Charlotte's introduction

It has been almost 5 years since Charlotte Berman Left NYC for Paris. She traded the Statue of Liberty for the Eifel Tower. 5 long years of not walking down to Central Park for a morning run. Charlotte loved nothing more than to run thru the park in the mornings. The fresh air in her face as she ran looking at all the sleeping ducks in the pond, with their heads nestled under their wings. Charlotte missed walking up and down the streets of Manhattan, Madison Ave, Time Square, and Greenish village and all shops, all the museums, and art and culture. She even missed the swooshing sounds of the buses’ door opening and closing at night, the sounds of beeping horns from yellow cabbies with unpronounceable names and people screaming at one another or to themselves. But now these same busy streets with their same buildings that once brought her so much happiness are now filled with ghosts that haunt her memories and now bring her nothing but sadness.

Charlotte is tall, but wears high heels, which makes her eye-to-eye with most men and tower over some others. Charlotte looks a lot like her mother, Katherine, the same stern, cold and distant face, but she can be warm and welcoming to those she gets to know and becomes friends with. Charlotte has long raven black hair that falls past her shoulders. Full red lips and greyish-purple eyes like Elizabeth Taylor that shines thru her dark hair like a beacon. She has high cheekbones and people would pinch when she was a child telling her how cute she was. She doesn’t wear a lot of make up and she doesn’t need it. She has a very exotic, sultry look, which she tries to downplay; she is in every sense of the word beautiful. She wears slightly masculine darker clothing, because she wants to be taken seriously in her male oriented profession. She doesn’t want people to think she has her job because of her famous last name. She is constantly trying to prove herself especially to her mother, her harshest critic. Her work comes first in her life and everything is a competing second. She has a strong survival instinct, and she is always prepared for the worst, something she developed from her long relationship with Tom. ‘Expect the worse and you wont get any surprises’ is what she always told herself back then. Not the best way to live a life. She is clever and sharp-witted having quick comebacks to inappropriate questions asked by the hounding press that follow her where ever she goes, no more so than in New York City. She was a familiar figure in the social scene, as were her parents at one point. It has been 5 years since she has been to any function.

She can see the tall sky scrappers from her window of her private plane, her mother’s idea of ‘quiet travel’, no one knows that she is back because if they had there would be a ton of reporters and photographers waiting for her at the runway and they would have a field day, clubbing over and under one another to get the perfect shot or even better the imperfect shot. But to Charlotte’s surprise she saw no one, only dirt covered snow or snow-covered dirt, but it was paved to the side to make a runway for the plane. Charlotte came from money her father was a very astute businessman who made his money on private securities and her mother came from a fine family from the south of France who owned a winery, where Charlotte would spend the summers as a child. She knows French as well as English. In a sense Charlotte has lived a very sheltered life, but at the same time a very exposed life, like your organs outside your body.

She felt nervous as the plane landed smoothly and was driving down the tar mac on its way to the hanger. She had not slept the entire flight, all she could do was stare into the nothingness of the night at 30,000 feet into the sky worried about the reaction her and her mother returning would cause. Many people will be upset with this stir. She felt worried about her work and how everyone would behave around her; she worried how they will take to her taking over the managing day-to-day operations of the NYC office, a promotion she was told about last week. Would they respect her or just do as they are told because her last name happens to be the same one as on the door.  Her mother had arrived a few days earlier to make all the proper preparations for their return, but no one has said a thing about it, she assumes all is well.

The sun was overhead and shinning bright as she stepped off the plane. It was a beautiful cloudless day, but bitterly cold she could see her breath every time she exhaled. She raised her hand to shield her eyes of the glare. She reached into her purse and got out a pair of large sunglasses and put them on. She noticed a White Mercedes waiting for her in the hanger and outside was her old friend, B, who was wearing, black pants and a black blazer with a sign that spelled out her name in large very neat cursive. Her brown hair was combed down unlike Charlotte who tied her hair up on the plane. They hugged one another as if years passed since they had seen each other, but in fact it had only been a few weeks since B visited Charlotte in Paris and had cappuccino underneath the Eiffel Tower. 

-“Its so good to see you Its been a long time” said Roxanne. 

-“I got off the phone with you last night B, we saw each other last month” said Charlotte with a smile on her face, she was in fact very happy to see Roxanne as well. They have been best friends since they were teenagers.

-”Well its still good to see you here State side, there are so many things I want to do with you now that your back.” Roxanne said excitedly.

-“Its good to see you too Roxy ” said Charlotte. She forgot how the city brings out the excitement in her. Together they used to go out and explore the city and no one knows the city as they did, but the city has changed since then, as everything tends to do with time.

Roxy still knows all the great spots. She knows where to get the best pizza or sushi or if your in the mood for an amazing cheeseburger. She knows the city better than most and once gave directions to Penn Station to a new cab driver. She’s better than any GPS.

-“You must be jet legged from your trip, come, get in, let me take you home.”

-“Since when do you drive?” asked Charlotte surprised, she wasn’t sure how she felt about her driving. Roxanne and Charlotte grew up in the city and never needed to learn how to drive, the subway was how they got around and taxies but nothing beats walking in NYC.

-“It’s been 5 years since you’ve been away I’ve learned a thing or two since you were away.” Said Roxy as someone helped them with Charlotte’s luggage.

Charlotte opened the door to the front passenger seat when she noticed the NY Post with a picture of someone on the cover that she knows all to well or at least she did, Thomas Candle. The Headline read: MISSING or RUN AWAY more on pg. 8.

-“What’s this all about?” asked Charlotte with the most unpleased look on her face showing B the paper as she sat in the car. Roxy’s smile quickly turned serious.

“- Oh that” she began not giving it much attention trying to brush it off.

-“Don’t let that bother you Char it happens all the time. He’s always in the paper for doing something or not something or for someone he’s done. Their just trying to sell papers you know how it is.”

-“Yea” said charlotte half listening and half reading the article.

-“ Off to home we go”. Said Roxy starting the engine, her enthusiasm was back and so was Charlotte’s nervousness, she wasn’t too sure about her being behind the wheel even if the state of NY is. Charlotte continued to read the article on pg. 8 and told Roxy before they were out of the airport.

-“Don’t take me home B?” said Charlotte

-“No? You wanna grab a bite to eat first, I know just the place….

-“I think you should take me to the office” said Charlotte seriously.

-“Are you sure?”

-“Yes”, said Charlotte not taking her eyes off the paper.

-“Ok, off to work we go then.” Said Roxanne with a spring still in her step and off they went.