Behind the Screen

Chapter 37

Spencer and I stayed at the bar together for a while and talked, and it was a nice distraction from everything else going on.

He thankfully hadn't brought up missing me or trying to get back together at all, and I was very appreciative of that.

I thought back to my conversation with Emily about getting back together with him, and while I definitely wasn't going to jump in to anything, he was making me reconsider.

Maybe we could at least be friends now without the awkwardness between us. It would be nice to have him as someone to talk to again.

We got ready to leave and he walked me out to my car.

"Thanks for making my night a little better," I said to him, "this was fun."

"Of course, it was nice to hang out again," he said.

We stood there for a minute before I stepped in and gave him a hug. It was a familiar and safe feeling that I hadn't felt in a while.

"I'll talk to you later," I said as I got into my car.

"See you later Katie," he said with a grin.

I drove back to my house and tried to keep my mind on the fun that I'd had with Spencer, and not on anything else that I had going on.

                                      ***

I felt a little more at ease when I got ready for work the next morning. I wasn't sure why, maybe because I was able to distract myself for a while the night before, who knows.

I went on with my day as usual, successfully avoiding Chloe as much as I could. Around lunch time, I heard someone come into her office.

"Mason, I told you to stop fucking showing up here," Chloe said.

She was trying to be quiet so I didn't hear her, but the anger in her voice carried.

"Why would you tell your boyfriend not to visit you at work?" He asked her in a sly tone.

I didn't know the guy and could already tell that he was a douchebag.

I didn't get up to shut my door today, curiosity was getting the best of me.

"You know exactly why," Chloe snapped back, "just leave."

"Damn babe," he said, "fine, I'll see you later."

I rolled my eyes and tried to go back to my work as I heard his footsteps walk out of her office.

***

I was wrapping things up for the day when I heard a light knock on my door. I looked up and Chloe was standing there.

"Yeah?" I sighed.

"So I really hate to ask you this, but can you stay and help me finish up a project tonight?" She asked.

"No Chloe," I shook my head, "we're not doing this."

"Katie no, I'm not trying to pull anything, okay? I swear," she tried to reassure me, "this is 100% work related, I just need your help."

I sighed again as my eyes briefly met hers before I looked away again.

"Fine," I conceded, "I'll stay."

"Thank you," she said, "I really appreciate it."

She went back over to her office and began to email me what we needed to work on. I had to admit, it did look like she really just needed my help with this. At least she was telling the truth about something.

She came back over a while later and was confirming that we had everything done so we could leave. She stood by my desk as I went through the information on my computer.

It made me think of the first time that we kissed, and I wished it had never happened. I shook myself out of my own thoughts and brought my attention back to my screen as Chloe continued to talk.

"Okay, so I think that's everything," she finally said.

"Okay, good," I responded.

She stood there for a minute without saying anything else, and I looked up at her. The tension between us was thick enough to cut with a knife, and I wanted to crawl under my desk and hide.

"Katie I -" Chloe started.

"Don't," I quickly said, cutting her off, "please don't do this."

"I'm not, I just - I realized I never actually apologized," she said.

I guess she was right, I hadn't really thought about that.

"I'm really sorry, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you that sooner," she continued, "I know you're not ready to talk but I had to make sure I told you that."

I don't know if she was expecting me to respond or not, but I couldn't. I was feeling too many things right now, and I had no idea what to say.

"Alright well..." Chloe trailed off, "yeah, I think we got everything done."

She walked out without another word from either of us, and I began to pack my things up in a daze.

We left together a few minutes later, both of us continuing to stay silent. This was the most that I'd been around Chloe since I'd found out about Mason, and it was extremely uncomfortable.

I hated the feeling of the tension between us, and as much as I wanted to say it wasn't sexual, that part was definitely still there.

"Have a good night Katie," Chloe said in a monotone voice.

"Yeah..." I trailed off, "you too."

We went our separate ways, and I sat in my car for a few minutes before I could shake myself out of my trance and drive towards my house. I wasn't mentally strong enough to deal with all of this shit lately.

Before I got all the way home, I decided I'd see if Emily wanted to meet somewhere for dinner. There was a lot that had happened since we last talked.

"Hey, what's going on?" Emily answered.

"Hey Em," I responded, "you eaten dinner yet?"

"Nope, why what's up?" She asked.

"Do you want to meet somewhere? There's a lot I need to catch you up on," I told her.

"Oh shit," she said, "you're okay though, right?"

"Yeah," I sighed, "it's just been interesting."

"Okay, where do you want to meet?" She asked me.

"Uhh," I hesitated, "I'm in the mood for Chinese, what about that place downtown?"

"Yeah that works for me," she said, "I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

"Perfect, see you soon," I said before hanging up.

Maybe talking to her about everything would help clear my brain from the fog that it had been in.

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