The next day, Mal and Charlotte head to Charlotte's appointment together and as she goes through the paces of her exercises and stretches Mal watches from the side smiling and cheering her on as she slowly walks on the treadmill.
After she completes her workout, Charlotte sits down with them to discuss her progress and what's coming next.
"Everything is looking really good so far, Charlie, keep up the good work and provided there is no swelling and or pain in the meantime we'll see about getting you moving a bit more at your next appointment, sound good?"
Charlotte nods, "So in the meantime, I keep doing the at-home stuff like I have been, right?"
"Exactly, just remember not to overdo it and stop if there are any signs of discomfort."
"Okay, I can do that. Are you going to forward on my case information to Stanford or do I have to look after that?"
"We've already been in contact with the professional team at Stanford and we'll be sending them your records following your next appointment. You don't need to worry about anything Charlie, we are aware of how important it is for you to make a full recovery as soon as possible and get you back out on the field better than ever. You're a bit of a local celebrity around here you know because of what you accomplished in high school and playing at the U20's ."
"All that seems like a lifetime ago. All I can think about right now is getting back out on the pitch and kicking a ball around as soon as possible."
"Give it time and it will happen and from the looks of it, you have yourself a pretty strong support system."
Charlotte looks at Mal and nods, "Yeah, I definitely do. I'll see you in a few weeks. Thanks for everything."
They head out to the car and Charlotte drives them home before heading back to her room to lay down for a bit.
Mal lays down beside her, "Are you okay? You didn't get bad news, did you? , you didn't say a word on the drive home."
"Yeah, just frustrated, I guess. I'm sorry, Mal, I shouldn't take it out on you."
"It's okay, I know you are struggling with everything and I'm here to help you."
"You have enough to deal with right now, you shouldn't have to deal with a grumpy, girlfriend on top of everything else."
Mal laughs, "You mean cute, grumpy, girlfriend and it's really okay."
"How are you doing, Mal?"
Mal takes a deep breath, "I'll get through, I'm disappointed in the results but no one can take away the fact that I worked my ass off to make the team and made it and represented my country at the Olympics as a teenager and well, I have no control over what happens to Hope."
"That's for sure, you have no idea how incredibly proud I am of you. I still have a hard time believing that you are here and my girlfriend sometimes, you know?"
Mal smiles, "Believe it. I'm not going anywhere, ever, C.J."
They kiss and Mal notices that Charlotte has tears running down her cheeks as they separate.
"What's really going on in that beautiful mind of yours?"
"I have something that I need to tell you and I'm really not sure how you are going to take it and I'm scared that you will leave me and I really don't want that to happen because I love you so much and ..."
"Woah, slow down and talk to me."
"I need you to promise me that what I'm about to tell you stays between us and only us, okay? Not even your family can know, yet, anyway."
"C.J. you're scaring me, what's really going on?"
"Promise me." Charlotte looks her right in the eyes and watches as she nods. "I promise."
"It's nothing bad or scary, at least I don't think so, anyway." Charlotte points to the book that was in Mal's hand. "The book that you are currently reading, "The Known," I told you that the identity of the true author is a mystery and no ones for sure who wrote it, well I did, I wrote it."
"What? What do you mean you wrote it? I'm confused."
"Let me finish talking and tell you the entire story and then you can ask me anything you need to, okay?"
Mal nods her head.
Charlotte stands up and reaches for Mal's hand, "Come with me, it'll be easier to explain if I can show you a few things."
Mal follows Charlotte into the office and takes a seat on the couch. Charlotte walks over to the filing cabinet and takes out the folder with her father's original scribblings and notations about the Known as passes them over to Mal to look through.
"My father was an absolutely brilliant man, he was my hero and through his work and research, he developed something he referred to as "The Known Theory" the basis of which was that in the future computers will have surpassed us intelligence wise and that every person will be implanted with a chip that will dictate their future for them and take away our ability to think and or choose for ourselves. From the day we are born everything about us will be known, our thoughts, feelings, emotions, skills, talents everything will be fed to machines and the information gathered used to tell us how we should live and who we should love.
He wrote papers on the topic and they were never well-received, rather than completely dropping the idea of it all, he realized that I was a talented writer and could make something out the ideas; and he started to outline a series of books for us to work on and write together, something I didn't know about until after he passed away and I stumbled upon that folder.
As a way of honouring him and our relationship, I dug in and wrote "The Known" and then "Into The Unknown," while balancing school and soccer. I submitted them to be printed but originally publishers wanted nothing to do with them or me, so I struggled with finding the motivation to continue writing and finish out the series. With the help of Kenz, my Mom, Finn and his parents I was able to self-publish the first two books and they started selling really well at the university and also a few other spots. We ended up tripling our original orders for them and still weren't able to keep the copies in stock.
After I got hurt, returned home and had surgery, I wasn't able to do anything physical, so I decided to turn my attention back to writing with the result being "Know-How" the final book in the series. It came together really quickly because I already knew how everything was going to play out and had found the needed motivation to finish everything out.
The ink wasn't even dry on "Know-How" when pictures began circulating of a celebrity reading and carrying around "The Known" and soon afterwards I was contacted by a few legit publishing houses, offering me money and wanting to print my books. I signed a contract with Dell Publishing while you were in Brazil and the books are currently in the process of being printed and scheduled to ship out to mainstream stores in about two weeks.
Mal, I know this is a lot to take in and I understand if you need time to absorb everything, but I want you to know that since the first day we met I've wanted to tell you about them, but I needed to wait until I knew they were something worth being proud of and not embarrassing to you or me."
Charlotte looks at Mal and sees her wiping away tears, "You are right, it is a lot to take in and I do need time to process it all, but I'm really happy that you were finally able to tell me and you don't need to worry your secret is safe with me. I love you and this information doesn't change that. There is one thing I need to know though, "Who the heck is J.C. Glass?"
Charlotte laughs, "Obviously, it's a pseudonym. The J stands for Jason which was my father's first name, the C for Charlotte, which is self-explanatory and Glass is pretty much just a play on transparency."
"You really wrote them?"
"I did."
Mal looks at her before standing up and walking towards the door, "Wow! Now, I really need to finish reading them."
"Mal, are we okay?"
Mal walks back over to Charlotte and gently kisses her on the lips, "We are okay. I always knew you were special C.J. and knowing this about you just reinforces it."
"You do remember that you promised not to tell anyone, right?"
"I do and I won't, but I think that you owe me an outing because apparently you can afford it."
"I can and I have an idea about that. You will need your passport for it."
"Where are you taking me?"
"My Grandparents live just outside of Ottawa, I haven't been to see them in a couple of months, How, would you like to meet them and spend a day exploring Canada's Capital?"
"Are we flying there?"
Charlotte laughs and shakes her head, "No, we'll drive. It's not far from here."
"Wait, so are your Grandparents Canadian?"
"My Grandmother is, my Grandfather is American and my Mom is dual."
"So, does that mean you could have played for Canada rather than the States?"
"I guess so, but I was born here and if I had chosen to play for Canada then in all likelihood I would have never met you and I don't even want to think about that."
"Me neither." They kiss and hold each other.
"You have no idea how relieved I am that you finally know and I don't have to continue being secretive around you about things. Although I'm kinda disappointed not to have been able to play out my long game and then tell you later this week."
"What do you mean long game?
"Kenz and I had discussed a few ways to get you interested in the books and reading them first before I told you the truth, but I guess I jumped the gun on that one."
"I'm glad you did because it's obviously something that has been eating you up and I know that we promised not to have any secrets between us. I still can't believe that you are a published author."
Charlotte laughs, "Me neither, but, I can't wait to be able to walk into bookstores and see my books for sale; I really hope that people will like and buy them."
"I'm only halfway through the first book and I don't want it to end, I have a feeling that your books are going to do really well and when they do, I'll take some jewellery."
Charlotte laughs, "Not very subtle are you, Pugh?"
Mal shakes her head, "So exactly how rich are you?"
"I'm not rich, Mal. I pretty much took the advance the publishing company gave me and directed chunks of it to my Mom, Kenz, and Finn. Finn's parents wouldn't allow me to share the money with them, so I made sure that Finn would have access to money if he needed to buy anything not covered by his scholarship, same as Kenz, the money I gave her went towards paying her school loan down."
"You're amazing, you know that?"
"I don't, maybe you could show me just how amazing I am."
"Lock the door, baby."
Later on, as they make their way out for supper holding hands and smiling, Carol watches them.
"Did the two of you have a good afternoon?"
"Umm. oh, yeah, Mal knows about the books now, I told her."
Carol turns to face Mal, "And what do you think about them, Mal?"
"I haven't finished reading the first book yet, but so far, it's really good and knowing now that my beautiful and talented girlfriend is the one who wrote the series, makes me love them already."
"So, you don't have an issue with them or with the fact that they are written under a different name?"
"No, C.J. explained the rationale behind everything and I fully support her and the idea of keeping her identity as the writer a secret. It's actually pretty cool to know something that the general public doesn't or won't until the time is right."
Carol looks at her daughter, "Pretty sure I told you, that you had nothing to be afraid of and should tell her all along, right?"
"Yes, Mom, you were right."
"What was that? Not sure I heard you."
Charlotte and Mal laugh, "You were right, Mom."
Carol laughs, "That never gets old."
The front door opens and Mackenzie walks in along with Finn right close behind.
"Um C.J. can we talk to you in private for a moment?"
"Guys, if it's about the books or my alter ego, Mal knows, I told her earlier."
"Oh, okay, that makes things a lot easier. I just wanted to let you know that I received an email earlier indicating that they are going to ship the books out to stores in waves so that they are staggered and don't all hit stores at the same time. So The Known will hit stores in two weeks as originally stated and then Into The Unknown in a few months and then Know-How a few months after that. They don't want to satiate the market off the get-go."
"Okay, that makes sense anything else?"
"Finn, you need to tell her."
"Alright, it's nothing bad. They were just inquiring if you had any other books in the works after these ones."
"Did you respond to them?"
"No, I wasn't sure what to say."
"You can tell them that I am currently on a writing hiatus."
"Okay, wait, does that mean you actually do have an idea for another book?"
"I do, but I want to see how these ones do first before I start something else, not to mention that writing another book isn't a high priority to me right now, rehabbing, building my relationship with Mal and school are. You can also let them know then when and or if I write said book they will have the first option to buy it."
Mackenzie pulls Mal aside, "You need to find out what she is thinking about writing about, ok? Please?"
Mal shakes her head, "I'm sure when she is ready she will tell you, but I'm not getting involved in it or pressuring her."
"C'mon Mal, I'm sure you have ways of making her talk, mainly well, you know."
Mal laughs, "What exactly are you suggesting, Kenz?"
"Bring it up while the two of you are, you know."
"You want me to bring up her books and or book idea while we're having sex? Yeah, that's definitely not going to happen because it will be an instant mood killer and C.J. and I have limited time together before we head in separate directions again and I want to make the most of it."
"You really love her, don't you?"
"I do. She once told me a story about how your father knew from the moment he met your Mom that they were meant to be together; I feel that way about her and I, that we are meant to be together."
Mackenzie pulls Mal into her arms and holds her tight, "You better look after her because if you don't.."
Mal laughs, "I know and I plan to."
Mackenzie and Mal make their way back over to the group and Charlotte takes Mal's arm, "What did Kenz want?"
Mal laughs, "I may or may not have just had the chat with your sister."
"Ohhh."