My name is Charlotte (BWWM)

Chapter Twenty-Five

James's POV- part 2

August 7, 1967

James couldn't believe what he had done. He knew that if he told Charlotte what had happened, she would mad at him. He got up from his office and decided to talk a walk. Before he left, he stuck his head in Mr. Hughes's office to let him know that he was stepping out of the office for a few minutes.  Mr. Hughes was reading the Lexington Herald newspaper and smoking a cigar. When he heard James walk into the room, he put down his newspaper.  He winked at James and said, "I see you are enjoying your new secretary Kimberly, it seems that you and my son have a similar taste in women." James couldn't believe what he had just heard. He said with a confused look on his face "What does your son have to do with this?" 
Mr. Hughes proceeded to tell James about how Kimberly had been married to Mr. Hughes's son Charles and how they just had gotten divorced a few months before.  He told him that Kimberly was a great girl who was just looking for attention. James started to tell his boss that he would have to quit, if he had to deal this, than he would to look for employment elsewhere. His boss just laughed and there was no need because he wasn't going anywhere. James grew tired of trying to explain to him why he felt the way he did. James walked out of Mr. Hughes's office feeling defeated. He decided to head back to his office. When he got back to his office, he closed the door and closed the blinds.
James started to tear up and he didn't know what to do. He needed this job, but he knew that couldn't stay there. Kimberly walked back into his office with a stack of papers in her hands. " Mr. Hughes said that you need to go over these." James rolled his eyes, and decided to start looking at the Adkisson case again. He ignored Kimberly while he was reading. Kimberly stomped her feet and started to pout a little. She wasn't used to men not paying attention to her. The busty redhead sashayed over to her boss, and took the papers out of his hands. James started growing irritated with her antics. He yelled at her, "Can you please get out of my office? I don't have time to deal with you. I am not going to ask you again."
Kimberly stomped out of his office and violently slammed the door. James looked up from his work and took a few deep breaths and then he went back to his work. James continued on working until about 1 pm. He realized that he hadn't eaten his lunch yet. He decided that he was going to call the Saint Joseph Hospital where Charlotte was working as a tray lady, which meant she delivered patients meals. He hoped that she was on lunch break.

He picked up the receiver and dialed the number of the hospital. It rang for a few seconds and it connected him to operator. He told the operator who he was trying to reach and she connected him to dining services. A few minutes later Charlotte came to the phone. " Hello? James, I am surprised that you called me during your lunch break. " James told his wife that he missed her, but he didn't mention anything to her about Kimberly. He knew that he should have told her about it, but he didn't want to worry her. He decided that he was going to talk to her when he got home from work. He talked to his wife for about 10 minutes until Mr. Hughes came into his office and told him that he needed to talk to him about his case. James told Charlotte that he loved her and that he would see her when she got home. He hung up the phone and looked his boss in eyes.
"

How is the Adkisson case coming along?" Mr. Hughes with a serious look on his face. James told him that he hadn't been able to get much work done but that he did notice that some of the witnesses' testimonies did not match with Mr. Adkisson had said had happened. Mr. Hughes seemed satisfied with that answer and he walked back to his office. James stayed at work until 7:30 pm. He had become so involved in his work that he hadn't realized that it was already starting to get dark.

He looked out his office window and saw a beautiful sunset. The sunset had pink, orange, and purple tints in it. He gathered his paperwork and put it into his briefcase, he also turned out the light in his office and he went home. While he was driving his Ford Fairlane, he thought about Kimberly. He didn't know why she was on his mind, but she was. Honestly James found her to be just as annoying and conniving as when she was in high school. He honestly didn't know why she liked him so much. When James got home, Charlotte was in the kitchen, she was eating dinner. She looked up when James walked into the kitchen. "Where have you been? I made dinner a couple of hours ago. I decided to make your favorite meal. Roasted red potatoes, chicken and asparagus. I thought you would be home around 6." James rolled his eyes, and told her that he gotten caught up with his case. Charlotte noticed that her husband had a pinkish stain on his shirt collar. She got up from the kitchen table and she went to inspect his shirt."Why do you have lipstick on your shirt? I know that isn't mine, since I don't wear that shade. Please tell me what is going on. Are you seeing someone else? James told her about what happened between him and Kimberly. James thought that Charlotte would be relieved that he told her about what happened, but he was wrong. She started crying and yelling. " I can't believe you kissed her. Why didn't you stop yourself? I honestly don't know what to think. I love you so much and I would never even look at another man, let alone kiss him." James tried to explain himself, but it fell on deaf ears. Charlotte dished up  his food and then she walked out of the kitchen. James just sat in the kitchen and just thought about what had transpired. He didn't touch his food for a long time. When he did he start eating, he heard Charlotte weeping. He got up from the table and went upstairs. James found his wife sitting on their bed. He tried to hold her, but she pushed him away. She got up and handed him a pillow and some blankets. He knew what that meant, he had been banished to the coach. "I don't want you sleeping in here with me tonight. The couch pulls out into a bed. Please just leave me alone right now." James took the items and headed back downstairs. Before he went to bed, he went back into the kitchen. He was looking for the scotch that he had bought several months ago. He normally didn't drink, but he had bought the alcohol for a special occasion. He grabbed a glass from the cabinet and poured himself a glass. One glass turned into three more. He rinsed the glass out and he went to bed. He woke up around 4:30 and he showered and got ready for work. Charlotte didn't work today, so he decided to kiss her on the cheek like he always did. She was awake, but she didn't say anything to him, when he kissed her. She just turned over when did. Before he left, he told her "I have to stay late after work, but I should be home by 6:30. I love you."

He grabbed his briefcase that was sitting by the front door and headed to work. The ride to work was a quiet one. Normally he would have turned the radio on, but today was different. He kept thinking about his wife. They had their share of disagreements in the past, but nothing like this. When he got to work, Mr. Hughes was busy with a phone call. James was about to start on some paperwork, when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in, but make it quick. I have a lot of work to finish."  Kimberly walked in and she was wearing another low cut dress that showed some of her cleavage. Today she was wearing a tight lime green dress with a matching pill box hat and matching heels. James rolled his eyes and went back to work. He didn't want to look at her.  "Don't you like my new outfit? Mr. Hughes bought it for me. "

  James said without looking up, It looks nice but what do you want? Kimberly walked over to him and she caught him off guard again. She pushed all the papers off his desk. James looked up at her, but he wasn't smiling. "I assume you must have told your wife about the amazing kiss that we shared yesterday, otherwise you wouldn't be so grouchy. You know, we could somewhere else if you wanted to try it again." James got up told her the words that she didn't want to her. "Look last night, was a mistake. I shouldn't have ever done that. My wife was upset and she should have been. I didn't mean to lead you on in anyway. I need to go home and make it up to her."  James watched Kimberly storm out of his office. He picked up his papers and put them back into his briefcase. He went and talked to Mr. Hughes. He told him that he needed to home early. His boss allowed him to go home. On his way home, he stopped at Winn-Dixie and bought Charlotte red roses. He knew that they were her favorites. He also talked out how he was going to apologize to her. When he got home, Charlotte's car was still in the driveway. James grabbed the flowers out of the  passenger seat and got out of the car. He unlocked the front door of the house and went inside. He went upstairs and he looked for Charlotte. She wasn't upstairs and he went back downstairs and looked around. He ran into the kitchen and he found a note that she had written him.

"Dear James, I have decided that we need some more time apart from each other, I don't think I can look at you.  I have decided to stay at my parents house. I know that you will try to persuade me to come back home, but it won't work right now. I want you to know that I forgive you."  Love, your wife Charlotte. When James finished reading the note, his vision was blurry and their was a lump in his throat. He wiped away the tears from his eyes. He picked up the flowers and headed to his in-laws' house. He hoped that she would talk to him.  It took him about 5 minutes to get there. When he got there, Francine opened the door, she scowled when she saw him. James asked her, if he could come in because he wanted to speak to Charlotte
Francine agreed to let him in. Charlotte was in her old bedroom. James headed towards the bedroom with the roses in his hand. Charlotte was laying down on her bed, staring at the ceiling. "Hello Charlotte, I read your note, I came hear to apologize again. I am sorry that I disappointed you, and I promise that I will never do something like that again. I bought you some red roses. I remembered how you like them." Charlotte would not say anything to him. James left the flowers on her bed. He heard her  crying while he was walking down the hallway. He didn't know what to do. He went to Jack Holmes' house after he left.