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Violet nodded, and they got ready for the day together.
He went to work in a good mood. He was in the highs of love, but even so, he reminded himself this wouldn’t last. One day he was going to fall back down again, and it was going to fucking hurt.
But he would enjoy this while he could.
His day was a mashup of people asking him questions and coding new updates. It was busy enough he didn’t get much time to think, which he was grateful for.
His mind kept going back to Violet. He wondered how her day was going and couldn’t wait to see her again. It was so bad, he wound up leaving his job at three to go get dinner for them both. He wanted to be there when she walked through the door.
Charlie went somewhere he didn’t usually go, a fancy Italian place out of his way home. He remembered it was one of the places he, Liv, Lewis, and Violet met up at before they stopped seeing each other. When he walked in to get his to-go order, he glanced around the room curiously, checking out of this would be a good date spot.
That was when he saw his mother.
She was eating dinner with another woman, who looked about her age. She had dyed black hair and bright eyes. They were smiling and laughing, as if nothing were bothering them in the world.
Charlie eyed them and found himself particularly curious about his mother’s expression. He knew that look - he had seen it in the mirror this morning.
Then his mom reached across the table and grabbed the other woman’s hand, gripping it like a lifeline. The other woman laughed and kissed her.
It all fell together.
His mom was seeing someone and judging by how comfortable she looked - she had been for a while.
At first, Charlie felt incredibly hurt he didn’t know, but then he remembered he had kept secrets too. His mom had been reaching out, and was obviously trying to tell him, but something was stopping her.
Charlie felt the urge to go and see her, but he knew his hurt would bubble to the surface, and it wouldn’t be a good conversation. He turned to leave before he could do anything else, dinner now the last thing on his mind.
As he drove home, thought back to how busy his mother had been, and saw it all in a new light. Had she really missed Liv and Lewis’s wedding for a work trip? Or was it a romantic getaway? Was she really in strange parts of town for shopping, or was it for someone else? He may have kept some of the details on his and Violet’s friendship secret, but he never outright lied about them. He didn’t like being lied to, not after Lauren had done it for so long.
Hopefully Violet would be home soon because she would know exactly what to say to make him understand the mix of feelings he had.
Which was why she meant so much to him.
~
Violet
Hello Violet,
We are reaching out to you for a new position in Phoenix, Arizona we think you would be a good fit for. It is a data driven job monitoring the education of middle school students. The pay is $80,000 a year. You would work 40 hours a week. Please reach out if you’re interested.
Violet couldn’t stop reading the email. It was the first thing she had seen when she went to lunch, and she couldn’t believe it.
80,000 dollars? A better job without long hours? This was her dream come true.
Violet was on her lunch when she got it, and she had time to research the location. Phoenix was expensive, but she would be able to afford a nice place on her own.
This had been what she had been waiting for, but she hadn’t ever thought she would move across the country. Nashville wasn’t the kind of city that offered a lot of education careers, and this was based out of a college in Phoenix.
She’d hate to leave her friends, who she cared about so much. God, she’d hate to leave Charlie.
But in doing so, she would be able to live on her own. She needed to support herself without help, and this was her only option. It would be years of small raises until she could afford her own place, and who knew if she and Charlie would make it that long?
Sure, the sex had been great, and the morning after too. But they had thrown a wrench in their friendship. Charlie didn’t believe in love. He had said this feeling didn’t last.
So where would she be when it did finally end?
Violet took a deep breath and emailed the agent back. She had to interview for this. Even if the job wasn’t going to be perfect, and she wouldn’t be working with students, she knew she needed to try.
