Totally fine! Have fun with them. Pass on my appreciation for letting me crash Thanksgiving dinner
Sutton—7:37 p.m.
Done… but for the record, you don’t need to pass on any appreciation. I wanted you there
So, that part was nice, absolutely.
They’d had a little exchange about some notes on the next section of the book that had been sent to her editor, and Sutton had sent a picture of Lucy and her parents yesterday, right after Jack and Katherine had left.
Which had led to a very short exchange, wherein Sutton had informed her that Lucy was having somewhat of a meltdown that her grandparents were leaving and that things at home were “not going well” and that she would get back to Charlotte later.
But then she hadn’t heard back from Sutton all of last night either.
Laterapparentlyhad meant early this afternoon, when Charlotte had gotten a phone call?—
“Sutton! A nice surprise to hear from you.” She’d only let herself answer after the phone had rung a couple of times, even though she’d been ready to answer on the first ring.
“Hi.” Sutton’s wonderfully husky voice warmed Charlotte from the inside out, even in just one word. “I’msosorry I didn’t get back to you last night. Lucy…” She sighed, and Charlotte could just picture the way she was rubbing at her temples. “We love whenever our family comes to visit, but it often inevitably leads to Lucy being deeply devastated that they have to leave and questioning why we can’t live closer to them, and—it’s a whole thing.”
She could hear the exhaustion dragging at the edge of Sutton’s tone. “I see. And I understand; I’m sure it’s hard to live apart from the people who love you so much.” She paused, before confessing, “It was difficult for me to live away from my grandmother, and she was only about an hour away. When she was in the country, of course.”
It was strange, still, admitting to these feelings aloud. They were things she’d long stopped thinking about, feelings she’d long put behind her. She only ever brought them up on occasion, in her meetings with Sutton, and even then, it felt… odd.
“I can imagine how that was difficult for you. Especially given that your parents were often away for work, right?” Sutton asked, her voice quietly probing yet soft. Wondering.
This wasn’t for the book; it wasn’t for anything of the sort. It was just her and Sutton. Charlotte leaned back in her chair, her stomach tying in strange knots as she thought back to her childhood. “Yes. They were often… busy.”
She pursed her lips, thinking back to the solitude that echoed through her childhood home, especially when her brothers had gotten older and flown the coop.
It was a knee-jerk reaction for her to sweep it under the rug as if it were nothing. Mostly because, honestly, she felt like itwasnothing at this point. It had happened, that had been life, and she’d been absolutely fine in the long run.
It took effort—emotional energy and an admitted courage—to stay in those emotions with Sutton and admit to her, “It was difficult at times. Lonely.” She swallowed hard, shaking her head. “But yes. My grandmother was a savior to me in those times, and being away from her was very difficult, so I understand Lucy’s plight.” She paused. “Then again, I didn’t have parents likeyou, so…”
She teased lightly, bringing them back to the present.
She wanted them to be in the here and now largely because, well, she’d missed Sutton in the last several days in the here and now.
She’d missed her, and she wanted her, and she wanted to know what she wasthinking, and…
Charlotte cleared her throat. “I was thinking about what we could do for dinner, for when you come to my office later. Unless you’d like to go out somewhere?” She only hesitated for a moment, her heart beating strangely strong in her chest as she offered, “Or work from my home?”
Sutton’s beat of silence had Charlotte waiting on bated breath before she said, “Actually, that’s the reason I was calling; there’s an event for the Zones tonight. The last three months have been a huge success, which has been amazing, and we have another fundraiser tonight for next semester. I meant to bring it up to you earlier, but there’s just been so much going on…”
She trailed off slowly, the apology clear in her tone.
Charlotte found herself stupidly nodding as a troubling feeling started swirling in her stomach.
“Right. Yes. That makes perfect sense. I’m glad the Zones have been doing well, obviously.”
“Yeah, me too. Obviously,” Sutton added with a light little laugh. The laugh cut off after a moment, and Sutton’s demeanor became more serious. “Ah, I have some students arriving for my twelve thirty. I’ll talk to you later?”
Charlotte’s lips were already pursed in a frown as she hummed in agreement. “Sure. Have a good class, darling.”
And all she’d been able to think of after that was…
Was Sutton giving her the brush-off?!
She’d tried valiantly to think otherwise over the weekend despite Sutton’s general reticent communication, but blowing off their first in-person meeting after having sex?
