Chapter 196 - Lie

"Grandpa I'll talk to you later." Without waiting for his reply, Brandon hung up the call and quickly entered the cafe. 

….

Inside the cafe.

Quietly sneaking into a corner seat, he took out his phone and called Charlotte. He narrowed his eyes when he saw her gesture the man sitting right across her to keep quiet before receiving the call. 

"Where are you?" he snapped. 

"I am waiting for the doctor," she lied.

Tightening his grip around the phone, he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. She was lying to him and that made him feel awful. Though they were not in a relationship or committed to each other yet, it still broke his heart and made him feel low. "Is the doctor there yet?" he asked, still hoping that she would stop lying and tell him the truth. 

"Hmm no, I am waiting for the doctor to arrive," she lied again. 

"So you are still at the clinic waiting for the doctor right?" 

"Yes, what happened? Do you want something?" 

"I just wanted one thing from you Charlotte, to be honest with me." Without waiting for her, he scoffed, "But I think that is too much for you to give me." 

"Bran—" 

Cutting her off, he snapped, "Don't eat that scone, it's too sweet and you won't like it." Without waiting for her reply, he hung up the call and got up. 

When he saw her looking around, he dashed out of the cafe. 

After talking to Brandon, Charlotte panicked and started looking around. She almost lost her cool and freaked out when he suddenly called her. Not knowing what to say in the panic state, she lied to him like before but her world turned upside down when she heard his last sentence.

"What happened Charlotte? Is everything okay?" Jimmy inquired. 

When she saw a familiar figure leaving the cafe, she quickly grabbed her bag and rushed after him. 

….

Outside. 

"Brandon, wait," she yelled before grabbing his hand. 

Jerking her hand off, he snapped, "Don't touch me and leave me alone, go enjoy your date." 

"It's not what you think, let me—" 

Cutting him off, he fumed, "Let you explain? What do you want to explain? Do you have any justification over what you just did? You lied to me Charlotte, how are you gonna fix that." 

Clutching onto his sleeves, she requested, "Please, let me—" 

"Enough, I don't wanna hear anything, I think I have seen and heard enough." Letting out a mocking chuckled, he scoffed, "Before I entered this cafe, I thought that you are the one for me and I was willing to give up everything for you, I thought we would do great and overcome every difficulty that we face together like normal couples do but I was a fool. I am a stupid idiot man who thought we were a thing and you were also very serious about us." 

"It's not like that, I am very serious about us. In fact I was telling Jimmy—" 

"Ah Jimmy, how could I even forget that guy?" 

Looking at him with teary eyes, she muttered, "Please Brandon—" 

Cutting her off, he slowly removed her hand from his sleeves. "Why don't you go inside and enjoy your date with Jimmy, I am done with you." 

Grabbing his arm, she panicked, "No please, don't go. I know it's my fault and I shouldt have lied to you but I didn't want to hurt you—" 

"So you thought that secretly going on a date with some other guy will not hurt me? Or maybe you thought that I would never find out about this." Pausing for a while, he balled his hand into a fist and sighed, "But guess what Charlotte, you made me feel so awful. I wish I had never met you again, I wish you were just a stranger or a fling I dont give a f.u.c.k about." 

Beeping his car open, he added, "I thought you were the one but I was wrong." And without waiting for her reply, he entered his car and drove away.

Tightening her grip around her bag, Charlotte lowered and started sobbing silently. She didn't want to cry but tears kept flooding down her cheeks and now matter how hard she tried, it did not stop. 

Just then Jimmy arrived and inquired, "Charlotte what happened?" 

Wiping her tears away, she shook her head, "It's nothing." 

Without pressing on the matter, he asked, "Do you want me to drop home? It's about to rain." 

"No it's alright, I'll go on my own." Without waiting for his reply, she walked away. 

…..

Ellie and Sebastian's place. 

Brushing Bojo's silky golden brown fur, Ellie sighed, "They don't even use expensive shampoos or any kind of hair serum but yet look at their hair." 

Without taking his eyes off the doc.u.ment he was reading, he chuckled, "Are you comparing your hard with Bojo's?" 

"Hmm, his fur is so much better," she answered before running her fingers through his thick silky fur. 

Looking at her, he shrugged his shoulders, "What are you talking about honey, I like your hair, it's perfect." 

"Really? But I think it's rough—" 

Cutting her off, he scrunched his brows, "Rough? Are you serious? They are so soft and have this nice chocolatey smell that makes me want to eat them." 

"What?" Getting up, she sat on his lap and chuckled, "You wanna eat my hair?" 

"Hmmm, I can eat you too." Brushing his nose against her cheek, he smiled. 

"What if I am not tasty?" 

"I think you are very tasty and—" he stopped midwway when Elli'e phone started ringing. 

Grabbing her phone from the table, she said, "I think it's Mel—Oh wait, it's Charlotte." 

"What does she want at this hour?"

Shrugging her shoulders, she picked up the call, "Hey Char, I—" Stopping midway, she frowned, "What happened?" 

Getting down from his lap, she answered, "I'll be right there, wait for me." before hanging up the call.

"What happened?" Sebastian inquired. 

"Charlotte is downstairs, I'll go and get her. Seb, can you warm some milk by then? It's raining outside, she might be cold." 

"Okay, go carefully," Sebastian advised before walking inside the kitchen. 

....

After ten minutes, Ellie brought Charlotte inside the apartment.

"Sit here," Ellie instructed before rushing towards her room to get some dry clothes for her. When she arrived downstairs to get Charlotte, she was standing in the rain all by herself, her clothes were soaked and her eyes were swollen and red. Her appearance clearly said that something had happened but no matter how hard Ellie cried, she refused to say anything. 

After getting a set of dry clothes, Ellie said, "Change your clothes first, you must be freezing. Do you want me to help you?" 

When Charlotte shook her head, she directed her towards the guest room. 

After she left, Sebastian frowned, "What happened to her?" 

Ellie sighed and shook her head, "I have no idea." 

"Do you think we should call Brandon over?" he inquired. 

"Hmm I think something happened between them and now she is upset?" 

Gritting his teeth, he scoffed, "This guy is so careless, who leaves a woman alone in the rain like that?" 

"Seb, we can't blame anyone without knowing the entire truth. I think we should talk to Charlotte first and then decide," she instructed. 

After a few minutes, Charlotte stepped out of the room.

Ellie guided her towards the couch and sat down beside, "I am right here, you can talk if you want to." 

Keeping quiet for quite some time, Charlotte muttered, "You were right Ellie, my heart feels so empty now." Hugging her knees, she started crying. Until now, she hadn't realized how important Brandon was to her. Though she knew that she harboured feelings for him, she had never thought they were this strong and now that she had lost him, it made her feel empty and awful. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't forget about the hurtful expression on his face and the fact that she was responsible for it made her feel even more awful. She had cursed herself several times for lying to him and making things go wrong but there was nothing she could do. Brandon didn't want to be her or see her and maybe he hated her. 

Wrapping her arms around her, Ellie sighed, "It's alright, cry until you feel better and let it all out." 

After some time when Charlotte calmed down, she gave her a glass of lukewarm water. "Here, you will feel better." 

Taking the glass in her hand, Charlotte took a sip and mumbled, "Brandon doesnt want me anymore." 

"What? But why?" Ellie inquired. 

Wiping her tears with the back of her hand, she explained, "Do you remember Jimmy?" When Ellie nodded her head, she continued, "He called me yesterday and told me that he will be going out of country for a few years so he wanted to meet me before he leaves." 

….