Back in her room, Charlotte finally noticed a message Scott had sent nearly thirty minutes ago:
Scott: “Home yet, Miss Riley?”
Charlotte “Yeah, just got in. Did you need something?”
Scott: “Mind if I call?!
Charlotte: “Sure.”
A secondter, her phone lit up with an iing voice call.
She picked up
“What is it, Mr. Lucas?”
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Scott’s voice came through, tinged with apology.
“Sorry, Miss Riley, I didn’t know my aunt had invited that many <b>people </b><b>tonight</b>. She just <b>told </b><b>me </b>you were the one who <b>found </b>Tiana in the park <b>and </b>that she wanted to treat you to dinner as athank–you. She also said that since we’re partners and know each other well, she didn’t want you to feel awkward. If I <b>wasn’t </b>there so she asked me toe along. I had no idea my grandparents would be there too. I really didn’t.”
arlotte let out a suftugh
“<b>That’s </b>all? <b>Don’t </b>worry about it. I’m not exactly socially awkward ”
Scott sounded sheepish
“I just didn’t want you to be caught off guard. My aunt… she can be a lot. Since my parents have been overseas for years, <b>she’s </b>taken it upon herself to stress over my future. She’s tried setting me up a few times. And after meeting you, she totally misunderstood. I tried to exin, but I don’t think she bought it”
Charlotte blinked in surprise
She hadn’t realized Mandy was thinking along those lines.
<b>As </b>she digested what Scott had just said, she hesitated, then asked, “So… your aunt is trying to set us up?”
There was a brief silence on the other end.
She could hear his quiet breathing.
Then, after a few seconds<b>, </b>he responded with a <b>vague</b>,
“Yeah.”
Charlotte couldn’t help but find it a little absurd. She let out a soft chuckle. “Looks ke she’s going to be disappointed. I’m not nning to date anyone right now. The firm just opened, and there’s so much to deal with. Honestly, I’m focused on building my career.”
Hearing that, a flicker of disappointment crossed Scott’s face. He let out a quiet sigh.
To <b>test </b>how she felt.
Everything he had said earlier had been a way to t
Her answer didn’t surprise him–but it still stung
After spending so much time with her these past few weeks<b>, </b><b>one </b>thing had be clear that Charlotte didn’t remember him at all
Back in college, after she rejected his confession, he had stopped getting close to my other women his age
Yearster, at their graduation party, a ssmate who had been pursuing him for four straight years confessed to him again. She was drunk, crying uncontrobly
He remembered thinking maybe it was time to move on, to try letting someone else in. So he agreed to give it a shot.
If first love meant the first person you ever truly fell for–then Charlotte was, without a doubt, his first love.
if it meant your first real rtionship, then that girl was in
He had <b>really </b>tried
They dated for three months. But in the end, he realized he just couldn’t do it.
When he broke things off, he offered her a generous parting gift but she refused <b>to </b>take any of it.
“Scott Lucas, <b>you </b>don’t have a beaTT ”
That was thest thing she ever said to him.
He didn’t argue
She left
She didn’t take the $50,000 breakuppensation.
<b>She </b>didn’t take the luxury handbags he had bought her.
<b>She </b>just walked away.
Now, over the phone, Charlotte said, “Mr. Lucas, we’re colleagues. And friends.”
She paused, then finished–softly, but firmly, “But we’ll never be anything more than that.”
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