In Charlotte's Eyes

ONE: [P] Pulled Open Curtain

When Parker arrived at Aaron’s art bridge, he was the first one there. He was a bit surprised by this fact. However, he was unworried. He parked off to the side of the road and exited his car. It was hot out. Dirt crunched beneath his feet as he trekked to the underside of the bridge. When he turned the final corner, a voice took him by sudden surprise. “Mm, finally you show up, Parker.”

The candy bar jumped, shouting in surprise. Once he saw who it was, he removed himself from his alert stance, shaking his head. “Jesus, dude.” Parker slowed his breathing, smoke from Carlos’ cigarette floating in the air. “You scared the hell out of me.”

“Hm.” He smirked slyly. “Sorry.”

“It's fine.” It took a moment for Parker to process the situation. His brows furrowed in confusion. “Hold on- Where’s Aaron? I thought he said you were busy doing something else today.”

Carlos looked straight ahead, taking a whiff of his cigarette. After breathing out, he looked down at Parker. “Aaron’s not showing up, sorry.”

“..Huh?”

The tall orange construction sign snickered, amused that Parker hadn't put together the puzzle yet. He looked straight ahead again. “This was all a setup so that I could have the chance to talk to you, of course.”

“T-Talk to me..?” Parker stuttered, eyes slimming. “About what?”

“Charlotte.” He bluntly answered. “Aaron’s been back to being friends with you for a while. Every time you come up in a conversation, he tries to convince me you didn't murder Charlotte.” He explained further. “Cigarette?” He offered suddenly.

“Uh- no, no.” Parker shook his head, speaking quickly. “I'm trying to lay off of it.”

“Mm.” He acknowledged with a nod. “Anyways, yeah. It's been long enough—I want you to be honest with me about what happened to Charlotte.”

“If you wanted to talk with me, you could have just asked me directly instead of getting Aaron to set me up.”

“Look—don’t avoid the topic. Aaron is very adamant on your innocence. But I can't believe in something as nonsensical as her disappearing out of thin air.”

Parker sighed, annoyed. “I know it sounds ridiculous, Carlos, but it's what happened. She vanished. I had nothing to do with it.” His brows furrowed, and he looked down. “I don't know why it happened. I still ponder over what caused that to happen. I couldn't make up a different story even if I tried to.”

Carlos’ right brow scrunched. He looked irritated. “So, what?” He tossed his cigarette to the floor, quickly pouncing on it with his foot while maintaining eye contact with Parker. “I'm supposed to believe this silly Void Theory that you made Aaron believe?”

“Void Theory?” He repeated, befuddled.

“Yeah!” Carlos pointed at him. “Every time you come up, he claims that some stupid void came along and took Charlotte!” He threw his hands in the air. “Aaron is gullible; way too trusting. You and I both know that. Why on Earth would you sell that dumbass explanation to him?”

In the middle of Carlos’ rant, Parker realized what was going on here. He snickered, holding in laughter until the other man finished. Once he did, Parker began giggling. “Oh, that.” He laughed softly, amused. Carlos stared at him with a look of puzzled irritation. “I heard that same theory, Carlos.” He looked away, smirking. “I wasn't the one who made it up.”

“Eh..?” Carlos’ lips were ajar, looking a bit like a scowl. “Aaron came up with it himself?”

“No, no.” He looked up at him. “You know about his friend Rebecca?”