In Charlotte's Eyes

Setup

No waking up late today. Today was her last day before she had to go back to work again tomorrow. She wanted to make the most of it. She didn't know exactly what it was she was going to do, but she would figure it out. Any chores that needed to be done, anything that needed to be arranged, any errands to run, she would sniff it out. It would keep her mind off of Parker for a while.

Her phone rang. She was in the middle of cooking breakfast when it happened. She raised a brow and picked up her phone from the countertop. She looked at the screen and saw Carlos' name and smiling face meet her. What could he want? She brought the phone to her ear. "Sup, Carlos?" She opened with casually.

"Heyy, sweetheart." He said with his usual bold confidence. Charlotte stifled a laugh at it. "You're free today, right?"

"Yeah. Why? Wanna hang or something?" Charlotte looked at the sizzling bacon on the pan.

"Seems you already know what I want." Carlos chuckled. "It's been a while since we've hung out together, hasn't it?"

Charlotte put a hand on her hip. She chuckled. "Yeah, cause you're always so busy with school n shit."

He laughed. "Yeahh, my bad, my bad. So what do you say? You down?"

Charlotte hummed, looking around the room at nothing in particular. She wanted to be productive today, but she still didn't know what exactly needed to be done. "Depends," She finally responded. "What time and what do you want to do?"

"At noon? I like taking a walk through the park. It won't take a long time; we can just enjoy the scenery and chill, y'know?"

"Hm," Charlotte thought about it. It didn't sound bad. It'd give her a chance to think about what to do, too. And it probably wouldn't even take an hour of her time. "I guess it couldn't hurt. Will Aaron come along, too?"

He hummed, stifling a laugh. "No, he's doing his own thing."

"Aw, that's too bad." She looked through her kitchen window. She wanted to thank him again later. "But I'll still walk with you. It sounds fun." She smiled.

"That's what I like to hear, Charlo." He beamed. It was rare of him to call her that. "I'll see you soon, then."

"Yeah. I'll be there."

They both said their goodbyes. Setting her phone down, she turned her eyes back to the bacon, which had finished cooking.

…

Charlotte pulled into Carlos and Aaron's driveway. She grabbed the blue raspberry energy drink from its cupholder before getting out of her car. She rang the doorbell to the home, rotating the bottle's cap open and taking a sip. A few birds sang. She smacked her lips and placed the cap back into place as Carlos opened the door. He put a hand on his hip and smirked at her. "Heyy. Good to see you, Charlotte."

She laughed. "Yeah, what's good?" She put up a hand in a half-wave. "You don't mind me bringing this along while we walk, do you?" She lightly shook her drink.

"No, no, of course not." He spoke casually, stepping outside with her. As he stepped by her side, he noticed her bandaged knuckle. His smile wavered for a second, and he seemed to contemplate something. "Hey, what happened there?" He asked with slight concern.

Charlotte looked down at her knuckle. She let out a semi-nervous breath, stopping herself from laughing. She was hoping he wouldn't notice that. "I accidentally cut myself yesterday." She lied. "It's nothing." She dismissed.

Carlos hummed, looking down. He didn't ask for her to elaborate, instead standing up straighter and smiling. "Alright. Let's walk, come on."

The pair begin walking and talking, Charlotte taking a sip of her drink once in a while. The conversation started with Carlos talking about the state’s football team. They both shared fanhood with the team, but weren't super passionate about it. Aaron was more into sports than they were. Carlos led her towards the park. They walked past a playground as the pair shared their thoughts on the new quarterback that the football team signed.

They briefly got stopped when Charlotte complimented a stranger's dog. She was allowed to pet it. After saying quick goodbyes, they continued walking, instead talking about their work lives. "Suzuki told me they're going to change the attendance policy." She informed him.

"Really? What's different?"

She rolled her eyes. "Apparently they think people are abusing the attendance system, so they're.." Her sentence trailed off. She began staring at a bench. Parker and Aaron were sitting on it, talking to each other. A mix of emotions began settling into Charlotte's brain.

Carlos stepped between her and the bench, a brow raised at her. "You good, Charlotte?"

She used the back of her free hand to lightly push him aside. "Is that.. Parker..?"

Carlos grimaced, snarling silently. He hadn't distracted her enough.

"And Aaron..?" She continued, then looked up at him. This felt too staged to be a coincidental meeting.

He looked away, brows furrowing. Seems the jig is up. "Charlotte," He looked at her. "I'll be honest with you,"

Charlotte took a step back, grip loosening on her drink. This was a setup. Another setup. To ease her into this stupid bullshit.

"Aaron told me what you told him yesterday. And I'm worried about you and Parker." Carlos tried to be as calm as possible. "You two need to properly make up. And to prevent another fight, Aaron and I are going to oversee it."

She took another step back. He muttered her name again to try and calm her down. She tried to dash away, but Carlos caught her wrist. She grunted, trying to pull away. "Nnh-! Let go of me!" She shouted.

"Charlotte, please!" He tugged against her. "Just give it a chance..!" Carlos shouted through his teeth. He really didn't want to cause a scene for someone else to see.

Parker and Aaron were aware of their presence now. Parker's eyes were wide. Aaron grimaced. This was not going to plan. "Charlotte..?" Parker muttered, looking to Aaron.

"Y-" Charlotte managed to get away from Carlos. "You can't force me!" She tossed her open bottle at him, grunting. As he put up his hand to block it, she began sprinting away, breathing heavily. She didn't look back.

…