Behind the Screen

Chapter 21

I was restless that night, and I had a hard time falling asleep. I guess I probably should've expected that from Spencer, but it didn't make me feel any better.

I texted Emily the next morning to fill her in on what had happened.

"Saw Spencer last night, not a good idea," I sent.

"Uh oh, what happened?" She asked.

I tried to get ready for work as I continued to tell Emily about my brief encounter with Spencer the night before.

"Well he did apologize, but then said he missed me and wanted to try again," I sent to her.

"Damn, did you tell Chloe about any of this?" She asked in response.

"No...I couldn't decide if I should or not, you think I need to?" I asked.

"Might not be a bad idea, not like you did anything wrong but would probably make you both feel better if you did," Emily said.

"True, maybe I'll try to talk to her this weekend," I responded.

"Good idea," she said.

I sighed as I put my phone down and finished getting ready. Thank God it was Friday.

I didn't think there was any reason that Chloe would be mad about me seeing Spencer, but I still wasn't exactly looking forward to telling her that I'd been with my ex.

Nothing like a good test in a new relationship.

I got to work that morning and did my usual stop by Chloe's office to say hi.

"Morning," I said with a grin.

"Morning Katie," she responded as she waved me in.

"Feeling better today?" She asked.

"I uh - yeah, I am actually," I responded.

That was kind of true...kind of not. I still didn't want to tell her about Spencer.

"Good, I think," she said.

I nodded at her and turned around to leave, but she stopped me.

"Hey," she quickly said before I made it out the door.

"Hm?" I said as I turned back to face her.

"Come over to my place tonight?" She asked quietly.

"Sure," I grinned, "I can do that."

"Good," she said as she returned my smile, "we'll order something for dinner."

"Okay, sounds like a plan," I said before I walked out of her office and into mine.

My work thankfully kept me busy for most of the day. It didn't leave me much time to think about going to Chloe's or worry about telling her about Spencer.

I shut my computer down at 5:00 and grabbed my things before I stepped over to Chloe's office.

"Hey, sorry give me like five minutes to finish this up," she said as she looked intently at her computer.

"Oh yeah no problem, I'll go wait outside," I told her.

"I won't be long," she said, keeping her concentrated gaze on her screen.

I walked out and got into my car and waited for a few minutes before Chloe came out.

"Okay, sorry," she sighed, "you just want to follow me?"

"Works for me," I said.

I watched as she pulled out of the parking lot and followed behind her so I wouldn't get lost. She lived in a quiet neighborhood not too far from our office, and it looked like she had a very nice house.

"Damn," I said as I got out of my car, "is this the kind of house that boss money buys you?"

"Shut up," she said with a grin, "but yes."

I rolled my eyes at her as we walked inside and I looked around, it was quite the place.

"So I guess I'll just be here all the time now," I teased as I continued to take in my surroundings.

"Fine by me," Chloe grinned.

She walked towards the living room and motioned for me to follow her.

"You can sit down if you want, I'm going to grab us some drinks," she said, "wine?"

"Yeah sure, thanks," I said as I sat down on the comfortable couch.

She came back with a glass for each of us, and she sat down right next to me as she handed me one.

"What are we toasting to tonight?" She asked me.

"Uhh," I said before I paused to think, "here's to finding good takeout food to order."

I held up my glass and Chloe grinned at me.

"Really? That's what you're going with?" She asked.

"Sure am," I said as I clinked my glass against hers and took a sip.

She laughed quietly before taking a drink of her own.

Chloe held her wine in one hand and draped her other over my shoulder as she watched me take another sip.

"So what is this good takeout food that you're hoping to find tonight?" She asked.

"Hmm, I think I could go for some Thai," I said.

Chloe nodded in agreement and took out her phone to begin ordering.

"Wait, hold on though," I said as I put my hand on top of hers, "I wanted to talk to you about something first."

"Okay..." Chloe said hesitantly as she gave me a worried look.

"No it's not - it's not a big deal," I sighed, "but I um, I had drinks with my ex last night."

"Oh," she said quietly, "that's not what I was expecting."

"No let me - I need to phrase that better," I said as I shook my head, "sorry."

"He asked me to meet up to talk and said he wanted to apologize, so I agreed to go get a drink with him," I clarified.

Chloe stayed quiet as she let me continue to explain.

"So we met last night and he did apologize, but then he almost immediately started telling me how he missed me and that he wanted to give things another try, all that stuff," I said.

"Yikes," Chloe said under her breath.

"Yeah," I sighed, "but I mean I told him no obviously, and I uh, I told him I was seeing someone else."

"Oh yeah?" Chloe asked as a smile spread across her face.

"Yeah," I said, "and then I left, so that's all that it was."

"Well, you made that sound a lot worse at first," Chloe said, "but I appreciate you telling me."

"I was going to say something yesterday," I told her, "but I didn't want to worry you or anything, and I didn't know if I should."

"Yeah I get it," Chloe said, "it's okay."

"You're sure?" I asked.

"Positive," she said as she ran her hand along my shoulder.

"Okay good, I was worried," I said as I let out a sigh of relief.

"You're cute when you're worried," Chloe said as she put her glass down on the table next to us.

"Well I'm so glad that one of us is enjoying this," I said with a grin.

She smiled back at me as she moved her hand from my shoulder up to my chin and turned my face towards her.

"Come here," she said quietly as her eyes glanced down at my lips.

I put my hand on her leg and gladly obliged, setting my glass down as I leaned in closer and our lips brushed together.

"You think dinner can wait?" Chloe asked.

I felt her lips curl into a smile against mine as I nodded and closed the short distance between us.

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