Chapter 42
Charlotte
Wendi had been almost hysterical on the drive home after running into her boyfriend’s dad. Charlotte had been in the car for most of the conversation so she hadn’t heard everything he said. But the tid-bits she picked up on, made her want to kill someone. Well, not just anyone. No, Charlotte had a very specific target.
Her ire was directed at the stupid Black Twins, even more specifically, Alex, the oldest.
Charlotte realized that technically they hadn’t done anything to her directly, but they had hurt her best friend. Wendi was a good person. She had already been through so much in her life. Wendi was the kind of person who took the raw deal life handed her and rose above it. She was a kind hearted person who always put others before herself. She has always been Charlotte’s best friend and nobody was going to mess with her on Charlotte’s watch.
Charlotte was having trouble wrapping her head around everything. Who went to the extremes like this, to play with someone’s head? Did the Twins really, just have more time and money than sense? Seriously, the diamond ring alone must have cost thousands. It was real, Charlotte has checked. Not to mention all the upgrades to her apartment, the dinners or the job. The Twins had gone out of way to integrate themselves into every aspect of Wendi’s life.
Charlotte considered all the damage that Alex and Leo had done. The Wendi of two weeks ago was giving her professors sass and getting ready for graduation. She was interviewing at the top companies and talking about coming to see Charlotte in New York when she opened her first design show. It was hard to believe that this hollowed-out shell wrapped in a blanket and sitting on the couch silently, was even the same person.
Charlotte had insisted that Wendi spend the night after she has finally broken down and told Charlotte what Adam had said. She had also demanded that both girls turn off their phones. Wendi tried to protest but Charlotte wouldn’t hear of her being alone at such a time. It was a total Wendi thing to do. She was more worried about being an inconvenience than about the fact she was emotionally bleeding out.
Charlotte wasn’t surprised that Wendi cried for most of the way home. Between sobs she kept saying things like “I should have known,” and “I knew better.”
Charlotte just handed her leftover drive-thru napkins and tried to decide if she should hug the poor girl or just start plotting murder. “I’m going to castrate them!” became Charlotte’s chant.
Once they got to Charlotte’s modern style loft, Wendi became angry. Especially that Alex has given her a ring, knowing full well he was already getting married. She had raged and railed. Charlotte was pretty sure Wendi had called the Twins everything but a milk cow.
When Wendi ran out of colorful expletives, Charlotte started with a series of her own. When Charlotte depleted her list of things to rant about, she went to the freezer and got out the old standby tub of Rocky Road and two spoons. She picked up the remote and started ‘’Thelma and Louise” on her streaming service.
To her surprise, Wendi rejected the ice cream. “I'm still too sick at my stomach I guess.” Wendi explained.
Hours had passed. Wendi seemed to alternate between tears and staring off into space. Charlotte had napped on the couch next to her, but Wendi never seemed to close her eyes. About the 24-hour mark after what Charlotte had started calling “the incident,” Wendi just seemed to stop.
She was no longer crying. She hadn't said a word in hours. She hadn't eaten since she had arrived at the house. She definitely wasn't sleeping. She wasn't focusing on anything in particular. The only way to explain it was to say she just stopped.
The life seemed to literally be drained out of her. Wendi was losing color. Her skin became cold and clammy. Her body began to sag and the only movement seemed to be an involuntary shiver. It was literally like watching the battery die on your favorite electronic device. It was getting so bad, Charlotte was considered googling whether or not you could literally die from a broken heart.
Around hour 30, Charlotte was beginning to panic. Wendi had stopped responding completely. It was like her lights were on but Wendi wasn’t home. Even her pulse seemed slow. Charlotte, considered calling an ambulance, but she knew there wasn't anything physically wrong with her friend.
In a moment of pure desperation she did the one thing she never thought she would do. She turned on her phone and sent Sam a text with nothing but her address. Then she dialed his number.
He picked up immediately. “Hello! Hello! Charlotte, are you okay?” He said frantically before she even had a chance to speak.
“What do you think?” She growled. Before he had chance to answer, Charlotte cut him off. “Put Leo on the phone.” She demanded.
Charlotte could hear the room go silent and feet were shuffling across the room. She could tell that the phone being passed Leo.
“Is she okay? Where is she? Tell her I just need to know she is alright.” Charlotte heard someone say in the background. His voice was panicked and he sounded genuinely distraught.
She wondered which of the Twins the voice belonged to. She thought it likely belonged to Alex. It was strange to hear concern in his voice Especially considering her was engaged to someone else. It also kind of pissed her off. He was the reason her friend was dying. The voice of a heart-breaking two-faced bastard shouldn’t be allowed to sound like he cared.
“Hello” Leo said in a voice that sounded small and ragged. Charlotte vaguely wondered if he had been crying.
The feminist in her pumped her fist in the air. She hoped he had cried, a lot. Just hearing his voice made her want to kick him, hard. After he saved her friend, she promised herself, she would.
There were a lot of things she wanted to say. She wanted to scream at him and tell him what a scum bag he was. Charlotte thought about it for all of about point five seconds. Instead, she cleared her throat and said something she hoped she wouldn’t regret.
“She needs you.” Charlotte said and immediately shut off her phone.