Authors: Tawnya Jenkins
Chloe
The girl staring back at me in the mirror looks nothing like me. My black mascara is piled up under my eyes making me look like a raccoon. My nose is red and puffy like a freaking tomato. I run some water in the sink and splash it on my face, using a paper towel to wipe under my eyes and remove the smeared mess. I run my fingers through my hair and decide to just through it up into a messy ponytail, it is beyond fixing at this point. Satisfied that I look a little less frightening I emerge from the bathroom. Travis smiles sweetly at me and offers me his arm.
“I can walk just fine on my own thanks,” I respond and head toward the nearest Starbucks. Travis just chuckles and jogs to catch up to me. We walk in silence until we reach the entrance. Travis opens the door for me and bows his head allowing me enter first.
“Thanks,” I say.
“So, what can I get you? Mocha? Latte?” Travis asks as he pulls out his wallet.
“Uh-I’ll take a Pumpkin Spice Latte, please. They’re my favorite and they’re only available this time of the year. You know, during Fall, and since its Fall now…wow, I’m rambling, I’ll shut up now,” I smile, feeling embarrassed. What is wrong with me, why I am I nervous? This asshole made me cry and insulted me.
Travis laughs, “I love those too.” He orders our drinks and also picks out some pumpkin loaf while I take a seat near the back facing the store windows. Travis takes the seat opposite of me, “So, look…I think we got off to a bad start. Let’s start over. I’m Travis, I am a Leo, an only child and I’m 21 yrs old. I’m originally from Idaho, I moved here 3 years ago. I am currently in charge of security for a law firm up town”
I just stare at him for a moment.
“Um, this is the part where you introduce yourself and tell me something about you,” Travis coaxes.
I take a deep breath, “I’m Chloe…I am also an only child, I’m from a small town in Colorado. I am going after a Law Degree and in the process of looking for a part time job, so that I can move off of campus and live on my own.”
“You mean you would want to move away from Katie?” Travis chuckles, which makes me chuckle.
“She’s really nice and all don’t get me wrong, but we have like nothing in common,” I shrug.
“Yeah, you guys don’t seem like you are joined at the hips or anything. My boy Brian seems to really like her though,” he replies and takes a sip of his latte.
I just nod, we sit in silence for a while and drink our lattes, occasionally making eye contact. Travis breaks the silence first.
“Chloe, I really am sorry for the things I said to you earlier. I didn’t have any right to make those statements and I feel like a total ass. I have this habit of pushing people away and sometimes, makes me go a little crazy.” He says with an honesty I wasn’t expecting.
“Yeah, I know what you mean. I-uh-I push people away too,” I agree. Travis smiles at me and neither of us speak anymore. It is as if we understand each other and don’t need to say anything else. Katie and Brian find us a few minutes later, Katie’s arms are filled with bags from various stores. As we all say our goodbyes, and I thank Travis for my coffee; Katie gets Brian’s number and I give mine to Travis. You know just in case, we were all together again and we get separated. Although I guess I could’ve taken his number instead. But, well I don’t know, he is hot. We had barely made it back to my car when my phone chimes with a text.
-
Just making sure you didn’t give me a fake number.
I don’t try to hide my smile as I reply back.
-
Why didn’t I think of that, oh well too late now lol
“Someone is smitten,” Katie teases.
“Whatever, let’s just go,” I reply, knowing she isn’t wrong.
Chloe
I wake up to the sound of someone knocking on our door. When I open it there is nobody there. Instead, taped to the door is a small envelope with my name typed on it. I peel it from the door and flop down onto my bed to read it, secretly hoping it’s from Travis. Katie peeks her eyes open and glances at the clock…it’s 6:45am.
“Ugh, who was that?” She groans.
“I don’t know, there was nobody there and this was taped to the door,” I reply and show her the envelope.
“Oh my gosh, you have a secret admirer! How exciting,” she jumps up suddenly wide awake. “I have to pee but I want details when I get done!”
I just laugh and open the envelope. My laughter is cut short as the contents stop my breath. Tucked neatly inside is a small clipping for my town’s newspaper. The article from the day after the incident, “Local town Golden boy’s good name tarnished.” It’s not even the article that freaks me out, it’s the words written on the bottom in black marker, “
No sleep for the wicked.”
I quickly crumble it up and shove it under my mattress just as Katie skips from the bathroom.
“Well, what did it say? Who is it from? Was it Travis?” She beams with excitement.
“Uh-nothing…strange actually it was empty,” I lie, “I’m going to go for a run before class.” I don’t wait for her to respond, I just throw on my shoes and race out the door.
I only make it a few feet outside before I collapse onto the sidewalk and cry. I must be crying loudly because I don’t hear anyone approach me, instead I see a pair of men’s shoes through my blurry vision.
“Chloe?” Travis asks as he drops down and grabs my arms. His hand reaches up and lifts my chin, “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” But I can’t answer, I have no words, nothing comes out just more sobs. Travis wraps his arms under my knees and lifts me up with ease. I don’t bother to ask him what he’s doing here so early or make a smart ass comment about him stalking me; no instead my head falls into place under his chin and I don’t say a word. I don’t know how long he carried me or even how I ended up in his truck. I can’t tell you how long he drove because I sat there curled into a ball. My arms are wrapped around my knees, and I’m rocking myself back and forth. It isn’t until he stops that he finally speaks again.
“Chloe, you’re scaring me. Do I need to take you to a hospital or something?” He asks, searching my face for some clue as to what to do.
“No!” I shout, louder than I meant to, “No, no hospitals,” I state between sobs.
“Talk to me then Chloe, what’s going on?”
“It’s nothing…I-I just need a minute,” I say trying to deflect further questions.
“It’s not nothing Chloe, something happened and I want to know what it is. Did someone hurt you?” He’s angry now, his tone has an edge in it that wasn’t there earlier.
“I’m fine,” I reply. No I’m not, and I’ll never be again.
“Damn it Chloe,” he slams his fists onto the steering wheel causing me to flinch. “You are not fine, you were collapsed on the ground in your damn pajamas, balling your eyes out. You couldn’t even move, so don’t sit there and lie to me.”
I glance down at my clothes and realize he’s right, I hadn’t even changed, I just ran. I look over at him. He looks terrified, and angry at the same time, and to be honest it’s kind of sexy. Without thinking I climb over the center console of the truck and position myself onto his lap. His eyes search mine as his hands came up to grip my sides. I need to numb this pain, I need to chase out the darkness that is now invading every inch of my body. Lust is something I can replace it with. My arms go around his neck on their own accord as I bring my lips down hard onto his. He hesitates for a brief moment before opening his mouth to mine. His tongue is soft and gentle, where mine is fierce and demanding, on a mission of its own. I pull away from his lips slightly but only to make a trail of kisses down his cheek to his ear. He groans in response as I gently nibble on his ear lobe.
His grip tightens on my sides, pulling me closer to him as he wraps his arms fully around me. I know this is wrong and crazy, but it feels right in so many ways. I want him. My hands find their way up his shirt as I adjust my body to allow myself to reach further down. I can feel the bulge in his pants grow bigger as my body wiggles on his.
“Wait.Chloe.We.Can’t.We.Need…to stop,” he pants out between my lips colliding with his.
I stop kissing him and quickly climb off of his lap, rejection burns through me. I’m such an idiot. His hand reaches out and laces his fingers with mine, as if he can tell what I’m thinking. He turns in his seat so that he is facing me. “I didn’t mean it like that Chloe. I want you, trust me, I didn’t want that to end,” he says as he brings my hand to his lips and kisses it. “But, you were seriously upset a second ago and I can’t just ignore that. Something happened and I want to know what it was. Please,” he pleads as his green eyes bore into me.
I look down at the floorboard of the truck, what is this man doing to me. “I can’t, Travis.”
“You can’t what? Talk to me?” he asks with hurt in his voice.
“This,” I motion between us, “I can’t do this with you, I already told you. I’m no good for you, I have a dark cloud around me and I-I won’t bring you into my world.” I don’t look up but I hear the sound of his truck door slam shut. Good, I think to myself, he needs to get as far away from me as possible. But, I don’t even get to finish the thought fully before my door swings open and I’m being lifted from my seat. My legs wrap around his body as he backs me up against the side of his truck.
“Then let me be the sun that chases away those clouds. Let me be the one you run to when you need to run away from everything else.” He declares as he brings his lips back to mine. Every inch of my body melts into his. With one single sentence he manages to smash through the walls I have worked so hard to build up all these years. We’re both screwed. After the initial shock wears off from his declaration I finally start talking.
“Where are we anyways?” I ask, still in his arms. I can see some water in the distance, it’s surrounded by tall grass and trees. I can hear a few birds in the distance but no other sounds. It’s very serene, I reluctantly climb down from him and start to walk toward the water.
“It’s an old fishing pond, at the back of the University. Nobody comes out here anymore.” He answers, lacing his fingers through mine. I’m surprised and scared at how his touch is already affecting me. We stop in the shade under one of the trees near the water. He sits with his back leaning up against the tree’s trunk and positions me in front of me, his knees on either side of me. My back falls into his chest, it feels so natural there, like it’s been there before, one of his hands is wrapped around my waist, while the other is tangled up with one of my hands. My free hand goes down and places itself over the hand around my waist. I close my eyes and just enjoy this new feeling. His breath is warm against my cheek as he exhales gently. For a moment I forget why I was crying in the first place.
“I like this,” he says softly, “you like this, in my arms. I can’t describe it Chloe and you’re probably thinking I’m insane, but I don’t know…it just feels right.” He admits as he kisses my cheek. I didn’t think he was insane at all, I felt the exact same way. You read about it all the time, girl meets boy and gets swept off her feet…love at first sight. You always think it’s impossible until it happens to you. Until you meet someone that your soul just feels like it’s known forever. I feel like I don’t even have to be looking at him to feel him, to feel the way he affects me.
“What happened today Chloe?” his question brings reality crashing back down to me.
“It’s complicated, Travis. I’m not sure I want you to go running for the hills before we even get started,” I laugh nervously.
“I’m not the one whose always running, Chloe,” he turns my body to face his, keeping his arms wrapped around me as if preparing for me to run.
“It happened a long time ago, I thought it was over but now…now I’m not so sure,” I say, the realty of that statement sinks in and I feel my heartrate increase. As if sensing my fear, Travis tightens his arms around me.
“Okay, let’s start from the beginning then,’ he says.
“I can’t, Travis…I just can’t, not yet,” I say, seeing the hurt in his eyes, “maybe someday but not today. I-uh-I need to get back, my first class should be starting soon. Travis stares at me for a minute, reluctant to drop it.
“Yeah, okay Chloe. I’ll take you back, but someday, we are having this talk.” He states, telling me he’s no longer asking.
The drive back to my dorm is shorter than I thought it would be. Neither of us spoke a word, when we pull up next to my building Travis quickly got out and opened my door. He walks me up to the housing entrance, “Have a good first day, text me later okay,” he says after kissing my forehead. I just nod and watch him walk back to his truck. There is something so intimate about a forehead kiss. I never noticed it before, it’s unspoiled and tender, if that makes sense. His sudden absence makes me uneasy, when had that happened?
Travis
I haven’t felt this alive in a long time. Happiness isn’t something I do anymore, or at least it wasn’t until Chloe came crashing into my life. She’s amazing. The past few days have flown by. Chloe and I text all day long, with her having class and me running my company we haven’t seen each other a whole lot.
I haven’t told her about my business yet, I need to make sure I can trust her completely. I need to know how she feels about me first, without all the rest. I owe that fear to Sam. I’ve come a long way since that day, I never thought I’d feel for anyone again after Sam. You think you know someone and that you’ll have forever together but then it all comes crashing down in an instant. Your world turns a complete 180 and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.
I often have nightmares about that night, it still haunts me to this day. Sometimes I can swear I hear her sobbing, sometimes I can clearly make out the sound of that gun click. I shake my head, no…I’m not going there. I promised myself that I would move on, that I wouldn’t beat myself up about what happened again. I won’t let what happened with Sam ruin my chances with Chloe. Chloe isn’t Sam. She’s strong.
I’m sitting at my desk when Caleb calls me, Caleb owns a law firm and he’s one of my biggest clients.
“Hello,” I answer.
“Ah McGuire…how’s my favorite head of security doing this fine autumn day?” Caleb asks. He always calls me by my last name. I think it’s just a thing he does, he does that to everyone.
“Doin alright boss, how are things at Retribution? Anything I should know about?” I ask.
“No. No, things are running superbly. Your system is working like a dream as always.” He replies.
“Well that’s good to hear Cal. So what do I owe the pleasure of this call then?” I ask.
“Just checking in, wanted to let you know we are most likely going to have some new hires come on board soon. I have a few special people in mind and I may need some background checks done soon.”
“No problem, just let me know the details when you’re ready.” I say.
“Excellent, well enjoy your day McGuire. I’ll talk to ya later.”
Caleb was my first client when I opened my business. He actually sought me out, said he had been following my progress for a while. He’s an okay guy. Youngest firm owner I know. He’s done well for himself, very smart and business savvy. I remember when I first started my company. There were a lot of people who doubted my ability, but I proved them wrong. I should think about returning to Brighton University take some classes to further my education but I just don’t have the time. Brian comes home and we head to the gym for a few hours. When we get back I check my emails and kick back to watch the fights with the guys.
“Hey man, you want to go play a round at Hemingway tomorrow?” Brian asks while shoveling some nachos in his mouth.
“Oh uh I actually have plans with Chloe tomorrow, haven’t seen her all week.” I admit.
“Come on man, we never get to go there, they won’t let us in without you. Pleeeease.” Brian begs.
“Fine, but we do an early tee time so we can be done by 1pm.” I cave.
I hope Chloe isn’t too upset about the hiccup in our day. I’m sure she’ll cool, that’s one of the things I like about her. If she’s mad I’m sure she’ll let me know, she has no problem speaking her mind. It’s actually kind of sexy at times, the way she stomps her foot and throws a fit. It was never like that with Sam, she would always fight or argue with me but never like Chloe. She held grudges, if I pissed her off in the morning I’d be lucky if she was speaking to me again two days later. Took her forever to get over the smallest things. Chloe’s ability to speak up for herself and then forgive is only one of the amazing qualities she possess.
I actually haven’t found one thing about I dislike. It saddens me that I’ll never get to introduce her to my dad. He would have loved her I’m sure. It’s hard not having any family around sometimes. I miss the small things like family dinners or even birthday parties. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed either of those things. Brian’s family welcomed me in with open arms after I lost my dad. I’ve spent the last few Thanksgiving’s with them. I’m hoping this year I’ll get to spend it with Chloe.