Staring into space, Chloe shut off her raging thoughts focusing on the only important thing.Nature.Being surrounded by trees and the distant sounds of children playing, she cupped her thermos between her hands trying to siphon the heat.The past few weeks of her life have been the craziest thing it has ever been.After getting the costs of the surgery Ethan had enough money to sustain them for a couple of months before he could get another job.After that, she deleted Moriah's number from her phone and any other device that she stored, effectively closing the last chapter of her life.The warm, summer breeze blew in her direction, sending her hair flying in different directions.Chloe blinked and jolted back to the present.Pushing back her hair from her face, Chloe took a sip of her latte only to discover that it had turned warm.Spitting the disgusting liquid on the grass, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, casting furtive glances to be sure nobody saw her.A glance at
“How about this?” Chloe asked, raising a white long gown to her chest so Maeve could vet.Her sister snickered, covering her mouth behind her palm. “Are you serious?!” She snatched it from Chloe's grip. “You're going for a date, not a wedding ceremony.”Maeve ransacked her closet, looking for a semi-decent dress to wear out.Chloe never cared much about fashion, and the clothes she always went for, were simple and comfortable… not the type meant to “Whatever, it's not a date.” She mumbled, sitting on her bed with a sigh.Maeve poked her head out of the cupboard, throwing her a sarcastic look. “You did see the place he made a reservation, right?”“It doesn't mean anything.” She denied, smoothing down the plain black skirt she wore. “Luke and I have been friends forever, and friends do hang out.”“I'm sure they do but they don't do it in expensive restaurants.” Maeve pointed out, resuming her search while she let Chloe stew on that fact.And Chloe did…maybe a little too much.“I could
Chloe swallowed hard, not sure what type of reply she was expected to give in the face of that kind of question.Thankfully, she was saved by the arrival of their waiter, who presented two gold-etched menus to tie them with a smile. “Are you ready to order now, sir?”Luke in response, turned to face her beaming wide. “Yes, please. Chloe, do you have any idea what you want?”A quick scan down the menu revealed various complicated and complex dishes that Chloe hadn't heard of, much less eaten.Spotting some names that were familiar to her, she opted for something she could identify. “I'll have the steak, medium rare please, and the fillet mignon too.”Luke showed off, rattling several dishes along with dessert, and handing the menu back to the waiter.Chloe followed suit, hiding her clammy palms beneath the table.Now that she was here, it was almost anticlimactic.“How are you?” Luke was brave enough to break through the strained silence. “I mean…after everything, you know.” He waved h
The expression on Chloe's face, coupled with the way her eyes were narrowed were starting to scare the shit out of Luke, and too late…he just realized that maybe he should have kept quiet.Do the right thing and help her heal.No, jackass.That was the same move Luke pulled that placed him squarely in the friend zone area.Granted, his timing was shitty but he was tired of bottling the truth up.Careful to keep his voice down, he tried to reach out for her but Chloe kept giving him killer looks. “Chloe listen, of course I know that you might still be healing from everything but I'm tired of just being your ‘friend’. I want more.”Chloe was conflicted. “That's what we are though.” “No. That's what you want me to be.” Luke insisted. “Why do you think I've been by your side now and then, sticking on you like a bee on honey?”Chloe couldn't think of anything to say to that that didn't make her seem dumb or just plain foolish. “But, Luke …” she tried and failed to put her thoughts into wo
Her alarm woke her up from bed, but Chloe just sat there staring at the ceiling.What to do now?Chloe and Maeve stayed up late last night, just talking about everything while Chloe tried to digest what just happened with Luke.How the hell is she supposed to face him today?Her alarm rang again for the second time and with a groan, Chloe pushed her body off the bed.Forcing her unwilling body into the shower, Chow cranked the heat to the highest, closing her eyes as she tried to envision their meeting.Already, Luke left dozens of messages on her phone, none of which she responded to.Pulling her work clothes from the closet, she took her sweet time to dress up, hoping to delay long enough.Her phone buzzed with an incoming call from Karen, one of her colleagues and that prompted her into action.Grabbing her bag from its hook as well as her coat, Chloe dashed out the door briefly checking in on Maeve who was sprawled across the bed.She got to the office in record time with just two
“Luke?!” Her voice came out high pitched as Chloe immediately straightened, slightly embarrassed to have been caught gasping for breath like a fish out of water. “What a-are y-you doing he-here? Aren't you supposed to be inside?”His hands were in his pockets, the blue tie he had on complimenting his eyes. “So are you.” He moved his chin in my direction. “I saw you leaving in a hurry, and I wanted to talk to you about…” He trailed off, swallowing hard.She knew what he was about to say and despite having envisioned this conversation go in a thousand different ways, she never saw this bit. “Last night?” She finished for him. Red spots appeared on his cheeks and he ducked his head to avoid her gaze. “Precisely. I slept on it last night and I think it's safe to say that a new day has given me a different perspective. I was borderline insensitive about-”Unfortunately, he didn't have the opportunity today finish the speech that he had no doubt rehearsed a dozen times because the door beh
Moriah's eyes widened in shock and her mouth dropped open. Hastily coming out from her desk, she reached out to him but Sean flinched away.“Sean, please listen to me. I know that you're hurt but this isn't the way to fight back!”Sean's lips pressed into a thin, hard line. “Oh, that's where you're wrong. I'm not trying to fight back, there's no use. I've lost everything that could be remotely important to me…including this company.”Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Sean took one last look around her office because it would be the last time he would step foot into this place.“Sean, if you leave…” Moriah broke off, her voice cracking. “There's no guarantee that Caesar will let you come back.”Her throat closed up and she had to stop talking, deeply ashamed of her actions.This was not how she expected her little plan to go.“Maybe you're not understanding me, Mom but I have no intentions of coming back here.” He stared firmly. “This was never mine to contend for in the first place
A gaggle of reporters stormed Sean's front lawn, each news station setting up their cameras and tripods to catch the latest gist.“Sir, are you sure that you still want to do this?” Rebecca sidled up to him, the floral perfume she used distracting him.Sean had filled her in on his plan after he realized that he would need her help. Rebecca didn't disappoint, tipping off some of her friends in the news agency about what was happening that day.Sean opened his mouth to respond when his phone buzzed against his thigh. Slipping the device out of his pocket, he glanced at the screen.Moriah.After he quit, she had been buzzing him like crazy riding his ass to come back but each day Sean spent away from that place, the knot in his chest eased allowing him to breathe better.After Amelia hurt him so badly, Sean made a vow to himself not to become like her but unknown to him, the thing he hated was what he became.Silencing her call, Sean ignored the phone in his hand giving Rebecca his ful