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'd bring your lunch by," Chloe said and did a little finger wave past him to his father, an older grayer version of Jonathan with a slight heft in the gut area. He nodded in return.
"Oh, thanks, Sweetcheeks," Jonathan said, another of his ridiculous names for her. He headed quickly around the corner past a couple of cubicles and a few display cars and into his office. He pulled open his middle desk drawer and handed her a ticket across the desk as she passed him a bag from the Deli.
Chloe looked at the ticket and sighed. Great! Dry cleaning, just another thing to squeeze into my already hectic day, she thought.
"Are you going to your crafting club thing tonight?" He asked her coming around to lean against the front of the desk next to her.
"No. It's a birthday party for a club member tonight, so you'll have to pick up dinner unless you want to order in. The girls might want to do something after. I'll let you know if I'm going to be late."
"No problem. I can order a pie and watch a game or two. Take your time. I got an early gig tomorrow, so I'm gonna hit the sack before you get home."
"Okay. I will. I'll have fun with the girls then. See ya, Champ." She said as she leaned in, he met her for a peck, and she headed out to get milk, a birthday gift, stuff for a cheesecake, and now Jon's dry cleaning. He had never been a champ of anything, but when he was a senior in high school, he had made it to the semi-finals, and she called him that as a sort of good luck thing. It didn't quite work, but just like he kept the Candy and Sweetcheeks, she had kept the Champ.
Chloe was really looking forward to her party tonight, and she might just get everything done in time. She was excited about the Craft Club each time they did something. She felt like she was a little girl again, creating something her dad could be proud of. Even though the crafts were pretty cheesy, it was fun to get out of the house.
She'd found the crafts club through a bulletin at the YMCA, where she swam. She thought it to be sort of interesting, mostly the people who came were interesting. She wasn't very good at any of the crafts. Actually, she sucked at everything thus far, and she'd been going once a week for a year now. She never had been good at creative things. She enjoyed it either way.
Chloe finally got the gift. When she got home, she took it into the spare bedroom where she kept her crafting tools to wrap it. She checked the time when she finished with the bow. She was actually going to make it; she just needed to get dressed. She had a cute purple dress Kendra, her best friend, had sent her. She never had a chance to wear it, mainly because Jon prefers pink.
Chloe cut her shower time to fifteen minutes to give time for her hair, which it was going to need. Once her hair was done, she finished her makeup and looked at the clock again. The party started in forty-five minutes. It would take her thirty minutes to get to the restaurant. They had a room set up with a mini buffet. She smiled to herself, thinking of all the little appetizers, as she slipped into her shoes.
Chloe grabbed her matching purse from the back of the closet and quickly emptied her essential items from her everyday purse. Ok lipstick, eyeliner, travel Kleenex, mini mouthwash, floss, can opener, lighter just in case someone asks, ink pen, sticky notes one can never have too many sticky notes, brow brush, two mascaras waterproof and lengthening, brass knuckles that her grandma insisted she carries at all times, black flats that roll up to fit in your purse in case your feet get blisters, wallet, keys and she paused on whether to transfer the extra spoon. She finally decided it may be necessary since they had appetizers.
Maybe they didn't set out spoons, she thought, doing one last time-check that she looked okay. Ok, good to go. I should make it with two minutes to spare. Jon always hated when they were late to an event of any kind.
Chloe climbed into her car and told the GPS where she was going, checked her makeup in the mirror one more time, then off she went. Chloe had forgotten Saturday traffic was a bit heavier, but she should still be ok with time. She had found the perfect gift, a knitting machine that knits for you. She looked over with a proud smile where she had put it in the passenger seat. Her heart sank. It wasn't there.
Chloe had left the gift in the spare bedroom after wrapping it up. Well, she can't go without it. She put on her blinker to turn down a side street so she could turn around, then called Cheryl, who had set up the party.
"Hey, Cheryl, I'm running late. I totally forgot the gift at home. I've got to go back and get it." Chloe told her.
"Oh, it's no biggie. Most girls are running behind schedule, and the food won't be set out for another hour anyway. We aren't doing gifts until after we eat. You have plenty of time." Cheryl told her not to worry about it at all. Chloe was told that Jesmina wasn't arriving until an hour after the party started, and Hannah would be at least forty-five minutes late.
So Chloe was headed back for the gift. She should have known the girls wouldn't show up on time. They never did, she thought. Damn, my day is not going well, she thought as she turned off her blinker and made a U-Turn, then sped through the street back the way she came. She was getting impatient with all the traffic and drivers not letting her turn when she needed to.
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
On lunch break, Bill held the door for her like always and ready to pounce until he saw her and remembered what happened earlier, and he nearly froze with anxiety. "Hey, Billy." She smiled at him and gleamed wickedly to herself; she never imagined she'd see Bill Moore squirm like this. It was rather cute in a creepy way. "You want to drive, or shall I?" "Huh? Oh, I can drive. It's no problem." He smiled sheepishly and led the way to his car near the back of the lot. He held her door like the gentlemen he certainly was not and went around to get in the driver's side. "So where's this wiener of yours?" Chloe asked as soon as he got in. She couldn't believe it herself, but she decided to just go with it. His reactions were so out of character for him. "What?" Bill paused with his keys in hand midway to the ignition. "Where's the wiener you were telling me about?" &
Chloe and Nicki went to the restaurant down the street from work. It was about a five-minute drive, so they left Nicki's car, and Chloe drove. They went over the book assignment, which Chloe had actually finished reading last night after her shopping spree. Nicki was impressed. "I don't know what's going over there with you, but I like it!" He grinned at her, "you look sexier than ever, I mean, you've always been hot, but now it's almost like you found the confidence needed to go with it." "Um, thanks," Chloe muttered, averting her eyes. She hadn't really thought about it. She was just doing what she wanted for once. She hadn't felt like this since before her mother died when she was young. After that, she was focused on helping out with the house and bills and taking care of her father, and then Jonathon came along. She's been sacrificing for everyone else since she was twelve. "Sorry, I didn't mean to…" &