charlotte

“Reverse psychology?” Gavin took a guess. “Manipulation works too. You and my aunt could go pro at the art of manipulation.”

“Yes! Reverse psychology, you’re right.” Charlotte laughed,”I can’t manipulate. I don’t know how to. Sometimes I really try and it just doesn’t do it for me. That’s why I’m so surprised.”

“Nothing against Sandler, just others. Was about Damian?”

“Wait was the Geoff guy an Adam? Adam’s are weird. And no, Damian doesn’t do it for me. Richard does.”

“I have run into many Property Brother’s looking kind of guys okay? The boat thing not so much, but you never know. In all fairness he did tell me it was you too, honestly up until then I wasn’t too interested.”

“No, Ethan, those are mirrors.” Charlotte chuckled, ruffling his hair. “Aw, that’s so sweet! I wasn’t that interested either, I’m happy with someone else drawing me turtles on napkins, or taking me to see them hatch.”

“Half of those healthy lifestyle people are disingenuous anyways. So, I’m really not being that bad, right?”

“Of course not. And coffee isn’t that bad, unless you start having heart issues than that’s just straight dumb.”

“ Ah, alright. That’s fair enough. Mention kids to me also and I kind of just. Sit up straight and all attentive like a dog. ”

“Let me guess, you get all concerned that a curse word might slip up or that certain topics that could traumatize kids might come up.”

       salem’s  eyes  narrowed  at  charlotte,  chocolate  hues  going  back  and  forth  as  they  studied  her  features  in  an  attempt  to  figure  out  what  exactly  her  game  plan  was  with  this.  ❝  no  more  than  i  have  to.  ❞  he  settled  on  with  an  even  tone.  ❝  i  was  merely  rephrasing  what  you  said  into  a  question.  but  why  is  any  of  this  a  concern  of  yours  ??  ❞

Charlotte thought about her answer for a split second. Why was any of this her concern? Maybe she just got too along with Ezra, and it’s not like he had mentioned anything but she just read it all over his face. And she was kind of reading it on Salem’s. Still, she tried to answer as smoothly as possible. “I was just curious since I didn’t understand the whole key thing, and your reactions to my questions weren’t exactly the most comfortable ones. I thought maybe you were hiding something and I could help lighten you up?”

“you sound like the perfect person to be around.” kiaan responded “well it looks like we’re more alike than i thought.” he laughed “london, originally. new york for a few years, and i’ve been here for nearly two months.”

“Oh I’ve been dying to visit Europe, specially London. Do like one of tours, you know? Where you go all around visiting places and London is probably top of my list.”

“No. No Adams. We don’t like Adams.”

“Why, you don’t like Grown Ups?”

“Good. Hope that ruins that fantasy for you…unless you were into it then, stop.” Ethan’s eyes widened in fake shock as he took a step back and gasped. “Hang on, the blind date is with you? You’re kidding…”

“Oh haha, like there are a million Property Brothers-looking guys around here who casually own boats. Plus he did tell me it was you, I was just like oh wow, sure sounds like a great idea.”

“Foreplay? Is that some fantasy of yours? Cause I don’t know if I can do that- maybe your new Property Brother will be into it though?” Ethan smirked back at her, “oh yeah?” he raised an eyebrow at her, “I heard the girl I’m going out with is a fiester, taller version of Rachel Bilson. Which sounds pretty damn hot to me.”

“...Now I just pictured one of the Property Brothers as Elvis. Way to go, Ethan.” Charlotte patted his shoulder in disappointment. “I am not even close to looking like Rachel Bilson! Ezra really said that?”

“Karl with a K means I’d have to spell it for the guy which brings us back to the guy who kept spelling Geoff”

“How about Adam? It personally reminds me of Adam Sandler but I think that’s kind of cute.”

“Oh yeah? What part?” she asked smiling when she found out she was talking to a native New Yorker. “I lived in Midtown, Manhattan.” It really was a great place that Salomé will probably never see again. She smiled sadly when the woman said that the people here are nicer. She surely hoped so… she was going to have to get used to it being her home again.

“I’m actually from New York City, which is probably why it really sucked for me.” Charlotte chuckled. She didn’t not like New York, but it was definitely not for a girl like her. Charlotte has always been much more calm.

“Honestly, I am more inclined to be Beetlejuice after this conversation… I don’t think I’ll be able to eat chocolate for the next few weeks.” Gavin wrinkled his nose at the thought.

“It’s called... something psychology. Or simply pure manipulation. I’m honestly pretty satisfied with myself.”

“Robert sounds like a man with a mustache, I’ll have to reserve that one for the hairy ones. Wesley is good though, sounds like a hottie with a body.”

“How about... Randall? Or Carl? Or Karl with a ‘k’?”

“No no no, I can dance like Elvis sure, but impersonate him? No, those guys are freaky. I am so glad you said that because I also got set up on a date, I didn’t want it to be weird. I mean I know we’ve kinda had a thing going on but you know, this girl sounds really cool so I just didn’t want to give up the opportunity. Phew, I feel so much better.”

“I’m sure if you tried to sing like him you would definitely pull it off and hey, maybe it’ll be a part-time job. Could also be some kind of foreplay.” Charlotte tried to smirk, but ended up laughing. “Oh yeah? Well my guy looks like one of the Property Brothers, according to him of course.”

“You know what, you may be right,” he admitted, albeit sarcastically, crossing his arms as he turned to the woman, “Potential source behind my surging electricity bills, that’s what.” Ezra couldn’t seem to understand why he turned defensive all of a sudden, pursing his lips and huffing at the woman’s attempt to be a little playful. “Gave him the keys last winter. Stop twisting my words and insinuate things that clearly isn’t the case.”

“Relax, geez.” She put up both of her arms and her widened a little when he responded. Still, she was still joking all this time. Well, not necessarily joking but making him a little fun of him. “Stop complaining about you’re bills if you’re going to be handing keys to people you ‘don’t like’, or buying clothes and coffee.”

“You’re in luck, retirement’s supposed to be a second chance at being young, so another forty years and you’re good to go. I’ve always found old ladies with brightly colored hair infinitely cool.” Lysa joked, raising a finger as if she’d just revealed an ultimate life hack, before running them lightly through her bangs, cheeks tinting a little at another generous compliment. “I stand by what I said about you being an amazing hype woman,” she chuckled with a small shake of her head. “I’m in! If you’re into angsty teenage romance, kick-ass female characters and super cheesy but amazingly executed musical numbers, you’re gonna love it.” 

“Then trust me, I can’t wait to be retired.” Charlotte laughed. She liked it when her new friend called her a ‘hype woman’, she really tried to make everyone feel welcome and good with themselves as much as she could. It genuinely brought her joy. “Thank you, thank you. And sounds like the perfect movie for me. Although has to have some comedy in it because I live for comedy.”