Foreign

Chapter 54

I put on my dress and I'm grateful no one saw me coming out of Josh's room in my underwear. I run to my room and I call Lizzie. She picks up immediately, much to my delight.

"Lizzie, I need to see you."

"Are you okay, Charlotte?!"

"Yes, no, I don't know. Where are you?"

"I'm at the estate with Hero and Jack. We're having a drink."

"Come to the lake. I need to see you."

I trade my heels for my flip flops and I rush downstairs, to the lake. I pace back and forth while waiting for Lizzie. I'm too impatient to sit down. What is taking her so long? I hope she remembers this tree and this spot.

Finally she's here.

"Charlotte, what is going on?" Lizzie looks concerned.

"I can't have sex."

"Uhm, okay?"

"No, Lizzie, I tried to have sex for the first time with Josh tonight and I couldn't."

Lizzie stares at me.

"You mean you never had sex with Josh?!"

"No, I wasn't ready. And now I know why."

"What happened?" Lizzie walks over to the wooden bench and sits down.

I still can't sit down. I feel like I might explode.

"Josh and I had this romantic dinner. He went through so much trouble to make it perfect and I thought I was in love with him. I asked myself why wait?! So I kissed him. He carried me over to the bed and he had just taken off my dress and all I could think of was Hero."

Lizzie stares at me again.

"I know it's crazy Liz and I know he's with Melany and he's having a baby but I love him. He's the one."

"He's not," Lizzie whispers. She has a funny look in her eyes.

"I know he's not in love with me anymore and-"

"No, I mean, he's not dating Melany and he's not getting a baby."

Finally I stop talking and I look at Lizzie.

"What?"

"Look, sit down, please," Lizzie says.

I obey and sit down next to her.

"Hero told us something today but he made us swear not to tell you. He's not dating Melany and she is not having his baby. Melany is pregnant but she doesn't know who the father is. She was scared and alone and she made Hero promise not to tell anyone because she's embarrassed. She doesn't want to be known as a slut. Hero was just being a good friend. He's just helping her deal with this. She doesn't have family and she doesn't have a lot of true friends. He didn't want you to know this because you didn't trust him in the first place. He felt hurt and betrayed. He pretended to date Melany because the company wanted it. The film had had so much bad press already, they needed a good story so they asked them to fake their relationship. You hated Hero by then so he felt like he couldn't make it worse."

I'm speechless. It's too much to wrap my head around.

"Why didn't he just tell me?" I whisper.

"Because you hurt him, Charlotte. You didn't trust him enough to believe nothing had happened between them and then you started dating Josh... Hero felt that was proof you never truly loved him so he didn't want to tell you the truth anymore. That's why he's so angry."

All I feel is utter shock. What the hell?! But then it dawns on me... there is still hope for us! Hero isn't dating Melany and he's not having a baby! Maybe I can explain and we can get through this.

"Lizzie, are you sure?!" I take her hands in mine and look at her.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure! Charlotte, there's still time, you still have a chance!"

"I need to talk to him! I need to explain!"

"Yes, you should!"

I jump up and start running towards the house.

"Go get your man!" Lizzie yells.