Justin knocked on the door softly as he held the wine. He waited only a moment before a huge grin greeted him.
"Justin!" A short girl with long blonde hair opened the door. Her eyes were a deep brown as her skin was fair.
"Hey, Charlotte." Justin smiled at his young sister.
"Mom is upstairs with Toby. Dad should be home from work soon!" Charlotte moved so Justin could enter the house.
"Has he been working a lot?" Justin questioned as walked to the kitchen.
"Yeah, there is a new project that he is in charge of." Charlotte shrugged, and tugged on the sleeves of her soft yellow sweater.
"That's good, right?" Justin smiled at Charlotte as she averted her eyes.
"They are arguing more lately." Charlotte took the wine from Justin, and slid it in the fridge.
"Why have they been arguing?" Justin questioned as he leaned against the counter.
"Sometimes people fall out of love. Sometimes things just can't work." Charlotte smiled at Justin before he pulled her into a hug.
"They will work it out. It's just the stress of a new baby, and him working all the time." Justin mumbled as he whispered in her ear.
"She had her forever love with your dad, Justin. This was supposed to be her lasting love." Charlotte said as she pulled away from him.
"What does that even mean?" Justin smiled at her as he rolled his eyes.
"A forever love is someone who you will love forever, but you can't be with them, because it can't work. A lasting love is someone you love, and you can be with them, because you are perfect together." Charlotte walked to the living room as she tried to explain.
"What about Clarence and me?" Justin followed her to the couch. His heart started to beat faster as he waited for her to answer. She bit her lip as she tried to think. He worried she would say something he wasn't ready to hear.
"I think it will be a forever love. It was the love that changed you, Justin." Charlotte leaned against his shoulder as she talked.
"But what if she comes back?" Justin asked as he heard his mother yelling upstairs.
"She hurt you by leaving. You hurt her by not waiting." Justin shook his head.
"I am waiting for her." Justin closed his eyes, and thought of the girl he met an hour before.
"Maybe today. Maybe tomorrow. But not forever." Charlotte closed her eyes as she heard her mother's voice raise more.
"I think dad is still at work." Justin mumbled as he looked at the ceiling.
"Maybe mom is right." Charlotte shrugged.
"About what?" Justin asked lazily.
"She shouldn't have married him." Charlotte whispered as she pulled at her sleeve.
"Then you wouldn't have been born, silly." Justin smiled down at her, but she just shrugged.
"Will that be the worst thing?" Justin looked down at his little sister in shock. The girl he has seen grown up. The girl who welcomed him in the house with a huge smile. The girl who use to dream of finding her prince charming. The girl who kept him sane these months.
"I would die without you in my life, Charlotte." Justin kissed her head, "I don't care if our parents are not seeing it. I don't care if our sister does not see it. I don't care if the world doesn't see it. I see it."
"See what?" Charlotte refused to look at him.
"How wonderful and beautiful you are. You are my favorite person." Before Charlotte could respond, their mother walked down the stairs with a baby boy on her hip.
"Hey mom." Justin smiled, but she just ignored him.
"He is working another late night! He knew about this dinner for two weeks! He should just move into the office!" The baby on her hip just leaned against his mother as Charlotte rolled his eyes.
"You would be mad about that too, mom." Charlotte mumbled, but their mother heard her.
"Charlotte, what was that? You want to repeat that?" Olivia, their mother, glared at her. Charlotte just looked at the floor as Justin shook his head.
"Mom, you are mad at dad. Leave Charlotte out of this." Justin looked at his mother who just glared at Justin.
"So I am the bad guy? Dinner is off! I am going to feed Toby, and that is it!" She walked into the kitchen, and slammed the door.
"Thanks, Justin." Charlotte leaned her head against her knees.
"Does that happen a lot?" Justin asked in horror, "She wasn't always like that."
"Stress." Charlotte shrugged, "You should go. I'm going to hide up in my room tonight."
"Let's go out to eat." Justin smiled at her, and she instantly brightened up.
"Really?" Charlotte questioned with a smile. "Could we see Tutor too?"
"He is getting big now." Justin laughed as Charlotte smile grew as she thought of the cat.
"I know a great restaurant." Justin walked to the door, "Well, come on."
Charlotte jumped off the couch, and ran after Justin. As they made their way to their diner, Clarence was just sweeping up hers.
"You sure I can go?" Philip asked as he took off his apron.
"I've walked home many times before, Philip." Clarence smiled at him.
"I don't like the idea of you on the streets by yourself. I walk Kathrine home all the time." He smiled as he walked towards the exit.
"I am sure she loves that." Clarence laughed as he shrugged.
"To be honest, I love it too." He laughed.
"Have a good night." He nodded before switching the sign to close, and walked out of the diner.
Clarence turned on the radio, and went back to cleaning. It was her turn to close up the shop, and that means cleaning for this diner. She pulled her hair into a pony tail as she started sweeping. She softly sang with the song until she heard the bell ring.
"I'm sorry. We are closed." Clarence said quietly as she hid out of sight from the door. She hoped that it was only Philip. She knew LA was a dangerous place at night.
"Could you make an exception, Rosalyn?" Clarence sighed with relief as she heard Austin's voice.
"You scared me." Clarence walked out of the kitchen with a slight smile on her face.
"Why is that, darling?" He leaned against the counter with an amused smirk. He wore the same suit, and Clarence wondered if his wrist hurt from the watch that still hung on his wrist.
"LA is dangerous at night." Clarence smiled as he pretend to scowl at her.
"How do you know I am not dangerous?" He said in a low voice which most would find attractive, yet Clarence is not most.
"You are as dangerous as a puppy." Clarence laugh as he mocked hurt.
"How would you know?" He smiled as she pretended to think.
"If you were dangerous, you would not have such good reviews." Clarence laughed at his confused look.
"My friend told me all about you. She is very jealous that I ran into you instead of her." Clarence smiled as he shook his head.
"So you know who I am, does that change anything?" He looked at her eyes seriously.
"What would that change?" Clarence leaned against the broom in her hands. She almost felt self-conscious in the stained red dress that modeled old diners with her hair knotted into a pony tail. She then scowled herself when she remembered Justin.
"You are not like them, are you?" He looked her up and down quickly.
"What does that mean?" Clarence smiled slightly at him.
"It means you haven't showed any cleavage, or made a move on me." He shrugged, "How long until you are done?"
"Ten minutes or so." He looked his phone out, and started texting.
"Get to it then." She rolled his eyes.
"What are you doing here?" She put the broom away, and started to wash the counter down.
"Walking you home." He stated as though it was obvious.
"Why? I can walk home by myself." Clarence rolled her eyes.
"I am trying to be a gentleman." Austin huffed as he kept typing on his phone.
"Something tells me, you are not a gentleman." Clarence rolled her eyes. She forgot how much he annoyed her.
"How would you know?" Austin glared at her.
"I think it is pretty obvious." Clarence huffed as she put the rag away. She turned all the lights off, and he just started at her.
When she locked the door, he silently waited for her outside.
"Are you ok?" Clarence shifted on her feet awkwardly.
"I'm fine, Rosa. Where do you live?" Austin put his phone in his pocket as Clarence told him. It was the first time anyone had shorten this name of hers. She almost smiled as she thought of Justin.
Justin would have shorten my name too.
"How was your day?" Clarence asked as she hugged her coat. The chilly April night showed its ugly winds as she walked with Austin. She felt a sudden weight on her shoulder. She realized he put his coat on her shoulders.
"Don't want you to catch a cold." Austin shrugged. Clarence nodded, and felt her cheeks heat.
"Thank you. So, how was your day?" Clarence looked up at the stars as he thought of an answer.
"It was good. I did well for the business."
"Sounds like you really like it." Clarence smiled as her apartment came into view.
"I do. This is goodbye then." Austin looked at her plan brown door with the chipping golden paint on the metal '4' on it.
"Goodnight." She smiled as she slipped off his coat, and handed it to him.
"What are you doing tomorrow at seven?" He smiled at her as she shrugged.
"I have off so-"
"I will pick you up at seven. Dress fancy." He smiled as she looked stunned.
"Goodnight." With that, he walked away.
Hello! This is Bellamy (the author XD)! I am really excited for this story, and I hope you are as well! There is going to be a lot of character development, and some new characters that I absolutely love (well, mostly love). This is going to be a story with a lot of ups and downs!
Let me know what you think of the characters so far, and if there are any old characters you would like to see come in for a little.
Thank you all so much, and I hope you enjoy this story. If you are feeling generous, please leave a comment/vote!
Have a good day!