Chapter 10
She had a wonderfully sad dream that night. She was holding her two year old daughter. She had long hair and tiny hands and was soft as...
She woke up with a start. The side of her face was stuck to his nightshirt. She unstuck herself, stretched, and yawned noisily. Dorkus snored in his sleep.
She rubbed her face as she got out of bed. She wore one of Dorkus's shirts to bed, it came down to her mid thigh.
She forgot the way around her own house, it was pretty big. She found the stairs and walked slowly down them gripping the guard rail for her life. She made it down the stairs and now to the kitchen. She had to touch the wall the whole time to make sure she was going the right way.
She made it to the kitchen table. She wanted to be as independent as possible, considering her lack of vision. Dorkus always wanted to help her with this, that, and the other. She knew he meant the best and she loved him with all her heart, but with her being wounded by the prison, his helpfulness was driving her mad.
She wanted to prove to herself that she could do something by herself. She decided to make tea. She took a deep breath and carefully got the teapot out of the cupboard, it wasn't moved since she touched it last.
She took the tea out of another cupboard and but it in. Next was the hard part, she had to boil water. She got a pot out, filled it with water, and put it on the stove.
She waited until she heard faintly the sound of bubbles forming. Next she, very carefully, put the water in the pot. She breathed a sigh of relief. If he was awake she'd knew he'd have a fit. She could her his voice now. 'Charlotte, you should have had me do it, you could have burned yourself, love.' He could really sound like the Doppwielwers sometimes.
She brought the teapot and a teacup to the kitchen table and started to pour herself some tea. Right when she sat down there was a knock at the door.
She couldn't answer the door like this, but she couldn't ignore it, what if it was something important. She noticed one of her husbands robes was on the back of the chair she was sitting on. She had no other choice she put it on and went to answer the door.
She walked slowly to the front door. Opened it and said, "hello"
He spoke in French, "Hey, kid, long time, no see." He thought it was funny to say this, it always made his sister irritated.
She didn't care, it had been three long years since she had heard her brothers voice.
"Reece" she hugged him. She had always been affectionate, to Reece's dislike. He never liked to be touched, but this time he'd let it slide.
"Hey Charlie, can I come in? It's freezing out here."
"Ya of course." They went inside. "Would you like some tea?" She knew he wasn't a tea drinker, he said it was for pansies and the English, but she had to ask to be polite.
"No thanks, kid, you made it by yourself? Where's that dork of yours?" He was also one to underestimate her ability of doing things for herself. The two most important men in her life treat her like a child.
"He's upstairs, asleep."
"...hey kid, I heard about the whole...prison thing, that's some hard stuff."
"It wasn't the hardest thing I've gone through." She was talking about living alone with their father, he already knew she didn't blame him for leaving. She closed her eyes and smiled at him, He could tell she was keeping something from him.
"Hey, you can tell me anything." She had heard this to much. Maybe she couldn't tell them what's been eating her alive since it happened. Tears came to her eyes.
"Please tell me, Charlie." She just closed her eyes and shook her head.
"Your going to have to tell someone eventually, it's going to explode inside of you.
"I can handle myself!" She could count on her fingers how many times she rose her voice and now she was up to eight most of them were to her dad or Reece she only rose her voice at her husband if she was frustrated with him. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry...well, I just wanted to see your pretty face, I think I'll get going."
"Alright, bye."
"Bye." He got up and walked out the door. All of their meetings were like this, brief and to the point. He was busy being an artist to pay the real world any mind.
She knew he was right, she had to get it out of her. So she wrote her husband a note.
Dear Dorkus,
I am going to the neighbours' house for tea and company. I didn't want to wake you up. You are welcome to join us if you would like. Xoxo
Love, Charlotte
She hoped he could read it, she couldn't see the writing, after all. It probably looked like a kindergartener trying to learn how to write for the first time. She used to write somewhat decent but list it to lack of practice.
She needed to change without waking him up. She kept some spare clothes in her old room. She moved quietly to the room and changed quickly, she made her way down the stairs.
She grabbed her guid stick and was out the door.
Nesmith was home alone, Sheen was off on an adventure involving, mustard, princess Oom, and a magic diary.
Charlotte knocked on the door. Nesmith answered moments later. "Hello Mrs. Aurelius, what a pleasant surprise, do come in." She walked into the house and Nesmith lead her to a chair. "Tea?" "Thank you."
The tea was prepared and set out. "What is the catalyst of such a nice visit?"
"I was just wondering Mr. Nesmith, can you keep a secret?"
He didn't know how to answer this question. He said nothing for a minute.
"Charlotte?"
"I want to tell you something to get it off my chest, can I trust you to keep it a secret?
He tried to sound as serious as he could "Of course."