Chapter 6 - Charlotte

Eric groaned as he finally got himself out of the wheelchair. He waddled around the room and noticed the only picture he had of him and his parents when he was a baby was in a fancy frame, sitting on a shelf. It’s been a while since I looked at this… Wait, how did she get my stuff?

Ring, ring, ring.

He followed the sound of a ringing phone in the bedroom. On the nightstand sat a new smart phone with a note beside it. ‘We transferred everything from your old broken phone to this one.’

Somehow, I didn’t even notice it was missing…

He looked at the caller. Karen? “Hello?” Eric answered.

“Eric? Where have you been? I heard you were in an accident after you left work, and I haven’t been able to contact you. When I finally got to go to the hospital nearby to check on you, you were gone.”

“Karen, calm down; you’re talking too fast.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“I’m… mostly okay. And, yes, I was hit by a car, but my box of stuff from the office – which got broken – acted as a buffer. So aside from a few broken ribs and an injured wrist, I’m just a little scraped up.”

“Oh, no! You’re not okay at all! Geez, how can you downplay broken ribs?”

Eric glanced around his new home. “Actually, I’m better than okay right now.”

“What are you talking about? Don’t lie to me! Last we spoke, you were just fired and about to be evicted.”

“I’m… living with a generous friend now.”

“Oh? Whereabouts? I want to visit you.”

“Well…” I don’t even know the address. I vaguely remember the way here, and that’s about it.

“You can’t tell me? Or you don’t want to tell me? Are you actually mad at me?” She couldn’t help but think that, since she was the reason he got in trouble and fired.

“No, no, no! It’s nothing like that.”

“Then let me visit you.”

“I… can’t… I don’t want you to see me like this. Maybe after I heal... Bye.” Unable to stomach the conversation any further, Eric hung up.

“You can have visitors, you know?” Charlotte stood in the doorway with her arms crossed.

Eric stared at his phone for a while. “Maybe I should give up my past…”

“What? Why? You know I’m not trying to take everything away from you, right?”

“It’s just…”

“Are you ashamed of our arrangement?”

“It probably doesn’t look too good from the outside.”

“Don’t like the idea of being a kept man? It’s not really a bad thing; I don’t know what your problem is with it.”

“I’m used to having to support myself in every regard—”

“Sounds to me like you could use a break.” She stroked his arm. Charlotte glanced at the time. “How about we get to know each other better over dinner?”

“Do I have to go back downstairs?” he asked, not wanting to travel too much yet.

“Not at all; we have a table to eat at right here. Any requests? Or things you don’t eat?”

“Nope; I’ll eat almost anything.”

“Okay, I’ll get our chef to cook something up for us. You can get settled in,” she walked over to the intercom and picked up the phone.

“Sure… settle in…” he hobbled over to the kitchen. He grabbed two glasses of water and sat at the table, leaving one glass to the side for Charlotte. His mind wandered off to the look on Karen’s face after he was fired. She’s better off forgetting me.

Charlotte sat down where he placed the water and took a sip. “Thanks. Our appetizers will be here shortly and about twenty minutes until the main dish is ready.”

“There’s more than one part to a meal at home?”

“Oh, did you not want it like that?”

“No, it’s not that; I’m just surprised. So…” he circled his finger along the rim of his glass. What are we supposed to talk about? He glanced over at her. This feels like a date. Which I haven’t been on for years.

“I’d offer you wine, but I don’t know if it’d interfere with your recovery… And it’s probably not good to put alcohol with medicine.”

“Thanks anyway… So, tell me about yourself. Did you inherit this or work your way up?”

“All of this,” she waved her hand around, referring to her house. “And Burne Technologies, are all mine. I started my original company when I was a teenager actually, despite my parents wanting me to take over theirs later...”

His eyes widened.

“I worked for over a decade to turn it into what it is today.”

“All on your own? No family to help?”

“I… Didn't want to burden them. They're my adoptive parents, and already did enough for me...”

Did she lose her parents when she was young, like me?

“I started the company on my own. I got some outstanding employees and companions alone the way, but…” she trailed off, staring into the space in front of her as she thought about her empty house. About the loneliness she felt every time Timo went home.

“Charlotte?”

A warm hand encompassed hers.

“Are you okay?” Eric asked.

She shook off the feelings and smiled at him. “Yeah, I’m okay.” Her eyes landed on his hand over hers, and her smile grew. “Better than okay, actually.”

“Good.” He gripped her hand and pulled away. “You had me worried there.”

“You were worried?”

“Yeah, the way you trailed off with such a despondent look, I thought… I thought you looked like me after everything fell apart and… I was in such a dark place I…” Wanted to end it…

“You what?”

“Didn’t pay attention to my surroundings and got hit by a pretty lady’s car.”

She blushed and turned away. “Ha ha, you don’t have to flatter me.”

“Flatter? Who would flatter someone while saying they hit them with their car? Besides, I suck at flattery; I just say what I think.”

“That so?” She took a sip of her water.

"Yes, I probably need more than a few lessons in proper manners," Eric scratched the back of his head. "Social etiquette and whatnot are not my strong suit, sorry."

"No need to be sorry; many people suck at it even with training. Either that, or they try to hide their insults and nitpicking behind fake smiles and poorly chosen words," Charlotte sighed. "I much prefer your way, so long as there are no outbursts in parties."

"No guarantees."

Charlotte chuckled.