chloe's feels
It was a tense ride home as scenes from the meeting danced through my mind. Violet arguing with Gabe and that look she gave me. It felt like she knew my secret, like she could see right through me. [[[[and with the memory card gone i have no other choice but to tell her before she tells gabe. why hasn't she told him already? i guess she hasn't been able to get into the card. but where did she go on a lead? fuck i just need to talk to her... it's my only option]]]]]
Izaak's eyes stayed focused on the road as he rambled about something unimportant. My intermittent "mmhmms" kept him satisfied enough to continue the chatter as I wondered what to do. Running was still at the top of my list, but Izaak's protection and my new family made it harder to do that. Toby's idea to frame somebody sounded good enough and I could find an easy target. How else could I steer the case in that direction but to tell Violet? [[[[trying to find another way because confronting her will be scary... esp after the way everyone was kinda ganging up against her tonight...]]]]]
The idea of telling her made my heart rate speed up drastically. Before another panic attack came on, I inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring, ignoring the blurry spots in my vision. Izaak's voice came back to my consciousness, the calming aura of his deep tone, the slight accent that came out in his "th"s. He was droning on and on like a lecturing dad, talking about speakers he was thinking of getting, all of the specs and technical features.
How will he take it when he realizes what I've done?
I tossed and turned in bed for about an hour after Izaak was locked in his room. Sleep was out of the picture. Not that I'd been able to sleep much lately anyway. But tonight there was a gnawing feeling in my stomach telling me that it was time. It was now or never. I couldn't depend on Sage or Toby or Izaak or anyone else to tell me what to do. I had to approach Violet myself and con her into helping me frame someone.
It started with a simple text message asking to meet up tonight.
does sergeant douche let you out this late???
I rolled my eyes at her thinking that I let Izaak run my life like that....... Besides, the month-long deal was almost over and I was again free to do as I please.
I'm not worried about him. So meet up, or not?
It only took 30 seconds for her to respond with: Dominic's?
x-x-x-x
The cotton summer dress I wore was a little too classy for the dive bar. Even Violet gave me a weird look as we ignored the gang cat-calling us as we clomped up the metal staircase.
Violet ordered drinks then slid into a booth on the other side of the bar from her poker buddies.
"Are you allowed to drink again?" I asked when I saw the mojitos. [[[giving her a taste of her own medicine]]]]
"Seriously? Fuck Gabe and his punk ass rules. I'm tired of his shit tonight. And it's not like sergeant douche knows you're out here, right?"
I blushed and took a sip of the mojito, sinking into the booth. [[[ooof so nervous... how's she going to react? will she do it for me?]]]
Violet only allowed me to make small talk for a minute before she cut to the chase. "What did you wanna talk about?"
My body shivered as I held onto the frosty glass, sucking through the straw to get a little drunker. [[[it's now or never.... well, maybe i can stall a little longer...]]] "Lemme just get us more drinks first."
She laughed. "Bro, you better slow down. I ain't carryin' your drunk ass home tonight. We gotta work in the mornin'."
"Fuck work," I mumbled, and went to the bar anyway. [[[[work is the least of my worries]]]]
As I waited for the mojitos, I saw a familiar face, but couldn't put a name to it. He talked to his buddy in Spanish about me before approaching. "Hey, I know you. Violeta's friend. What was your name again? I'm Andy." [[[just ignore him, get my drink and go]]]. He reached out a hand to shake mine, but I just smiled and waited for the drink. "'Ey! I'm talkin' to you." [[[wtf?? i want to attack, but then a flash of panic as i remember he's got a gun (or a bodyguard with a gun) so just turning on my charm]]]
A flash of the gun pointed at Violet went through my mind, so I smiled at the greasy gang-banger. "Oh, hey. Yeah, I remember you. I'm Clo." My stomach clenched when I touched his hand to shake it, and he brought his mouth to my hand for a kiss. [[[eww he's so gross]]]
"That was fucked up what you did, swipin' money from my cuz. You're gonna have to pay for that." [[[[fuck......... there's no other word to describe this feeling]]]]
I giggled nervously and took my hand away, going back to grab my drink when Violet suddenly appeared at my side.
"Hey! Leave my girl alone," and shoved Andy.
They exchanged words in Spanish and I closed my eyes for a moment to steady my dizziness. This was all too much. I was so sleepy. And hungry. And guilty.
Someone broke up the exchange between Violet and Andy, so we went back to our table. That's when everything spilled out — my entire confession. I told her about Sage and trying to throw her off our tracks. I told her about how it all started and details of my crimes, exaggerating the emotional moments though she didn't care much about that.
"Why are you telling me this? What do you want?"
I took a deep breath, not thinking, just responding. "Give me more time to figure out what to do..."
"You saw Gabe tonight. He's not giving me much time."
"He gave you a week... just... don't tell him before then. I'm working on a plan."
"Ha. You don't plan. You can't fool me, chica."
"If I could just get into the memory card, I can fabricate a photo for you to use as the evidence."
She blinked, then her nose scrunched up in disgust at me. "You want to frame somebody? Bro, that's fucked up... I'm having no part in that shit."
"Well maybe you could find real evidence that Winters did forge those studies because I'm sure he did. He's such a sleezy corporate douche, he just hid it better than Sage or I could find. But I bet you could find it. And besides, you said you owe me one when I saved your life, remember? Consider this the one." On some level I just knew how to deal with Violet... speak to her anarchist side, give her ego a little boost, sprinkle in a little guilt, she'd be wrapped around my little finger (hopefully 😅).
It took a few seconds of staring at me and thinking, but finally Violet said, "Fine, you have a week. I'll look for the evidence, but if we don't find anything I'm telling Gabe. And I've paid off my debt to you." She held out a hand to shake mine, all matter-of-fact and businesslike.
As I reached towards her, everything began getting hazy. Purple and blue spots. Andy and his bodyguards in the background, watching us. Echos of him promising to get back at me. Blurry. Eyelids heavy. Closing. Darkness. Out.
x-x-x-x
I woke up in a cold sweat, body heavy. As my eyes opened I struggled to gain full vision, wondering where I was. My hair was matted to my face, dress surprisingly still intact, though there was the suspicion that something fucked up happened. Glancing around the room, I noticed that it was oddly familiar, not because I'd been here before, but the aura just seemed like somebody I knew.
Nostrils flaring, I breathed in the scent and immediately a face came to mind — Toby. How did I end up here?
My attention shifted to the culprit that snatched away my sleep — my cell phone vibrating furiously next to me. Despite the pounding headache, I was able to find it and swipe on.
"Yo... what happened last night? Are you alive?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing..." I whispered.
"Bro... I need to show you something... It's not good." When I questioned her about it, she kept her response vague, demanding to know where to find me. A few minutes later, she texted me that she was outside of Toby's place.
By then his alarm had already gone off — time to get ready for running group. Izaak would soon realize I was gone and start calling me in a panic. The unease that settled in my tummy reminded me that there was still another two days left in our agreement, and I was going to be in big trouble for this. I felt like such a teenager.
Toby filled us in on his version of last night's events. I'd called him in a clearly intoxicated state, unable to tell him what was wrong but he could feel the difference in my tone. Violet had been trying to convince me to go with her to Tiffany’s house, but I had insisted on Toby picking me up. I wondered aloud what happened at Dominic's from the time I blacked out until he arrived.
"I'm not sure we really wanna know..." Violet muttered, passing her phone to me so that I could see a text message.
pay up or this video will go viral
"Did you watch it yet?" My lower lip quivered, voice shaky. I was about to start crying. What had I done (or said) on this video?
Violet shook her head, finger hovering over the play button.
"Wait!" Toby interjected. “Whatever’s on that video is serious. You need to tell Gabe and Izaak.”
"No!" I shouted, now looking at him panic-stricken as the icky feeling in my gut gave me a good idea of what I’d confessed to last night. "We can figure something out. I'll get the money. I'll save my paychecks and..."
Toby shook his head. "They're going to find out anyway."
"I'll figure something out but you can't tell them about this!" My eyes began to pool in tears and my lower lip poked out in a plea.
"Then I shouldn't hear anymore. Plausible deniability." He sighed. "Please be careful. Both of you." Then walked out of the room.
Finally, Violet pressed the play button. In the center of the screen, there I was, only me. The red lights made my face discolored, so maybe people wouldn't be able to tell it was me [[[[idk what happens yet]]]]]
"Fuck," I muttered, burying my face in my hands at the sound of myself rattling off crimes I'd committed, some that I didn’t even consciously remember.
"What are we gonna do? This fucker wants his money or he's gonna..."
My phone buzzed loudly, shaking between Violet and me and causing me to jump like a startled cat. I knew who it was before I saw Izaak's photo on the screen.
"Uh oh... sergeant douche is gonna be pissed...."
The grumbling in my tummy agreed with her. I sat there, frozen in place.
"Sis, don't plan what you're gonna say, just answer and go with the flow. You're a pro at that, right?" Then she tossed the phone into my hands.
Trembling I swiped it on and answered.
"Where the hell are you?" Izaak asked sternly with a sigh of relief.
"I remembered a lead on Violet's case and fell asleep at her place while talking about it last night."
"Why did you have to go over there and why didn't you tell me?" It was hard to judge his tone and I yearned to see his face to figure out what he needed me to answer so he'd believe me.
"It was sensitive info and you'd crashed already, I didn't want to wake you. I thought I'd be back before..." I trailed off, realizing that it probably wasn't a good idea to throw myself under the bus for sneaking out. Could it even be called that? How old am I even that I have to worry about this?
Izaak heaved a heavy sigh. "Okay. I'm glad you're okay. It was strange when you weren't here. I wasn't sure what happened."
"Awwww he's worried!" Violet whispered, not bothering to hide the fact that she was eavesdropping on my conversation.
"I'll... see you at home later. I guess I won't make running group..."
"We'll discuss it this evening, kiddo."
x-x-x-x
[[[nervous the whole day, not sure if violet will keep her word, not sure what happened with toby and if i should've even told him, just paranoid that everyone's going to know my secret soon and i don't want to go to jail and lose my family. i feel disappointed in myself and so tired of running. whatever toby said has really started to settle in with me. i still kinda wanna frame someone and get my go-bag ready to run.]]]]]
Izaak didn't mention anything about my sneaking out last night during the entire ride to the beach house, but kept glancing back at me in the rearview mirror.
I sat in the backseat as if I was the kid. Toby didn't question it.
Gabe's car was already in the driveway when we arrived, which wasn't surprising since Izaak always drove exactly 1 mile under the speed limit. As soon as the first door slammed, Molly came running towards us, hands in the air, gigantic smile on her face, waiting for hugs.
When we went into the living room, there was one unfamiliar face. Violet introduced him as her brother. Molly mentioned that he was there since Adam couldn't come.
x-x-x-x
[[[[everything was fine, the trip was smooth despite my anxiety. violet didn't act weird at all and toby was the least uptight i'd ever seen him. vic was really cool and i fit in so easily with the group that i almost forgot about everything until molly said something that prompted Izaak to glance up with curiosity.]]]]
"I thought Chloe stayed with you last night?"
Molly gulped, glancing at me. "I... um..."
"Don't look at her, look at me," Izaak snapped.
When her teary green eyes landed on him, I already knew she'd break. I shrunk into my seat, watching their intense eye contact. Then Izaak slowly turned towards me, causing me to squirm.
"If you weren't with Violet at her apartment, then where were you?"
"Molly just didn't see me..."
"Don't lie to me." When I still didn't answer, he added, "If I have to spank it out of you right here in front of everyone, I will."
Gulping, I mumbled, "Dominic's...."
Normally he would've demanded I speak more clearly, but Gabe heard what I'd said loud and clear. "Excuse me?" His eyes narrowed at Violet. "You went back to that dump? Are you fucking kidding me?"
"I'm sorry," Molly said suddenly. "I didn't mean to make everyone mad..."
"Bro, it's not a big deal, I didn't use any, we just had a few drinks and talked about shit." Not sure who Violet was talking to because she was too busy adding condiments to her tacos.
"We made it clear in the first meeting that neither of you would return to that place." Izaak's tone was getting louder, more irritated. I wasn't sure if he or Gabe would be first to explode.
But I knew Violet would be the one to light the fire. She finally looked up from her food and laughed. "C'mon, you didn't expect me to take that bullshit seriously?"
"I absolutely did expect you to take that bullshit seriously." I flinched Izaak's sharpness towards her, suddenly glad that this side of him never came out towards me. Then he turned to me and his eyes sent butterflies to my tummy. "Where did you go after Dominic's?"
My hesitation prompted Violet to respond instead. "She came home with me. This bitch was drunk AF, I had to carry her ass home. She don't even remember it, just woke up in my...."
Izaak turned back to Violet, cutting her off with just his scowl. As her mouth dropped shut, he looked at me again, waiting for my answer. Telling the truth now would just make everything so much worse... I was sorta-thankful, sorta-bummed that Toby wasn't there to encourage our honesty (because he was just out with Vic in that moment.. idk where they were)... "It's true. I drank too much. I'm sorry."
Now Gabe chimed in. "Under no circumstance are either of you allowed at Dominic's, and that rule was clearly stated. I believe that means you're both getting spanked tonight."
x-x-x-x
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