After the storm

Chapter 8

The ride to Linda and Amenadiel's house was extremely quiet. Lucifer sped the car trying unsuccessfully to avoid the afternoon traffic jam. Every now and then, he was glancing at Chloe, wondering what was on her mind. Most of the time she was looking sideways, not really noticing the passing views.

Finally, a couple of minutes after six, they reached their destination. Lucifer parked the car in front of the house and gazed at Chloe. She was obviously somewhere else with her thoughts as she didn't even notice they had stopped.

"Chloe." Lucifer said and lightly touched her arm.

"Yes?"

"We're here."

"Oh, okay. I'm sorry I wasn't much of a talking companion during the ride."

"Don't worry about it. Is everything all right? Are you ready for this?" He asked, took her hand and kissed it tenderly.

"Are you?" She answered with a question.

"Yes, I guess. As long as you're with me."

His words made her smile. "Yeah, me too. Let's go."

"All right." With that he left the car and went around to open the door and help her out.

They made it to the house holding hands. Just as Lucifer was about to knock, the door suddenly opened, startling both of them. They saw Amenadiel who tried to smile and mask his nervousness.

"Wow, brother I haven't seen you this eager for a long time." Lucifer said wryly.

"Chloe, Lucifer, it's so good you're finally here. Come in." Amenadiel said, his voice sounding very cheerful and relieved. "Linda has been freaking out for half an hour. She was worried you won't come and she'll be..." He lowered his voice.

"The only mortal here." Chloe finished for him. "I understand it must be very stressful for her." She added.

"Chloe, you have no idea. Since the moment I have come back and told her about the dinner, she could neither eat nor sleep. She's walking around like a zombie. First, she started cleaning the whole house, then she went to the kitchen and kept snapping at me for nothing. So I took care of Charlie and Luci, he just wouldn't stop crying again."

Lucifer knew exactly what that meant. "Why didn't you phone me? You know I can make him stop."

"Yes, but I didn't want to interrupt you and Chloe. I had already done it and I know how much you needed this conversation." He said. "I'm sorry, Chloe." He apologized and met her eyes.

"That's okay, Amenadiel. I know you were worried about Charlie. That's a parent thing." She said and smiled a bit. "Actually, it's me who should apologize."

Amenadiel looked puzzled. "I should have phoned Linda and offer her some help with the dinner. I haven't thought about it."

"No, Chloe. You know her, she wouldn't accept it anyway. She thinks she has to do everything on her own and doesn't want to burden her friends with her problems."

The moment these words left his mouth, Linda came to them.

"Who has got problems?" She asked as she heard only the last part of the conversation.

"What? No, no one. It doesn't matter." Amenadiel said quickly. Linda gave him a warning look. "See?" Amenadiel said to their guests and winked.

"I'm so happy you guys have made it here. I don't know what I would do without you." She smiled but they could tell it was just a façade, inside she was a nervous wreck. "Chloe, you look fantastic in this dress."