“Hey.” Jack said flatly.
We stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, me trying to figure out what was going on and Jack barely looking at me. Realizing I need to be the one to break the ice, I blurted out “What time do you want to meet on Saturday?”
Without looking at me, Jack replied coolly “We’re not.”
“Wh-what? Why?”
Jack took a deep breath and said “Well I think maybe you should go with your fiancé.”
“My fia....What are you talking about?”
“Damn it Chloe. What were you thinking? That I wasn’t going to find out?” Jack yelled.
Suddenly it hit me like a ton of bricks. A wave of nausea came over me as I realized that Connor must have run into Jack when he was camped out at my door the other day. Stupid Connor..... that overly dramatic dumbass really does ruin everything.
“No Jack, you don’t -” I tried to explain but Jack threw his hands up to stop me.
“So what were you lonely? Bored? Did you think maybe it would help your career? I guess you didn’t plan this out as well as you thought you did.”
I could feel the tears forming in my eyes and I kept telling myself not to cry.
“Jack if you would just please listen to me.”
“I really, really liked you Chloe,” Jack said cutting me off again, “I’m just.....I can’t do this. I can’t be the other guy, some fling, your replacement boyfriend. I’m done.....we’re done.”
The tears in my eyes defiantly spilled over and ran down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I didn’t want Jack to see me cry and I didn’t know what to do, so I ran past him up the stairs. As soon as I was safely behind my front door, the tears started flowing like waterfalls.
“Chloe?” Abby called out.
I walked into the living room where Abby and Tyler were cuddled up on the couch.
“Oh my gosh Chloe! What’s wrong?” Abby asked jumping up from the couch.
“Jack.....broke.....up.....with.....me.” I said in between sobs.
“What!” Abby and Tyler exclaimed at the same time.
“Did you know this was gonna happen?” Abby asked Tyler.
“No I swear. I’m gonna go talk to him. I’ll call you later.” Tyler said.
“What happened?” Abby asked.
Abby grabbed a box of tissues and we both sat down. I curled my legs up under me and pulled a throw blanket on top of my lap. Pulling a tissue out of the box, I began dabbing at my tear stained eyes. Setting the tissue in my lap, I grabbed another one from the box and began twisting it between my fingers.
“Connor must have run into him when he was waiting for me to come home the other day. He told Jack we were still engaged.”
“Don’t tell me Jack believed him.”
I nodded. “He wouldn’t even give me the chance to explain.”
I felt the tears stinging my eyes again and suddenly I just wanted to be alone. The only person I wanted to talk to was Jack and he wouldn’t talk to me. I didn’t want to talk to anyone else, not even my sister. I didn’t want to analyze the situation to death like I normally I do. I just wanted to lie in bed, wallow in my own self-pity and cry until I didn’t have any more tears.
“I’m gonna go to bed.” I sighed.
“Alright, I’m here if you need anything.”
That is the best thing about Abby. When you say you want to be by yourself, she doesn’t push. I went into my bedroom, traded my work clothes for pajamas and fell into my bed. I began crying again as I curled up into a ball. I didn’t understand how this could happen. I just wished Jack would talk to me. I heard Abby’s phone ring from the other room and I knew it was Tyler. Part of me hoped she would come and tell me what he said, but she didn’t.
I tried my hardest to concentrate at work the next day but I couldn’t. My emotions were going back and forth between being sad and being angry. I was angry at Connor for coming over here and ruining things. I was angry at Jack for believing Connor and not listening to me. I was angry at myself for running off and crying instead of insisting that Jack talk to me.
Around noon, I decided I had enough of trying to avoid people but I wasn’t ready to talk to anyone. I emailed Jonathan and told him I was leaving, grabbed my stuff and made my way home. As soon as I walked in the door, I put my pajamas on, grabbed a pint of cherry chocolate chip ice cream and parked myself on the couch. I kept telling myself to stop eating the ice cream and I finally did.....when the carton was empty. Abby and Tyler walked in holding hands just as I dropped the empty ice cream container on the table with a groan.
“Oh honey.....Did it make you feel better?” Abby asked holding up the empty carton.
“No worse actually, Not only will I be alone, I’m going to be fat too.” I said without any emotion.
“Are you sure you want to go to this ball?” Abby asked.
I nodded. “Is Jack still going?”
“Yes I believe so.” Tyler said.
“Is he ever going to talk to me?” I asked him.
Tyler looked as if he was trying to figure out what to say. “I think he just needs some time.”
That reaction was equivalent to a no. I could feel the tears well up in my eyes. I could understand him not wanting to talk to me if I had done something wrong but I hadn’t. I didn’t ask that big dumb fool to come over here. As a matter of fact, our run in the other day was the first time I had even spoken to him since we broke up. I’m not even the one that told him I was moving to London.
“Awww Sweetie, don’t cry.” Abby knelt down on the floor next to me.
“I just.....I like him a lot. I don’t know how this happened. Did he say anything to you Tyler?” I asked hopefully.
Tyler shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “No sorry. I can assume what is going on, but he just says that he doesn’t want to talk about it yet.”
I wasn’t sure if Tyler was telling the truth or trying to put up a front for his friend, but I figured it was the best answer I was going to get. I stood up and grabbed my fleece blanket.
“Where are you going?” Abby asked.
“To my room. I just want to be by myself.”
As I lay in bed, I could hear Abby telling Tyler about my relationship with Connor. At first, I couldn’t believe she would air my dirty laundry like that but then I realized what she was doing. She knew Tyler would tell Jack. This was perfect. Tyler will tell Jack and Jack will realize that this was all a big huge mistake. Yes, that’s what will happen! He’ll realize this was just a misunderstanding and he’ll come running back, begging me to forgive him, which of course I will. This thought made me feel better and I quickly fell fast asleep.
The next day came and there was no Jack ringing my phone or knocking down my door. I waited all day until it was time to get ready for the ball but it never happened. Maybe he was waiting to have some dramatic reunion tonight where he takes the DJ’s microphone to issue an apology and declare his undying love for me in front of everyone or maybe he’s planning on showing up like we originally planned and he’ll tell me he has been going crazy without me and he’ll beg me to forgive him or maybe.....or maybe I spend too much time watching movies.
After taking a nice hot shower, I blow dried my hair, flipped it out and began to apply my makeup. I smoothed on foundation and loose powder before adding brown eyeliner, copper eye shadow and a couple slicks of black mascara. I completed this with two swipes of clear lip gloss and went into my room to get dressed. I slipped into a satin coral spaghetti strapped empire waist gown that just lightly grazed the floor.
“You look gorgeous.” Abby said as I walked into the kitchen.
“Thanks, so do you.” I said and she did in her silver strapless tea length gown and her brown hair pulled up into a french twist.
“You’re sure you want to do this?” Abby asked.
I nodded, although part of me wasn’t sure. I hadn’t had so much as a glimpse of Jack and wasn’t sure what to do when I saw him tonigh
t. Do I say hi to him? Do I wait for him to say something to me? Well considering the fact that he hasn’t spoken to me in the past few days, I figured the chances of him saying anything to me at all were slim to none.
“Alright,” Abby said, “Let’s go.”
We spotted Tyler as soon as we walked into the hotel ballroom; it wasn’t hard considering he was the only person there that looked like they dressed up in a tuxedo and escaped from the circus. He immediately ran over to us.
“You both look amazing.” He said without taking his eyes off of Abby’s face.
“Thank you, so do you.” Abby said as she reached out to touch his arm.
“Did Jack come?” I asked anxiously.
“Yeah he’s right ummm.....” Tyler’s voice trailed off and a look of panic rose on his face.
I followed Tyler’s gaze and saw Jack talking to a bunch of people. Then I realized what had shocked Tyler so much. There cuddled up next to Jack with her arm wrapped tightly around his was Julissa Patton. My heart stopped. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
Jack happened to turn around at that moment and we locked eyes. Immediately Jack’s eyes reflected the look of hurt they held the other day. That look in his eyes combined with the fact that he was there with the one person he knew would upset me the most, was enough to break my heart all over again.
Behind me I heard Skylar exclaim “Chloe, what the hell is going on?”
Tears began to escape my eyes and roll down my cheeks. I tried to stop them but there was no use. I just had my heart ripped out for the second time this week and this time it was in front of my sister, all of my friends and my boss. I couldn’t stay there. There was no way I would be able to keep it together and act like everything was fine when Julissa was locked onto to Jack – my Jack – like a leech.
“I have to get out of here.” I said as I wiped the tears away.
“I’ll go with you.” Abby said.
“No, you stay here with Tyler and have a good time. I just want to be by myself.” I said, trying hard to choke back those defiant tears. Without looking at anyone, I quickly turned and walked as fast as I could towards the exit. Before I walked out, I forced myself to turn around and look for Jack one more time. When I did, I saw that he had not only broken away from Julissa, but his eyes were still locked on me.
As soon as I was out in the cold December night, I finally gave up on holding back my tears. Needing to talk to someone, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Noelle’s number. I had never been as happy in my entire life as I was when she answered.
“Hey Noelle, I really need to talk to you.” I sobbed.
~*~
I woke up the next morning to the sound of a couple of voices chatting away in my living room. I walked out and was a little surprised to see Jocalyn and Skylar sitting on the couch with Abby.
“Hey guys.....what’s going on?” I asked.
“Don’t be mad at me, but I told them everything that happened between you, Jack and Connor.” Abby said.
“We were worried about you last night,” Jocalyn said, “Why didn’t you tell us?”
I shrugged. “I guess I was hoping we would work it out, but that apparently is not gonna happen.”
Abby walked over and gave me a hug. “Well get dressed sunshine. We are getting you out of this house.”
I started to say I didn’t want to go out but Skylar pointed towards my bedroom. “Dressed. Now. This is not up for discussion.” She said.
I knew she meant it and would probably drag me of there kicking and screaming, so I just gave in. I quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a plum v neck sweater and ran a brush through my hair.
As we left, I noticed Jack’s truck in the parking lot and I secretly wondered if he was alone.
We spent the day shopping and taking Abby around to do a little sightseeing. To be honest, I’ve lived here for a while now and this was the first time I took the opportunity to check out the sights. We stopped at a little bistro to have lunch and chat about boys.
“They are a bunch of wankers, the whole lot of them.” Skylar said before taking a bite of her sandwich. She held a finger up in the air as she finished chewing and swallowing, letting us know she had more to say. “Did you know that Wes kissed another girl right in front of me shortly after we started dating?”
“What?” We all gasped at the same time.
Skylar nodded. “Yes, we were out Friday night for drinks with some people from work and you know we were keeping our relationship a secret. This girl started chatting him up and all of the sudden she grabbed a hold of him and started kissing him and he kissed her back. He said he let her do it instead of telling her to back off because he didn’t know how to explain to everyone why he didn’t want some random hot girl to kiss him. Ummmm.....how about saying because you are a damn gentleman and not some manwhore that will go around snogging whatever random girl that will adhere her lips to yours.”
“I dated a guy once that thought he couldn’t get a girl pregnant if she was on top,” Jocalyn piped up. “Yeah, I thought he was joking but he seriously thought gravity would keep his boys from swimming up.”
“I caught my ex-fiancé in bed with another woman. He tried convincing me it accidently happened. Mind you this was after he tried convincing me that I misunderstood what I was seeing. He was in our bed, naked, with his little buddy inside a girl that certainly was not me.....what is there to misunderstand about that?” I asked. I shook my head as I recounted Connor’s idiocy.
“I once dated a guy that yelled out “I am the king of orgasms” after he had one,” Abby shook her head. “He actually asked me to refer to him as that when I talked to my friends about him.”
“Who was that?” I asked.
“Brian McMillian.”
“Is he the one you said would make animal noises during –“
“YES!” Abby yelled out cutting me off.
The four of us erupted into a fit of giggles. This was exactly what I needed today; to just get out with the girls and shop and laugh. I needed this break from crying and thinking about Jack for a little while, even though I knew at some point the girls would be gone and I would be left with my thoughts to torment me again. At least for now I had a little bit of a reprieve and something to eat that didn’t come out of an ice cream carton.
Chapter Thirteen
I was dreading work as soon as I woke up. I quickly showered and put on makeup before dressing in cream colored pants and a bright pink silk blouse. I was hoping the bright color would help put me in a better mood. That thought quickly went out the window when I walked into the kitchen to find Tyler making pancakes dressed only in his underwear.
“Aw Tyler!” I exclaimed.
“I know what you’re thinking and I promise I’ll clean it up.” He replied without looking at me.
“Not that.....well yes that but pants.....always pants.”
“Right on, will do.”
I shook my head as I left for work. What is it with guys, they get comfortable somewhere and they think it is perfectly acceptable to strut around in their tighty whiteys? That was the last thing I needed or so I thought anyway. What started as a bad morning quickly turned into a miserable day when I got to work and found fifteen messages from tabloids wanting a confirmation on Julissa and Jack’s relationship.
“How are you this morning?” Skylar asked as she walked into my office.
I pointed to the messages. “I can’t do this Skye. I can’t call him and ask him if he is with her. First of all he is probably still ignoring my calls and even more importantly, what if he says yes?”
Skylar picked up the messages. “I’ll take care of this.”
“Thank you.....so much.”
She nodded as she walked out. I sat down and stared at my computer. What was I gonna do? I really don’t care if I lose Julissa as a client. She was more trouble than it was worth. I didn’t want to lose Subzero and I certainly didn’t want to lose Jack. Yes, they drove me insane with
all of the off the wall calls I got about them but they kept my job interesting. I never knew what was coming next or what to expect from them. I was still trying to figure out what to do a little while later when Skylar popped back in.
“I returned all of the calls. I told everyone the truth according to Jack. Everyone knows Julissa’s word is worthless.” She said.
“Thanks. I really owe you one big time.” I told her.
Skylar nodded as she turned to leave. She paused at the door and looked back at me. “In case you’re wondering, they’re not together. Jack said she walked up and started hanging on him and he basically told her to sod off. Unfortunately it wasn’t before you saw them. ”
That bit of information actually made my day better. At least I knew I wouldn’t be running into them into the halls or even worse having to hear her yelling out while they were in the throes of passion.
Abby was sitting on the couch waiting for me when I got home. She was twisting her fingers, which is something she only does when she was nervous.
“Hey what are you doing?” I asked her.
“I wanted to talk to you.” She said.
I sat down next to her, removed my heels and tossed them aside. “What’s up?”
“Well.....when you come home for vacation, Tyler is gonna come with you. Then when you come back, if it’s okay with you, we were thinking I could come with you guys.”
I looked at her in surprise. “Like move here? Abby, are you moving in with me?”
“Only if it’s okay with you.”
“No! It’s okay! It’s definitely okay!”
We sat there in silence with big goofy grins on our faces. This day has definitely taken a turn for the better. Not only was I going to be seeing my family soon but Abby was moving in with me. I knew that had more to do with Tyler than it did me but that was fine. At least she would be here and I wouldn’t have to face being lonely again when I came back after vacation.
“So.....you and Tyler?” I teased.
“Yeah unbelievable huh?”
“I thought so at first, but now not really. I mean he’s a goofball but he’s a good guy. I’m happy for you Abby. Could you just do me one favor when you move here?”
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