Charlotte It's Your Birthday Novels & Stories

He simply pulled me closer to his side, his hand possessive on my waist. I looked between them, my stomach twisting with unease. “Charlie…” I said quietly, trying to ease the moment. “It’s just a hug. It’s his birthday.” Charlie glanced down at me, his expression still tight. “Yeah,” he said, but his voice was cold. “Just a hug.”

When daddy finds out, I'm sure he'll be mad at me! Maybe Leo already knows what happened but I didn't mean what happened. Besides, I really planned to give my virginity to him on my eighteenth birthday! I closed my eyes and tried to remember what happened two months ago. That day I celebrated my eighteenth birthday on a big cruise ship. Flashback, "Hello, my sister! Charity!” Dianna said, smiling at me. I was stunned because her dress was too revealing. She's my stepsister but I consider her as my real sister. She grinned at me then tasted the champagne she was holding.

The idea that a virtual stranger could do that to her, could make her nearly frantic with need, did not please her. Maybe there’s something in the air, she thought suspiciously, taking a discrete sniff. Maybe it’s not me at all, but something to do with that thing he calls me. What was it, a charmer? Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, she asked, “What is this charmer business about, anyway?” He looked at her; obviously surprised she would choose to speak to him. He took a moment to answer. “A charmer makes men want her. It’s the special pheromone she produces that makes the Haunt male wild.”

Charlotte and Nana were quiet about what they were. Not secretive. Just private. The particular privacy of two people who understood what they had and were holding it carefully while it found its shape. They were together in all the ways that mattered. Meals. Evenings. The particular ease of two people who had stopped pretending they were not oriented toward each other. Charlotte was eighteen now. She had had a quiet birthday in October. Sola had made something. Efua and Nana and the rest of the community had been there. Small and real and exactly right.

“Come on Cindy, you know that’s not true.” “Oh really? Then what’s my birthday? I told you my name just now, yet you still call me by the name of your dog that died three years ago.” Charlotte sniffled as the tears in her eyes fell down her face. “ I can’t believe I thought there was something to gain in remaining friends with a selfish brat like you! Why don't you just stay with your one true friend since you’re so obsessed with her!” she violently wiped her tears with the back of her left hand which wasn’t holding her food tray. Beauty stood dumbfounded as she was in the middle of racking her brain for any birthdays other than hearse, her dogs, Olivia’s and Arnold’s and when she finally re

Nathan stared down at the phone in his hand, the black screen reflecting his tired, haunted face. A password. His brows knitted together as he leaned back against the couch, his head falling against the cushion. Then— A memory flashed. Charlotte sat cross-legged on the bed, holding her new phone excitedly. “Nathan,” she’d said, glancing up at him with a grin, “what’s your birthday again?” He had laughed. “You don’t know my birthday?” “I do,” she said quickly, fingers flying over the screen. “I just want to be sure.”

My head was bobbing like a boombox playing a lively EDM beat. "Sorry, Mr. Grimwine, but these won't cut it." "But, sir—" "Time for my morning coffee!" he shushes my mouth with his pincer grip. "Or shall I have... Hey, I will have a birthday cake!" "Heeh, this's utterly hopeless.." I sigh in defeat. "He really got your number, huh..?" Charlotte teases me with her dimwitted personality. "Drop it, you butt-sore.." ◢ ◣

Incorrect. One last try. The very day I can never forget. The day he never showed up for my graduation because of a particular birthday. 0423 The phone opened. The password was Charlotte's birthday. My breath caught. I tried to hold it together, to remind myself that Axel was a piece of crap unworthy of my love or affection. The phone was almost as empty as a brand-new one. Until… "Charlotte Over the Years." A large widget on the home screen, with Charlotte's smiling face.

In fact, the interior alone cost more than two luxury penthouses in this upscale neighborhood. I ignored her self-absorbed rambling, put my phone on silent, and went to sleep. … Early the next morning, I went downstairs on time and headed toward my reserved parking space. As soon as I pulled open the car door, a figure suddenly darted out from the side and grabbed the passenger door. It was Charlotte; she was wearing an incredibly over-the-top, sequined slip dress and a pair of four-inch heels. Worst of all, she was holding a steaming bowl of pungent chitlin stew.

Just muttered, "I like it." He didn't notice. Or maybe he was just too wiped from playing house with Sabrina. "You like it, that's all that matters. I'm gonna shower," he said. He disappeared into the bathroom. By the time he came out, I was already in bed, facing the wall. Silent. He wrapped his arms around me. Same bed, totally different worlds. *** Then came my birthday. Derrick threw his usual party—surprises, cake, the works. Picture-perfect.