Charlotte stood at the library counter as she buried her head into a new book a she had started. It was a quiet day with a single character who had been there since the open hour trying to choose the right book. Charlotte looked up at the teenage boy who looked very confused by the titles. He looked up at her and quickly looked away. Charlotte sighed and went back to her book.
A few minutes later the red headed boy walked up to her with a book in hand. She took a sec before separating from the words.
"I'll buy this one" he said smiling.
She blinked.
"Umm... kid this is a library" Charlotte spoke slowly.
"Yeah" he nodded, "and do you also sell school supplies?"
She blinked again.
"...no" she said, "we don't sell books..."
"What?!" He exclaimed
"...a library" she repeated.
"Uh then I've wasted my time!" He said and dropped the book on the corner and turned to walk out.
"Wait, we-" she blurted, but he'd already left. She sighed and went back to her book.
Soon enough the door opened again and a middle-aged woman came in. A small boy came in with her, holding her hand. The woman looked disturbed.
"Morning, Shelly" Charlotte greeted her without looking up.
"Morning, dear" she said with a worried tone. Now Charlotte looked up and saw the boy.
"Oh, hey, Charlie" she said, sounding a bit concerned for the older woman, "what's wrong, Shelly?"
"Oh, nothing" she said, not sounding very convincing. Charlotte raised an eyebrow and smiled a little, "oh, okay... it's just... I was planning to visit my mom at the hospital today, but the babysitter canceled on me and Charlie's scared of hospitals so I can't take him with me... I brought him to work instead... I'll just go see my mom next Friday"
Charlotte knew that Shelly wanted her to offer to take care of Charlie instead, but she was still willing to look past the obvious manipulation attempt, since Shelly's mom really was in a bad condition and needed a familiar face with her. Shelly was sneaky but she had a good heart as far as Charlotte could tell.
"He can stay with me, Shelly, don't worry" Charlotte smiled. She closed her book and walked around the counter. Shelly was holding a few grocery bags that looked heavy. Charlotte took them from her and placed them on the small table next to the counter.
"Oh, no, dear. I could never ask you to do that. I'd have to stay with my mom for the whole day and I can't burden you like this" she said as she walked behind Charlotte. Charlie frowned at the word 'burden'.
"It's no problem. I'll take him with me after work. You know where I live. You can come pick him up when you get back from home." Charlotte smiled and turned to Charlie, "it's supposed to rain today so me and my girlfriends are having a movie night with hot coco. How does that sound?" She asked him and saw his eyes lit up at the sound of coco.
"Will you also have popcorn?"
"Duh!" She chuckled.
"I'm in!" The boy said. He was eight years old and had already found a hobby in rock music as his shirt loudly spoke. He hadn't taken after his mom at all. He had dark blonde hair which was buzzed short and light green eyes. He wasn't as tall as most boys his age and didn't seem to be interested in the same things as well, like sports or silly childish games. He had music and movies instead.
"Good" Charlotte said. Shelly looked a bit concerned.
"You sure it's not a big deal?" She asked.
"Of course" Charlotte nodded.
"Oh, okay then" she said while frowning, "but call me if he bothers you to much. I'll come pick him up right away. The boy's growing up to be a bit of a rebel like his dad" she said and sighed. The small boy looked uncomfortable as well. Shelly's husband had died a while ago, but they were still depressed by it. Then again, who could ever get over losing a loved one?
~*~