Going Nowhere At Full Speed

“Bye, I’ll see you tomorrow. Go get some sleep,” Kris said, leaning over and giving Chloe a quick kiss before she opened the door to his car and sleepily walked up the stairs to her apartment. She put her key into the lock, and she found the door opened without her needing to unlock it.

She pushed the door open the rest of the way, a confused look on her face. She peeked around the door inside to see if she could see anyone inside. Maybe they were being robbed or something.

She couldn’t see anyone, and the inside looked normal, so she walked in a little further. As soon as she got past the door, it suddenly slammed shut.

She spun around, her hand on her chest, with her heart beating faster than ever before. There, standing in front of her with a smirk on his face, was none other than Dirk.

Chloe’s eyes went wide with fear, and when she tried to lunge towards the door, Dirk stepped in front of her, blocking it. “You’re not going anywhere,” he told her.

“What are you doing here?” she questioned, trying to stall him, while she tried to think of a way of getting out of her apartment.

He simply looked down. “Obviously, I’m here to take you back home with me,” he said in an obvious tone. “So, go get your things, and let’s go,” he told her.

“You can’t just take me away from here and expect no one to notice. Brent’s going to be here any minute, and he’ll stop you,” she told him, knowing that Brent wasn’t going to be coming back any time soon. He was staying with Ava all night, and there was nothing that was going to get him to leave her side, unless Chloe actually called him, saying that Dirk was in their apartment.

“That’s where I know you’re lying. See, I have a good spy, and she says that your brother is staying in the hospital all night. So, you see, I know that I have plenty of time before I need to get you the fuck out of here. If you want to stay here and argue with me for the next few hours, by all means, go for it. But, that just means that I beat the shit out of you even more when we get home,” he told her seriously.

Chloe’s eyes went wide as she realized he was telling her the truth. “Why?” she choked out, barely able to talk.

“What do you mean why?” Dirk questioned.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked. “Why did you suddenly turn into this person? When Mom was alive, you were this great dad, and as soon as she died, you changed completely,” she told him, as she could feel the tears stinging the back of her eyes.

“Why?” he boomed. “Because you took her away from me!”

“What?” Chloe asked in shock, as the tears threatened to spill down her cheeks. “What are you talking about?”

“Lara, you took her away from me,” Dirk said, and Chloe looked on in shock. He hadn’t spoken her mother’s name in the past four years, ever since she died. “You are the reason that she’s not here right now,” he continued.

Chloe looked at him with a confused expression. “She died in a car accident. How is that my fault?” she questioned.

“She was picking up food for you,” he stated. “You fucking told her that you wanted pizza, and to fucking please you, she went to go get it. If you had just kept your fucking mouth shut, she never would have left; she never would have died!” he said, growing louder with every word.

Chloe couldn’t hold the tears back anymore, and she let them flow freely down her cheeks. She had never thought it was her fault that her mother had died. She had always known that it had been a car accident that had killed her, but now with Dirk telling her everything, she suddenly realized how she could be blamed for the death. “I’m sorry,” she cried. “I’m so sorry.”

“Now you know why I want you to suffer,” he spat at her.

“But, you never did anything until last month,” she told him. “You would always say things to me, but last month, you started hitting me, beating me. Why the sudden change?” she asked. She needed to know the truth, even if she didn’t want to hear it.

“Because, I finally realized that you weren’t suffering enough. I’m sure my words hurt at first, but then, you stopped feeling the pain. I needed to remind you of the pain that I feel every damn day because you took Lara away,” he told her.

Chloe’s tears began falling faster. She didn’t know what to say. After a few seconds, Dirk spoke again. “Get your shit together now, and let’s get going,” he yelled. “Our plane leaves at two in the morning, and I want to get to the airport and through security without having to worry about missing the flight!”

Chloe finally found her voice. “I’m not going with you,” she stated, shaking her head.

“Like hell you’re not!” he boomed. “I’m only going to say this one more time. Get your shit together, or we’ll leave it here. You’re coming with me, even if I have to drag you to the airport by your hair,” he threatened.

Chloe stood, not moving an inch. She knew that he was telling the truth, but she couldn’t just do what he wanted. She needed to stay here in Chicago with Brent; it was actually vital for her life. She watched as Dirk took a step towards her, slapping her across the face with the back of his hand. “Get your shit now!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.

“No,” Chloe said, barely above a whisper. She didn’t know what had come over her, as she knew that Dirk wasn’t going to take her ignoring him lightly, but she felt as if she needed to put up a fight.

“That’s it!” he yelled, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the door. He was pulling so hard, that Chloe would have bet money that he was about to dislocate her shoulder.

“Ouch!” Chloe cried, and as soon as the word left her mouth, she knew it was the wrong thing to say.

Dirk spun around to look at her. “You think this hurts?” he questioned, and Chloe tried crouching down, knowing that his fist was about to make contact with her. “If I could hit you right now and not have bruises form on you before we got through the airport, you better believe, you would barely be breathing right now. But, since I don’t need people questioning me at the airport, you’re saved for right now. But, you better believe that as soon as we get home, you’ll be lucky if you can even breathe, let alone talk back to me!” he screamed. “Now get the hell out of this apartment and down to my car!” he screamed, pushing her towards the door.

“Wait!” Chloe yelled out.

“What?” Dirk questioned.

“What are you going to do when Brent does come back here and finds out that I’m gone. He knows that I would never willingly leave, and he’s going to figure out that I’m back with you,” Chloe pointed out.

“You’re going to tell him that you went willingly,” Dirk told her.

“He knows I’d never do that, though,” she stated.

“Then,” Dirk began, trying to think of a solution. “You’re going to write him a note, telling him that if he comes after you, that you will be in so much pain that you’ll just wish that I kill you,” he told her, pulling her over to the table where a pad of paper and a pen sat. “Now, get to writing!” Dirk screamed.