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main ~ home ~ e-mail ~ chapter one introductions and potatoes ~ �Charlotte! Are you ready yet? They�re going to be here at 6:30!� The girl reached over to her nightstand to turn around her clock. The green digits glowed 6:23. �Darn it,� she muttered as she set the clock down again back in its place. Quickly, she pressed the pause button and smacked �power� on her television. The picture instantly evaporated. �Are you coming?� her father called again. �I�ll be right there, Dad!� she shouted back as she threw open her closet doors and began pawing through her wardrobe for something suitable. She yanked a blue blouse from its hanger. �Did you put on a skirt?� he shouted up the stairs again. She rolled her eyes and unclamped a skirt from the hanger. �Yes!� Hastily, she threw off her gym shorts and t-shirt, exchanging them with the more formal attire. As she twirled her light red hair, twisted it upwards, and clipped it to her head, she glanced at the clock and wondered why her father even wanted her to dress up. Their dinner guest was only Linda. Charlotte prickled at the thought of the woman. She didn�t want her father to have a girlfriend. No one could ever take any place remotely close to the one her mother occupied. Why even try to let anyone close? Yet, even so, she still strung a silver necklace around her neck and put a pair of small silver hoop earrings in her ears. As she quickly tumbled down the stairs, she wondered if her father would notice the necklace; it was her mother�s. Wait��they?� Suddenly, Lottie halted on the bottom step. Had he said �they?� �There you are!� Alexander Nichols exclaimed. Nervously, he adjusted his tie. �You look very nice, Lottie,� he commented. Even in all of his anxiousness, there was a fatherly tenderness in his voice. She smiled. �Can you check on the biscuits?� Charlotte nodded and went into the kitchen. Pots were boiling and simmering on the stove, and bowls and vegetables were laid on the counters. Apparently Alexander had been given some more help than she�d offered him. She smiled. Mrs. Roberts, of course. Charlotte opened the oven door to peek inside. Waves of dry heat caressed her face and neck. They weren�t burnt. Good job, Dad, she thought. She grabbed an oven mitt and slid out the tray. Setting the biscuits on the only unused burner to cool, she turned to see her dad behind her. �Oh, you took them out. Good.� He straightened his jacket. �You seem very anxious,� she observed. �Is something special happening tonight?� �Am I? It�s just that Sarah�s coming tonight, too. I wanted us to make a good first impression.� He fidgeted again and glanced at his wristwatch. As she heard the bubbling of the pots, Charlotte felt very self-conscious in the dressy clothes. So that was the reason for all of the high to do. They could be wearing dishrags and eating cardboard for all she cared. Linda and her daughter could stay home and have their own dinner. One without the Nichols. Alexander began straining the green beans and said, �Would you set the table?� Charlotte obeyed, though she took her time setting each of the plates, glasses, flatware, and napkins in their place and adjusting them so they were aligned perfectly. Before she finished, Alex appeared again, holding a basket of the biscuits in one arm and a bowl of salad in the other. A chime echoed throughout the house, and Alexander nearly jumped. �That�ll be them!� he declared. �Would you finish bringing everything out from the kitchen while I get the door?� Charlotte heard the front door open as she shifted over a bowl of potatoes that was giving off curls of steam and set the platter of chicken on the dining room table. �Hello, darling!� she heard Linda say, and another sound following told Charlotte that she and her father had kissed. Involuntarily, the vision made her shiver. �And this is Sarah, I take it?� There was a short giggle. �Oh, it�s so nice to finally meet you, dear,� Alex said. �Charlotte? Would you come out here so I can introduce you?� he called. Charlotte paused. The idea to dart out the back door and sprint to her friend, Rachel�s house to stay for the evening left her mind nearly as soon as it came. She caught sight of the guests as she slipped into the foyer. A woman elevated several inches from high heels stood in the entryway. Linda Hansen had green eyes that seemed to have lost their sparkle at some point. A long bob of dark hair suited her thin face, and a curl of wispy bangs rested gently on her high forehead. Sarah was the vision of what her mother must have been some twenty years earlier. Thick raven hair fell in a straight line partway down her back. The only difference Charlotte could spot was Sarah�s dark blue eyes that glimmered with something else: arrogance and distain. �Lottie, this is Sarah, Linda�s daughter,� Alexander introduced, putting his arm around Charlotte. �She�s sixteen, too.� �I�ll be seventeen next month,� she interjected. �I�m Charlotte,� she said. �Nice to meet you.� �Pleasure,� she replied. She looked far older than sixteen in her strapless red top and ruffling black skirt that fell just past her knees. Stiletto-heeled sandals raised her nearly to her mother�s height. �Oh, are you a junior, then?� Charlotte asked. �Yes. Are you?� Lottie nodded. �Do you go to Whiteside? Maybe I�ve seen you around.� �No, I attend a private academy�Gerard. It�s by the Manors,� she answered. �Yes. I do know where that is.� Glancing tentatively at the girls, Alex Nichols sensed growing tension and spoke up. �Well, dinner�s ready. Would you lovely ladies care to eat now?� He motioned the way into the dining room for Linda and Sarah and shot a pleading glance at his daughter. �Please be nice,� he mouthed. Charlotte raised her eyebrows. He stared. �I�ll try,� she mouthed back before she followed her father into the dining room. Alexander turned. �Thank you,� he worded. At the table, Charlotte sat at the foot of the table where she had strategically set her plate. Alexander took his seat at the opposite end after seeing Linda and Sarah to their seats on each side of center. �Everything looks just lovely!� Linda exclaimed too lightheartedly. She glared across the table at Sarah. Sarah raised her eyebrows and nodded. �Yes,� she murmured. �Did you make this all yourself?� Linda questioned Alex. She set her hand over his. Charlotte wished for eyes that shot laser beams to burn a hole through the woman�s hand. But Alex welcomed the touch and placed his other palm over hers and smiled. �Oh, no. Lottie did most of the work. She�s the cook in the family.� He grinned. �How sweet,� Linda commented. Sarah sat stiffly. Charlotte bobbed her head. The table fell into a lapse of silence. �Well,� Alexander said, �I don�t know about the rest of you, but I�m ready to eat. Can I serve any of you ladies something?� Charlotte sighed. It was going to be long evening, and it had only just begun. �Linda, dear? Could I offer you some wine?� �Oh, yes, please, Zander.� Charlotte physically shivered. Zander? �I�d love a glass, dear.� He rose from his chair and selected a bottle from the wine rack. As Alex suavely uncorked the bottle and poured, Lottie stole a glance at Sarah. She looked nearly as revolted by the entire affair as she felt herself. Then why did she have to come and make the dinner even worse? �Thank you, Zander,� Linda whispered, and Alex sat down again. Charlotte wanted to gag herself with her soupspoon. Or, better yet, gag Sarah until she wiped that smug look from her smooth, unblemished face. Then maybe the two of them would leave. Even better, maybe that way they would get a restraining order and they couldn�t come near the Nichols anyway� Charlotte�s mind was wandering further and further from the dinner, so she was shocked when she found Linda addressing her. �So, Charlotte, do you have any plans for college?� she implored. �Oh.� She snapped back to reality and ingested the question a moment. �Well,� she began. She set down her spoon. �I haven�t given it a lot of thought yet. I mean, after all, my junior year�s just started� But I had been thinking about staying somewhere close to home. Maybe going to Avery U.� �Oh, I have a friend who works there.� Charlotte nodded her acknowledgement. �Sarah�s applying to Stanford, Georgetown, Princeton, and Yale. Aren�t you, honey?� Sarah raised her chin and nodded. �Good luck with that,� Charlotte offered. She glanced at her father. See? I�m being nice, her eyes said. �Charlotte,� Alex said, �would you please pass Linda the cornbread?� �Oh, sure,� she replied, grabbing the basket and holding it across to her. As she drew her arm back in, she suddenly squealed. �Ahh!� Lottie looked down at her elbow. It was covered with steaming mashed potatoes. She�s plopped her elbow directly into the bowl�which she was sure wasn�t there before. The potatoes splattered across the table and onto her skirt. The heat ate into her skin. Cringing in pain as she groped from her napkin, which had inconveniently fallen to the floor, she shot a sharp glance at Sarah who glared innocently at her. �Lottie!� But before Alex could even rise from his seat, Lottie was already on her hands and knees on the floor scrambling for the piece of cloth. Under the table, she grabbed it and wiped the scalding potato and melted butter from her arm. The rest happened too quickly. Charlotte climbed out from underneath the table just as Linda peered her head under the table to see her. �Charlotte! Are you all right, dear?� �I�m�� She never finished her sentence. She reached up her hand to grasp the edge of the table for support. Instead, her hand grabbed onto the edge of the bowl of potatoes. Her fingers slipped. Catapult-like, the bowl sprang over and smacked the side of Linda�s face. Charlotte�s eyes grew wide. Sarah leapt to her feet, jostling the table. Then Linda screamed. �Ahh!� she screamed, shaking her hands and clawing at the mash on her face. The bowl clattered to the wooden floor. �Mom!� Sarah shrieked. Charlotte jumped at the squeal. Her body reacted, smashing her skull against the bottom of the table. Cutlery rattled for the second time. �Linda!� Alexander was livid. �Charlotte! Get a towel!� he ordered as he tried to fight around the two Hansens to help his struggling girlfriend. Suddenly, one of Sarah�s heels dug sharply into the back of Charlotte�s hands. Her eyes smarted. �Charlotte!� She scrambled to her feet, her eyes blurry with tears of pain. So she didn�t see her heel step directly into the bowl of discarded potatoes. �Ah!� she cried as she slid blindly forward, arms flailing. Her hip smashed directly into the wine rack. Then the rack tipped over onto her. The shattering of half a dozen bottles of wine added to the clank of the rack falling to the floor. Charlotte looked up in time to see the edge of the wine rack catch the corner of the tablecloth. Everything on the dining room table jerked downward. Lottie had time to cover her head before the plates and food began to rain down on her. Then, there was silence. Charlotte looked up to her father�s stunned, incensed expression. Bits of potato still hung in Linda�s damp, now stringy hair. Her face was red and blotchy. Sarah was shocked into horror. Wine stained Charlotte�s skirt and blouse. A fork had lodged itself in her tousled hair. A puddle of green beans lay in front of her. A smear of jelly was on her shoulder. The roll that had accompanied it lay smashed under another plate. Crumbles of cornbread were littered over her like a yellow orange snow of volcanic ash. Charlotte�s liquid brown eyes were saucers; she felt her face flush a shade deeper than her hair. The remaining portion of a neck of a smashed bottle rolled to Alexander�s feet. Lottie wanted to die. ~ �Are you sure you�re going to be all right?� Alexander asked. Linda tightened the bathrobe around her and squeezed her mug of coffee to her lips. �Yes.� She�d washed her hair and twisted it turban-like onto her head. Decidedly rigid, Sarah sat next to her mother in silence. Delicately, she sipped from her mug of coffee then gently set it on the end table adjoining the sofa. Across the room from them, Charlotte hiked up her feet and wrapped her arms around her knees. She rubbed her fingers together. She was sure a silver of glass had lodged itself in her thumb. The wine and potatoes had been cleaned, and Linda had showered while Charlotte and Alex had mopped the floor of rolls, green bean, chicken, and broken glass. Sarah had closed herself up in the other bathroom and didn�t reappear for twenty minutes. Alexander glanced over at the chair where his daughter sat and back to his girlfriend. Abruptly, Linda placed down her cup, though the porcelain hardly made a sound on the saucer. �Zander, I think Sarah and I should go now.� His eyes studied hers for a moment. After a moment, he relented. �Yes, I suppose that would be good.� She unpeeled the towel from her head, and damp hair fell around her face. �Sarah?� �Charlotte, would you get Linda�s jacket?� Lottie unfolded from her position and crept out to the hall closet. Creeping around the banister, she arrived just in time to see Linda and Alex share a long kiss on the lips. She pursed her own lips tightly together and walked forward. �Thank you,� Linda muttered as she draped the jacket over her arm. �I�ll return the robe tomorrow.� Somberly, Alex nodded. Charlotte was silent. �Let me walk you to the car,� he offered. �No,� replied Linda. �That�s quite all right. Sarah already started it for me. I�ll see you tomorrow.� Linda turned to give him one final, longing glance from the threshold. Her eyes flickered to Charlotte behind his shoulder, and she turned. �Good night,� she whispered. Alex closed the door behind her and fastened the deadbolt. �Well,� he said dully. �Well. That was a disaster,� Charlotte assessed. �You didn�t do much to help,� Alexander remarked tight-lipped. �Like I wanted to in the first place.� �You could have done it for me,� he snapped. �Unless you�d care to clue me in on something I�ve failed to learn, I don�t see how letting that� woman and her daughter into our lives is going to do us any good at all.� �I thought that you could have at least tried to be more supportive. I care about Linda. The least you could have done is make it easier on her for my sake.� �We�ve done just fine on our own, Dad,� she argued. �The last thing we need is her butting into things.� �Linda makes me happy, Charlotte. I thought you might have cared about how I feel once in a while!� �Yes, I care about you. That�s why I don�t want her here!� �This isn�t about you anymore, Lottie. I love Linda. I love both of you. You�re going to have accept it.� Charlotte�s eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. She glanced out the window through the slit in the drapes. Linda�s car was long gone. �I�ve had enough. I don�t want to talk about this anymore.� Snapping around, she turned to leave. Alex�s hand shot out to stop her. Charlotte shrugged his hand off her shoulder. �Don�t touch me.� �Charlotte, this conversation isn�t over yet!� �It is for me!� red-faced, she declared. �Charlotte Lydia! Come back here!� Alex bellowed. On the third stair, Charlotte halted with her hand on the railing. �Why should I?� turning, she questioned coolly. Alex came to the stairs. �Not a grain of your attitude will change the way I feel. Linda and I make each other happy. You�re going to have to deal with that. You�re old enough to do that. I expect you to make things easy for her from now on because she�s not going to be leaving. So don�t try to plot against her.� Charlotte knew what he meant. �I didn�t ask to slip. Sarah started it. She pushed that blasted bowl under my arm. It wasn�t there before I passed Linda the cornbread.� �So now you�re blaming her for the potatoes that landed on her mother�s head?� �It certainly wasn�t my fault for that! It was an accident! I didn�t ask to have a game of slip and slide in our dining room. That villain, Sarah, pushed that bowl under my arm! None of that would have happened if she hadn�t done that.� �That villain is Linda�s daughter,� he said sharply. �The least you could do it treat her with some respect. You barely spoke to her and hardly even looked at her the entire night. You shot her every horrible look you could muster.� �Daggers, if I could have,� Charlotte blurted before she realized it. �She was horrible.� Alexander�s face flushed from a shade of crimson to a furious, spotty purple. �If anyone acted horribly tonight, Charlotte Lydia Nichols, it was you. That was the worst I have ever seen you act in your life.� Anger rose in his voice with every word. �I raised you better than that!� �Don�t you call me that,� she mumbled, low and passionate. �And I gave her every ounce of respect she deserved,� Charlotte retorted coldly. Her eyes burned. Her knuckles glowed white; she had them gripped so tightly against the banister. Alexander reacted faster than Charlotte ever could have imagined. As swift as a snake, his palm slashed across his daughter�s cheek. And suddenly, everything froze. Lottie�s eyes were large; her face stung with a thousand needles. She couldn�t move. Alex�s jaw dropped open. �Oh, my God,� he whispered, horrified. Then Charlotte darted. She flew up the stairs. A door slammed behind her, and she disappeared from sight. Alex collapsed backward, using the banister to support his body. Stunned, he turned over and stared at his tingling palm. �Oh, God.� What had he done? He put his other hand to his face. Sinking against to the floor, he closed his eyes and wept. Wedged in the small silver of space between her bed and the wall, Charlotte hugged herself. Her cheek prickled. And Charlotte didn�t know what hurt the most. Was it the slap across her face? Was it yelling at her father? Was it the rift that suddenly leapt up and jammed between them? Was it the embarrassment from the entire catastrophe? Was it the realization that a woman�uninvited and unwanted�was going to jam herself into her life? Was it the jarring fact that her life was about to change? Charlotte looked down at her mother�s necklace resting�broken�in her palm. Slowly, her fingers closed around the chain. Turning her face into her bed skirt, she began to sob. This wasn�t the way things were supposed to be at all. ~ unless otherwise stated. |
