by Gina Hummer
“You know, I’ll probably always love David but, I guess I have to move on. He didn’t give me much of a choice. He doesn’t want me.” Olivia looked down and shook her head. “He never did. Not really.”
“What made you finally realize that?”
“Honestly? Seeing the two of you at your house. He looked at you like you had hung the moon. Like I said, he talks about you in a way that…” Olivia’s voice trailed off as she waved her fingers in the air like she was sprinkling fairy dust.
“Are you done with the drugs?”
Olivia chuckled. “Yep. Have to be. Too much at stake.”
Charlotte nodded. “You’ll find someone who’ll love you the way you deserve to be loved. We all deserve that,” she said finally.
Olivia sniffed and laughed as she tried to catch a tear before it dropped from her eyelid. “Well, maybe I’ll find him in New York. That’s where I’m headed. Ira’s decided all is forgiven and is gonna let me stay in his Park Avenue apartment. He’s also threatening to find me a good shrink, but we’ll see. Anyway, my new movie’s filming there. And I’ll be starting my new ad campaign. I’m the new face of Chelsea Cosmetics, in case you hadn’t heard.”
“I heard.”
“They’ve got all kinds of kick-ass things they’re gonna do for my campaign. You know I’ll get to do shoots in Paris, Rome, and London?” She laughed. “Not bad for trailer-park trash from Miami.”
“Not bad at all.”
Olivia stood. “I hate to kick you out, but I’ve got a lot to do. I’m catching the red eye to New York tomorrow night, and I have loose ends to tie up before then.”
Charlotte followed suit and slung her purse over her shoulder. “I’ll let you get to it. I can show myself out.”
Charlotte made her way toward the door when Olivia called out to her.
“Yeah?”
“David’s a good guy, and he really loves you. Like I said, I can tell that you make him happy.”
Charlotte mulled this over and smiled. “He makes me happy.”
Olivia nodded, and the two women looked at each other for a moment.
“Good luck, Olivia. With everything. I really mean that.”
“You know, somehow I think you do.”
“Take care, Olivia.” Charlotte stepped in to the hallway and heard the door shut. She pulled out her BlackBerry as she waited for the elevator. She dashed off a quick text to David, and it didn’t ding in response until she reached the lobby. She smiled at his reply, and as she joined the hustle and bustle of Sunset Boulevard, Charlotte felt like Charlotte again.
CHAPTER 13
Charlotte speared a juicy crumble of sausage with her fork and blew on it to cool it down. She waited a few more seconds before biting off a corner. She groaned with pleasure before she put the rest of it into her mouth. She looked at the clock. Just a few more minutes. She rummaged around in the junk drawer of the kitchen until she came up with a book of matches, which she used to light the two white tapered candles on her dining room table. She did a quick check around the kitchen. The stuffed manicotti that was cooling on the stove had come out beautifully, as spicy and pungent as the one that David had made it for her at the lake. The red wine was breathing, and the chocolate-covered strawberries were perfectly chilled and arranged on a plain white plate in the refrigerator.
Charlotte wrung her hands and went into the bedroom, nervous now about whether this would work. She quickly splashed some cold water on her face and ran a bit of pressed powder across her nose and a touch of mascara across her lashes. She finished with a smear of lip gloss and a swift rake of the brush through her curls. Charlotte changed into a little black dress that had been one of her Toronto purchases and spritzed herself with Chanel No. 5. The scent always made her smile; it had been her mother’s signature scent and on special occasions was Charlotte’s as well.
Charlotte heard the doorbell ring and placed her hand to her chest. She took a few deep breaths before she shoved her feet into the sandals she’d worn on the red carpet in New York. She smoothed down the front of her dress, made her way to the front door, and opened it.
David smiled and Charlotte had to grip the doorknob to keep herself upright. He wore a simple blue linen button-down shirt and black pants. He held a bouquet of yellow calla lilies--- Charlotte’s favorite, bursting with color and fragrance.
“Why did you ring the doorbell?”
“I thought I’d treat this like a real date and act like a gentleman for a change.”
“Cute.”
David stepped inside and circled Charlotte. “My, my, my. Don’t you look scrumptious.”
Charlotte blushed. “Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.”
“I’m humbled to be in the presence of such sexiness.”
Charlotte took the flowers and went in search of a vase. “I could say the same thing, you know.”
“I won’t stop you.”
Charlotte giggled and filled a tall, clear vase with water before she unwrapped the flowers and placed them inside. “Can I get you some wine?”
“I’ll get it.” David sniffed. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that smelled suspiciously like stuffed manicotti.”
“Guilty. I hope I did it justice.”
“Well, we’ll see if you picked up any tips.”
David handed Charlotte a glass of wine and invited her to toast. “Here’s to a lovely dinner.”
Charlotte clinked glasses with his. “Cheers.” They both sipped, and Charlotte set her glass down on the table while she grabbed the plate of bruschetta from the counter.
“Right down to the last detail, huh?” David said as he took one.
“Oh, I may throw a surprise or two in there just to keep you on your toes.”
“Ah, so the shoe’s on the other foot now, huh?”
Charlotte bit on piece of bread. “It’s good to change things up once in a while.”
“Indeed.”
As Charlotte dished up the salad and then the manicotti, they made easy, breezy small talk. William was in love with this month’s conquest, and Karen latest book had just hit the New York Times bestseller list. Charlotte even wiped away a smudge of tomato sauce from the corner of David’s mouth, trying not to laugh at the image of the international movie star with sauce all over his face.
“I was thrilled to get your text last night. I will never delete it.”
Charlotte cut a bite of pasta with her fork. “Oh, come on. All I said was ‘the pleasure of your company is requested for dinner tomorrow night at Chez Taylor’. You had the better line.”
“What, ‘I’ll be there or be square’? I thought it was a bit corny.”
“It made me smile.”
“My target hit the mark.”
Charlotte chewed a bit and swallowed. “I went to see Olivia last night.”
David choked on his wine, and Charlotte waited for him to regain his composure. “Come again?”
“I felt like she and I needed to talk, woman to woman.”
“Was it a girl fight? You get down in the mud?”
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but no, there was no hair-pulling, no mudslinging. Just two adult women talking about you.”
David took another sip of wine. “So? How’d it go?”
Charlotte folded her hands underneath her chin. “I get that she’s spent most of her life feeling lost and alone. She somehow saw you as her savior, the man who would put all the pieces together and make her feel whole. She admitted she wanted to manipulate and torture you.”
“I could have told you that much.”
“Yeah, but it was her admitting to it. I don’t know. Maybe this is the first step to her really turning her life around.”
“You were right, you know.”
“About what?”
“She does somehow always manage to land on her feet. She doesn’t need me to hand her the parachute. I guess she told you about her cosmetics gig and the like?”
“Yeah. Sounds fun.
”
“And she’s somewhat right about me as well. On some level, part of me did feel as though I had to ‘rescue’ her. I’m a giver, and Olivia’s a taker, and the two should not meet.” David reached across the table for Charlotte’s hand. “I think that’s why you and I worked so well together. You didn’t need me to give you anything. You didn’t need me to save you from anything. You saved me.”
Charlotte shook her head, lost in thought. “No. You saved me from myself. The truth is, as much as I went around in the world like I didn’t need anything but my books and occasional glasses of wine to keep me company, I was lonely. And people aren’t meant to be alone. We’re meant to laugh and live and most of all love. We’re meant to love, and I’d managed to convince myself I didn’t need that.” Charlotte squeezed David’s hand. “You taught me to love.”
David looked down at his plate, and Charlotte realized it was because he was trying to keep himself from crying.
“Charlotte, I promise never again to let anyone or anything come between us. No more rescue missions or mystery trips or anything like that. Ever.”
“I can live with that.”
“I should hope so.”
“Okay, and I promise to lay off the age thing, lay off the weight thing, and not be such a jerk.”
“I can live with that.” David kissed her hand. “Do you mind if we skip dessert?”
“But I had strawberries!”
David stood up and motioned for Charlotte to do the same. He blew out the candles before he bent down and lifted her off her feet, which made Charlotte yelp with laughter.
“We’ll have them for breakfast,” he said as he kissed her nose and whisked her toward the bedroom.
#
“What’s that scar?”
“I tripped on the sidewalk and ripped a tiny little patch of skin off my foot.”
“Sounds ugly.”
“It was. I mean, look at the scar.”
“Okay, what about this one, over here on your thigh?”
Charlotte giggled. “Are we going to spend the morning playing, ‘Let’s dissect Charlotte’s various scraps and mishaps’?”
“Sure why not? I don’t have anything to do today.”
Charlotte laughed again as David continued tracing her nude body with his fingertips like an artist pushing his paintbrush across a blank canvas with light, sure strokes. They’d spent the better part of the morning examining each other’s assorted bruises and marks and telling the stories behind them. David’s best story had been about the scar on his knee that he received when a toddler in one of his movies had bitten him a little too hard in a scene.
“Oh,” Charlotte’s stomach fluttered as he grazed a nipple. “You’re not playing fair.”
“Feels like I am.”
“No, seriously---- you’re going to make it so I don’t want to get out of bed.”
“That is the general idea,” David said as he bent down to chew on Charlotte’s ear.
“Well, I want to get started on a new manuscript idea I have.”
David pulled back. “What’s this one about?”
“I’m trying something different.”
“I’m intrigued. Go on.”
Charlotte propped herself up on her shoulder. “I’ve loved my books. Each and every one of them, but I’ve been writing the same type of stuff for over twenty years. I’m ready to try something different.”
“What’d you have in mind?”
Charlotte licked her lips, her excitement mounting. “I’m going to try writing a suspense novel. It’ll still have romance elements, but less sex, more secrets, more lies, more murder.”
“Anyone in particular you’re trying to get some aggression out on?”
Charlotte laughed. “No, no, no. Nothing like that. It’s just time to try new things.”
“I’m proud of you for having the courage to step outside of yourself.”
“You want to know a terrible secret?”
“Oh dear. You’re a murderer?”
“Yes, that’s it exactly. No. I’ve been thinking about this for a long while. The last five years, if not longer. But I’ve never had the courage. My books have always done well, allowed me to make a nice living, so why rock the boat? Ironically, it was Olivia who gave me the push I needed.”
“Now you’re really confusing me.”
“I was watching her be interviewed about her new movie and how it’s totally different from anything she’s ever done, and it stuck with me. I just need to stop being afraid of life and just go for it.”
“Let me see if I’ve got this straight. My ex-girlfriend inspired you to take your career in a different direction.”
“Nuts, I know. However, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in all these years of writing, it’s that you never know where inspiration will come from.”
“Indeed.”
“Anyway, I had a couple of ideas that I wanted to make sure to get down. I’ll need to talk to my publisher, see if they’re on-board. And I’ll need to finish the draft of my current manuscript. I need to get all my work done and fast.”
“What’s the rush?”
“I’m going to be on my honeymoon.”
David tilted his head to the side, a small crease between his eyes. “Finishing the draft of your current book and writing down some ideas will to take you a year?”
“No.”
“What are you getting at?”
“I changed my mind about waiting. Hell. Waiting for what? We love each other; we want to spend the rest our lives together. Well, I guess I’ll be spending the rest of my life with you----”
“Stop it,” David warned.
“Alright. I’ll shut up.”
“I thought you wanted a proper wedding this time around. You know, Karen standing next to you in a horrific aqua dress, a hundred doves being released into the air, a twelve-piece orchestra----”
“Cut that out! I never said I wanted any of that.”
“Okay, Okay,” David laughed. “So what kind of wedding would you like?”
“As long as it doesn’t involve City Hall and a honeymoon at Santa Monica Pier, I don’t care what kind of wedding it is. Just soon.”
David jumped up. “Today?”
Charlotte yanked David’s arm down. “No, silly. Of course not today.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Oh jeez. How about after the movie premiere?”
“You’re serious?”
Charlotte slid out of bed and dropped to one knee, the rough fibers of the carpet digging into her skin, threatening to give her a scar of her own.
“David King, will you do me the honor of marrying me sooner rather than later?”
David reached down and grabbed Charlotte’s hand, pulling her back into bed as he did so. “Where’s my ring?”
“Mmm… How about a strawberry?”
David’s eyes widened. “Strawberries. I’d almost forgotten.”
“Don’t ever forget the strawberries,” Charlotte said as she scrambled out of bed and darted toward the kitchen, David hot on her heels.
#
“Still can’t believe you’re going to be a missus again.”
“You and me both.”
“I don’t like that one. Makes you look ‘hippy’”
Charlotte screwed up her face as she looked in the mirror to examine the strapless white number that did indeed make her look like a wide load. “Where’s Evelyn when you need her?” Charlotte mumbled to herself as she stepped off the small wooden platform in the bridal shop she and Karen had wandered into. Karen had come down from San Francisco so they could go shopping and have a big lunch later. This was the first store they’d gone into, and Charlotte about had a heart attack as she drank in the monstrous white dresses looming in front of her. Charlotte was afraid she’d swallowed up by the countless rows of voluminous confections of tulle, taffeta, silk, satin, and chiffon only to be spit back out on her wedding day looking like she’d been smeared in lace and white
frosting.
“Who says it has to be white? Who says it even has to be a wedding dress?”
“I told you, the one ‘wedding’ thing I want is to feel like a bride. And that means dress.”
Karen snorted and went back to appraising some of the dresses the sales clerk had brought out for their approval. The woman was busy digging up dresses for Karen to try on, but based on the current wedding dress selection no one was holding out hope. Karen pulled one down from the rack and held it up for Charlotte.
“What about this one? You may avoid looking like you belong on the top of a cake.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Can’t say I’m not doing my official diva of honor duties.”
“Alright, I’ll give you that. You are being a trooper.” Charlotte looked at the dress again and discarded it.
“Looks boxy.”
Karen shrugged, and Charlotte took her turn thumbing through the rack. She found one and disappeared into the dressing room. She emerged a few moments later for Karen’s inspection.
“Eh,” Karen replied.
Charlotte looked in the mirror. “What’s wrong with it? I think it looks nice.”
“Too plain. You went too far in the other direction. Maybe you won’t look like you belong on top of the cake, but people might think you’re supposed to serve it.”
“Ouch.”
Karen shrugged. “I call it like I see it.”
“Tell me about it.”
Charlotte tried on no less than ten more dresses but couldn’t find one she liked. She almost wished she could fly Evelyn in from Vancouver to help her. Karen didn’t fare much better, though it was mostly due to her own stubbornness. Even though Karen still had the same petite figure from her modeling days give or take five pounds, she insisted on wearing her clothes three sizes too big. They gave up on finding anything in this store and went to three other bridal shops, each one more dismal than the last.
Almost out of desperation they decided to try their luck in a department store. Amazingly, Nordstrom proved to be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow as they each found the perfect frocks: Karen settled on sophisticated, crinkled chiffon, knee-length cocktail dress with an embellished neckline in black, the only color she deemed acceptable for a diva of honor. Charlotte squealed when she put on the dress: it was tea length with an overlay of tulle on satin. It had a beaded empire waist and an A-line shape that made her look neither hippy nor too plain. The ladies couldn’t help themselves ---- they high-fived each other in the store and decided to stop into one of Charlotte’s favorite spots for margaritas, chips, and salsa.