The right time

Chapter six

Awkwardly, Charlotte sits in the car next to Tina. Both are excited to go to the mall. She's surprised that Tina gave her permission to drive her car in the first place. She starts the car's engine and takes off. Tina fiddles with the radio getting on the same song they caught Charlotte dancing to.
"It's this song, right?" Tina asks. Charlotte turns red in her face and laughs awkwardly. "Gosh, I love this song."
"Some music really has it," Charlotte acknowledges it. Tina dances her shoulders around, looking ahead of her. "Why are you nice to me all of a sudden?"
"I don't know why I hated you in the first place, honey. I guess it always felt like you tried to steal my boy from me," she tells her and turns the volume of the music down to have this conversation with her. "He's not a little boy anymore, and I'm very lonely. Since his father was never there, he was all I had. Then you came along and...he gave all his time to you, brought you gifts that I wouldn't have minded to have, and steal flowers for you out of my garden."
"You did a great job raising him, Tina," Charlotte tells her and shakes her head slowly. "James is a good man. Although I hate him for a few things, I gotta admit, you can't love someone if you don't hate something about them."
"Like how he move on so easily after the divorce?" She asks. Charlotte nods and suck on her bottom lip. "A man was never meant to be alone, Charlotte. Men can't always look after themselves or go a week without sex. You know that. They'll go for the first woman who gives them attention. When the right woman comes, though... man, do they fall in love. Some men do manage to cope on their own and live normal, but sometimes they jeed stability in their lives. Emma finally gave that to him, and I'm glad he moved on."
"Yeah, me too," Charlotte smiles softly. If only it was with her, he moved on. Who's she kidding. They broke up for a reason. You can't go back now.
"Have you moved on?" Tina asks her.
"I tried," Charlotte replies honestly. "But no, I never moved on. I don't know how to move on."
"Oh child," Tina shakes her head and sighs. "Breaking up is awfully painful. I never moved in after James's dad left either. And you know what? That's okay."
Charlotte smiles at her and looks ahead of her, taking on the road.
"You're not such a bad person after all," she giggles. Tina laughs and turns the music up, dancing to the beat.

A little bored by only looking and fooling around, Charlotte looks at the cute little baby shoes. She touches it and smiles to herself, thinking how she'll enjoy buying for her grandchildren soon.
"How's this?"
She turns and looks at Tina, which holds a red dress in front of her.
"You don't like red," Charlotte giggles and approaches her. "But it looks gorgeous."
"Oh, this isn't for me," Tina says and pushes it against her body, looking at her. "Oh yes. This is it." She takes the dress away and looks up to read the woman's face. "What? You didn't think I knew about your date with James?"
"It's not a date..."
"Honey, it's always a date when a man asks you for dinner," she tells her and pushes her arm in hers, starting to walk off. "Now, please keep in mind that he is still married. Have your talk, and when he drops you off and stares at you the way he always does, kiss his cheek and leave it there. Go in and close the door. You don't invite him in or let him kiss you. If he decides to come back to you, let him settle the divorce first and then make up his mind. We give them options, and we don't lure them."
"Tina, if I ever become an option, I'm unavailable," Charlotte replies, giving her a serious look. "I'm not going to be in competition with someone else, especially not Emma. She's nice and I thought you liked her."
"You're not an option, Charlotte. You're giving him the choice to come back to you," Tina says, shaking her head. "James is right. You surely can be stubborn sometimes."
"I'm protecting myself," Charlotte replies, and before she knows it, Tina pushes her into the dressing room with the dress.