Authors: Trisha Grace
“I had an inkling.”
“And you never told me.”
He sighed softly. “I’m sorry, Chloe. I’m a selfish old man. You’re such a good influence on him. When he’s with you, he’s a better person.”
She didn’t know what to say, so she stared ahead.
“Are you angry with me?”
She pinched her lips together. She couldn’t really say she was. She still didn’t feel anything besides the shock of seeing her now ex-boyfriend having sex with a brunette. “Would you have said anything if I agreed to marry him?”
“I would’ve called him into my office and gave him a stern warning.”
“That’s all? That doesn’t sound as if it would be effective.” She waved it off. “Oh, well, it doesn’t matter. I wasn’t going to marry him anyway.”
“Why?”
One of her shoulders twitched. “I don’t know. I just don’t see myself marrying him.”
“So who do you see yourself marrying? The guy you kissed?”
She thought about his question. When she realized she was smiling, she pulled her lips between her teeth.
She thanked God when the lift doors opened.
She gave Lawrence’s arm a squeeze. “I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
“Let me send you home.”
“I drove here, and I’m meeting someone nearby for lunch. Don’t worry about me.”
Once she left the building, Chloe drove to the restaurant where she was supposed to meet her friend. Since she was rather early, she walked around and searched for a cafe instead.
She got herself a cup of latte and settled into a seat. The one thing she didn’t quite enjoy about Italy was the lack of coffee like this. Most of what they drank there were espressos, and they drank them like shots.
She liked her coffee with lots of milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
She brought the cup up to her nose and took in a deep breath, allowing the aroma of the coffee to wake her.
She didn’t feel exceptionally tired, but there seemed to be a fog in her head. Perhaps it was due to the lack of sleep.
Taking a sip of coffee, she rested back against the chair as she thought about what just went down with Jason.
She should be sad, right? Or angry at least.
Staring at the coffee in her hands, she realized how relieved she was. Maybe Josh was right; if freedom was what she enjoyed most about the relationship between her and Jason, maybe she didn’t like Jason very much.
Since she didn’t have any answers, she decided that a distraction was what she needed.
She pulled out her laptop and plugged in her noise-canceling earphones. She closed her eyes and listened to the music she’d written.
Though the song wasn’t completed, she could already hear Christopher’s voice accompanying the tune. She made the few changes that came to her mind while she sipped her coffee.
She didn’t know how long she had worked on the music until a text came through her phone, and she realized she was late for her lunch appointment. She stuffed her laptop into her bag and hurried over to the restaurant.
The loud and enthusiastic Japanese greeting startled her. She smiled and nodded at the chef looking at her, then made her way toward Ella, who seemed to be daydreaming.
She had requested to have lunch at a Japanese restaurant. Other than missing her lattes, she’d missed sushi as well. She hadn’t had sushi in years. The only Japanese restaurant she’d seen in Italy was at least an hour and a half from her apartment, and it was always packed.
“I’m so sorry,” Chloe said as she settled on a chair.
Ella gave her a small, awkward smile and handed her a menu. “It’s all right. I’m just grateful that you can make it today,” she said. “Thanks for shifting our appointment.”
She blinked and tried to ignore the grayish-blue cloud of words. “Are you finally going to tell me what’s bothering you?”
Ella cracked a smile. “I know you’re picky about your friends.”
Picky?
That was the first time she heard someone say that about her.
“And I know you have certain expectations of your friends.”
“And I hate it when people beat around the bush.” She stared at the conveyor belt and grabbed a few plates. “So, what can I do for you?”
Ella licked her lips. “I need a favor.”
“I figured.”
“I need a song.”
Chloe smiled. “For yourself? Sure.” She knew Ella well enough; she could definitely write her a song. “I didn’t—”
“Not for me.”
She waved at the grayish-blue cloud moving toward her face. “Sorry,” she said when she noticed Ella staring at her. “I thought I saw a fly. So who do you want me to write a song for?”
“Nicole Lane.”
“Is this Nicole a friend of yours?”
Ella shook her head. “I’ve never met her before.”
Chloe chewed and swallowed her seasoned octopus. “Then why are you asking me to write a song for her?”
“As a favor for someone else.”
Chloe sighed. “I—”
“I know it’s confusing, but I really need you to do this.” Dullish red and yellow spiraled toward her.
She closed her eyes; the colors were making her dizzy. “Ella—”
“Please.”
She rubbed her fingers against her temple. “Ella, please just tell me what’s going on.”
Ella sighed and ran her hand through her hair. “I did something stupid.”
She opened her eyes and sighed softly at the calmer colors. The words were still tainted with gray, but at least they weren’t giving her the desire to throw up. She took a sip of her hot green tea and waited.
“I had an affair.”
She pursed her lips, nodded, and reached for another plate.
Ella clearly needed to get something off her chest, but she seemed to be debating if she should lay everything out for her.
Chloe never looked too kindly on people who cheated, but Ella looked as if she’d been through enough.
“He’s a married man.”
Chloe chewed on the sushi, watching Ella’s words morph into an intense dark purple.
“It was stupid. I broke it off after a while, but someone has gotten hold of a couple of photos and is blackmailing me.” Ella buried her face in her hands. “If Clayton finds out …”
“And all this person wants is for me to write a song for Nicole Lane. Why?”
“I never know what she’s thinking.” Ella cradled the tea between her hands.
Chloe watched Ella for a moment. “I’ll do it for you if you promise you’ll never cheat again.”
Ella broke into a wry smile as she reached out and took her hands. “Thanks, Chloe. I swear I’ll never do it again.”
“I don’t want to get involved with this blackmailer, but you can’t keep letting her blackmail you. Tell the person that you want the photos and negatives burnt in front of you before handing the song over.”
Ella pursed her lips. “I don’t know. Rebecca can be rather scary. I’m afraid I’ll piss her off, and she’ll send Clayton the photos.”
Rebecca.
Chloe thought the name sounded familiar. “It’s your choice.” She pushed the plates to the side of the table. “What else has she blackmailed you for?”
“Nothing,” Ella said. “She called me once and pretended to be all friendly, asking me about my work and family. Then she hung up and sent me the photo.”
Chloe frowned. It didn’t make sense, but Ella wasn’t lying. She could see the stable color through her words. “That’s strange.”
“She’s scary and evil.”
“Then are you sure that giving in to her request is the right thing to do?”
Ella pursed her lips. “I don’t have a choice. I don’t dare to risk it.”
Chloe sighed and nodded. “What song should I write?”
“I don’t care if it’s the worst song you’ve ever written.” Ella grabbed a plate off the conveyor belt and sighed again as she slammed the plate onto the table. “I can’t believe I did something so stupid.”
Chloe didn’t reply to that; she didn’t know what to say.
As she was reaching for another plate, her phone rang. She took a peek at the number, rejected the call, and flipped her phone over.
Jason had completely dropped out of her mind until now.
“You can answer the call if you want,” Ella said.
She shook her head. “It isn’t anything important.”
“Had a fight with Jason?”
She shrugged.
“Speak of the devil.” Ella’s chin jerked forward.
“Chloe.”
Chloe looked over her shoulder. “How did you know I was here?”
“I told him,” Ella said softly. “I saw him this morning, and I told him we’re having lunch.”
She suppressed the urge to sigh aloud.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?”
She couldn’t say no now. She smiled politely at Ella and stood. “I’ll be right back.”
She led the way out of the restaurant and stood right outside. No one inside the restaurant would be able to see them anyway. The top half of the glass panels was blocked off by dark blue cloths with white Japanese wordings while the bottom half of the panels was frosted.
“Chloe, I’m sorry, but it wasn’t what you think.”
She wanted to laugh. She looked at the time on her phone, then back at him. “You had nearly three hours, and this is the best you came up with?”
Jason licked his lips. “Chloe, I’ll do anything. Please forgive me.”
“Forget it, Ja—”
“I’ll become Catholic for you.”
She frowned. “I’m not Catholic.”
“What? Isn’t that why you love staying in Rome? Because it’s near the Vatican City?”
“What?” Again she wanted to laugh.
She had always thought that what she and Jason had was mature and sensible, that they could maintain their relationship despite rarely seeing each other because they knew each other well. Who was she kidding?
“I’ve only stepped foot in Vatican City once.” She was a tourist then, and visiting the Vatican City was the touristy thing to do.
“But your mom is Catholic, right?”
“No!” Her fingers splayed over her lips as she tried to conceal her laughter. “No one in my family is Catholic.”
“You’re not Catholic?”
She pursed her lips and nodded. “I’m sure I’d know if I was.”
“But you’re so … so …”
“So what?”
“Proper.”
The sense of amusement disappeared. “And you make that sound like a bad thing.” She shook her head. “Look, Jason, we obviously don’t know each other well. Since walking away from you, I haven’t felt an ounce of sadness.”
“Chlo—”
“And for you to sleep with someone else, I don’t think you care very much for me either. So why are you even here? Because Lawrence told you to fix things?”
He sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair. “Just marry me, Chloe. You can continue to stay in Rome, and I’ll continue to stay here. We’ll continue as we did before.”
“And why will I do that?” She took a step back. “Because I’m so proper that no one will want me?”
“Chloe, listen—”
“Jason, I’m sorry.” She turned and walked back into the restaurant.
“Is everything all right?” Ella asked the moment she got back to the table.
“Yeah.” She broke into a smile when she saw the concern on Ella’s face. “I’m fine, really.”
Chloe was exhausted when she got back to the house. She wanted to give Christopher a call and return the car to his mom, but she was so tired.
Instead, she sent Christopher a text to let him know she was back.
She peeled the jacket off her and stumbled into the bathroom to take a quick shower before crumpling onto her bed.
She wasn’t sure how long she slept, but she awoke to her phone vibrating away in her bag.
She pulled her pillow over her ears. She should get used to sleeping with ear plugs.
Sighing softly, she turned and tried to get back to sleep, but her phone wouldn’t let her.
“Ugh!” She shot upright and glared at her bag, willing the phone within it to self-destruct, but it didn’t.
She was about to crawl out of bed when it finally stopped vibrating.
Closing her eyes, she slumped back against the bed.
Then came another buzz, a short, single buzz.
She gave up.
She got out of bed and checked her phone.
Two missed calls, one text message, all from Jason.
At least she had slept through the night, and now she was starving. She still had the car; she could drive out and buy something to eat. She changed and trudged down the stairs.
The car key she’d left on the coffee table was no longer there. Instead, a note replaced it.
My mom needed the car. There’s food in the oven.
Instructions followed, stating the temperature and timing she should set the oven to.
She ran her thumb across the bottom of the note where Christopher’s name was before dropping it back onto the table. She went into the kitchen and set the oven according to the instructions, then went back upstairs and texted Christopher, thanking him for breakfast.
She was halfway through breakfast when she heard the doorbell.
She popped the bite-size hash browns into her mouth and walked to the door. She was about to open it when she hesitated. Would Frank come out here to try another chance at getting his demo heard?
Dropping her hand, she walked over to the windows and looked out.
She grinned and waved when she saw Christopher. Opening the door, she said, “Good morning. Why did you ring the bell when you have the key?”
“It seems … wrong that I keep using my … key to open the … door to your house.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s still your house.” Then she smelled it. “Coffee!”
He grinned and lifted the cups in his hands. “Josh says you love lattes.”
Of course Josh would know. He’d heard her complain about Italy’s espresso and how difficult it was to get her hands on lattes.
“Thanks. Has he set off on his camping trip?”
He nodded. “I don’t think they’ll … last the week.”
She glanced over her shoulder, distracted by the vibration of her phone. She’d already placed the screen down against the table, so she couldn’t see who was calling. She didn’t need to see the screen, though. She knew who was calling.
“Aren’t you going to get that?” he asked when she turned back to him.
She shook her head.
“How did things … go?”