Chapter 14

LIZA

She opens the door as Caitlin rings the bell at Charles' brownstone. "Hello sweetie, thank you for coming." She kisses her daughter on the cheek.

Caitlin looks around and her eyes widen, "Wow mom, this place is nice. Where is he?"

"Upstairs, working on dinner. Are you ready to meet him?"

"I am, I've heard you talk and talk and talk endlessly about him, you better believe that I'm ready to meet him. If he's half the man you say he is, well then, I'm going to like him for you. I can tell that you're very smitten with him."

They head upstairs and Charles stands that the top of the landing, smiling.

"Charles, this is my daughter Caitlin. Caitlin this is my um…my sweetie, Charles." She giggles as she announces him as her sweetie.

"Caitlin, it's nice to meet you." He shakes her hand. "Come on in, I'm still working on dinner, it should be done shortly."

Caitlin smiles up at him, thinking man he's tall, her mom is tall, but he's even taller, at least she found a guy that was an appropriate height for her. "It's nice to finally meet you Charles, mom can't seem to stop gushing about you." She smirks and looks at Liza.

"Oh, so she's gushing, huh?" He smiles at Liza, placing his hand on the small of her back and rubs gently.

"Okay enough about me gushing!" Liza pushes him back towards the kitchen.

Liza fixes Caitlin an iced tea and they sit at the kitchen island.

"Charles what can we do? Do you need us to help with anything?" Liza asks.

"No, I'm just finishing up, we should be ready in about ten minutes."

During dinner, Caitlin tells Liza and Charles about her courses this semester and how she is really loving college. She talks about Rose, her best friend and Charles explains that he's known her parents since before she was born, "She's like a niece to me, and a great kid, it's nice to know you are good friends."

Caitlin askes Charles about his girls and when he talks about them, she can tell he loves them more than life itself, he shows her pictures on his phone and around the house. He explains that they are not here tonight, because they are spending the night with their cousin. "But we expect that you'll get to meet them soon enough." Charles smiles.

"I look forward to meeting them, again mom has said good things about them." Caitlin smiles at her mom.

Liza sits back and listens to Caitlin and Charles talk, and get to know each other, her heart swells with love that they seem to really like each other. She wanted this to go well, she wants Caitlin to like him, because she is falling in love with Charles.

"Mom told me how you both met, that you didn't even know her, and you helped her find her job, is that right?"

"Yes, we simply met having breakfast at a small diner, we sat next to each other, we talked about literature and there was something about her that said she was a good person, so I told my friend about her, he is in publishing and she wanted a job in publishing, and I didn't have anything open at my company, so Jay was willing to give her a job."

They tell Caitlin about how they didn't speak after their initial meeting but ran into each other months later. He said he'd often thought of her and wanted to reach out to her, he knew where she worked, but he held back, instead he worked on taking care of his girls, of being the best dad he could be for them.

Caitlin listened and watched Liza and Charles, she noticed that they had fallen for each other, this made her happy for her mother, she certainly needed to find love after what happened in her marriage to Caitlin's father. Caitlin had often thought to herself that she hoped to never be caught in a marriage where love didn't exist, watching her mom and dad over the years was at times heartbreaking.

The evening went wonderfully, Liza and Caitlin sit alone in the living room while Charles excused himself for a few minutes. "Mom, I like him for you. I can tell you two are very happy together, I watched your body language and listened to how he talks about you. I think he's a good man, I'm glad you ran into him in that diner. And if I'm not mistaken, he's in love with you." Caitlin smiles.

Liza gasps, "What?"

"You mean he hasn't told you yet? Have you told him, cause it's written all over your face that you are in love with him?"

"We haven't. I've fallen for him, but I haven't told him. I mean, I've probably said it in other ways, but to actually say those three little words, no I've not said it. Do you really think he's in love with me Caitlin?" Liza's heart is pounding, she is suddenly thinking back to things he's said or done for her. Were there indicators that she had missed, that said he was in love with her?

CHARLES

"Mom! You need to tell him. I bet as soon as you say it, he'll say it back. Stop being a chicken shit and just tell him you love him!"

"Caitlin!" Liza scolds.

Charles was walking back to the living room and overheard the end of Liza's and Caitlin's conversation. He stops dead in his tracks, just out of eyesight, they did not know he heard them. He wasn't eavesdropping, he was just coming back into the room, how could he know what they'd be talking about?

'She loves me?' A smile crosses his face, his heart beats faster and suddenly his life with this beautiful woman just got better. He breathes out a heavy breath and walks into the room, trying not to give them any indication that he just overheard what they were talking about.

Of course, Liza changes the subject quickly, they talk about something funny that Maggie did the other day, all the time Charles' mind keeps going back to what he overheard. He tries to pay attention to everything they are talking about but seems to be losing that battle as his mind and heart work overtime.

He does hear that Caitlin is thanking him for the nice steak dinner, and the great conversations and welcoming her into his home.

He orders her a car, she is heading over to meet Rose at Bob and Julia's to spend the night there.

When her car arrives, she gives Charles a hug and again says it was nice to finally meet him, she kisses and hugs her mother goodbye.

Liza turns to Charles, "I think that went well." She smiles up at him.

"I think it did too Liza. It was nice to see you as a mother. You've raised a nice young lady, you should be proud of her."

Upstairs he pours them both a bourbon, he takes a drink, allowing the warmth wash over his taste buds. "Come, sit with me. Let's talk about anything and everything. I just want to sit with you and be near you."

He purposely brings up literature, he'd been thinking about telling her that he was in love with her for a while, thinking if he should say something romantic, or just throw it out there, into the universe into the atmosphere they shared every time they were together. And after tonight, overhearing what Liza and Caitlin had said, he'd made up his mind. It was time, he didn't want to hold it in anymore. So, he brings up what he knows best, literature, there were so many quotes from great novels that could help him make this moment so romantic and beautiful. God, he's hopeless he tells himself, but he's been this way since she entered his life.

"I've started reading Doctor Zhivago again. I like to revisit novels that I've read as a young man, and often when I go back, now that I'm a little older, it's fun to see if I missed anything, or can learn something new the second time around."

"Yes, I get it, I love going back and reading something that I've read years before, you can almost bet you'll find something new, or recall something that you had forgotten from your first read. So, tell me, have you discovered anything new, or remembered something that you had forgot?"

"You know that I'm big on quotes from novels, it's always been my passion, to remember something that moves me. You're the same, you add bookmarks to your books as you read, when you find something that moves you." He holds her close as they talk.

"I do." She smiles and her heart warms, knowing that he remembered that about her.

"The other day I was reading before I went to bed and I book marked a quote that struck me, something that I said I should share this with Liza, ask her what she thinks about it? I wondered if it would mean as much to you as it does to me?" Charles smiles, she turns to look up to him.

"Really? What was it?" She watches him.

"Well let me see if I can remember it. I tried to memorize it, so bear with me, hopefully I'll get it right." He breathes and quotes "They loved each other because everything around them willed it, the trees and the clouds and the sky over their heads and the earth under their feet." His eyes are locked on hers.

Her breathing and her heart quicken, she has just realized what he is saying to her. "Charles…"

"Liza, I love you. I believe that everything around us willed it, brought you to me and into my heart." He smiles his special smile for her, his thumb strokes her lips and then he bends to kiss her softly.

She smiles and a tear falls from her eye, "My turn." She smiles and quotes, "I love you wildly, insanely, infinitely."

"Charles, I believe I fell in love with you the first time I met you. I thought it was insane that I'd meet a man in a diner, have a conversation with him and fall for him before we parted ways that morning, I realized there was something about you that would change me if I allowed myself to believe in fate, if I allowed myself to accept that I'd love you more that I could ever imagine. I love you Charles." She leans up to him and kisses him.

LIZA

She wakes the next morning, wrapped in his arms, her head on his chest. She listens to his breathing as he sleeps, listens to his heartbeat, she recalls the night before, they had confessed their love for each other, explained they had been feeling it for a while, but were nervous to say it. She mentioned something about the conversation that she had with Caitlin, he confessed that he wasn't eavesdropping on them, but he did overhear them, it was what he needed to muster up his courage to just tell her already, he didn't know what he was waiting for. He'd told her that he didn't know how to say it, he could make it romantic, or just throw it out there. She told him that she liked how he told her, going the romantic route was by far the best way. She told him it was the best 'I love you' she'd ever received, and she never dreamt of something so romantic. He told her that he couldn't believe that he had found her, that he felt he must have done something right in his lifetime to deserve someone as amazing as her. She confessed she never expected to find him, that the first time she met him, she knew there was something different about him, and then not seeing or hearing from him for months, she wondered if she'd ever get a second chance, to right the wrong she felt by not reaching out to him, or staying in touch with him. He chuckled as she told him this, he himself had come close so many times, he wanted to reach out to her, he knew where she worked, hell he had her contact information, but he sadly did not, but then as if fate would not allow them to stay apart, they ran into each other once more, he said it was all he needed, seeing her that night, it was their second chance to right that wrong from months earlier.

She gets up and used the bathroom, leaving him to sleep. As she is brushing her teeth, he enters the bathroom, smiles and runs his fingertips along the small of her back, grabbing his toothbrush, she waits for him to finish. When he is finished, she walks up to him, wraps her arms around his waist, he bends and kisses her, both tasting minty fresh, they exchange good morning's and said those three little words to each other once more.

CHARLES

As they are having breakfast Charles explains to Liza that Pauline had called him yesterday, "That was why you heard me cursing when you met me last night after work. She had called, I declined the call and then she left a voicemail. I haven't listened to it, I just don't want to hear from her, it's been over a year since she left her children. And to tell you the truth, I had forgot about her calling, with all the fun we were having with Caitlin last night, then with us after. It completely escaped my mind that she called. I don't want to even listen to that voicemail, I want to delete it and hope to never hear from her again. Is that wrong of me?"

"What if it's something important? What if it's about the divorce?"

"Then she can have her lawyer speak with my lawyer."

"What if she wants to come back to you and New York?"

"Liza, she's not going to come back to me, she and I were over before she left, our marriage was a sham. I didn't love her, and she didn't love me when she left. So, please don't worry about that. Remember I'm in love with you, and even if she came back, she could never stop us from being together." He pulls her into his embrace and kisses her tenderly, but then it deepens, his hands slide down and caress her ass and her silky panties.

"Well! This is awkward!" A voice startles them from their embrace, Charles looks behind Liza and standing there is Pauline.

Liza turns to look behind her, Charles holds her tight, not moving his hands from her. Pauline shoots them both a look of disgust. Liza turns back to Charles, he smiles at her "I love you, don't worry about her." Charles kisses her tenderly again.

"Charles, let me go get dressed, maybe you should too."

"Oh, honey you should go get dressed and leave us alone. As for him, I've seen him in a lot less." She grins.

"Pauline, what the fuck are you doing here?"

"Charles let the poor girl go and get dressed. You and I need to talk, didn't you get my voicemail?"

He looks back at Liza, then back to Pauline. He's not budging as he continues to hold onto Liza.

"Pauline you need to get out of my house!"

"Isn't it our house sweetie?"

"Fuck no it's my house, it's never been your house! Get out!" He stands and finally releases Liza, he walks over to Pauline and points down the stairs, "Now Pauline! If you have anything to say to me, you need to go through your lawyer! Sign the goddamn divorce papers and leave me the fuck alone!"

She grabs her purse and slowly walks down the stairs as Charles follows, he opens the door and locks it behind her. Not that it would do any good, she still had a set of keys.

Upstairs in the kitchen, he searches the internet on his phone for a locksmith service that will come out on a Saturday to change all the locks.

He looks at Liza and she looks like she's going to be sick. "Liza, baby are you okay? Don't worry about her. I'm getting the locks changes, I don't know why I didn't get that done the day she left."

As they walk to his bedroom to get dressed, before the locksmith shows, she asks, "What do you think she wants?"

"I really don't care. Liza don't let her bother you. I told you she won't come between us. Now come on let's wait for the locksmith, then when they are done, we can get on with our day. Remember we had plans with the girls today, it's going to be a good day for us. I love you."

She smiles, still a bit worried about what Pauline wanted, but as he wraps his arms around her, she immediately feels better, "I love you Charles."

LIZA

She explains to Maggie the evening they had with Caitlin, the moments after when they proclaimed their love for each other. "Oh Maggie, the way he told me was amazing. I've never had a man tell me he loves me that way, nor did I ever dream a man would tell me he loved me in that way, he really had thought it out. Can you imagine if we were to ever get married, what the proposal would be like?"

"Marriage! Liza, don't you think your jumping the gun a bit? You just told him you love him, give it time on marriage."

"I know!" She smiles, but then turns somber. She explains how his ex-wife had showed up. "Just walked into the house, as we were in a very compromising position."

Maggie's eyes widen. "Holy shit Liza, did she catch you having sex?"

"No, but we were half dressed and kissing and Charles' hands were roaming."

"So, what did she want?"

"Don't know, he kicked her out, and refused to call her, he even deleted the voicemail she had left the night before, he never even listened to it. I've never seen him so angry as he was in that moment. You can tell he's very pissed at her for leaving his girls."

"You don't think he'd take her back do you?" Maggie sips on her coffee and looks for Liza to answer.

"I don't know, I really can only go off what he's said about her over these last few months that we've been together. He's always said their marriage was over long before she left, he has never acted like there was anything to save when it came to their marriage. But I must admit that I'm a little worried, she could want him back, they have history, so maybe he'd consider trying to work things out for his family."

Maggie shrugs and silently hopes he'd not take his ex-wife back, it would probably devastate Liza, she didn't want to see her friend hurting.

"Damn Maggie, we had just moved to a beautiful place in our relationship, and then shit hit the fan. Aren't we supposed to be happy? We shouldn't be worrying about an ex showing up and ruining everything."

"I don't think she's going to ruin everything, I believe he does love you, he wouldn't have told you if he didn't."

"Yeah, but what if he loves her more?" Liza sighs. "I'm going to take a bath, just try to forget about my doubts."

Later Maggie takes her friend a glass of wine to sip while she relaxes in the tub. "I thought you could use this. Don't worry too much sweetie. Let me know if you need anything else."

CHARLES

After kicking Pauline out of the house, he spent the rest of the day with Liza and his daughters. They went to the park, they played and fed the ducks, afterwards that evening Liza spent the night again. The girls were getting use to her spending time with them, they were careful to not show too much affection towards one another in front of the girls, but when he'd get a moment with Liza, he'd make sure to let her know that she meant everything to him. They talked about Pauline some, but for the most part he didn't want to talk about her. He was not happy to see Pauline and all he wanted was to get his divorce final. He vowed he'd reach out to his lawyer on Monday morning and push to get everything moving in the right direction to finalize his sham of a marriage. After this weekend, telling Liza he loved her and know that she loved him as well. And then having his ex-wife show back up, he knew more than ever where his heart was and wanted to be from this moment on. It was all Liza and he'd do everything in his power to make her happy.

He had sensed that Liza was feeling apprehensive about Pauline and what Charles would do now that she was back in the city. He had tried to show her and tell her that he'd never take her back, that Liza had nothing to worry about. "I told you our marriage was over long before she left, we weren't having sex, we weren't even a couple, we were only living in the same house together, that is all Liza. Please don't worry that I'd take her back, I promise you that will never happen, it's you I love."

When Liza had said goodbye on Sunday afternoon, he hadn't wanted to say goodbye. "Please just stay, I'll take you home and you can get some clothes and you can come back here and stay with us." But she said that she needed to go home, she didn't want him getting tired of her, they'd been spending lots of time together of late and as much as she loved that, they needed to show some restraint. He laughed, "I'm never going to tire of you, and I could care less about restraint!"

Now here he is pushing the bell to her loft, he had called one of his babysitters and as soon as she showed, he kissed his daughter's goodbye, and explained he'd be back by dinner.

"Hello." Maggie says quietly when she answers the door. "Was she expecting you?"

"No, is she here?" He looks around.

"She's in the tub, it seems she needed a bubble bath and a glass of wine to calm her nerves. I think she's worried about your ex showing up."

"Yeah, I know she is. Do you think she'd mind if I…"

"Go on in Charles, I think she'd be very happy to see you." Maggie motions towards the bathroom door.

He knocks lightly and waits for Liza to say come in. "Maggie? Since when do you knock? Come on in." Liza responds.

He smiles, opens the door slowly and peaks in, "It's not Maggie, it's me. Can I come in?"

She smiles and can't believe he is here, "What? Charles, why are you here? Yes! You can come in."

"I'm sorry to just come over unannounced, but I could tell you were feeling apprehensive about the whole Pauline situation. I didn't feel good knowing you were feeling worried, I wanted you to stay today. But when you left, I couldn't stop thinking about you, wanting to be close to you, make you feel better. When you're not happy Liza, I'm not happy. When you're away from me my heart hurts."

LIZA

She wants to cry, she can't believe he is here. She was feeling horrible leaving him today, how can she miss him so much, they had just parted, and she was missing him so badly. She knew it was because his ex-wife had showed back up, it scared the shit out of her, she worried that she could possibly lose him to his old life. But here he is sitting on the side of the tub she is soaking in, telling her he's not happy when she'd not happy, and his heart hurts when she is not near, lord this man continues to make her fall harder for him with everything he says and does.

"My heart misses you too when you're not near. It seems we've both fallen hard for each other. I can't believe you're here. I love you. Where are the girls?"

"I left them with the babysitter, promised that I'd be home around dinner time. So, if you don't want to come back with me, then…." He looks at his watch, "we've got about three hours before I head back home, and my heart starts hurting once more."

"Do you want to join me." She says sitting up and extending her hand.

Taking her hand, he pulls it to his lips and kisses it. "I don't think that tub is big enough for the both of us." He chuckles.

"Yeah, you may be right." She watches him, "So, what do you have planned now that you're here?"

"Well I want to make sure you know that I'm yours Liza, you shouldn't worry about my ex-wife. I'm going through with the divorce as I've always been planning, I'm calling my lawyer first thing in the morning to see about pushing forward with everything and getting it all ended, so I can focus on you and my girls. I want a new life with you, my girls and your daughter."

He watches as her tension falls away from her shoulders, she exhales a sigh of relief. "You know that I'm so in love with you, I wouldn't be worried about your ex-wife if my heart wasn't fully invested in what we have happening between us. I'm sorry that I was doubting you when it comes to her, I should know that if the tables were turned, I'd never take my ex-husband back, I'd also be trying to make you feel comfortable about everything that was happening."

She pulls the plug in the tub to release the water, she stands as his eyes run along her naked body, she is covered in suds, his breathing quickens at the site of her before him. "Liza…when I'm with you, it's your atmosphere that I crave, I sometimes wonder if I could breathe without it. I love you, I'll always be yours and you're all I need." Charles sighs. She turns on the shower to wash away the suds and his eyes never leave her, he knows she's the most beautiful creation from God that he'll ever experience in his life.

Charles stands and grabs a towel for her, wrapping her in it and helps her safely from the tub. She leans up to him and kisses him with love, want and need, when they pull apart his need for her is growing, she takes his hand and they walk quietly to her bedroom and to her bed. They make love showing each other how much they do love each other, how much they need each other, how much they belong together, and vow that nothing or no one will keep them from being together.

The End.