Moving to Hawaii

“I’m sorry you got stuck with me today”, Charlotte apologized to Leland as the last person walked out. It was just after lunch time and it seemed like they had helped about a million people. Actually it was really only six but to Charlotte it felt like a million. She felt terrible every time she had to get Leland to come fill out paperwork.

“It’s not a problem. I’d rather be here today than back at my branch anyway”, Leland said. He smiled at her for the first time since breakfast.

Charlotte had figured out from the conversation she overheard that morning and the multiple phone calls since they had been at work that forced Leland to leave the room, he and his wife were having some problems. She felt terrible that he was having to stay the extra day and babysit her but Duane Lee had volunteered to speak at his son’s school for career day and Dog, Beth and Tim had an important meeting. Duane Lee and Leland seemed to know what the meeting was about but Charlotte didn’t think she had a place to ask. With everyone else gone, they had asked Leland to stay an extra day and run the shop with her.

“Well thank you for being patient with me”, Charlotte responded.

“I’m starving”, Leland said, leaning back in the chair he occupied. “What about you?”

“Yes!”, Charlotte exclaimed. Her pancakes had not stuck with her and she couldn’t wait to eat.

“There’s a sandwich place on the end of the shopping center, can you go pick us something up? I’d go but I don’t want to leave you here alone”, Leland said. He opened a drawer with a key on Dog’s desk and pulled out a twenty. “Beth let’s us use petty cash for lunch when we have to stay all day”, he explained.

Charlotte was relieved, she had about $15 until payday, which she wasn’t sure would last. She wrote down Leland’s order and headed to the sandwich place. When she got back she heard Leland in the backroom talking loudly on the phone so she put their food on the coffee table and sat on the couch to wait for him.

“Sorry about that”, he apologized when he came out a moment later. “Oh, you didn’t have to wait for me.”

Charlotte shrugged, “I thought it would only be polite.” When Leland sat down she picked up her sandwich and took a bite. “This is really good”, she said around a mouthful of food.

“I thought you were polite?” Leland laughed.

“You should laugh more, it suits you”, Charlotte told him before taking another big bite.

“Yeah, I got a lot going on right now that gives me reason not to”, Leland answered. He let the frown he had been wearing all day pull back across his face.

“I’m sorry”, Charlotte apologized.

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault.”

“I’m here if you want to talk. I mean, I know you have a lot of family and stuff but if you ever need an outside perspective.”

Leland chewed thoughtfully. Once he swallowed he said, “thanks for the offer, maybe I’ll take you up on it.”

“I may not look like it but I’m a really good listener.”

“How does someone look like a good listener?” Leland asked with a laugh again. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“I don’t know! It’s an expression”, Charlotte said, a little embarrassed. She never thought about it but it was kind of a weird saying.

A couple of hours before they were closing up for the day, Dog, Beth and Tim arrived back. They burst through the door yelling with excitement.

“What’s going on?” Charlotte asked. “Did you guys get some good news?”

“We will explain everything once Justin and Duane Lee get here”, Beth said with excitement. “Leland! Come sit!”

Leland came out of the bathroom and saw the looks on the three older family member’s faces. “We got it?!”

Beth nodded and shrieked, unable to keep her secret any longer.

“Beth!” Dog exclaimed as Duane Lee and Justin walked in.

“What?!” Justin exclaimed when he saw them.

“We got it!” Duane Lee yelled hugging his dad. Everyone started hugging everyone and chattering so Charlotte sank back to her desk.

Duane Lee was the first to run over and pulled her into a hug, “we’re celebrating, Charlotte! Get excited!”

“What are we celebrating?” Charlotte finally asked as she was pulled into a gripping hug from Justin.

“We’re going to be on tv!” Dog exclaimed. He hugged her next.

“Like a local news thing?” Charlotte asked, confused. “Ow”, she muttered as her body was crushed up against Beth’s oversized chest.

“No, like a tv show! On a major network!”, Tim laughed as he hugged her. “It’s going to be amazing!”

“Seriously?!” Charlotte asked in disbelief.

“Yes, Big Daddy is the best at what he does and someone is finally noticing!” Beth said as she pulled Dog in for a hug and kiss.

“Well, congratulations”, Charlotte told Leland as he pulled her in for a hug too. She felt her skin tingle where it touched Leland’s, like it had that morning when he touched her tattoo.

“Man, this is going to be so awesome”, he said once he pulled away. “My day just got a lot better.”

“Ok, Ok, come sit down. Let’s discuss the logistics”, Dog began as everyone started to calm down. “Come sit.”

Everyone moved to the couches except Charlotte. She stayed at her spot in the receptionist chair.

“Charlie, get over here!” Dog yelled, waving her over. “You’re part of this family now start acting like it!”

Duane Lee patted the spot between him and Leland and cast a smile her way, “Come on, sis.”

Charlotte laughed and walked over to plop down in between them.

“So we are only filming a couple of days a week, not every day”, Dog explained. “It could end up being more or less, depending on the reception of the show.”

“What about my branch?” Leland asked.

“Right now it will stay on”, Dog answered. “We spoke to them about it, again it all depends on the show’s reception with the audience.

Leland nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer.

“I have a question”, Charlotte spoke up. “Do I have to be on the show?”

“Would you not want to be?” Duane Lee asked from beside her.

“I don’t know, maybe not”, Charlotte answered. “It’s not new for you guys but it’s a lot to process for me.”

“Charlie it’s up to you”, Dog answered. “We have a couple other employees that have opted out, they just won’t be in any footage that gets aired.”

Charlotte nodded, “Ok. I really need to think about it.”

“Take your time, sweetie”, Beth told her.

“I think that covers everything we have for now”, Dog said. “We didn’t get very much information today. We will be meeting the crew in about two weeks and then we find out when we start filming too.”

With that everyone got up and began to disperse.

“Charlie, you and Leland can take off for the day. Beth and I will handle it from here. Leland you might want to get back to your place”, Dog said.

Charlotte nodded and thanked Dog and Beth before heading out. Once in her car she realized she didn’t have anywhere else to go but Beth and Dog’s house so that’s where she headed. They had given her the alarm code so she didn’t have any issues getting inside, good thing because nobody was home.

She went to the guest room, her room, and thought about putting her clothes in the closet but she decided against it. She was afraid to make this too permanent, afraid it might jinx her. She decided to get some of her laundry going since it hadn’t been washed in some time. While that was happening she began absent mindedly walking around and straightening. That was something she got from her mom. As a gallery manager, one of her moms jobs was to always make sure everything was orderly and tidy. She had taken that trait into her home life and passed it on to Charlotte. Once she had tidied up she went to the kitchen and began searching the pantry. Finding the ingredients for spaghetti, she began cooking.

“Do you love to cook or something?”

Charlotte just about lept out of her skin, “Leland you scared me to death!”

“Sorry”, he said with a laugh. “I didn’t know I would scare you. So do you? Love to cook?” He sat down at the table and watched her face, waiting for an answer.

“Um, yeah. I mean yes,” she replied, trying to regain her composure and slow her heart rate. “My parents and I cooked together a lot.”

“You guys were close”, Leland stated. “Do you have any siblings?”

“No, just me”, Charlotte answered.

“That’s the total opposite of me”, Leland laughed.

“So I’m learning. When are you leaving to go back home?” Charlotte asked. She figured since Leland was done babysitting her for the day he would have gone home.

“I’m going to stay here one more night, head back in the morning”, he confirmed. “I spoke with my receptionist, she’s also able to write bonds, things have been pretty slow so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Cool”, Charlotte replied, not knowing what else to say. “Wanna help me?”

“Yeah, sure”, Leland said. He came over and washed his hands. “Tell me what to do.”

“Can you chop up that pepper, as small as you can?”

“On it”, he confirmed, pulling the cutting board and green pepper toward him.

Charlotte watched him from the corner of her eye as she stirred the sauce she was making. He was biting his lip as he concentrated on making small slices in the vegetable and Charlotte smiled to herself.