All Chapters of The Accidental Almost Kiss with my Ex's Uncle: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

CHARLOTTE’S P.O.V. For one blissful second after waking up, I forgot my life had fallen apart. Then I opened my eyes to the white ceiling of my new bedroom, a giant stack of unpacked boxes, and Lydia snoring loud enough to rattle the windows from the couch, and reality came crashing back. I had just filed for divorce, I had to rebuild my entire life from scratch, and my mother… oh, god. My mother was in a coma. My vision blurred, and a miserable sound left my throat as I buried my face back into the pillow. “Ugh,” Lydia groaned from the living room. “If you’re dying in there, do it quieter.” Despite my misery, I let out a startled laugh before I could stop myself. Slowly pushing myself upright off the mattress, I shuffled into the living room. Lydia had somehow fallen back asleep. Only, she was upside down with her head hanging off the edge, her mouth slightly open, and one leg over the back of the couch. “How are you sleeping like that?” I asked. “One time in college, I

CHARLOTTE’S P.O.V.I had barely sat down at my desk before Vanessa was there, placing her hands down on it to lean over me. “You haven’t worked in years, and before that, you had barely moved up to a junior designer before you quit. I saw your resume! I know there's something fishy going on here. There is no way they would have hired someone with your history, and now one of our biggest prospects is asking for you by name?” Vanessa sneered at me, briefly glancing down at the card from Professor Simmons before her eyes managed to darken even further. “Vanessa! I’m so glad I caught you!” The woman from the meeting called out, rushing over to my desk. I didn’t miss the wink she sent me as she swooped in with her oversized blue glasses and her black and white polka dot blazer, like my knight in shining armor. I let out a quiet sigh of relief as Vanessa stood up again, giving me room to breathe. “I wanted to go over the Callahan Project with you if you have a moment, but it’s at my des

CHARLOTTE’S P.O.V. By the time I got home from work, my eyes felt drier than a desert, but my day wasn’t over yet. Between Vanessa breathing down my neck, trying to prove her dominance over me, Rebecca stopping by hourly to remind me how important this was, and trying to learn everything I could about The Black Door, I was exhausted. There was nothing online about it besides a few general articles that only talked about how private it was. I couldn’t find a single picture that showed the inside of the club. Unfortunately, I was too stubborn to give up, and I refused to give Vanessa the satisfaction of me going into work tomorrow with absolutely nothing! “Hey! How was work?” “Ah!” I screamed, turning to face my best friend, holding my water bottle over my head, ready to swing. Lydia stood in the hallway with a slice of leftover pizza in her hand and her mouth full. “What're you doing here?” I asked, lowering my bottle. “You gave me a key, and I was bored,” Lydia said bef

CHARLOTTE’S P.O.V. Two large men stood on either side of the VIP rope, and a thrill of excitement burst through me when they opened it without a single word, allowing me in. I'd expected at least one of them to stop me, but I was pleasantly surprised as I walked through it. “Enjoy your evening, Ms. Valente.” I heard from behind me, and I paused, turning to stare at the guard's back in confusion. There it was again, my name. It seemed like everyone knew my name, but I didn’t understand how. Yet, the loud popping of champagne made me flinch, and I turned to examine the room around me. It felt different up here. While everyone downstairs was partying, the music up here was a little softer, and the conversations seemed quieter, more secretive. The people around me weren’t dancing, though there were a few women proudly and openly giving lap dances in the booths. The rest of the people were sitting back, sipping drinks and smoking cigars. My eyes widened as I spotted a famous a

CHARLOTTE’S P.O.V.I didn’t sleep, not really. I tried like hell, but every creak of the apartment, the sound of my neighbors moving around, and even headlights flashing by my window made me jump.Eventually, I found myself sitting up, staring at the door to my bedroom, regretting that I had never gotten a dog. By three in the morning, I had checked the locks and looked out the window four times to make sure everything was okay. By four, I had convinced myself that I was crazy. And by five, I was almost certain I had imagined the whole thing. Justin had never acted like that before, so I had to wonder if this was all in my head. Maybe I was hallucinating, or maybe I was the one in a coma and none of this was real. The alarm on my phone went off at six, and I groaned, shoving my face into the pillow before dragging myself into a hot shower to wake up. Yet, even after that and a face full of makeup, I could admit that I looked awful. I had dark circles under my eyes that no amount