Spanish lessons

4. Packing a punch, too

"I'm Charlotte."

Charlotte reached out her hand to meet with the strangely familiar looking one in front of her. Lifting her gaze, her blue eyes met with Harry's. A cheeky smile formed on both of their faces. Charlotte still didn't know where she had seen that tattoo before, and was slightly confused by the warmth that had built in her chest from looking at what must be the father of the little girl.

The light tension between them was broken when Aria yawned audibly.

"You tired, princess? 'm gonna put you to bed, okay?" Harry picked up his daughter, placed her on his hip with one arm and reached out his free hand again to say goodbye to Charlotte, for now at least.

"Would you still be here if I came back in a few minutes? I would like to say a proper thank you with a drink of some sort, but it's time for Aria's afternoon nap, and I'm afraid if I don't put her to sleep now she will be loud and annoying in a short time-" Harry almost didn't dare to hope that the woman who saved his princesses' life would want to spend more time with him. His heart almost skipped a beat when he heard Charlotte say:

"Sure, why not. Dinner is not until 8, so I have plenty of time left. My spot is over there" she pointed at a lounger a few steps away in the shadow.

"Great, see you in a few, Charlotte!"

They shook hands for what felt like an awkward amount of time for a first meeting of two strangers, at least in Charlotte's thinking, but then again she was not sure if they really were complete strangers. Their hands parted and the little cross tattoo disappeared from her sight. That would have been Charlotte's cue to walk back to her lounger. Instead of moving, her gaze followed Harry's silhouette disappearing in the direction of the automatic glass doors that led to the rooms inside. Only when the door closed and the tall guy with the little child on his arm were no longer visible was Charlotte able to get some energy back into her body and move from her spot next to the pool.

Due to the heat she didn't bother to towel-dry her long blonde hair, a few comb streaks with her fingers and the chlorinated water from the pool would bring out her natural wave. Sea salt spray? Never heard of it. The salt water in Brighton was even better. Not that Charlotte cared much. Her hair could pretty much do whatever it pleased, there was always the possibility to put it up in a knot.

Charlotte flopped down on her lounger and put on her sunglasses. Although she didn't need them technically being in the shadow now, she had thought of passing the time until Harry would come back with a little reading. Her body would thank her later for preventing a headache by using the glasses. Unlocking her Kindle, she scrolled mindlessly through her electronic library. Settling on Call me by your name, a heavy exhale left her body. Charlotte hadn't realised she had been holding so much tension in her body, and wondered for a quick second where it came from. Shrugging it off with the adrenaline from saving a life, she started reading the novel. She had already read it a good four times since it got famous because of the critically-acclaimed movie. Charlotte was not a huge romantic, but the nuances and subtlety of love in Aciman's novel got her every time.

Harry took a detour on the road back to the rooftop area and grabbed two glasses of lemonade at the bar. Playing safe with no alcohol, considered the heat outside and not knowing if Charlotte would be up for daydrinking. Carefully carrying the glasses, he pondered the upcoming meeting. A gut feeling told him Charlotte didn't mind him being so straightforward inviting her for a drink, after all she saved his daughter from drowning. Still, he was not entirely sure if he had overstepped. Time to find out, I guess, he thought while slowly approaching her lounger.

A quiet clink pulled Charlotte out of her reading bubble. She hadn't realized she had been reading the same page over and over again for the last 5 minutes, not really paying attention to Elio and Oliver. Her mind had been occupied otherwise.