His Girl Charlotte

5

She's all ready when I walk out into the living room. She is sitting at the barstool drinking a cup of coffee made by Janice. I hope she doesn't think too much about what I almost did yesterday.

"Tony, we are ready." I say and he nods. I glance at her as she stands up, pulling half her hair up into a pony tail. She's wearing a long sleeved black sweater dress that comes up right above her knees. She pulls a red pea-coat over. When she turns around so do I. What has gotten into me? First I almost kiss the girl and I can't keep my eyes off of her.

"Michael." She walks quickly to catch up to Tony and I. "Israel tried to call me last night. I don't know if it's much help..."

I grab her phone. "Did he leave a message?"

"No, sir— Michael." She corrects herself. I glance at Tony who looks as reserved as always.

"I'll let the cops have a look at it to trace where the call was located at the time. You don't need your phone today anyway. You'll be at my office and if you leave— well just don't leave or I'll be mad. Understand?"

"Yes." She says. "If my grandpa calls, can you let me know? He normally doesn't but just Incase."

I nod, getting into the Range Rover. I call the detective and arrange a time for him to come receive Charlottes phone to track the call. When we get to my building, I have one of my security men walk Charlotte inside while I stay back with Tony.

I hand him Charlottes phone. "Meet Detective R here in exactly two hours and give him the most recent call. Have him also do us another favor. Put a tracker in her phone, we don't need her to leave again not knowing where she is."

"Yes, sir." Tony nods and I head inside.

>

12 hours today done. I'm sure Charlotte is exhausted as well. When I get to my office, she is writing down something on a piece of paper.

"It's almost 10." I say and toss a pen into my desk. "Come, lets go back to the loft."

She nods and yawns when she stands up. I feel a little bad for not warning her about this long day, I personally didn't expect it to be this long. But I do have a surprise for her back at the loft and I hope she likes it.

"Tonia was pretty nice to me today." She says and we reach the bottom of the staircase. The elevators are going to be done in 2 days the construction men had told me.

"Glad to hear that."

"Did you hear any news about where Israel called me from?"

"I did, I'm not sure if I should say anything yet."

"What do you mean?" She looks at me as I lock the entry doors.

"It's none of your concern right now."

"It's my ex, it's my phone. It's my concern Michael." I am surprised by her attitude but even more surprised that I find it cute. I can't help my smile.

"I guess you're right miss." I place my hand on the small of her back as we walk out in the rain to Tony parked across the street. I shut her door and get into the passenger seat. "The call was traced from a hotel across the street from my loft." I say. I know she is worried and I am too.

"So he knows where I am at."

"It appears so. And look, I don't know what Israel is capable of. All I know is that he is dangerous to you and I don't want you going anywhere without Tony or I. He's after you and I want to keep you safe, so you have to work with my rules." I explain.

She doesn't say anything so I turn around in my seat. She is scared and thinking to herself. "You're safe, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." I assure her and she thanks me. When we get to the loft, Janice greets us.

"Hey Janice." I say and she gives me a wink. That means her present is here.

"Dear, go change into pajamas! You've worked all day." She wraps her arms around Charlottes small frame.

"Here, let me take your coat." I say and grab her red sleeve. She allows me to help her out of it. I hang the coat in my closet and she disappears into the guest room down the hall.

"She's going to be so happy, it was so kind of you Michael." Janice assures me. I mean, I hope she likes it. Tony received a phone call and goes into his office.

Charlotte walks out of the hallway and stares at me. I can't tell what she is feeling, confused? Mad?

"Um, there's a lot of clothes in the closet." She says. I can't stop myself from smiling. She doesn't know it's for her? "Come look."

I meet her in the room, she is standing inside the walk in closet. It's very organized and very full. Wonderful.

"Do you like it?" I ask and realization hits her. Her face falls, she looks shocked.

"Did you— is this for me?"

I nod, I still can't grasp what she is feeling right now.

"No, Michael this is too much. You didn't have to do this, do you know how much you've already done for me?"

"I wanted to do this." I tell her and mean it. I truly did. When I saw that Israel basically took scissors to everything she owned, I knew this would make her happy. Yesterday when she came him with only 4 bags of stuff, I knew that wasn't enough but only what she could afford.

"How? When?" She touches the fabrics hanging infront of her.

"I called Naomi Sinclair, she's the best woman stylists of 2018 and I know her well. I gave your your sizes and she really pulled through." I am proud of Naomi's work.

Charlotte walks infront of me, staring at me in awe.

"Thank you Michael. So much." She wraps her arms around me. She smells amazing, always like roses. I hug her in return. I'm happy I did this for her. "How much money did all this cost?"

"$38,000"

"No it didn't!" Her mouth drops.

"That's nothing, I make that in 3 hours." I tell her and she lands her eyes on the three elegant dresses hanging up.

"What are these dresses for? They look like prom dresses." She touches the golden dress.

"Well, if you are going to go to events with me, you need to look like my assistant." I touch the dress too. Naomi did incredible. I can't wait to see this on her. She gasps and looks at me. I'm happy she liked everything. "Get your pajamas on." I say, grinning. I leave her alone in the closet so she can dress.