Into the Light

“I don’t believe your shit, Maria. I don’t care that you’re Charlotte’s mother. Sounds to me like you’re jealous of your daughter because she found something you couldn’t. Don’t fucking poison her mind. Leave her alone and let her make her own decisions.”

“I’m not here to poison her mind. Her path has been decided upon. You, on the other hand, still have the chance to change yours.” They were her parting words before she walked away.

Unable to mask my anger towards her, I was unaware that Mark was standing beside me. He placed his hand on my shoulder, patting it.

“Kid, don’t listen to her nonsense. Nothing’s decided, what stuff like that does is implant a vicious seed in your head. I’ve had years of hearing that rubbish, I should know,” he rambled.

It was too late; her words were seeping into my conscious, slowly planting that seed. Was I capable of hurting Charlotte again? How? I knew that I couldn’t exist without her so the thought of pushing her away inflicted pain upon myself. This wasn’t what I wanted to be thinking about on my wedding day. Shake it off, Lex; jealousy is an ugly trait and that’s all this was.

I scanned the area, looking for Charlotte, needing her touch to reassure me at this moment that it was just us for a lifetime. She was standing beside BJ and Eric, laughing and

carefree as BJ draped his arm over her. He was a sly bastard and without even thinking I moved towards them.

“Mate, why haven’t you introduced me to your lovely Mrs. yet? I had to hunt her down myself, and I tell ya what, this one sure is a keeper,” he laughed holding onto her tight… too tight for my liking.

“BJ, you’re only saying that cos I gave you a run for your money,” Charlotte chastised.

“You’re a top bird, Charlie. Now tell me where I can find my good friend, Kate. She did a runner on me.”

“How about you keep your dick in your pants and away from Kate?”

I burst out laughing and pulled Charlotte’s arm to me. BJ let go and pouted, rambling on about Kate being a cold-blooded bitch until Charlotte put him in his place. That’s why I loved her.

“Kate’s never mentioned you, BJ. Surely if she had I’d know your length and girth by now,” Eric jested.

“Eric...” I warned.

Our conversation was interrupted as Adriana pulled me aside. “Are you ready?”

I nodded, it was speech time. I didn’t have to write anything down on a piece of paper. I was going to wing it, that’s how much confidence was behind the words I was about to speak. As she called for attention from the crowd, my dad whispered something in her ear, forcing her look at me and ask me to hold on. My dad planned to speak, much to my discontent. He cleared his throat and began.

“I am a man of few words but I hope that the words I say carry depth. This day was inevitable for anyone who knew Charlie and Lex seven years ago.” He looked at my mother, she smiled and he carried on.

“Charlie, you came into my life as a little girl, and became best friend to my daughter. Life threw some curveballs and here you are, standing as the strongest woman I am honored to know. You became my daughter thirteen years ago and today only celebrated that milestone.” Charlotte held onto my mother and grabbed a tissue, the two of them wiping their faces. My dad paused, his voice quivering slightly.

“Lex, I know we have our differences. I know we don’t see eye to eye on almost anything. But son, you have done me proud. Every day I relish in the man you have become. You fought me tooth and nail to follow your dreams, not mine, and I stand here today thanking you for challenging me and for making me see that you are your own man. I love you, admire you and thank you for making me a better person.”

Damn, he hit that fucking spot I had been avoiding, that weak part of me that yearned to be accepted by my father. He walked towards me and hugged me tight; I didn’t let go, for what seemed like minutes. Rocky’s voice rang in my head about smelling like pussy which made me pull away faster than the speed of light.

Everyone clapped and now I felt slightly nervous, scared that I would fuck up and she wouldn’t believe me. C’mon, Lex, that’s impossible.

“For those of you that wonder why I call Charlotte by her full name, it’s because many moons ago I told her I wasn’t like anyone else. I was a man that saw this beautiful woman and wasn’t going to stop until she was mine. Others had tried and they have failed, and even after all the mistakes I have made, I know that when Charlotte walks into your life you can never look back.”

“Charlotte Olivia Edwards, you are my wife, my reason for taking my breath every morning. I ache when I am away from you and I ache when I am near you. I see the light and you are there, making it shine. I am complete now that I have you, and in exactly six months and three days, you will give me the greatest gift a man can ask for. I promised to be your husband but as I stand here I promise to also be a father. I promise to cherish and love our children like I have been shown by my own parents. Once upon a time, I was dying a slow death, and I will forever be in your debt for making me come alive. Charlotte, my beautiful wife, I love you for not only who you are but for who I am when I am with you.”

Chapter 22

Charlie

I sat still as I stared out of the window with my hand entwined with his. There was nothing but light shining over the clouds. We were heading to London after spending a month travelling. Nikki and Michael were gracious enough to let me go, knowing that it wouldn’t be long before I couldn’t travel. I had never been so relaxed yet excited in my whole life; the worldwide destinations I got to experience, tropical islands to historic architecture and since I was constantly reminded that it was our honeymoon, the sex was nonstop. Lex was insatiable, and here I thought I was bad. There were days when I was sore, and those were the days we ventured out of the room to sightsee, but it only ended up with us back in the room for more hot sex.

As the plane touched down at Heathrow, I couldn’t contain my excitement. It was my first time here and all I could think about was meeting the royals. Yeah, like that was gonna happen, but everyone knows the Queen in England, don’t they?. Lex on the other hand looked tense; I offered to give him a blow job on the plane but he kindly refused, much to my disappointment.

I took out my cell, snapping photos of Big Ben as we drove past; it reminded of the Griswold’s futile attempt to exit the giant roundabout which in turn made me laugh out loud. Eric was so jealous, of course, and gave me a long list of places he wanted me to visit, including some hot gay club. Why wasn’t I surprised?

It didn’t take us long before the driver pulled up at Lex’s apartment block. He rarely spoke about his home, almost avoiding the topic every time. I was shocked when he agreed for us to come to London, but according to Kate he needed to tie up some loose ends in the London office before finally making the move to New York. I was annoyed that he failed to mention that to me, which resulted in a mini fight followed by some hot sex on the beach in the Bahamas.

We rode the elevator up until it reached the penthouse. His hands were kept to himself; something was definitely wrong and lord almighty he was as stubborn as a mule. As the doors opened, my jaw dropped. “Holy shit, this is your digs!” It was massive compared to mine which I thought was decent size. No wonder Lex complained about us buying something bigger in New York. It was an open-plan loft with dark, wood floors, the furniture mainly white. It didn’t look lived in or very homey, to be brutally honest.