Liza

Liza's Uber stops outside Charles' home she darts up the stoop and knocks loudly while ringing the bell simultaneously. She wished she hadn't left the key Charles gave her at home on her dresser. After nothing happens she tries the door knob and is pleasantly surprised to find it unlocked, so someone was home. She slowly creaks the door open calling out for any sign of life in the old house.

"Hello?...Charles? Charli?"

She's met with silence as she makes her way up the stairs. At the top she's going towards Charles' room, when she hears a thud and a loud curse like someone dropping something heavy. It's coming from the direction of Charli's library. She tentatively walks towards the room, the door is ajar and she pushes it gently calling out to Charli again. She doesn't answer her, she's too busy pulling books from their shelves searching for something behind them. Liza enters the room and realizes it's the only room she's never been in before, it really was just a library with a bed and an over stuffed leather arm chair. The familiar smell of books makes her feel welcome. Then she sees that the thudding noise had been books. As Charlotte is searching she just lets several books flop off the shelf onto the floor. It physically hurt Liza to see books discarded that way and without thinking she makes her way over to the fallen books picking them up and returning them to the shelves. They work in silence Charli moving and flinging books from their home and Liza following behind her path of destruction correcting the chaos. Finally Charli stops and sits on her bed examining five small red journals each one had a number embossed in gold on the cover she was holding one with a 9 on it. She looks up and Liza can feel the anger and sadness radiating from her small frame.

"She took all of them but five," She examines the books more closely. "Years 7 through 11...she has 12 through 16..." Liza wasn't clear on what was missing or just who had what. She moves to join Charli on the bad taking the corner furthest from Charli. She looked like a feral cat that might runaway if Liza got to close.

"I wasn't an easy kid and dad bought me a journal when I was 7, he told me to write all the things I shouldn't or couldn't say out loud. It was therapeutic and he bought me a new one every year on my birthday. Charles continued to buy them after...till I was 16." She sniffs clearly fighting the urge to cry. She didn't like being vulnerable anymore than Charles did. Which only made Liza want to hug them both constantly.

"Pauline...she came into my space, invaded it with her stupid tiny hands and took my..." she takes a breath and swallows a sob "she took a part of my life...the worst part. And now she's writing about it, and Millennial-Kelsey is going to publish it." Liza instinctively starts to defend Kelsey.

"I don't think Kelsey would do anything to intentionally-" Charli cuts her off.

"I know, Kelsey is just a pawn too. Pauline's only doing this because she's always been jealous of my relationship with Chucky and she has the imagination of a toad. A real writer could come up with their own fictional world not steal a kids journals. And she's being particularly nasty because I helped Chucky with their mediation.

Mediation...there was that word was again. Last she'd heard about Pauline and the divorce everything was wrapped up except Pound Ridge. It was Charles' money that paid for the home but Pauline was claiming it was hers since she oversaw every detail of the construction and interior design. Charles hadn't mentioned going to mediation over it though.

"I'm going to stop her," she's saying this more to herself than to Liza. "She has to know I'm not going to let her win." Charli looks at Liza and then around her room and all the books Liza had picked up and replaced. "When did you get here?" Before she can answer her they hear the front door open and close Charles calls up to Charli.

"You can't leave to door unlocked Charlotte, I've told you a thousand times you don't know who could just waltz in and-" he reaches her room and sees Liza there on the bed and he smiles that smile that melts her insides. It dawns on her that she hasn't seen him in three days, three very long days. It had to be the longest time they'd been apart since Christmas when he had left for 10 days. She stood and took two shaky steps towards him suddenly nervous, which was ridiculous but her stomach flipped and flopped as he entered the room and closed the distance between them. He kisses her cheek and she needs more but Charli was staring daggers at him. "Liza what a surprise." He observes Charli with her red numbered books and asks "what are you ladies up to?" He picks up the number 10 book and Charli quickly plucks it from his hands.

"Pauline is writing a new book about us." She gestures between herself and Charles. "I'm guessing the timeline is the years I lived with you before I left for Princeton. According to the missing journals."

He stands there slowly digesting what Charli just told him. "I don't understand, why would she-" Charli cuts him off.

"Doesn't matter its happening, and FYI I'm not playing nice at arbitration. She'll be lucky to have unsupervised visits with the girls when I'm done with her. Good thing she's going to California because she won't be able to show her face in this town after all is said and done." Liza was genuinely lost now. Pauline was going to California? And Charles was fighting for custody of the girls? She looks to Charles for answers but he's silently pleading with Charlotte to calm down. He suddenly looks old, like the life has been beaten out of him. He drops his sibling's gaze and finds Liza. Somehow his face grows even more sullen when he spots the confusion in her eyes.

"Charlotte, don't do anything, we'll talk later. Liza?" He holds his hand out to her and she blindly takes it, she'd go wherever he lead her despite the growing unease in her gut. They leave a contemplating Charli as Charles escorts her to his study on the third floor. She'd wanted to go to his bedroom that was their happy space, and if he didn't want to take her there that meant they probably weren't going to be happy. They reach his study and he awkwardly fidgets trying to find his voice, she spares him and blurts out that she saw Pauline today.

"I did too. She wants to take the girls to Los Angeles, she leaves in 5 days." He sighs and tells her all about Pauline's new job, and Liza's heart falls to her stomach. Her first instinct was to grab him in a protective embrace, but he had that same feral look that Charli had. Instead she touched his arm gently and urged him to continue.

"We're trying to settle it amicably but today's attempt with a mediator was a failure."

"So Charli's going to-"

"Yeah, she's going to do her thing...it was going to be hard enough to reel her in before she knew Pauline was writing about her and now impossible. Did you know?" Liza shakes her head no.

"Kelsey bought the book without my knowledge."

"That may not turn out so good I won't be able to stop her if she decides to halt Pauline from publishing the book. Millennial may get caught in the crossfire."

"She'd do that to your company?"

"Probably not, but then I've never been too great at predicting what Charlotte is going to do." His face grows even more gloomy if that were possible. He was worried about too much, and she couldn't take it anymore she pulls him to her in a comforting embrace.

"I'll talk to Kelsey about the book." She pulls him to sit with her on the couch, they sit each with one leg bent on the couch and one leg hanging off the side so they are facing each other. She never breaks physical contact with him one hand on the bent leg in front own and one hand on his other knee. "Tell me about the girls and Pauline I feel so out of the loop. Why didn't you tell me you were going through this I would have been here." He looks up at her and she can see he's over thinking things again.

"I didn't want to burden you with my family drama." Well that stung to hear, did he not want her here apart of his life? Did he only want her in his bed at night? No she knew they were more than that and pushed that thought to the side. "And-and I didn't want to say anything till there was good news to tell."

"And there's isn't?"

"No, not yet Charlotte is my Hail Mary, but maybe I should have Bob handle everything she may be too emotionally charged right now." His face contorts with worry for his sister. She squeezes his knee and he looks up at her there's something else he isn't saying.

"Charles I'm so sorry this is happening, I can't imagine you being so far away from Nicole and Bianca."

"I...I won't be...if Pauline prevails and gets to take them to LA...I..." He stops not able to say it, she'd known he go it's what she would do if she were in his shoes. He takes both of her hands into his and gently squeezes. "Lets go to Paris-tonight we'll catch the red eye and wake up in Paris tomorrow morning. Spend the day there seeing everything we can, and at night-I know the perfect hotel with the best view of Paris at night. Lets leave this place just for 48 hours?"

"Half of that time would be spent on a plane."

"You don't find planes filled with strangers and crying babies romantic?" He smiles trying to charm his way to her agreeing with him. And it'll probably work, but she has to ask.

"Aren't we just running away from the situation at hand? You're going to leave-" he cuts her off.

"I know. And Liza you have to know I want you with me always, but I also know and respect your life and career here too much to ever ask you to-" it was her turn to cut him off.

"I'd go" His face lights up and it breaks her heart to have to finish her sentence. "If I didn't have Caitlin, my dad in New Jersey, Maggie, Kelsey and Diana, and Millennial. I'd go, but-" He wipes a tear from her cheek and nods.

"Paris? I could live a lifetime on the memory of making love to you with the Eiffel Tower as our backdrop."

This wasn't fair. She didn't want to live on a memory she wanted to live here with him. It had taken so long to get to this place. Everything she'd been through the past two years. Her lie, her relationship with Josh, Charles' hurt and anger when he'd discovered her lie. All the bad had been worth it as long as she could remain here happy with this man she loved so very much. She thought maybe she should go with him they publish books in California too. Caitlin is and adult, and she'd fly back with Charles for the quarterly board meetings to check on Caitlin and her dad and to see everyone else. She was already decorating their California kitchen when she realized she wouldn't go. She couldn't loose herself in another relationship again. With David she'd became a domesticated house wife and lost valuable years in an industry she loved. She couldn't start over again in another company, and she shouldn't have to give up everything she'd built at millennial, there was also the thought that she had to stay to ensure Millennial's survival. She had faith in Kelsey but she'd never be able to live with herself if Charles' family legacy just died.

Charles would never ask her to come with him and she loved him for it, but it killed her knowing that their time together could be limited. So why shouldn't they go to Paris? Go out with a bang? Maybe everything will go in their favor, and all of this will be something they laugh about in their future. They'll laugh at how silly they had been, how overly dramatic the whole thing was. Of course Pauline wouldn't get to just take the girls away and of course Charles Brooks would never trade his sophisticated New York life for a surfer dude lifestyle on the west coast. In spite of herself she smiled at the thought of Charles with sun bleached hair 'catching waves' and wearing tank tops with swim trunks instead of three piece suits. He tilts her chin up to make eye contact and raises an eyebrow in question to her silence.

"I was just thinking of you joining a surf gang, chasing that perfect wave dude." He smiles shaking his head no.

"Unlikely, I have an irrational fear of being stung by jellyfish. I rarely go to the beach if I can help it." She smiled at this new tidbit she hadn't known about him, which in turn made her even more sad that there was a possibility that soon she wouldn't have the opportunity to learn new things about the enigma of the man before her. "A franc for your thoughts?" This man Liza thought how can he be so absolutely wonderful?? Quoting Casablanca like it's no big deal? She smiles wistfully and nods her head.

"Great!" He hops up bringing her with him he pulls her to him and kisses her with a need so deep she wants to cry, but she pushes that down and chooses to live in the moment. At the moment they have to pack and book plane tickets. He breaks reluctantly and pulls out his wallet handing her is black Amex. "Can you book the flight while I'm packing and filling Charlotte in? Then we'll swing by Brooklyn for your things and passport." She nods adding that she'll call Maggie to have her pack a bag and her passport. He kisses her forehead and leaves her to it. She flops back down on the couch and allows herself a two minute pity party. She was going to have the most romantic weekend of her life and then she may loose him. She shakes the thought from her head and calls Maggie.

End