Read The Redemption (Charlotte Bloom Book 2) for Free Online

still in shock. He was here. He was in Los Angeles. He’d come for me. Why wasn’t I running after him? Before I realized what was happening, he was gone.
    I fell onto the floor of my hallway, sobbing hysterically. Everything I’d ever wanted, every ounce of happiness I’d ever felt, had just walked out the door, probably forever. I buried my face in my hands and cried.
    “Alec! Please come back,” I wailed, snot dripping out of my nose.
    But I knew. He was gone. I took my shoes off and ran downstairs, hoping to find him getting into a car or a taxi. He was nowhere to be seen. I ran down the block, looking for his white shirt. Nothing.
    I sat down on the curb and cried for what felt like hours. It had gotten extremely cold, so I wrapped my arms around my knees. Before I knew what was happening, I saw Amara pull up in her car.
    “Charlotte? Oh my god, are you OK?” She parked right in front of me, hopped out of the driver’s side, and pulled me to my feet.
    “He was here. Alec…” I gulped, “was here.”
    I continued to cry, my words stunted by sharp intakes of air.
    “And he saw Charlie kissing me and he left,” I said, wailing the last word.
    “Oh, honey. You poor thing. Let’s go upstairs.”
    I pulled away from her and, like a crazy woman, ran away.
    “I have to find him!”
    I ran off in the other direction. I lived off of Laurel Canyon, so running barefoot on the sidewalk was not the smartest idea. Pretty soon, I was on the ground, clutching my foot, a huge shard of glass protruding from my big toe.
    “Fuck. Fuck everything!” I yelled.
    “Charlotte! Let’s go! Inside!” She grabbed my arm. “You are acting crazy, do you know that?”
    I relented and let her guide me up to my door, where my clutch lay, left behind in a moment of panic.
     
     
     
    ***
     
     
     
    “Charlie forced himself on me,” I explained over a cup of hot tea. I’d changed into fleece pajamas, and I was feeling slightly embarrassed about my behavior on the street. “I was trying to get away when Alec came up and punched him. He must’ve thought I was enjoying it or something. That’s why he left. He said I was his sun. He said I was a coward.”
    Amara sat down next to me, massaging my back.
    “He came back for you. Why do you think that is?”
    “He had lilies.”
    “Your favorite.”
    “Yeah. I keep fucking this up, Mar.”
    “What do you want?”
    “I don’t know. How much simpler would it be if I just let him go? He’s not coming back. I had my second chance and blew it. Tonight was my third chance and I blew that, too.”
    “Is that what you really want? To let him go?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Can I say something?”
    “Of course.” I sipped my tea.
    “Those emails from you in Wales were so joyous and free. I’ve never felt such happiness through a screen before. You radiated happiness. I know it was mostly Alec, but also, I think it was Wales. And when I picked you up from the airport that day, when you came home… everything had changed. You were a different person. You were numb, depressed, and sad. You were a shell of your former self. That is, until tonight. Even though you were acting insane, I saw that same spark in you tonight. Your eyes had some kind of fire behind them, and even though you were crying in the street, you were alive, Charlotte. You were acting like yourself again.”
    I shrugged. I knew she was right.
    “It’s too late now. He’s gone.”
    “OK, I hate to sound bitchy, but what the fuck is wrong with you?”
    I was stunned.
    “What?”
    “You’re here, moping and sad because Alec left, and you know you made the same mistake twice, but do you know what’ll fix it?” I looked at her quizzically. “GO TO WALES! For fuck’s sake, Charlotte, go after him! Isn’t it obvious? You can either stay here, stagnant and alone, wishing you’d gone after him, or you can actually go after him.”
    “He’s not going to take me back.”
    “I’m going to say it one more