The Other Woman |Charlie Barber x Reader|

~Que Sera, Sera~

When Nicole was 25 years old, she spent her tropical wedding day pacing up and down the hotel hallway, ignoring the consolidations of her bridesmaids. She had an ailment that was more commonly known as 'cold feet.' Bitterly cold feet that made her white sandals feel ten times too small and her dress three times too tight. What if I'm making a mistake? That was the only thing bouncing around in her over-crowded mind.

What if she was tying herself to the wrong person? What if she was going to be bound to someone who didn't truly feel the same way? Now that she was just a few short hours away from walking down the aisle, she couldn't understand how some brides never had this problem. If her present self traveled back in time to visit the past version of her--the version that had been actively planning a wedding--she'd scoff at the idea of getting cold feet. Now it was all she could think of.

Her bridesmaids, dressed in flowing blue, only stood back and let her pace. They were her friends. They knew her well enough to understand she'd calm down on her own accord. Eventually, she'd have to get in that car waiting downstairs and drive to the beach venue.

They had been lucky to have had the wedding at all. It was all funded by Nicole's parents; how could two kids fresh out of college afford a grand destination wedding? The two had been more than happy to pitch in a few thousand dollars, exercising their privilege for their daughter. Their only requests were that they be seated front and center. A request Nicole had had no grievances with. After all, there wouldn't be any arguing with the in-laws. Her new husband's parents hadn't come; they'd never even received an invite.

Nicole hadn't minded walking down the aisle without the two of them glowering venomously at one another. They'd gotten divorced--not peacefully, at that--and apparently Charlie's much older father had been quick to snatch up a much younger woman. That was something Nicole's groom very much didn't want to see.

Fortunately, they'd get a lot less of both of their parents when they made the decision to move their life to New York City. They both fell in love with the city instantly; it brought out more in them that they could ever dream of. Nicole felt like this place made her feel even younger--something she could benefit from after just getting married--and thought it brought out a more playful side of her. She found many opportunities here, but often came home to the barren apartment with a frown because some 20-something broke out an interpretive contemporary dance in front of her at an audition.

A week later, she'd be signed up for dance lessons that would take place every Tuesday in the same building. A skill Charlie had been happy to put in use the moment he got his theater company up and running. He'd been an instant success--something that was incredibly rare--thanks to his outstanding ambition and unwillingness to take no for an answer. Exit Ghost, they'd decided on together. A name they found ironic once they discovered the theater was haunted anyways.

He'd put on plays and she'd star in them. The 'Dynamic Duo Taking Over Theater in NYC,' one enthusiastic review had called them. They'd both been happy with that title and extremely happy with the money they were now bringing in without the help of their parents.

Near the end of her 28-year-old life, Nicole Barber fell pregnant with a son. They were both ecstatic, her and her husband, ready to welcome a new presence into their home. A third being they'd created out of their love. Besides, the love hadn't been anything to complain about. The two had been eager for one another; quick to get acquainted with each other's bodies and sounds of pleasure. That was how Henry--that was the name they'd decided on immediately after Jack had been discarded--came to be in the first place.

Christ, she'd never had this much sex in her life, she'd decided several months into their marriage. Charlie's back surely must have been scratched up permanently from the amount of times her nails had dug in. They made each other feel young with their many sexual adventures, but the age would return when they'd circle around the bare dining room table to contemplate taxes. That life came crashing in once Nicole was sitting on the toilet with a pregnancy test in her hand and two blue lines before her eyes.