Jamison nods. “Yes, she’s done well. I think she’s booked for the next eighteen months on several projects, so he might want to get in line. She’s being selective on her roles nowadays.”
“You still with Jennifer, Chase?” Billie asks.
Chase’s jaw tightens. “Not in eight years.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. She was a sweet girl.”
Chase snorts, and Noah jumps in and steers the conversation onto another topic as I stop listening.
This stroll down memory lane sucks.
The guys continue to talk with her, and I stare at my napkin. I cannot believe I obsessed over Billie for six months when I could have been with Charlotte.
God, I’m a dickhead.
Charlotte. I need to figure out how to get her to talk to me.
Billie is going on and on about something, and I wish she would leave. I turn to the window, and I see her.
Wearing her blue hat, her blue eyes full of tears, is Charlotte. A lump rises in my throat, and I push Jamison so hard he almost slides onto the floor on his butt. I step on the bench, jump over him, and run out of the restaurant.
“Xander!” Noah calls out as I’m almost to the door, but I don’t turn around.
When I get outside, Charlotte is running down the street.
“Charlotte, stop!” I yell, but she keeps running.
“Charlotte!”
She doesn’t turn around. The crosswalk light is flashing stop, but she doesn’t. A black car plows into her, and as she goes flying, her eyes catch mine.
“Charlotte!” I scream as she hits the pavement hard in the intersection.
I run over to her and pull out my phone, dialing 911.
“Charlotte. Stay with me, baby.” I stroke her face and clasp her hand in my other one.
Somehow, Noah, Chase, and Jamison arrive on the scene before the ambulance. They go into paramedic mode, but I’m useless other than trying to get Charlotte to stay awake.
She tries to talk and moans in pain.
“Shh,” I tell her and stroke her cheek. “It’s okay, baby. Just stay awake for me.”
I’m crying. I don’t realize it until my tear hits her cheek.
“Xa...” she tries to get out my name, and my heart breaks further.
“Shh,” I tell her again. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Just stay awake with me.”
The ambulance comes and the paramedics immobilize her. I ride with her to the hospital.
“Xa...” she tries to repeat my name, as she blinks over and over.
“It’s okay, baby. Shh. We’re almost there.” I hold her hand tighter and try to get her to focus on my face.
She moans in pain, and my heart once again bleeds.
“Stay awake, Charlotte. Just stay with me,” I keep telling her, stroking her cheek and trying to keep it together.
