Page 70 of Vitamin Sea
Once again, it was so strange to Chloe that her boss, whom she didn’t spend time with outside work, who she relied on for a pay cheque, was able to get to the root of the issue and provide her with the most valuable insight.
???
Chloe’s friends were spread out in the living room, with she and Lala on the couch and Opal and Alejandra occupying the two accent chairs. A massive charcuterie board sat on the coffee table in front of them and deep house music played softly in the background.
“If you do decide to give things with Liam another go,” Opal counseled her, “you would need to have all the information.”
Alejandra nodded. “Agreed. You need to know everything. Every dirty little detail. How he moved on so quickly, if he was having an affair, why he broke up with you in such a bad way, what made him realize he made a mistake. Everything.”
They gossiped over drinks and snacks well into the night, and a good portion of it was about Chloe and the situation she was in. By the end of the night, she was exhausted, and her friends left just before 11 p.m. Which was far past her bedtime.
She would be spending the next day writing. She was on a deadline for her Costa Morpho article, and she hadn’t even started it.
Which was strange in a way because of the phenomenal time she had had there. She supposed her procrastination likely had something to do with her current situation.
The next morning, she brewed herself a cup of strong coffee and sat down at her laptop.
She stared at the screen for an hour, unsure of where to start, when a text message popped up on her phone from Jack.
Just checking in, Chlo,it read.I know you’re writing today—let me know if you want to grab dinner later x.
Not wanting to give in to distraction, she turned her phone so the screen faced the desk and, minutes later, a beep indicated she had another message.
She scrunched her face to the side and picked up the device.
I know I said I would give you space, but I wanted to see if I could take you for dinner tonight, Chlo. I’m committed to this. I want you back.
Liam.
She put her phone on silent and pushed it away. Then, she put her hands on the keyboard and started typing.
Two hours later she sat back and read over what she had written. It was a good start, she thought happily.
She picked up her phone and reread both Jack’s and Liam’s messages before she typed back.
I would love to.
Chapter 21: The Great Escape
Fall in Love at Costa Morpho. It was the article for the latest issue ofStrut.She had fallen in love with the resort, yes, and she had fallen in loveatthe resort.
If someone had told her six months ago that she would end up on assignment at a naturist resort and would not only enjoy her time there, but find new love, she would have asked them what they were smoking.
The day she had written the first draft of the feature, she had gone out for dinner with Jack. Liam hadn’t taken the news that she already had plans well. The funny thing was, she agreed to go for dinner with Jack because he was the one who had asked her first. If Liam had beaten Jack to the punch, she would have opted for dinner with him—reservations about his character and getting back together be damned.
A few days later, she had gone out for dinner with Liam again. Taking the advice her girlfriends had given her to heart, she had put Liam through the fifth degree.
They had dinner at a little English pub on the east side of
the city. It was an inconvenient location for both of them, but it had great food and a cozy environment.
Over appetizers and wine, she questioned him.
“Help me understand,” she had started off, “how you moved on so quickly?”
Liam’s eyes flicked to the left before he met her eyes.
“I wasn’t thinking with my head, to be honest,” he said sincerely. “Sophia had been coming onto me for months and because we were spending so much time together, we developed an emotional relationship. She started confiding in me, flattering me, talking about her ex. Saying how she wished she had such a dedicated, supportive, and hard-working boyfriend as me . . .” He trailed off.
