Southern Belles, a Novel About Love, Purpose & Second Chances (9781310340970) (32 page)

Months had passed since I’d seen or heard
from CeCe. It was almost April and I was getting ready to graduate
with my Associates degree. Her absence from my life made it hard to
write my book about best friends. I grew closer to Eric, as a
friend, and we spent more time with him and Aiden. Eventually, I
opened up to him about the displacement of my friendship with CeCe.
He listened and offered no suggestions or judgment. He merely
listened until finally I had little left to say about the condition
of our friendship. Our conversations slowly changed from CeCe to
other topics. Eric played the piano for me. He had written a
ballad. It was untitled or at least he said it was. The notes were
deep and soulful just like him. When he played, everything else
faded away. He was lost in the music and so was I. It was hard not
to get caught up in the moment. I questioned if I had made the
right decision to be just friends. But deep down inside, despite
his perfection in almost every way, I still felt a loyalty to CeCe
and couldn’t think of betraying that if she still had an interest
in him.

Graduation was around the corner and I
decided to call CeCe to invite her to my big day. I was proud, that
even though delayed, I had accomplished what many said I probably
wouldn’t have being a young, single-mother. I would not be stopped.
This was just the groundwork for my career in journalism. The last
time I sat in a cap and gown my best friend sat beside me, cheering
me on. I wanted so badly for CeCe to come and be with me this day.
I had worked so hard and put so many hours in to make this a
reality. I wanted the most important people there to share my
achievement. I wanted—needed CeCe there. I sent an invitation to
her school address and left her a voicemail twice.

Graduation Day came and all of my family
with Lucy, Aunt Juanita, Trudy, and Eric sat in the audience. I
sat, somberly, on the stage with my fellow graduates. This time I
had no speech to give. All I had to do was to sit and enjoy the
moment. I sat and stared at the empty chair where CeCe was supposed
to sit. I couldn’t help but take this personally. I knew she was
busy, but it was a Saturday. She could have driven down the night
before. She could have called to say she couldn’t make it and
wished me congratulations, but she didn’t. As the ceremonies ended
and our family got up to leave, I spotted CeCe’s parents. They
walked towards us with Beverly holding a blue envelope and James
holding a bouquet of flowers.

“Hi Charlotte, CeCe wasn’t able to make it
and asked if we could come to congratulate you.” Beverly said,
smiling.

“That was so nice of you Bev.” My mother
said, reaching out to hug her.

“These are for you.” James said, handing me
the bouquet of flowers.

“And this too.” Beverly placed a blue
envelope in my other hand.

“Thank you, that was so nice of both of
you.” I said still in shock to see them at my graduation.

Beverly carefully bent down, in her dress,
to Lucy’s height, “You are getting so big and so pretty like your
mama.”

Lucy smiled and held onto my knee, hiding
partially behind my leg.

“Would you like to come over sometime and go
swimming in our pool? No one uses it with CeCe being gone all the
time.” Beverly said looking up at me.

“Thanks, I’m sure she’d enjoy that. She
loves the water.”

“Well feel free to come over whenever. You
don’t need an invitation.” Beverly said before standing back up and
straightening her dress.

“We have to get going, congratulations
Charlotte.” James said.

“Thank you both for coming. When you talk to
CeCe, will you please tell her I said hi?” I asked.

“We will if we can get a hold of her. She’s
always so busy.” Beverly said rolling her eyes.

“Thank you both.” My mother said shaking
James’s hand and nodding at Beverly.

“Bye.” I said waving.

“That was weird.” Richie piped up.

I looked at my mother and Eric—the two
people who knew I was hurt by CeCe’s absenteeism. I was surprised
that she had sent them and that they actually came. I hadn’t said
anything to Richie about CeCe as he was immersed in his current
play and I didn’t want to bother another person with my CeCe
issues. I found it strange though as CeCe grew farther apart from
me; her mother seemed more congenial now then she did the whole
time we were growing up.

We went to Tru Rox for a celebratory dinner.
Trudy closed the diner that Saturday night for a small graduation
dinner in my honor. It was nice. I was blessed to have so many good
people around me that I tried not to think of CeCe and her almost
non-existence in my life. I received many cards, gifts, and
well-wishes. I opened the card from Beverly and James. Inside were
five words ‘Charlotte, a job well done’ written in Beverly’s
handwriting, along with two-hundred dollars. I could feel the tears
waiting to fall as I fought them back with so many people present.
Eric slipped me his card, later in the evening while people were
busy talking loudly and laughing. He gave Lucy a hug and twirled
her around, with flying giggles, before he came back over to where
I was sitting. He gave me a hug and congratulated me one more time
before he left.

“What’s up with you guys?” Richie asked.

“We’re just friends Rich.”

“Why? He’s a great guy and obviously he
cares about you.” Richie remarked.

“He is a great guy and a wonderful friend.
But he’s just a friend.” I said trying to convince myself.

“Yeah, he’s better than some other friends
of yours.” Richie said sarcastically.

“Richie don’t say that about CeCe.”

“I didn’t mention any names, you did.” He
looked at me.

“Her parents gave me two-hundred dollars in
their card.”

“Yeah, her parents did not CeCe—CeCe didn’t
even show up. What’s going on with her?” He asked, looking for a
truthful answer.

“I don’t know. It really bothers me but I’ve
done everything I can. I can’t make her be my friend.”

“No, but you can’t put your life on pause
because CeCe decides to take a hiatus from being your best
friend.”

“I’m not.”

“Really? Eric Sothersby, a nice, guy who
would do anything for you—who follows you around all the time—who’s
good to your daughter—who’s perfect for you— is interested in you
and you keep him at the friend’s level because you’re waiting for
CeCe to make up her mind—to decide if she’s going to come back and
like him instead? I love CeCe too—you know that. Char, when are you
going to do something good for yourself?”

“What are you talking about Richie? I just
finished my Associates degree in journalism—something I’ve always
wanted.”

“Char—you know you can’t just work at
Trudy’s for the rest of your life—that’s her dream not yours. Your
degree is only part of it—you can’t forget about your heart.”

“I’m trying to enjoy this day, not be a
moppy mess.”

“Okay, I’ll leave you alone for now. But
what are you going to do if you miss the right opportunity when it
was right in front of you all along?”

“Then I’ll have to deal with it when it
happens. I just want to try and enjoy this moment as much as
possible.”

“I love you sis. I want all the wonderful
things in this life for you. Eric is one of them. At least consider
him a possibility?”

“I’m making no promises but I’ll think about
it.” I said, wiping a tear from leaving my eyelid quickly.

As much as I didn’t want to admit it, Richie
was right. This chapter of my life was quickly ending. My
friendship, if you could call it that, with CeCe was questionable.
I virtually ran Tru-Rox when Trudy was off. Trudy had been a great
friend and a huge blessing when I needed a job but I had to
consider what I could do with my writing. I needed to get back to
writing my book again and see what I was capable of. My mother’s
words ‘you have the power to change your fate’ swirled around in my
head again and again. There was something bubbling inside me that
needed to be birthed—something that was deep and needed life. I
took up running in the evenings, just before dusk, to clear my
head. While I ran, thoughts exploded for book ideas, again about
best friends but with real-life circumstances—the good and the
ugly. I began writing and found refuge in memories of CeCe and
I—some that made me laugh and others that made me hurt—but all
life-inspiring. About two weeks after I received my degree, a
posting for a part-time columnist, in the local newspaper, Marys
Reporter, appeared. Although I had no experience, the newspaper
editor knew my father and was a good friend of his. He decided to
give me a three-month trial-basis to see if it were a good fit. I
quit my job at the dinner after I received the job offer. I was
responsible for writing a weekly column on local social happenings
and community issues. When I wasn’t busy gathering information for
the column, I worked with the marketing department to sell ads in
the newspaper. I was on a learning curve, being the youngest at the
newspaper by at least ten years. In the evenings Eric and I took
Lucy and Aiden to the park while I read and researched topics for
my column. My first column had a total of seven revisions before it
was approved. The next week, I had five revisions before it went to
print. I was writing about tax increases on the elderly, the Lions
Club fundraisers for college scholarships and anything else I could
get a response from the public on. I enjoyed the search for topics
even though it was not my first choice for writing; it gave me good
experience. I worked on my book on my days off.

I contemplated Richie’s words about Eric in
the back of my head. I hadn’t made any decisions yet, but as time
passed and CeCe was still missing, my fondness for Eric grew as did
his. Lucy became closer with Eric and he, also, with her. He had a
gentle spirit. I enjoyed watching him swing her around as she
giggled and yelled ‘more, more’. There were times that he caught me
gazing at him and smiled back.

I wondered back to his statement of what
might have been if I had been the one to show him around the first
day in fifth grade instead of CeCe. I wondered if that would have
made a difference in how I controlled my feelings for him now.
There were things about Eric that reminded me of Skylar. They were
both incredibly handsome and of good character—or at least Skylar
had seemed to be of good character before he failed to ever show up
again. Eric didn’t seem to care that I had a life before his
friendship or that I was a single-mother. He never got mad at me
when I had to work and break plans with him. He even brought me
cappuccinos to my work when I was under tight deadlines and needed
a pick-me-up. Eric was all over my life yet Skylar remained in the
back of my mind especially as I watched Lucy grow and speculated
where some of her mannerisms and features came from.

It was mid-May and Eric’s dad had one more
appointment left in Savannah. The doctors reported that he was
doing very well and just needed one follow up to confirm they were
able to eradicate all of the cancer. Eric surprised me at work,
before he left, with an early Birthday present. From a small
wrapped box, I opened a coffee pot that made single-servings. He
smiled and noted that I needed this since I was turning 21 and
might want a
drink
. He said it should help fill in for him
bringing the usual cappuccino to work for me while he was gone. I
gladly accepted the gift and gave him a dancing hula girl, with
long brown hair, so he could see it on his dashboard for the drive
to Savannah. I figured a few laughs would be good for him and, that
maybe, he’d think of me when he watched the hula dancer. Upon
saying goodbye, he hugged me and kissed my forehead. I grabbed his
hand as he turned to leave, stood up on my tip-toes, leaned into
him and pressed my lips to his. With his eyes open, I caught his
glimpse and felt his lips open to smile. He wrapped his arms around
me and a jittery feeling shot up my stomach as he held me tightly
in his embrace. He lifted me up and swung me around.

“Wow.” He said looking into my eyes as he
lowered me to the ground. “So, all it took was buying you a coffee
maker—I should have done that a long time ago?”

“I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.” I
said, fixing my eyes on his.

“I’ve waited for you to want that for a long
time.” He said, breaking into a smile.

“Thank you for being a good man.”

“You make me happy Charlotte.”

“You make us happy.” I said grabbing his
hands into mine.

“I’ll be thinking about you two while I’m
gone.”

“I hope so.”

“I’ll see you soon. May I have one more kiss
to take with me? I’m still in shock from the first one.”

“You’re asking?” I titled me head.

“Just making sure I’m not dreaming.”

I leaned into him once more and felt the
warmth of his lips kiss me. He slipped back into the shy Eric I
knew as a kid. He opened his eyes again as we caught each other’s
glance before breaking into laughter.

“I think I’m gonna miss you.” I said.

“Yeah? I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Okay, bye, I guess.” I bit my lip as he
gave me one quick peck on the lips before he let go of my hands and
walked towards the door. I stood there as he turned around several
times on his way out, smiling back at me.

I wasn’t sure what I’d just done but it felt
so nice to have a good guy care for me and Lucy. There was an
innocence about Eric. He was handsome, kind, funny, and great with
kids—my kid. He was almost perfect. I had started to really care
about him, and pushed my thoughts of CeCe and Skylar aside. For
now, I tried my best to forget about Skylar and hoped that CeCe
would come around.

Chapter 18: I Need You

Eric
called me later that night to let me know they had gotten to
Savannah safely. He told me they were booked with appointments the
next few days but would try to call me in the evenings. He left me
the name of the hotel and phone number in case I wanted to catch
him up on what he was missing while he was gone. I was sure it was
mostly because he wanted to hear my voice.