Just us.

22. I'd like that

Charlotte didn't know where to go. She didn't want to go back to that empty house. She didn't want to stay at the nursery. She has no where and no one. And most likely soon enough, she might not even have a job.

She was just driving around when she came across the bar. Without giving it a second thought, Charlotte decided why not. There's no where else to go.

As she's sitting down, the waitress comes up to her with the lemonade she orders. She can't buy a proper drink as she's driving. She may be at rock bottom, but she's not that stupid.

"There we are. Can I get you anything else?" The brunette smiles
"No thank you"
"Okay" she walks away, feeling for the woman. She clearly was upset about something.

Charlotte went over the events of today in her head, she can't believe any of it. Marjorie truly hates her. She never wants to see her again. Can anything in her life get any worse? Is this it?

"Hello sweetheart" Charlotte looks up at the woman. The red head just smiles, and Charlotte tried to speak
"W-w, what are you doing here?"
"Heard you were having a bit of a rough time sweetheart"
"How do you know?"
"Reecey called me" what? Charlotte had no idea why Reece would do that for her. She's knows he doesn't particularly like Mia either.

"Reece got in touch with you?"
"Mhm. I'm sure it absolutely killed Jim to call me for help, but, he seemed to know that I would come running if it were for you" she smiles
"How did you know where to find me?" Charlotte questions.
"Char, this is the bar you wanted us to go to together. I knew I'd find you here" Charlotte sighs,
"I had no idea I was so predictable"
"Nobody else would know to come here. You're not predictable sweetheart, I just know you"
Charlotte smiles a little and sniffs, drying her eyes.

"I see you still haven't taken it off" Mia's eyes dart down to Charlotte hand wresting on the table,
"No. Not everyone knows yet"
"I can't even imagine how lonely that has been for you"
"It's fine. I've got my friends and work to take my mind off it" Charlotte says. But Mia isn't convinced at all.
"The same friends that didn't even notice you were going through something?" She asks
"I haven't told anyone. How could they have noticed" Charlotte replies
"I noticed"

"If I take it off it's like it actually happened, you know? It's real. It's like, this is like the final piece of my life before it fell apart"
"Your life hasn't fallen apart sweetheart, you're still here. You're going to be okay. You're just, not ready to let go yet"
"Recently, I'm starting to think I am ready to let go. I'm just, scared"
"It's okay to be scared sweetheart" Charlotte contemplates the idea. After a moment she slides the ring off of her finger, placing it on the table in front of her.

"I'm really proud of you" Mia smiles
"You probably wouldn't be proud of me if you found out how I was behaving at work"
"Reecey did say that you've been shouting at parents lately" the woman leans back in the chair,
"Yes" Charlotte confirms,
"Would have loved to see that" the red head looks over the woman, "can't imagine how hot you would've looked" Charlotte looks over at her, giving her a 'seriously?' Look. Which causes Mia to smirk
"Sorry"

"D'you know, I have to say, of all people, I didn't expect to see you drinking on a school night"
"Well..." just as Charlotte begins, Sara, the waitress, comes over
"Hey, can I get you another lemonade?" Mia turns to face her,
"Lemonade?"
"I have to drive" Charlotte replies. Mia smiles to herself at how cute Charlotte looked to her right now.
"How about a proper drink, and we share a taxi home" she suggests
"Okay" Charlotte smiles,
"Two gin and tonics please" the waitress smiles at the red head,
"Coming right up" she smirks. Her sudden flirty change in attitude catches Charlotte's attention. Yet she didn't realise the distasteful look until Mia laughed a little
"It's okay char I'm not interested in her" she smirks
"What? Wha-what? What, what?"
"You're cute when your jealous"

Charlotte didn't know what to reply with. Jealous? She wasn't jealous! Wait. Was she jealous?
"So what's going on with you and Marjorie?" Mia asks,
"We got into a huge fight. It just kept escalating" Charlotte replies
"Yeah, Reecey mentioned she wasn't happy about the flowers"
"No" Charlotte sighs, "how did you know black roses were my favourite?" She questions
"You know, when people think of roses, they always think red, white or pink. Black roses are always forgotten about. Aren't they?"
Charlotte shrugs
"Yeah I guess they are"
"Who does that remind you of?"

Realisation sets in,
"Oh..." Mia notices that Charlotte most likely never really thought about it that way before
"Of course that's your flower"

"Well. Those flowers sent Marjorie into overdrive and now she hates me" Charlotte huffs
"Why do you think she hates you?"
"She said she felt sick and never wanted to speak to me again" Mia's posture suddenly stiffens,
"She said that to you?"
"Yeah. I literally came straight from work to here cause I was so upset"
"Wait, you weren't crying because of your marriage, you were crying because of Marjorie?" Charlotte nods, catching onto Mia's change in attitude. She's clearly not happy.
"Well it looks like I'll be making a quick pit stop before I leave tomorrow" Mia says
"Leave? Whee are you going?"
"There's some things I need to take care of, sweetheart"
"Oh..." Charlotte hides her disappointment. She didn't exactly know what she wanted or expected. But it upset her that Mia was leaving and she wouldn't see her again.

"Char, you took the ring off. You're so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. You've got such a kind heart, it's one of the things I adore most about you"
"I haven't been acting very kind lately" Charlotte replies, feeling guilty about her recent behaviours
"You had so much to deal with and no one to talk to. The first step was taking that ring off. The rest will come so much easier. You're gonna be fine" Mia assures her "I'm so proud of you sweetheart"

Charlotte smiles, silently assuring herself she was going to be okay
"So I'm guessing because you didn't go home, the kids are with their dad?" Mia questions
"Yeah. I hate going back to an empty house. The silence is deafening"
"You know I don't leave until tomorrow, you're welcome to come back to mine. If you want"
"I'd like that"