Hidden Melodies

Chapter Fifteen

Copyright Joelle Blue ©

Charlie

Having breakfast with Ellie, Scarlet, and Diesel seems surreal. I dreamt of the day I could spend moments with her again, and here I am. They're all in their pajamas and have welcomed me into their space and I don't know what to make of it.

Ellie is so beautiful, I can't keep my eyes off her. She has stunning paintwork tattoos, her dark hair is up so I can see her neck, her strong legs are curled under her at the table and her toes are painted bright pink.

"So, carrot top, why do you call Oz Ellie?" Diesel bluntly asks.

"Declan Blue, that was rude!" Ellie scolds. He glares at her, but she isn't fazed.

"Well, cause that's her name," I raise my eyebrows in question.

"No, it's not." He responds. "It's Ozzie."

I look towards Ellie in question. "Well, I always called her Ellie and Scarlet called her Ozzie. Would you rather I didn't call you Ellie?" I ask her.

She smiles softly, "Only you, big guy. I don't mind." I nod and shamelessly stare at her. "Oh, I meant to ask, how did you know it was me?"

I reach towards her neck and pull on the chain, bringing the necklace out from behind her shirt. "This," I tell her as I hold it for a moment.

"Oh, shit. I didn't even think about that. It's just always there," she laughs as she rubs it.

She's been wearing it all this time.

"Once I noticed that, I took a harder look at you and then knew if anyone was with you it was Scarlet and everything pretty much matched. Once I got closer to you, it was obvious once I knew. You both hide it very well, though."

"Well, I'm glad you realized." She smiles as she rubs her necklace.

"So, do you guys live here, too?" I ask Scarlet and Diesel.

"No, we just crashed here last night. We have a house not too far from the clubhouse," Scarlet explains.

"Yeah, Diesel here runs a little biker gang with his brother, and they all have super tough biker names," Ellie teases with impressive seriousness. "They have a clubhouse with a playground and freezers full of popsicles for all their friends."

Both Scarlet and I chortle, but Diesel just glares with mock anger. "Don't laugh at me, dude. They're like this all the time, and I hope you start to take the brunt of it."

"But Charlie isn't in a bike gang. He builds the bikes for the bike gang, so it's different," Ellie explains.

"Wait, wait, wait, Charlie Beaumont? Are you Don fucking Beaumont's son?" Diesel stares with so much intensity waiting as I answer.

"Uh, yeah," I draw out.

"No shit. Well, damn. I'm on the books for three months from now, so I'll be seein' you at your shop."

And that's how I spend every morning the next week. I bring Ellie pastries and we have breakfast together before I show up to the shop at the normal time I'm supposed to be there instead of at least an hour early.

The minute she opens the door with that sweet "Hi" I smile harder than I ever have. We talk and catch each other up on everything we missed. I didn't have much to catch her up on except mom's health check, but she's been busy. Now that I've been able to see her so much, I don't want to think about how much I'll miss her when she leaves for her tour. She'll be back sporadically and having to travel, and even though it's entirely premature and ridiculous, I want to quit my job and go with her. I know she would never ask me to do that or be okay with that, but I never want to lose this feeling. This happiness even just having her a friend is so fulfilling, I don't ever want to let go.