CHAPTER EIGHT

Chloe spent the rest of the shift in Roxi’s office, telling her the full story. It felt kind of good to get it out finally. It surprisingly felt good to actually trust someone enough to say the words aloud. When it was time for her to leave with Lexi, Roxi told her to take some time off, and she would be in touch.

“I’m not sure about someone watching me, Rox. The idea of it kind of gives me the creeps.”

“You won’t even see him,” Roxi said. She put her hand on Chloe’s shoulder and looked into her eyes. “Trust me, okay?”

Chloe nodded. She thought about hugging Roxi and thanking her for listening and not firing her and everything else, but she still couldn’t bring herself around to the idea of being touched, by anyone. Instead, she gave her a little smile that she had to force and said, “I do. Thanks, Roxi.”

On the way home, Lexi was going on about how everyone was talking about her “knocking that guy out like a prize fighter.”

“I didn’t knock him out,” Chloe said.

“You kicked his ass though, right? I saw them carry him out. He didn’t look good.”

“He might be sore for a day or two,” she said.

“You did all that because he grabbed your boob?” Lexi asked.

“Yeah, I didn’t want him touching me. I’m so sick of the ideas that men have in their heads about women. I hate that they think they can just take what they want when they want it. I would never consider walking up and grabbing hold of a man’s balls. What makes them think it’s okay to touch any part of me without my permission?”

Lexi realized quickly that talking about it was just pissing Chloe off again, so she changed the subject. “I’m going tanning tomorrow morning. Want to come with me?”

Chloe smiled. She wished that her mind worked like Lexi’s did. A facial or a tan and all was right with the world once again. Maybe she should try working on that mind set. After all, if Jesse was coming, there was nothing she could do about it until he got there.

“Sure,” she said. They drove the rest of the way in silence, and when they got home, Chloe went straight into her room. She locked her door and pulled out her journal.

June 21,

I went to work tonight, and I hadn’t been there for an hour before I was fondled. The feel of the stranger’s hands on me and the look of entitlement on his face made me want to kill him. I could actually see myself in my head, snapping his neck with my bare hands. I suppressed that rage…controlled it.

The second time I didn’t even try. I realized by allowing that man to get away with touching me; I was giving consent. Just like all of the times I stayed after Jesse slapped me around or kicked me or pulled my hair out in chunks by the roots…I was giving consent. When I unleased on that second guy I wasn’t even thinking. The rage had taken over at that point, and I was damned well going to make sure that he knew I wasn’t consenting to have his disgusting hands on me. I listen to the other girls I work with talking about the money, and I wonder what we have come to as a gender…as humans, that money can overshadow dignity and security. In a way, I’m glad what took place tonight happened. Now I know at least that when Jesse shows up at my door that I’ll be ready. I didn’t freeze up, I didn’t blink, and I didn’t let that man that outweighed me by at least eighty pounds get the better of me. If and when Jesse does find me, he’s going to leave in a world of hurt or dead.

Chloe put the journal away and changed into a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. She slipped on her tennis shoes and made her way out to the beach. It was late, or early…depending on how you looked at it, but she wasn’t going to be able to sleep either way. The beach was deserted, and the high tide rolled in and out on a cool breeze that left a spray of salt air across her face each time that it did. On their way to work earlier, the sunset had radiated across the cloudy sky, turning them into molten streaks of pink and orange. Now that the sun was gone, the clouds acted like a cover to the moon and stars and the night was completely black. Chloe usually felt better outside. The beach could almost always calm her and help her organize her thoughts. Tonight the darkness felt claustrophobic, or maybe that was just her life.

**

“Chloe?” she woke to the sound of a light tapping and Lexi’s voice. Her room was bright. The rays of the sun were pressing hard through the windows and against the blinds, waiting to be let in. She blinked a few times as she woke up and then the first thought of the day hit her upside the head like a hammer: Jesse would be out soon. “Chloe, are you awake? Why did you lock the door?”

“Yeah, I’m up, Lex. I’ll be out in a few.” She pulled herself up out of bed and went into the bathroom. Her hair was matted from her time on the beach, and she’d forgotten to take out her contacts, so her eyes were dry and red. Her right hand was throbbing, and she looked down and saw that her knuckles were swollen to almost twice their normal size and one of them had dried blood on it like it had been split open. She didn’t remember bleeding last night, but this morning it was all kind of a blur. She washed her face and brushed her teeth and hair, and then she bandaged her hand. She found Lexi in the living room, working out to a P-90 video.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Lexi asked her.

Chloe smiled, “Like I got hit by a truck,” she said. As she’d walked down the hall, she realized that her hand wasn’t the only thing hurting. Her right shoulder throbbed each time she moved it, and her legs felt bruised.

Lexi grinned at her and said, “I’m sure the soreness will go away if you keep at it, Rocky.”

Chloe rolled her eyes and went to get her coffee. She was looking out the glass doors that led to the patio while she poured it. That was when she saw him. He was a big guy, bigger than Jake. He had to be at least six feet six and way over two hundred pounds of solid muscle. He had on jeans and a t-shirt, probably trying to fit in, but unless you were at a wrestling match, there was no way this guy was going to look like he belonged. His head was shaved and his goatee neatly trimmed, and he wore dark sunglasses that completely hid his eyes. He was sitting on one of the concrete steps that led to the beach, and he was watching her condo. Roxi had sent her security. Chloe still wasn’t sure how she felt about it, but she thought between her newfound ability to kick a man’s ass and the Hulk, maybe she had a chance.

“Are you going tanning with me?” Lexi asked her, coming into the kitchen. She stopped when she saw Chloe staring out the door, and she followed her eyes. “Damn! That is a man right there!”

Chloe laughed, “Yeah, I suppose it is,” she said. “Yes, I’ll go tanning with you. Let me go take my shower. I’ll be ready soon.” As she started to leave the kitchen, Lexi inched closer to the door.

“He works for Roxi,” Chloe said before the other woman’s hand reached the handle.

Lexi looked first confused and then disappointed. “Why does Roxi have someone watching us?”

Chloe had lived with Lexi for almost two years. She’d made it clear that she didn’t want to talk about the scars and Lexi had left it alone. She’d never told her about her past, or Jesse. She suddenly wondered if that had been horribly unfair of her. What if Jesse showed up here? Lexi would be at risk too. Jesse wouldn’t hesitate to hurt another woman in order to get to her. She glanced back out at the Hulk. Jesse wouldn’t go up against a guy like that unless he was armed but Lexi, he could really hurt her and then Chloe would have to live with that.

“Hey Lex, sit down. We need to talk,” Chloe told her. Lexi did as she asked and Chloe joined her at the small dining table. “This is only the second time in as many years that I’ve said any of this out loud, so bear with me, okay?”

Lexi nodded, and she went on, “My ex-boyfriend was abusive. He tried to kill me. He decided that he was going to slice me open one night and the only thing that saved me was a friend who called 911 before I bled out or he was able to stick me again. That’s the short version. The jest of the long version is that he is obsessed, he likes to drink which makes it worse, he’s a monster, and he has no feelings or remorse. The last letter I got from him before I finally took off was him telling me that if I apologized right away and dropped the charges against him, he would “forgive me.” The time he did in jail for this has probably only fed his anger. His sadistic side is probably even well-honed. He gets out of jail in ten days. When he does, I expect that he’ll come looking for me.”

The color had drained from Lexi’s face. She looked like she didn’t know what to say. Finally, she said, “Why haven’t you ever told me any of this?”

“At first, I was hiding, and I didn’t know who I could trust. Once I knew that I could trust you, Jesse was in jail, and I told myself it didn’t matter. You didn’t need to be saddled with my wretched past. But now that I know he’ll be free soon, I have to worry that if you’re here when he comes, you might get hurt in the fall-out. I couldn’t live with that. I’m going to start looking for another place.”

“No! What are you talking about, another place? This is only my place because you let me live here. Roxi rents this place to you. I’m not letting you go. Besides, even if it were my place, I wouldn’t leave you here alone. I’m your friend, Chloe. Your best friend I think. What kind of friend just hightails it out when there’s the smell of trouble?”

Chloe smiled at her and said, “Honey, I’m not just talking about a little bit of drama here. If Jesse finds me, he’s going to be ready to finish what he started.”

“All the more reason for us to stick together. Then, you’ll have Hulky the Hunk out there, and me. Imagine it— I run out in my see-through nightie with the cold air.”

“How did this turn into porn?” Chloe asked, laughing.

“Let me finish. Where was I? Okay, so cold air is causing parts of my body to stand at attention, and the moisture from the air has my nightie clinging to my curves. I run towards Hunky Hulkster and tell him you’re in trouble. He picks me up in his strong, forceful arms and raises me over his shoulder, carrying me like a cave man as he rushes to your rescue. It all ends very well.”

Chloe was cracking up by the time she finished. “You’re a mess,” she said. And then knowing the true reason behind Lexi’s story, she said, “Thank you. I needed to laugh.”

Lexi smiled back and said, “You’re welcome and remember if you leave now, Roxi’s guy goes with you, and my future is in the tank, so you owe it to me to stay.”