Behind the Screen

Chapter 14

The rest of the week was an absolute struggle. I avoided Chloe as much as I possibly could without making it seem too obvious.

Trying to avoid her at work while simultaneously trying to keep things normal as we talked on the dating app was no easy task. I used the "family issue" as somewhat of an excuse for part of the week, but I didn't want to lean on that too heavily.

By the time Friday came around, I was so ready to have all of this over with that most of my nerves were gone. Or at least they were gone until I pulled up to the restaurant.

I took a deep breath as I walked towards the door and felt the familiar nervousness come over me.

"Come on, just get it over with," I said quietly to myself.

I walked inside and saw Chloe sitting in the same spot that she had been a week ago, this time in the black shirt that she told me she'd be wearing.

I forced myself to slowly walk towards her, and she eventually looked up at me.

"Hey Chloe," I said.

"Oh, Katelyn, hi," she said as she looked around the restaurant, "sorry I'm actually getting ready to meet someone here."

"Yeah um, I know you are," I said to her.

"You know I - wait, what?" She asked with a confused look on her face.

"Yeah..." I nodded.

"Hold on, what the hell is going on?" She asked, "you're not.."

"No I'm afraid I am," I mumbled.

"How did you -" she trailed off.

"Yeah I - so I actually did come here last weekend," I said, "but um, I saw you sitting here and I obviously panicked, so I left and made up an excuse."

Chloe looked down at the table in disbelief, looking about how I did when I found out.

"So you - you've known it was me all week? How the hell..." she said.

"I did...I didn't really know what to do," I said.

"Telling me right away probably would've been a good idea," she snapped.

"I - yeah I knew this was a bad idea, I'll go," I said.

I turned around to leave but I felt Chloe's hand grab my wrist.

"No hold on," she said, "I'm sorry."

My eyes drifted down to her hand on my arm, and when she noticed she quickly let go.

"I'm just um - this is weird," she continued.

"No shit," I mumbled.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at me and I shrugged.

"Are you - I mean are you sure?" She asked.

"Chloe, how else would I have known to meet you here, and that you were waiting for someone?" I asked as I raised my eyebrows at her.

"I don't know...coincidence?" She said, like she was hoping to make it true.

I sighed as I took my phone out of my pocket and opened up the app with all of our messages back and forth. I held it out in front of her and she reluctantly looked at it.

"Fuck," she mumbled.

"Yeah, can I go now?" I asked her.

"No just - sit down," she said as she motioned to the chair across from her.

"Chloe this isn't work, sorry you can't boss me around," I said as I kept my gaze on her.

"You're right, sorry," she said as she rubbed her hand over her face.

"Why don't you sit down and we can figure this out?" She rephrased.

"I'm not really sure what there is to figure out," I said.

"Well I mean," she said, "I realize how fucking awkward this is but...it has still been us talking to each other, you know?"

"I'm still not convinced of that by the way, you don't exactly seem like the same person at work," I said.

"Yeah," she sighed, "I know I can be a little um - a little intense at work."

"You think?" I asked as I raised my eyebrows at her.

"It's kind of how I've had to be to get that job," she said, "I know I haven't exactly been the greatest towards you."

"No, you really haven't," I said quietly.

"I - just sit down for a minute, please?" She asked.

I thought back to the numerous times that Emily had told me that I shouldn't give up on this yet and I should think about giving it a chance. I looked from Chloe to the chair across from her, and I hesitantly sat down.

I was pretty shocked that she was the one who wanted me to stay and I was trying to leave, but I decided to hear her out.

"So what now?" I asked her.

"I don't know," she said with a sigh, "but we obviously - I mean, it seems like we've had some type of connection, doesn't it?"

Chloe was usually so stoic and assertive, it was weird to see her like this.

"I guess so...but it's a lot easier to form a connection when you're typing back and forth with a stranger," I said.

"Is it though?" She asked.

"Since you're my boss, yeah I'd say that being a stranger was a little bit more ideal," I responded.

"Okay, that's fair," she sighed.

"Honestly Katelyn, I just -" Chloe started.

"Katie, will you please call me Katie like I've asked you to," I said with a bite in my tone.

"Sorry, Katie," she said, "but why are you are you getting so irritated with me right now?"

"Because this whole situation is so messed up and frustrating," I said as I started to raise my voice.

"Do you think it's ideal for me either?" She asked.

"No, but -" I started.

"I thought I was really starting to have feelings for someone and then it - it turns out to be you," she said.

"Okay, you don't have to sound so disgusted Chloe, I get it," I glared at her as I pushed my chair back from the table.

This was useless.

"Sorry I didn't mean - that's not what I meant," she tried to explain.

"I think it is what you meant," I said.

I started to stand up but she grabbed on to my arm again to stop me.

"I'm sorry," she said firmly as her eyes locked on mine, "seriously, can we just start over now?"

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