It was Saturday night, and the party celebrating Charlotte's recovery was in full swing. The guests ranged from friends, to neighbors, to people from James' work. Everyone was drinking, socializing, and having a great time. Music was playing, and some people were even dancing. The party was turning out to be a big success.
Charlotte was a little bit nervous about seeing her neighbor, Leo, again after the incident in the pantry, but he ended up not showing up. When his wife Helen arrived, she explained that Leo wasn't feeling well. Charlotte was somewhat relieved. She was sure the next meeting between them would be awkward, and she just wanted to enjoy herself tonight after everything that has happened.
As Charlotte looked around at everyone having a good time, she had to admit, even though she had reservations, she really enjoyed this get together. Plus she really enjoyed the attention that all her guests were paying her. All of them asked how she was feeling after the accident, and many told her how great she looked.
She made her way to the bar, and started to pour herself a drink. Although she didn't drink anything much stronger than wine normally, she considered this a special occasion, and fixed herself a vodka tonic.
Before she could even raise the glass to her lips, she heard a voice she recognized from behind her. "Hey beautiful! How's my favorite sister-in-law?"
Charlotte turned around with joy. She saw James' brother, Jonathan, standing there, and she squealed as she hugged him, spilling a bit of her drink on his back. Always polite, Jonathan ignored the slight faux pas.
"You know, that would mean a lot more if I weren't your only sister-in-law." Charlotte joked.
Jonathan was James' younger brother, and although they looked similar, and shared the same genes, they could not be more different. Where James was conservative, Christian, white-collar businessman, Jonathan a free-spirited, atheist, successful artist. Whereas James had close cropped hair and paler skin from working in an office all day, Jonathan had flowing dark hair that touched his shoulders and tanned skin from being out on photo shoots in exotic locations.
Jonathan was almost 3 years younger than James, but much more worldly. He has been around the globe to countless countries for his job. Even now, he was supposed to be out of the country.
"I thought you were supposed to be in New Zealand this month." Charlotte asked.
"I was, but lucky for me, the shoot ended early because of some bad weather. I got on the first flight here so I wouldn't miss this party." Jonathan explained. "I wish I could have been here for you to help out after the accident."
"Don't be silly. What could you do? Take pictures of me?" Charlotte chided. She always enjoyed talking to Jonathan. He always treated her with kindness. She often wondered how the brothers' two completely different personalities could have developed under the same roof when they were growing up.
"Well hello, darling. Don't you just look heavenly!" said a woman who walked up to them.
Charlotte looked and saw Jonathan's wife, Monica, and she threw her arms around her and kissed her. Monica was as beautiful as a model, mainly because she was one. She was thin and tall, with light brown hair, and most notably, she was French. In fact, she was a model for one of Jonathan's shoots when he was in Paris. He and Monica fell in love almost immediately after a quick and passionate affair. They got married after knowing each other for only three months, and that was 3 years ago. Charlotte loved Monica almost as much as she loved Jonathan. She thought that they were perfect for each other.
The threesome chatted for quite some time, catching up, before she finally excused herself so she could tend to her other guests. "Before you go," Jonathan started "Would you be interested in swinging by the studio? I've got an idea for a photo shoot that I think you would be perfect for."
Charlotte blushed. "Um, sure. It's next week ok?"
"Next week will be great! I'll text you some days and times." Jonathan replied.
Charlotte was preoccupied with thinking about Jonathan wanting to include her in a photo shoot, when she turned around blindly. Because she wasn't paying attention, she ran smack dab into someone, spilling her drink all over the person's chest.
"Oh my God! I am so sorry!" Charlotte apologized. She looked up to see who she ran into, and saw a strikingly handsome man she did not recognize. He was probably 6'2", dark hair with olive toned skin. When she ran into his chest, she could tell that he was fit. He was devastatingly handsome. Without even thinking the words "Oh my." escaped from Charlotte's lips.
The man looked down at his now soaked shirt, and smiled. "Well, I was coming over to introduce myself, but I probably should have worn louder shoes." the stranger joked. "I'm Dominick. I just started working with James. He's told me all about you, Charlotte. I'm glad that you are doing better after the accident."
Looking at his shirt, Charlotte was thoroughly embarrassed by her accident. "I am so sorry!" Charlotte pleaded. "Oh my, look at your shirt. Follow-me, James has plenty. I'll just get you one to wear." Charlotte hurried towards the bedroom before Dominick could protest. He looked at her, and then quickly followed her to the bedroom.
When Dominick entered the room, Charlotte was already rifling through James' closet in search of a shirt that somewhat matched the one that she spilled a drink on. Finally she found one that sort of matched the color, and the size looked like it would fit. "Here, try this." Charlotte said.
Dominick looked at Charlotte as she handed him the shirt, and admired her bluntness. She seemed more rattled by the embarrassment of spilling a drink on his shirt than she was about a relative stranger in her bedroom that was about to change his shirt. She made no motion to leave the room or even turn around, so he began to unbutton his shirt.
As he got undressed, he couldn't help but admire Charlotte. She was a true beauty. Even though she had a voluptuous figure, he could tell by the way she acted, that she had a very conservative upbringing. And based on how religious James acted at work, Dominick safely assumed Charlotte had the same Christian values. "Too bad" Dominick thought to himself. He knew from experience that overly religious women often felt too much guilt, and proved to be too much of an effort to pursue.
Charlotte audibly gasped when Dominick fully removed his shirt. She couldn't help but stare at his chest. He was a picture of perfection. His well-defined chest and abdomen were obvious signs that he worked out regularly. He looked like someone who would be working as a male stripper rather than in a stuffy office.
She continued to admire him as he put on the new shirt, and slowly buttoned it up. Because of Dominick's muscular chest, the shirt proved to be a little tight, but Charlotte didn't mind. It accented his physique. Charlotte's mind wandered to think of what the rest of his body looked like without any clothes on.
The door to her bedroom suddenly opened, jarring Charlotte from her daydream. "Honey, we're getting low on beer. Can you--" James was saying as he entered the room before stopping. He looked a bit suspiciously at the two of them, wondering to himself what they were doing in the bedroom together.
"Oh, James. I hope you don't mind, I lent Dominick one of your shirts. I stupidly spilled my drink all over his." Charlotte explained, somewhat embarrassed from her previous thoughts of Dominick.
"Thanks for the use of the shirt." Domick said to James.
Somewhat satisfied with the explanation, James continued. "No problem. Just bring it to the office, and clean it. Charlotte, as I was saying, we're running a little low on beer. I need you to make a beer run and get a few more cases. I'd go, but I've had a few too many to drive. Oh, and by the way, the sliced cucumbers we have out taste weird. Can you put out some new ones? Thanks." James then left the room without even waiting for a reply.
"Well, thanks for the shirt. Maybe when you get back from your beer run, we can have a proper introduction and talk. I hope I'll see you later!" Dominick smiled, and then returned to the party.
"Yeah, I hope I'll see you too." Charlotte said to herself as she stared at him as he left the room.
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Charlotte parked her BMW in front of the liquor store that was the nearest one to her home. It was the typical non-descript store, situated in a strip mall where every other store in it was closed at this time of night. The neon lights from all of the beer signs in the window lit up the storefront.
She took a mental note of what she had to buy, and exited her car. As she walked towards the door, she saw a young man, no not a man, a teenager, approach her. She became overly cautious, and reached for the safety of her mace that was in her purse.
"Ma'am, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. Can I ask you a huge favor? Would you be able to buy me a bottle of something, anything?" the boy nervously said as he drew closer to Charlotte.
After realizing that the boy was not a threat, Charlotte actually laughed at the request. "I'm sorry. I can get in a lot of trouble if I do that."
"Oh please, can you help me?" the boy pleaded. "I've been here all night. You are the first person who even acknowledged me. I really like this girl, and she said that if I get her some alcohol that we could 'have some fun'. Please, please, can you just do me this one favor? I can pay you double what it costs."
Charlotte looked the boy up and down. He was a typical 18 year old boy. He hadn't quite grown into his body yet, and had blondish, unkempt hair. He was wearing a hoodie and athletic shorts, and high top sneakers that probably cost a fortune. By the way he acted, and how desperate he was to please this girl he spoke of, she could assume he was still a virgin.
As Charlotte contemplated his request, she began to feel sorry for the boy. She had thought back to the time where she was his age, and how she had stayed a virgin, a decision she had been questioning over the past few weeks. In a moment of weakness, she decided she was going to help him out. "Fine. What do you want?" she said.
The boy looked shocked, and then elated. "Oh my God, thank you so much! A bottle of anything would be fine." the boy said with glee.
Charlotte made her way into the store, and grabbed a cart so she could start loading it up. She picked up five cases of beer for the party, and then grabbed a bottle of whiskey for the boy. That should help him out with the girl.
As she began to check out, the clerk said "That boy didn't ask you to buy him anything did he? He'ls been hanging out there all night, harassing my customers. I'm going to call the cops as soon as you leave to get him out of here."
Charlotte kept her poker face and replied "No, he didn't say anything to me. He looks like he's waiting for a friend or something."
The clerk looked at her suspiciously as he rang up her purchase. Charlotte quickly left the store after paying.
