Chapter 3: Forest's POV

I only held out for a day. The next morning, I fished out Charlotte's email out of the recycling bin and sent my reply. 'Sure, Charlotte. Let's meet up. Give me the time and place.' It took a few seconds after I sent my reply for her to respond with a time and place for us to meet - tonight. I'll be meeting her tonight. Lauren and Christian might have an uproar about this. Lauren more than Christian, but it's been five years. Charlotte and I will be no better than strangers when we see one another. She doesn't have my heart anymore. I'll get my answers to what the hell happened all those years ago and then I'll walk away from her for good. Right? Lauren avoided me the whole day after what happened last night. Plus, I know she saw my response to Charlotte. I didn't try to hide it from her. What happened last night with Lauren should have never happened. I shouldn't have kissed her back. Now things are weird between me and someone who has really proven to be a good friend over the years. But airing out the weirdness between the two of us would have to wait for another day. Tonight I'm seeing Charlotte. Everything else can wait. *** "Dammit!" I cursed under my breath. Of course it had to be raining tonight. Tonight of all nights. "Everything alright, Mr Greyson?" My driver asked from the front of the car. "Yes, Joshua." I didn't bother hiding my annoyance. "Everything is fine. I'm just f*****g pissed at this sudden rain." I could tell from the grey eyes staring back at me from the front view mirror that the man had no idea what to say. He could probably feel my agitation and nervousness spreading throughout the entire car. I am finally going to see her again. After five years of not hearing so much as a whisper from from her, I'm finally going to see her. I looked outside the window. It was pouring the only way New York would come pouring down. I wouldn't have minded it at all if it were any other night, but she hates the rain. She hates it with a passion and she might use it as a reason to cancel on me. If she does that, there's no telling for how long she'll go into hiding again and this time she might not even bother getting in touch with me again. I took my phone out of my pocket and looked at the time. It was almost 8pm; exactly ten minutes before 8pm. She asked to meet me at 8:15 so I was making good time. I would get at the bar she chose at 8:00 and wait for her. I'd use the extra fifteen minutes to calm down because...I really can't believe that I'm going to see her again. "We're here, Mr Greyson." The driver announced suddenly. I definitely hadn't noticed how close we were to reaching our destination. I was too lost in my thoughts because I'll be seeing Charlotte again. Joshua got out of the car and opened the door for me. The old man was drenched after only being outside for a few seconds. He already had an umbrella open for me when I stepped out of the car and made sure that not a single drop touched me. I took the umbrella and he knew without another word that he could go for now. He was no longer needed. I nearly growled when I entered the bar she had chosen - "Associates Lounge". The name suits it. I could already tell by the interior that this was a high end bar and the customers who were all wearing designer suits and dresses all screamed that this was a place for young and rich professionals. I smiled slightly and shook my head. A stupid part of me hoped she and I would have an evening of catching up. I thought we would laugh, maybe even flirt and before the night ended I would confront her. I would let all my anger out on that woman for what she did to me and I would demand an apology. Then I would tell her the real reason why I agreed to come here. I would tell her I wanted to know what the hell happened. I would tell her I wanted her to see what she let slip through her fingers. I would tell her that I only ever loved her and all she ever did was break me. Then I would storm out, go home and burn all those photos of her I have stored in a box. That's what I wanted to do, but clearly she invited me here for business and business only. Maybe Christian was right. Maybe she just wants in on the merger. "One whisky, dry." I gave the bartender my order. I started surveying the place more. There was jazz music playing, some people were seated with actual papers and briefcases on their tables. Anyone who entered this place could immediately tell that it's a place for conducting business, not for pleasure. I downed my whisky in one gulp and gestured for the man to pour me another. I shouldn't be here. I dated this woman for four years. We were friends since we were nine years old. We were soulmates, or so I thought. Then she tore my heart out. That horrific scene had still not faded from my mind over the years. I could still see her eating a damn ice cream while I pleaded with her. I downed the second whisky. She's so infuriating! "f**k!" I said a bit too loudly and a few people dared to scowl at me. A glare from me was all it took for them to pretend nothing had happened. Christian is right. She is so cold and unfeeling. That's what she has always been like. She's only ever cared about herself and looked out for number one. To hell with everyone else, even me, one of the only few people who has only ever tried to show her that it's okay to trust others and rely on someone other than herself. But she would never do that. She could never do that. Charlotte Ericsson will never let anyone in. "Forest?" The most melodic and soft voice chimed to me. I haven't heard her say that name in years and yet hearing it made me wish she would say it again. "Forest is that you?" I almost went dizzy. Goodness, why does she smell so good? Is she trying to drive me insane? Is she trying to get me to undress her and have my way with her right here in this bar? I inhaled the air as deeply as I could. She was still walking to me, but that perfume was already trying to get me hard. She was wearing a black dress with eight gold buttons that seemed to also take the form of a jacket. It only reached the middle of her thighs, revealing long caramel legs that begged to be wrapped around my neck while I tasted her like old times. "Charlie." I gave her the best business side hug I could muster. If I held her the way I actually wanted to hold her, all the professionals in this bar would give us disapproving looks. "That's not all you've got, is it?" She laced her arms around my neck and pressed herself so tightly against my body that I felt her luscious breasts firmly against my chest...right where they belong. My head was buried in those long brown curls of hers that reached her waist. I would have started to lick her neck if it weren't for those amazing curls. Goodness, I missed those curls. I wrapped both arms around her tiny waist and picked her up while she squealed. I didn't care about the onlookers anymore. I'm only a man and this is Charlotte Ericsson. She eats men for breakfast, lunch and dinner. "That's more like it!" She giggled into my ear. I put her down and before I knew it those delicate hands of hers were on my arms and my chest. She was so unapologetic about it. She was practically feeling me up right infront of everyone. "I thought engineers were supposed to be nerds." She squeezed my pectoral muscles. "Why are you so huge Forest?" "You know I don't go by that nickname anymore." I lied and tried to get her to stop feeling me up before I got an erection in public. "You need to call me by my name, Charlotte." I gestured for her to sit down next to me, but she just smiled and stared at me with those hazel brown eyes that can make any man fall to his knees. "You'll always be Forest to me." She said it too softly, too innocently and too seductively. Her hand was still on my arm and I was certain in that moment that she knew exactly what she was doing to me. "It's a stupid nickname, Charlie." I tried to break the s****l tension that was getting too thick to breathe through. "I gave you that nickname when I was nine years old, Forest." She still refused to sit down and just took a few steps closer to me. She was standing much too close to me. Just a few more inches and I could be kissing her and biting those lips for ever parting with me. "I gave it to you because of those forest green eyes of yours ... and for other reasons." She bit her lip and got even closer. "I don't care if other people have stopped using that name. I'll never stop using it. You'll always be my Forest." Her hand trailed all the way up my arm until it reached the nape of my neck. She started playing with my hair. It was soft and gentle and for a moment it seemed like she knew that her hand belongs there. The bartender put the third glass of whisky infront of me. I had to do something before I kissed this woman right here so I reached for the glass. She had a hand covering the glass before I even reached it. Fuck. She's already in my head and she knows it. "You only drink when you're nervous, Forest." Her hazel eyes almost had a twinge of sadness and concern in them. "You don't need to be nervous about seeing me. I'm not leaving again." I froze. I, Lucas Greyson, owner of Greyson Corporation, soon to be the leading engineering firm in America and Europe, froze. No woman can hold such power over me. Only Charlotte Ericsson has that power. But then again, she has power over most people. It's one of the things that instantly got me interested in her even when we were in third grade. I was only nine, but I already knew I would spend my entire life trying to make her happy. She was cold, unfeeling and tore anyone down who tried to hurt her or get close to her, but even then I knew she was the one. At the tender age of nine years old, I already knew I would spend however long it took to get her to let me into her heart. By the time we were twelve years old we were inseparable. We were "Forest and Charlie", the two musketeers. I excelled in anything science related and she excelled in everything else. She was the captain of the Debate team all throughout Highschool. She got all the leads in the school plays, she was in charge of every fundraising event, she always took the first spot on the honour role while I took the second AND she was the school head prefect with me and my co-valedictorian. She is the girl who can do it all. She can bend the world to her will with sheer determination and persistence. But she could never let anyone in. My family and I were the only ones who came close, but even that was probably just a facade. Charlotte Ericsson could never let anyone in. Not really. That's probably why she tore my heart out without any remorse. Maybe with her upbringing that's the only way our relationship would have ended - with me heartbroken. Her parents scarred her. They scarred her so much that she got it in her head that she can only ever rely on herself. They beat her, starved her, locked her outside in the rain for days at a time and it didn't stop there. Before she turned nine, apperantly she always came to school unbathed with matted dirty hair and fresh cigarette burns on her back. It was only when I spoke to one of my teachers once I graduated college that he told me Charlotte always went to school with us. We just all avoided her because she was so dirty and thought she was weird. She only got into a somewhat proper forsterhome when she turned nine. The teacher decided to introduce her as a new student so she would get somewhat of a fresh start. It was only then that I started to notice her. I think a part of me was always expecting her to break my heart. Deep down I always knew that I loved this woman more than she could ever love me and I knew that she wouldn't really let me in the way I let her in. I knew all of that, but goodness what she did to me, it still broke me. "We're over, Forest." She gave me the coldest glare on that summers day. She was holding a damn ice cream cone. It was the most bizarre break up scene, but she was holding an ice cream cone and refused to tell me why she refused to answer any of my calls or texts for two and a half months. And now here she is telling me I don't need to be nervous around her when she knows she's the only person who can break Lucas Greyson. "What are you drinking, Charlie?" I decided to lighten things up. I removed her hand from my arm and even shifted my chair a bit back so I wouldn't be too close to her. I can't let her rope me in again. She'll devour me whole this time. I won't survive it again. "I don't drink." She narrowed her eyes teasingly. "You forgot?" Of course I didn't forget. In all my nervousness, those stupid words just tumbled out of my mouth. Charlotte vowed to never drink alcohol, EVER. Her mom never touched the stuff, but her dad did. Her dad drank himself silly, beat her and then her mom, who was fully sober, would apperantly join in on the beatings. "I haven't seen you in a long time, Charlie." I decided to lie. "You can't expect me to remember everything about you. " I thought what I said would hurt her, but no. Nothing can hurt Charlotte Ericsson. She didn't even bother responding. She just smiled at me with that brilliant smile of hers, opened her purse and put a few dollar bills next to my untouched drink. "Let's go." She gestured for me to stand from my chair. "Go where?" I hesitated before standing up. "All my colleagues are here, Forest." She almost groaned like she did back when we were kids. "Plus it's raining. I hate being out when it's raining. I just asked to meet here because you would have said no if I told you to meet at my place." She started heading for the exit and my feet started following her unprompted. Her place. She wanted me to meet her at her place? We were making our way out of the high end bar before I knew it. This woman said she wanted us to meet at her place and my body just started following her without any command from my brain. She paid for my drinks like I'm some kind of chump and now she's leading me out of here and I am following her eagerly because she mentioned her place. "Char!" An overly confident man-boy suddenly grabbed her wrist. "How's my favourite senior associate doing?" Of course Charlotte wasn't even startled. Before I could fling the man's hand away, his hand was already in one of the pockets of his perfectly tailored suit. Charlotte merely had to look at the hand that touched her wrist. Her eyes were so calm when she looked at this man-boy's hand, that for a second it looked like she would rip out his heart and be unmoved by it. His hand left her wrist the second she looked at it. That's just Charlotte. "Connor." Charlotte smiled like he's a friend. "What brings you here?" "Business, of course." The man-boy replied while looking straight at me. "Care to introduce me?" He started extending his hand to shake mine, but Charlotte quickly stopped the exchange. "Yes. I mind, Connor." She titlted her head. "I don't-" I placed my hands on her waist and turned her around so that she would be facing me. Within the fraction of a second, I had picked her up. Her hands instinctively laced around my neck while she gasped from surprise. I started heading out of that bar and opened my umbrella with one hand while the other held her up. She had a mischievous smile on her face and I had no idea how the man-boy and the rest of his friends reacted. That didn't matter. All I know is I was getting annoyed with that entire situation. Charlotte likes to take the lead, but she needs to know that I'll only allow it to a certain extent. The woman paid for my drinks for goodness sakes! That's so f*****g immasculating and she knows it. Then she defended herself when that man-child touched her. I should be the one defending her. She needs to know that my overwhelming feelings for her won't just turn me into putty in her hands. I'm still a man even if she's Charlotte Ericsson. Even this stubborn headed woman needs to accept that. "You're still so f*****g full of games." I buried my head in her neck and started kissing it. " "And you still like my games." She practically moaned and rocked her head back. We were in public, but f**k it! I didn't care. I have gone five years without this woman. "Mr Greyson." Joshua's voice echoed behind us. The man may be old, but he still knows how to do his job. The door to the limo was already open and all I had to do was put Charlotte down so she could get inside and that she did without any protest. Once inside she did the same s**t again. She tried giving Joshua her adress, tried taking the lead again, but I shut her right up. "Take us home, Joshua." My voice boomed over hers. NOTE: SOMETIMES THE APP CUTS OFF WORDS. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THAT HAPPENS.