Chapter Eight

"I'm confused, though." Folding his arms across his chest when he pulls away, he wrinkles his forehead. "How did they…I can't believe my mom would do such…"

Charlotte stares down at the floor as tears begin to pool in the corners of her eyes. When she'd walked out of the casino a few days away, she'd felt confident that she was doing the right thing. Now, not so much. If anything, seeing the expression on Edwin's face, confirms she made a terrible mistake.

"She's talked about it non-stop ever since she found out they were coming here. She's got this crazy obsession with Kevin Conrad, the dude that hosts the show. I love to perform, just not…" his voice trails off.

"I'm sorry, Edwin. I'm so sorry."

"I have a good mind to call her right now and—" Pulling his phone back out, he angrily swipes his finger over the screen and begins to scroll through his saved numbers.

"Edwin, no!" Charlotte exclaims, placing her arm on top of his. "You can't do that!"

"This has nothing to do with you. I'll feel better once I speak to her and get it off of my chest."

Realizing the situation is about to get a whole lot worse, Charlotte knows she has to say something. "It was me. I'm the one who signed you up."

Embarrassed and ashamed, she removes her apron and rushes from the back room. Feeling the stares as she heads towards the entrance, she doesn't stop until she's at the end of the sidewalk, waiting for the signal to cross. She bends over, resting her hands on the tops of her legs while she struggles to catch her breath.

The light changes and she hustles across the street amongst the others headed to the casino. She continues to walk for another couple of blocks then turns down an alley towards an area she's unfamiliar with. Looking back behind her, she can still see the gondolas moving to the top of the mountain, which is a little reassuring, but otherwise, she doesn't have the faintest idea where she is. And if things weren't already bad enough, she realizes she left her phone and purse back at the coffee shop.

The smartest thing for her to do is turn around and go back the same direction she came from, but when she stops to dry her eyes and wipe the moisture from her face, the sidewalk looks vastly different than it did a few minutes ago. To make matters worse, she isn't sure if she should turn back to the left or the right.

With limited daylight remaining, she decides to walk through one of the parking lots designated for shipping and receiving. Surely, it belongs to one of the casinos.

It doesn't take long for her to get cold, her long sleeve tee doing very little to keep her warm. Pulling the ends of the sleeves down over her hands, she folds her arms and presses them against her chest. Brrr!

Off in the distance, she spots a small car with flashing lights across the top and she begins to flail her arms in the air over her head. Security. The huge knot in her throat slowly starts to diminish.

The driver-side window rolls down as soon as the car pulls up alongside her. "Unless you're making a delivery, you shouldn't be in this part of the parking lot, ma'am." The older man behind the wheel is a bit gruff, until he realizes her situation.

"Can you just tell me how to get back to the main road? I'm so turned around," she says between sobs.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place," the security officer sighs, seeing her so distraught. "Come on, get in and I'll take you out to the main road."

"How far is the Coffee Loft from here?" she asks as soon as she climbs inside. The warmth from the heater is welcoming.

"Two blocks away. Want me to drop you off there?"

"Oh, would you? I knew I couldn't be too far away, but I started to panic when I couldn't figure out which direction I was headed." Sighing, Charlotte is ashamed she got herself into this situation in the first place.

"Next time, I wouldn't advise going for a stroll by yourself. It's not safe, especially when it gets dark. Stick to the main road, okay?"

She knows that the older fella means well, so she doesn't mind the lecture. Relieved that he came along when he did, she's very much aware the situation could've ended a lot worse. She could still be wondering around, rattled and terrified to death.

"Thank you," she says when he stops out front.

"Yes, ma'am. Now get inside where it's warm."

Edwin is the first to spot her as soon as she walks in the door. "Charlotte, we've been worried sick about you."

She rushes into his arms and buries her face in his chest. "I feel so bad about what I did. Please don't be mad at me."

"You're like a block of ice. Let me get my jacket." Edwin hurries to the back and grabs his fleece coat. "Here, put this on." Taking the seat across from her, he places his hand on top of hers.

Overcome with emotion, it takes Charlotte a few minutes to settle down. "I owe you an apology."