I disclaim again. I only own Charlie and those unknown.
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Chapter Ten – Recognition and Then Some
When Charlie walked in, John's jaw dropped and Maria's hands flew to her face. She hit Randy's arm and ran to Charlie hugging her tight. John and Randy looked at eachother questioningly and wondered why Maria was acting like she was meeting a Hollywood celebrity. She was shaking Charlie's hand and giggling, "It's so nice to meet you, I'm a huge fan!"
Charlie was stunned. "Um, okay."
Maria continued shaking her hand, "I love your stuff and so does John! I spend hours in the bathtub with you it's just so great and exciting!" As Charlie listened to Maria she placed her hand over her mouth to not laugh at this poor girl in front of her. "Every night before I go to sleep, unless I'm too tired, but I have everything of yours and they're just the best out there!"
Randy and John stifled laughs too at Maria's descriptions. "What the fuck is she talking about?" Randy said quietly to John.
"Dude, no fucking clue and how did I get into this?" He responded.
"Who does Maria think she is?" Randy watched Charlie try not to laugh and caught her eye a few times.
"Again, no fucking clue, but, you are a fuckin' dickhead. What in the hell is she doing with you?" John asked his best friend. "She's by far the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
Randy shot John a look. "Thanks mother fucker, thank you very much." They both laughed and watched Maria and Charlie. Maria was still rambling on and on and Charlie wasn't quite sure what to do. I thought Randy said she wasn't the idiot she plays on tv, this girl sounds like Chatty Cathy and won't shut up and how in the fuck does she know?
"Why don't you go to any conventions or do promos at the stores?" Maria just kept going on about whatever it was she thought Charlie did and they way she was speaking made Randy and John quite curious. "I've been dying to meet you for so long, I've studied everything there is to know about you and it was hard. Why do you keep yourself a secret? I had to go back about 8 years to find a picture of you! I've been taking classes and everyone talks about you and how amazing you are!"
Charlie had had enough. Maria was either way off base or she was truly busted, and Chatty Cathy was the last person she wanted to know. "Who do you think I am?"
Maria rolled her eyes and looked back at John and Randy who shrugged. "You're Rhett Rochelle, the greatest mystery writer for the past, oh I don't know, 8 to 10 years! You're only a constant force to be reckoned with on the New York Times bestseller list."
The fleeting look on Charlie's face told Randy Maria was dead on. John flew into 'fan mode' and shook her hand too. Great, two crazy people who will tell the world who I really am. "Maria, baby, quit stalking her." Now John was telling her all about his favorite stories. "Wait a minute, you can't be Rhett Rochelle. Rhett is a guy's name and he's been writing for more than 10 years. How old are you?"
This was her out, should she take it? Randy would find out sooner or later anyway and she didn't care if he knew, but she cared if it got out to the masses and at the rate Maria talks it could be on the internet by dinner. "I'm almost 27."
"See, Maria, she's not Rhett, she would have been published at the age of 16 or 17, there's no way." John turned looking at Maria and they began arguing. Charlie looked at Randy and he looked like the Cheshire cat. He walked to her slowly with that shit-eating grin.
"It's true isn't it. She's right." He smiled at her and knew. She didn't have to answer him and that would certainly explain the funding for the outfit she wore last night. "How did you sell a book to a publishing house at 16?"
"My high school creative writing teacher submitted a story I wrote for the final grade my sophomore year. Six months later I had a fat check to pay for college and a contract." She told Randy softly but John and Maria heard her. "I graduated high school when I was 16, college at 19 and had a Masters at 23." She said it as if it were an easy thing to do for anyone. Randy's jaw dropped and Maria jumped for joy squealing and clapping her hands.
"I am so honored to meet you!" Maria gushed again. Charlie excused herself after shooting Randy a look and left it to Randy to drive home the point of anonymity. It was vital to Charlie to be kept hidden and hoped Randy understood the depth of the look she gave him. She stood in the bedroom with her head back and her hands over her face taking deep breaths.
"Baby girl, the annoying assistant is back reminding us of our plans tonight. We can either still go and excuse ourselves for the evening, we can invite John and Maria or we can ditch the whole thing." He walked up behind her and held her close. "She's just excited. She'll keep your secret and take it to the grave, so will John." He spun her around to look at him. "She's truly a great girl and you'll see that when she gets past her crazy fan moment." He smiled down at her and placed a soft kiss to her lips. "I can't believe you're Rhett Rochelle. I have to admit I've read your books too." Charlie had to giggle at him. "Your brothers told me you had a Masters from Brown but they never told me you were a writer. Where'd you get the name? Oh wait let me finalize our plans." Charlie stood there waiting and couldn't believe she'd been recognized. The only photo linking her to the name was about 8 years old now, how did Maria figure that out? "Okay, tell me everything." He asked excitedly.
"My grandmother was from Savannah, a true southern belle, and a huge fan of the moving pictures as she called them." Charlie smiled as she thought of her beloved grandmother. She spoke in the old Georgia drawl of her grandmother as she continued, "Rhett Butler was her favorite character in the moving pictures and her name was Rochelle." Charlie switched to a French accent, "Rochelle D'Alere' was quite the upper class debutante and married the finest man in all of Georgia." Charlie giggled at her grandmother's description of her grandfather. "She caused quite a scandal when she married an Irish lass from a blue collar neighborhood, Seamus Murphy."
Randy sat in a chair and John and Maria stood at the door watching Charlie describe her grandparents using all the old languages. She squared her shoulders and spoke with an Irish lilt, raised her head high when she used a French dialect and tilted her head down a little and batted her eyes when she broke out the smooth drawl of a true Southern lady. "He brought her flowers for no reason, kissed her brazenly in public right on the lips, swatted her square on the bottom every morning when he kissed her goodbye for the day and brushed her hair every morning and every night for the last 10 years of her life." Charlie looked out the window as a tear escaped her eye despite the smile.
Nobody dared move as they listened to the amazing love of her grandparents, Randy and John both had to swallow the lumps in their throats a few times and Maria wiped away tears. "My parents had that same love and one day I want it too." She looked at Randy and then at the floor, not intending for him to interpret her words as a blatant hint, but he wanted the same things. She was just dreaming out loud about her future, he was tossed into a dream of a lifetime with the adorable woman in front of him.
He pulled her to him and into his lap. "You are by far the cutest thing I've ever seen and I love you." He kissed her firmly eliciting groans from John. Randy and Charlie had forgotten all about their company and she apologized profusely for it.
Plans were set for the evening and Charlie needed another dress to wear. She only brought one formal and the matching shoes and Maria needed an ensemble also. John was quickly added to the shopping list much to his chagrin. "Why can't you just wear what you had on last night?" Randy asked innocently and suddenly time stood still as Charlie and Maria both looked at him dumbfounded. "Hey, let's just go find you another dress."
"Who's my smart boy?" Charlie held his face in her hands and rubbed noses. Purses, wallets and phones were collected and they headed out the door. Maria promised on her life not to reveal who she was and did her best to calm down. Once Maria was back to 'normal', she and Charlie were fast friends. Randy watched her as they shopped and noticed she never looked at price tags, she just got what she liked. He walked up behind her in the Jimmy Choo store and whispered as he nuzzled her neck.
"I can't believe I thought you were some poor girl who was honoring the family by keeping the business. Here I am paying for everything when all along you've got more money in your piggy bank than I'll see in my lifetime!" Randy grabbed her ass and she giggled at him. "At least I know I won't need to make you sign a prenup." He kissed her neck and walked away leaving Charlie standing there shocked. Does he mean in general? She shook herself out of it and continued.
After several hours and additional purchases they made their way back to the hotel to dress. Their suite had two bedrooms so Maria and John bunked with them and the girls got ready in the master. Charlie was pleasantly surprised by Maria's actual intelligence level and they had great conversations ad she gave Maria advice on several topics, one being John. Charlie didn't know either of them but pointed out a few things she'd seen that day and what she would do. Maria tried getting information out of Charlie about her relationship with Randy but she wouldn't budge.
John and Randy sat in the sitting room playing video games and talked about the girls. Giggling and laughing could be heard from the other room. "Do you think they're talking about us, asshole?" Randy asked.
"Hell yeah, mother fucker." John said without taking his eyes from the tv. "Hey man, seriously, I really like her, don't fuck this up." Randy smiled, he knew what John meant, he had never liked Sam and Sam never liked John. Sam was a great girl, just not that great for Randy. "Did you seriously not know she had a secret identity?"
Randy laughed, "No, I never asked, I assumed the bar was all she did, who would've thought she was, is Rhett Rochelle?" John shook his head. They began playing the video game again and a few moments of silence passed. "I'm going to marry her, man." The moment those words were out of his mouth John's video game character was RKO'd. Charlie yelled out to the guys they needed to get ready so they went to the extra bedroom and did the three s's – shit, shower and shave.
"What's it feel like knowing you'll be on the receiving end of a prenup, dickhead?" John smirked at Randy and patted him on the back. They walked out and found the girls playing the video game. Charlie/ Randy was kicking Maria/ John's ass all over the ring.
"Baby girl, you're not even dressed yet hurry up." Randy said nuzzling her neck causing her to get a sidewalk slam from Maria. She made quick work of it and RKO'd Maria and they both went back to put their dresses on. Maria walked out first to a nice ovation from the boys followed by a kiss from John. When Charlie walked out there was silence. Both men looked at her with their jaws open and Charlie locked eyes with Randy. He didn't know what she paid for that dress because it was in a store where they didn't even use price tags; I guess the saying is true – if you have to ask you can't afford it. If it was possible, she looked even more beautiful than last night.
All he could do was kiss her, warm sensual kisses that sent volts of electricity up and down her spine. If he kept this up they'd never leave. He held her face in his hands and whispered, "I love you."