Behind the Screen

Chapter 29

I was trying not to think too much about what Emily had said, but it had kind of been a mood killer on our night.

"Let's watch a movie or something," Emily said, "and hopefully you'll forget about the dumb ass comment that I made."

"Emily it's fine," I said with a laugh, "I promise, I know you're just looking out for me."

"Okay..." she said hesitantly, "just making sure."

"All good," I said, "I'm not worried."

"Good," she responded, "but let's watch a movie anyway."

We picked something out to watch, and it seemed like we both eventually forgot about our earlier conversation.

Her comments were still in the back of my mind, but I knew that once her and Chloe met, she would see what I had.

***

By the time Monday came around, I was actually somewhat excited to go to work, because I wanted to see Chloe.

We had talked on and off for the rest of the weekend, but it was like I couldn't get enough.

"Morning," I said to her as I stepped inside of her office.

"Hey, morning," she said as she looked up from her computer and smiled.

I quietly shut the door behind me and walked over to her. I put my hands on either side of her chair and leaned down to kiss her.

"You know it's going to be pretty obvious that something is going on if you walk into my office and shut the door all the time," Chloe grinned.

"Well," I started, "maybe that's not such a bad thing."

I sat down on the edge of her desk as she looked up at me.

"I thought you didn't want to tell anyone here," Chloe said.

"I didn't before but - I don't know, maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing if people knew," I said, "it might make our lives easier."

Chloe had an uneasy look on her face, and it wasn't making me feel great.

"I don't know Katie," she sighed, "it's got nothing to do with you, or with us, I swear."

"But?" I asked.

"But I am your boss," she continued, "I don't know how that's going to look to other people."

"I guess I didn't think you'd care about that," I said as I looked down in her direction.

"I don't care what people think in general, but - " she paused, "when it comes to my job, and yours, I don't want to mess anything up."

I nodded and looked away, still unsure how to feel about this conversation.

"Hey," Chloe said as she put her hand on my leg, "I like you, and I'll go around and tell anyone and everyone that we're together...just not at work, okay?"

She could just be telling me all of this to make me feel better, but I was choosing to believe her.

"Okay," I nodded.

"Let's do something again this weekend," she said, trying to steer the conversation in another direction.

"Yeah, sure, we can do that," I agreed.

"Okay, we'll figure something out soon," Chloe said.

I nodded as I stood up from her desk and started towards the door.

Chloe got up and grabbed on to my hand before I could leave.

"You sure you're okay?" She asked me.

"Yeah, I am," I told her.

"Okay, good," she said.

She leaned in and quickly kissed me before I opened the door and walked over to my office.

I got where she was coming from, and I was probably overthinking things, but it still didn't make me feel great.

***

I thought about calling Emily after work that day and telling her about Chloe and I's conversation, but I didn't want to give her any reason to say "I told you so."

She wouldn't say it, but I wondered if she'd be thinking it. The thought was enough to keep me from telling her for now.

Once I got home for the day, I put my things down on the counter and was getting ready to go back to my room to change. Before I could make it out of the kitchen, there was a knock on my front door.

I stopped and turned towards the sound, trying to figure out who it would be. I walked over and slowly opened it to find Chloe standing on the other side.

"Chloe, hey, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Don't sound so excited," she grinned, "do you mind if I come in?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," I said as I stepped aside and held the door open, "I'm just surprised to see you, we did like...just leave work."

"I know," she said, "but I felt bad about our conversation this morning and I thought it would be easier to talk about it somewhere besides the office."

"Probably true," I nodded, "but don't feel bad, really, it's fine."

"You don't sound like it's fine," she said as she looked at me, "I can tell it's bothering you."

"It's not - yeah okay," I sighed, "it did bother me, I know it's not a big deal, but it did."

Chloe came over to where I was standing and took my hand.

"Katie it's not like I'm ashamed of you or don't want people to know we're together or anything," she said, "the only reason that I don't want to tell people at the office is because of our jobs, that's it, I promise."

"I know, and I get it," I said, "I guess it just - I don't know, it kind of threw me off."

"I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to cause you so much stress," Chloe said to me.

She let go of my hand and put her arms around my waist. The familiar smell of her perfume hung in the air as she looked at me.

"It's really okay Chloe," I said, "it makes sense."

"Are you sure?" She asked me, "like sure, sure?"

"Yes," I grinned, "I'm sure, sure, but I appreciate you coming to check."

"Alright, good," Chloe said quietly as she brought her lips close to mine.

"Were you just going to come over here and kiss me into submission if I said I wasn't okay with it?" I teased her.

"Maybe..." she said.

"Damn," I responded, "missed opportunity, maybe I changed my mind and I need some convincing."

"That could probably be arranged," Chloe said as her lips grazed against mine.

She kissed me slowly as she pulled me closer to her.

"You're a little too convincing," I said after she pulled back.

"It's a talent," Chloe joked.

"I can tell," I said, "hey, stay for dinner since you're here?"

"I can't tonight, I'm sorry," she said as dropped her arms from around my waist, "rain check soon?"

"Yeah, rain check," I nodded.

She walked towards the front door and grabbed her things again before pulling it open.

"See you tomorrow," Chloe said as she gave me a small wave and walked out.

I waved back and shut the door behind her as I leaned against it.

It convincing me that everything was okay is what she wanted to do, she had definitely succeeded.

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