Page 6 of Silent Echo

CHAPTER FIVE

C harlotte hadn’t been on social media since Sebastion died.

She’d deactivated all her accounts, unable to bear the messages of sympathy and, even worse, the trolls who made hurtful comments about the accident being a hoax.

Now that she was going to be managing the social media accounts for Book Brag, it was time she plunged back in so she could see what had changed.

She opened a new Facebook account, sending friend requests to close friends and liking pages similar to Book Brag’s.

She did the same with Instagram and TikTok and began to follow accounts that followed them.

Not much had changed on Facebook, but Instagram reels had become more popular than static posts.

She was surprised when two hours passed while she watched reel after reel.

No wonder it was referred to as a rabbit hole.

She couldn’t deny the appeal of the rapid-fire promotions, catchy music, and colorful graphics.

She had a lot of catching up to do. It suddenly occurred to her that rather than offering her the job because of her skills, Patricia might be trying to help her return to the land of the living.

She sighed. She’d do her best not to let her friend down.

She navigated to a search bar, looked up articles on current trends, and made a list of influencers and bookmarked videos to watch later.

She’d promised Patricia that she’d have a proposal ready in two weeks.

Now she wondered if that timing was too aggressive.

It was time to pick up Harper, and as she drove, she formulated her plan of attack.

Spending the next three days reading and watching videos would give her a solid enough foundation to begin.

Then she’d analyze Book Brag’s top three competitors and compare their websites, followers, posts, and marketing campaigns.

After that, she’d be ready to put together her proposal.

Her mind was already exploding with ideas, and she felt alive for the first time since that horrible day.

She had a smile on her face when Harper slid into the front seat.

Her daughter’s face broke out into a grin.

“You look happy,” Harper said.

“I had a good day. How about you? School good?”

Harper shrugged. “School’s school. But I did get invited to Farrah’s slumber party, so that’s awesome.”

“Oh, honey, that’s great. When is it?”

“This Saturday. I have to make sure my present is really cool.”

“Okay, we’ll go shopping tomorrow.”

“Um, Mom, I was wondering …”

“What?”

“Well, my birthday’s next month, and, um, I don’t want my friends to see Sebastion’s room with all his stuff in there.”

Charlotte stiffened. “Why? What does that have to do with your friends?”

“Like, don’t get mad, but Hayden was over the other day, and she went in. She said it’s morbid. Like a shrine or something.”

The heat rose to Charlotte’s face. “I don’t want your friends going in there.

Do you understand? And you can tell Hayden that it’s none of her fucking business.

” She couldn’t stop the words from flying from her mouth.

She never used profanity in front of Harper.

But she was furious at the thought of anyone going through her son’s things.

“Mom!”

“I’m sorry. But Hayden had no right to go in there.”

Harper didn’t answer, and when she glanced over, Charlotte saw that she was crying.

“Harper …”

“I miss him too, you know. You’re not the only one.”

Charlotte reached out to pat her hand, but Harper snatched it back. “I know you do. I’m sorry if seeing his room still there makes you uncomfortable, but can you understand? I’m not ready.”

“Whatever.”

They rode in silence the rest of the way home, Charlotte’s short-lived feeling of well-being completely gone.

She couldn’t seem to do anything right anymore.

She pulled into the driveway, and Harper bolted from the car and went into the house.

Charlotte rested her head on the steering wheel, breathing deeply, telling herself it would all be okay.

At times like these, she wondered if her family would be better off without her.

Eli could find some nice woman to marry who would give Harper the attention she deserved.

Bake cookies with her, take an interest in her hobbies, and do more than pay lip service half-distracted.

“Don’t be stupid,” she said out loud. Tomorrow.

She’d pack up the room tomorrow. It was the least she could do for her only remaining child.

The next day, still thinking about her conversation with Harper, she stopped at the grocery store.

She’d bake chocolate chip cookies. They were Harper’s favorite.

When was the last time she’d baked anything?

She walked down the baking aisle and grabbed flour, baking powder, and chips.

As she was about to push the cart forward, she looked up and froze.

Her heart began to pound furiously. She dropped the bag of chocolate chips in her hand and ran toward the little boy at the end of the aisle.

It was Sebastion! She touched his shoulder and he turned around.

“Can I help you?” A woman ran up to her.

Charlotte swallowed the lump in her throat.

Of course it wasn’t him. “I’m sorry. I thought your son was someone else.

I apologize.” She backed away. The woman was still looking at her with suspicion.

Then the tears came, and she ran from the store, leaving her cart in the middle of the aisle.

It was happening again. Just when she began to feel somewhat normal, her mind played tricks on her. Would it ever end?