Menagerie

Chapter 8 - Charlotte

After hanging up with Simon, I couldn't sit still. Holy goodness, I had just invited him to spend the night with me. Just like that.

I still reeled from the astounding knowledge that I'd actually found my soulmate. It was all so unlikely! And I was undeserving. This was Penny's dream. I would have been perfectly happy settling.

Just the thought made me feel ill now.

No, it had to be Simon. And he was coming here.

Holy goodness.

I looked at the clock. It would be six hours before he could possibly arrive. The party was down the street from the hotel, and there was no reason I couldn't join everyone there for one last hoorah. The trouble was, I didn't want to stay here but I didn't want to go to a party, either.

Well, I didn't need to make that decision now. I really did need to call my parents. If they heard about this through the grapevine instead of from me, there would be trouble. Not that they would blame me, but it really did increase the chance that they would show up here. That was the last thing I needed. I didn't know how much room Simon had in his apartment, but I was guessing it wasn't very big. And no one wanted to have the in-laws come to stay so soon.

So I picked up my phone from where I'd dropped it on the bed and called my mom's number. She answered quickly. "Charlie! I've been waiting for you to call. How is everything?"

"Hi, Mom. Things are good. How are you guys?"

I could hear clanging in the background and guessed that she was cooking. "Oh, things are fine. I'm just double-baking some potatoes. Your father's outside grilling veggies."

Yes, my father liked grilled vegetables enough to go out in Montana in January.

"Yum," I said. "Is there any chance you can get him in here? I just need a few minutes."

"You have news!" Mom squealed.

"Yeah."

"Did you find someone? I don't know what else your news could be this time of year... and there was that draw you felt this morning. Hold on. Soren! Soren, get over here!"

I heard his voice in the background but couldn't tell what he was saying.

Mom shouted, "Charlotte's on the phone! She has news!"

Well, that got him to the phone quickly.

Seconds later, Mom said, "Okay, you're on speaker phone. Tell us!"

"I love you, Mom. You're way too excited right now, considering you don't even know what I called to tell you." It was fun to draw things out. Simon had had the right idea earlier.

"Charlotte," Dad said warningly. It was only his fake you're-in-trouble voice, not the serious one, so I let the silence draw out dramatically.

"You remember the person I smelled last night in the Kennedy house?"

Mom squealed. "She's mated!" she said. "Soren!"

"Wait!" The celebratory noises stopped. "I'm not... yet." And no way was I giving her specific timing on this.

"Then...?" Dad said leadingly.

"His name is Simon. He's the Kennedy's son and he was away- didn't get back until after we'd left. But I forgot my copy of 'The Hobbit' in his room. Well, my scent in the house and on my book was pretty fresh, so he could tell what I couldn't."

Insert another dramatic pause.

"Charlie," Dad warned for real now. "Your mother is over-excited. If you don't tell us soon she's going to be hysterical." He said this fondly, but there was too much truth in his tone for the drama to be fun anymore.