In Charlotte's Eyes

Withheld

"So.. what's next?" Parker asked solemnly.

Charlotte hummed deeply, looking down at the food Parker bought for her. No doubt he was treating her to try to make her feel better. It.. wasn't really working. A few days had passed since her arrest. "Too much." She vaguely answered.

"Have you gotten a court date, yet?" Parker invited her to eat after he got off from work. The sky hadn't darkened yet, but it would soon enough. As for her, she took the day off after her arrest to make necessary calls and plan out what she needed to do. Then, she returned to work after. Suzuki was easier on her, though. Which she appreciated, of course.

"Yeah." She weakly munched on a pretzel. It took her a moment to chew and swallow "Two weeks." She admitted exhaustedly. Not only had she gotten shitty sleep the past few nights, but she also stayed up late, frantically researching what to do.

"What do you plan to do?"

Charlotte put a hand on her forehead, leaning on the table. "I need to delay the whole moving process, now. And I have to find and talk to a lawyer..?" She looked away, grunting quietly. "But I really don't want to be spending money. I'm just gonna get one of the free lawyers."

One of the public defenders. "Mm.." Parker didn't really know what to say. He just hoped talking about it would make her feel a little better.

She put both of her hands on her head. "So stupid.." She muttered. She took a deep breath. "I'm hoping that the judge goes easy on me. I really don't want to pay a fine." If she was going to spend money, she wanted it to go to something actually useful for herself.

"Hm," Parker kept his voice quiet. "That reminds me, I don't think I've asked yet. What exactly did you get arrested for?"

Charlotte grimaced, head tilting to the side slightly. She was hoping he wouldn't ask. It brought her shame to admit. "..."

"I just want to know so I can understand your situation better, Charlotte." His tone was sympathetic. "But, I won't force you."

Her head fell in her hands a little. She groaned pitifully. One of her hands removed itself from her, resting on the table. She sighed. "..Petty theft." She admitted in a barely audible murmur.

"Hm?"

"It was theft."

"..." Parker broke into a small laughter, quickly shutting himself up. "Sorry..?"

Charlotte took a big breath. "It was theft."

"Oh. I see."

Charlotte's brows suddenly furrowed. "A-And it's so stupid!" She snapped. "Over a stupid.. stupid bracelet! That I took over a month ago! Urgh!" She shelled, looking away. "Sorry."

A bracelet? "Hm.." He intertwined all his fingers together, leaning forward on the table. "How much did it cost..?"

Charlotte grimaced. She huffed, frustrated. "A grand and a half." She admitted.

Parker's eyes widened. "$1,500?!" He whisper-shouted. "Charlotte, that's..- That's very serious!"

"Wh-" Charlotte looked confused. "It-It can't be that bad! All I'm charged with is petty theft..!"

He squinted. "Hold on, let me.." He pulled out his phone to search something up. And, as he suspected, at over a thousand dollars, Charlotte should've been charged with grand theft. He hummed, in thought.

"What?"

"Are you sure that that bracelet cost that much?" He stifled a laugh, shaking his head. "B-Because if it was, you'd be facing way deeper shit than what you are currently facing."

Charlotte seemed confused. "What..?"

Parker shook his head, chewing on the food that was beginning to cool. "I guess it doesn't really matter. It's better that you're facing a less serious charge, right?" He said in between chewing.

"I-.. I-.. I guess." Awkwardness settled in between them. There was silence as they ate their food.

Parker thought about her charge. Theft. It wasn't that bad. Not bad enough that he should dissociate her. Still, it felt weird that she would just do that. Especially for a bracelet. He didn't know her to be super keen about jewelry.

"Parker?" Charlotte called for him quietly.

He emerged from his thinking autopilot, glancing at her with a full mouth. He hummed, brows raised, then downed what he was chewing.

"I've been meaning to ask you as well, but," Her eyes darted from side to side. "What did you see when you packed the stuff in my room?"

"Uh.." She meant the day she got arrested, right? "What do you mean?"

"When you were alone in my house. Suzuki went to pick me up, and you said that you did some work in my room." She quickly and quietly explained, brows furrowed. "What did you see?"

He broke into a small laughter. "Wh-What?" He stopped chuckling. "Are you afraid I saw something personal in there?" Maybe pretending to be oblivious would be the right option right now. He didn't want to make her feel more stressed and embarrassed, considering all that was going on with her right now.

"Well- yeah..! Please be honest with me."

Parker's eyes looked to the side. He cleaned out two of her desk's drawers and her closet. The book and letter he saw, he could pretend not to have noticed. She had many books and letters, so normally people wouldn't care about seeing what everything was. But he wanted to tell her something that he saw to make her not feel like he was lying to her. "Well.. I did see your vibrator."

Charlotte growled, embarrassed. She looked down and away. "..Anything. Else?" Her tone was stern.

"Nothing I could see as being overly personal, no." He tried to sound genuine.

Charlotte hummed, frowning. Did she believe him? He put a fist on his cheek, forearm leaning on the table. "Alright." She finally said, vaguely.

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