Seeing my expression, Miranda shivered in fright and greeted me with caution, "Hello, Miss Jennings."
Charlie looked at me with displeasure and scorned, "Tone down your look. You’re scaring her."
Then, he got down to his knee and held Miranda's ankle. With one swift, practiced motion, he lifted her foot and changed her shoes. As I watched, I was fascinated and heartbroken at the same time.
Miranda then plopped onto the sofa and casually turned on the TV to find something to watch.
I furrowed my brows and followed Charlie to the kitchen.
"Didn’t she go out for sketching practice? Why is she back?" I protested. "Why were you helping her change her shoes? Don’t you understand anything about boundaries?"
Meanwhile, Charlie kept washing the vegetables. He did not even spare me a glance when he said, "She came back with me to grab something. She’ll leave in a couple of days. Why?" he asked. "Are you going to throw another one of your pointless tantrums?"
I choked back my words. An overwhelming sense of despair came over me. Then I asked, "So, in your eyes, am I nothing but a senseless, irrational person?"
He didn’t answer. He simply cast a cold glance my way before continuing his task.