{"id":1013,"date":"2014-07-17T18:22:37","date_gmt":"2014-07-17T18:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/?p=1013"},"modified":"2014-07-17T18:22:37","modified_gmt":"2014-07-17T18:22:37","slug":"charlotte-chronicles-xxxvii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/charlotte-chronicles-xxxvii\/","title":{"rendered":"Charlotte Chronicles XXXVII"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/a>Charlotte<\/em>

The tension hits me the minute I walk into the suite that Christian\u2019s family is currently staying in. Despite the hefty per night price tag, this place is too small for Christian, Peyton, and their two year old. I make a note to move housing up to the top of the list. Ideally Peyton and their child should have stayed behind while I looked for the right property and Christian met with his new team.\u00a0<\/span>
I\u2019m not sure whose idea it was to have the whole family here but no one is happy making the large three room upper story suite feel like a stifling linen closet. My eyes slide from the scowl lined face of Christian to the tense one of Peyton. Only Peyton even attempts to smile at me when I arrive.<\/span>
\u201cHow is sweet Christie doing today?\u201d I announce as I advance toward the sofa and scoop up their beautiful baby girl into my arms. \u00a0I rub my nose against her baby soft skin enjoying the pats of her tiny hands against my cheek.\u00a0<\/span>
\u201cFine despite the ungodly flight. I don\u2019t understand why they didn\u2019t send the team plane for us,\u201d Peyton says with a dark look.<\/span>
\u201cBabe, I couldn\u2019t ask for that.\u201d<\/span>
\u201cYou asked for the trade,\u201d she shot back. \u201cMaybe think about your family next time.\u201d<\/span>
I settle onto the sofa next to Peyton. \u201cHey, Peyton. I\u2019m here. I\u2019m going to take care of everything. You will love it here. The beach and the sand will be awesome for Christie. And the Commandants are a great family organization. You know Shelly Hoffman, too, so it\u2019s not like everyone here is a stranger.\u201d<\/span>
Some of her anger is deflating. \u201cI haven\u2019t talked to Shelly in forever,\u201d she admits.<\/span>
\u201cI\u2019m sure she understands.\u201d Why wouldn\u2019t she? Being the significant other of an athlete is its own special club, harrowing, exciting, but with a lot of emotional baggage.\u00a0<\/span>
\u201cThanks Charlie,\u201d she gives me a hug. We play with the baby for a little while longer until Peyton takes her off to have a mid morning snack in one of the other rooms giving me time and privacy to talk to Christian.<\/span>
\u201cIt\u2019s a mess,\u201d he admits when we sit down at the table. \u201cGet us out of here asap. And go to Tiffany\u2019s. This is something Pey Pey has been wanting for a while now. I was going to buy it for her birthday but\u2026\u201d he trails off. He\u2019s worried that she won\u2019t be around for her birthday. A bracelet isn\u2019t going to convince her not to leave, but I\u2019m not a couples counselor. I am an errand girl though. I take a photo of the diamond and gold bracelet he has on his phone. \u201cDo your magic.\u201d<\/span>
\u201cI will. You concentrate on making this trade worthwhile.\u201d We run over a few broad ideas of what he wants in a home and a personal trainer and then I dismiss him to get into the details with Peyton. Having facilitated their move two years ago on an opposite coast, I\u2019m able to show her three properties.\u00a0<\/span>
\u201cI\u2019m thinking Rancho Santa Fe. You\u2019ll be living next to other athletes, bankers and even the occasional movie star. There\u2019s not a lot of racial diversity, but it\u2019s better than it was say ten years ago.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>
Peyton presses her lips together. \u201cI\u2019m having my mother move up. She wouldn\u2019t have liked Baltimore, but San Diego would be okay.\u201d<\/span>
\u201cSee,\u201d I nudge her slightly. \u201cThis isn\u2019t so bad. I\u2019m sure Christian was thinking of you when he asked for the trade.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>
When she gives me a\u00a0don\u2019t bullshit me<\/em>\u00a0glare, I raise my eyebrows and move on. We both know Christian thinks of his career first and his family second but I do think he loves Peyton. They\u2019ve been together five years which is like thirty in real life terms. After contacting a real estate agent as well as giving Peyton instructions on two different parks and an indoor play area that she can take Christie to, I head over to the Fashion Valley Mall and the Tiffany store.<\/span>
When I get there, I pause to peruse the small black box displays of necklaces and watches. I haven\u2019t seen mom and dad in months what with my business taking off. I need to get back to Chicago. I talk to them once a week but it\u2019s not the same. A delicate necklace with a citrine oval unfaceted gemstone with tiny delicate gold leaves curling around the edges catches my eye. It has my mom written all over it and the price tag is one that even I could afford without dipping into my trust. Just beyond the black display block mounted on a thin steel pole, my gaze is arrested by a tall, broad shouldered man leaning over a counter. As he straightens and his dark, military short hair comes into view, my heart skips a beat.\u00a0<\/span>
No, Charlotte. It is not Nathan. Not every tall, dark haired male in San Diego is Nathan.<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>
But I can\u2019t tear my eyes away. I will him to look at me. The sales assistant is pulling out a tray and setting it in front of him. He lifts a shiny object from the tray and holds it up, turning slightly so that the light catches it. And I see it. And then\u00a0him<\/em>. The drumbeat in my ears is so loud it\u2019s as if the percussion section of the entire band is standing right next to me. My breath is becoming shallow and harsh but I can\u2019t wrench my eyes away. I eat up this glimpse of him. My eyes hungrily rove over his lovely face, the strong nose and square jaw and full lips that are pursed slightly. His head cocks to the side, as if he\u2019s trying to peer around the window display\u2026at me? I duck to the side, pressing up against the gray granite exterior that frames the glass windows. Numerous mall shoppers walk by, probably staring at the strange girl plastered flat against the wall unmoving. Minutes pass but I can\u2019t leave. Nor can I go inside.\u00a0<\/span>
\u201cMiss? Miss? Miss? Lady!\u201d\u00a0<\/span>
The last word filters through the muddled brain and I look up to see a police office and mall security guard standing in front of me. Their hands are on their hips, close to their weapons and they appear confused and unhappy.<\/span>
\u201cSorry,\u201d I mutter. \u201cI\u2019m just leaving.\u201d The security guard follows me all the way to the parking lot. When climb into my rented Ford Focus, though, I\u2019m still too shaky to drive off. Instead, I fumble in my purse and grab my phone. The second speed dial button is Nick.<\/span>
Can\u2019t answer the phone. Text me because I don\u2019t listen to vmx.\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
Ignoring his instruction, I babble a message. \u201cI\u2019m in San Diego. I saw Nate at Tiffany\u2019s. He was buying a ring. Or looking at one. Is he getting married? Is he really getting married and no one told me?\u201d\u00a0<\/span>
Hanging up before Nick hears me sob on his message that he might never listen to, I start the car and drive back to my hotel. I could call Aunt Grace, his mother. I could call my mother. Both would know the truth about Nate\u2019s relationship status. Unless\u2026unless this is some woman he\u2019s kept secret from the whole family and will marry her and spring her on us the next time we all get together as a family. \u00a0<\/span>
Finally, I break down and call Reese. \u201cI need you to come here,\u201d I say without preamble.\u00a0<\/span>
“You having problems with Christian?\u201d<\/span>
Oh god, Christian and Peyton. The bracelet I\u2019m supposed to buy to soften the trade is still unpurchased and the whole to do list for them sits untouched in my purse. Sitting up, I fumble for my bag and find the little orange notebook that I\u2019ve picked out for Christian. Opening it up, I glance unseeing down the list. I can\u2019t concentrate. Throwing the book across the room, I say, \u201cNo. Not yet. That\u2019s not important. I saw\u00a0him.”<\/em><\/span>
\u201cWho? Christian? You\u2019re supposed to see him. He\u2019s your client.”<\/span>
\u201cNo, Reese. Pay attention. Nate. He was in Tiffany\u2019s looking at diamond rings.\u201d I start crying, sobbing really. \u201cHe\u2019s getting married.\u201d<\/span>
\u201cBack up the horse, honey, what happened? Start with why you are even at Tiffany\u2019s.\u201d<\/span>
Hiccuping, I try to get myself under control. \u201cI had to go to buy a bracelet for Peyton. She\u2019s pissed about the trade. Christian was trying to buy his way back into her good graces. When I glanced in the window, I saw him. He was a staring at a tray of engagement rings.\u201d<\/span>
\u201cYou don\u2019t know that,\u201d Reese says. \u201cHe could have been buying something for his mom\u2014like a cocktail ring or something. Why do you think it was rings?\u201d<\/span>
\u201cHe was holding one up as if he was trying to decide if it was big enough.”<\/span>
\u201cShe\u2019s probably a huge bitch and they\u2019ll be divorced within the year.\u201d Reese tries to comfort me.\u00a0<\/span>
\u201cMaybe.\u201d But for the time I was in San Diego, what if I ran into them. He\u2019d be all smiles and wanting to introduce me to her. She was probably tall and really, really blonde. Like a Nordic goddess. I needed a barrier, something or\u2026someone<\/em>\u00a0to deflect some of that pain.\u00a0\u201cCome here. Be my boyfriend,\u201d I beg.<\/span>
\u201cOh honey. You know I don\u2019t swing that way.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>
\u201cNo, I mean, come to San Diego, and do this job with me. That way if I run into him and his fianc\u00e9\u2014\u201c I almost gag at the word, \u201c\u2014I can smile and say, here\u2019s my super hot boyfriend Reese. Nice to meet you.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>
I hear rustling and then a zipper being pulled. \u201cOkay, I\u2019m packing. I\u2019m not posing as your boyfriend though. That never works because according to all the books I\u2019ve read, you\u2019ll fall in love with me and then I\u2019ll have to break your heart.\u201d I start laughing just as Reese intended. \u201cBut I am flying out on the first plane because I love you and you\u2019re my best friend. At the very least we can stalk him and find out exactly who this wench is and then you\u2019ll be all prepared for a random meet and greet. How hot is it there?\u201d<\/span>
\u201cReally hot.\u201d I answer. Drawers are being opened and shut as Reese selects his Southern California wardrobe.\u00a0<\/span>
“How many guys you been with since him?\u201d he asks suddenly. \u00a0I can\u2019t answer because but he reads the silence perfectly. “Charlie. No.”<\/span>
Defensively, I say. \u201cI dated.”<\/span>
\u201cYou\u2019ve been separated for how long?\u201d<\/span>
“Nine years,” I mumble.\u00a0<\/span>
“Nine fucking years?\u201d He yells into the phone. “You haven\u2019t played hide the sausage in nine years? \u00a0Charlie, I\u2019m so disappointed!”<\/span>
“I\u2019ve done other stuff,\u201d I stammer. “I tried but whenever it came down to it, I couldn\u2019t do it. I felt like I was cheating on him.\u201d<\/span>
“No wonder you are hung up on this guy. I\u2019m packing right now. We are going down to the Gaslamp District\u00a0and you are going to get laid. Dr. Reese prescribes at least three one night stands. Then we can think about a nice guy that you will date for a period of six months or so before moving on.\u201d<\/span>
\u201cWhy three one night stands?\u201d I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.<\/span>
\u201cIt takes at least two to actually enjoy it.\u201d A zipping sound signals he\u2019s done packing. \u201cYou are a grown ass woman but you\u2019re still stuck on your high school sweetheart because you don\u2019t know what kind of sex you can have with a man. Let me tell you that being with a guy who actually knows his way around a body is a hell of a lot different than a teenager. Plus, older guys have more stamina and are just way more damn creative.\u201d<\/span>
Telling Reese that I thought Nate was pretty amazing as a seventeen year old would only result in more lectures about boys versus men so I keep my mouth shut.\u00a0<\/span>
Reese sighs. \u201cRepeat after me. I\u2019m a grown ass woman.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>
When I don\u2019t immediately parrot his sentence back, he barks, \u201cSay it Charlotte.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>
\u201cI\u2019m a grown ass woman.”<\/span>
\u201cI\u2019m a grown ass woman and I deserve to have an adult relationship.\u201d<\/span>
\u201cI\u2019m a grown ass woman and I deserve to have an adult relationship,\u201d I repeat obediently. “What\u2019s the point of the one night stands.”<\/span>
\u201cShock to your system. It\u2019s like a cleanse. You need to flush the bad toxins out of your system and put new, good ones in.\u201d<\/span>
\u201cIsn\u2019t a cleanse like fasting which I\u2019ve done for, oh, nine years,” I point out.<\/span>
\u201cUnfortunately for you, the cleanse has gone on for so long, that you\u2019ve been revirginized. A one night stand will or three will wake you up to the possibilities. Shit, you\u2019ve enshrined this guy for so long. You\u2019re going to need three one night stands. First guy who even breathes on your lady parts is going to set you off.\u201d<\/span>
\u201cOkay, that image is kind of gross, particularly coming from you.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>
\u201cI\u2019ve got more where that comes from. Prepare yourself,\u201d he sings into the phone before he hangs up.<\/span>
Reese\u2019s irreverent attitude is just what I need. Picking up the discarded notebook, I start in on the list of todos. My business is what saved me these last three years. Letting myself fail at this is not an option.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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