmother’s eyes.”
Well. Caleb was right about that. She’d heard it a thousand times before, how she, Caleb, and William were disappointments on the personal life fronts. Mostly Will, as he was now in his mid-thirties.
“Shut up,” she told him, succinctly. “Now, what exactly are you here for?”
Finally, he sighed a long-suffering sound before he fell backwards gracefully to land on her cushions, “Dean wants to watch some mini-series about the Hundred Years’ War,” Caleb looked pained. It easily pulled a smirk from her. “I was pretty sure you’d have it. You and Dean both, sadly, have similar taste in that respect. Boring documentaries.”
“As Dean’s luck and your distress will have it, I do have that,” she walked over to the shelf filled with her movies, eyes skimming over the titles. Quickly, she picked out the one she knew Dean was talking about – they’d discussed it last week.
When she turned back around, Caleb wasn’t laying on her couch anymore, and was instead looking at her coffee table. He had the DVD case of the movie she and Sutton were going to watch in his hands, and he groaned.
“Fuck, another documentary on Elizabeth I? Charlotte, there are only so many times someone can watch the life and death of one person before they just need an intervention.”
She bopped him lightly on the top of his head with the DVD set, grinning in satisfaction when he yelped lightly and reached up to take the DVD from her with one hand, then rub over the spot with the other. “I’ll have you know that I have a friend coming over who wanted to watch with me, smartass.”
Though the life of Elizabeth I, and in general strong historical females, was a focus topic for her that she often indulged in alone, she was being truthful. Sutton had admitted that she’d never watched anything about her, because much of history depressed her.
But she’d easily agreed to watch tonight when Charlotte suggested it the day before.
She only raised an eyebrow to him in response to his confused expression. Which shortly melted into a lascivious grin that she already did not like the look of, even before he nodded. “Ahh, that’s why you’re so anxious for me to get out of here. You have a movie to watch with a friend.”
The truth of the fact that she was ready for him to leave, and had been since he walked in, made her stomach twist uncomfortably when paired with his insinuation. Before she brushed it off with a laugh. “I do, and she is. A friend.”
The knowing look he gave her was enough to immediately have her hackles raised, “Charlotte, you haven’t had a woman over to your apartment who wasn’t, like, a cousin or a miscellaneous friend that was visiting from our youth for ‘just a movie’ in . . . ever.” When she merely crossed her arms and gave him a serious look, he lost the smirk. “What – who do you even know who is just a friend?”
The fact that she gained the upper hand so easily made her feel triumphant. And even slightly amused that all it took was the idea that she truly did have a female friend to throw him off base. Still, she rolled her eyes at him, her tone dry, “Caleb, you know that I’ve been spending time with Sutton Spencer lately.”
He stared at her, flabbergasted, for a few moments before he threw his hands in the air, exasperated. “I thought that getting coffee with her was a euphemism!”
Charlotte couldn’t quite stop the chuckle that left her, unable to stop herself from teasing him, “And whose fault is that?”
Though, she did realize with somewhat of a grudging acceptance, that she could see why he thought that. He wasn’t exaggerating when he brought up the fact that she didn’t really have many people that she’d let in and opened up to as a friend since living in New York.
Caleb gave her a scrutinizing look, that she faced head-on, and he folded quickly. “So, you really haven’t slept with her?”
A disbelieving snort of laughter left her before she shook her head at him – at the both of them, really. “No!”
When he gave he
r a roguish smile, she was ready to start pushing him out the door, even before he asked, “But you want to, right?”
Her mouth opened, but no words found their way out. She wasn’t in the habit of denying simple truths like that – especially not to Caleb, and especially when there was absolutely nothing wrong with finding someone attractive and wanting to act on that attraction.
And, she did find Sutton attractive and had wanted to act on said attraction since the first time she’d seen her picture.
Her attraction had really only grown in the past few weeks. As she’d become accustomed to Sutton’s style, with her preppy tops and tight jeans and array of cute dresses that she liked to wear. As she’d realized exactly how easy it was to make her blush – and god, was it easy.
Still, she only shrugged, “That’s neither here nor there; friends can be attracted to one another.”
She didn’t have many friends, but she knew that there weren’t specific guidelines. They could be attracted to one another. Friends could enjoy making friends blush, and enjoy the slight tremor that went through the other friend when she was kissing her cheek –
Feeling the pleasant and familiar churning in the pit of her stomach at the thought, she blinked herself out of it. It had definitely been far longer than she usually went without having sex.
The look he was giving her was incredulous. “Charlotte, who are you? Who is this celibate woman standing in front of me? Since when do you have a not-straight woman that you are attracted to and you don’t find a way to seduce?”
Only mildly offended, she scoffed, “I don’t seduce people.” Generally. Usually, a seduction wasn’t really required. “Besides, Sutton isn’t . . . like that.”
He gave her a look that made her know he was simultaneously curious and humoring her. “Like what, exactly?”
She shrugged, twirling her hand in the air lightly like it would aid her explanation. “She isn’t interested in things that are short term, or purely physical.” She aimed a wry look at him, “She believes in love.”
The laugh that he barked out made her cringe. “Just your type,” he teased, before adding speculatively, “It’s unlike you to seek out other . . . companionship.”
“You make it sound like I’m a hooker or something. Hanging out with Sutton is fun,” she settled on after going blank for a moment as to how to describe it. She wasn’t even sure fun was the right word; it wasn’t the wrong word, but she enjoyed spending time with Sutton for a multitude of reasons, and she wasn’t about to start waxing poetic about the virtues of friendship to her brother, “It’s nice to have a friend who isn’t a family member, which Dean practically is.”
“Look at you – making friends.” Caleb gave her a look of exaggerated pride. “Well, friend. I’m so proud of you for looking beyond your urges.” He winked at her. “Especially when there is a woman as good-looking as Sutton Spencer involved. I’ve heard very flattering things about her.”
Before Caleb could say anything that led her down that particular road again – because it was a road Charlotte actively tried not to stroll down in regards to Sutton – she grabbed his sleeve and started to tug him back down the hall.
“Now, you are going to leave, because she’s going to be here any moment now. And you’ll take advantage of her easily-blushing nature.”
He wiggled his eyebrows in a way that made her laugh. “Like you don’t.”
She acknowledged him with a shrug and a coquettish smile. “Well, she’s my friend.”
“You’re no fun,” he sighed at her, even as he willingly walked along.
Charlotte had a retort on the tip of her tongue, before the tentative knock that sounded on her door grabbed both of their attention. Anticipation slid through her, though she was careful not to look too eager because she was very much aware that Caleb was watching her.
“Apparently I stayed until the perfect time.” He grinned.
It just made her shake her head as she warned, “Behave.”
The door slowly opened without her stepping toward it, as Sutton hesitantly started to walk through, a large bag of food in her arms. She was picking lightly at the corner of the bag as she muttered to herself, “She said to just come in. So, it’s not weird.”
Charlotte really didn’t know how Sutton did it – managed to be charming even when she wasn’t aware she was being watched – but she was grinning, lifting an eyebrow in Sutton’s direction.
Just as she looked up, and froze upon seeing them. Blue eyes locked first on Charlotte, where they stayed for a few moments, holding her gaze before dropping slightly to take in Charlotte in the tank top and yoga pants that she’d changed into after getting out of her work clothes. It vaguely occurred to her that Sutton hadn’t seen her not dressed either for the office or for a function before.
The flush on Sutton’s cheeks was unmistakable as her gaze popped back up and then dodged to look at Caleb. The hot feeling that settled in her at Sutton checking her out, and the way her eyes widened and mouth opened slightly, was both satisfying and disappointing.
It was a familiar feeling, especially over the last few weeks with Sutton. The girl had no control over her automatic responses to her attraction, and Charlotte loved it. Even when it reminded her that she was living in celibacy for the first time in over ten years.
Sutton adjusted the hold she had with one of her arms around the bag of Thai food that she’d picked up, so she could offer an awkward wave to Caleb. “Um, hi.”
“You must be Sutton.” He gave her a pleasant, genial smile. It was amiable and charismatic, much like her brother himself was, and he reached out to offer his hand. “Charlotte’s told me about you.”
Sutton’s eyes darted between them for a second, and she knew she wasn’t imagining the pleased smile that tugged at the corners of her lips. “Really?”
Shaking her head, she stepped forward to take the food from Sutton. “This is my brother, Caleb.”
Those big blue eyes blinked once, then twice, in recognition, “Oh! You and Dean.”
Caleb only grinned wider. “I see you’ve heard of me, too. Well, I have some movie-night business of my own to attend to, so I’ll be getting out of your way.”
As he stepped around Sutton, he flashed Charlotte a knowing smile over Sutton’s shoulder.
“Goodbye, Caleb. Don’t fret over the Hundred Years’ War too much.”
His smile shifted into an innocuous one quickly, easily, as Sutton turned to face him. “It was nice to meet you.”
“A pleasure,” he assured her and didn’t even seem like he was being insincere, which he was half of the time. “See you later, Charlie.”
She grimaced at the nickname before ushering him out of the apartment and shutting the door behind him. When she turned back to Sutton, she was watching her with interest. “Do both of your brothers look like you? Caleb does, very much.”
With a teasing smile, she asked, “Devastatingly good-looking?”
Sutton rolled her eyes, but the flush on her cheeks remained. “Are they both as modest as you are, too?”
Laughing lowly, she shifted the food in her grasp and nodded. “Oh, Caleb and I missed the mark on the humility gene far more than William,” she admitted, unabashedly. “But while there is a resemblance between myself and Will, Caleb is the closer of the two, I think.”
Using her elbow, she nudged Sutton lightly and nodded down the hall. “The movie is set up in the living room. I’ll just grab us some plates and meet you in there?”
She enjoyed the way Sutton slowly dragged her eyes over the pictures and artwork on the walls, clearly trying to observe everything, as she nodded. “Okay.”
As soon as she set the food down on the counter, she didn’t even have a moment to grab for plates before her phone buzzed in her pocket. She debated looking at it; she already knew who it was.
Caleb – 6:41PM
So . . . you might have mentioned that a seduction
wouldn’t even be necessary.
Caleb – 6:42PM
Because that girl – very pretty, just your type –
definitely has a crush on you. You do know that
right?
Charlotte lightly tapped her thumbs against the sides of her phone as she blew out a low breath, debating what to say back.
Charlotte – 6:44PM
Mind your own business, dear brother, and enjoy
your movie night. Be careful or I’ll suggest this Queen
Elizabeth doc to Dean! :)
Simple and effective, she decided, as she moved to start putting the food onto plates.
Of course she knew that Sutton had a little infatuation with her; even if she didn’t have a finely tuned radar for reading people, she would have been able to know that. She’d seen Sutton be checked out by several people during their times out together, let alone the comments Regan liked to throw to her – which she’d noted could range from exaggeratedly complimentary or nearly lewd – and none of those things resulted in the same reaction Charlotte could elicit with even a wink.
Which, honestly, was delightful and . . . stirring. Even if it wasn’t a crush, exactly, she knew that Sutton was attracted to her.
But it wasn’t as though she was entirely unaffected by Sutton, either, so she figured they were even on that front. Even if she was far better at disguising it.
She opened the fridge and pulled out a couple of bottles of water, before carefully picking up the plates and walking into the living room.
She’d expected Sutton to be sitting on the couch, waiting for her. Instead, her back was to Charlotte, as she looked over her bookshelf. A smirk worked its way onto her mouth, and she shook her head. Of course .
As she placed everything in her arms down onto the coffee table, she took the moment to look Sutton over. A fond exasperation washed over her when she realized Sutton was only wearing a knitted gray sweater and no jacket; it was cold out. It was nearly November! They’d had this talk multiple times, though, and Sutton always only gave her a playful smile and insisted that she wasn’t cold.
