Chapter 1

Charlotte was looking through her old High School yearbook when she came across the signature pages. She smiled to herself as she ran her hand across the words of her old classmates. But her eyes were directed to a very small message written very near to the spine of the book:

To a very special Lady,

Someone I feel I've known my entire lifetime. Knowing you has meant the world to me and a great deal of happiness. I hope you never change or stop being who you are because "I Love You" for it. I know you are going to do well in whatever you do and hope that you don't forget me. Look out for us little people because I know you are going to make it big. Please stay in touch because without you, my world would be lost. You'll forever be my Lady...
Love always,

Jeremy

She'd never noticed the small words before. It had been ten long years since her high school days. She thought about all the times she'd read and reread her book over and over when she got bored or just wanted to reminisce about her school days. But she's never noticed Jeremy's message before, and he'd never mentioned it to her. Then she started thinking back to the last day of classed when everybody was getting their books signed.

1999, the last day of school

"Hey, Remy. I know you have some words for your girl on the last day, right?" Charlotte asked her longtime friend, Jeremy. "Lady," he called out, using the nickname he gave her back in kindergarten, "you know I got you. I've been looking for you all day. I do have something to write to you, but I don't want you to read it right away, promise?" He gave her that smile that always melted her heart. She could never say no to him. She handed him her book and reassured him that she would remain a Lady of her word and wouldn't read it til after graduation the next day.

Later, Jeremy signed the book and gave it back to her. Charlotte wanted so bad to take a peek, but remained loyal to her best friend. She went on with the rest of the day and after cleaning out her locked that afternoon, forgot all about Jeremy and the book. The next time she saw him was at graduation and neither of them spoke about it. That was the last time they saw each other.

Charlotte started flipping back through the pages of the book again. Everyone that signed the book should have also signed the page for the addresses and other personal information. She found the page and, written in the same ink as the message, was Jeremy's address and phone number. She hesitated on whether or not to call the number because throughout their entire high school career, Jeremy always had a girlfriend. She figured now would probably be the same, if he wasn't already married. There was just no way, she thought, that he was interested in her then, let alone now. But, she couldn't believe what she was about to do. She picked up the phone and dialed the number she had for him.

"Hello," came a voice she recognized, but barely. "Hello, um is Jeremy there?" Charlotte asked nervously. "Jeremy? No, sweetie," came back the voice. "I can't believe this boy gave some chick my phone number. Sweetheart, Jeremy does not live here, but I will get a message to him if you want to leave one.

Charlotte kicked herself. Of course, he doesn't live there anymore. He's a grown man now. What was she thinking?

"Hello, are you still there?" The voice on the other end of the phone was starting to sound impatient now. After all, she was daydreaming during the call. "Oh, yes, I'm sorry. I'm still here, just kicking myself for thinking that Remy would still live there. This is Charlotte, Charlotte Roberts. I didn't mean to..." She was cut off by the voice yelling. "Oh my goodness, Lady, is that really you!? I can't believe it. I didn't think I would ever hear from you again." "I'm sorry, who am I speaking to?" She didn't want to sound rude, but the woman obviously knew who she was, so she felt she should be able to ask who the woman was.

"This is Jeremy's mother, Ms. J." She started rambling on after that about how good it was to hear from me and how she hasn't seen me in ten years and asking what I was up to, just tons of questions. She told me that I absolutely had to come by and see her soon. She would have it no other way.

After catching up for what seemed like forever, Charlotte hesitantly asked Ms. J to give her Jeremy's number. She was happy to oblige, but not before stating how sad she was that Jeremy and I never got together or that I didn't keep in touch. "I thought you would've eventually turned out to be my daughter-in-law instead of that... you know what? Never mind. I'm going to let you go to call that son of mine. Don't forget to come by, and that invitation is open for anytime. I'll talk to you later, okay." Charlotte basically only had time to say a short goodbye before Jeremy's mother hung up the phone.

Charlotte started preparing herself for her next phone call. She was still curious as to what his mother was going to say but didn't finish. She figured who better to ask than Jeremy himself, so she picked up the phone again and started dialing.

"Hello," came a very unfamiliar male voice. She was hoping that she didn't dial the wrong number. "Hi, um, is Jeremy there, and if so, may I speak with him?" She wanted to sound formal to whoever he was, but not to formal. "This is Jeremy. Who is this?" And there it was. The voice that used to melt her heart every time he would speak, even in a whisper.

"Is that how you treat old friends, Remy?" She wanted him to know who she was without actually coming out and saying it. She was the only person who called him Remy and he was the only person, other than his mother, that called her Lady. That was the way it was then and that was the way it would always be.

But to her surprise, the line went quiet for quite a bit of time. If it wasn't for her being able to barely hear him breathing, she would've thought he'd hung up on her.

"Lady? Is that you?" He asked that question like he was shocked and surprised and worried all at the same time.

Charlotte couldn't help but giggle at the way things were going. She was just as surprised as he was, but to her, it was a happy surprise. She could only hope that he felt the same way.

"It's been like, what, ten years? How did you get this number? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm loving the fact that its you and all, but I haven't seen you in forever. How are you?" His questions were coming so fast she didn't know which one to answer first. She couldn't help but find it super adorable. She knew, though, that she had to cut in somewhere, otherwise she might not get a chance to say anything.

"Yes, Remy, its me. I know its been a long time and I hate that its like that. But to answer your question, I called the number I had for you and your mother answered the phone. She hasn't changed a bit. Oh, and she made me promise to tell you that you need to come see her really soon. She said you don't visit like you used to. Oh, and I'm doing great, how about yourself?" She could hear him laughing on his end, which was a good sign to her.

"I'm good, Lady Luck. You know, I've missed talking to you. I needed this today, too. Things have just been so crazy, she... you know what? I'm going to enjoy my conversation with you, so tell me, what's been going on with you for the past ten years?

And just like that, two old friends started to rebuild the friendship that got put on the back burner. But Charlotte knew him better than anyone, probably better than he knew himself, no matter how much time had passed. She knew something was wrong, seriously wrong. First his mother, and now him? She didn't want to push him, after all, they hadn't talked in ten years, but she knew the time would come and she would be the friend she'd always been, the one that he could always count on.

They talked for about an hour, just catching up, when Charlotte got serious.

"Are you and Bianca still together?" Charlotte was asking about the girlfriend that Jeremy had when they graduated. Bianca did not like Charlotte one bit. She was very jealous of their friendship.

Jeremy laughed hard at that question. "Wow, I hadn't thought about that girl in years! No, we broke up a few months after graduation. It's amazing... my mama hated her too." He said that last part very quietly, almost to himself.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Remy," Charlotte said, smiling brightly to herself.

"Naw, its okay. If I hadn't of broken up with her, I wouldn't have met my wife, Robin. Lady, I would love for you to meet her, you would really like her."

Although she was crushed to hear that news, she did as she always did when it came to Jeremy and his girls. "You know, I was just about to say something about getting together. I've been wanting a reason to throw a party and what better time to get the old crew back together." She knew she was putting on, but she hoped he couldn't read it. She wanted so bad to scream that that girl should've been her, but, she figured it was all over now.

"I'll tell you what. Why don't we meet for lunch and talk about this some more because I would really like to see you. We could talk some more, you know, catch up." He seemed really hopeful and I really did want to see him, too, even if it meant that I had to keep my distance. "That sounds really good, Remy. It'll be good to see you, too, after all this time."

"Good, then we'll talk tomorrow about details and stuff. But check it, I got to run and pick up my godson. I'll talk to you later, right?" She knew then that that was hopefulness in his voice.

"Yes, Jeremy, I'll talk to you soon. Bye." "Bye, Lady Luck."

Charlotte laid back on her bed and stared at the ceiling thinking she was still in love with someone who she felt not only did not feel the same way about her that she felt about him, but that also now it was too late to even see if there was ever anything there. She was starting to feel like she was back in high school all over again, with the girls chasing Jeremy and her being the friend he could complain about the girls to. Only this time, it wasn't just any girl, it was his wife! She knew instantly that she couldn't compete with a wife. He married her for a reason and from the way he enthusiastically told her she had to meet Robin, he must've been happy.

But all of a sudden, she could kick herself. She realized she never did ask him about the message. Not that it would even matter now, she still wanted to know, for her own sake. She figured she would ask him about it the next time they talked.

And, she thought, it wouldn't hurt looking good while she talked to him about it, would it?