Shiver

The call never came. She waited for days. Days turned into weeks. She found herself grief-stricken, couldn't find it in her head what could've caused him not to call. She kept going over it in her mind, all the scenarios that lead to other possibilities and another and another, none of them resolved her anxiety, because the call just didn't came.

The simplest explanation would be that he had lost her number, but it wasn't what she chose to believe. If she was important enough to him, he wouldn't have lost her number, not on the first day he arrived in Goldstone. If she was important enough for him, he would've guard that number with his life. She believed that. So she concluded that she wasn't important enough to him. It wasn't the first time he had disappeared on her, he used to do that when they first known each other. But this time, it was plain cruel. Her grief turned to bitter resentment towards Tommy.

She was a mess, she cried, stared at the wall, she couldn't concentrate at school, couldn't eat her food. She looked for Samuel and Ryan, anyone she can find who might hear from him, but they all said the same thing, no words from Tommy. The more she tried to find out, the less she knew about his whereabouts or what he was doing.

It was almost Halloween, the one month mark had past. She told herself that she had to wait another month until she can scream at Tommy for not calling her. She will let him know exactly what hell he had put her through when he gets back. She was not going to let him off the hook easily. That notion gave her a little comfort to go about her day without being too frustrated over Tommy.

Her door bell rang that afternoon, she opened the front door, "Landon?" it wasn't a pleasant surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too, Charlene," he answered sarcastically. "I'm here for the Halloween weekend ... and of course to help your dad for his upcoming campaign in November ... but all that are just excuses, because I'm primarily here to see you."

She pretended not to be aware of him being flirtatious. "Mom! Dad! Landon's here!" she shouted into the house and let Landon stepped into the foyer.

Landon looked at her sympathetically, "About a week, I have to get back to my study ... look ... Charlene, I want to apologize to you about the way things were in Gastonburry, I was a jerk, I shouldn't have made advances at you like that," he brought it up.

Charlene didn't say anything.

"There is no excuse for being a jerk, but I am truly sorry ... I hope we can start over because we'll be seeing each other a lot next year and I don't want any misunderstanding between us," he went on. "Can you forgive me?"

Charlene folded her arms in front of her, took a sharp look at him, "Just don't try and do anything like that ever again," she warned him. He smiled, satisfied with what he had accomplished, unspoken forgiveness. Her parents came down the stairs to greet him, and one of the maids went upstairs to put his stuff in the guest room.

There was still cockiness in his tone of voice in the way he conveyed his apology. But it was his character, Charlene thought, the fact that he admitted for being a jerk and was apologetic about it, made her willing to give their friendship another try. Him being there would drove Tommy out of his mind, and in a twisted way, she was glad it could be something to get back at Tommy for letting her hung in uncertainty.

They spent the rest of that day at the house, he drove himself from Gastonburry and appreciated the house warm welcome from the Ludlows. They had dinner together, Bill Ludlow enjoyed the conversations about politics, economy, and education system that Landon can engage for hours. While the rest of the audience smiled and nod, sometimes with interest, most of the time just bored. Bill didn't have enough good things to say about Landon, while Catherine looked at the boy with observing eyes. She was assessing him from what Charlene had told her about him.

After dinner, they moved to the music room to enjoy a little bourbon for the men and chamomile for the ladies. Charlotte played the piano, Charlene was asked to sing. She was a good singer, her voice was raspy and sultry. Landon was mesmerized by her singing, couldn't hide his gaze upon her behind his bourbon glass.

"That was amazing ..." might be the only genuine compliment she heard throughout the night. "I would love to hear another song, if you don't mind," he continued.

"Sure ... what do you want to hear? Any special request?" Charlene asked as she was sitting by the piano with her hair down her shoulders, crossed her leg and smiling lightly. She looked incredibly attractive.

He looked down, trying to hide his nervousness from admiring her. "Anything ... I'd love to hear anything from you," he said.

His awkward gesture didn't escape Bill Ludlow's attention, he had a satisfied glow on his face, recognizing an infatuation in Landon's gaze at his daughter. He tapped Landon on the shoulder after the second song, he excused himself and his wife to go upstairs and called it a night.

"We older people need more rest ... while you youngsters can stay here and enjoy the rest of the night, ... come on Charlotte, it's past your bedtime," said Bill with another tap on Landon's shoulder, an approval he needn't say.

Catherine touched Charlene's shoulder and squeezed gently, she didn't want to leave her alone with Landon but it would've been rude to declined her husband's wish in front of a guest. Charlene touched her mom's hand and gave her a look of assurance. Everyone went upstairs and the door were closed with the two of them still in the music room.

Landon cleared his throat to break the awkward silence, he poured some more bourbon in his glass and sat beside Charlene. "You're an amazing singer ... I was genuinely surprised," he said.

"Thanks," she smiled.

"Charlene ... I really meant what I said earlier, I want to start over ... be your friend, I don't want us to be awkward around each other," he said.

She kept her head down and nodded knowingly, "Okay," she said with a soft voice.

"Thank you, that means a lot to me."

The room went silent again.

"I'd like to go out around town tomorrow night, would you take me? I want to see how you guys celebrate Halloween night around here," he broke the silence again.

"Okay," she nodded again. "Do you have a costume?" she added.

"Do I need to wear costume?"

"Sure! Everybody wear costume on Halloween ... I think I can fix something for you, we'll go after dinner, is that okay with you?" she sounded excited. Halloween is her favorite festivity in Bluebridge, deep down she wanted to spend her first Halloween with Tommy. Landon was a good distraction from her unrelenting nightmare.

"We'll go by foot ... there will be fun surprises along the walk path and the woods, people put booby traps and all sorts of pranks ... you'll love it!" she said.

"That sounds great," he smiled, bemused by her childish excitement.

"Great! I guess we should be calling it a night too then, tomorrow's a big day," she stood up without giving him the chance to stop her.

"Good night , Charlene," he let her go.

It was more than what he hoped for. He poured another glass of bourbon, all the way to the rim this time and drank it all in one go.