CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Chloe spent that night with Derek and when she got home the next day she was assaulted by Lexi hugging her.

“Wow, that was some hug. What did I do to deserve that?”

“It’s Brock! He’s amazing!”

Chloe laughed, “I’m glad you’re so happy,” she said. “I was afraid that you’d be upset with me for abandoning you for two days.”

“No, it was perfect! Brock and I had dinner in the sunset the first night, and we took a long walk on the beach yesterday morning. He was a perfect gentleman. He didn’t try a thing, but when we got back, he gave me the sweetest little kiss. I invited him in, but he said it was “too soon,” that he didn’t trust himself to be alone in the house with me and still be a gentleman. Where did this man come from?”

Chloe laughed and said, “Roxi found him, you’ll have to ask her.”

“So, what about your two days?”

“They were good. He’s also a gentleman. I’m enjoying getting to know him.”

“I’m so glad. I was starting to really worry about you, sitting in this condo every day and every weekend. You’re too amazing to always be alone.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Chloe said with an appreciative smile, “But, you’re right I guess, it’s about time. Is our large shadow outside still?”

“Brock went home to get some rest, but there’s another one out there. He seems nice, but he’s no Brock.”

“No one is,” Chloe said with a faux sigh.

“I know!” Lexi squealed.

Chloe went to her room with a smile on her face. She sat down on her bed and took out her journal. When she opened to the last page she saw what she had written and just like that, the darkness returned. Jesse was getting out and soon. She could “date” Derek and laugh and giggle with Lexi and act like everything was okay, but the truth was that in just a little over a week, she would have to be on constant alert. She wouldn’t have time to take helicopter rides and eat lobster, so she better enjoy it now.

June 25

The last few days have been the best of the past three years. I finally relaxed. I ate too much, and I made love a lot. I acted like a normal twenty-four year old woman, with nothing to lose. I didn’t think about Jesse, and I didn’t think about the club. I didn’t have to bump and grind for slimy old men, and I didn’t have to fear for my life. But what I know about all of this is that none of that is my reality. My reality is the bump and grind and the fear. I’m not fooling myself…only taking a short break. I told Derek that I would go to this charity event with him. It will be the first time I’m back in New York since the trial. Is it risky? Maybe. Do I trust Derek? Yes, at this point I do. More than anything, it’s one last hurrah. When those jailhouse doors slide open, and my very own nightmare comes slithering out…a part of me knows for sure that he is going to find me and if he never does, I’ll worry about it forever. I almost find myself thinking the confrontation might be better than the alternative. At least one way or the other, it will be over.

She put the journal away and sat there for a few minutes trying to recapture that giddy feeling she’d had just a short time ago. She was able to obtain a calm that in the past may have eluded her, so at least that was something. She would go see if Lexi wanted to go shopping with her to buy a dress for the charity event. Maybe that would bring the mood back.

**

The week passed both quickly and slowly. Chloe stayed busy, cleaning out closets and drawers and doing things she didn’t normally have time to do when she worked every day. She jogged a lot and spent a lot of time walking on the beach too. She was trying to mentally prepare herself so that when Jesse was out, she didn’t have to let it consume every hour of her day.

It was slow because Derek was busy with work. He’d spent most of the week in New York, and she wasn’t going to get to see him until Saturday. She told herself that was a good thing. The two days they spent together had been almost too comfortable, and as much as she enjoyed his company, she wasn’t really ready for things to get any more serious than they were. She’d come around to trusting him, and for her, that was a giant leap.

She had her dress and shoes for the party, and she was both nervous and excited about it. The nervous went without saying. The excitement was because it had been a really long time since she’d done anything remotely like getting dressed up like a princess and going to a charity event. She had just finished steaming the dress and hanging it up when there was a knock on the door. She looked through the peephole and saw that it was Roxi. Surprised, she unlocked the door and let her in.

“Hey, Roxi!”

“Hi, how are things going?” she asked as Chloe let her inside.

“Good,” she said, genuinely. “This is really the best I’ve felt in a long time. Thank you for making me take time off.” Chloe led her into the kitchen and offered her a seat. When Roxi sat down, she looked out the glass doors at Brock, sitting in his spot.

“How is Brock doing?”

“He’s great; I like him. Lexi wants to know where you found him.”

“Roxi laughed and said, “Guys like him seem to find me.” She didn’t expand on that and Chloe was slightly afraid to ask. She got them both a bottle of water and sat down.

“So what’s up?” she said. She knew that Roxi wouldn’t show up out of the blue for just any reason.”

Roxi sighed, “The chief of police is suddenly making threats to close me down. His little sissy boy got his ass whipped by a girl, and now he’s pissed.”

“Oh shit, Roxi! I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t be sorry. He should have taught the little bastard some manners when he had the chance. I do have worse news though.”

“What’s that?”

“He’s not just threatening to close me down. He threatened to charge you with assault.”

“Oh my God! Assault? He touched me first!”

“You and I know that, but his friends say otherwise. They were the only witnesses.”

“That mother-fucker!”

“Exactly,” Roxi said. “It gets worse.”

“Worse? How the hell could it get worse?”

“He says he’ll drop the whole thing if you apologize and dance exclusively for him when he’s in the club.”

Chloe’s mouth was hanging open, but she couldn’t seem to close it. Finally, she swallowed hard and said, “Scum bags! I can’t let them close down your club though, Roxi— not because of something that I did.”

“Yes, they are scumbags,” she said.

Chloe got up out of her seat and began pacing the floor. Her head was spinning. How did she get herself into these damned messes? She would have to apologize to the little punk. What else could she do? She couldn’t be the cause of Roxi losing her business and all of those people losing their jobs. Suddenly, she realized something. Roxi didn’t look upset at all. She was calm, and she didn’t have that look in her eye that she got when she wanted to slit someone’s throat. Chloe sat back down and said, “Why are you so calm?”

Roxi smiled and said, “Because I’m no empty headed stripper and this big, bad cop is not smart enough to see that.”

“Meaning what, exactly?”

“Well, let’s ponder this for a second, shall we? The chief’s dear son is a junior at Pepperdine. He is majoring in law. The chief has one year to go until retirement. If he got into any trouble at this point in his career, he could lose his pension. He’s been married to the same woman for thirty years. She sits on the state board of education and the money he has, it all came from her. There is no fucking way this joker is going to file charges.”

Chloe felt a little sick to her stomach from the initial shot of stress. “I’m sorry, but why? I mean what? I don’t understand.”

“Why I made you believe I was going to go along with his demands?”

“Yeah, what the hell, Roxi?”

Roxi laughed, “There’s that spunk. I don’t think you should take me on though; I’m a wildcat in a fight. I had to know how you felt about it because the reality is that as much as I believe he won’t go through with this, I don’t know it for a fact. If I turn down his “offer,” you’re the one that either gets stuck dancing for the pig or gets prosecuted. It had to be your decision. Do you want me to tell him we agree to his terms?”

“No fucking way,” Chloe said. “I would like to be there when you tell him what we are going to do to him though.”

“Consider yourself invited,” Roxi said. “I’m actually looking forward to it, just a little bit.”

“Me too,” Chloe said, “But a lot.”

**

Saturday afternoon, Chloe soaked in a bubble bath before spending over an hour on her hair and then her make-up. She couldn’t wait to see Derek. She knew it was dangerous to feel so strongly about him, but the fact was that she did. When Derek knocked on her door to pick her up for the party, Chloe was ready. Her dress was an ankle length green silk A-line with a lace overlay across the shoulders and back. The neckline was a conservative V line, and the back was high…for obvious reasons. She wore a pair of gold strappy sandals with a four inch heel. Her hair was done up in a French twist, and her make-up looked like she had just walked out of a salon. She felt like a princess, and when she opened the door and saw Derek’s face, he confirmed that she looked like one too.

“Wow! You look stunning! I mean— stunning doesn’t even cover it. Wow!”

Chloe felt herself doing something that she hadn’t done in a very long time. She blushed. “Thank you,” she said. “You look pretty stunning yourself.” He was wearing a black suit with a green swatch in the pocket that was the exact shade as her dress. “How did you do this?” she asked him, touching the silk piece.

He smiled and said, “Lexi can be bought, in case you ever wondered.”

“That bitch!” Chloe said, laughing. “What did it cost you? And how did you get ahold of her anyways?”

“I was in town, so I took a chance and drove by the club. She was easily bought off with two tickets I happened to have to the Pawtucket Indian’s game. She said something about “Brock?” loving baseball.”

Chloe laughed and said, “She’s in love.”

“Well, are you ready?”

“I am,” she said, taking his arm. She still felt like a princess only now she felt like Cinderella on the arm of Prince Charming.