She had the male answer down pat. I laughed. It had been awhile since I had some good girl time. Watching her light up at the chance, I had a feeling she felt the same. Working with Bastian all day wouldn't leave much time for friends, and Elijah didn't seem like much of a talker.
“Yeah.” I pointed to another statue. “You mind being a model for a little longer?
“Gets me out of real work.” She grinned and picked it up, holding it up for me to photograph. “So, brutal breakup?”
I snapped her picture. “I walked in on him banging the hot waitress he swore he wasn't interested in. That was kind of a deal breaker for me.”
“Ouch.” Charlotte grimaced and I laughed as I caught it on camera. That one was not going in the catalog. “Were you two serious?”
I sighed, feeling the sting of heartbreak again. As much as I wanted it all to be over, the betrayal still hurt. “He was talking about proposing.”
“Damn, girl.”
“It gets worse.” I gave her a half smile. “We work together, so I have to see him all the time. The first week after I caught him, I couldn't even be in the same room. Talk about awkward.”
“That sucks,” Charlotte agreed. I nodded and pointed to another figurine. She quickly set hers down to pick it up and pose again. “What does he do? Does he do appraisals too?”
“No, he's an auctioneer,” I said, shaking my head. “Since my aunt does the auction side of the business, he's technically her employee, but it's a small office.”
“He's sounds awful.”
I shrugged, lowering the camera. “I didn't even see it coming. He was talking about getting married and helping with the business more...” It had been months, but just thinking about it made my chest ache. “He swore he didn't find her attractive, and then I found out their little rendezvous had been going on for months.”
Charlotte set the statue down with a thunk and hurried over to hug me.
“Sounds like a total jerk,” she said, squeezing me tight. “I hope you at least slapped him or something.”
“I threw a lamp at his head. Does that count?”
Charlotte grinned, releasing me. “I knew I liked you.” She pointed to another statue. “This one next?”
I nodded. “Yeah, that's perfect.”
She picked it up and stood in the light, holding it perfectly for the camera. “How long ago did you break up?”
“A little over two months,” I replied, snapping her picture. “He's been trying to get me back since then.”
“Seriously?” Charlotte's smile dropped with disbelief.
“Yeah,” I shook my head. “He won't leave me alone. Emails, text messages, flowers at work. He keeps trying to remind me how awesome he is and how terribly lucky I was to even be with him. Like I should just get over the fact that he was sleeping around because he's God's gift to women. Chad's an idiot.”
“With a name like Chad, can you blame him?” Charlotte grinned at me. This was nice. I liked having someone feminine who wasn't related to me to talk to. I had friends back home, but telling them how badly I had misjudged Chad was embarrassing. They were all his friends too. He was the hometown hero and I was the nerdy girl he had picked up. Without him, I wasn't special. It was nice to have someone firmly on my side of the breakup.
I was thoroughly enjoying hanging out with Charlotte. Unfortunately, her phone chirped. She set down the statue, checked it and then put it back in her pocket with a frown. “Just a reminder that I have work to do. What are you doing for dinner tonight?”
“I have no idea,” I replied. “I haven't thought that far in advance yet.”
“It's my night off tonight. Want to have a girl's night?” Hope shone on her face. Charlotte needed a friend as much as I did.
“I would love to have a girl's night.” It was just the change of scenery I needed. Dad would be fine on his own tonight, especially with the doctor just minutes away. It was better than sitting and fretting all night.
“Excellent!” Charlotte beamed and picked up another statue. “I'll come get you at seven and we'll go to the local hotspot. They make the best daiquiris.”
I snapped another picture as she posed for me. “What about you? You have a special someone?”
She blushed a deep red and shook her head. “Nope.”
“Uh huh.”