No One Else: The Ladies Who Brunch Book 2, page 3
But honestly, how on earth will this be a good thing? I've built a name for myself in Los Angeles by helping people save their marriages or heal after sexual trauma. I've waited years to finally open up my own office and build a practice that I can be proud of. And now, before I can officially open the doors, one of the worst possible scenarios has happened—the antithesis of what I stand for will be a mere few feet away from my door, inviting those looking for a way out instead of wanting to fight for love.
The possibilities are endless for how this might go.
My mind just kept spinning until almost two in the morning, and by the time my alarm went off at six, I felt like I had run a marathon in my sleep. I’m not going to lie; I was actually relieved this morning when I woke up to know that I wouldn’t have to face him for a few days. It would give me time to get my head on straight.
“Okay. I have my snacks and my water, so now I feel like I can relax.” Noelle walks over to where Penelope and I found seats outside of our gate as we wait to board our flight. She brushes her light-brown hair over her shoulder as she offers me a piece of her sour candy. “You want one?”
“No, thank you.”
“Something is bothering Amelia Be Delia, but she’s not talking,” Penelope says as she leans forward in her seat, glancing up at Noelle.
Noelle takes the chair next to me. “What’s going on?” Her eyes dip up and down my body. “On second thought, yeah, you don’t look like you right now.”
“And how do I normally look?”
“Honestly? A little uptight, always put together, confident but in a classy way,” Penelope answers for her.
I’m so unsettled that I can’t even act offended. “I don’t disagree. I like feeling put together.”
“But you look frazzled, especially your hair,” Noelle says. “You sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
I shake my head. “No. Not yet.”
Penelope and Noelle share a look across me, but I continue to stare straight forward, hoping that I can fall asleep on the flight and wake up more relaxed when we land in Hawaii.
“Well, as soon as we land, we’ll get some drinks, and hopefully, that will loosen you up enough to spill the deets.” Penelope rubs my shoulder.
“I can’t wait to relax a bit by the pool. I loaded my Kindle with so many books to make sure I’d have something to read,” Noelle adds.
Penelope’s brows draw together. “Don’t you ever get tired of having your nose stuck in a book?”
“Nope. Reading is such an escape, and with romance, you’re guaranteed a happily ever after. The tension is so exciting, the build up to the moment where they give in makes your heart race, and then when the shit hits the fan, it’s like you can’t read fast enough to find out if they get back together.”
Penelope and I scoff at the same time. “Nothing, even a happily ever after, is guaranteed in real life, Noelle. Sorry to break it to you.”
Noelle sighs as she slumps in her chair. “That may be true, but I refuse to believe that will happen to us. I know the right men are out there for us. And heck, they may be in our lives at this very moment,” she states assuringly.
I scoff again as I stand. “I need to use the restroom. Watch my bag?” I say as Noelle nods, and I walk away, wanting to possess the optimism my friend has. And normally, I do. But right now? I’m not sure of anything except how off-kilter and defeated I feel.
“Ah!” Charlotte power walks across the hotel lobby, screeching like a wild bird as she greets each of us with a hug. “You’re here!”
“We made it. Barely,” Penelope says as she takes off her sunglasses and rolls her eyes. “I had a child behind me on the plane that kept kicking my seat. If I didn’t respect the sacrifice his mother made for him to be alive, I would have pulled his oxygen mask down from the ceiling and used it on him like a muzzle.”
Noelle smacks her. “He wasn’t that bad.”
“Easy for you to say. You were too engrossed in a book with your earplugs in to notice.”
“New author?” Charlotte asks Noelle, whose day job is a literary agent specializing in the romance genre. The girl is always reading a new book, and I think it’s where her romantic nature comes from. As soon as we boarded the plane, she popped her earbuds in and ignored us for the rest of the almost six-hour flight.
“Yes. And a very promising one at that. I haven’t had a book capture me like this one in a long time. I’ll tell you about it later.”
“You and your dirty books,” Penelope snickers with a teasing grin.
“Hey. As Rachel from Friends would say, I am not ashamed of my books. There is nothing wrong with a woman enjoying a little erotica.”
“Oh, I’m not arguing with you. I just think it’s impressive that you can read that smut and keep a straight face on the plane.”
Noelle smiles proudly. “Years of practice, my friend.”
As I slide up behind them, Charlotte takes in my appearance and starts asking the same questions I’ve been dodging since Noelle and Penelope picked me up on the way to the airport. “Hey, Amelia. You okay?”
“Oh, yes. I’m…fine,” I stutter, trying to hold together my nerves. I thought arriving here would put me more at ease, but my social anxiety is starting to rear its ugly head.
“Something happened to our little Amelia Be Delia, but she insists everything is fine. Perhaps you can get her to speak up once we get some alcohol in her system,” Penelope explains.
Charlotte shifts her sight back over to me with a furrow of her brow. “Okay, well, let’s get you checked in first. I know you all must be hungry.”
“Starving and in need of alcohol,” Penelope replies as Charlotte leads us over to the concierge’s desk to receive our keys.
After we all go to our rooms and get settled in, we meet down in one of the restaurants for a late dinner.
“So, how have things been going so far?” Noelle asks Charlotte after we place our orders and receive our first round of drinks. I take a large sip of mine and appreciate the burn of the alcohol as it slides down my throat. After unpacking and enjoying the view from my room, I instantly felt more at ease.
Ethan isn’t here, and I don’t have to worry about him popping up anywhere. This is exactly what I needed, so now I want to enjoy my mini vacation. How I’m going to handle him next week is something I don’t need to concern myself with just yet.
“Um, interesting. My mother has been up to her usual shenanigans, and I’ve just been trying to let her comments roll off my back, although it’s getting harder and harder to do when she keeps bringing Damien into the mix. The poor guy—he probably thinks my mother is going to try marrying us in our sleep.”
Charlotte agreed to pretend to be in a relationship with her childhood enemy, Damien, to help appease her mother, who is always pressuring her to find a husband, as I mentioned earlier. Damien also needed her to help him impress his boss. Six weeks later, and they’re both clearly struggling with their feelings, but I don’t want to be the one to point that out unless necessary. Part of being a good therapist is getting the patient to realize things for themselves anyway.
Noelle continues questioning her. “Well, has he told you that it bothers him?”
Charlotte shakes her head. “No. He’s actually been really great. It’s crazy, but having him here makes me feel like I can handle all of this better, like I’m not handling it alone for once. In fact, he did something last weekend that really surprised me.”
“What did he do?” Noelle asks.
“Well, I had something happen to me that’s never happened before. I—I started my period in my sleep…”
“You’ve never started in your sleep?” Penelope asks incredulously.
“No, I have, but not while staying the night at a guy’s place.” We all cringe.
“Oh, God. How embarrassing,” Noelle interjects.
Penelope chimes in too. “I mean, yes, that’s unfortunate, but periods are a part of life. Please tell me he didn’t freak out.”
“No, I was the one who freaked out. I ruined his sheets and locked myself in the bathroom to shower. And then when I emerged, I ran off.”
“So, what did Damien do?”
Charlotte smiles adoringly. “Well, he assured me it wasn’t that big of a deal. But then I left in a hurry, and it kind of left things awkward between us. I was sure he’d want some space, that maybe what happened was a little too real for our fake relationship. But then he showed up later that afternoon with tampons, my favorite meal from Tony’s, ice cream and Dove chocolates, and Matthew McConaughey rom-com movies.”
“Oh my God,” Noelle squeals, clutching her hands together under her chin. “That is totally something that one of the men in my books would do.”
“Yeah, it sounds too good to be true,” Penelope teases.
“I thought the same thing. But he was so sweet and just held me and fed me chocolates while we watched movies.” She sighs, slinking back into her chair as I take another sip of my drink. “I’m so screwed.”
I take this as my opportunity to speak up. “You finally experienced some intimacy with him,” I say. “And how did it make you feel?”
“Uh oh, she’s going into therapist mode,” Penelope chides under her breath.
“Stop it,” Noelle shoots across the table at Penelope before directing her eyes back to Charlotte. “Answer the question, Char.”
Charlotte takes a deep breath. “It made me feel like I want this to be real. I was lying there with him in my old sweats, no makeup, and hair tossed up, and he stared at me like I was the most beautiful thing on the planet. He’s nothing like I thought he would be, but I’m so scared that I’m the only one that feels this deeply. And last night, he shut down during dinner with everyone, like he became someone else for a little while—silent, retreating, barely saying two words to me. I wonder if all the pressure of playing this part is getting to him.”
“His actions dictate that you’re not the only one with feelings,” I reply. “But you need to talk to him about it, Char.”
“I know, but part of me just wants to wait until this weekend is over, when we can breathe a little. Besides, my aunt said something to me yesterday that still has my head spinning.”
“What did she say?” I continue to question her. I try to avoid going into therapist mode with my friends for the same reason I avoid it with men, but these girls need a little pushing sometimes, and I’m hoping this trip will help Charlotte break through these boundary issues with her mother.
The fake relationship she started with Damien had disaster written all over it to begin with. But as her friend, I’ve tried to remain supportive, especially because it’s clear as day that she’s developing feelings for him, as she so eloquently admitted just a few moments ago.
Charlotte answers. “She said that the way my mother is with me is the same way their mother was with them—constantly making underhanded comments about their life choices and love lives, pressuring them to get married and watch their figures so they could snag a man. I never knew this. and I feel like it explains so much.”
And all I can do is nod. “It does. But just because that’s how your mother was raised does not mean that she has to perpetuate that cycle.”
“Spoken like a true therapist,” Penelope interjects before turning toward Charlotte. “Look, I know you don’t want to make a big scene because it’s your parents’ anniversary and all that, but you need to stand up for yourself, Char. Your mother has beaten you up from the inside out long enough. And as your friend, I’m tired of seeing you put up with it, and it’s getting harder to keep listening to it.”
Charlotte grows defensive, and suddenly, the energy at the table shifts. “Well, I’m sorry if it’s irritating for you, but this entire thing is complicated, Penelope.”
“Hey, I’m sure she didn’t mean it like that, Char,” Noelle interrupts.
“No, I did,” Penelope counters, holding a hand up to our friend. “This bullshit has gone on long enough. And it’s obvious that you have feelings for Damien, so you need to man up and tell the man what you want before you chicken out about that too.”
Standing from her chair, Charlotte stares down at our friend, confused, angry, and hurt. “You know, just because you don’t have a relationship with your mother doesn’t mean you get to pass judgment on mine, Penelope,” she says. “And second, when’s the last time you actually let a guy in longer than it took for him to give you an orgasm?” Penelope narrows her eyes at her. “Exactly. In fact, I know you avoid commitment because you’re too fucking scared to let people in. You don’t even let your parents into your life. So, don’t judge me for how I’m dealing with mine.” Charlotte looks over at Noelle and me, and I know my eyes are wide as I take in what’s happening. “Sorry, girls, but I think I’m done for tonight,” she says before draining the rest of her drink and walking away.
“Charlotte! Come back,” Noelle calls after her, but she keeps retreating, leaving the three of us alone and silent.
“Fuck this.” Penelope tips back the rest of her glass and stands. “Sorry, girls, but she needed to hear that.”
“You could have been nicer about it,” Noelle counters as she stands as well, so I follow suit.
“No. Charlotte doesn’t need nice right now, she needs tough love. And I’m okay with being the friend who gives it to her. Sometimes that’s what we have to do for each other—not just smile and nod along, but tell the truth. She needs to stand up for herself.”
“She will,” I interject. “She has to reach her breaking point.”
“And have you reached yours, Amelia? What's going on with you?”
I take a deep breath and then stand up straighter. “I'll tell you when I’m ready, okay? But not right now. Not after what happened tonight and everything else going on this weekend, all right?”
Penelope and Noelle both nod. “Okay. That’s fair,” Penelope says calmly. “But I’m going to get another drink and then go back to my room and get some sleep. I’m exhausted.”
“I think I’m going to check out the pool and read for a bit,” Noelle says.
“I’m going for a walk and then pass out for the night as well. See you in the morning.” We all part ways as I walk in the direction that Charlotte went, hoping to find her so I can check on her.
It’s rare, but sometimes the four of us have our little tiffs, and we need some time to breathe before solving them. I love these women like the sisters I never had, but even sisters fight.
Sitting with her knees tucked into her chest on the beach, I slowly walk up to Charlotte so I don’t frighten her. “Hey,” I say as she looks up over her shoulder to find me standing behind her. “Mind if I sit?”
Turning back to stare out over the water, she shrugs. “I guess.”
I take a seat in a similar position next to her on the cold sand and sigh. “Penelope and you will get past this.”
“I don’t know, Amelia. She was pretty clear about how she feels.”
“Well, like you said, she has her own issues she hasn’t dealt with and is most likely projecting them on you. We all have things we like to brush under the rug.” Speaking from experience, Amelia?
She turns to me. “What’s going on? The girls said you aren’t yourself right now.”
A heavy sigh leaves my lips again, but maybe talking to Charlotte about it will help me process. “I sort of ran into a problem with my new office this week.”
“Oh shit.” She reaches up to rub my shoulder. “What’s going on? I thought everything was good to go when we return from here…”
I scoff. “Well, it was going well, swimmingly, really. But last night I met the guy who bought the other space in the same complex as my office.”
“And?”
“And he’s a divorce attorney.”
Charlotte’s eyes go wide. “Oh, shit.”
“Yeah. How on earth am I supposed to keep couples focused on repairing their marriages when just around the corner will be a reminder of the other solution to their problems?”
Charlotte rubs my shoulder. “Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think it is. Maybe you’ll barely see him. Maybe you two could team up, and he might actually help you with clients. He might be working with a couple and recommend they seek counseling before going through with their divorce,” she suggests optimistically.
“Ha. As much as I love you for trying to convince me of that, based on our first encounter, I’m going to say the chances of that happening are a big, fat no. He basically told me that I’ve already made him richer because my clients are going to walk right across the complex to him when they realize that what I do is pointless.”
Charlotte’s mouth drops open. “Oh, Jesus.”
“All I want to do is help people, Charlotte. It’s important to me given what I went through growing up.”
“You do help people, Amelia. This guy being there isn’t going to change that.”
I sigh. “You know what the worst part about him is?”
“What?”
“He’s hot as hell.” Just thinking back to yesterday and that curl of his lips, his tousled hair, and those dark-green eyes has my heart racing again. He looked refined, professional, sexy, and dirty all at the same time.
Charlotte laughs. “Wow. So you really do have yourself a little problem to deal with back home, don’t you?”
I nod. “See, Char? We all have things in our lives that cause us to make decisions we’re not necessarily proud of, or react to situations that we don’t know how to deal with, even me, the therapist.” I point a finger to my chest.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, you’re a sex therapist, so as long as you didn’t sleep with him, I think you get a free pass here.”
Her comment makes me smile. “Yeah, there is no sex going on with Ethan, nor will there ever be, so that logic works for me.” Then stop thinking about him fucking you over your desk, Amelia.
Yeah, that little scenario was one of the many going through my mind last night.
Charlotte sighs and then rests her head on my shoulder. “Thanks for coming to check on me.”
