Page 23 of Pretend for Me

“This must be some art exhibit…” I muttered as we climbed the stairs to the Met. When I opened the doors, we found Cassie pacing the entrance.

Charlie tugged on my arm, propelling us forward so that we were all in close proximity to one another.

I stood there stunned, unable to speak.

Charlie wore a shit-eating grin while Cassie gave her the stink eye. No doubt, this was the reason Charlie was so excited to come to a fucking museum.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” Cassie huffed, looking between the two of us.

I threw my hands up innocently. I was not getting blamed for any more shit. I had enough of my own mistakes to make right.

“Charlotte, explain,” I demanded, sneaking a glance at Cassie and noticing how beautiful she looked in her sundress. The way it hugged her new curves. When we were kids, there were many times we went hungry so we were both too skinny. My eyes raked her body, and I decided this version of Cassie might be my favorite. My ogling was cut short by Charlie.

“Well, I ran into Cassie last week in Jersey …” Charlie started, looking down at her feet, all her false bravado suddenly gone.

I motioned for her to continue, my eyes back on Cassie. She met my gaze and I felt a surge of electricity through my veins. She blushed, and then as if a switch flipped, she narrowed her eyes and turned her attention back to guilty-as-hell Charlotte.

“And I sorta told her I wanted to meet up and plan a day together. Which I did! But I knew you both needed to talk and see each other face-to-face to do so, so I kinda, sort of, maybe …Parent Trap-ed you,” Charlie blurted before she ran behind a nearby statue.

I let Cassie take a moment to process all of Charlie’s babbling. Her emotions must have been all over the place, rightfully so. This situation was fucked. A part of me wished we could just pretend none of this happened and start over.

Cassie must have regrouped because she went to where Charlie was trying to conceal herself and took the girl by the armso that the two of them could “hide” behind another statue. I stood silently behind the pair as they tried not to cause a bigger spectacle.

“Charlotte, I can’t! I can’t stay here. I’m sorry. I love you, but I … I just can’t,” Cassie stuttered, her voice trembling slightly.

Cassie released Charlie’s arm and moved for the exit. Before she could walk out of the museum, Charlie grabbed Cassie by the wrist, holding her back from running away. Charlotte was stubborn, so I knew she wouldn’t let this be the end of her plan.

“Wait! Please just stay for a little while. I haven’t spent time with you in forever. I didn’t want to ruin our day. I just wanted my two favorite siblings to have a chance to work things out.” Charlie batted her eyelashes at Cassie, doing her best to look innocent, but failing miserably.

Cassie wrestled her arm loose from Charlie’s grasp and tilted her head up.

“Cassie, stay,” I reasoned, walking around to face the girls, my jaw tense as I prepared for her argument.

“I can’t—” She started to form a response, but I interrupted her.

“Don’t leave because of me. We can be friendly for Charlotte’s sake, don’t you think?” I smirked, cocking my head to the side.

Cassie looked away from me. “Don’t use Charlie as a ploy.”

“I’m not,” I said defensively. “At the very least, we can be civil. Surely we can be in the same room without one of us running away.” My voice hardened, as I remembered how all she did was run.

She couldn’t deny that at some point we would need to hash out our differences. One afternoon in the same proximity as me wouldn’t kill her.

Cassie picked at her fingers and looked down. It was her nervous tic when we were kids, but I could tell she knew I was right.

Seeing her begin to war with her decision, I decided to reason with her like I would in my business dealings. Just because I was unhappy in the business world, it didn’t mean I wasn’t good at my job regardless of what Wyatt spewed. She was like Charlie, stubborn, so I couldn’t leave room for a rebuttal.

“It’s been ten years.” I added, “People change.”

She was searching my face for something, some deception perhaps, but I refused to waver. Cassie would listen to me, even if it was for Charlie’s sake.

Of all people, Charlie could use a support system. I would fight for her and fight for my opportunity to apologize for as long as I needed to.

“Fine,” Cassie grumbled, giving Charlie an annoyed look. “But I’m not talking to him,and you have to stay in the middle of us.”

I wasn’t going to beg for Cassie to let me into her world. But at some point, we needed to talk and air out our grievances. I wanted to make amends. Ten years was a long time to reflect and grow.

Charlie clapped her hands and gave Cassie a bear hug. “Thank you! You’re the best sister!”

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