Neon Moon - Brooks & Dunn & Kacey Musgraves

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CHARLIE

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For my first day of work, I chose to wear a black dress shirt tucked into the cutest pair of pink dress pants. I wore my Louis Vuitton belt my mother had gifted me for Christmas and wore my everyday gold jewelry. I thought I looked professional.

I grabbed a banana and hopped to drive to the office in my car. A custom home transformed into an office inside. It takes ten minutes to arrive, and the parking lot is filled with cars.

I walked inside with my head held high and a smile on my face. The receptionist, whom I've known forever, greets me at the door. "Good morning, Charlie!"

"Morning, Taylor."

"Let me show you to your office," She beams, walking in front of me with her brunette hair swaying side to side. The main level looks like you walked into a million-dollar modernized cabin, but as she walks up the stairs, numerous glass doors and rooms turned into offices come into view. She led me down the hall to a quiet, bare room that looked lonely—waiting for my touch. There was a desk with a computer, and another table stretched across the wall for plans, and a couch for a guest to sit on. She stands at the door as I walk in, "I will go and tell Hayes you've arrived. Instructions for logging onto your computer are on the desk."

"Thank you," I tell her as she walks away. I sit in the chair behind the desk and try logging onto the desktop.

Hayes arrives moments later with a massive grin on his face, "Charlie! You made it. Welcome. I hope this office will do for you. It's waiting for your magic touch, Miss Designer."

I grin, "Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Hayes." Hayes, also known as Hamilton Hayes but prefers to be called Hayes, has known me since my diaper days. He knows my father from- well, everyone in this town knows him.

"Come, come, I want you to meet the team." I follow him to a glass door room where multiple men and a woman stand.

They turn their heads to look at me, and I again make eye contact with Paul Walker. He grins, holding his hand out for me to shake, "Charlie Reese. Daughter of Richard Reese. Owner of Reese Orchards."

I blush at the fact he's researched who I am. It doesn't take much but a Google search, though. I take his hand, "I see you've done your research, Paul Walker."

Everyone laughs as he responds, "Warren. Warren O'Connor." I nod, and he lets go of my hand. I take a deep breath—too much testosterone.

"Miss Charlie is our newest designer who will be working with Denise and helping Warren design house plans," Hayes interjects, laying a large binder on the conference table.

I turn to the lady, who must be Denise. She smiles and waves at me, ushering me to stand beside her. "Ive seen your portfolio, Charlie. You have a beautiful, creative mind." She must not be a North Georgia native, nor from the south. She has no accent and her clothes are dark colored. Ive never seen her before, and she notices. "Denise Daughtry."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Denise."

Eventually, she took me into her office to show me how to use the design program. I sat at her desk as she stood behind me, telling me how to navigate. "We can do a trial run on one of our smaller layouts. I want to see 'big and bold' through this house. I will run to the restroom, and you get started." I nod at her, stare at the blank layout, and click on the first room to start designing.

After spending hours designing and looking through catalogs, I leave for the day, wanting to do nothing but close my eyes after staring at a computer all day. Tomorrow, I would work with Warren, who I was nervous about; I don't know why. I think it is because I've never worked with an attractive young male.

I see a missed call from Knox, so I call him as I drive home. He answers after a couple of rings, "is it time?" I ask.

"Beautiful baby girl, born at 1:11 this afternoon. Bella May Bennett, we will send you a photo in just a moment," he chirps like it was a recording.

I let out a small scream that I'm sure Knox had to pull the phone away from his ear. "Congratulations, Knox. I know you'll be a great dad. Is Brooke resting?"

He doesn't answer immediately, but I hear whispers in the background before hearing Brooke's hoarse voice, "Charlie."

"Brooke! You doing okay?"

"I only cried a little, well, no, a lot. But now I'm not crying as much," she paused. "I wish you were here. When are you coming?"

I smile even though she can't see me, "I can come down Friday after work?" I ask. "Do you want me to see if Willow and Julia can fly down?"

She sniffles, "Yes, please. I know it's only been two weeks since I've seen you, but it feels like forever. Knox wants to get hammered, so he's making me feel sad since I can't drink yet."

I roll my eyes, knowing she can feel me roll them. "Tell Knox if he makes you cry; he's getting one shot to the stomach."

"Yeah, okay, Charlie," Knox mutters near the phone. "I think I'm gonna nap now. Bella can't wait to meet you."

"Love you, Brooke." They hung up, immediately making me want to drop everything and see her and the baby. As an adult, I can no longer do that. Im pretty sure Warren would think I was a conceded, trust-fund primadonna who doesn't want a job but got one anyway. I will not let that be true, but now, I want to be that girl and drop everything.

I pull into my house and run to find my mother in the kitchen, making dinner. "There's my big girl. How was your first day?"

I sit at one of the barstools, "I'm definitely gonna love it. I'm just gonna have to get used to staring at a computer so much."

"Hayes didn't give you any issues, did he?" My dad asks, rounding the corner with Luke on his heels. They must have just gotten back from practice.

I shake my head, "No, same ol' Hayes. He's getting old," I pause, "guess what?"

"What?" My parents said simultaneously.

"Brooke had her baby this afternoon. I'm going down to see her this weekend." My mom cheers, and I show them the photo Knox sent to me of her. She looked like all newborns, like a sack of potatoes with eyes, mouth, and nose. Bella had dark hair that was on the longer side.

"She's beautiful. I'll make a package so you can take it to her."

After dinner, I text Willow and Julia to see if they can fly down this weekend to surprise Brooke. They both say yes, and we begin planning how we all get to Auburn. Julia will fly here from Boston, and Willow will fly from Idaho. I will pick them both up at the airport as it is on the way from my house.