AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh my God, Hayden, what the fuck?” Charlotte slammed the chicken box onto the counter with such force it tipped over and bits of sauced chicken spilled all over the surface.
“Why would you think that’s okay, even if it was my personal phone? Putting my number out there where anyone could find it? They were calling me by name. You’re such a man, not even thinking about how dangerous that is for a woman.”
“You’re right. I never thought about that. I’m sorr?—”
“And then there’s the fact it’s my work phone. This internship is one of the biggest opportunities I’ve ever gotten. If I don’t get a job out of this, I have to go back home with my tail between my legs and just wait while my parents don’t listen to me and the store goes out of business. Do you think that’s what I want? Now I’m going to be known as the country llama lady who abuses company assets.”
“I’m sure no one is thinking?—”
“Ugh, I can’t even look at you right now. I’m going to bed.”
With that, Charlotte stormed away from the island, slamming her bedroom door behind her. She left the mostly full beer bottle and had only gotten through a few bites of dinner, which I knew wasn’t going to help her anger toward me.
I pulled out my phone and dialed the number of my twin, Hunter.
“Hey, man,” he answered.
“Hey, Hunter, listen. Can you do me a favor and take down that llama ad from wherever you posted it? And scrub it from appearing again?” I may be the professional IT guy in the family, but I had accidentally taught Hunter enough to be dangerous.
“Yeah, sure, no problem. Did she figure out it was you?”
“Yeah… I ended up telling her. Turns out that was her work number and not her personal one. And she read me the Riot Act about using her real name on the ad too.”
“Wait, Charlotte’s her real name? What the hell, man? Even I know not to put a woman’s real name with her phone number on the internet.”
“Well, I know now, don’t I? Just get the ad down?”
“Consider it done.”
“Thanks, man. Love you.”
“You too.”
I stared at the screen of my phone, wondering if there was anything else I could do to make it right. I could call someone at her job? But then she might get in trouble for leaving her phone around unlocked, where someone else could access it. Plus, who was I, her dad, trying to get her out of trouble?
I looked down the hall at the closed door, almost feeling Charlotte’s rage radiating in waves on the air out toward me. Maybe I didn’t want Charlotte to get any closer, but I sure didn’t like the idea of her feeling this far away.
Chapter
Ten
Charlotte
It had been two weeks since I was last contacted about selling a llama, but I was still strongly considering selling a Hayden. The leaves were starting to turn and pumpkin spice everything was everywhere. I had bought the dairy version of pumpkin spice creamer just in case Hayden liked to indulge in his basic side; he didn’t deserve to sneak any into his morning coffee.
We hadn’t talked much since his big prank reveal. I could tell he wanted to make it up to me in the days right after, but I hadn’t given him much opportunity. Since that night, he stayed at the office later each day, barely spending any time in the condo. It turns out I hadn’t needed to resort to pranks to get him out of the house, just wait for him to screw up on a monumental scale all on his own. Then he’d treat it as a place to rest his head and nothing more.
I did wonder though, where he had been watching episodes of Bounty Hunter Wars.
My hours weren’t much better than Hayden’s, with the gala getting closer every day. It seemed there were a million little details to take care of, from the flowers to the seating chart to the silent auction. I loved it and felt like I was thriving. Even better, it appeared Paula did, too. The “llama incident” seemed to be a distant memory at work, but I was still having trouble letting it go.
On Monday morning, a whole week before the gala, it felt like I hadn’t gotten any rest over the weekend. I spent Saturday tweaking the seating arrangements, as the RSVP deadline passed on Friday. Sunday had brought marathon phone calls with Blaire and Austin, but I hadn’t felt like doing much else other than hiding in my room and scrolling on my phone.
As the elevator opened on my floor, Miles, another intern in the bookstore relations department, was walking past with a cup of coffee.
“Morning, Charlotte! Good weekend?”
“It was all right. Not much to write home about. How about you?”
