Page 14 of A Night To Remember

Charlie returned her glass to the table after finishing off the glass of cola.

“It’s great. I can’t believe how nice everyone is. Brian is awesome. He’s very helpful and friendly and definitely not the micromanaging type, like my last boss. I can honestly say that I won’t mind working for him. I don’t think I’ve ever worked for a company with such a diverse cast of workers. I feel like I’ve always belonged here. Brian has spent most of the morning showing me the ropes.”

“Yes, he’s a nice guy. He’s not stuck on himself because he’s the CFO. You know how guys in high-ranking positions can be. I knew you would like it here.” Laura smiled affectionately, reaching across the table to squeeze Charlie’s hand. “The moment that position opened up, I knew you would be a perfect fit.”

“Thanks for looking out for me, girl. It’s almost too good to be true. I wonder what happened to my predecessor. When I asked Brian, he kind of rolled his eyes, but he didn’t answer.”

“Well, I’m not really allowed to discuss HR issues because they’re confidential but between you and me, I think she wanted more than Brian was willing to give her,” Laura confided.

“Really? I got the impression that Brian is…” Charlie broke off.

“That Brian’s gay? Bingo. It’s no big secret, but I guess she didn’t know. Brian is such a hottie, but you know what they say?”

“No, what do they say?”

Laura sighed, shaking her head. “You can be so dense sometimes when it comes to men. They say all the really hot ones are either taken or gay.”

“Oh.” Charlie laughed. She didn’t care about her boss’s sexual orientation. That was his business. “Girl, I don’t know how you work in HR. You can’t keep a secret to save your life.”

“I’m very good at what I do.” Laura sniffed indignantly. “I gave you the unofficial reason for your predecessor leaving, not the official one.”

“I see.” Charlie didn’t see the difference between the two but she knew when to keep her mouth shut.

“So how is my little goddaughter?” Laura asked.

“She’s great. Can you believe she’ll be three at the end of the year? Kristy’s growing up so fast. She’s been asking about you, by the way. She wants to know when you’ll come visit her again.”

“I’ll visit soon. I promise. I’ve been seeing this guy and he’s wonderful.” Charlie rolled her eyes. It was always a new guy with Laura. She had packed up and moved to D.C. to be with some dating app guy only to have that fall through the cracks after five months, which was actually a record for Laura. Now Laura was with some new guy apparently as wonderful as she had claimed the other guys to be. Bouncing from relationship to relationship was not Charlie’s thing, but she knew Laura had her own issues to work out. She only hoped her friend would be careful.

After what Charlie had shared with Paul, Charlie was content to be alone. No man had ever made her feel the way Paul had, except maybe for…

Shut up, Charlie!

She swore she would stop thinking about Jake Fox. She had convinced herself their brief encounter had meant nothing. Charlie had never told anyone about him, not even Laura. She just wanted to forget, but it was so hard, especially when she saw his eyes every day in their child.

“Hello?” Laura waved her hand in Charlie’s face to get her attention.

“Oh, I’m sorry. What did you say?” Charlie shook her head a little to dust off the daydream.

“Where were you just now?” Laura asked.

“I guess my mind kind of wandered. I’m sorry Laura. I was just thinking about Kristy.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, but there was no way she was going to tell Laura what she was really thinking about.

Laura was instantly concerned. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?”

“She’s fine but she threw a tantrum this morning and it’s just not like her.”

“Well, I guess that’s to be expected with a toddler right?” Laura shrugged.

“I guess, but it breaks my heart when she’s upset like that. She’s a good kid. Terrible twos or not, she doesn’t generally throw tantrums like she did this morning.” Charlie sighed, thinking about her normally happy-go-lucky daughter.

“She is an angel, I have to agree, but she is still young. Don’t stress yourself out so much. You’re doing a great job with her.”

“I try.” Charlie shrugged.

“Your trying is much better than my mom’s own half-assed attempts at parenting. I know how much you love that little girl. Don’t let it get you down, okay?”

“Thank you, hon. I really needed that pep talk. I’ll make it up to her tonight by making her favorite dish, spaghetti and meatballs. How is it that you always know the right things to say?”

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