Going Nowhere At Full Speed

Chloe sat on the airplane, nervously tapping her foot against the floor. She was excited to see Brent again, but she was scared of what would happen when Dirk found out she had disappeared. She was sure he’d be able to eventually figure out that she was in Chicago with Brent. Where else could she have possibly gone?

As the plane landed, Chloe grabbed her purse and walked out to see if she could find Brent. She immediately saw him and ran towards him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest.

“Hey, Chloe. It’s good to see you!” Brent smiled as she pulled her head away. “Oh my god!” he cried when he saw her bruised face. “Did he just hit you in your face?”

Chloe shook her head. “No, he pretty much hit me anywhere his fist decided to go,” she said as she held her stomach. “He was drunk,” she added, even though it wasn’t necessary.

“I promise, I’m not going to let him lay another hand on you,” Brent told her.

“Thanks,” Chloe said with a half-smile.

“So, you feel like seeing your new home?” Brent asked.

“Yeah,” Chloe told him as she followed him out to his car.

“Do you want me to take you to a doctor or something?” Brent asked as he pulled out of the parking space. “I mean, I don’t know how much pain you’re in, but it looks pretty bad.”

“It looks worse than it is. I just want to go to sleep,” she told him as she leaned her head against the cold window.

Brent nodded his head and continued driving towards his apartment. Twenty minutes later, they had finally arrived, and Brent looked over to see that Chloe was asleep. He didn’t want to wake her up, but he knew he had to get her inside. He lightly touched her arms, careful of the newly formed bruises, trying to get her to wake up.

Chloe stirred, and looked over at Brent. “Are we here?” she asked.

“Yeah, come on,” he said, getting out of the car.

They walked up the flight of stairs to his apartment and saw his neighbor unlocking her door. “Hey, Brent,” she smiled.

“Hey, Ava, this is my sister, Chloe,” he introduced. “Chloe, this is my neighbor, Ava.”

“Hi,” Chloe said with a small wave.

“Are you okay?” Ava asked, looking at all the bruises on Chloe.

“I’ll be fine,” Chloe said, wincing as she accidentally hit the edge of the door. “But, thank you,” she added.

“If you’re sure,” Ava told her.

“I’m sure,” Chloe assured her as she made her way into the apartment.

“I’ll explain everything later,” Brent quickly told Ava before he went into the apartment after Chloe.

“She seems nice,” Chloe smiled.

“Ava?” Brent asked. “Oh, yeah, she is. Well, let’s get you to your room,” he told her walking down the hallway to a door at the end on the right side. “Here it is,” he said, opening the door. “If you need anything, I’ll be right across the hall,” he added, pointing to the door on the left. “Go ahead and get some sleep, and we’ll worry about getting you some clothes tomorrow, okay?”

“Thanks, Brent,” Chloe told him, giving him a hug. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I should have never left you there by yourself with him.”

“You had to,” Chloe insisted. “I mean, you were drafted by the Blackhawks. It was your dream to play in the NHL. You couldn’t stay in Canada with me.”

“Go get some sleep,” he told her as she walked back inside the bedroom and collapsed on the bed.

Chloe woke up the next morning to hear raised voices coming from out in the living room. She slowly walked out there to see Brent and some blonde haired girl arguing with each other.

“Destiny, she’s my sister!” Brent exclaimed, trying to keep his voice down, not knowing Chloe was up. “I wasn’t going to let her stay with him!”

“So, you offer her to come here? Brent, I was supposed to move in!” she whined.

“We had never talked about that. You just assumed you were going to move in,” Brent reminded her.

“And now there’s no chance of that since she’s here!” Destiny yelled.

“Can you keep your voice down?” Brent asked her. “She’s trying to sleep.”

“Actually, I’m awake,” Chloe spoke up. Brent turned around to see her leaning against the wall.

“How long have you been standing there?” he questioned. He didn’t want her to have heard all the things Destiny had just said.

“Like thirty seconds,” Chloe laughed. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“Oh,” Brent said. “Chloe, this is my girlfriend, Destiny. Destiny, this is my sister, Chloe.”

“Nice to meet you,” Chloe smiled, while Destiny just growled at her in disgust.

“Destiny!” Brent chastised.

“Nice to meet you, too,” she replied in a fake voice.

“So,” Brent said, trying to avoid a fight between the two girls. “You need some clothes, right, Chloe?” he asked, and Chloe nodded her head. “Well, what do you say we all go shopping?” he asked, looking at Chloe and Destiny.

“Um, no,” Destiny said quickly. “I’ve got…other things to do,” she said. “But, call me when you get back, and maybe we can spend some time together,” she told Brent as she walked towards the door.

“Bye,” Brent called after her, and Destiny shut the door behind her.

“She seems…nice,” Chloe told him unconvincingly.

Brent just looked over at her. “So, you want to go shopping?”

“Sure,” Chloe said as she grabbed her purse.

“So, I have to say, I don’t really know too much about girls’ clothing, so I don’t know how much help I’m going to be,” he told her as they walked out the door, and he locked the door behind him. “That’s why I wanted Destiny to go with us. But, apparently, she had other things to do today.”

“So, I heard,” Chloe smiled as she saw Ava walking up the stairs. “Hey, Ava,” she smiled. “Sorry I wasn’t too friendly last night. I was just really tired,” Chloe told her.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ava replied. Brent had come back and explained to her Chloe’s situation, so she knew why she wasn’t exactly open and friendly the previous night. “So, where are you two off to?” she asked, looking between Chloe and Brent.

“We’re going shopping,” Chloe replied. “Do you want to come with us?”

“No thanks,” Ava said. “I wouldn’t want to interrupt brother-sister bonding time,” she added jokingly.

“Actually,” Brent said. “I’d really appreciate it if you’d come with us. I know absolutely nothing about girls and their clothes, and Destiny has other things to do.”

Ava thought about it for a moment before saying, “Sure, I’d love to come.”