'There are dreamers and there are realists in this world. You think the dreamers would find the dreamers and the realists would find the realists, but more often than not, the opposite is true. You see, the dreamers need the realists to keep them fr...
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CHLOE EMERGED FROM THE DUNPHY basement. Smoothing out her navy dress. Her heels clacking against the floor as she walked into the kitchen to sit down on a stool at the counter, placing her purse on there and pulling out a compact mirror and her favourite lipstick.
"Where you off to looking like that?" Claire asked, looking at her sister's outfit. She was mixing something on the stove. Haley sat at the dining room table with Luke, Alex and Phil.
"On a date with Liam," Chloe shrugged.
"Urgh. I still think it's weird my aunt is dating my history teacher," Haley commented as she stood up from the dining table and walked past the kitchen counter to put her empty plate into the sink.
"I'm not dating him," Chloe pointed out as she finished applying her red lipstick, pursing her lips, "I'm just seeing him. It's very, very casual."
"Why not start dating guys your own age?" Claire asked, "You know, rather than guys, like, twenty years older."
"I don't know any guys my age that I'd want to date," Chloe shrugged, putting her lipstick and mirror away.
"Daniel?" Phil suggested, joining the conversation.
Chloe groaned, throwing her head back, "Why does everyone want me to date Daniel?!"
"Oh come on. You two have so much chemistry, everyone can see it," Claire pointed out.
Phil nodded, agreeing completely with his wife, "Why are you so scared to give him a chance?"
"Oh, how long have you got," Claire teased.
Chloe rolled her eyes, "Funny one, aren't you," She sneered before looking over at Phil, "And I'm not scared...I'm just not interested."
Claire and Phil looked at one another. Sharing a look that told Chloe neither of them believed her statement.
"If you guys want I'll cancel the date with Liam..." Chloe said, looking between the couple watching as they both smiled at the suggestion, a fake smile on her face, "But just so you know, if I don't go out with Liam today, I'll just have to crash your anniversary, is that what you guys want?"
Claire rolled her eyes, "Why are you so stubborn when it comes to admitting how you feel?"
Chloe shrugged, "You have met our parents right?" She asked sarcastically.
The front door rang.
"That'll be him. Don't wait up," Chloe winked as she jumped off the stool. She smoothed out her dress to get rid of any wrinkles from sitting down, wiggled her chest as she repositioned her bra to push her cleavage up slightly before blowing a fake kiss at her sister and walking out of the kitchen to answer the door.
To her surprise, when she swung it open Liam Caddel wasn't the only man standing outside. Next to him was Daniel Pierce. Holding a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates.
"Liam," Chloe nodded at her date before looking at Daniel with a confused look, "Daniel. Hi, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, I saw it was Claire and Phil's anniversary on Facebook and I just wanted to drop these off for them before I go to work," He explained, smiling sheepishly as he gestured to the flowers and chocolates.
"That's actually really sweet of you," She told him. She could feel her heart skipping a beat suddenly, "They're in the kitchen, go on through," Chloe moved out of the way, letting Daniel slip past her inside the house.
He entered with a small smile on his face, "You look great by the way. Enjoy your date," He nodded at her before looking over and smiling at Liam. However this smile looked almost forced. And although there technically was a smile on his lips, Chloe saw the sadness in his eyes as he walked away. Her eyes looking at his back, noticing when he briefly looked over his shoulder back at her before he made his way to the kitchen, greeting the family in there.
"See! Way too nice. No human is that nice. He must've done something. Like killed his wife," Chloe said, folding her arms as she looked at the camera.
"Oh, stop it, he's just a sweet guy," Claire scolded her sister as she took a deep inhale of the beautiful bouquet of different colored flowers. A warm smile on her features.
Phil nodded from the other side of Chloe, "He's the sweetest," He plopped a chocolate in his mouth before putting the box out in front of Chloe, "Chocolate?"
She just stared at the camera blankly.
"You ready?" Liam asked, pulling Chloe out of her thoughts.
She quickly turned to face him and nodded, "Yep. Let's go," She walked out of the house, but couldn't help glance back towards the kitchen when she heard the sound of Daniel and Phil laughing together. She bit her lip as she shut the door behind her and followed Liam towards his car.
"You look ravishing, by the way," Liam complimented as they entered the vehicle.
Chloe smiled at him. But his compliment didn't seem to set her body on fire like Daniel's had. It didn't sent shivers down her spine or make her heart sped up, or even make her blush. It had simply just been a compliment, like any other she might receive from strangers or people she didn't really care about the opinions of. She hated how he had such an effect on her.
"Thanks. You look good too," She told him. Looking him up and down. Spotting the pink shirt he wore under a blazer. He kept the top button undone, "So, where we off to?"
"I booked us a table at this little Italian place not too far," He informed her, "They have the best pasta and wine you can get your hands on."
Chloe didn't respond and simply nodded at him before looking out of the window. Realising that as good as the date sounded, there was a part of her deep down that wished she was going on it with a different man. She looked over at Liam and bit her lip.
"How about we skip the dinner and go straight to your place?" She asked. Needing to forget Daniel's dark eyes from her mind.
