MissManaged

Her face twisted and a look I hadn’t seen since our first meeting appeared.

“Scary?” She repeated the word like it was foreign to her and her face scrunched up like she smelled something awful. “You think that was scary for me? What am I, twelve?”

I didn’t understand or appreciate her attitude but gave her the opportunity to explain herself. “Charlotte, what’s wrong? Where is this coming from?”

“My name is Charlie. And you are not in charge of me. You do not control me. And you definitely don’t tell me where I’m going to live.” She spat the words at me, her fury making her practically vibrate.

I lifted my hands and took a step back, hoping to calm her down. “Okay, Charlie. I’m sorry I spoke out of turn. He just made me so angry.”

She scoffed at me. “That wasn’t speaking out of turn. That was you showing your true colors. Were you just waiting for an opportunity to take over? You said you wouldn’t do that. You promised. But there you were, telling the whole neighborhood how you’re in charge and that I listen to you.”

“But—”

“No, Tobin. No buts. I was hesitant to have a relationship with you for this very reason, and you proved my worries were correct. You need to leave my porch and leave me alone. I will not have another man like my father in my life.”

She slammed the door and turned the deadbolt, leaving me standing there, speechless.

Somehow, in less than twenty minutes, my life had blown apart.

I triedto call Charlie over the next week, but she never answered. Then I went to her house for our regular weekly meeting, but her car wasn’t there. I sent her flowers the next day, but Daisy called me and said Charlie refused delivery. Since I’d already spent fifty dollars on the bouquet, I picked it up to give to my mother, so at least someone could appreciate them.

I’d avoided my parents for the past week, as much as I could while still running a business with them, so when I walked into their kitchen I was prepared for the questions.

“Hey, Toby, what are you doing here?” my mother said, then turned to look at me. “Oh, those are lovely.”

“Here you go,” I said, setting the vase on the counter and sliding it toward her. “Enjoy.”

“It’s not my birthday or Mother’s Day, and I haven’t done anything special that would warrant flowers, and as much as I’d like to convince myself that you were just thinking about me, I know that’s not true. Or expected by me. So, these have to be for Charlie.” She watched me with knowing but loving eyes. I’d expected an inquisition, but what I got was almost worse. Compassion.

“They were for Charlie,” I said, swallowing thickly. “She didn’t want them.”

“Sit down with me, Toby. Tell me what happened.” She poured two glasses of iced tea and sat down at the table, leaving me with no choice but to join her.

“I’m sure you’ve heard some of it,” I said, wincing at the thought of the rumors that had to flying around town.

“I’ve heard some things, but I want to hear it from you. I know you’ve been doing your best to avoid me, but maybe talking to me will help you fix things.” She reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “I am a woman, you know.”

I smiled at her hopeful attitude but had to bring her back to reality.

“I don’t think there’s any fixing this, Mom.” I groaned and ran a hand through my hair. “I really screwed up. I lost my temper and flew off the handle and said a bunch of stuff that I’d promised Charlie I would never do.”

The whole ugly story spilled out of my mouth, from her father’s terrible words and my fear that he’d somehow get her to leave with him, to my own cocky statements that Charlie heard every word of. After I got it out, I felt better, but I still didn’t see any way out of the situation.

My mother took a sip of tea and stared at me. I couldn’t tell if she was disappointed or angry or was about to give me a foolproof plan to win Charlie back.

“That’s quite a predicament you’ve gotten yourself into,” she said.

I sighed and drank my tea. “I’ve tried calling her every day and going there, but she’s not responding. Then she refused the flowers today and I’ve just about given up hope.”

“Tobin, don’t be a quitter,” she said sharply. “It’s only been a week.”

“I can’t force her to listen to me, Mom. That’s how I screwed things up. By trying to force stuff on her.”

“But did you really? I know you said those things to her father, but were you really going to force her to move in with you?”

“No, I was planning to ask her to move in when her lease is up in a few months. I wanted to talk to her about it the other day, so she had plenty of time to think about it.”

She nodded. “And you didn’t mean the other things you said, did you?”

I shook my head. “No. I just flew off the handle. She’d told me how bad her father was, but it did not prepare me for the things he was saying and trying to do. How could he think that his grown daughter was just going to give up her life because he said so? And how could she believe I would act like him?”

Mom clucked her tongue and gave me an expectant look that I didn’t understand.

“What?” I asked.

“Think about what you just said and then think about it from Charlie’s view. Instead of just having to deal with her father trying to get her to leave her life, she suddenly had you yelling on her front lawn about how you were going to make her move. That was her biggest fear come to life.”

“I didn’t mean it,” I protested. “And she won’t talk to me and let me explain.”

Mom tapped her finger against her pursed lips for a moment as we sat in silence. Every second that she didn’t tell me not to worry and that everything would work out drove me deeper into despair.

I’d lost the best thing that ever happened to me. The most important person in my life. All because I couldn’t control my stupid mouth.

“You need to write her a letter.”

“What?” Her sudden announcement startled me out of my dark thoughts.

“Put everything you said on paper, apologize, explain what you were feeling, and that you know you were wrong. Ask her to call you and then back off. That way, she has time to digest it at her own pace.”

I started to tell her I didn’t want to wait any longer, but she cut me off.

“If you love her, you’ll give her time.”

I didn’t love the backing off part of the plan, but I didn’t have any other ideas.

“All right, Mom. I’ll give it a shot. I have nothing left to lose.”