Page 34 of Shadowing Charlotte

Chapter thirty-four

Alexander

I could tell Charlie was uncomfortable. From the moment she'd laid eyes on Jessica, her demeanor had changed. She'd gone unusually quiet, her posture stiff. A guarded look replaced the warm expression I'd become used to her wearing.

I had hoped this meeting would be a reassurance, erasing any worries she might have had about the few women I had in my life.

"They don't even have smoothies!" she complained, her honey eyes glaring at me.

"You need to eat, anyway," I replied with an apologetic shrug. She let out a small, disgruntled huff and returned to reading over the menu.

"So, you're a publisher?" Jessica asked Charlotte, folding her hands together on top of the table and smiling eagerly

"Editor's assistant," Charlie replied bluntly, never looking up. I watched the smile fall from Jessica's sweet face, a wounded look flashing in her eyes.

I leaned over, pressing my lips to the shell of Charlotte's ear. "Jess is like a little sister to me. Be fucking nice," I demanded in a low voice. Pulling away, her eyes flickered with anger before she sighed and dropped the menu.

"I'm sorry," she told Jessica, forcing out a smile. "I'm not great with meeting new people and doing the whole 'get to know me' sort of thing. I'm an editor's assistant at Hewart Press."

"How many books do you read in a week?" Nadine asked.

"Less than you'd think," Charlotte replied. Her forced smile melted into a genuine one and her eyes softened. "Maybe four, during my busiest week."

"You must really love books…" Jess commented .

"I do," Charlie replied, that guarded tone returning.

It didn't seem to matter what Jessica said.

Charlotte wasn't warming to her the way I'd anticipated.

"I used to want to be a writer. But… things change," she added cryptically.

My eyebrows rose. I had no idea she had wanted to write.

"Most days, though, it's hard to truly enjoy reading when I'm working on a manuscript. "

"Why's that?" Jess asked.

"Well, because, when I'm reading a manuscript, I'm actually analyzing, rather than simply enjoying the story.

When most people think of editing, they think of proofreading.

Looking for spelling mistakes and punctuation.

" As Charlie spoke, the tension melted away.

I smiled. Listening to her explain, I could tell that she loved her job.

"There's so much more than that. There's line editing, which is making sure that everything is concise and flows well in each sentence and paragraph.

Then, there's developmental, which sort of encompasses the whole story, you know?

Like making sure that the author isn't contradicting themselves or that the plot has everything it needs.

So, one is looking at the smaller details, one is looking at the broader picture. "

"Isn't that… Like, an editor's job, though?" Jess asked. "I mean, don't assistants just help with small things?"

"In some cases, yes. In my editor's case, though, she has dozens of submissions and projects to work on. So, it's my job to do the initial rounds of edits, especially when it comes to new authors that might have a lot of room for improvement," Charlotte explained.

"Oh. Well, I don't think I could look at words all day," Jess commented with a dismissive shrug. I stiffened, watching Charlotte's polite smile wither away, a sour expression darkening her beautiful face.

"Well, not everyone has the… aptitude… for reading," Charlotte sneered. Nadine frowned at her scathing comment, but I smirked.

Jess, true to her uncaring nature, hardly noticed the insult, smiling and glancing at the menu. "What do you do, Jessica?" Charlotte asked. Her voice had gone sickly sweet, and I knew she didn't truly want to know.

"Jess and I work at Hooters," Nadine answered.

"Together?" Charlotte raised a curious eyebrow at her.

"We met there last year." Nadine explained. "The work is shitty, but the tips are great."

"Well, with racks like you two have, I would assume so…" Charlotte answered dryly, the corners of her mouth twitching as she bit back a smile. I couldn't help but chuckle, shaking my head. I was still smiling when the waitress approached our table and asked what we wanted to drink.