by Sherie Keys
She climbed back up, placing herself directly on his penis. Despite it being rather large, she was able to take it all in at once. Her legs were still sore from dance, making her movement on top of him a little slower. They both seemed to enjoy this, however, and soon enough they both came, him first, staying hard long enough for her to finish.
She toppled over next to him, and he quickly reached his arm around her.
“I’m sorry if that was too quick,” he told her. “I wasn’t prepared either.”
“It’s fine; it was perfect,” she said, drunk with bliss. “I’m on the pill.”
He ran his hand up and down her back. “You have the softest skin I’ve ever touched. Like peaches,” he told her. She smiled.
“Yours isn’t too bad either,” she said, rubbing her hand across his chest. Before she knew it, she was drifting to sleep fast.
Chapter2
Charlotte woke up and reached her arm over for Angelo. She suddenly realized it was the morning, and a wave of anxiety waved over her as she thought about how she was going to explain to her grandmother that a boy had stayed the night there. Except, when she reached her hand over, Angelo was gone. She looked around. He didn’t have any clothes there either. She got out of bed and slipped on a bathrobe.
She walked towards her window and looked out. She had a view of the alley, though she couldn’t see the exact spot where the mugger approached her, since the garage blocked off that part. She could see the back of the houses on the other street and wondered which one Angelo might live in.
One of the reasons she hadn’t been down Angelo’s street was also because she wasn’t sure she was even allowed. The houses were so giant, and the yards were so perfectly landscaped that she thought it might be a private area. The giant houses there easily ran in the millions, so she wondered how Angelo might afford a place like that. Did Angelo live with his parents as well? She heard her grandmother moving in the kitchen downstairs and knew that it was time to get the day started.
She walked into the kitchen to see her grandmother standing there. Though Angelo had left, she was still a bit scared that her grandmother, April, might have known something was up.
“Good morning, sleepyhead, I thought we were going to head to the store at 9?” April said. Charlotte looked at the clock and realized it was 9:30. She wanted to tell her grandmother the rough night she had, but surely, she would make her file a police report, though Angelo had fought the guy off anyway. She thought about the gun he had taken as well and how that would certainly be something she would have to bring up to the police.
“I’m so sorry, Grandma. I had a late night and hard practice. I’m ready now, though!” Charlotte said.
Charlotte’s grandmother wasn’t allowed to drive anymore. She had been caught trying to drive down the opposite way on the highway and had her license taken away. Since then, it was much harder for her to get around. When Charlotte had gotten in trouble, her parents sent her to live with her grandmother to help her out over the summer.
They thought it would be a good and responsible experience for Charlotte, but in reality, it was just a boring one. She had to take her grandmother on awkward car rides and read pretty much everything on the label to her from every item she picked up.
After a two-hour long shopping trip, they finally made their way back to the car. When Charlotte turned it on, the song “Be My Baby,” by The Ronettes started playing. Charlotte thought about what the lyrics were saying and couldn’t help but think of Angelo. The song starts by saying, “The night we met, I knew I needed you so.” Charlotte knew that was true for her and Angelo. She had wanted to kiss him the entire time they were talking in the kitchen and was so excited when he asked if he could kiss her.
“Who you thinking about over there, child? I can tell you got someone on your mind!” her grandmother asked.
“What, me? No, no one. There isn’t anyone,” Charlotte lied. She didn’t want to have to explain the situation to her grandmother and wasn’t really interested in having a conversation about her love life either.
“Now, don’t lie to me. You have the exact same face your mother does when she’s lying. Who is he?” April asked.
Charlotte knew she couldn’t fool her grandmother and had to fess up, at least part of the truth. “I met him last night on my way home. He lives in the area. He was really sweet, and… I don’t know, just something about him made me, you know…” Charlotte trailed off. April knew what she had been talking about.
“Oh, honey! You better bring him over! I need to see who my grand baby is dating!” April yelled. Charlotte thought about how he had left without leaving his number, so she wasn’t so sure she would be seeing him again. They had a special night together, but was that all? She hadn’t slept with anyone that quickly before and was surprised at the way she acted. She had only been with one boy before that, her high school boyfriend, and they had ended things after she lost her scholarship.
The reason she had lost her scholarship and moved in with her grandmother over the summer was because of a dumb prank that had gone too far. Her and her friends wanted to pull the most memorable senior prank that no one in the history of the school would ever forget. Unfortunately for them, that meant breaking into the school and toilet papering the hallways.
She went with a group of people, and some of them went too far. A few of the students in on the prank had smashed the glass cases and spray-painted over portraits in the school’s library. She didn’t have any part in the vandalism, but because she was a part of the whole group, she received the same punishment.
She was in the top ten percent of her class and had an immaculate record, so she was spared any legal action that was taken against other students. She had still been expelled and was forced to complete her senior year at an online school. She managed to graduate with her high school diploma and ended up losing the dance scholarship because of the expulsion.
She still got accepted into other schools but none as good as the original. Her boyfriend broke up with her after the ordeal, and her parents kicked her out and sent her to live with her grandmother. Once the summer was up, she planned to get an apartment in New York City and eventually get into a different school for dance.
She thought about all of this on her way home from the store. It was hard to not replay the situation over and over in her brain of the horrible things that ensued in the months after the stupid prank. She didn’t even want to be a part of it, but she gave in easily to the peer pressure of her friends. She was devastated at everything she lost, but instead of wallowing in her bed that summer, she planned on doing everything possible to make up for it all.
She didn’t have to pay rent, so she would be able to save money for when she moved in with her friends. She hoped getting a role in Jersey City’s summer production would also give her some great experience to take to the city as well. She also hoped that meeting Angelo might have been a good thing.
They finally made their way home, and Charlotte pulled into the garage just in time to get ready for practice. She didn’t have any days off, always bouncing around between taking care of her grandmother, dance practice, and work. She had the day off but that only meant from serving at the diner. As she carried groceries inside, the same tall and dark figure that had made its way into the alley from the night before emerged behind April’s car once again.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he told her, her grandmother out of earshot. “You left these on the street last night. I forgot and figured I’d bring them to you now,” he explained, holding out her dance shoes and water bottle. Charlotte wasn’t really sure how she had missed that and thought about how embarrassed she would have been if she showed up to practice without her shoes.
“Wow, you’ve saved my life again,” she told him.
“Charlotte, do you need any more help?” April called from the back porch.
“No, I’m coming! I better get back. I have to get ready for practice,” Charlotte told Angelo.
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“Hi, Mrs. Jones!” Angelo said, waving to April. “Have a good practice.”
Angelo walked away, and Charlotte closed the garage door, walking into the house. Her grandmother was standing in the kitchen, looking especially agitated. It was easy to get her grandmother upset, but Charlotte was racking her brain trying to figure out what she had done wrong this time. Her grandmother was pretty strict, so there were really endless amounts of things that could make her upset.
Charlotte looked into the sink and thought about how she might be mad she hadn’t washed the tea cups from the night before. Perhaps she was just still mad that she had to wait later to go to the grocery store than Charlotte had originally promised. The only way Charlotte could find out why her grandmother might be upset was if she just asked. Luckily, she wouldn’t have to.
“Please don’t tell me that’s him,” April said, concerned.
“Who? Angelo? Why? What’s wrong with him?” Charlotte asked. Of course, it was him. There was no denying that Charlotte was already feeling something for Angelo by the way the two had looked at each other. Her grandmother might have been old and lost her senses every once in a while, but she could see love when she saw it.
“Angelo Luciano. Do you have any idea who that is, Charlotte?” April asked. Charlotte shook her head. “He’s the son of Pauly Luciano. You know, the mobster?” Though she was African-American, her grandmother still had a bit of a Jersey accent, making her story-telling seem like a scene in a movie.
“Grandma, you can’t believe everything you read in the papers. Angelo’s no mobster,” Charlotte explained. Her grandmother could be a little over-dramatic and old fashioned every once in a while, and Charlotte assumed this was one of those times.
“Hello! Charlotte, everyone knows that these guys don’t conduct their business all legally. Their family is in construction and were responsible for bringing up the value of most of the property in Jersey City in the last few decades. Sure, that’s a wealthy industry, but his father was a billionaire when he was murdered,” April explained.
“A billionaire?” Charlotte asked.
“Yeah, we’re talking multi-billions. You can’t tell me he earned all that knocking a few pieces of lumber together. I see people going in and out of their houses all the time. When he was murdered, his three boys split his wealth, each getting richer than their father on top of the insurance money they also got. Now, they’re running things around the neighborhood, with Angelo at the top of all three,” April explained. Charlotte couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“These guys, they may seem sweet, but you never know who’s going to whack you when you have your back turned,” April said. Charlotte wanted to laugh at how ridiculous sounding she was, but she did have a point. The mugger seemed pretty scared once he realized who Angelo was, and Angelo did seem pretty young to be living in such a large house. She worried about the man she had just spent last night with.
“Charlotte, as long as you’re living under my roof, you are not to see that man. Do you understand me? I don’t want you speaking to him again.” April explained. Charlotte swallowed hard and nodded her head, not sure she would be able to make it the rest of the summer at her grandma’s if she couldn’t kiss Angelo once again.
Chapter3
Charlotte looked down at the stack of menus in front of her. Though it was officially the beginning of summer vacation for the Jersey City public schools, they had yet to see any influx in the business at the diner. She’d been hired by City Diner for that purpose - as an extra waitress when the diner really got busy. She didn’t have any serving experience but was lucky enough to still get the job. The experience she would get working there would definitely help her when she eventually moved to New York. If the sight of the Manhattan skyline staring at her through the diner window wasn’t enough motivation, the staff at the diner would be enough to encourage her to get out of that restaurant as soon as possible.
She had quickly become friends with Tina, an older server that had been working at the diner for over a decade. She wasn’t old but in her thirties, an ancient comparison to the young Charlotte. She could tell Charlotte was nervous during her training and did her best to make her comfortable, making the job easier for the both of them.
Tina was like a mother replacement while Charlotte was away from hers. Her mother was incredibly strict with her as well, a trait she obviously received from April. She was always especially hard on Charlotte, but that wasn’t surprising; she was the only daughter. She put a lot of pressure on her child, and sometimes, Charlotte would crack. It was nice to be away from her mother, but Charlotte still missed the relationship that a mother would bring.
Her boss, on the other hand, seemed to be a total jerk. Charlotte was intimidated by him during their interview and realized after she was hired that he was the scary man she thought he would be. He would sit in his office most of the day and assign the staff to the most tedious of tasks, like scrubbing in between the tiles on the kitchen floor and polishing the refrigerators.
Charlotte was used to working hard, but she had hoped for a bit of an easier summer job, so she didn’t have to strain herself. It wasn’t easygoing to work all day followed by excruciating practice. She had only gone to two nights of training so far, but the second was harder, and she was sure that the third one that night would be the hardest. Charlotte was willing to do whatever it would take to have the best audition, and there was one the following Monday.
“Wanna help me fold up some silverware?” Tina asked, carrying a tray of forks and knives and a stack of napkins towards the daydreaming Charlotte.
“Sure,” she replied. She only had about ten more minutes until she could clock out and head to dance practice. It was dinner time, so she expected to be busy, but there were still less than two tables busy at the diner.
“So, you likin’ it here so far?” Tina asked. “It ain’t the pretty New York City,” Tina sung N.Y.C. like a Broadway star, “but we still got some cool things to do here.”
“Yeah, no, it’s nice. I’m liking it. I’ve been mostly working, though,” Charlotte explained.
“That’s right, you are a dancer, aren’t you?” Tina asked. “Do you know what the production is yet?”
“Yeah, we actually just found out last night. It’s going to be Cinderella!” Charlotte announced excitedly.
“Oh my God! Are you serious? I used to love that as a kid! Charlotte, I am so jealous!” Tina exclaimed. She was hoping for something a little more mature, but Charlotte couldn’t help but be excited at the thought of being Cinderella. She knew she had what it takes as a dancer but worried that the judges would see her dark skin and choose someone else. She tried not to let those thoughts cloud her brain and instead just focused on wrapping silverware.
“So, you meet any cute guys yet? Jersey doesn’t have all that many but when you do find a looker, he’s usually really good lookin’, you know what I mean?” Tina asked.
“I think so,” Charlotte said with a smile, thinking instantly of Angelo.
“Oh, so you did meet someone!” Tina exclaimed. Just as she said that, a car pulled into the parking lot, and Angelo got out. Charlotte froze. She had seen Angelo on the street yesterday but avoided his gaze, not wanting to engage in conversation. She still felt magnetically pulled to him but remembered what her grandmother had said about them dating under her roof.
Angelo walked into the diner and moved like slow motion. Charlotte wanted to run up and jump into his arms but instead chose to look down and decided to pretend again she hadn’t seen him. “Oh my god, do you have any idea who that is?” Tina asked Charlotte. She was tired of people asking her that.
“Nope, no idea,” Charlotte responded. Clearly, she had known but didn’t want to give anyone any ideas about the two.
“You’re about to clock out; looks like I’ll take his order!” Tina said excitedly. Even if Angelo wasn’t a well-known billionaire, he was certainly still cute enough to have girls going cr
azy over him. Tina was always going on about cute boys, making herself seem man-crazy. It wasn’t any surprise that she was fawning over Angelo as well.
Charlotte only had two minutes left and just focused on finishing up the silverware before she could clock out. Any other job she would have just left, but she knew that her boss, Pablo, might be a stickler about the exact time she wanted to clock out. She had avoided eye contact with Angelo but could still feel him staring at her from across the diner. Tina came stomping back to where Charlotte was standing, furiously throwing her notepad on the counter next to Charlotte.
“It’s your lucky day, kid. He says he wants you to take his order,” Tina said with an attitude.
“But I’m about to clock out,” Charlotte said.
“Trust me, you don’t want to piss this guy off,” Tina explained. Charlotte grabbed her own notepad and walked over to Angelo.
“Welcome to City Diner. Can I take your order?” she asked, treating him like any other customer.
“Yeah, I’d love a cup of coffee. And an explanation for why you’re giving me the cold shoulder,” he said in his cute Jersey accent. Charlotte felt guilty about being a little chilly towards him but didn’t want to mess up her living situation again. She wasn’t the type of girl who could handle getting in trouble, so she was doing her best to convince herself that she wasn’t attracted to the gorgeous Italian man sitting in front of her.
“Decaf or regular?” she said, ignoring his request for an explanation.
“Yeah, regular’s fine. So, what’s up? I thought we had a good night. I know it wasn’t the most ideal of situations, but I’ll make it up to you. What do you say we go on a real date?” He asked. Tina had brought over a pot of coffee and started pouring him a cup, showing she had obviously been listening to their conversation.
Charlotte just stared at him. Tina had stepped back but wasn’t trying to be subtle in her eavesdropping anymore. She could sense the tension too.
