Estimated Time of Arrival
Charlie is fifteen years old.
Bass pulled into the parking lot at the baseball field, finding it completely empty except for the familiar blonde haired girl sitting on the sidewalk. He stopped in front of her and popped the trunk, she threw her duffle bag in the trunk and got in the front seat.
"Hey, Bass." Charlie's usually happy face was downcast and her voice was soft. Bass hated seeing her like this, and knowing that Rachel had caused it just added insult to injury.
"Practice is over at 5, it's almost 6:30, Charlie, why did you wait so long to call?" He knew that asking her a bunch of questions right now would only upset her more, but she had just sat in a parking lot, by herself, for over an hour. That wasn't exactly safe.
Charlie looked out the window towards the field. "I guess I just thought that she'd remember and come get me."
Bass cursed her sorry excuse for a mother and asked, "did you try calling her?"
"It went straight to voicemail."
Of course it did. Damn Rachel. But instead of saying that out loud, he asked, "where's Ben, why didn't he come get you?"
"He's in New York on a business trip, he won't be back for another two weeks." The poor girl was stuck with no one but her mother and sickly little brother for company, and there was nothing Bass could do about it.
Miles was away for work again. He had left six weeks ago and wasn't due back for another eight. Poor Charlie was stuck staying with her mom and Uncle Ben until her dad came back.
"I hate staying with them. It's usually not so bad with Uncle Ben there, but my mom is a total nut job. I'm not allowed to go outside, I'm not allowed to watch TV, and she only makes that nasty vegan food because she claims that it's the only stuff safe for Danny to eat." By the end of Charlie's rant, her cheeks were flushed and her blue eyes were blazing with anger. "It's like she expects me to sit inside and read all day!"
Now one of Miles' rules was that they weren't allowed to talk badly about Rachel in front of Charlie, but in this case, Bass felt like his friend might make an exception. "Look, your mom has always been a little... off, but it's not for that much longer. Your dad will be home before you know it, and then you can go back to eating McDonald's and mini-pizzas all you want."
Charlie gave him a faint smile, toying with the 'M' necklace he had given her around her neck. "I know, but 54 days is so long. Almost two months!" Her voice got soft, "I just want him to come home."
Bass pulled her into a hug, as best as he could while they sat in the car. "I know, I miss him too."
She pullled back and smiled up at him, "you know, you could always get me McDonald's on the way back to my mom's house."
"If your mom finds out she's gonna kill me."
"Oh, come on, Bass," Charlie gave him her best puppy dog eyes, knowing that he wouldn't be able to say no, "pretty please?"
Sighing, because he knew he hadn't stood a chance from the moment he got her text message about needing a ride, he put the car in drive and headed to the nearest fast food restaurant.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she was practically squealing in the passenger seat. "I promise I will love you forever."
Bass scoffed. "Yeah, well if Rachel finds out 'forever' might not be that long."
Chuckling, Charlie rolled her eyes. "Yeah right, what's she gonna do, talk you to death?" They both laughed, and Bass had to admit that he was glad she had texted him. Without Miles in town he hadn't had anyone to hang out with, so he was just as eager to get out of his lonely house as Charlie was to get out of Rachel's stuffy one.
"I'll tell you what, we'll eat inside and then I'll take you home. How's that sound?"
Charlie grinned at him, showing off the cute little dimple in her cheek. "That sounds perfect," she leaned over and kissed his cheek, "thanks, 'Bastian."
"Your welcome, Charlotte."
