Behind the Screen

Chapter 13

Emily stayed at my house for a while that night as we continued to talk, and she helped me navigate my conversation with Chloe.

I convinced her that she didn't scare me off...even though she obviously had. I didn't want to tell her that yet, because I still had no idea how I was going to handle this.

I did my best to talk to her normally for the rest of the weekend, and when Monday came around I was in an absolute panic.

"I think I just need to quit my job and run away," I texted to Emily.

"Ha! You got this!" She responded.

Did I though?? It didn't feel like it.

Before I put my phone away and drove to work, I had a message pop up from Chloe.

"Hey is everything okay? You've been acting kind of weird since this weekend...want to make sure."

Damn it, obviously I hadn't done a good enough job of acting normal with her. No surprise there.

"Yeah sorry, just a lot going on dealing with my family thing. Thanks for checking though," I sent.

Hopefully that was believable.

When I got to work, I felt like I was going to throw up as I walked in the door. How on earth was I supposed to act normal around Chloe after this? We had shared a lot with each other, and she had no idea it was me.

I was going to have to tell her eventually, that was becoming more and more clear.

I walked as slowly as I possibly could as I got closer and closer to her office. I rubbed my hands against my pant legs, trying to wipe the sweat off of them.

My nerves only increased as I walked by her door.

"Hey Chloe, uh, morning," I said awkwardly.

That sounded nice and natural I'm sure.

She put her hand up and waved without looking up from her computer, back to her cheery self.

Damn it I still wasn't convinced that this was the girl that I'd been falling for. It made absolutely no sense.

I noticed throughout the day that Chloe had gone back to some of her annoying habits. Was she upset about this weekend or was it something else? I couldn't help but wonder.

By the end of the day it had become increasingly obvious that she was in a bad mood. Whether or not it was because of me standing her up was another question, but it seemed like it could've been.

On my way home, Emily called me to see how things had gone.

"Well?" She said, "how bad was it?"

"Quite possibly the most awkward situation I've ever been in," I said, "and that's saying a lot for me."

"Okay true," she said with a laugh, "did you talk to her at all?"

"No, nothing really besides saying good morning to her, but she definitely wasn't in a very good mood today," I told her.

"Well probably because she got stood up on a date this weekend," Emily said.

"Oh shut up," I laughed, "that thought has obviously crossed my mind, but who knows if that's why."

"I mean," she hesitated, "it would kind of make sense if it was."

"I know," I sighed, "and I know I'm going to have to tell her it's me, I can't do this much longer."

"Yeah, kind of sounds like you do need to, then it'll be up to the two of you what comes of it," she said.

"Which will probably be nothing and this whole connection I've had will be ruined," I responded.

"Well with that attitude yeah," Emily joked with me, "just remember what I said, try not to give up just yet."

"I know," I sighed, "I'll see what I can do, and I'll keep you updated."

"Okay, talk to you later Katie," she said.

"Later Em," I said before we both hung up.

I got home and was much less eager to check my phone than I had been. I left it sitting on the counter and went to put my things away and get changed.

When I got back to it, there was a message waiting for me.

"How was your day? :)"

"Would've been better if you were in a better mood," I said to myself.

"It was a Monday I guess, I can't expect much. What about yours?" I sent.

I set my phone down and rubbed my hand over my face, I could not do this much longer. It was torture.

Another notification popped up and I grabbed it again.

"It was okay I guess, agree that it was very much so like a Monday," Chloe responded.

"Yeah...so do you want to try and meet up again soon? I still feel bad that I had to bail," I said.

I wasn't sure where my confidence came from to ask that, but there was no going back now. I think it was more of me wanting this to be over with than anything else.

I wasn't good at faking that everything was normal between us. She would definitely figure out that something was wrong.

I looked at my phone screen as it lit up with another message.

"Definitely, and don't feel bad, family stuff happens, I get it," Chloe said.

I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that this was her. I knew that people had said she was a different person outside of work...but this just seemed way too extreme. I couldn't wait to see which side of her came out when she found out it was me she'd been talking to this whole time.

"How about Friday night?" I sent to her.

I wasn't sure that I could make it through the whole week like this, but I was going to have to try.

"Friday sounds good :) still want to give the seafood place a try?" She asked.

"Sure, 7:30 again?" I responded.

"Perfect, hopefully see you then," she said.

"Hopefully." She obviously didn't have much faith in me after this weekend, and I didn't blame her.

"You will!" I responded.

You won't like what you see...but you will.

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