Letters of the Heart

Chapter 6 (Beau)

I sat in a dim lit restaurant called The Barn House. It was apparently the best restaurant in town. The food smelled delicious and I already knew I was going to order a steak. There was no doubt about that. Especially after I saw that someone else had ordered one. It looked so juicy and delicious.

Charlotte sat across from me in a pair of dark jeans and an off the shoulder dark forest green shirt that opened up her neck. She looked radiant. Almost as if she was glowing. Actually, I think she was glowing. Her collar bone and cheeks glimmered in the light as if she were wearing sparkles or something.

"I am so glad we could do this. Last night, getting to talk to you was what I've always wanted! I've been working so hard to be able to meet you." I said as I studied the menu.

She slightly smiled as she looked around the restaurant. There was a look of worry on her face, but as she turned to me it disappeared. It was strange. It was almost like she felt guilty about something. Or that she was worried someone would see her. Surely she wasn't embarrassed to be seen with me. I may not be the most handsome man in the room, but I know I'm not considered ugly. I had women fawning over me my whole life, so it couldn't have been that.

"I've been waiting for you to find me. I was so glad you felt the same way as I did about our letters. I had put so much passion into writing them, in hopes it would encourage you." She spoke with ease.

My heart fluttered. I had dreamed about this my entire tour. How she would look. What she would be like. Wondering if she was anything like her letters; kind and honest. I had hoped she was. Then again I only knew her from what she had told me. There was more to find out that she may not have thought to tell me.

"Tell me more about yourself. I know only what you have written, but I'm sure there is more to you than you let on."

She giggled as she's took a sip of water. "I don't even know where to start! I'm a travel blogger, so I get paid to travel. I graduated college with a degree in literature."

She continued on telling me all about her life and what she's done. There was something about her that seemed off though. I couldn't exactly put my finger on it. I would have never guessed she would be a travel blogger. I remember asking her if she liked to travel in one of our letters. She had said she never was one to go on vacation much. Maybe she had changed mind.

Our food arrived and we were quiet for several minutes as we devoured the heavenly cooked meal. Once we slowed down I spoke up. "I met your sister today." I met her eyes.

It looked as if fear had shot through her eyes. Her face paled as she slowly swallowed her food. "Oh? Um, how?" She said softly almost as if she were afraid to ask.

"She was at your house."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "What were you doing there? What did she say?" Her voice was an octave higher than normal.

I laughed. "Don't be so scared. I've met her before, I just didn't know you two were related. I had stopped by your house trying to pick you up for our date and she was there. She said you two swap places every now and then."

Her color paled even more. "She said that? Did she seem angry or upset?"

I narrowed my eyes at her and playfully smiled while shaking my head. "No, why would she be upset? It's funny, I had called her earlier because she seemed to have been aggravated about something when we ran into each other this morning. That's when I told her about how I met you last night. After I hung up I found her at your house. It's crazy how small the town is."

She smiled and looked down at her food. "Oh, you told her all of it? And she didn't say anything?"

I shook my head. "I mean she had some questions but she didn't say anything out of the ordinary. Why do you ask?"

She shrugged. "I just didn't know how she would feel."

"Does she know about the letters?" I asked curious.

"I would say so. We've talked about them from time to time." Her tone felt off like she was hiding something. It almost sounded like she didn't want Charles to know about us.

I bet Charles was just as surprised as I was that I found my Charlotte. She knew about the letters and then finds out that I'm the recipient of them. "Your parents must have liked C names. I mean she's Charlie and you're Charlotte. They are so similar." I laughed.

She chuckled with me. "Yeah, I guess so."

We continued eating dinner in silence. I was hoping she would have asked me questions about myself but she never did. In fact, we only really talked about her. Not that I minded that, I just assumed she would have so many questions for me like I did for her. She seemed skittish ever since I told her I met her sister, which I thought was strange. Maybe she really didn't want me Charles to know about us.

But why keep it a secret? Surely if she was as excited as I was, she would want to tell everyone. That's how I feel. I want to scream it from the rooftops that I've found my mystery woman. I was so relieved that she had been waiting for me and that she wasn't an old married woman with five kids and two houses from two husbands or something. I was lucky. I found the perfect girl. I found the girl I had been dreaming about for years since she first began to write. I was not about to let her go either.

After dinner, I took her to a ice cream shop. When it was our turn to order, she refused to get one.

"Do you not like I've cream?" I joked. I knew she did. She said so in one of her first letters to me.

To my surprise she shook her head. "No, it hurts my teeth."

"When did that change? You told me you loved it at one point."

Her eyes grew wide. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about that!" She laughed nervously. "I had a terrible experience with ice cream about a year or two ago. Haven't ate it since." She smiled.

"Oh, well I'm sorry, I did not know!"

She shrugged and looped her arm around mine. "That's ok! I like that you remembered." She leaned her head on my arm since she couldn't reach my shoulder. Her touch was comforting but not exactly how I thought it would be. Rather than feeling warmth, it just felt heavy with pressure. I wanted to shake her off, but I figured that would have been rude. So I let her stay.

We ended up walking downtown as she told me about the places she has traveled recently. Which I found out, was many places. That was apparently all she ever did. She explained that she would be out of town a lot for the next couple of months. She had ten places already booked for the next two months. Each stay lasting at least three days. I was not exactly excited that she would be gone. I mean I had just found her. I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could, but I wasn't going to get in the way of her job. That would be unfair. She seemed to be passionate about what she did, and I didn't want to ruin that for her.

I wanted to be supportive, even if that meant not getting to see her when I wanted.