Finally, Chloe was done with work. She had to stay late to help process a file Francis forgot about so it could make the deadline. She was now headed to her mother-in-law's house, hoping whatever it was she was needed for this time wouldn't take too long, and she could still make it to Fantastic Fabrics before it closed, which for some reason was 8:00 pm on Fridays.
Chloe rolled her eyes before knocking just to get it out of the way. She knocked then came in, although she'd been told to go in without knocking, something about it's practically her home and why doesn't she and Jon move in. Of course, if she did that, she would lose what little sanity she had left.
"Oh, Chloe, Luv! I'm in the sitting room," her mother-in-law called out to her.
"You said you needed help with something urgent, Mrs. Harris?"
"Call me, Mom, how many times must I tell you," Mrs. Harris said for the ten billionth time in the past ten years. She motioned towards a bunch of paintings propped up around the room. "I can't decide which ones to hang. I'm having the girls over for brunch tomorrow, and I'm at a loss as to which painting to put up."
"Right. Well, let's see what accent pillows are you going to be using?"
"I've got their pillows. But I can use either this glass votive set of the flower arrangement Jordan sent me." She darted about the room, fidgeting with the candles and the flower vase. Chloe knew this was going to take a while. She wouldn't have time to make it to the store and get dinner ready before Jon got home.
Chloe finished up with her mother-in-law with just enough time to have dinner done before eight. Jon usually went with his dad to the pub to rub shoulders with all the hot shots in town for a bit on Friday after work, and then he would get home around eight. Friday nights were supposed to be their alone time, which usually meant they ate dinner together then headed to separate rooms where she would work on some craft thing, and he would do who knows what, with the golf network maybe.
She would have to get the gift tomorrow; she made a mental note as she sat at the table and waited for Jon. He was running late tonight, later than usual, so she opened her Fuzzy Jump game app on her phone and played for about 10 minutes before a text message alert interrupted her from reaching her high score. She scowled at her phone. She was so close to a new Fuzzy record. Oh well, she opened the text, and it was from Jon.
Sweet lips, I'm working late tonight, don't wait up. Love you.
So I could have gone to get the gift, after all, Chloe thought and rolled her eyes then ate her meal before putting Jon's in a leftover container with a sticky note on it. She got cozy in her pajamas that matched the ones she laid out for Jon, and she lounged in bed. She thought about working on her latest knitting disaster then thought better of it and turned on the TV to watch a few sitcoms. She got bored of that quickly and opened the book on her bedside table, Opening My Door to Strangers. She fell asleep after page two.
Chloe woke up later than she had hoped on Saturday, so she skipped the mirror and scale ritual. She already knew the McDonald's from yesterday did nothing to reverse the numbers in her favor. Chloe headed out to try and get her errands done on time and make it to the party with a gift in hand. She stopped and picked up a white chocolate mocha from Starbucks and some daisies from the local florist. No matter how behind she is this week, nothing cuts into Father-Daughter time, and daisies were his favorite. Chloe stopped at her father's grave with the flowers and had meant to get the milk between the Starbucks stop and the florist but completely forgot. She put the flowers in a vase and sat cross-legged in front of his headstone and had her weekly chat with her dad to let him know about what had happened since last week, which wasn't very much. Chloe told her father how she had saved Mrs. Harris from utter humiliation by picking out the perfect painting to hang, how ye
Chloe finally made it to the Auto Dealer, where she met up with Jonathan at the tail end of a business meeting with his father where he went over numbers that his father paid no attention to. "Hey Candy, what's up? Bring my lunch?" Jonathan liked to call her weird pet names. For some reason, he thought it was cute, and she thought it was tacky, but he'd been doing it for fifteen years, and it didn't look like he'd be growing out of it soon. She had known him most of her life but started dating him when 14, Jon was 16. He'd always been a bit thin due to his wrestling and stayed that way through adulthood. He was a relatively decent-looking guy with short-cropped thick brown hair, small squinty blue eyes, a narrow nose, thin lips, and a mediocre square jawline. He was 5 feet, eleven inches tall, and about 180 pounds even though he rarely worked out unless watching Mixed Martial Arts competitions counts. "Yeah, I'm on my way to Fantastic Fabrics, so I figured I'
Chloe pulled into her drive and went through the back door so as not to disturb Jonathan, who would be home by now even though it was relatively early, still not even 7:00 yet. He might be working on something for his golf meeting. She went into the spare bedroom and grabbed the gift that was waiting on the floor for her, then she headed back to the back door. Just before she got to the door, she thought she could hear Veronica Moulton's voice. That wasn't unusual, really, because Veronica was their neighbor and pretty much her second-best friend. Veronica and her husband Nicki were good friends and would hang out with Chloe and Jon. Nicki worked in the Tech department and would often have lunch with Chloe. She had never had any qualms with Veronica hanging out with Jonathan, just the two of them. Never seemed to be any reason to second guess if Veronica's husband Nicki was staying late at the office working on system upgrades or something. Veronica would invite Chlo
Chloe enjoyed the party a little too much. At one point, she started a taco tossing phenomenon. She momentarily let the thoughts of the White Rabbit and Alice scene from earlier surface just long enough for her to lose control and toss a mini taco against the wall. All the other girls had no idea why she had done it but having drunk round after round of cocktails and shots, they found it great fun and joined in with elevated enthusiasm. Tacos were being flung all over the party room. She felt a little bad for the workers that have to clean it all up but damn, it was worth it. It allowed her much needed stress relief. She went to the bar after the party as planned to call her best friend and hear her thoughts on what she should do. Covered in mini tacos, Chloe attempted to brush some of the taco debris off but quickly gave up and just walked into the bar, tacos and all. It wasn't exactly a dive bar, but it wasn't posh enough to turn her and her tacos away, so she sat down and
Chloe took two muscle relaxers and washed them down with two glasses of wine. She took a quick shower to get rid of the tacos, and she crawled into the spare bed with her towel still on. She woke up in the middle of the night feeling hot and strangled in her towel, so she shrugged it off onto the floor. She pushed the comforter off as well and slept under the sheet. Chloe woke the next morning to Jon kissing her. What the Fuck, she thought, very confused for a moment as to where she was and what was going on. She looked around and realized she was in the spare bedroom. Then she remembered passing out in there after her shower, the night before. "Sweetcheeks," Jon said between kisses. "Why are you in here? You should have come to bed, Pumpkin Face." "Huh? Oh, mmtacos." She told him as he made his way down her neck. He had never spent so much time kissing her body like this. "I got tacos…all over and…washed up um, before bed."
Chloe got to the Café, and Nicki was already waiting at a table in the patio corner. She made her way over to him. She had been thinking of how to tell him since yesterday, and she still had no idea what to say. "Hello…" Nicki said as she approached. He paused, noticing she looked anxious. "Chloe? What's up?" "Hey, Nicki," she managed, "Um, how was your workout?" "It was ok. You don't look so good. What's wrong?" Nicki cleared his throat. "Is everything ok? How's Jon? I already ordered, so don't worry. I got you the strawberry chicken salad and an Ice tea." He nodded towards her drink. Chloe smiled gratefully at him and took a massive gulp of tea, practically downing half the glass before she said anything. "Oh, Jon? Umm… He's fine. He's at the club with his dad and the guys. Just yesterday, he was with Veronica. She was fucking him on our bed." Chloe was now rapidly blinking her eyes. Maybe
Chloe went home and texted Kendra, Jon fucked me this morning before golf. Nicki wants to even the score. He's in love with me. Jon and Veronica have been fucking since Christmas. Idk I'm going to take a bath. Chloe was in the bath until it got cold, still staring off and trying to organize her thoughts. She got out and put on a robe, then went to the closet to find some clothes to put on. She hated everything in her closet. It was all Jon likes this, and hates that. He practically picked everything she wore. Even if he didn't shop with her, still in the back of her mind, she could hear him weighing in on everything. That's it she'll go shopping and get what she wanted to wear for once. She grabbed Jon's platinum card and put on a pair of jeans and a horrible polo that Jon preferred, and headed to the mall. When she got home, she put her new clothes in the spare bedroom closet where all the clothes not approved by Jon were. Mostl
Chloe woke up Monday morning with new energy and a goal to do what she wanted from now on. She went to work after getting dressed in her shopping spree outfit. She was wearing a new pencil skirt and a cute purple silk blouse. She had new Donna Karen nylons and new Jimmy Choo strappy black pumps. She had always wanted to own a pair of Jimmy Choo's. Of course, she knew she couldn't afford a second pair and probably shouldn't have bought the first. But she was going to pick out her own clothes without Jon's input for once. She even had on a new purple bra with matching lace panties. She had spent more on her outfit than possibly her entire wardrobe her whole life combined. She felt on top of the world for the first time in her life and thought to herself, Kendra is right; I really should live a little. She opened her phone and looked at an email Kendra sent her earlier that morning with their bucket list from 15 years ago. Well, she would get started on some of these. M