Work Text:
James Hardford was a bastard
If you were to ask Charlie to describe him in an adjective, she would struggle to decide on a single one. There were lot of words to describe him. Egotistical would be the first one that came to mind though.
Surely there must be some sort of virus coded into his brain to make him so unbearable. There had to be a reason why he essentially dedicated his life to make Charlie's miserable. Why else would he feel the need to get her fired from her job in the library?
Okay well...kind of fired.
It was his fault that she had to quit her amazing, quiet, well paying job in the library. Her boss Maggie let her work there even though she knew that Charlie's school, Hillgate, didn't allow its students to have jobs. You had to pay a lot of money to get enrolled into the school, and it was filled with rich kids. Most of the kids there didn't need jobs anyways. The only reason Charlie went there was because she had a scholarship.
James had waltzed into the library while Charlie was working. When he realised that she was working there, he immediately informed her on how he was going to report her to the school. With a smirk on his annoyingly-handsome face while he said it. Of course he had to be a model, so he didn't even look bad when he was soaking wet from the rain. Damn him.
The worst thing was, he wasn't just handsome, he was famous too. Why is it that the worst people become the most successful in life? He was handsome, famous and rich. He was severly lacking in the personality department though.
That was the last time Charlie went to the library. She couldn't have risked working there agin if she was reported. Poor Maggie had offered to write her a letter of recommendation, but there was no point. Who else was going to let some random 17 year old work for them? And who else would be willing to hire that same 17 year old when they found out that their school didn't allow them to work in the first place.
He hadn't been lying about reporting her either. The next day Charlie was called into the dean's office and interrogated on whether or not she had been working at the library. Maggie was interviewed about it too but thankfully she was kind enough to lie for her. If she was caught she might've lost her scholorship over that. Then what would she have done?
He even had the nerve to be surprised when he realised that she hadn't been expelled. Who does that?
That was only one of the reasons she hated him. There were other events that have happened because James just felt like screwing with her. Let's be honest, everyday he would make a huge fuss and would say that Charlie was stalking him, even though it was apparent that it was actually the other way around.
You've got to love famous people.
How was Charlie ever going to afford to look after Lucian now? She couldn't tell him about what was happening to her. He was very smart for his age, but he still wouldn't truly understand what was happening. No matter their IQ, no 3 year old could truly comprehend how bad Charlie's whole situation was. Even if he was nearly 4.
Her brother Lucian could recite some of Shakespeare's sonnets, but there were still some things that she couldn't tell him. For instance, about how their father just left soon after their mother died, and made her have to raise her younger brother all by herself at age 14. Or how the letters he received from his father that were read to him by Charlie actually said something different to what she was reading aloud. Or maybe how Lucian's replies to those letters that were supposedly sent to their father were all actually stored on one of the highest shelves in the house that Lucian couldn't reach because there was no return address on the brief notes that their father sent once a month.
Jason had been a good father when he was around, but he had always acted like he never truly grew up. He would make jokes and play with Charlie, but he never truly knew how to be a fully functioning adult. It was always Charlie's mother who had bared the burden of doing things like taxes, and taking care of the house. So when she died Charlie had to take care of all of the important jobs and look after baby Lucian while her dad got to fully mourn the loss of his wife.
Charlie had been fine with it too. She never complained or whined about any of it. She supported her father while he was auditioning for his acting roles. The jobs that she took up needed to be done and it was better to get straight into work than to spend months in a slump because of her mother.
Yet after Charlie had told him about her getting a job, he decided that she shouldn't have because she was "too young". Of course she didn't agree with that. They needed the money, and Charlie could say that for certain because she was the one doing all of the taxes. It was either she got a job, or they sold their house. She was the only one being responsible about the situation. Needless to say, it sparked an argument between them. When they were arguing he accused her, saying that she looked and acted too much like her mother, and that it was hard on him because of that. How could he say that to Charlie when she was forced to take up her mantle because Jason wasn't responsible enough to do it himself?
After the argument, he just left.
While she was in the bathroom cutting her hair into a pixie cut so she could look less like her mother, she saw him get into a taxi and drive off through the window. He left a small note on the mirror inside the front door saying he would be back soon.
That was the last time Charlie saw Jason, and it was just under three years ago. And the only form of contact he gave them was a monthly sum of 200 pounds, which definitely wasnt enough for all of the bills, and a short letter with no return address. He never replied to a single phone call or text even after he became a big famous actor.
So yeah, Charlie disliked both James Hardford and Jason Hides.
At least she only had to see one of them on a regular basis.