“Nah, it’s Ethan. His hand…..it’s bad, Chloe,
really bad. Bleeding like crazy…” Jake rambled,
but the other end of the line was silent.
“Chloe, are you there? Maybe…maybe you
should come back. He won’t go to the hospital,
and he can’t keep bleeding like this…”
<
“Jake,” Chloe’s voice, still gentle, cut through
the chatter.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m here, Chloe, tell me-
“Don’t tell me about him anymore.”
Jake’s smile faltered. “Chloe?”
“Oh, and happy birthday, Jake.”
“Chloe, wait…don’t hang up…” But the dial
tone buzzed in his ear. Jake stared at his phone
like it was a live grenade. He wanted to slap
himself. Why had he interfered? What a mess.
The room was silent. Ethan looked around, a
smirk playing on his lips. “Cat got your
tongues?”
No one dared speak.
Ethan laughed. “Well, say something!”
<
“Ethan…”
“Don’t get worked up. You’re bleeding again!”
“Ethan, you know Chloe. She has a temper…”
Ashley, who had been quiet in the corner,
suddenly spoke. “I’ve been meaning to say
this…what you did was really hurtful. Chloe’s a
sensitive person. Even if you didn’t want to be
with her anymore, you should have handled it
better…”
“Who says I wanted to handle it ‘better‘?”
Ethan’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “She was
with me for seven years. I could’ve trained a
dog in that time.”
Ashley’s voice was soft. “Have you ever
considered that a girl only has so many seven
years?”
“What if Chloe never comes back?”
“Impossible.” No one noticed the tremor in
Ethan’s voice.
“Is anything truly impossible? When someone’s
heart is broken, it’s hard to put the pieces back
together.”
“Ethan, don’t do something you’ll regret.”
Ashley grabbed her purse and left.
Across the room, Daniel watched his wife of
two years, his expression unreadable. Was she
defending Chloe, or was she thinking about
their own marriage, hinting at his
shortcomings?
“Aren’t you going to walk your wife out,
Daniel?” a friend asked.
Daniel lit a cigarette, a smile playing on his lips.
“Who’s ‘my wife‘? My wife’s on a film shoot.
Won’t be back till next month.”
<
“You’re unbelievable,” his friend sighed.
Daniel shrugged. Ashley wasn’t like Chloe.
Chloe was independent, had her own career.
Breaking up with Ethan meant a lifestyle
change, but that was all. Ashley, on the other
hand, had the bottomless pit of her family’s
debts and her sick brother to worry about. She
couldn’t leave him. Not in a million years.
As soon as I hung up on Jake, Liam wrapped
his arms around me, his chin resting on my
shoulder. He didn’t speak.
I smiled. “What’s wrong?”
“Chloe, are you going back?”
“Back where?”
“Back to LA.”
“Not lonning on it Dit novor
“Not planning on it. But never say never. I
haven’t done anything wrong. My family’s
there.” I realized what he was really asking.
“You’re wondering if I’ll get back together with
Ethan, aren’t you?”
“Will you?”
