by Claire Adams
“Good. Come on, let’s get going or my legs are going to cramp up. I want to get at least another 10 miles in; I may not win this weekend, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to let you beat me.”
*****
I’d left my phone in the truck while Todd and I were riding, so when I got back, I saw that Chloe had called, and then sent a text.
Give me a call when you can, was all it said.
I loaded the bike up and said bye to Todd, and then called her as I was driving back to the house.
“Are you at home?” she asked. “I was thinking of stopping by. If you are. If you aren’t, it’s okay, I can just—”
“Hey,” I said. I wouldn’t have interrupted her except she sounded a little frazzled. “I’m not home yet, but I should be soon. Feel free to head over, and if you beat me there, I won’t be far behind. Everything okay?”
“Oh, sure,” she said, in a tone that indicated maybe everything wasn’t actually okay. “I’ll just ... I’ll just talk to you when I see you. Okay, bye.”
She hung up before I could say anything else, leaving me to wonder what exactly was going on.
But it looked like I’d find out soon enough, because she was just pulling in when I got there.
“Good timing,” I said. “So, what is it you wanted to talk about?”
“Well, my parents basically gave me the ultimatum yesterday,” she said. “They told me to either stop seeing you or get out of their house.”
“Whoa, wait—they kicked you out? This just happened?”
“They wouldn’t say I was kicked out; they’d say I made my choice. But yeah. They kicked me out.” She had a perplexed look on her face, similar to the one Todd had worn earlier.
“Shit, I’m sorry.” What a bunch of dickheads. Guess I hadn’t made the good first impression that I’d been hoping for. “Should we break up?”
That at least got a smile from her. “No! We are definitely not breaking up. They’re not allowed to just tell me what I should do anymore. And if that means I don’t get to stay with them, then so be it.”
I had to smile at the indignation in her tone. “I am sorry, though. I don’t want to be causing all this conflict.”
She sighed. “I don’t think it matters. If it wasn’t you, it would’ve been something else. I mean, it was kind of already happening, with art school. So, I’m staying at Tara’s for now.”
“Yeah? I was thinking about maybe introducing her to my buddy Todd. He was asking me if I had anyone in mind today. But we don’t have to talk about that now. So, you’re staying at her place? She seems like she’d be a good host.”
“Oh, she is. Her mom’s great, too.”
“You can always stay with me, if you want.” Those words slipped out before I’d really even had time to think about it; I’d never had anyone stay over for longer than my usual one-night stands. But I wasn’t about to admit that, or retract my offer—in part, I realized, because I actually hoped Chloe would say “yes.”
“Really?” she asked. “You’re not just saying that to be nice?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m not just saying that to be nice. I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t mean it. If you’re happy staying with Tara, though, I understand; it’s not going to hurt my feelings if you don’t want to stay over.”
“Her parents’ house is so big I basically have my own wing. But ...” She looked at me, the perplexed look giving way to a grin. “I wouldn’t mind staying with you some of the time, either. I’m sure Tara would understand. She’d be all for it, I bet.”
“My door’s open for you any time.”
“I’ll come over tomorrow, then. Tara and I are going to go out to dinner tonight, and I’ll just go back to her house after that.”
“Sure. I’ve got tomorrow off, so come by whenever you want. Unless your parents call before then and want to make nice with you. Don’t you think that will happen? They seem like those sort of people.” Really, what they seemed like were the type of people that wouldn’t want word to get out that there was discord in the family, that their daughter had been thrown out of the house. Where it had been a rather regular occurrence in my own childhood home—I swear that one of Wade’s favorite activities had been to get wasted, pick a fight, and then kick me out for the night—I doubted that anything even remotely close to this had ever happened between Chloe and her parents.
“You know, I bet your parents will come to their senses,” I said. Her dad seemed like the type who would need a day or two to calm down.
“I don’t know. My dad can be so stubborn. And if he finds out that I’m staying with you, that will just piss him off even more.” She frowned, considering this. “But you know what? I don’t care.”
*****
And suddenly, I’d gone from single to girlfriend to live-in girlfriend. I’d never woken up next to someone on a regular basis. Never gotten used to seeing a woman brushing her teeth in my bathroom, or putting a half-full glass of water on the bedside table each night before she crawled into bed.
It had only been four days, but I could already feel us falling into a routine. Not that we were going to bed at the same time every night or eating the same shit for dinner, but rather, the routine of being used to seeing someone, of knowing that they’d be there when you got home from work, or that you’d be eating breakfast together in the morning.
That Sunday, though, I got up early for the race. I got dressed and made coffee and ate a quick breakfast, trying to keep quiet so I didn’t wake up Chloe. But she was stirring when I went in there to tell her I was taking off.
“You can come with, if you want,” I said.
She smiled and gave me a kiss. “I wouldn’t mind it, but I don’t want to interfere with guy time. Tell Todd I’ll give Tara his number if he’d like. She deserves to go out with a nice guy. Plus, I really should spend a bunch of time at the art center, and this way, if you’re gone, I’ll be less likely to get distracted. The show’s coming up, you know.”
“I know. I’m really looking forward to it. You don’t want to give me any hint about the sculpture?”
“No, I want it to be a surprise.”
“Well, okay then, I guess I’ll have to wait.” I pulled her back toward me and gave her another long, lingering kiss. “You know, I really shouldn’t make it a habit to kiss you before I leave, because it just makes me want to crawl back into bed and not get out.”
She gently bit at my lower lip. “When you get back,” she said.
*****
I picked Todd up and we drove over to the race together. I was ready for this to be the last race of my season, even though the actual season would continue well into the fall. The novelty of it was starting to wear off, and I’d need until next spring to build up the interest again.
We got there and parked in a field that was right next to the trail head where the race would start. I climbed out of the truck and stretched, feeling my back crack in several places.
“I’m feeling good,” Todd said. “In fact, I think I feel better now than I did for any other race, so don’t be surprised to be chasing me the entire time.”
“I’m prepared to chase you for the first 90 percent, and then overtake you at the last second. You know you can’t pedal for shit the last five miles.”
It was true, he couldn’t—he was one of those guys that could spend a good majority of a race near the front but the tank would be empty the last few miles. But if it came down to it, and I was in the position to overtake him at the end, I’d lay off and let him take the win. He’d feel good about it and have something to give me shit over, and winning the race really didn’t matter to me at all.
“Hey, there’s your boy,” Todd said. “He’s not looking so great. Damn, that bike of his is, though.”
I looked over and saw Parker approaching, walking next to a bike that was even more impressive-looking than his previous one. As he got closer, I could see it was full carbon fiber, carbon rims, electronic brakes and shifting.
“Nice rig you got there,” I said.
“Thanks.” There was no banter or good-natured ribbing, though; he mostly looked tired and worn out.
“You sure you shouldn’t sit this one out and go take a nap?” I asked.
He smiled, but it looked forced. “Even if I did, you know I’d still beat you.”
“Like last time?”
“Yeah, like last time,” he said, as though he’d forgotten or was just choosing not remember that I had, in fact, beaten him. “See you guys.”
We watched him go. “He looks out of it,” Todd said. “Probably hung over. Well, he shouldn’t be a factor today, so at least I’ve got that going for me.”
“You might have something else going for you,” I said.
“Oh?”
“Well, Chloe has this friend, Tara. There’s a good chance she might be interested in going out with you. If that’s something you’re still interested in doing. Chloe said she’ll pass your number along.”
Todd grinned and slapped my shoulder. “Good lookin’ out!” he said. “I’d be more than happy to. She was the one with Chloe that night they first came in, right?”
“Good memory.”
“Yeah, that would be great. Let me just win this race now, so I can regale her with tales of my athletic prowess.”
We unloaded the bikes and Todd changed into his kit. There was about 10 minutes until they called the start for our race, so I rode around the field, warming up. I saw Parker, who was also on his bike, but he was pedaling along slowly, looking like he should really be at home in bed, not at a bike race about to compete.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chloe
It was exciting, staying here with Graham, yet there was a part of me that felt the whole thing was unreal. I was living with the guy I was having sex with. I didn’t know what was going to happen at the end of the summer; if my parents refused to pay my tuition, I wouldn’t be able to return to school. At least not this semester, and though I didn’t want to admit it, I didn’t know how I’d go about raising the funds in order to go back.
“I’m really not sure what I’m going to do if summer ends and my parents still haven’t talked to me,” I told Graham. We were having another lazy morning in bed, which had quickly become one of my favorite things.
“You’ve still got some time before you have to really worry about that,” he said.
“I know. And chances are, we’ll probably get all this resolved by then, anyway. But what if we don’t?”
“You can always stay here. Come work for me—you can be the counter girl.” He grinned. “I know that’s not your lifelong ambition, of course.”
“I’m starting to wonder what my lifelong ambition is. Maybe it is working the counter at a tattoo shop. My parents would be mortified.”
“That could be your tactic, then. You could threaten them with that if they didn’t pay for your tuition.”
I knew, though, that there were plenty of students who didn’t have help from their parents the way I did, either because their parents didn’t want to or they just didn’t have the money. It would be pathetic if I didn’t finish my final year of school just because my parents weren’t going to foot the bill.
“I’ll figure something out,” I said. “Right now I just need to focus on my sculpture.”
“Yeah, that art opening is coming up, isn’t it?” He rolled onto his back and stretched. “Holy hell, I could stay here in this bed all day with you. If I don’t get up now, I’m afraid that I might.”
I traced my fingers across the tight muscles of his abdomen. “I certainly wouldn’t mind that. But I should probably get up, too.”
We both reluctantly got up. While he made coffee, I scrambled a few eggs and put some bread in the toaster. When it was ready, we sat at the table and ate, and I couldn’t help but feel like I was actually living like an adult. It felt different than how I did when I was at my apartment; I almost felt more at home here, even though this wasn’t really my home either. It was hard to explain, other than it seemed like being with Graham, and being here, was the right thing to do.
After we finished eating, he got ready to leave for work. “I’ll see you later on,” he said, giving me a kiss. He pulled back and looked into my eyes, a smile spreading across his face. “I can’t believe how domestic this all is. But I like it.”
I kissed him again, longer this time. “I like it, too.”
After he left, I got my stuff together and went down to the art center. Now more than ever, the idea I had seemed to be pertinent, and I worked for several hours straight without taking a break. Would my parents even bother coming to the opening? At this point, and if things didn’t change, it seemed unlikely.
I decided to take a break and go out and get some lunch, since I hadn’t brought any food with me. I went back to Lorraine’s, because, despite what my mother thought, the food there was quite good, and I liked the atmosphere.
It was crowded when I got there, so instead of waiting for a table, I went over to the bar and sat down. I flipped through the menu and then looked at the big chalkboard on the far wall, stating the specials. It was Monday, and the Monday lunch special was a quiche Lorraine, which sounded good, so I ordered that, along with an orange juice and a coffee.
I’d just taken my first bite of quiche when I heard someone say my name. I turned and saw a woman I didn’t recognize at first. She was wearing a tight black tank top and cut-offs, just like I was.
“Chloe!” she said, sliding onto the empty stool next to me. She looked at my outfit. “Hey, we’re twins!”
It was Graham’s mother. For one panicked second, I couldn’t remember her name, but then it came to me. “Hi, Janice,” I said.
“Are you here with my son?” She swiveled around on the stool, craning her neck, surveying the whole restaurant. “I don’t see him.”
“No, he’s not here. I’m just taking a break, actually.”
She gave me a surprised look. “You’re working? Like a job?”
I knew what that look said: no way a spoiled, rich girl like you is on her lunch break from a job. My parents were being judgmental assholes about this whole thing with Graham, but, I realized, it could also go the other way, because here was his mom, sitting here, judging me just because my parents were wealthy.
“It’s not a job, exactly,” I said. “I’m working on a sculpture.”
“Oh.” Janice looked a little smug. “So, it’s not a job at all, then. I’ll take a large iced coffee,” she said to one of the waitresses behind the counter.
“Well, no, it’s not a job, but it’s something that I’m spending a lot of time on, and it’s going to be in an art show at the end of the summer.” I could hear the defensive note in my voice, and I was suddenly overcome with the desire to make her understand that I wasn’t someone who just sat around and expected everything to be given to me on a silver platter.
“An art show,” she said. “Now that sounds fancy. I tried to go to an art museum once. In Boston. I thought it’d be a nice way to spend the day, and I’d always been hearing people talk about what a fine experience it was, how they felt so enriched by it, blah blah blah. So I went and I was thoroughly unimpressed. Half of the shit didn’t even seem like art; it was like something a 5-year-old could do.”
“You must’ve gone to the MoMA.”
“The whatta?”
“The Museum of Modern Art. Sometimes modern art can seem like that. Like it was done by a 5-year-old.”
She waved me off. “Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t remember what it was called, I just remember not enjoying myself and leaving not feeling enriched. I like art, just not that kind. That’s where Graham gets it, you know. So, have you still been seeing him? I don’t talk to him nearly as much as I’d like to, so I don’t really know what’s going on in his life.”
“Yeah,” I said. I paused, wondering if I should just leave it at that or actually tell her we were going out. “We’re ... we’re ki
nd of seeing each other.”
She looked at me curiously. “Seeing each other? Dating, you mean?”
“Um ... yeah. Like, boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“I see.” She nodded slowly. “This is the first I’m hearing of it, of course, because, like I said, Graham doesn’t really seem to have much time for me these days.”
“I’m sure he’d be happy to see you,” I said, though I wasn’t sure if this was true or not.
“Is he paying you to say that? He knows where to find me if he wants, and he doesn’t ever seem to come around to visit, so I don’t think he’d be that thrilled to see me. But I guess that’s just how it goes sometimes, right? I try not to get hurt feelings over it. He’s an adult, he’s got his own life, I know how it goes.”
“My parents aren’t really speaking to me at the moment,” I blurted out. I knew Janice didn’t really like me, so there wasn’t much point in telling her any of this, but I just found myself unable to stop talking. “They’re pissed because I’m seeing Graham. More than that though, they’re pissed because I’m not just doing what they say anymore. I was like that for a while. I just always did what I thought they wanted. At first because I thought that was the right thing, and then later just because I didn’t want to make them mad, because it just seemed easier. But I realize that was stupid, because now they just expect me to do what they think I should.”
Janice took a sip of her iced coffee. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. “I don’t know the details, but it sounds like one of those situations that will just blow over if you give it enough time.”
“I don’t know. My father can be really stubborn when he wants to be. And my mom is just kind of going along with him.”
“You should call your mom. I don’t know the woman, but I’m sure she’d like to speak with you.”
“I know,” I said. “I should, but ....”
“Men are different. Men can just turn their emotions on and off at will, it seems. But a mom will always want to talk to her child. Has Graham ever mentioned his father?”