Chapter 18

It’s Tuesday morning and Charlotte is puttering around in her kitchen fixing herself breakfast when her phone starts ringing.

She looks at the caller ID and realizes that it’s Mrs. Mathers from the mall. She’d forgotten to call her back the day before. She composed herself and answered in her most professional voice.

“Hello, this is Charlotte,” she said.

“Oh, Charlotte, I’m so happy I finally caught you. This is Mrs. Mathers. I met you at the mall the other day? Do you remember me?” the older woman asked.

“Yes, ma’am, I remember you. I’m sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I’ve been extremely busy wrapping up some loose ends. What can I do for you?”

“Well, I was really hoping that you would be able to help us put together this anniversary party. I don’t want Robin and Jeremy, that’s my son-in-law, to have to put this all on themselves. I mean, you know how much work goes into these things. I just wanted to get in touch with you and see if you had time to fit my event onto your calendar. Do you think that’ll be okay? I’m flexible as to the date, if that’ll help. I just really appreciate what you did for me the other day and want to show my appreciation by hiring you, pending on your previous work, of course. Do you have a portfolio or something that I can see that shows events you’ve already done? I’d love to meet with you. Do you think you’ll have time to fit me in today? I’m retired, you know, and have plenty of time. I’m so excited to get started.”

The woman paused. She’d been talking for quite a few minutes.

“Charlotte, are you there? You’ve been awfully quiet,” the woman asked.

Charlotte hadn’t been listening to the woman after she heard the names Robin and Jeremy together. Who else could she be talking about?

She was mentally kicking herself for not putting two and two together when Robin told her her name at the mall. She was a little shocked. She’d met, and actually liked, Robin upon first meeting her. Now she didn’t know what to do. After what happened with Jeremy, she wasn’t so sure that she wanted to meet her at all. She was nervous that Robin would pick up on her feelings for Jeremy as soon as she said hello. She knew that her emotions and feelings would show on her face anytime she was around him and that a person would have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to notice it.

Charlotte snapped back to reality when she heard Mrs. Mathers calling her name.

“Charlotte,” the woman was practically yelling, “are you still there? I can hear you breathing.”

“Yes, I’m still here. I’m sorry, I got distracted for a moment. Mrs. Mathers, what is Robin’s last name?” Charlotte asked, hoping her suspicions were wrong.

“Well, she used to be a Mathers, like me, before she got married. Her husband’s last name is Johnson, Jeremy and Robin Johnson. Charlotte, what do you say we get together for lunch and you can show me some samples of your work? Do you have testimonials? I love reading testimonials,” the woman babbled.

Charlotte’s head was spinning. She didn’t know what to say about that. There was no way that she could plan this party now. That would mean working with Robin to put the event together, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. She’d slept with this woman’s husband. There was no way she could smile in her face and pretend like nothing ever happened.

“Mrs. Mathers,” Charlotte started, “I’m so sorry to have to tell you this, but I’m looking at my calendar right now and I just don’t know if I’ll be able to fit your event in with the three others I’m currently working on.”

It was just a small white lie and Charlotte hated to have to do it, but she just didn’t see any other way to get out of it.

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that. I was looking forward to working with you. You’re such a nice girl.”

Charlotte flipped through her rolodex.

“Mrs. Mathers, I can give you the name and number of an associate of mine. We work together sometimes on different projects. Is that okay?”

Mrs. Mathers agreed to that and Charlotte gave her the information and ended the call.

She did have some jobs lined up and more than likely would’ve been able to take on the party, but with the added drama of Robin and Jeremy thrown in the mix, she couldn’t guarantee that she would put her all into it, let alone be in the right mindset to get it done. She felt like passing this on to someone else was for the best.

After grabbing a bagel from her pantry, she walked to her bedroom and sat at her desk. She stared at herself in the mirror for a long time. She couldn’t believe the mess she’d gotten herself in.

The phone ringing broke her out of her trance. Looking at the caller ID, she saw that it was Terrance.

She answered it and they talked for a few minutes before they decided that he was going to bring over snacks and some movies in an hour.

She was happy about that, feeling as though the distraction would do her some good. And Terrance wasn’t a bad distraction at all.

She got dressed in comfortable clothes and then went to her office. She figured she could at least get started on a little bit of work before he arrived.

She sat at her computer and completed a few invoices and even got started on a design for a wedding invitation she was supposed to be building when there was a knock at the door.

She opened it find Terrance standing there with bags of junk and movies. She stepped aside to let him in and they got settled in right away.

They were about half an hour into the first movie when there was another knock at the door. She wasn’t expecting anyone, so she looked out the side window first.

It was Jeremy.

Terrance was still sitting in the living room when she opened the door.

“Hey, you,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

She stepped out onto the porch and pulled the door halfway closed.

“I came to see you,” he responded. “Robin’s at work and I needed to talk to you …”

He was interrupted when Terrance opened the door looking for Charlotte.

“Babe, what’s going on?” he asked.

He stood behind Charlotte and eyed Jeremy. When Charlotte turned to face him, he outstretched his hand towards Jeremy.

“What’s up, man? I’m Terrance, and old friend of Charlotte’s. How you doing?” he said, as he and Jeremy shook hands.

“”Sup Terrance, I’m Jeremy, a very old friend of Lady’s, I mean Charlotte’s.”

Charlotte watched the exchange between the two of them and noticed the darkness that settled in both of their eyes. They were sizing each other up.

“Charlotte,” Jeremy began before she had a chance to explain, “I’m sorry for coming over unannounced. I see that I’m interrupting things here. Look, I’m gonna go and…” he turned and started walking to his car, “I’ll call you… sometime, okay? Terrance it was nice meeting you. Charlotte…bye.”

She watched as he got in his car and pulled off.

Terrance took her hand and gently tried to pull her inside, but she watched his car until she couldn’t see it anymore. She, then, let him guide her back in the house. She wanted to curl up and cry when she saw that sad look on Jeremy’s face.

“So, that’s him, huh, your complicated and ‘not ideal’ situation?” Terrance said once she sat down.

She nodded her head yes. Her mind was replaying the look on Jeremy’s face over and over again. Her heart was breaking a little more each time she was forced to watch it.

“I’ve never seen you look at a person the way you looked at him, not even me.” He said the last part in almost a whisper, but Charlotte caught it.

“So, what’s the problem? Why don’t ya’ll just work out whatever it is that’s wrong and get together? It’s obvious that he cares for you, too. He had that same look in his eyes that you did.”

Terrance sat down next to her, waiting for an answer.

“Because I’m not his wife,” she told him, just before she broke down and cried.
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Jeremy didn’t know what to think or do once he started driving away from Charlotte’s house.

He went over there because, after finding out that the person that Robin met at the mall the other day was Charlotte, he needed to talk to her and let her know how he felt about them meeting and see what they were going to do about their future.

But he never would’ve guessed that he’d find her at home with another man. Just the other night, that was him. As much as he tried to tell himself that he had no right to be jealous, he couldn’t help it. The second Terrance walked out that door Jeremy wanted to rip his heart out.

He couldn’t believe that she just stood there. He wasn’t sure what he expected her to do, but he needed for her to do something. His heart was officially crushed.

His cell phone ringing shattered his thoughts and brought him back to the real world.

“Hello?” he said into the phone.

“Mr. Johnson, this is Nicole. We need you to come down to the construction site and sign off on some invoices. There are also a couple of things that need your approval. Are you available to come in today?” she asked.

Jeremy welcomed the work distraction. His company was contracted to build a huge business center on the North side of town. With him being the owner, he didn’t always have to be on site, that’s what he had a General Manager for. But he liked to know where the company’s money was going towards when it came time to make big plans and changes.

“I’m on my way there right now, Nicole. I’ll see you in about 20 minutes,” he told his assistant before hanging up.

He drove the 20 minutes to the site and headed straight for the trailer. He got the paperwork signed with Nicole and then headed into the building to see what kind of progress his guys were making.

He was just about to get into the outdoor elevator when he heard his name being called over the intercom. He was being told that he had a phone call holding for him in the office trailer.

Upon arriving, he picked up the receiver and spoke into it.

“This is Jeremy Johnson,” he stated.

“Mr. Johnson, this is Nurse Banxter at Hermann Memorial Hospital. Your wife, Robin Johnson, was admitted to the hospital a half hour ago. We need you to come down here,” the nurse told him.

“What’s wrong with my wife? What happened?” he asked, yelling the questions at the nurse.

“Sir, the doctors are asking that you come down to the hospital as soon as possible. They’ll be able to explain everything to you once you get here. We’re located in the Medical Center, at Fannin and McGregor. Do you know how to get here?” the nurse kindly asked.

“I’m on my way,” Jeremy said into the phone before hanging it up and running out the door.