CHAPTER FIVE

Chloe’s week didn’t get any better. She spent her time at home ignoring calls and texts from Derek. He started out casually asking her if they could “talk.” Then he moved into worrying if she was okay and by Thursday evening he was leaving hints that if she didn’t call or text him, he was going to have to stop by her house or the club just to see that she was alright. She final gave in and sent him a text that simply said: “I’m fine. I’m not ready to talk about this. I will let you know when/if I am.” He must have accepted that because she didn’t get another text back from him.

On Saturday she did a 5K run with Lexi for breast cancer awareness. The run wasn’t bad at all, but it was hot outside, and it left her exhausted. After she got home and took a long bath, she went to bed and finally got a good night’s sleep. She woke up feeling so refreshed on Sunday that she decided maybe she should increase her run every day.

Lexi was up when she went out into the kitchen. She hadn’t said anything more about the man she was seeing that had just disappeared on her or the idea that maybe she should start stripping. Chloe was relieved about that, and she didn’t want to remind her in case she had forgotten it, so she hadn’t brought it up. She fixed her toast and tea and joined Lexi on the back patio.

“Good morning. I thought you were going to sleep all day,” Lexi said with a smile.

“It’s only nine-thirty.”

“Yeah, but you’re usually up before the surfers, and they’re already pulling it in for the day.”

Chloe looked out at the water. There was one lone surfer out in the middle of the ocean and two who looked like they had just come in, sitting in the sand. She had often thought about trying it. Something about watching them out there on the water made her think it would give you a real sense of freedom. She might try it yet.

“True,” she said. “That run yesterday kicked my butt I guess.”

“Mine too,” Lexi said. “But I needed it. Roxi said I could start dancing if I lose ten pounds.”

“What? Please tell me you’re kidding?”

“About dancing or losing ten pounds?” Lexi asked her.

“Both. You don’t need to lose ten pounds, and you don’t want to be a stripper do you?”

“The ten pounds won’t hurt me. I’m getting love handles. As far as the stripping, Chloe, I’m just tired of watching everyone leave with hundreds of dollars in their pocket every night while I collect my paltry thirty or forty bucks after I split with the servers. These guys don’t want to spend their money tipping a bartender. They want to save it for the entertainment, and I want a piece of that. We both know this job is not going to be a career for either one of us. The faster I make some cash, the quicker I get out of that place.”

Chloe knew that she was the last person who had a right to argue that. Lexi was only reciting what Chloe herself had said a million times. She just hated to see her friend have to go down that road.

“Well, I can’t stop you from stripping, but Roxi’s crazy telling you to lose weight. These creeps like the curves. She made me gain weight when I first started.” The whole business perpetuated a crappy self-image no matter what you looked like, Chloe thought.

“Yes, but you were a stick.”

“Don’t get too carried away with this, Lex, okay?”

“Carried away how?”

“Do you remember Tracy?”

Lexi looked reluctant, but she finally said, “Yeah, of course. I’m not Tracy though.”

“Tracy probably didn’t think she was the type to get so addicted to the money that she would do anything for it either. This stripping crap messes with your head and your values and everything else.”

“I have my head on straight. I promise. No sex and no drugs. Only rock n roll. So enough about me. How is tall, dark, rich and dreamy?”

“I assume he’s fine. I haven’t talked to him for about a week.”

“Why not? I seem to recall an empty bed last Sunday morning.”

Chloe sighed and rolled her eyes. “It’s not going to happen again,” she said. “We don’t have anything in common.”

“I’d find something,” Lexi said. “Maybe you should switch majors and go for a real estate license instead of teaching credentials.”

“Let’s talk about something else,” Chloe said.

Lexi knew her well enough to know she was finished with the subject…at least for now. They talked for a while longer about some of the girls at the club and Lexi filled her in on the gossip she had heard this past week. She finally looked at the time and said, “I have to meet my mom and sister for a wedding dress planning session at one. I’ll be home in time to drive us to work.”

“Your sister’s not going to make you wear pink taffeta is she?”

Lexi was going to be the maid of honor at her sister’s wedding. Her sister was the “girly” one of the two, according to what she had told Chloe about her. She was marrying a stockbroker, and he had all but told her the sky was the limit as far as the wedding budget went. Lexi said that was a big mistake on his part. So far, her sister had amassed bills of close to forty thousand dollars, and the wedding was still eight months away.

“Not unless she wants me to kill her,” Lexi said. “I’ll see you tonight.”

After she took off, Chloe finished her breakfast and tea, and she went in to get dressed and go for a run before she showered. When she stepped into the bedroom, she heard an unfamiliar “ding” noise. She looked around and realized that it was her phone. Then her heart dropped when she remembered that was the tone she had set for Facebook messages. Shit! Chantelle was trying to get ahold of her.

Chloe went over and picked up her phone. She looked at the little Facebook message icon in the corner. She already had a bad feeling. She knew without looking that it was going to be bad news. Her hand was trembling as she clutched the phone. Maybe Chantelle just wanted to say hello. Maybe she only wanted to know how Chloe was doing. She had sent her messages before, just to see if her friend was okay. It was the timing of this one that bothered her. Chantelle knew how anxious she was about Jesse being released so soon. She wouldn’t just send her a message for no reason during this time. She would know that it would worry her. There had to be only one reason she was contacting her.

Chloe pressed the icon, and the message came up on the screen. As soon as she read it, she could feel the panic building like an unstoppable snowball in the pit of her stomach. Her heart sped up, and she felt a shot of adrenaline surge through her veins. Her head suddenly felt like it was going to explode and she thought that she might throw up. She started pacing the room. She had to; she couldn’t sit still. The adrenaline was urging her to run. She glanced at herself in the dresser mirror. A fine sheen of sweat had beaded on her upper lip. She started trying to talk herself down, but as soon as she would voice a positive thought, her mind would shoot it down with a negative. Life as she knew it would soon be over. Jesse was being released early. That meant in only a matter of a couple of weeks, if not sooner, he would be walking around, a free man. He would be free to continue his reign of terror over her or begin anew with another poor, unsuspecting woman, either way, the world would be a darker place. The reality of him walking the streets was about to send Chloe’s world into a tailspin. The end of Chantelle’s message had said, “I love you girl. Please Be Prepared.” How do you prepare to face a monster?

Chloe changed into her running clothes. She could feel the air in the condo suddenly sticking to her. It was thick, and she felt like she could hardly breathe it in. She put on her shorts and tank top and laced up her running shoes and took off.

Tears slowly began to blind her as she ran. She wasn’t jogging, and she wasn’t pacing herself. She ran across the beach until she reached the pavement and then through the parking lot and down the alley way. She ran like an Olympic champion at the sound of the start gun, and she continued to quicken her pace until she was sprinting. The pounding of her running shoes resonated off the walls of the narrow alleyway with an echo that matched the throbbing of her heart inside her chest. The grief and the fear didn’t dissipate, but instead, they seemed to become thicker and more cloying as she ran.

Chloe was miles from home before she finally had to stop. The adrenaline surge that had spurred her on was beginning to ebb, and her lungs were burning like someone had lit a match inside of her chest. She stopped in a little grass courtyard alongside a large church. She had to clutch onto a tree to keep from dropping to the ground. She stood there panting and gasping for breath and almost as soon as she regained control of her respirations, she began to heave.