Page 38 of Vitamin Sea
“Yeah,” Liam had responded, shifting his gaze to the T.V.
Unsatisfied, Chloe, trying to maintain an air of nonchalance, asked what Sophia looked like. At that, Liam’s ears went pink—a telltale sign that he was uncomfortable with the conversation—and he shrugged.
“I don’t know. Blonde. Tall.”
“Does she have a boyfriend or a husband?” she asked, struggling to keep her tone neutral.
“I don’t know.” Liam shrugged, his attention still focused on the television screen, which was showing an infomercial for a kitchen gadget.
Chloe had pursed her lips together. Tall, blonde, someone he was spending a lot of time with and who he kept talking about, and he didn’t know if she had a partner.
A couple of weeks later she had broached the subject of Sophia again. Under questioning, Liam had blown a fuse and stormed out of their condo. He slept over at Karam’s place that night.
After that, Liam stopped talking about his coworker, and Chloe, too afraid of setting him off, didn’t bring her up again until the night of the failed anniversary dinner. And while Sophia’s name was kept out of Chloe’s mouth, that woman’s presence weighed heavily on her mind.
Of course, she still didn’t have any proof that Sophia was the cause of Liam’s sudden change of heart. But she didn’t know what else it could be. The timing seemed suspicious—she had started working with him six months ago, which was right around the time his physical and emotional absence had started.
She thought back to Opus and his response to being asked about whether he was sleeping with Sophia. He had denied it, but Chloe didn’t believe him. What else could have happened six months ago to have caused such a change?
One week later, Chloe had called Liam’s friend, Karam. The dark-haired banker worked at a boutique wealth-management firm in a building close toStrut.One thing she was thankful for was that the bank Liam worked for had changed office buildings a little over one year ago. This, at least, ensured that she wouldn’t have to worry about seeing him in her work lobby or in the elevators.
“Chloe.” Karam sounded hesitant. “Hi.”
Of course he wasn’t thrilled to hear from her. He was Liam’s friend. And Liam was where his loyalty lay. Still, she wanted to talk to him. If Liam had been cheating on her, she wanted to know. And besides, Karam could have let her call go to voicemail. The fact that he had picked up gave her the tiniest bit of hope that he would honestly answer her question.
“Hi,” she said back, her voice wobbly.
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
“Karam, I have to know. Please tell me. Is Liam with Sophia? Is that why he broke up with me?”
The silence from Karam’s end was deafening.
“Karam?” she said, her voice breaking.
“Chloe, look . . .” he said after a second, sounding uncomfortable. “I—it’s not any of my business. I’m sorry. It’s not my place to tell.”
“Oh my god.” Her heart dropped as water welled up in her eyes. “He is. I knew it. Oh my god. How could he do this to me?” She started sobbing.
“Wait! No!” Karam sounded panicked. “I didn’t say that! They aren’t together . . . I don’t think they’re together.”
Hearing that didn’t buoy her feelings like she had hoped. It just caused her to ruminate for different reasons. Was Karam telling the truth? He had primarily been Liam’s friend, yes. But five years of birthdays, barbeques, and forced group chats had to count for something.
Right?
And if Liam hadn’t dumped her for Sophia, then what was the real reason behind it?
She believed he had broken up with her due to ‘growing apart’ about as much as she believed that Elvis was alive and running a Tim Hortons in Ontario.
Present
Chapter 10: Dinner With Jack
"Are you okay!?”
The sound of Lala’s panicked voice jolted Chloe out of her slumber.
“Mmm?” she responded sleepily, her eyes still closed. It felt like she had just had the best sleep of her life. She was still wearing the fluffy robe and, from the Dracula sleep position she was in, it appeared that she hadn’t moved a muscle all night.
