In Charlotte's Eyes

Shattered

Two weeks passed. Charlotte was third of the way through her sentence. The whole time, she had been feeling pretty dreadful. She was not looking forward to seeing Audrey, despite agreeing to. She felt safe enough to tell Rebecca about her upcoming meeting.

Surprisingly, she was excited for Charlotte, despite Charlotte’s unease. It made her feel a little better about the meeting. Rebecca was such a godsend as a cellmate. It made living in jail bearable.

But the day of reckoning came, and Charlotte was escorted to the visiting room again. She was sat down, hand cuffed to the counter. She knew what was coming. She did her best to center herself. Any minute now, Audrey would walk through that door, and she'd have to face her after over half a decade of avoiding her.

The door opened. Charlotte’s eyes shot up. Sure enough, Audrey’s round frame slipped past the door, and the two stared at each other as the door shut behind her. Her eyes widened subtly, before returning to a normal state. “Charlotte.” Audrey spoke first, letting out a big breath as she did.

“Hey.” Charlotte leaned on one of her hands, looking down at the counter.

Audrey sat down in the chair across from her. “What happened to your face?” She stared at the missing chunk of Charlotte’s head.

Her brows furrowed. She looked away. “It's none of your business.” She muttered loud enough for her to hear.

Audrey quickly let it go, silently moving on from the topic. There was an awkward tension. “Thank you. For letting me see you.” She awkwardly thanked, finally.

She glanced at her. “Whatever. What did you want to talk about, anyway?”

Audrey didn't like the bitterness that that sentence exuded. Her brows furrowed slightly, glancing to the side in a pseudo eye roll. “I care about you. When I heard you were incarcerated, I had to check up on you.”

Charlotte looked down, leaning into her hand a little more. “Hmph.” She let out quietly.

“So? Are you okay, Charlotte?”

Charlotte didn't look at her, removing her hand from her cheek. “I'm fine.”

There was an awkward moment of silence. “..Do you mind telling me what happened..?”

“Tell you what?” Charlotte muttered forcefully, which made Audrey frown.

“What you got arrested for?”

Charlotte huffed quietly. Her teeth grit gently. She growled defiantly. She looked away. “Theft.” She admitted quickly.

Audrey took a deep breath in, then quickly released it in a sigh. “Charlotte,” Her voice sounded disappointed.

“I get it.” Charlotte stopped her, a tad frustrated.

“Why did you steal something?”

“It's none of your business.”

Audrey backed down a little. Charlotte was already becoming frustrated with her presence, and she didn't want to keep pushing her. This sucked. There was a moment of silence as Audrey contemplated her next steps.

“I told you I'm fine.” Charlotte said. “So, is there anything else you want to talk about, or is this just a complete waste of time?” She muttered bitterly.

Waste of time. Audrey felt disgusted by the disrespect. She let out a low, disappointed hum. “There's more. Of course.” But what to say without making her upset? There were few things, and none of those things addressed what Audrey really wanted to know. She sighed. “What have your friends said about all of this?” She decided to ask.