And she’d thought she wouldn’t use geometry after high school.
Hair plastered to her face, she collapsed onto the futon next to Amarie. “Fingers crossed,” she said.
Amarie nodded but said nothing.
“What’s wrong?” She searched her girl’s face. In the past couple of weeks, Amarie had become more and more withdrawn. It was understandable. She’d loved her job, and losing it had been a huge blow. They were okay, though. Char had enrolled them in their electricity company’s budget plan and, between The 545’s leftovers and Costco trips, they had plenty of food.
“My hip,” Amarie said with a sigh. She sat with her feet propped on another chair, an ice pack pressed to the joint in question. “This humidity is kicking my ass.”
“I’m sorry, love.” Char pressed a kiss to her temple. “Want to play me in Mortal Kombat?”
Amarie shook her head. “We should probably go easy on the electricity.”
“Why? We’re on the budget plan.” She stroked one of Amarie’s spiral curls between two fingers.
“It still accumulates,” Amarie said. “What if we fall behind? Then we’re ass deep in debt.”
Charlotte exhaled, trying to be patient. “We’ll be okay.”
“How? We’ve only got one income to work with, and you said it’s probably for the best, that I should take some time off while the meds work.” Amarie crossed her arms.
Char blinked. It had only been a suggestion—after all, it wasn’t her fault Amarie had lost her job. “I just meant that you would’ve been off for a couple months anyway. Why not use the time to rest?”
Amarie glared at her. “All I do is rest!”
Her eyebrow twitched. “Touché.” She laced her fingers through Amarie’s. “I know it’s hard,” she said softly. “Let the medicines do their work, though. Just focus on getting better. Let me take care of you.” Even as she spoke the words, she had no idea how she was going to manage that. She didn’t make enough at The 545 to cover all of their bills. Pretty soon, they’d be looking at axing their Wi-Fi bill, but she hated to do that. Amarie would be completely alone while she was at work.
“It’s not fair to you,” Amarie whispered.
“You let me worry about what’s fair and what isn’t.” Giving Amarie’s hand a squeeze, she released her grip and stood. “I’m heading out now. Watch something lighthearted and get your mind off of things.” She bent to kiss Amarie. Though Amarie kissed her back, she could feel the frustration vibrating off her girl.
She had to figure things out.
She took the Sunfire into work, chewing on her lip as she drove. Traffic on Main Street was light—probably because most people were huddled indoors, soaking up the cold air rather than the hot rays. She parked and hopped out into the sweltering heat, remembering a similar day when she’d met Rowan. She smiled. Things had been so simple then. There were no bills in her name, for one. Still, she’d been minus a certain sweet curly-haired girl. The stress of bills was worth it, she surmised as she strolled into the lounge’s cool interior.
Brandon stood behind the bar, a beer in his hand.
“Whoa!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing? You know we’re not supposed to drink on the job.”
Lifting it in a salute, he shook his head. “Shay said we could all have one.”
Suddenly Charlotte realized that Ginny, Erica, and Alyssa sat huddled at the bar, cold beers in front of them.
Noting her confusion, Alyssa said, “We’re closing.”
She blinked. “Early? We haven’t even opened yet.”
Alyssa rolled her eyes.
“Shay is closing the lounge,” Brandon explained.
Char dropped her keys onto the lacquered wood. “What? Since when?”
“Since the lease started outweighing my profits,” Shay said, emerging from his office. “Sorry, kiddo.”
Brandon grabbed a beer from the cooler, pulled the cap off, and slid it to her.
With shaking hands, she raised the bottle to her lips. The cold liquid did nothing to soothe the burning panic in her belly. “Shay,” she said, “I need this job.”
“Don’t we all?” Alyssa spat. She slammed down her beer.
Ginny put a placating hand on her shoulder, but Alyssa shook it off.
Char ignored them and turned to Shay. “Isn’t there anything we can do?”
He shook his head. “I’ve been hanging on by a thread for a while. This is the end of the line.”
She massaged her temples. “My girl just lost her job, and now I’m losing mine?” she muttered to no one in particular.
Brandon slid her a shot of tequila.
She pushed it away. “I’ve got to drive, dude.”
She needed to find some way to pull herself together, though. She definitely couldn’t go home a sobbing mess. Amarie needed rest, not more stress. Carrying her beer with her, she tucked herself into a booth away from her coworkers.
Dim light glinted off the beer bottle. She couldn’t believe she’d just lost her job. Not half an hour earlier, she’d been telling Amarie that it was all going to be okay, that they could survive on just one income. Just like that, they had no income.
The door to the lounge opened, warm air from outside blowing in.
“No one thought to lock that?” Alyssa muttered.
“Am I early or am I late?” joked a familiar voice.
Charlotte glanced up from her beer. Elliott stood in the middle of the dance floor, wearing his navy blue coveralls and heavy black work boots. The blue looked good on him, bringing out the blue eyes that were already striking in contrast to his dark hair.
Her lips twitched despite her gloomy mood. He looked completely out of place. She stood. “What are you doing here?”
“Visiting my little sister.” He held his arms out, and she walked into them, relaxing into his embrace. Elliott had always given the best hugs. “I was beginning to forget what you look like.”
“Ha, ha,” she said, pulling away from him.
Brandon poured more shots. “You gonna have one, or do you have to drive like your sister?”
“What’s going on here?” Elliott nodded toward her coworkers.
“Shay has to close down,” she said in a low voice. Blowing hair out of her face, she eyed the shots. “Effective immediately.”
“Sorry to hear that.” He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “I guess that kills my odds of getting a free batch of those onion rings.”
Making a wry face, she shook her head. “Guess so. I could use your ear, though, if you don’t mind sticking around and driving me over to Rowan’s. I need one of those shots, and then I need a BFF conference.”
“That bad, huh?” He followed her to the bar.
Char grabbed two. “Yes.” She downed them one right after the other, grimacing. “Tequila. Great.” She slid Brandon a flat look.
He shrugged. “Desperate times.”
She turned to Elliott. “Ready?”
During the short drive in her brother’s truck, she filled him in. “I don’t know how people do this, Elliott. Bills pile up, and then the world keeps throwing shit at you. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was organized collusion.” Tears stung her eyes. “I failed her, El.”
“Hey.” He shut off the noisy engine. “I’ve known you my whole life, and I’ve never seen you looking so defeated. This isn’t you. Where’s my upbeat little sister?”
“In a parallel dimension, serving beer battered onion rings.”
“You just need a plan. All of this adulting just takes some adjusting. Why do you think I still live at home?”
“You’re not making me feel any better, El.”
“I’m just saying, if it were easier, everyone would be doing it. Cut yourself some slack here. Besides, The Lounge is cursed.”
“The 545, you mean,” she said.
“It’s neither of those places anymore,” he replied. “It’s going to be a new beginning for that building, and a new beginning for you
. Keep your eyes open for that door opening.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “Thanks, Elliott.”
“No problem. Now get out. Gas isn’t free.”
Grinning, she reached into her bag for her phone to let Rowan know she was there. Her fingers brushed thick card stock, and she pulled Della’s business card out.
She’d forgotten she had it. She tapped it against her chin. Della had told her the offer was still open before they’d parted ways. Technically, she could commute to the city every day on the train. It would be long hours, but it would be better than nothing—especially with Amarie depending on her.
“I love you, El,” she told her brother, grabbing her things. It was definitely time for a BFF conference. She had some serious deciding to do.
∞∞∞
Charlotte sat at the table in Rowan’s kitchen, remembering the too few times they had enjoyed their coffee together there. Maybe she’d moved out too quickly, she mused, taking a sip of the Starbucks that Rowan had brewed. Maybe she and Amarie should have waited. She groaned. “What am I doing?”
Rowan slid into a seat across from her, her eyebrows wrinkled. “I don’t think any of us know what we’re doing.”
“Nope,” Matt chimed in. He strode to the refrigerator and poked his head in.
Char shot Rowan a look.
“What?” She lifted a hand. “He lives here too.”
“Besides, aren’t I part of the group?” He emerged with a cup of chocolate pudding.
“You can’t tell Am before I get the chance to tell her,” she warned him.
He pointed a spoon at her. “Do I look like a blabbermouth?” He pulled up a chair.
Char sighed. Though she loved Matt and how happy he made Rowan, she missed the days when she could have BFF time without their significant others around. “You have too much testosterone to be a gossip.”
He glanced down as a glob of pudding fell off his spoon and onto his T-shirt. “Damn.” With a shrug, he used the spoon to scrape it off his shirt. Then he licked it off.
Char shook her head.
“There are men who like drama just as much as some women do,” he added.
Rowan wrapped her hands around her mug of herbal tea. She had to be up too early to join in on the comfort coffee binge. “I can’t believe The Lounge is closing again.” She shook her head.
“The 545,” Char corrected her. “I can’t believe Shay didn’t tell us. Why let us all come in if he wasn’t even going to open one last time?” She buried her face in her hands. Too bad that, no matter how many times she closed her eyes, she wasn’t going to wake up.
“Seriously. I would never do that to my employees,” Rowan said.
“We don’t have any,” Matt pointed out.
Char opened her eyes in time to see Rowan swat at him. The corners of her lips twitched up into a smile. If nothing else, at least she still had her friends. “This is the worst timing.”
“I know.” Rowan reached for her hand. “It’ll be okay, though.”
“I don’t know.” She squeezed Rowan’s hand back, then used both hands to take a sip from the giant Wonder Woman mug. “Even if I find something this week, we’re already behind. I wasn’t making enough to cover everything, and Am’s severance will be gone soon.” Putting the mug down, she caught Rowan’s gaze. “I’m thinking about calling Della.”
“Who?” Rowan turned her mug around and around, blinking owlishly against the late hour. Not that it was that late. Compared to Char, though, she had a very different routine.
Char sighed. She didn’t want to keep Rowan and Matt up. They had a business to run, bills of their own to pay. She needed to figure this out herself. “The woman from the convention—the one who taught me about grants and talked to me about her business.”
“You mean the one who was hitting on you.” Rowan smirked.
“She was not.” Charlotte drained her mug, ignoring the pointed look Rowan gave her. “Okay, she did ask me out to dinner. That could’ve strictly been for business reasons, though.”
Matt shook his head. “Nope. British business lady was making moves.”
“Either way,” she continued, ignoring them, “she offered me a partnership in her business. I sure as hell can’t afford my own café now.”
Rowan held up a hand. “Char, I’m not trying to rain on your parade or anything, but please be careful. Perfect strangers don’t offer dream deals to other strangers. There’s got to be some catch.”
She shrugged. “As far as I know, she’s just looking for help. Her other partners aren’t around as much.”
“Which tells me that her place is sinking. Do you truly want to hop onto another sinking ship?”
“Wow,” Char said with a scowl. “You can’t just be happy for me, huh?” She pushed her chair back.
“Wait.” Rowan stood too. “That’s not what I meant. I’m just saying, be careful. You can’t expect to make enough money to cover rent and commuting back and forth.”
Grabbing her bag and keys, Charlotte headed toward the front door. “Thanks for the math lesson,” she said. “I’ll let you guys get to sleep.”
Lately it seemed Rowan was anything but supportive. It was bad enough that she didn’t want Char to open her own place in town. Though her doubts about Della may have been warranted, her words still stung.
“Char.”
Though Rowan padded barefoot behind her, Char didn’t pause. She strode right through the front door and kept walking. As she walked toward Main Street, she thought she saw Rowan standing in the doorway, but it could’ve been a trick of the light in her rearview mirror.
It was late, after all.
She kept walking until she got back to her car on Main Street. Avoiding home, she drove around town aimlessly. She ended up at Echo Lake Park. She slid the Sunfire into a parking space and walked over to the gazebo. Underneath the stars, the park was a silent safe haven. There were no benches in the gazebo, so she sat down on the single step that led up to it from the path. Though the night was cool, her heart pumped hot blood through her veins, her adrenaline still high after the argument.
There was nothing to think about, really. She already knew what she was going to do. She just needed to find the courage to do it.
∞∞∞
The key remained in the lock of their front door. All Charlotte had to do was turn it and push the door open. Then she would have to face Amarie, though, and tell her about her decision.
She was going to take Della’s job offer.
Taking a deep breath, she took the key in her hand again. Her nerves jiggled. It was her only choice, yet she wasn’t looking forward to letting Amarie know.
Still, it needed to be done. Relationships couldn’t work without communication.
She turned the key in the lock and eased inside. “Am?” she called.
“Netflix binge fest.” Amarie grinned from the couch. Her smile fell from her face when she saw Char, though. “You’re home early.”
“Yeah.” She put down her bag by the door and joined Amarie in the living area. With cold hands, she reached for Amarie’s. “Shay decided to close.”
Both of Amarie’s eyebrows rose toward her hairline. “What? When?”
“Tonight. Before we officially opened. He didn’t even open one last time.”
“That’s a dick move.” Amarie bit her lower lip.
“Tell me about it.”
The other woman laughed bitterly. “It was bad enough that I lost my job.” She squeezed Char’s hands. “We’ll figure this out. Somehow.”
“We will.” Char took a deep breath. “I’m going to take Della’s offer.”
Amarie frowned. “The smoothie bar in New York?”
“I know it’s not ideal, but it’s better than nothing. I already talked to Della. I can start immediately.”
“How soon is ‘immediately’?” Amarie asked, her frown deepening.
“Tomorrow.”
Amarie pressed her lips together. “I do
n’t know, Rhett. Can we swing you commuting back and forth? That can get expensive.”
“We don’t have another choice,” Char told her. “Not if we want to keep living here.”
Amarie looked away, and Charlotte’s heart twisted.
“Hey, look at me.” She touched her girl’s chin. “It’s going to be okay.”
It had to be.
∞∞∞
Dressed in her favorite chef’s jacket—a black coat with magenta piping and buttons—Char tied a black bandana around her head to keep her hair out of her face. She’d dyed her hair again, a hot pink that matched her jacket and would fit right in with Della’s rose gold hair. Though she’d visited Gravity Smoothie Bar a few times in the past couple weeks, that morning was different.
It was her first day.
She grabbed the knife kit she’d been using since high school and strode out of the bedroom. “How do I look?” she asked Amarie.
“Great!” her girl replied, getting up from the couch. Her movements were less stiff, Char noted, but she still limped a little. Amarie flung her arms around Char’s neck. “You’re going to be amazing,” she said, pressing her lips to Char’s cheek.
Char wasn’t so sure. Gravity was a cute place, for sure, but it was smaller than she’d imagined. It was in an ideal location, though, and brought in a lot of business. Still, crafting finger sandwiches at Gravity was hardly going to be as hectic as frying boneless hot wings at The 545. The only difference was, she’d be working twelve-hour shifts—and she still had to take a two-hour train ride there and back, not to mention the drive to the train station in New Haven.
Rowan was probably right. Her new job was going to barely cover all of her expenses. Still, she didn’t have any other choice.
“Thanks love.” She kissed Amarie quickly, then glanced around for the Sunfire keys.
Amarie dangled them in her hand.
“Thank you,” Char said. She kissed her again, then darted out the door.
Thankfully, her morning commute to the New Haven train station and then to Grand Central went smoothly, and she arrived at Gravity an entire half hour early. Though the place wasn’t open to the public yet, she found the door unlocked. “Hello?” she called out as she stepped inside.
Any Other Love Page 18