Charlotte

C harlotte Blue was supposed to be a boy. Her father liked to point that out to her at every turn. Hell, her mother gave her a perfectly good girl name and her dad changed it to Charlie. Everyone started calling her that and before she knew it, the name stuck. It grew on her over time, but she still hated that her father wanted her to be the son he never had.

She seemed to be a disappointment to all the men in her life. Her ex-husband liked to tell her just that while he beat her black and blue. For some crazy reason, she kept going back to him, even after their divorce was final. Honestly, she had nowhere else to go. Her sister would let her stay with her for a few days, but then, she’d tell Charlie that she had to go because she didn’t want Zeb to show up at her place, asking where she was. She couldn’t blame Ella. She was in danger just by letting Charlie stay with her for a few days. Zeb knew that Charlie had limited resources as to where she could stay, and he found her every time she ran. That’s when she’d promised to go back home with him, trying to keep her sister safe all the while knowing what kind of beating would be waiting for her at home. After she found out that she was pregnant, she knew that going back to him again couldn’t happen. For the sake of her daughter, this time she needed to make a clean break.

“I can’t thank you enough for the half of sub, Ink,” she said. She had been hungry all the time since starting her second trimester, not that she was about to tell a perfect stranger about her baby. Charlie was lucky enough not to be showing yet because the last thing she needed was for Zeb to find out that she was almost six months pregnant with his baby.

“No thanks are necessary,” Ink insisted. He seemed like a pretty decent guy, but then, she thought that about Zeb when she met him too. Sure, Ink was a little rough around the edges, but he seemed to be compassionate; letting her hide out at his shop, because going back out to her ex-husband wasn’t an option.

“So, would you like some chips?” Ink asked. She remembered what he wanted to trade for those chips, and telling her sad story about her disappointed father wasn’t something that she usually shared.

“I’d love to tell you some nice story about my nickname, but I just don’t have one,” she insisted.

“Well, then, how about you just tell me the truth?” Ink asked.

“Okay, my father was old-fashioned, and I guess he wanted a son,” she started.

“That’s not old fashioned, Charlie, that’s just your dad being a dick,” Ink said. Her gasp filled the room followed by her giggle. “Sorry if I overstepped, I just call them like I see them,” he said.

“No, you’re right,” she insisted, “my father was a dick to me my whole life. It’s part of the reason why I don’t see him or my mother very often. I’m close with my sister but I think that she’s sick of me taking Zeb back every time he tracks me down.”

“I take it that Zeb is your ex?” Ink asked.

“Yes,” she admitted. “We were married for three years before he started hitting me. I ran away and ended up in a women’s shelter and they helped me to get divorced from him. We’ve only been divorced for five months now, and I thought that I was rid of him, but then, he found me and our relationship turned into this vicious cycle of me running, Zeb finding me, and me agreeing to stay with him when he threatened to hurt my friends or my sister. I couldn’t let them get hurt because of my shitty decisions, so I agreed to his terms.”

“That’s horrible, Charlie,” Ink said. “I’m sorry that you had to go through all that.”

“Yeah, but it was my fault too. I was the fool who married him. I trusted him and took him at his word when he told me that he’d keep me safe and protect me from everything evil in the world. I guess that I just didn’t count on my husband being the evil that I had to worry about.”

“Yeah, the ones we end up loving the most are the ones that can hurt us the worst,” Ink said.

“Spoken like someone who has personal experience,” she said. Charlie was doing most of the talking and she realized that she didn’t know much about the guy who had granted her sanctuary.

“Yeah, I have plenty of personal experience. I have an ex-wife who ran off with my best friend after we were married for five years,” Ink admitted.

“Oh, that is pretty awful,” Charlie breathed. “Did you catch them together?” she asked.

“No,” he whispered, “I found out when Lena left me a note, telling me that she was in love with Todd, who happened to be the best man at our wedding, and that she was leaving me. I honestly had no clue that she was seeing him. I guess I was kind of blind to what was going on around me at the time, but looking back now, the signs were there,” he said.

“Yeah, I get that. After Zeb started hitting me, I realized that the signs of him being an abusive ass had always been there, I just refused to see them because then I’d have to admit that I made a mistake marrying him,” Charlie breathed.

“Well, I’d tell you that you can’t be responsible for other’s actions, but I’d be the pot calling the kettle black,” Ink said. He handed her some of his chips and she thanked him.

Someone banged on the front door of the shop and Charlie nearly jumped out of her skin. “Oh, God,” she whispered. “What if he’s found me?” It was very possible that Zeb had tracked her down. He always seemed to find her—why should now be any different?

“If he’s found you, I’ll send him away. Just stay back here in my office,” he ordered. “I’ll get rid of whoever is out there. I’m going to cancel my last client for today and you’re going to come home with me,” he insisted.

“What—I can’t do that,” she said.

The person outside banged on the door again and she almost wanted to hide under Ink’s desk. Zeb had beaten her so badly, two days ago, that she thought he might actually kill her this time. She woke up bloody and sore as hell, and that’s when she grabbed her stuff and left in the middle of the night. If he was at the door, she’d have no choice but to go with him—unless she took Ink up on his offer.

“Stay here,” he said again. She nodded and watched as he left the office, shutting the door behind himself. Charlie walked across the tiny office and pressed her ear to the door, holding her breath to hear any part of the conversation that was going on at the front door. She heard Ink explaining that his shop was closed for the rest of the day due to a family emergency and she was pretty sure that she heard Zeb thanking him for his time, but she couldn’t be sure. The voices were gargled and honestly, all she could hear was her own heartbeat thumping in her chest.

She heard Ink shut the front door again and his footsteps heading to the back of the shop. Charlie stood away from the door as he walked in looking very pissed off. “What happened?” she asked.

“Hold on,” he ordered. Ink sat on the other side of his desk and opened his laptop. “Is this your ex?” he asked, pointing to the screen. He showed her the camera feed from his security system and when Zeb appeared on the screen, she felt sick.

Her gasp filled the small space, and she nodded. “That’s him,” she said. “He’s determined to find me,” she sobbed. Ink stood and rounded his desk, pulling her in for a bear hug.

“Is this okay?” he asked. “I don’t usually hug crying women. Honestly, I have no idea what to do with a crying woman, but you seemed to need a hug.”

“Thank you,” she whispered against his neck. “I did need a hug.” They stood like that for what felt like an eternity, Ink just holding her until she was all cried out.

“He’s not going to get to you, Charlie,” he whispered into her ear. “I won’t let him.” She wanted to believe the pretty promises that Ink was telling her, but Charlie knew from experience that men just couldn’t be trusted. At some point, they always disappointed her. A part of Charlie hoped that she was wrong about Ink, but she worried that she wasn’t. For now, she’d go home with him until she could figure out another way to escape from her abusive ex-husband, because one way or another, she was going to break the cycle—if not for herself, then for her unborn daughter. She had to stay strong for her and find a way to keep her daughter away from her father because there was no way that Charlie would ever let Zeb touch her baby.