𝖕𝖗𝖎𝖒𝖊𝖉 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖘𝖎𝖓 • 𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖆𝖓 𝖗𝖊𝖎𝖌𝖓𝖘

41.

Chloe
It's been a few days ever since I last heard from Joe and I started to grow worried. Although he told me that he wanted me to stay with Emma until he was finished with finalizing the house, I still couldn't help but to worry about him and I also had work in the morning.

I looked out the window as the Toronto weather became foggy with a thunderstorm on top of that. I allowed a deep sigh to escape from my mouth and I looked down at my knees as they were bunched up against my stomach as I continued to sit on the bed.

I tried listening to music, watching some of my favorite Netflix series but none of that was a distraction for me. I glanced around at my phones clock every other minute and was missing Joe even more.

"Hey girl, I just wanted to tell you goodnight and..."

Emma was quick to notice the tears beginning to well up in my eyes from the moment she walked into the room. I haven't heard from Joe in days and I was starting to worry myself to death.

"Chloe, what's wrong?"

I sniffled, "I'm just missing Joe tonight. It's been a few days since I last heard from him."

"Girl, Joe loves you so much and you and I both know that he's finalizing the house and he's probably wanting to make sure that it's all perfect for you by the time you arrive."

"You're right." I sighed, "Maybe I'm just overthinking things like before."

"I know and you know that Joe is nowhere close to that fucking moron. You have a good man, Chloe, and that's a blessing considering everything you've gone through."

"That's true. I'm just worried about him, Emma."

"You can always call him or even send him a text. I'm sure he's also missing you too."

"I guess that wouldn't hurt."

I pulled out my phone for the millionth time and decided to send Joe a message before heading off to sleep.

Joe. I've been worried about you for the past few days and I hope that you're doing well. I know you wanted me to stay with Emma because you have a surprise for me regarding the house and I can't help but to worry about you. I haven't heard from Colby or Rebecca either. Please send me a message or FaceTime me when you can. I love you, Joe.

After pressing send, I looked down at my feet and then back at Emma.

"Girl, I promise he'll message you back. Give him some time and he'll definitely respond, alright?"

"Okay. I'll wait, hopefully he'll text me in the morning before I head into work."

"He definitely should by then. Don't worry!"

Emma left the room and I laid down in my bed, gathering my thoughts and staring at the blank ceiling. Joe was always messaging me and making sure that I was fine. What happened?

Morning

When morning approached, I woke up with the sun beaming into my eyes through the curtain. Tired, I sat up from the bed and rubbed my eyes nonchalantly. I glanced over at my phone on my nightstand and I didn't get a single notification from Joe the entire night.

I looked at our chat and it was still on delivered. I couldn't help but to overthink the unimaginable as I ran my fingers through my hair.

"Wake up, sleepyhead!"

Emma once again noticed the sadness written all over my face and her face grew from happy to concerned within seconds.

"Chloe, did he ever message you back?"

"No." I shook my head, "I'm still left on delivered and I know he's on his phone at times but I won't bother messaging him. He clearly wants his space, it seems."

"Now Chloe, I..."

"What?"

"Do you want your breakfast?"

I sighed, "Yeah. What did you make?"

"Bacon and scrambled eggs."

"Alright, that sounds good with me. I'm gonna eat and then head off to work."

"Sounds like a plan."

I spent the entire morning eating the breakfast that Emma had cooked for me and also got dressed for work. I haven't worked in forever due to my injuries and thankfully I was excited to work for the time being.

Deep down, I wasn't happy about Joe not letting me know if he was okay or not. After starting my car, I drove over to my workplace and finally clocked in thirty minutes later.

"Chloe! It's so good to see you again!"

"It's good to see you too, Vanessa! How's work been since I've been gone for awhile?"

She sighed heavily, "It's been a literal mess, Chloe! We recently had a sale on bras and panties and let me tell you, those teenage girls were chaotic over the entire sale. There was multiple pairs thrown across the store and we even had to break up a fight between two of them."

"They're acting like it's Black Friday. Usually there's tons of people who fight on that day over some good deals."

"Right? And not just that, but work was so stressful without you to where I tried calling the boss to see if they'd want to help but she didn't want to! It was such a mess without you, girl. I'm so glad that you're back!"

"I'm glad too. I'm so sorry that I left and all of this chaos happened. If I didn't get injured, I'd..."

"What exactly happened? Your friend, Emma, said that somebody tried to kill you?"

Shit, she must've spilled that to Vanessa while I was laying in the hospital bed.

"Unfortunately, yes. I'm not hurt anymore but I did survive a bullet almost through my chest and I had a semi-broken rib for awhile. Thankfully that bullet didn't go through my heart because I would've died instantly."

Her jaw dropped, "Chloe! Why didn't anyone tell me? I would've taken my ass to the hospital without a question. I would've risked my job just to come check on you!"

"I barely had my phone with me the entire time I was in the hospital."

"It's okay girl. Just please stay safe out there! There's so many creeps who are willing to hurt a woman like you. I mean, you're drop dead gorgeous and I can see you becoming one of the biggest fashion models for Victoria's Secret someday!"

"And I'm gonna make that dream come true, Vanessa. Mark my words!"

"You bet you'll make them dreams come true because I'm gonna pick that ass back up if you ever doubt yourself. You hear me?"

I laughed, "I hear you. I'm thankful to have a friend like you. Thank you for caring about me and again, I apologize for not being able to get in touch while I was out at the hospital."

"You're perfectly fine! Life's weird like that but at least you're still alive and doing well. That's all that truly matters in the end."

"You're right." I smiled.

While working, I was still overthinking about Joe and his sudden whereabouts. Where was he? When it was time for my break, I pulled out my phone and still no messages or missed calls from him. I also didn't want to make any bad assumptions.

What the fuck was going on?