“Title of your sex tape,” retorted Chloe. She wiped rain from her face and pressed the button to call the elevator.
“Good one. So, who gets the first shower?” They each had their own bathroom, but the hot water pressure in their flat was so low, only one of them could shower at a time.
The elevator announced its arrival with a “ding”, and they got in for their short ride to the fourth floor. “You go, but be fast,” said Chloe. “I’ll make some eggs or something.”
“Breakfast for dinner? Will you marry me?”
“Yeah, well, consider it a reward for being so awesome today. That event, Ash, you killed it.” Her bestie beamed at her, just as the elevator said, “Fourth floor,” in a sexy voice that had never made any sense to Chloe. Why would anyone hire a voice-over artist who made arriving at the fourth floor sound like she was announcing an orgasm or something?
*
“Delish. Thank you,” said Ash, as she stood and took Chloe’s plate from her.
“It was just eggs, Ash.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t have to make them.” Ash loaded the dirty plates into the dishwasher and started cleaning up the rest of the kitchen. “Hey, so I was going say something before, but I’ve been going back and forth, and I wasn’t really sure until today, but …”
“Say it …” Chloe’s words turned into a yawn.
“What do you think of Carl?”
Chloe cut her yawn short and peered at Ash. “Well, he’s fantastic at social media, but I’m guessing you don’t mean that.” What did Ash mean exactly? She’d only just come out of a long-term relationship and this was the first time she’d mentioned another guy.
Ash continued her clean-up. “He’s kinda sexy, don’t you think?”
Chloe decided to keep her reply light. “Uh, no, not really. And if you think so, then you don’t want me to think so.”
“Hah! You’re right. It’s just … I caught him watching me a couple of times tonight, and did you see how weird he was acting when we said goodbye?”
“Sorry, Ash, I must have been too shattered to notice Carl’s unobvious flirting.”
“He’s incredibly smart, like incredibly.” Ash draped the wet tea towel over the handle of the oven door, flicked off the kitchen light, and re-joined Chloe on the couch.
“You’re incredibly smart too, Ash.” Ash shrugged her shoulders, her usual way of deflecting a compliment. “Anyway, I haven’t worked that closely with him,” continued Chloe, “but props to him for that Insta campaign for tonight. It was pretty impressive.” The campaign had been unreal, but Chloe was tempering her enthusiasm for all things “Carl”. If she’d been a betting person, her money would be on Ash getting back together with her ex.
Still, maybe a distraction was something Ash needed. She clocked the wistful look on Ash’s face. “So, you’re into him?”
“Maybe. But what are you not saying?”
Ash knew her tells too well, but there was no way Chloe was going to spill about what she was actually thinking. “Uh, nothing, it’s just … maybe it’s the name—Carl,” she said, going with something that was partly true; she didn’t like the name.
“Oh, come on. What’s wrong with ‘Carl’?”
Good, she bought it, Chloe thought. “Eh, it’s like Kevin, or Bruce—just …” She mimed shivers running up her spine.
“Carl in Love, Actually is the hottest guy in the movie,” countered Ash.
Chloe chuckled to herself. “Yeah, true. Oh, wait, there was Andrew Lincoln too—”
“But he played the shitty best friend who was all stalkery with Keira Knightley.”
“Also true. Anyway, I’ll concede that sometimes ‘Carl’ is the hot guy.”
“So, do you think he was acting weird?” asked Ash.
“I really don’t know … maybe?” Ash looked crestfallen. “Look, I promise to pay more attention to the ‘Carl’ situation and, if needed, I’ll be your wingman.”
“Wingwoman.”
“Yes, that,” she said, succumbing to another yawn. “Sorry, Ash, I’ve got to go to bed.” Chloe stood and stretched her hands above her head. A full day of work, then an evening event—even though Ash had been on point and she’d only played a supporting role—had left her exhausted. Ash must have been shattered too, only she had picked up the remote and was scrolling through Netflix, so maybe not.
“Night, Ash.”
“Night. And thanks again for all your help tonight.”
“For sure. It was a great event.”
Just as Chloe loaded up her toothbrush with toothpaste, she heard her phone ring from her room. Toothbrush in hand, she raced in, grabbed the phone and tapped the green button just before it went to voicemail. “Hello?” she said.
“Chloe, it’s Mum and Dad.”
“Oh, hi, what’s up?” It was a little unusual for her to get a call from her parents at 10:30pm on a weeknight.
“We have some news, love,” said her dad. Well, that sounds ominous, she thought as she plonked down on the end of her bed.
“O-kay,” she said, her stomach tightening.
“It’s about Christmas …”
Chapter 4
The May Ladies
“Chloe, your camera is turned off.” Lucy frowned at the screen.
“It isn’t. It’s just the middle of the night.”
“It’s 6:00am there. It’s hardly the middle of the night,” said Jules.
“Is it too early? Should we call back in an hour?” asked Lucy.
“She called us, Lucy. Chloe, turn on a light.”
Chloe was abruptly illuminated and blinked into the camera. “Happy?”
“Ecstatic. So, bad morning?” Jules knew her tone was borderline snippy, but she’d had a particularly shitty day.
“Yes. It’s a sucky morning, actually,” Chloe whined.
“What’s wrong?” Lucy’s confused frown morphed into her concerned one.
Chloe sighed dramatically for effect. “It’s my parents …” She wiped sleep from her eyes, oblivious to the horror on her friends’ faces.
“What’s happened?” whispered Jules, suddenly brimming with sympathy. She would get on a plane that day if she needed to.
Chloe looked at the screen. “Oh, no, sorry, they’re fine. I, just—”
Two sighs expelled simultaneously, one from Colorado, the other from London, and Lucy’s hand patted her chest to self-soothe.
“You scared the crap out of us, Chloe.” Jules was going to get on a plane, if only to smack her friend in the head.
“Sorry.”
Lucy blew out
