Page 6 of Michelle
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MICHELLE
I ran into Charlotte this afternoon outside when she was coming home from shopping, and she told me to come over for dinner around seven o'clock. She'd picked up everything we needed for a perfect summer barbeque in the backyard.
I usually love a barbeque outside on a warm summer night, but getting to be witness to my new crush, I mean, neighbor and his girlfriend, isn't really what I had in mind. But Charlotte wouldn't take no for an answer, using guilt that she already bought everything we needed to make the evening perfect for us all to get to know one another.
I check myself one last time in the floor-length mirror on the back of my closet door. I've changed out of the shorts and t-shirt I was in earlier into a floral jumper. I want to look nice, but I don't want to look like I'm trying. I run my fingers through my soft curls, giving them a little more bounce. There is nothing else to do but head over and get this evening over with.
I grab a bottle of chardonnay from the fridge and head out the backdoor. The duplex has one large porch in the back but with a half wall dividing it. The way to get from one side to the other is either over the wall or down the steps and walking over into their yard.
I can smell burgers cooking on the grill as I walk down my steps and over towards Charlotte and Nate’s yard. Charlotte walks out of their backdoor as I start up the steps of their side of the porch. She’s holding a bowl of pasta salad in one hand and a platter of hamburger toppings in the other.
"Oh, good." She smiles at me. "Right on time. Nate’s going to be so excited to see you are here. He's changed his shirt twice."
I'm a bit taken aback by the comment. She's almost making it sound like Nate's into me, which is impossible since she is dating him unless I've been invited over to partake in some ménage a trois scenario.
"Let me take those for you," I say, reaching out for the dishes in her hands.
“I’ve got it.” She walks over to the patio table and sets them down. “Have a seat. I’ve just got to finish cutting up the fruit for the sangria.
This reminds me of the wine bottle in my hand. I hold it out to her. “Here, I brought this for you.”
Charlotte smiles and takes the bottle from me. “That’s so sweet of you.”
“It’s the least I can do since you are going to the trouble of having me over for dinner.”
“We love cooking out.” She waves away my comment. “It’s no bother at all.”
I take a seat at the table as Charlotte heads back inside. I only have a moment to take in the layout around me before Nate walks out. The smile on his face widens, and, I swear, his eyes light up when they see me. I feel my excitement rise in me, but I do what I can to tamp it down immediately. I'm not that woman, and I refuse to change my ways even if he's got blue eyes, a square jaw that could cut glass, and muscles upon muscles.
"Hey," he says in a breathy tone.
“Hi.”
“I’m glad you could come over tonight.”
"And miss this spread?" I point down at the table. It looks like something in a magazine. "Charlotte's outdone herself."
He chuckles. “Yeah, my sister can go a bit over the top sometimes, but what until you try the lemon cake she made. You’ll be glad she likes to fill every minute of her day.”
"Your sister?" I ask, thinking that I didn't hear him.
“Yeah, Charlotte.”
“Charlotte’s your sister?”
“Yes.”
“I thought she was your girlfriend.”
“What?” He recoils. “No. Why would you think that?”
"Your uncle mentioned that you and your girlfriend would be moving in." I point from him to the door to which Charlotte had walked back into the house. "I just assumed when you both showed up."
“I can assure you,” he says in a serious tone. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”
"What are you two talking about?" Charlotte asks as she walks back out onto the patio.
