Shy Charlotte’s Brand New Juju (Romantic Comedy) by Bethany Bloom Page B

her
intrepid-undaunted-fearless voice. The one that made her hate herself, the one that
made her feel like a fraud, and the one she used in times like this. “I just
forgot to eat in my excitement to get started, and I have this low blood sugar
thing. That’s all.”
    Lucky nudged her back against the towel roll. His voice
dropped. “Has Leopold been pushing you too hard?”
    “No. No. I just…like I said, I just need a peanut butter
sandwich.” And then that laugh she hated came spilling out of her. When she
could next look over, Leopold had disappeared, and Slicky let her know that the
day’s session had ended.
    ***
    Charlotte wondered who would tell Fiona first. Who would
relate the tale of her embarrassing sister who passed out cold at the health
club and who most likely prompted an investigation into Leopold and his
training techniques.
    Why hadn’t she eaten anything? And how could just fifteen
minutes of swinging weights around make her so sore? Even her bones hurt, along
with the tendons and the ligaments and the nerve fibers. And if she were this
sore now, how would she feel tomorrow, when it was time to visit Leopold again?
How could she feel this awful and have no visible signs of damage? No missing
limbs. No hemorrhaging from her head. On the outside, she looked like
Charlotte.
    That cute little band of paramedics had wanted to transport
her to the hospital for observation, but she had stood up then and nearly ran
out of there, mumbling something about needing a sandwich. But really, why
didn’t they just have peanut butter sandwiches in their Emergency Response
Packs? It would solve all kinds of problems. Every mom knew that.
    Now that all the excitement was over, she had some wicked
shakes. Was it twitching muscle tissue or a delayed response to unmitigated
humiliation? She wasn’t sure, but, on the way home from the gym, she located
the Starbucks, where she ordered an iced coffee and a seven-layer bar to revive
her energy. There was protein in there, she was nearly sure. She had worked out
hard, and she deserved it. Besides, she would need some strength to face her
sister.
    She sat in her car and gobbled the pastry as quickly as she
could, before anyone could see her and report that embarrassing piece of
information, too.
    All hail the buttery goodness. And that toffee! Some things
did deserve exclamation marks after all, she decided.
    Before she knew it, the whole bar was gone, and she was left
with nothing but a waxy brown paper bag and a tablespoon of crumbs, which she
poured straight into her mouth. It was easy as long as you managed to tip your
head just so and you didn’t have any wrinkles in the bag.
    And then that wonderful feeling of fullness. Blissful. Right
in the heart of her. She slurped the iced coffee until the straw squeaked, and
then she got out of the car, brushed off the crumbs and threw away the bag and
cup. She wouldn’t need to show any physical evidence of her snack. But it was
making her feel more powerful by the second.
    ***
    What were the chances that Kamal drove a Camaro? Because
there was a shiny red Camaro parked in front of the house when she returned
home, just like the one Caleb had bought with his last royalty check.
    She pushed open Fiona’s front door. There went the twitching
muscle fibers again. And Leopold was going to have her work out like that for
two hours? Thank the Lord she had passed out cold.
    As soon as she was inside the house, she heard Hannah’s
voice, the high-pitched fast tone she used when she was excited. “It’s so
beautiful. You should see it. So beautiful. Seriously. And there are shampoo
bowls and these long squirty hoses that you can wash people’s hair with, and Aunt
Fiona says I can help her. I can shampoo people for her and for the other
stylists and they will even tip me at the end of the day. I can make so much
money, Dad. So much.”
    Charlotte’s stomach dropped. She thought for a moment about
turning to go, and then Caleb