Chapter 11: Charlie Sheppard

 

“Lexi. What makes you think I want you back?” I ask her. I’m so angry right now, I can’t even think straight. Just when things were going so well, she had to show up. 

“Charlie. Please, let me explain myself. I’m so sorry,” she says. 

“It doesn’t matter how sorry you are, you never truly cared about me,” I say. 

“That’s not true,” she says. 

“Really? Then why did you cheat on me?” She stammers and stutters. “Can you even name one thing about me that no one else would know?”

Once again she’s left speechless. “That’s what I thought. It was always about you. There was never an us. You’ve not only wasted both of our time, but you’ve driven away the one person that really does care about me. I’m sorry, Lexi, but it’ll never work out between us.”

With that, I walk away. I try to look for Sandra but after I can’t find her, I end up back in my room. I pick up my phone for the first time since I’ve been here and see it’s blown up with messages and calls from Marion. I quickly call her. 

“Charlie, what the hell? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for the last few days. We have a huge emergency and we need you back here immediately. I’m going to book you the next flight home.”

“Marion, I can’t come back right now. I have to finish something here.” 

“Charlie, this could break us. We need you here!” she says. The tone of her voice makes no mistake of how dire the situation is. I can’t leave without talking to Sandra first. 

“Look, I’m on the airline website right now. I can get you on the next flight that leaves in an hour. A lot of people are depending on you and this company. We can’t fail now,” she says. 

“I know. I’ll be there,” I say. How can this be happening right now? Everything was going so great and now it feels like it’s all coming crumbling down like a house of cards. I quickly change and pack my bags. I text both Ariana and Cody to let them know. God, I didn’t even get Sandra’s number. How stupid am I?

I take as much time as I can afford to search for her everywhere but I can’t find her anywhere. I hang my head and get on the bus back to the airport. I feel so defeated.