Chloe (Chardonnay Series Book 1)

by Hollye Davis

  The next day she couldn’t bring herself to go to school again. She couldn’t face Britney and her group of morons. She tried to be busy but nothing held any kind of appeal. Cooking certainly didn’t tempt her. How could you cook if you didn’t want to eat and had no one to feed?

  Sometime during the morning she decided she couldn’t do this anymore. She didn’t want to go forward without him. She’d rather live with him than continue in the same vein. Edwin had done so much for her, more than her own parents, grandparents, more than anyone sans her aunt.

  She at least owed him one chance.

  She may be stupid, probably an idiot, but she knew that she couldn’t live a full life without Edwin or at least trying again.

  With her mind made up, she called a cab to deliver her to the set of Chardonnay. The cab driver looked as if she had lost her mind, but she didn’t care. She was sure teenagers had been trying to get on the set of Chardonnay for as long as the show had run. The chances of her making it through the gate were slim, but she had to try. She owed him a visit in person.

  It took her a few minutes to get enough nerve to get out of the taxi but when she did she gaped at the great big entrance. A huge billboard of Edwin and her friends stared down from her at the entrance of a large walkway. How blind she had been, he was everywhere, THEY were everywhere. All the small instances they had left her beach community, began to add up. The strange looks, them cutting people off before they could say anything giving their identity away. She shook her head, she’d been so dumb.

  The place was as secure as a military installation. Her heart pounded, every instinct told her to flee but she repeated to herself she could do this. If she could stand up to that idiot Vice Principal, she could request entrance to a closed set. So she walked up to the gate guard who looked at her wearily.

  Squaring her shoulders she asked sweetly, “Would you please ring Ed…Jason Edwin Corbin McRoy for me?”

  He laughed and answered, “Sure, I’ll get right on that.”

  Yeah, she should’ve known. She tried again, “Please, it won’t hurt anything. Just tell him that Chloe Carter is here to see him. I think he will allow me to come in.”

  He muttered something about one-night stands thinking they were privileged but she chose to ignore it. He was looking at his clipboard then he said, “What’s your name again?”

  She repeated it to him.

  “Do you have any identification on you?” She pulled out her school ID. Then he muttered, “Well I’ll be damned, you’re on the list.”

  “Excuse me?” She asked surprised. He ignored the question and handed her a visitor’s pass and said, “You’ll find them in there.” He pointed toward metal doors down an alley.

  The building was huge, and the door was on the opposite end. There were all kinds of people rushing about, golf carts screaming past her, people yelling for things. She felt her heart was pounding its way up her throat as if it was trying to escape her body, she swallowed. Finally at the metal doors, she pushed through the doors that were marked with Chardonnay Cast Only sign hoping she’d know what to do when she got inside.

  It was shockingly dark and once the door closed fully it took her a moment for her eyes to adjust. She jumped when someone shouted, “Cut! Take a break while we set up the next scene guys.”

  Momentarily rooted in spot she forced her legs to move forward. She stepped over thick extension cords following the noise when someone stepped out of the shadows nearly sending her into cardiac arrest.

  “Can I help you?” An older man, in his early thirties, gazed at her sternly. He was wearing a black t-shirt that had huge block letters saying “security” on them. She covered her heart as if the action would somehow slow it down.

  It took her a few starts but eventually she spoke, “Yes, could you tell me where I could find Edwin?” she shook her head and amended, “I mean Jason?”

  “Who are you?”

  “A sight for sore eyes,” Christoph emerged from the shadows. “It’s okay, Ted, she’s someone very important,” he said as he gave her a hug. “I could recognize that accent from anywhere. I just can’t believe you are here.”

  “Is he here?” Her nerves were beyond frayed and she didn’t know how much her heart could stand this abuse.

  “Yep, follow me,” Christoph said as he grabbed her elbow.

  Through some miracle they made their way through total chaos. From what she could tell, filming was messy business. Cords were everywhere and props of some sort were lying haphazardly around. How could anyone work in conditions like this? But despite all the mess, she had to admit she was a little awestruck. There were huge cameras that were positioned around a bedroom. The bedroom looked like a typical teenager bedroom, but instead of being in a house it was in the middle of black mess.

  When she finally spotted Edwin, she stopped. Her heart hurt so much just looking at him. He was sitting in a chair reading what she assumed was a script of some sort. He was so beautiful.

  Christoph startled her out of her reverie by announcing loudly, “Look who I’ve found wandering around!” Edwin looked up. As soon as he saw her, he immediately shot up out of his chair dropping the script and knocking off a cup causing a loud crash. He didn’t seem to notice.

  Then Sandra, Christine, Penelope, and Duke all exclaimed at once, “Chloe!” which caused everyone in the studio to stop and stare at her.

  She cleared her throat, trying not to cry, trying to be brave to say, “Hey, guys, ummmm, Edwin, can we talk?”

  His hand started to reach for her but remembered that it might not be welcomed and dropped it to his side, clinching it into a fist. She could see the emotion pouring from his eyes. It made her heart pound harder.

  He nodded, looking incapable of speech. His face was serious, chiseled unforgivably, and it made her nervous. Edwin turned but before she could follow him Christoph whispered in her ear, “Please, Chloe, be nice, he has had a really hard time. Please forgive him, forgive us. We need you, we miss you.” She looked up into Christoph’s sincere eyes and nodded then walked briskly to catch up to Edwin.

  She followed him down a maze of corridors to a door marked with his name. It must have been his personal dressing room or whatever they call it in showbiz. She had never felt more out of place in her life and that was pretty amazing since she never fit in anywhere. Inside the small room was a couch and dressing table but it seemed impersonal. She wandered around a minute looking at things, buying time to think over what she was going to say, everything seemed stupid or silly. She walked to the dressing table and picked up a jar of what looked like make-up foundation. That was shocking. He was so gorgeous did he really need any enhancement? She put the jar back down on his counter. She felt Edwin watching her. A frame next to the jar caught her attention and she lifted it up and stared.

  It was a picture of her on the beach looking out at the ocean. When? How? Before she could ask he answered, “I took it with my cell phone, you didn’t know.” She set it back down.

  She watched him through the reflection of the mirror. He reached down to a small fridge and pulled out a bottle of water.

  “Would you like one?” He asked softly, she shook her head. She couldn’t swallow her spit much less anything else at the moment.

  After another period of silence she started awkwardly with, “I apologize for disturbing you at work but I didn’t know where else to find you. I guess I could’ve called but I thought I owed it to you to come in person.”

  He sat frozen, holding the bottle of water in his hands tightly. He was so still she wondered if he was breathing. She continued on, “I got up this morning and realized that I just couldn’t go on living this way. I didn’t want to disappear again or go back to the person you met all those months ago. I realized how much you have helped me become… less broken.” She paused a moment not able to look at him and she finally said, “I realized that I don’t…no, I won’t live without you.”

  She heard him suck in his breath but sh
e kept on, “I realized I would rather live a lie with you than live a life of nothingness.” He got up and stepped closer. With her head down and tears in her eyes she said in a very small voice. “I realized that you deserved another chance and I’m asking you to give me one too.”

  He pulled her to him and said, “Oh Chloe.” She looked up as he leaned down. He kissed her, effectively taking her breath away. He kissed her like no other kiss she had shared with him. It was full of desperation and love. He put his head down to her neck and breathed in.

  He whispered, “Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, God. I didn‘t know what I was going to do. You wouldn‘t talk to me. You wouldn‘t see me. I was going crazy. I love you, Chloe. I’m sorry, so sorry. I’ll never lie or hurt you again.”

  It was like someone power-washed the broken plaster off my soul to reveal a newer shinier, better version of myself. -Chloe’s diary

  Chapter 16

  The Return of the Fire Friends plus One

  She was sitting on the couch that evening telling Aunt about what happened on set. Aunt didn’t give her any advice or tell her that what she did was right or wrong. She just listened and that meant the world to Chloe.

  When the doorbell rang they looked at each other, surprised. As usual it was Aunt who got up and flung the front door open. Sandra, Christoph and all her fire friends flowed in.

  “Since Edwin hogged you all up when you came to visit, we decided to come and see you and LOOK we brought peace offerings!” Sandra exclaimed holding up presents.

  Good grief, more presents. Edwin followed behind, always in the shadows just like when they first met. He stepped toward her but was oddly reserved. It wasn’t until she held out her hand, that he smiled, pulling her to him. The feeling of his warmth seeped through her as she laid her head on his chest.

  After a few moments, he leaned back causing her to look up questionably at him. Pulling her necklace out of his pocket he draped it around her neck.

  “Please don’t ever remove this again. I thought I would die when I found it on Christoph,” Edwin said. Before she responded the doorbell rang again.

  They all looked at each other a little nervous, knowing that whoever was on the other end might expose her friends. Aunt, always quick on her feet, suggested that everyone except Chloe go hide in her room.

  When the living room was once again cleared, Aunt made to her way to the door. This time it was Kim on the other side. Kim walked in looking curiously about comically confused, “There’s a whole bunch of fancy cars outside but no one is here but you. Weird, I thought your aunt was having a party or something.”

  Kim peered to see if people were out on the deck or beach. A crease appeared between her eyebrows. “What’s going on?”

  “Aunt,” Chloe said, “Would you go get Edwin for me.”

  Kim gasped, “Edwin’s here, you’re okay with that?”

  Chloe patted the couch indicating that Kim needed to sit down.

  “I know I’m stupid but I forgave him. Kim, you’re a good friend right?”

  She smiled, “The very best.”

  “Good because I don’t want people to know about me and Edwin.”

  “Oh but Britney…” she argued.

  “I could give two cow patties about Britney, what I care about is protecting our relationship. You understand right? I can trust you right?”

  “Oh, Chloe, how can you even ask that, of course you can!”

  “Good,” Chloe hugged her. She knew Edwin was standing just out of sight listening, she felt him there.

  “Edwin,” she called and he walked forward, “I would like you to meet Kim, my very best friend.”

  “Pleasure,” he said and he bowed over her hand. Kim melted immediately. Edwin continued, “I owe you a great deal, Kim. You’ve been a good friend to Chloe.”

  Kim turned to her with a huge grin, “Good grief Chloe, how could you NOT forgive him?”

  After that the rest of her friends came out and introduced themselves to Kim. She feared Kim was about to faint from all the excitement.

  Her aunt ordered pizza and they had an impromptu party with dance music. Chloe asked Kim to spend the night and everyone decided they wanted to stay too. The guest bedroom took a little fixing but they decided that it would hold the girls just fine. The boys would have to crash on the living room floor, and of course Edwin would sleep with her.

  The next day her aunt tried to make breakfast, which was a complete disaster. Chloe kicked her out of the kitchen and repeated the process. Before long she had a houseful of very full and happy friends. They spent the day out on the beach talking and catching up. She told them about what she did to Britney and how she hadn’t been back to school to see what kind of torture she had planned for her. They all looked at her stunned, unbelieving that Chloe had actually physically attacked someone.

  She shrugged, “I was under a lot of stress, it wasn’t right but I was running on emotions.” She peeked over at Edwin.

  Edwin nodded, understanding, and pulled her closer to him. He kissed her cheek, “I hope you never repeat the experience again my love.”

  That night they had a big fire. Kim laughed our loud when they did the choreographed dance. Later Kim said it was the coolest thing she had ever seen. They were up all night until the sun peeked out. Everyone but Kim needed to head home. Kim went to the guest room and disappeared leaving Edwin and Chloe alone.

  She was washing the dishes when he came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her midsection. She turned off the water and turned around.

  “I didn’t think they would ever leave,” his lips touched hers and the world was forgotten. They were both shaking from the emotions when he said, “Chloe, I thought I would never feel like this again. After that day I came over to talk to you, I thought it was over for good. I didn’t want to go on living. I prayed for God take me right then because I knew I would never survive living without you.”

  His emotion overwhelmed her, she was almost ashamed she hadn’t forgiven him sooner. He continued, “When Christoph came to the set after seeing you, he wasn’t doing well either. All of us just sat staring at nothing, trying to figure out how to get you back. He leaned down to pick up a script when your necklace spilled from his shirt pocket. Something snapped in me. When I saw it, I dunno, I went ballistic. I punched Christoph. I thought he and you…” He stopped and swallowed. Pain was etched into his eyes, “God, Forgive me but I thought you and Christoph were together. When Duke held me back long enough for Christoph to explain, I felt ashamed and then angry that you were giving up so easily. I had convinced myself that if I gave you time you would come back to me. But after the necklace, I wasn’t sure anymore. I had to see you. To see if it was true, that you were done with me. Our friends begged me not because they didn’t know how I would act. I haven’t been the most stable person as of late. But I had to see you, so I waited, and I was so angry, but when I saw you, all I could think about was you and having you in my arms. I would’ve sold my soul to have you in my arms again.”

  She put her head on his chest and said, “I’m sorry Edwin, when I gave that necklace back I was trying to purge you from my system. But no matter how hard I tried, you wouldn’t go away. Everywhere I went you were there. I wanted to run away. I would’ve if it wasn’t for Aunt. You hurt me more than anyone in the world, but you also helped me. I can’t forget that. I can’t throw what we have away, I know deep down I’ll never find it again.” She felt him nod.

  She reached up on her toes to kiss him again. He lifted her up and took her to the bedroom where they spent the rest of the day.

  When the light began to fade she realized the weekend was over and school was the next day. To make matters worse Edwin said that they put off production of the next episode because of his apparent “food poisoning” which meant that they had to work double time to get things back on track. He promised he would be home at night, but he couldn’t tell her when.

  I know it is petty, I know it’s not right,
but darn it, revenge feels justified sometimes and I can’t deny I want it. – Chloe’s diary

  Chapter 17

  Revenge

  At school people treated her with more respect. They moved out the way when she walked through the hallways. With the rumors about suicide and the random attack on Britney, they probably thought she was unstable. Whatever the reason, she didn’t care, as long as they stayed out of her way.

  While making her way to her next class a magazine picture caught her attention. She stopped at some nameless girl’s locker where an advertisement for the hit series Chardonnay was taped inside the locker. Edwin was front and center and beautiful as always. She slowly touched his face with her index finger. She had been so blind. How could he be everywhere but she never saw him?

  The girl beside her sighed, “He’s positively yummy isn’t he?” Chloe jerked her hand back startled by the question. She gazed at the girl blankly trying to comprehend that she was talking about her boyfriend, “Yes, yes he is,” she agreed glancing back up at the picture.

  “Did you know that they’re local and like they shoot the show right down the road? I hope one day I’ll run into them. They are so secretive though. They avoid the media like the plague.”

  Chloe nodded, reaching up to touch Edwin again.

  “You really like him don’t you? I find my tastes turn toward Duke. He’s so sweet.”

  Chloe smiled mischievously, “I’m in love with him.”

  “Wow, I mean, that’s cool and but kind of useless don’t ya think? I mean I thought I was obsessed with the show but I wouldn’t go so far as to say I was in love with Duke. Not like that anyway, like you’re serious and all.”

  Chloe shrugged, once again glancing at the picture. A twinge of something not very nice surged through her as she stared at beautiful Victoria’s visage. She glanced back at the chick who owned the picture, she seemed to be full of all kinds of information. “Who’s that?” Chloe asked pointing to Victoria.