Next to Me

Chapter Fifteen: Shopping with Mirian

Mirian smiled as she approached the blonde that had captured her baby brother’s heart, she hadn’t known what to expect when she had heard that he had found himself another girlfriend after what had happened with Lara.

“Hola,” the brunette said as she smiled at Charlotte, she could already see that the other woman was nervous and she didn’t blame her; Mirian had grilled her brother about her and she was impressed with what she had heard.

“I’m Mirian and you must be Charlotte,” she said as she smiled at the other woman, who looked at her warily; Mirian knew that this must all have been a shock for her but she couldn’t help but be pleased that her brother was actually thinking about settling down.

Charlotte nodded her head as she looked at Mirian, she knew that David was watching her from a distance but that didn’t offer her any comfort; she already knew that the head of security didn’t like her.

The blonde nibbled on her lip, she didn’t know what she had done but she had a feeling that he wasn’t going to warm to her any time soon; she just hoped that everything was going to be okay.

“So my hermano has been telling me so much about you,” Mirian said as she smiled at Charlotte, the blonde stared at her like a deer in headlights; she wasn’t sure what to say since Sergio hadn’t really told her anything about his family only that they were in the crime world and they had been for several generations.

“Don’t look so worried… I have never seen my brother so in love before, it’s nice,” Mirian said as she looked at Charlotte, she had never thought that Sergio would be able to fall in love like this; it was refreshing to see and she knew that Charlotte had to be special if he was falling for her.

***

Running a hand through her hair, Charlotte stared at the mountain of clothes that she had bought while shopping with Mirian; the brunette had insisted that she get a lot of clothes to prepare for her new role in Sergio’s life.

The blonde sat back as she watched Mirian select some dresses for her, she hadn’t been able to stop the brunette from doing whatever she wanted and had decided that maybe it would be best if she just sat back and watched.

Charlotte was sort of relieved that she had chosen to wear a purple oversize top with dramatic kimono sleeve and black denim skinny jeans paired with black gold heart heeled ankle boots; she had been searching for something suitable to wear since she didn’t have a lot of clothes.

“Now I think you could do with some fancy lingerie,” Mirian said as she looked over the bags of clothes; she ignored the look that David shot her, she knew that he didn’t approve of any of this but it didn’t matter.

The blonde was what made her brother happy and she was going to make sure that nothing happened to pull them apart.

“I don’t know,” Charlotte said embarrassed, the last thing that she wanted to do was to buy lingerie with her boyfriend’s sister; she looked down allowing hair to block her face as she blushed making Mirian chuckle as she snapped her fingers for the bags of clothes to be collected.

“Don’t be silly… you’ll need new underwear,” Mirian said as she pulled Charlotte to her feet and started to drag the blonde out of the shop and towards the lingerie shop.

The blonde blushed as she looked around wondering if there was any way for her to escape from this, she groaned as Mirian grinned while pulling her into the store.

***

“So you and Sergio,” Mirian said as they sat in a restaurant at the end of the day, she sipped on her drink as she eyed Charlotte; they had finished for the day and the brunette had insisted that they go and have something to eat.

Charlotte nodded her head wondering what Mirian wanted to know, they hadn’t really spent much time talking and the other woman hadn’t even asked her about her life before she had become involved with Sergio.

“You’re good for him… he’s seems more down to earth with you in his life,” Mirian said as she watched Charlotte, she wasn’t sure what had happened to make her brother fall in love like this; but she was glad that he was finally settling down and she hoped that it would lead to him getting married.

Mirian sipped on her drink as she watched the blonde, she could see her becoming her sister-in-law; she knew Vania would like Charlotte when they met.

“After what happened with Lara… I never thought that he could love again,” Mirian said without thinking making Charlotte look at her confused; she felt her heart lurch as she wondered who Lara was and why she was only hearing about her now.

The blonde knew that Sergio had past girlfriends and she didn’t mind but she had never heard of Lara before and it unsettled her that Mirian deemed her important enough to talk about her.

“Who is Lara?” Charlotte asked curiously as she saw David stiffen out the corner of her eye, she frowned wondering why he had reacted like that.

Mirian choked on her drink as she looked at the blonde, she knew she had probably overstepped her mark by mentioning her brother’s ex-girlfriend.

“Lara Álvarez… she was Sergio’s girlfriend of four years, he asked her to marry him and she ran away,” Mirian explained softly, she eyed the blonde wondering how she would take this news.

She knew her brother had been devastated when Lara had dumped him and she never thought that he would recover from what had happened.

Charlotte suddenly didn’t feel hungry as she allowed Mirian’s words to wash over her, she didn’t know what to say to what she had just been told; she’d never thought that Sergio would have been heartbroken like that.

“I never thought he’d find love again until he meet you… I don’t think he dated in the year between the two of you,” Mirian said as she tried to make things better but she only succeeded in making things worse; Charlotte looked down at her plate as she realised that she was the rebound.

She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat, the last thing that she had ever expected was the rebound for someone else; Charlotte had thought that Sergio loved her because he had fallen for her.

“I mean, my hermano is a great guy but he’s been so happy since he meet you,” Mirian said worrying that she had caused unnecessary damage to her brother’s relationship; she watched Charlotte hoping that the blonde would understand that things between Sergio and Lara were over.

“Why did they break up?” Charlotte asked as she looked at Mirian, who seemed nervous all of a sudden and the blonde didn’t blame her; she had revealed something that she shouldn’t of to the other woman.

Mirian watched Charlotte for a moment before she sighed and ran a hand through her hair, she knew that this couldn’t going to end well when she told the blonde what had happened.

“Lara was pregnant and she miscarried… because of some surprise attack on the home that she shared with Sergio,” Mirian said making Charlotte close her eyes, she knew that there was no way that her boyfriend could truly be over what had happened.