Chapter 37 – Together Again

Timo finished announcing their new project and got a tremendous applause. "And a big thank you to our new biggest investor, Kallum Moltz. Today wouldn't have been possible without him."

Timo swept his hand towards Kal in the crowd and clapped. The rest of the audience followed suit.

"I have to ask, how involved was Kal in everything?" Eric asked Charlotte as they watched from off to the side.

"He showed up on a recommendation from you, actually. Karen didn't say her uncle was such a colossal figure in the tech world," Charlotte sighed and leaned into him.

"Karen? You know her?" Why do I feel like I fell into an elaborate trap?

"Timo did an extensive look into your background, and where you worked, and she was the only one we saw you contact outside of work. We figured you two were friends and asked her to help you."

Eric's grip on her waist tightened. "Does that mean it wasn't a coincidence that she found me in the library?"

"No... Timo found you."

"How? I didn't have that phone on."

"It's Timo; he could find you even if you were hiding in a cave, and we have a don't ask, don't tell kind of situation for... those kinds of situations. Can't say I don't know some of it though; I'm an expert with computers myself."

"All of it was a setup?" Eric frowned.

"After I got that text, and then figured out the truth not long later... yes. I needed to make sure you were okay. There was no way I'd be able to concentrate if you were struggling."

He let out a deep sigh. "For a moment there, I thought you were going to say the interaction with Dean was a set up too."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Well, everything else was..."

"I saw what he did to you," Charlotte took his hand. "There was a security camera nearby... kind of nearby. It didn't give a clear picture because of the distance, but I could tell what happened for the most part. I was hoping you'd be able to take up the piano again, but I don't know how well your hand is doing." She gently caressed the back of his hand with her thumb.

"For everyday life, my hands are fine, but for playing the piano..." Eric cringed. "I might be able to manage a kid's song, but that's about it."

Charlotte kissed the back of his hand. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"It's my fault Dean came for you."

"It's still not your fault. You're not responsible for Dean's behaviour."

"And to say a last few words, our very own, Charlotte Burne," Timo said, and a spotlight landed on her.

"I guess you better get up there," Eric placed his hand on her back and gave her a gentle push towards the stage.

Her shoulders and back straight, she strutted onto the stage and took the microphone from Timo. "Thank you all for coming tonight. I'm sure many of you were surprised by what happened backstage, and I'm sorry if any of you are bothered by it, but those of you who I've talked to recently know it needed to be done."

"You rock, Charlotte!" someone in the audience yelled. "I'm glad you got your man back."

"Thank you," Charlotte smiled. "I'm glad I got him back, too. Now, to continue on from Timo..."

When Charlotte finished, the audience applauded. "Thank you all for joining us tonight. I hope you will stay and enjoy the refreshments and live music," she gave them a small bow and headed off of the stage.

"How could you do this to us?" Mr. Belloff stepped in her way. "We've been your biggest investors to years..." he gritted his teeth, a vein bulging out of his forehead.

"You were my biggest investors, yes, but not anymore. It wasn't worth it to have Dean hounding me and acting like he wasn't already horrible to me. There's a reason I broke it off with him, and a good one at that."

"But we dealt with that," he seethed.

"No, you brushed it under the rug."

"So, you're willing to sacrifice your butler to put him away this time? Don't forget what he did to my son."

"We haven't forgotten, but we're willing to fight it. I have my own lawyers to rival yours now, and everyone here is a witness to Dean's personality, and how he admitted what he's done in the past. Timo was defending me; he won't go to jail for that. Your son, on the other hand, better get ready for a different lifestyle than he's used to."

"We won't take this sitting down."

"Never expected you would," Charlotte crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

Mr. Belloff leaned in closer. "I'll use everyone at my disposal to ruin your company. It'll be destroyed before Dean even takes the stand."

Charlotte stared straight into his eyes. "I've already secured the future of my company, and if you try to slander me, I'll sue you, too."

"Mind not getting too close to my girlfriend," Eric pushed his way in between them and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "She's already had to deal with one Belloff; I don't think she wants to have to deal with another one."

"How dare you—"

"Let's go home, Char," Eric walked her around Mr. Belloff, and met up with Kal, who was talking with Timo at one of the tables off to the side.

"Good job, Miss Burne," Kal winked at her. "I knew you could do it."

"Thank you for all your help. I look forward to working with you more in the future," Charlotte shook his hand.

"I have to ask, though, are you stealing my employee?"

"Uh, well, that's up to him. He can work for me again, work for you, or stay home if he wants."

"I'd like if he continued to work at my store. The customers love him, and he's a quick learner."

"The customers... any chance they're mostly male?"

"Oh-ho, is that a bit of jealousy coming out of the great Miss Burne?"

"Can you blame me? I'd rather not have him ogled all the time by the women who come into your store." Charlotte eyed Eric. "You haven't... done anything while we were apart, did you?"

"Me?" Eric's eyes widened. "No way!"

"He's always cordial and the women especially love him there," Kal chuckled as he thought back.

"Kal!"

"What? It's true. You're super polite, and after you learned about all the flowers, you were the helpful, handsome florist. They loved that persona."

"I'm not sure I like you working there," Charlotte tugged on his hand.

"But..." Eric cringed. "I actually really like it there."

"You didn't like working for me?"

"I didn't have a chance to even settle into that job before everything went down. I mean, I was starting to get used to it, but it was still a bit... stressful."

"It was stressful?"

"You work in a high-pressure environment..."

"As if his busy flower shop isn't high pressure," Charlotte puffed her cheeks out.

Man... it's hard to say anything when she's like this. I can't help but want to... Eric pinched her puffed-out cheeks.

"E-wic!"

"Oops; I did it without thinking." He let her go. "You looked so cute and I couldn't fight the urge to pinch your cheeks," Eric averted his gaze, blushing up to his ears.

"You two are too cute," Kal chuckled. "Ah, to be in love..."

Charlotte rubbed her face, surprised he'd do that in public. "Eric, if you want to work for Kal, I guess I'll have to find a new assistant."

"Isn't Timo enough?" Eric asked.

"Timo's too busy with other things to take over completely."

I can't help but wonder how he helps with the other company. He always seems to be around her, but I guess he's also always got his phone on him so he can work on.

"Sounds like we should have shared custody or something," Kal laughed.

"I don't want him working all the time."

"I suppose you're right. How about you get him Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and I can have him on Tuesdays and Thursdays?"

"Do I get a say in this?" Eric held up his hand, but the two continued on without him. A hand appeared on his shoulder.

"You should just give in; neither seem to want to give you up," Timo said. "By the way, nice takedown."

"I learned from the best."

Timo fixed his collar. "I suppose you did." He leaned in close to Eric to whisper. "I am quite capable of being her full-time assistant and butler, as I did before, but she wishes for you to be beside her more than just at home. Sometimes she spends way too much time at work, which would also end up being too much time away from you. And it seems you've charmed Kal. Considering he's our new biggest investor, it'd be in our best interest to let you work for him. That said, I'm not sure she's willing to give you up to him all that much."

"I do like working for him, though. Apparently, I like flowers," he shrugged. "I never knew before."

"It doesn't surprise me one bit."

"It doesn't? I didn't think it'd suit me..."

Timo smirked. "You fit the image of a florist quite well."

"Timo, Eric, time to go," Charlotte took Eric's hand.