Page 111 of Off the Mark
I set her award down gingerly on the closest table. Charlie was in the middle of the room. Her arms were wrapped around her waist, and she was crying.
“Charlie, what —” I said, reaching for her.
She sniffed, swiping angrily at her cheeks. “Oh, Rowan. Hey. What are you doing here?”
I took a few steps closer. She took a few back.
“I saw Dempsey give you what looked like really bad news and I…” I bent, tried to catch her eye. “I wanted to see if you were okay. But you don’t look okay at all.”
She was trying to hide her face, like she didn’t want me to see her tears. “Well, I was supposed to have a meeting with Bettencourt tomorrow, me and Dempsey together. And I was hoping things with them were getting better, because you and I—”
She trailed off, biting her lip.
“I was helping you with your reputation,” I said pointedly.
“Right. It was working. Or I thought it was, but Dempsey told me they haven’t been happy with that video of me going around where I got into it with that reporter. And while we were at the dinner, she got some email from their lawyers in preparation for tomorrow. The email had legal documents attached to them, dissolving my contract. So… I’m officially fucked.”
My body sagged with the news.
“I’ll get paid what they owe me for the rest of the month, but after that, I’m without any income. Which means my dad definitely gets evicted.”
I blew out a breath. “The threat of getting cut can’t compare to knowing that you’re finally being let go. It’s agony. Charlie, I’m so sorry. You know I’ve been there. For what it’s worth, they’re assholes for doing this to you.”
She was still avoiding my gaze, practically skittish. My instinct was to go to her, hold her while she cried, but every time I moved closer, she moved away.
“It’s okay.” She wiped her eyes again and set her shoulders. “This isn’t on you, Rowan. You…you’ve been incredible. You even agreed to help me when I asked you to tag along as my fake boyfriend. But this whole mess is my fault and always has been.”
I swallowed roughly. “You can still ask me for help. I’m here.”
She was shaking her head. “I don’t talk about my mom a lot because she wasn’t a nice person. My dad and I were like inconvenient pit stops for her, an annoyance more than anything else. But when my dad got hurt, I found where she was living. Reached out for help because I was so scared I didn’t know what to do. I called and sent emails. Sent a letter, and she never replied to any of it.”
Her eyes finally shot to mine—greener than I’d ever seen them, practically emerald, and red around her lashes. “I fixed everything then, all by myself. I’ll fix it now.”
I was silent for a minute, letting this new knowledge about her mother sink in. It painted Charlie’s extreme self-sufficiency in a whole new light, all that confidence coming from a person who’d learned at a young age how to survive on her own.
So I finally said, “That’s a lot of pressure on you. Shouldering the burden all alone.”
Her face softened. “It isn’t. Rowan…look at what you went through as a kid, losing both of your parents and having your world destroyed when you were so young. This is…this is only money. Legal stuff and contracts. It’s nothing.”
“Losing them was the worst possible thing imaginable,” I admitted, “and also, I had people that helped us. A lot of people. They didn’t make me feel bad for needing them either. Just showed up when they could, as many times as they could. Doing that on my own wouldn’t have been possible.”
I lowered my voice. “And you’re not alone either because I’m here with you. Charlie, gorgeous, you drove five hours in the middle of the night to sit with me when I was in the hospital. I asked and you came. It didn’t make me weak for asking either. Itdidhelp me realize that I could rely on you.”
She was chewing on her lip so much I was worried she’d cut herself. Every muscle in my body urged me togoto her, but not when she was staring at me like this.
“Rowan…” She cleared her throat. “Can you leave?”
I frowned. “What?”
“I don’t know how to say this without sounding like an asshole, but I need to be alone right now. I’ve gotta figure out what to do next, where my dad and Penny are going to live.” She shrugged, clearly lost in her thoughts now. “They can crash at my studio for a little bit, but it’s so small.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Don’t push me away, Charlie. Please. I can see what you’re doing.”
She cocked her head. “And what is that?”
“This…getting vulnerable and then running from it. It’s what happened after the day and a half we spent in the hospital. You were there with me for one of the worst moments of my life, and we barely talked after. I didn’t see you for fouryearsuntil you randomly walked into my office.”
She was swallowing rapidly. “What do you mean? I texted you, checked in on you.”
