Even though Charlotte had been back in Manhattan for twenty-four hours, the pain of losing Nate was still fresh. Her heart still felt like it had been shattered into a million pieces. And each time she tried to sing a note, her throat tightened up, making it impossible to get out a single sound. When she’d walked into her big, empty loft, the first thing she’d done was pick up a guitar and start strumming. Music had always been her safe haven, what she turned to when things got bad, but even that couldn’t numb the ache in her chest.
With a sigh, she set down the instrument and pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them. Resting her chin on one knee, she wondered if she could have done something differently, said something else to convince Nate she truly did love him. But she’d been too flustered, too shocked by his uncharacteristic burst of anger, and if she were being honest, she didn’t think there was anything she could have said anyway. Nate’s relationship with that awful-sounding Evelyn had ended because the woman had lied to him. And then Charlotte had gone and done the same thing. She’d been foolish to think he’d be able to forgive her. So she’d let him walk away. And then she’d walked away, just as she had fifteen years ago.
When a knock came on the door, she was tempted to ignore it, just pretend she wasn’t home and sit here to wallow in her misery. It was probably Georgia anyway, and right now, she didn’t feel like talking to her assistant. It wasn’t Georgia’s fault that she had decided to go along with her ridiculous plan. She’d let wine and bitterness convince her that it was a good idea, and she had nobody to blame but herself.
The knock came again and again, and finally, a voice she never thought she’d hear again shouted, “I know you’re in there. Your doorman told me so.”
Lexie Price.
Charlotte cursed under her breath. What on earth was she doing here? Hadn’t she done enough damage already?
Ready to tear into the woman, Charlotte stumbled to her feet, raced across the hardwood floor and threw open the door. “Can’t you just leave me alone?” she demanded in lieu of a greeting. “You came all the way to New York to gloat? What is wrong with you?”
Lexie made a frustrated sound. “Why does everyone think I want to gloat about this?” Shaking her head, she met Charlotte’s infuriated eyes and asked, “Are you going to let me in or what?”
“Why should I?”
“Because I don’t particularly want to apologize out here in the hall.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Oh, that’s rich. You ruined my relationship with Nate and now you want to apologize?” Still, she stepped aside so Lexie could come in, mainly because she was curious about where the hell this was going.
“First of all, you ruined your relationship with your dumb plan to break Nate’s heart.” Lexie strode into the loft, glancing around with an impressed look. “Nice place.” She paused then tossed out a curveball. “Why didn’t you want to go shopping with me?”
Charlotte blinked. “Huh?”
“In junior year,” Lexie clarified. “I came up to your locker and invited you to come shopping, and you laughed at me and flounced off.”
Considering she was a performer, Charlotte wasn’t speechless often, but right now, she couldn’t utter a single word. The hurt in Lexie’s blue eyes was equally hard to fathom.
“Are you kidding me?” she finally burst out. “You waltzed up to me, insulted my taste in clothes then gave some fake invitation to go shopping at the fanciest freaking store in town when you knew I could never afford it.”
“It wasn’t a fake invitation,” Lexie said in a quiet voice.
Charlotte was beyond stunned.
“Seriously,” Lexie insisted, evidently taking her silence as a sign of disbelief. “I was trying to be nice. I thought it would be fun, hanging out together. And even after you acted like a rude bitch, I tried again, idiot that I am. Remember, I invited you to that movie, the one—”
“—about the stripper,” Charlotte finished. “Because you were trying to make a jab about my mom!”
“Because it was the only movie out that weekend,” Lexie replied in frustration. “Wow. The whole world revolves around you, doesn’t it, Charlotte? I asked you to go shopping to make fun of how poor you were, I suggested a movie to insult your mother. Are you listening to yourself?”
She was, and for the first time in a long time, Charlotte forced herself to revisit those moments, ones she’d associated with anger and embarrassment. Had Lexie really been trying to be nice to her? Offering her hand in friendship? Charlotte had been so wary of everyone in school, always anticipating the next attack. Had her suspicious nature actually caused her to distort her encounters with Lexie?
Feeling winded, she slowly sank onto the couch and met the other woman’s eyes. “I honestly thought you were insulting me, that the invitations were another cruel joke.”
“You were wrong,” Lexie said flatly. Then she sighed and joined her on the couch. “I always thought you were pretty cool, at least before you went total bitch on me.”
“You did?”
Lexie gave a faint smile. “Silly me, huh?”
“I…I guess I jumped to conclusions back then,” Charlotte admitted. “I just assumed everyone was out to get me. I figured you were no different.”