Forever and A Day: a Those Who Wait story

by Haley Cass

  Forever and A Day

  A Those Who Wait story

  Haley Cass

  Copyright © 2020 Haley Cass

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  ISBN-13: 9781234567890

  ISBN-10: 1477123456

  Cover design by: Art Painter

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309

  Printed in the United States of America

  To every single reader of my debut novel, Those Who Wait - thank you for blowing me away with the reception and for wanting more of these two characters.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Part 1

  Part 2

  Part 3

  Part 4

  Part 5

  Part 6

  Part 7

  Afterword

  About The Author

  Books In This Series

  || Huffpost||

  Feature: How Charlotte Thompson is Becoming the New Face of

  Politics

  March 22, 2020

  Thompson nabbed the House of Representatives seat vacated eight months ago by the late John Kelvin in a close race last Tuesday. After leading Naomi Young in polls by at least twenty percent for the duration of the election, Thompson’s lead fell to less than ten percent as she came out as a lesbian only ten days prior.

  Thompson, 28, is now the youngest openly gay member of Congress and she’s here to make a mark.

  When questioned about her opponent, Naomi Young, Thompson spoke candidly.

  "I haven't gotten into this life to mince words, like many of my peers have. Naomi Young made a point to threaten revealing my sexuality throughout this election. People like that have no business working in the government, where they would continue to work in the favor of oppression. I am a lesbian. And I'm not ashamed. And I'm going to fight for what's right as long as I'm in a position to do so."

  Part 1

  Since coming out as a lesbian so early in her career had never been the plan, Charlotte hadn’t really known much of what to expect. Ever since the interview came out six months ago, she’d been on a learning curve.

  Luckily, she’d always been a fast learner.

  The fact that she’d still beat Naomi – even with her polling numbers taking a disheartening but unsurprising dip – had been shocking and elating, and it allowed her enough breathing room to have hope that she still could have her future intact.

  One of the biggest changes was the publicity.

  Going from a relatively faceless rising name in the New York City’s Mayoral office to the House of Representatives would have been a decent shift into the public light no matter what. But since she’d done it while being an out lesbian, her media exposure was easily triple what most others experienced.

  It wasn’t as though paparazzi were chasing her through the streets –

  thankfully – but the publicity was extreme. Her face and name remained on news headlines longer than was typical, she was featured in handfuls gossip magazines even, but she’d done her best to take that in stride.

  At the end of the day, she’d achieved what she’d set out to do. Doing more interviews and photoshoots and getting her name out there more wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

  She just had to make the best of it.

  The backlash, with her dropping polling numbers and the critical pieces that cropped up against her, were . . . unpleasant. To say the least.

  Anxiety-inducing to say the most, but she didn’t let herself get that far. At times she couldn’t quite let it all go as easily as she wished she could, but at the very least it was all entirely predictable.

  She’d expected a backlash.

  Opposite of that, however, had been the positive side that she hadn’t quite ever let herself consider. The new allies and connections she’d gotten in her own world, and especially the people who’d reached out to her and used words like inspiring, powerful, moving. The people who’d thanked her

  for being the next step forward. The people who, in their words, she represented.

  The influx of followers on all of her social medias alone was –

  overwhelmingly supportive. Almost alarmingly so.

  She tried to not delve into those, either.

  All in all, though, she didn’t regret it. How could she? No, it wasn’t her plan, but plans sometimes had to change.

  The last six months had been an adjustment. A nerve-wracking, relatively public adjustment that at first had been terrifying. Luckily, Charlotte had always managed to be adaptable.

  And in the place of not being adaptable at every turn, she was able to save face.

  Everything was turning out to be okay as the dust had finally started to settle. That alone was better than she’d ever imagined.

  The biggest change of all though, was being with Sutton.

  Sutton, her official girlfriend.

  Sutton, who had been in Rome for one hundred and thirty-three days –

  and counting, now that she’d gotten an offer to extend her internship for an additional three months.

  Never in her life had she navigated this aspect of her life. Had to navigate being in a relationship, let alone juggling a relationship where her girlfriend was halfway around the world.

  She’d also never made use of her vacation time since she’d worked in public office. Not once in over six years had she taken more than the mandated holidays off, and yet –

  “I still can’t believe you’re here,” Sutton breathed out, her voice just a bit hoarse and lazy still. Charlotte couldn’t stop herself from smiling into Sutton’s back as she continued planting slow kisses across the top of her back.

  “Believe it,” she murmured, tossing her hair over her shoulder and looking at the clock next to the bed. “At least for the next thirty-two hours.”

  She sat up on her knees taking in with a just barely sated hunger all of Sutton’s soft skin on display, as she lay completely naked underneath her.

  All of that glorious long red hair was swept to the side, mussed and tangled from the night they’d spent in bed together after Charlotte had arrived.

  Her lips quirked up a bit into a smirk and she brushed her fingers over the dark spot she’d sucked into the juncture where Sutton’s neck and

  shoulder met, loving how she could see the way Sutton shivered at it.

  The utterly self-indulgent satisfied feeling that slid through her with the fact that Sutton was her girlfriend, that they’d made it over those initial hurdles coupled with the fact that Sutton was still so completely responsive to her touch was on the precipice of familiar and novel. She reveled in it.

  “I wish it was for longer,” Sutton’s voice was slightly muffled as she arched her back against Charlotte’s hands.

  She traced her fingers along the muscles there, biting her lip at the longing in Sutton’s voice, because she felt it too. The want for more time together that was only hushed with the knowledge that this distance was temporary.

  “I know, believe me. I’m sorry, darling, but these few days I have off have already killed my schedule,” her voice was soft and full of remorse, because she did wish there was more time for them right now, to be together in the same place.

  She was well aware that i
f her job and schedule weren’t the way it was, taking a few more days off to stay in Rome wouldn’t be out of the question. A soft pang of guilt and the stresses she still carried about the future brought her slowly exploring hands to a pause.

  She shook her head to push those thoughts away. Worries about the future would be normal in any relationship, she not only assured herself but had been assured by Sutton multiple times after sharing these feelings with her. They would just have to figure things out as they came and there were some things that couldn’t be mapped out. She had to be okay with that.

  She bent down, sliding her hands along Sutton’s sides, to press her lips against the nape of her neck. The feeling of Sutton against her, the smell of her shampoo that lingered in her hair, was enough to help calm her ever-present thoughts about the future.

  There was no way she was going to waste the precious little time she had here on that. Not when they were secluded in a room with just the two of them, away from everything and everyone.

  She could feel Sutton melt even more into the mattress, even before she shook her head. “No, it’s not – Charlotte, you have so much to do, and you took time off to come here. That’s . . . you’re so perfect." Her tone was dreamy.

  It made Charlotte grin with the rush of pride, feeling the need to live up to that tone.

  “Mm, I do try. You’re no slouch in the busy department, either, over here making a name for yourself, and trying to squeeze those of us back home in when you can,” she teased, stroking her fingers down, just over the sides of Sutton’s chest, knowing the way she would shudder lightly from it.

  Sutton scoffed, even as her heart skipped a beat that Charlotte could feel it from where her lips pressed against her shoulder blade.

  “I’ve heard – hmm –” She broke off in a light hum as Charlotte pushed herself back up and stroked up her spine in a light massage.

  She’d arrived at Sutton’s apartment from the airport just in time for Sutton to get out of her internship and she hadn’t been able to stop touching her since. She’d mapped just about every inch of her body at this point, she thought, as she watched her own hands slide over Sutton’s shoulders.

  “I’ve heard,” Sutton started again. “From a little bird, that you’ve even had dinner with Regan on her late nights at the café." Her voice was a mixture between giggling and utter relaxation, before she turned her head enough to look at Charlotte over her shoulder, blue eyes sparkling in mirth.

  “You must really miss me back home if you and Regan are becoming dinner buddies.”

  Narrowing her eyes, she scratched down her spine, enjoying the way Sutton squealed at the change of motion. She tried to focus on that instead of the embarrassment that settled low in her stomach. “Don’t mock; you’ve left us both in quite the lurch.”

  She and Regan had caught the occasional dinner together as of late.

  She wouldn’t yet classify them as friends, but they were headed in that direction. Probably. It wasn’t something she’d sought out to do but it was happening anyway, especially in light of both of them missing Sutton.

  She pursed her lips and huffed out a breath. “Besides, I figure it’s better if we resolve any remaining issues now. Get that all out of the way.”

  Not that they had many at this point. Her mortifying breakdown and declaration of loving Sutton, post her coming out interview when Regan had ultimately offered her help to get Charlotte into the wedding six months ago, had certainly helped them overcome most of their barriers.

  “Yeah?” Sutton’s head, that had previously been resting on the pillow while Charlotte had settled on top of her, popped up while a tentative, hopeful tone edged in her voice.

  “Yes, well, you won’t be here away from us forever.” She reached out to push Sutton’s hair over her shoulder as it had moved with her and

  splayed over her back, before she rose back up to her knees in preparation to push herself back into the spot next to Sutton on the mattress.

  Who made a sound in the back of her throat in protest as Charlotte moved to shift off of her and she paused. Sutton instead maneuvered and flipped onto her back, looking up at her from the pillow.

  Those blue eyes were tired but bright, the smile on her lips was lazy and sated, and she reached out to take Charlotte’s hands with hers, their fingers easily threading together. She settled comfortably straddling Sutton’s hips, flexing her fingers in the hands holding hers, and let her eyes drift closed for a moment.

  Just to feel it all. She’d needed this.

  They’d had barely a month together back home before Sutton had gone away for her internship, and that month had been so incredibly hectic. It had been Charlotte’s busiest month of her career so far, tying up all loose ends and starting her new responsibilities and new –impossibly longer – hours.

  Not to mention the media circus that she’d been trying to sidestep as much as she could.

  Sutton had to finish all of her graduate school tasks and had spent another week and a half of that time with her family. They’d both agreed to not throw this – this warm, lovely, sparkling but incredibly new –

  relationship into the public fire that had only turned from simmer to boil as Sutton had left for Rome.

  She had thought, apparently wildly incorrectly – and god knew how much she hated being wildly incorrect – that Sutton doing her internship wouldn’t be the worst thing with the timing of it all.

  She’d thought that she’d focus on her job and by the time Sutton came back from Rome she would have it and the newfound publicity well in hand. Not that she’d wanted Sutton to not be there with her, but she’d figured it wouldn’t be terribly difficult to put the majority of her focus on other things while they were apart. That it would be a good time to regroup and fall more into a routine.

  Loathe as she was to admit it, she’d been very wrong.

  Of course, they video chatted regularly – every Saturday without fail, as it was Sutton’s guaranteed day off even if her schedule got shifted around, and whenever else they could fit it in. They texted every day. They communicated, despite the six-hour time difference and both of their busy schedules, all of the time.

  Logically, things should be easier without Sutton back in New York.

  She should have more time to focus on work and for their relationship to not be dragged into public speculation while she was also still dealing with the fallout of coming out.

  But it wasn’t easier at all.

  Because in spite of still talking to Sutton every day, she missed her.

  She wished she could have their coffee dates or movie nights or even just come home to her. It was almost scary, how intense this want for Sutton was.

  And because of a whole jumble of those feelings, she’d found herself booking a flight to Rome for a short trip. Just to reaffirm… all of this. For her to know that everything they had was still there and real.

  They’d reaffirmed that this was most certainly still here and real six times in the last twelve hours; her body was still tingling with it.

  “Should I always plan on you chasing me whenever I go away?”

  Sutton spoke softly, a teasing lilt in her voice to bring Charlotte out of her thoughts. But there was also a genuine wonder there, a soft insecurity.

  “I think we’ve well established that I’m exceptional in seeking you out,” she murmured. She could hear the affection in her voice mirroring what was lacing through her veins.

  It should be mortifying, really, that she felt this deep, true affirmation inside of her – yes. She would chase after Sutton whenever she left, while they were together. Never in her life had she thought she would be someone who would take days off of work to fly literally across the world for matters of the heart. And yet –

  The way Sutton’s smile widened, brightened, her eyes crinkling with sheer happiness at her answer shredded any negative feelings she could have at that truth.

  Charlotte quirked her head to the side, shifting her hips a bit
to rock forward onto Sutton. “Should I always plan on you calling in sick when I arrive?”

  “I – you – we were up all night!” Sutton’s voice fell to a hush, as it had earlier when she’d called in faking sick to her supervisor. As though someone from her internship was going to pop up from the corner of the small rented apartment to catch her faking.

  Charlotte found it equal parts adorable and hilarious, and she couldn’t help but laugh even as she nodded. “We were. Perhaps you should have

  been the responsible person here and put a stop to it.”

  She let go of Sutton’s hands and braced her own on the pillow on either side of Sutton’s head as she ducked down. Her breath caught in her throat as her bare chest pressed against Sutton’s, the arousal that hadn’t fully been sated stirring again as she nuzzled Sutton’s jaw, and felt her catch and hold a breath.

  “I,” she released it on a long shudder, her nipples hard and pressing into Charlotte’s chest. “I don’t think you’re one to talk about res-responsibility." Sutton stuttered as she rocked her hips down against her and nipped at her neck.

  It was so incredibly heady, this hunger for Sutton. She was still wet for her and wanting her all over again. And the fact that she could feel Sutton’s pulse scrambling against her lips as she pressed a kiss to her neck just made it feel even headier.

  “On the contrary; I’m very responsible,” she whispered. “Or do you not know who you’re talking to?” She scratched down Sutton’s side, just enough to make her arch under her as she leaned back down. She sighed as she felt Sutton’s hands move to grip her thighs.

  And then she squealed as she was flipped onto her back, a rush going through her as it always did when Sutton surprised her in bed. Especially when Sutton surprised her and slid her hands down to Charlotte’s wrists to hold them to the bed, with that glint in her eye.

  “I know just who you are, Congresswoman Thompson,” she whispered as she leaned down, stopping just a whisper before their mouths connected.

  The wanting inside of her that was already so strong only got more intense as Congresswoman Thompson washed over her. She couldn’t have stopped herself from leaning up and capturing Sutton’s lips with hers even if she’d wanted to.