December 22, 2010 2:00 p.m.
"No." The words are out of my mouth so fast that it takes even His Royal Highness aback. "There's no way you're involving me in whatever screwed-up relationship you have with her," I vow, wagging my finger at him.
There, I've said my piece. I turn to go, but too late, I realize he's still holding my hand. Giving him my iciest look, I stare at him until he lets go.
Except he doesn't. With a muffled curse, he sits down on the bed, and the abrupt move forces me to half-tumble onto his lap. I'm positive my face is a uniquely violent shade of red by the time I straighten myself and I delicately distance my leg from his. I'm sitting next to him when just a moment ago I'd spoken my mind and convinced myself I had the upper hand.
"Are you going to leave if I let go?" Wolfram asks, nodding down at our linked hands.
A smart person would have said "no" but I'm so full of self-righteous annoyance that "obviously" comes out of my mouth in a withering tone.
"Please, Charlotte." His eyes beseech mine earnestly. "You would really be doing me a solid."
"I'm supposed to help you after the crap way you've been treating me? You know, your sister all but accused me of going after Xander's money," I fume, wrenching my hand away. He lets me.
"You know, you have some nerve, Wolf. I cannot believe you seriously think you can just bat your eyelashes at me and expect me to fall at your feet like some pathetic van der Waals groupie. You've made it perfectly clear that I repulse you, so you've got another thing coming if you think I'm going to play along with your idiotic plan to ditch your girlfriend." The words are spewing out of me like projectile vomit and his face blanches in horror.
"I wasn't...I mean...you don't repulse me," he tries to say, but I'm not having it.
Cutting him off, I scoff belligerently. "Seriously?" I mimic the icy look he's been aiming at me since I arrived. I flatten my lips, tilt my chin up, and slant my eyes downward.
"What is that? Constipation?"
I gasp in outrage.
Wolf just rolls his eyes. "Well, if the shoe fits."
"Jerk!"
I try again, trying to make my green eyes look as disdainful and pompous as possible. It's hard raising my chin and looking down my nose at the same time, but even under my heavy-lidded gaze I can see him trying not to laugh.
"What the hell are you trying to accomplish?" The corners of his mouth are curled upwards in mirth.
"I'm trying to replicate that I-smell-poop expression you get on your face when you think Xander's not looking."
"I smell what?"
"Look," I bark. "The point is, you clearly don't like me. Let's not complicate things, yeah?"
I expect him to shoot off an insult but instead, he surprises me. With a groan of frustration he flops onto his back, hanging his legs over the side of the bed. Wolf's eyes close and for a moment, I'm transfixed by the way his entire face relaxes. He's older than me, but in that instant, he looks impossibly young. A golden-haired Adonis, a face which could sail a thousand ships.
I get up, intent on leaving before I do something stupid like apologize for my outburst. His voice stops me as my hand reaches for the doorknob.
"She slept with Levi."
My hand drops. I turn, unsure of what to say. Obviously, getting cheated on sucks. I would know. My boyfriend decided that instead of getting me a Christmas present, he would give me the joy of walking in on him unwrapping his. And by his, I mean a platinum blond size-zero wearing a naughty Mrs. Claus outfit.
"You realize you just emotionally blackmailed me, right?" Before I know what I'm doing, I walk back over to him. His eyes aren't even open but his lips crack a smile. It's the first and only smile that's thanks to me, and I stupidly treasure it even though it's more likely that he's smiling because he successfully manipulated me.
"Needs must," Wolfram replies, totally unrepentant.
I hesitate only a moment before lying down next to him, our shoulders nearly touching. I turn my head and look at him, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest. "Are we going to talk about it?" I venture.
"Diana's a money-grubbing socialite. That's pretty much the whole story."
"Yeah, but with your brother? That sucks."
"He's not my brother."
"Harsh."
His eyes open. "You don't know the whole story."
I wait for him to elaborate. I feel awkward prying and I figure if he wants to tell me, he will. Instead, he licks his lips, staring at my face. Suddenly, our setting feels far too intimate. I jolt upright, drawing my knees up to my chest.
He stays where he is, oblivious to my inner turmoil. Must be nice to be a boy, I think sardonically.
"When I was studying for the bar exam, I didn't devote enough time worshipping at her shrine," Wolfram says with a roll of his eyes. "Our 'relationship' was really casual, just a month old. Our dads know each other; she's a Carnegie, you know. Her dad started hinting at a merger between our companies...in more ways than one."
"Marriage?" I guess. Whoever the Carnegies are, they must be filthy rich. After all, Wolfram lives in a world where money marries bigger money.
"Yup," he confirms. "At a highly inconvenient time in my academic life, she decided she wanted to get serious. She started hinting that she thought we should get married. Before I knew it, she was acting like we were engaged. I told her I needed some time to focus, and she started hounding Graeme to hang out with her, trying to get information about me. Graeme really looked up to her, admired her, even. It took her a while to figure out Diana was just using her. When that didn't work, Diana tried getting close to Levi to make me jealous. I didn't know what to do to get through to her, so I broke up with her."
Dick move, I think to myself, but I have no sympathy for Diana either.
Seeing the expression on my face, he quickly defends, "look, it didn't mean I didn't still like Diana. I just wanted some space and that was the only way she would give it to me."
"Suffice it to say, she didn't handle it well. She's hot and Levi's young. Should have seen it coming."
"How do you see getting betrayed by your brother coming?"
"Trust me, a guy like him, I should have."
His words sound so final, so definite. He's not describing the charming, friendly boy I met downstairs. His Levi is unscrupulous and deviant, the kind of man who would complicate his brother's life and not think twice about it.
"When I invited her here for Christmas, that was when we were dating, ages ago. I assumed she knew that she was uninvited when I ended things," he continues, voice heavy.
Silence descends like a cloud, dampening our conversation. If I twitch my pinky finger just slightly, it will touch his. It's a harebrained thought, but I wonder what he would do if I did.
"All right," I say finally, breaking the silence with my resigned huff. "Come on, boyfriend, you owe me one."
Wolf props himself up on his elbows, giving me a childishly wide-eyed stare. "You'll do it?"
"Against my better instincts, yes." I release a long-suffering sigh. "Come on, I just need to grab my phone and then we'll head down there and put on a show."
"I'm taking you on a tour, remember?" Wolf reminds me. As an afterthought, he adds, "what kind of Neanderthal doesn't always have their phone on them?"
If I thought he would be any nicer to me, I guess I was sorely mistaken. I give him my best sass-shrinking parental look of disapproval. It always worked on my little cousins, but I guess I'm no longer inspiring the same terror I used to if his blissful ignorance is anything to go by.
His phone buzzes and he takes it out of his pocket, barely giving it a glance before groaning loudly. "And Graeme just told me that our very own gatecrasher just sixth-wheeled herself onto our outing."
"Diana's coming?"
"The one and only." Wolf gives me a distinctly grumpy look. "Come on, let's go get your phone."
Side by side, we head to my room. It feels weird walking with him now, like the two of us are partners in cahoots. I guess we are, but that doesn't mean we're anything more than temporary allies. After he gets what he wants, who knows? I might just get relegated right back down to chopped liver.
I wonder what he's thinking about. I try to glance at him, but his face is stoically facing ahead. His face is gorgeous without question but his profile is just as attractive; his jaw looks like its cut from marble.
Surprisingly gentlemanly, Wolf waits outside my bedroom door as I go in. I wear my jacket, stuff black leather gloves and a woolen cap in my pockets, and pick up my phone. There are two unread messages, one from my mom and one from Xander. I open my mom's first.
Mom: Wow! Don't forget to take pictures of the outside of the house, too. And don't forget to say thank you to your hosts!
Me: You didn't raise an ill-mannered houseguest, Mom. That was the first thing I did. Wolfram is taking us out for a tour of Oudewater. Bringing my phone and will take pics for you. :) Byeee!
Xander: Everything ok?
Me: Yeah, just getting to know Wolf.
Xander: And I repeat, is everything okay? lol
Me: He's not that bad.
Xander: G and L are in the foyer w me. Will you guys be rdy to go in 5?
Me: We'll see you down there. :)
"So where are you taking us?" I inquire as Wolf and I traipse down the stairs. I slip my phone into one of the roomy pockets of my coat.
He sends me a sidelong grin. "Somewhere very romantic," he responds in an innocent voice.
"Christmas bazaar?" I guess. Awesome, I want some souvenirs.
"The Witches' Weighhouse," Wolf tosses his shoulder jauntily as I come to a screeching halt.
"I'm sorry. I thought I heard 'Witches' Weighhouse'."
"You did." He's totally unrepentant.
I wish I had read my Lonely Planet guidebook cover to cover while on the plane, but the trip was so last minute that I had spent almost the entire journey fast asleep, worn out from the sheer exhaustion of getting my passport renewed and helter-skelter packing.
"Don't worry. It's not as creepy as it sounds."
"I'm not worried."
"Then why are you looking like that?" Wolfram raises an eyebrow.
"Like what?"
He screws up his face in response; it looks like the second cousin of concern, twice removed.
"I don't look like that," I insist as I finally reach the bottom of the stairs.
He came to standstill in front of me. He looks serious.
"What's up?" I ask, shifting from foot to foot.
"Listen, just...I really appreciate what you're doing for me," Wolf began awkwardly. "But don't think it means anything, okay?"
I feel like he's just dumped a bucket of ice-water over me. "Right," I snap. "Because once you get what you want, you'll be back to treating me like a leper. Got it." I move to brush past him, traitorous tears burning my eyes. I am such an idiot, I violently chastise myself.
"No," he exclaims softly, grabbing my hand. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant...don't fall for me."
I make a noise of disbelief. "I'll fall for you when pigs fly," I swore. "Trust me on that."
Author's Note: LOL famous last words, right?
Is Charlotte totally bonkers for agreeing to help Wolfram out? What will Xander and Levi say when they find out?
This is my first time writing something this overtly romantic, so I would love to know what you guys think of the progression of the relationship between Charlotte and Wolf - is it believable? is it too rushed? have I been spending too much time in flashback?
AND ALSO, WHO DO YA'LL SHIP? :D
Charlotte x Wolf (TEAM WOLF ALL THE WAY! haha, but then again, I'm biased)
Charlotte x Xander (I ship this in a totally platonic way)
Charlotte x Levi
Charlotte x Dash
Graeme x Xander
OTHERS???
I'll be honest, I am a little worried that it'll be hard to jump back to the present when we get there in a few chapters. :| I've tried to pace it so that the transition will be as seamless as possible (the flashback is only going to be about 1/3 to 1/4 of the book and I have everything plotted out already, so) but please tell me whether you feel like the time spent in the flashback has detracted too much from the present. My HOPE is that it adds to the drama and intrigue of his impromptu proposal by unveiling their shared history through flashback. I just hope that it conveys that way to you guys, you know?
Don't forget to vote if you liked this chapter! :) xoxo