Forbidden Love 💙

Chapter 2

Charlotte rushes around her room trying to figure out what to wear. It wasn't a formal meeting, it was just at his house. She put on the same jeans she wore the night before and a long sleeve purple button up blouse which she tucked in and her black heels. She couldn't find more contacts, so she put on her glasses, groaning. She hated wearing her glasses, but seeing was more important. She put her hair half up in a clip and hired a car to take her to Chris' house. As she rode in the car, she saved his number in her phone under just Chris. She made the driver stop so she could get coffee for her and tea for Chris.

Chris heard the knock on the door. He checked the time, 8:45. She was early. He opened the door to find Charlotte smiling up at him in glasses, her hair pulled back with tendrils falling in her face. He accepted her tea and let her inside as he tried to keep Dodger from attacking her with kisses. "I'm sorry. I guess I should have asked how you were with dogs."

Charlotte bent down, petting Dodger, "I love dogs Chris." She smiled up at him as she stood up. He led her to the dining room where his manager was already waiting for them as well as her boss.

He stood up, holding out his hand, "I'm Nick. Nice to meet you."

"Charlotte." She sat down with her coffee as they went over the contract. There was a specific clause about no personal relationships between her and Chris. And she had to sign an NDA, which she assumed she would have to do. She would be in charge of his social medias, running everything by him first. She would accompany him to all interviews and red carpets. She would pretty much be at his beck and call for whatever he needed from her. And she would be paid well to do so. The contract lasted for one year, at which point they could renegotiate.

As she finished signing the contract an attractive brunette entered the dining room. She watched Chris stand up and hug her. He motioned to Charlotte so she stood up. "This is my friend Tara. She is a real estate agent. She's going to help you find an apartment nearby that I'll pay for."

Charlotte shakes her head, "that isn't necessary. I can pay for my own apartment."

Chris places his hand on her shoulder, "it's fine. I insist."

Tara looks at Charlotte, "I actually found you one in town. It's really nice. About 15 minutes from Chris' house. I can take you there now if you like."

"Of course." Charlotte grabs her bag as Chris follows her and Tara out of the house.

Tara gets in her car as Chris stops Charlotte, "Charlotte, hold on a second." He holds up some keys. "These are the keys to my house. I can go over all of them later when you get back." He holds up a car key, "and this one is for you. I leased it so you have your own car to get around in." He presses the button and she turns around to hear a beep. She sees a blue Honda CR-V. She turns back to him as he hands her the keys.

She looked down at the keys and back up to him, "Chris, this is too much."

He laughed and shook his head, "no no. It's fine. Go with Tara, she will drop you off back here after she shows you to your apartment."

She smiles at him, "yes, boss."

"I like it when you call me that." He was flirting with her. He needed to get ahold of himself. "I'll see you soon." Chris went back inside and set next to his manager as Charlotte's boss left. Chris went over the contract seeing the clause of them not being allowed to engage in any sort of relationship besides friends. He knew he would have to control himself. He signed the papers and looked up at his manager.

"Are you sure this is a good idea Chris?" Nick gathered all the paperwork.

"Sure about what?" He knew what his manager was talking about, but he didn't want to admit it.

Nick stood up, "hmm. I think you know. Be careful."

*********************************************************************

Tara took Charlotte to her new apartment. It had a giant kitchen and a living room with a balcony and a den off to the side. Tara pointed at some stairs next to the apartment entrance, "there's a loft upstairs that you can use as an office or another bedroom. Whatever you want."

Charlotte looks around, "thank you Tara. It's great. Much bigger than my apartment in New York." She looks back at Tara, "so you're friends with Chris?"

Tara smiled at her, "yeah. Since kids actually."

"Wow. That's amazing. I don't have any friends I've known that long. But being back here, who knows."

Tara tilted her head to Charlotte, "are you from around here?"

"I grew up here in Concord actually. Haven't been back in a long time though."

"When did you graduate?"

"2006." Why was Tara grilling her. She knew Tara was trying to come off as polite or interested, but it just felt like grilling.

"So you're a few years behind us. That's cool." She pointed to the paperwork on the kitchen counter, "you just have to sign the lease and you're good to go."

Charlotte read over the lease, another one year contract with possibility for extending it if they choose to. She signed it and handed it to Tara who handed her the keys. "Okay. Let's get you back to Chris. I have some other appointments."

***********************************************************************

Charlotte knocked on Chris' front door, waiting for him to answer. He answered with a smile. "You don't have to knock. Just come in. How is the apartment?"

She took off her shoes and put her purse on the table in the entryway. "It's perfect." She watched Chris bend over and grab her shoes, putting them and her purse in the hallway closet. "I'm sorry Chris."

He laughed, "don't be. Just can't leave shoes lying around, Dodger will eat them. Come on, let me show you around." She follows him around as he shows her around the house, his room, the living room, sitting room, dining room and a big kitchen with a sunroom off to the side. "There's a tv room and bar downstairs in the basement. And there's a loft over the garage where my brother stays from time to time. I'm sure you'll meet him soon enough." She follows him to the living room as he pulls up his computer. He motions for her to sit on the couch next to him. "You have a computer?"

"At my apartment back in New York, yeah."

He laughs, "right." She watches as he goes over his schedule and exchanges email addresses with her. She leans over the computer, "may I?" He nods as she takes over the computer, syncing it to her phone. She looks back at Chris, "I'm going to have to go to New York to have my stuff sent here."

"Oh. Of course. Take the week." He leans back on the couch, "I'll be here."

Charlotte laughed and stood up. She looked down at her clothes, "anything in particular you want me to wear?"

Chris stood up, looking at her, "well that's a loaded question." He immediately regretted his words as he saw her blush. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." He shook his head. He needed to wrangle himself in.

"Don't worry about it Chris. You asked if I could handle you." She took a step towards him, making his heart race. He needed to get control of that. "I can handle you. Boss." She watched as he blushed this time, "I'll be back in a week." She turned to walk away before turning back to him, "can you handle yourself alone for a week?"

He brought his hand to her face, using one finger to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, "I think I can manage." He looked down at her, "and as far as clothes go, if it's just us you can wear what you like. Interviews and what not you'll wear something more appropriate for the situation. Oh, and I like the glasses."

Charlotte looked down and looked back up to him, embarrassed, "just make sure you eat while I'm gone. Yeah?"

"Yes ma'am. I will."