Charlotte (Marked Heart #2)

by M. Sembera

  Sarah reached down and laid her hand on Sophia's belly.

  "Well?" she asked with a smile.

  With a heavy sigh, Sophia pouted, "We still don't know. We are going to try again next week."

  Sophia was always pouty when she wasn't getting her way.

  "Know what?" Auggie questioned.

  "What we're having," Sophia sneered at him.

  "Shouldn't it be a baby?" he teased.

  Penny jumped in, saying, "Whether it's a boy or a girl, stupid."

  Shaking his head at Penny, Auggie shared, "It's a girl."

  Sarah rolled her eyes and walked to the sink as Sophia questioned, "How would you know?"

  "Easy, its Ailin's kid so it's a girl."

  Appearing put out with him Sophia said, "You're lucky he's your brother because otherwise I wouldn't invite you to our baby shower."

  "Why would I want to go to that?"

  Penny scowled at him as Sarah notified, "All the men are invited. It's going to be at the bar."

  "What?"

  Quickly making her way to Sophia, Penny said, "Come on let's go," urging her out before Auggie had anything else to say about it.

  Watching them leave, Auggie noticed how slow Sophia moved as he thought to himself, she wasn't even that big and she already acted like she was carrying a twenty-pounder.

  Sarah stood at the kitchen counter packing up leftovers for Auggie to take home.

  "A baby shower at the bar?" Auggie questioned.

  Sarah turned to him, saying, "I know, but that's what she wants."

  Shaking his head, he griped, "I can't believe Ailin's letting her do that," then paused a moment before saying, "Yep, they're havin' a girl."

  Taking a seat next to him at the table, Sarah fussed, "Stop talking about your brother like that."

  Auggie laughed a little before asking in a compassionate tone, "You doin' okay, Ma?"

  Nodding, she replied, "How about you? Did you think about what I said?"

  "I'll get to it."

  With a caring sigh, she said, "Auggie, he's not coming back. I know it hasn't been very long, but you need to accept that he's gone."

  Trying not to get mad, he replied, "I said I'd get around to cleaning out his room and I'll do it. I've been busy."

  Truthfully, Auggie had left William's bedroom door shut since the day he died and had no intentions on going in there for any reason.

  "I can do it if it's too hard for..." Sarah started before he cut her off, blurting, "Ma."

  Sarah dropped the subject.

  Auggie finished his lunch and stood up, walking to the counter to grab his meals for the week. Scooping the containers up, he walked back to the table.

  Leaning down to kiss her cheek, he suddenly took a step back when she asked, "So, Charlotte came back to tell him goodbye?"

  Shrugging, he replied, "I don't know."

  "Sheryl said you were there too."

  "So."

  "What really happened?"

  Not caring what Sheryl's big mouth spread around, he answered, "Nothing. I got there, saw she was in his room and left until she was gone."

  "That doesn't sound like you."

  Shaking his head at her, Auggie said, "She didn't look like she was upsetting him and I didn't want to either."

  "That's all?"

  "Yep," he replied, not wanting to tell her about bumping into her in the stairwell or any other time he's seen her since.

  "Is she back for good?"

  Feeling like he was being interrogated, he spouted, "Why are you questioning me about her?"

  "Because the second Penny mentioned her name, you looked guilty as hell and I'm trying to figure out why."

  "I'm not guilty of anything. I let Will have his moment with her. I didn't even give him a hard time about it."

  Sarah watched his expression carefully as she asked, "Did they make their peace with each other?"

  Reminding himself he was talking to his mom, Auggie said, "How am I supposed to know?"

  Sitting back in her chair, Sarah stared at him, assuring, "Son, you really think I don't know when you're lyin' to me?"

  Staring back, he didn't say a word.

  Shaking her head while pursing her lips at him, Sarah shared, "I know she was at the bar yesterday. Blabbermouth Sheryl came by all in a tizzy about it."

  Exhaling as he lowered his head, he replied, "Will left something at the bar for her and she came by to pick it. That's all."

  "You sure?"

  "Yes, Ma," he stressed, pushing his plate to the center of the table before saying, "I've got to go, love you."

  Sarah waited for him to peck her on the cheek before saying, "Love you too."

  Gritting his teeth as he walked out of his mom's house, he thought if Sheryl was a man he'd kick her ass. He still needed to get Charlotte off his mind but it wasn't going to be with her.

  6

  Rumor

  Charlotte was still fussing about her confrontation with Sheryl when she and Ren walked into the house. Practically throwing her bags and purse down on Ren's couch, she wasn't even excited about the new clothes she bought anymore.

  Ren gave a loving smile to Charlotte as she complimented, "I am really proud of the way you handled the situation."

  Flopping down on the couch next to her bags, Charlotte replied, "I should have broken her nose like I did her sister's in high school."

  Sitting down next to her, Ren replied, "I think you got your point across just fine."

  Shaking her head, Charlotte griped, "It hasn't even been a month and it's already back like it was before I left."

  "Don't overreact. Not everyone here is like her."

  "Oh no? Name one other person aside from you, Amila and Lola that's actually happy I'm back."

  With a heavy sigh, Ren reminded, "Well, you didn't exactly leave on a high note."

  Making a face, she blurted, "I never even did anything to him."

  Appearing confused, Ren asked, "Who are you talking about?"

  Giving Ren a stupid look, Charlotte replied, "You think its a coincidence that twice Sheryl said I was with him."

  "Okay Charlotte, I see where you're coming from but I'm sure Auggie has nothing to do with this. In fact, he caught just as much flack as you did when Sheryl decide it was you two instead of William back then."

  "He's such a jerk."

  Tilting her head to the side, Ren gave her a soft knowing smile as she shared, "I know Auggie is pretty rough around the edges. Lord knows every conversation I've ever had with him has turned into an argument, but he's very loyal and he has a good heart. It's just a tad on the hard side."

  "Sure," she spouted before Ren swore, "Trust me, Auggie's a lot of things but he doesn't talk about people. If he has something to say about you, he'll say it to your face."

  Charlotte sat there for a moment before leaning over, hugging Ren and standing up.

  She was going to find out if what Ren said was true. If he thought he was going to spread rumors about her and she was going to sit there and take it, he had another thing coming.

  As Charlotte grabbed her bags off of the couch, Ren snapped, "Where are you going?"

  Whipping around, she replied, "I'm going over there so he can say it to my face."

  "Charlotte!"

  Defending herself, she said, "I'm not going to let anyone get over on me."

  Shaking her head, Ren offered, "Call if you need bail money."

  Charlotte gave a laugh saying, "Will do," as she walked out of the door.

  ~

  Pounding on Auggie's front door, the longer it took for him to answer, the harder she knocked. Finally, after fifteen minutes of banging, the door flew open.

  Charlotte instantly blurted, "Let me in."

  Appearing angry, Auggie griped, "Guess I should be happy you didn't kick it in."

  Not even close to amused she stated, "You have something you want to say to me?"

  "Yea, it's Tuesday, what are you doing here?"

  "So
rry you don't have more time to come up with more little rumors."

  Giving her a dirty look he stood there not saying anything.

  "Let's get a few things straight, Augustus. I agreed to help you with your math skills. I don't want you. So, there is no need to run around telling everybody that I do. And the next time your tacky ass nurse comes up to me sayin' to stay away from her man, not only will she be a patient in the hospital, she'll be in serious need of plastic surgery."

  Shaking his head at her, Auggie stepped to his couch and sat down.

  Leaning his head back, he rubbed the sides of his face with his hands. It suddenly occurred to Charlotte she woke him up. His hair was messy, his shirt was buttoned crooked and his feet were bare.

  Caught up in his appearance, it took her by surprise when he looked at her and said, "My turn."

  Glaring at him, she waited for him to defend his actions.

  With a matter of fact expression, he stated, "If you come over in the middle of the day, wakin' me up, it better be for somethin' more than tryin' to put me in my place." Shocked at what she felt he was insinuating, Charlotte started to say something when he continued, "You can shut that mouth right now, 'cause I'm not done."

  Charlotte made a disgusted face and noise to match at him before closing her mouth.

  "Now you listen here, being with you wouldn't be a step up for me, so rest assured if I was ever that drunk and desperate, I sure as hell wouldn't go around braggin' about it. I'm not with Sheryl, I can't stand her. The only reason, she's not already beat up is because I don't put my hands on females. So the next time you think you know what you're talkin' about, take it somewhere else. 'Cause sweetheart, I don't want you."

  ~

  Staring at Charlotte in his living room wearing a khaki colored skirt that wasn't any longer than the shorts he'd seen her in, he waited for an excuse for her behavior.

  Straitening the bottom of her white blouse, Charlotte stated, "Well, okay then," and turned to walk away.

  In disbelief, Auggie stood up griping, "Now hold on. You come all the way over here, bang on the door like you're the law, wake me up to chew me out and all you have to say is 'okay then'?"

  With an unapologetic expression she turned back to face him, saying, "I suppose, I misjudged the situation."

  "Oh, you suppose?"

  "That's what I said."

  Fighting the fact that he was impressed with her, Auggie questioned, "That's all you have to say?"

  Shrugging her shoulders, she offered, "Situation resolved?"

  Shaking his head at her, Auggie waited until he turned around before smiling to himself thinking 'Unbelievable'.

  Walking into his kitchen, Auggie opened his refrigerator and pulled out a container of left-overs from his mom. Placing them in the microwave, he waited, thinking about the previous night at the bar. He had decided Sheryl was definitely off the table and aside from griping at her for not keeping Charlotte at the hospital to herself, he ignored her the rest of the night. There had been two other prospects but as the night went on, one had a seriously irritating cackle of a laugh and the other smelled like a mixture of perfume and hairspray. He'd just have to wait for the weekend when there would be a bigger pool to choose from.

  Pulling his lunch out of the microwave, he turned to see Charlotte had seated herself at his kitchen table.

  Grabbing a fork out of a kitchen drawer before joining her at the table, he grumbled, "Have a seat."

  With a sarcastic smile, Charlotte suggested, "You should be careful, you know. Not all girls deal well with being one-night-ers."

  Almost dropping his fork, he narrowed his eyes at her, saying, "A...Thanks."

  "Isn't that why?"

  Confused for a moment, he scowled before saying, "She saw you coming out of The Dog House Sunday."

  "I see. She thought I was heels-up on the bar," as he stared at her she cocked her head to the side, "Or bent over it. I'm not entirely sure what the new rumor is."

  A mental picture flashed in Auggie's mind, causing him to adjust himself in his seat.

  ~

  Fighting the urge to smile when she noticed Auggie's reaction to her comment, it was subtle but unmistakable. Eying him as he ate, Charlotte wondered why he was so adamant about not wanting her when it was fairly obvious he found her attractive, at least momentarily. Never in her life had she dealt with a man like him. One minute he was looking at her like he was an alcoholic and she was the last bottle on earth and the next moment like she was a pariah. It wasn't like he had anything to lose by being nice. She wasn't trying to broadcast spending time with him around town. No wonder William was worried about him.

  Taking a slow breath, Charlotte suggested, "Since I'm here, you want to just go ahead and do it."

  Stopping mid-bite, Auggie froze, glaring at her.

  Bursting into laughter, she clarified, "The books...but now I know what's on your mind."

  Resuming his bite of Shepard's pie, Auggie swallowed before intentionally changing the subject by offering, "You want some?" as he leaned the container towards her.

  A tad disappointed he was refusing to play back and forth with her, Charlotte wrinkled her nose at his meal, asking, "What is it?"

  "Shepard's pie."

  "What's in it?"

  "Meat, Potato..." he started before she blurted, "Gross!"

  In disbelief, he questioned, "How can you not like potatoes?"

  "Because they're disgusting."

  "How can you say that?"

  "Because I have tasted them," Charlotte insisted, recalling her mother force-feeding them to her until she threw up."

  ~

  Baffled by her dislike for a staple he grew up with, Auggie had a hard time letting the subject go.

  Remembering she was adopted, he asked, "Is that all you had to eat growin' up or somethin'?"

  Appearing offended she snapped, "No."

  "What are you?"

  "What?"

  Setting his fork down into the container, he asked, "I know you weren't always a Roberts, so what are you?"

  "I don't know."

  "What was your last name?"

  Obviously growing uncomfortable, Charlotte replied, "Smith."

  Narrowing his eyes at her, he asked, "What's your middle name?"

  "Persephone."

  Shaking his head, Auggie lifted the container to scrape the rest of his lunch to one side with his fork, laughing, "No way."

  Sitting up tall, Charlotte insisted, "Persephone's a name."

  "Oh, I know."

  With a frustrated expression she griped, "Then why are you laughing?"

  "I just can't believe your initials were CPS."

  Before another word was spoken, Charlotte reached over and slapped the container of food out of Auggie's hand.

  He jumped up, shouting, "What the hell?!"

  Staring directly at him, she stated, "Interesting what people find amusing."

  Furious with her, he griped, "That's not funny," walking to retrieve his container.

  Without expression she stood up, "No?"

  Auggie's aggravation with her quickly turned to confusion.

  If he made her mad, why didn't she just say so? He was just teasing her. Auggie picked up his container and tossed it in the sink before turning towards her. She didn't look mad, she appeared indifferent. He honestly didn't mean to hurt her feelings but to be fair it didn't appear that he had.

  Noticing her tug at the bottom of her blouse as she stood there, he fussed, "That was uncalled for."

  "Yea well, you're very rude and you smell," she replied with a familiar expression of disgust.

  Scowling at her, he worked at not smiling as he questioned, "I smell? That's the best you got?" as he tried to get her to fess up, "You knocked my lunch across the room because I smell?"

  "Yes you do. Like stale beer and sweat. I believe I also mentioned your rudeness."

  "What am I supposed to say to that?"

  Softening her expression, Charlott
e answered, "Feel free to tell me how rude I am, I guess."

  It only took a second for Auggie to realize what she was doing.

  Assuming he crossed a line with her, after all he had no idea what her history before the Roberts' was. He was fairly certain she was steering the conversation to something she was able to handle. There was an instant change in her disposition once she regained control of the conversation.

  Shaking his head with a slight smile, he asked, "Should I tell you you stink too?"

  With a curious expression Charlotte replied, "Do I?"

  Caught off guard by her question, he snapped, "How should I know? I don't go around smelling you."

  Charlotte instantly stepped to him, leaned her head back slightly and questioned, "Well?"

  "Well what?" he asked in a low voice, not knowing whether to take a step back or lean closer.

  "Do I smell bad?"

  Breathing her in, he wondered, 'Can a smell be beautiful?'.

  "Sorta'," he lied.

  Charlotte fluttered her eyelashes as she rolled her eyes and turned her back to him, "See you Sunday...liar."

  Auggie watched her walk out of his house admitting to himself, she got the better of him today and swore not to let it happen again.

  7

  Boredom

  After a three and a half hour long conversation with Ren, Charlotte really needed to get out of the house. Ren wasn't fussing at her, even though it felt that way. She was checking up on her to make sure Charlotte didn't start acting out. She understood, after all when she first met Ren, Charlotte was out of control. Although she kept the notebook Ren put together for her, it was more out of reminiscence than instruction at this point.

  Scrolling through her phone, there wasn't a single person to do anything with here. Frowning at her phone, she rolled over. Two a.m. on a Saturday night and she wasn't crawling into bed. She had been there since seven thirty. How incredibly depressing.