The whole drive to Justin's house was quiet. I just looked out the window and cried most of the time. He brought my stuff to my room. I used to sleep here a lot when the nightmares would come so he has a bedroom that's mine. I waited in the kitchen and grabbed a cup with bourbon and drank it.
"Lottie" he sighed and walked to sit on the stool next to me. "Tell me what happened" Justin said and I sighed and poured more bourbon on the cup before explaining. "Lately we've been fighting a lot and arguing about small things, he was usually the one to start the arguments, today we had one because he thought I was flirting with a coworker, which I wasn't by the way" I said and took a sip of the bourbon. "He got very aggressive and accidentally pushed a chair at me and I hit my hip on the side of the table so I decided to go home early to think. Camilla showed up saying she was 4 weeks pregnant with Ivan's kid" I said and down the whole bourbon and poured more. "Ivan came home he was shocked but then said he was drunk when it happened and didn't know what the fuck even happened. So long story short the person I trusted, told I loved, and gave myself to emotionally and physically cheated on me" I said downing the whole drink and then I turned my gaze to Justin. "Any questions?" I asked sarcastically smiling. Justin looked at me worried and shocked. "Why are you acting so numb to it? '' he said and I laughed and poured another drink. "I had an hour to cry it out I'm done crying that's all I fucking do" I said and he reached for my hand "but that's what makes you Charlotte, your compassion, kindness, and sweetness" he said and I looked at him with tears in my eyes. "And who's kind to me? Who's compassionate to me?" I said and he looked down. He could tell how absolutely broken I was inside.
"Yeah only you, our parents, Alexandra, and Waverly everyone else just pushes me around and humiliates me but that's enough. Now I'm going to be the one who humiliates and manipulates. I'm going to be the one that people are going to be afraid to even say a word to" I said getting up from my seat and downing the whole drink. "Charlotte" Justin said and I sent him a fake smile. "I'm fine Tin Tin I'm just going to sleep for a little" I said and he sighed. "Leave the door open" he said and I know why he said it. "Sure, I'm not going to hurt myself or kill myself" I said looking back at him. "At least not yet" I said sarcastically and walked up to my room. I texted Ale telling her to get my work stuff from Ivan's house and took a sleeping pill to help me sleep.
Ivan's POV
After Charlotte left I told Camilla to leave. I hurt her. The woman I promised to never hurt. I tried for the past 3 hours to remember what actually happened that night. I just remember going to a bar because I was upset with Liam's flirting and took a couple of drinks and Camilla showed up then everything else was a blur and I woke up naked in a bed with her next to me naked. I told Charlotte I slept at my parents house because I didn't have the guts to tell her.
The doorbell rang and I went to open it and it was Alexandra. Great is she here to murder me because I deserve it. She met my eyes and she looked upset. "I'm just here to get some of Charlotte's things upstairs and I'll leave," she said blankly. I let her pass through and followed her upstairs. "She said that the rest of the clothes were clothes you bought her so you can keep them or burn them if you want" she said and I couldn't help but hurt at the words. "How's Charlotte" I practically whispered at her and she looked at me more angry.
"How do you think she is Ivan?" she said with anger in her voice. She looked down at the bed and placed some stuff in a bag and raised her head and closed her eyes. "She wouldn't tell me how she was so I had to call Justin. And he said she's in rough shape" she sighed. "I'm on my way to see her because if Justin says she's in bad shape I don't even want to think what she is going to do" she said and I looked at her worried. "Do you think she'll hurt herself or..." I said in a worried tone. She looked at me angry. "I think you hurt her enough," she said, placing other things inside the bag. "Justin said she's acting different and numb" she finally spoke worriedly. "He said she keeps joking about it and drinking... God, how could you have done this to her, to charlotte?" she said and I just sat on a chair and placed my hand on my head. "I can't even remember what happened," I said, sighing.
"Charlotte is like my sister. I've known her for 15 plus years and I've never seen her so broken. What scares me the most is her attitude towards life right now. " Alexandra said worriedly, walking towards the stairs and I followed behind her. "Tomorrow when you get to work please tell me how she is" I said before she left, she turned around and looked at me. "I'm not going to work tomorrow, my resignation letter is on your desk. Don't worry it wasn't Charlotte's idea she actually said to not let her personal reasons interfere with my decisions but... her personal life is mine... Because you came into her life and made her feel like life was worth it and happy and then you broke her, and now Waverly, Justin and I are left to pick up the pieces and we don't mind because we love her. But I'm afraid that this time we'll pick up the pieces but won't be able to put them back together" she said and walked out of the house and got in her car.
Charlotte's POV
"Jackson please" I sobbed at him trying to get away from his grip. "Jackson you're hurting me" I shouted at him while he ran his hands all through my body and kissed me all over my collarbone.
"It's okay baby, you'll like it" he said, applying more pressure on my wrists. "No Jackson please don't, not like this please!" I shouted trying to push him off of me but he slammed me in the wall and I felt like no air was reaching my lungs. I couldn't breath and Jackson looked at me and I collapsed on the floor when he let me go. I tried catching my breath but I couldn't.
"Shit are you having a fucking heart attack" he shouted and grabbed his phone and left the apartment and I tried reaching my phone and dialed 911 but I started seeing dark spots.
I shot up screaming and sobbing with sweat all over my body. I gasped trying to catch my breath and notice Justin, Waverly and Alexandra in my room trying to calm me down. "Hey you're okay" Waverly said sitting next to me on the bed. I just put my hand on my mouth trying to muffle my sobs. "I'm sorry" I sobbed and Justin shook his head. "I'm sorry I-it was a nightmare I'm so sorry" I said .
"It's okay honey" Justin said and I just nodded and cuddled next to Waverly who was next to me and so did Alexandra. We stayed like this for a little until Justin said that the food had arrived. The girls went down while I used the bathroom. I washed my face and looked at myself in the mirror. I was fighting the urge to hurt myself to get rid of the emotional pain but I don't want to go back to how it was. So I just sighed and walked downstairs. They were setting the plates with food out and I walked over to the bar and poured bourbon and downed it. I went to pour another one but Justin stopped me.
"Okay... I think that's enough" he said smiling at me and I just nodded. "I mean it's either that or..." I stopped myself from finishing my sentence when I saw his concerned look and looked over to the girls for them to be looking at me the same way. I looked down "sorry" I said and walked over to the table and they just smiled at me and we ate. They were talking most of the time trying to get me to converse with them but I couldn't. I was trying to hide the pain I felt inside but I couldn't.
"You okay?" Waverly asked me side hugging me and I nodded and gave a fake smile. I took a drink of my soda and spoke up. "I want to start a construction company" I said and they all looked at me shocked and I looked back at them. "Charlotte..." Justin said. "I want to build my own empire. I want people to look up to me and not for me not to look up to them like I have for my whole life," I said blankly and took a bite of my food. "It'll give me something to work for and not give up. I know I can do it" I said and they all looked at me after sharing a smile. "And we are going to be with you every step of the way" Waverly said and they all nodded. I gave her a smile. "As long as you give me a job" Alexandra said and we all started to laugh. "Sure," I said.
I'm going to build something for myself and no one will ever humiliate me the way people have. People are going to respect me and if they don't I'll make them respect me. I'm done crying all the time and being weak. People don't get to where they are from being emotional, they get there being cold and brutal so that's what I'm going to do. People are going to be afraid to even look at me in a certain way. And I'll show everyone, I'll show Ivan that I'm not the same girl anymore because I refuse to let another man ever get close to me. I refuse to let anyone close to me because they just end up hurting you.
Published 06/16/2022
YOU ARE READING
You and Me
Romance- Charlotte Carter is a 23 year old young woman who is a Landscape Architect. She has been looking for a job lately and her best friend Waverly's friend Liam works at Lombardo Construction Company which is one of the best Construction Companies in t...
