Page 9 of Runaway Pride

As she typed her mother’s number, her heart raced uncontrollably. Was it normal to feel this way when calling a family member?

She raised the phone to her ears, and it only took one and a half rings to get through.

“Grace Kim speaking,” the iconic hard and firm voice punctured Charlie’s nerves.

“Mother,” Charlie said hesitantly.

Grace gasped, huffed, puffed, and blew over the phone. “Charlotte Grace Ha! Are you going to explain yourself? Where are you now? You have so much to pay for, young lady. I can’t believe you would humiliate me like that!”

The screeching had Charlie shutting her eyes and shoulders going up in defense. It was an instinctive reaction for as long as she could remember.

“How am I going to show my face? Do you have any idea how much this wedding cost? People arenevergoing to stop talking about this! Oh, I amruined.”

“Iwill handle it. Stop being so dramatic. You’re not ruined. I will eat the cost and pay everyone back,” Charlie said.

“Pay everyone back?” Grace laughed. “This isn’t aboutmoney. You have defiled our reputation with your recklessness. To think I have raised you to be more tactful than this, I?—”

“There were four nannies until I went off to college, mother. You only knew how to criticize when things weren’t the way you wanted, or whenI’mnot the way you wanted!” Charlie mouthed off, pushed to the edge. “I told you I’ll handle it! All I needyou to do is leave me alone. You won’t hear from me for the next few days. I won’t be home or at Alex and Sarah’s, and none of the girls at the club know where I am, so don’t bother going to them. I am blocking your number onthisphone until further notice. Just know that I am safe and I will come back when I am ready, so keep the police out of this or I willnevercome back!”

An even louder and more shocked gasp shook the line. “How could you speak to me that way? You don’t know how?—”

Cutting her mother off mid-tantrum was very satisfying. Whatever came over her, she needed more of it. Maybe being pushed to the brink was doing more for her character. Cowering to her mother was so ingrained in her for so long that she wondered if she still had a spine.

Shuffling came at the door, and Charlie saw Rick leaning against the threshold of the kitchen, obviously witnessing everything.

“I’m sorry about that,” she apologized and handed him back the phone.

He took it. “Nothing to be sorry about. You did what you had to. Are you okay?”

She nodded, rubbing her hands over her face with a laugh. “As okay as I can be.”

“So…” he muttered. “It sounds like you’ll be staying here a little longer?”

Her eyes rounded, mouth parting as she realized her blunder. “Oh, dear. I’m so sorry about that. I should’ve asked you first. If you’re uncomfortable about it, I can get a hotel.” She stopped and remembered that she didn’t have her phoneorpurse. No credit card or photo ID. Or she could just stay with Alex and Sarah. If Charlie had already told her mother she won’t be at their place, then she wouldn’t go there to look…

“No, it’s fine. Just a few days won’t hurt,” Rick said. “I have a guest room I rent out when I’m not around, so I have the accommodations already set up.”

Her heart flipped. “Oh, that’s wonderful! I’ll pay you your rate once I get my things back.”

“That won’t be necessary. Let me take you to the room.”

Rick guided her down the hall and showed her the room, the bathroom next to it, the towels, shower products, and she was ready to go. Before he left, his gaze swept over her. Hands inside his jeans pockets, he said plainly, “You’re not sleeping in that dress, I’m guessing.”

The skin on her back itched again, reminding her of the overly decorated and tightly fitted wedding costume she still had on. The buttons of the corset were so snug it dug into her skin, causing irritation. Right, she had no other clothes. Even beneath the dress was a set of lingerie that wasn’t appropriate for her to walk around in.

“Let me see if I can find something,” her host said. “Give me a second.”

Standing by the doorframe of the guest room, she studied the interior. It was decorated minimally like the rest of the house. Gray walls with photo frames, taken by Rick. A low king-sized bed sat in the middle of the room, and heavy curtains draped the window behind it. A vanity stood in front of the bed with ivory drawers, and to the side was a flat-screen nailed to the wall. It smelled like fresh laundry.

She heard heavy footsteps and turned to see Rick back holding a stack of folded clothes.

“Thesemayfit you.” He held them out to her.

She accepted and spread them out for view. A pair of black basketball shorts with frayed yellow drawstrings, and a large gray shirt with the Volcom logo on large print.

“These were mine when I was… thirteen? I think.” He smiled. “You might have to pull the strings all the way, but I think it’ll work.”

He must have been a pretty big thirteen-year-old. Tall, by the looks of it. Thanking him, she closed the door and began stripping. Her arms went around her back, blindly feeling for thebuttons, and pulled. She didn’t remember what her dress looked like from the back, but it was turning into an arduous task to get out of it. The buttons weren’t coming off.

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