Page 56 of Shadowing Charlotte
Chapter forty-nine
Charlotte
Iwoke to the sound of my alarm clock chirping from the bedside table, feeling strangely optimistic. Perhaps it was due to the birdsong filtering through the window Lex had opened during the night, or simply the fact that I'd slept for eleven hours. I yawned and stretched across the bed, surprised that Alexander wasn't beside me. His side of the bed was cold, but his scent lingered. I rolled over, inhaling deeply.
Home… Alexander smelled like home in a way I couldn't even begin to put into words. It was a scent that would linger in my brain for the entire day, one I didn't want to go another day without breathing in.
"Alexander?" There was no response, the house eerily quiet in a way that unsettled me. Climbing out of bed, I tugged a robe from the closet and slipped it on. The lock on the door had been fixed while I was asleep, and the Camaro wasn't parked on the curb. It felt bizarre to wake and find him gone. Worry nagged at the edges of my mind, and I dug into my purse to locate my phone. It wasn't in my bag.
Had Alexander taken it? The texts Adam had sent the day before came flooding back and I suddenly felt sick to my stomach that I hadn't told him. I knew he'd found them.
After half an hour of searching, I finally found my phone in one of the cracks between the couch cushions. My hands shook as I flicked open the screen, pulling up my open apps. Three texts from an entirely different number than before.
Your old bedroom still smells like you.
Daddy is a heavy sleeper.
You better call me soon.
Fuck. Alexander was going to kill him. He'd implied as much once before. I opened his contact and pressed the call button.
"What?" The piercing tone of the single word stabbed me like a hot blade.
"Where are you?" I croaked anxiously.
"On my way to your dad's," he answered, just as bluntly as his greeting.
"Why?"
"You fucking know why," he replied.
"Lex, you have to—"
"I don'thaveto do shit, Charlie!" he snapped, "You should have fucking told me he texted you again after the cops left!"
"The police know already. I didn't want to worry you," I whispered, swallowing the panicked lump in my throat. I felt like I was being choked, the air slowly being pulled from me like a deflating balloon.
"You didn't want—" he laughed, a sarcastic chuckle that sent chills down my spine. "You better hope that your Daddy takes care of this after I talk to him. Because if I take care of it, you'll be speaking to me through a glass window pretty fucking soon."
"Stop it. Don't say that…" The words nearly stuck in my throat.
"I'm dead fucking serious, baby. He sends you one more fucking thing; I'm going to fucking end him." Then the line went dead. and I was standing there, still clutching the phone, my entire body shaking.
Work was a fucking nightmare. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't focus. My sight kept blurring as I read over the same page of a manuscript for the third time. Usually, I was good at compartmentalizing, but not when it came to Alexander.
I stewed on our conversation, wondering what he was doing throughout the day; what he had said to my father.
"Is everything alright?" Saydiah inquired, as she knocked on the frame of my open office door. I blinked at the manuscript, dropping it from my hands and looking up at her.
"There's just a lot going on right now," I replied, rubbing my temples and reaching for my purse to dig out my glasses.
"If you need to take a few days off, it would be… understandable."
"I'm just…" I sighed, fidgeting with the edges of my papers. "Maybe you're right," I agreed hesitantly. I preferred to have something to keep my mind occupied, but with everything going on with Adam, perhaps it was better that I didn't bring the drama of my personal life into work.
"Why don't you just come back in on Monday?" she suggested with an understanding smile.
I nodded. "I'll take theses home with me, if that's alright," I added, gesturing to the stack of unread work still sitting in the basket on my desk.
