Sprinkles {#Wattys2018} ✔

08 \ C O O K I E D O U G H

08 [c o o k i e d o u g h]

Bold is Asher Hughes.

Italisized is Charlotte Montgomery.

A week later.

°°°

Asher Hughes was furious. Nervous as hell, too.

It had been a whole week and he hadn't gotten a call from Charlotte. He had called her numerous times, every one being at the same time of day per usual--12 o'clock. He always had figured that was when she usually worked since she always picked up the phone.

This time, she didn't.

Instead of hearing Charlotte's mesmerizing voice speaking on the other side of the phone, Asher had heard the same raspy voice—he identified as a older man's—for the past week. This was why Asher was so furious: he thought that Charlotte was purposefully ignoring him.

God, he sounded like a child and he knew it.

He felt his protective side unleash without her presence. He wasn't truly angry, but more worried for her well-being. Maybe she had enough of his calls and wanted him to stop.

But what did he do to lose her? He knew one thing for sure. She didn't like being called "babe" or "sprinkles." It was only some silly nicknames, though. Why would she take it so seriously?

He didn't have the right to be furious at where she went, but he was. She was only a 'friend,' nonetheless. As much as he wanted Charlote to talk to him, he didn't expect her to. It wasn't too long ago since they had first met. Only a couple weeks.

They didn't officially meet, though. It was just some simple, silly conversations over the phone. Albeit, that was just enough to get him falling head over heels.

Asher stormed inside of Jimmy's Ice Cream Parlour, a bell ringing rapidly above him as he opened the door angrily. He calmed down once he realized that he didn't have the right to be mad at Charlotte. Maybe it wasn't her fault. Maybe it was her father. Maybe she was sick.

Without thinking, he went to the cashier with the nametag of "Jess," whom had short, dyed blue hair and piercings in every part of her face a piercing could be. Asher grimaced before coughing loudly to get her attention.

Jess looked up from her iPhone boredly. "What do you want?" She said irritably.

"Is there, um, a Charlotte that works here?" Asher fidgeted with his hands in his pockets nervously. He didn't want to meet her in this type of way, but he was worried out of his mind.

What if she was sick? What if she is in danger? What if—

"You mean the crazy, little blonde?" She said, seeming bored and lazy as her pitch-black eyes blinked slowly.

"Um, I guess . . ." He stratched the back of his head, ruffling his dark hair messily. He was conflicted on how to answer that question seeing as he still hadn't met Charlotte.

Wait. She's blonde?

"She hasn't been here all week," Jess replied glumly, returning her boring stare to the phone in her tattoo-covered hands. Asher was taken aback with a pain of worry, his eyes widening.

"What do you mean?"

"Like I said before, Charlotte hasn't been to work at this stupid place for a week. Something about a vacation, I think," Jade's cat eyes never left the phone as she shrugged nonchalantly. Asher felt a wave of relief wash over him.

Chill out, dude. She's just vacationing. Don't get so worked up.

Then again, why was he so worried sick about Charlotte? It's not like they were life-long best friends, or together. . . He still felt the need to be worrisome when it came to Charlotte's disappearance.

What was happening? Asher shooed away any possibilities that he was attracted to her. He couldn't possibly like a girl he had never met. In person, at least.

Could he?

°°°

The pain of Charlotte's disappearance only lasted for another day. She came back to work at Jimmy's Ice Cream Parlour the next day. Only Leo seemed to be joyful of her return, and she, frankly, didn't care of it. She only worked at the job to scrape up money to pay for the bills and to save up for college.

"This is Jimmy's Ice Cream Parlour! How—"

"You're back."

"Um, yeah. Is everything okay? You sound a bit . . . off."

"You're really back."

"Yeah, I know. Asher, are you okay?"

"No, you were gone for a week and you didn't even give me a call. I was worried out of my mind!"

"I was busy."

"Charlotte, do you have any idea how worried I was? A whole week, Char—"

"Don't call me Char."

"What's your problem? I've done nothing to you."

"What's my problem? You won't leave me alone! I wasn't playing with your feelings, I was too busy cleaning up my drunken father's mess. You don't understand, you don't know me."

"Char—"

"I told you not to call me that! Just leave me alone and go talk to some one else. I can't even figure out my own problems, so don't expect me to fix your's! You don't know what I deal with, and you can't say that you do just because we are friends. I'm so done with . . . whatever the hell this is."

"I was scared, okay? I was worried because I was afraid something had happened to you. If you want to keep me in your life, then I'm going to be there. If not, then I'll leave. I care about you, Charlotte."

"You don't want to care about me. You don't want to entangle yourself in my mess of a life, Asher. I'm poison--"

"If I didn't want you in my life then I wouldn't keep calling you on this damn phone everyday? I care about you and you seem like you're in a difficult situation—"

"I don't need a freaking charity case. I'm perfectly fine on my own. I don't want pity from anybody, and I'm definitely not going to get it from you! You don't understand."

"But I want to, I want to be able to help you! Charlotte--"

"That is just too bad, because you never will."

And that was when Charlotte hung the phone back up on the wall with a slam.

°°°