Break Your Little Heart

“Do they know that she’s here?” Carla had Zack cornered in the kitchen the moment she heard the faint click of Chloe’s door closing.

“No. She doesn’t want them to.”

“Are you going to tell them?”

“I don’t know.” Zack let out a heavy sigh and dragged his hand down his face.

“They’re going to want to see her, Zack. They’ll figure it out for themselves somehow and come barreling through my front door to find her. You’re going to have to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Zack’s eyes snapped up to meet his mother’s stern look.

“Would it really be so bad for them to see her again?” Zack asked desperately. “They love her, Mom. It’s not fair for her to just shut them out like that. They miss her.”

“That is not your decision to make, Zachary.” Carla said firmly. “I’d love for you all to be together again, but Chloe is an adult and she makes her own choices.” Carla’s face sagged, her eyes misting over slightly as she continued. “I just got her back, Zack. And I only have her for 10 days. I’m not going to let you or anyone else scare her off before my time is up. I won’t have her running back to Oli without even being able to spend time with her properly. I go long enough without seeing the two of you. I deserve whatever little time I get.”

A heavy feeling of guilt settled in Zack’s stomach as he watched his mom walk away. He knew he didn’t see his parents as often as they wanted him to. Hell, he didn’t even see them as often as he wanted to. And he knew they saw even less of Chloe, especially after her move overseas. With a groan, Zack turned and began knocking his head against the kitchen cupboards.

“She’s right you know.” Zack glanced over his shoulder at his father, who was now standing in the doorway. “You can’t tell the boys that Chloe’s back. And you can’t make her see them.”

“I know, Dad.” Zack groaned, burying his head in his hands to prevent himself from banging it against the cupboards again.

“But that doesn’t mean you have to go out of your way to prevent them from seeing each other.” Zack raised his head slowly, staring at his father with a skeptical expression. Mark shrugged.

“I’m just saying.”

And without another word he turned, leaving a very confused Zack to ponder what had just been suggested.

***
Three days later Chloe found herself bundled up in the passenger’s side seat of Zack’s car on her way to a photo shoot. It was earlier and colder than she was comfortable with and Zack was entirely too chipper for her liking. Chloe wanted nothing more than to go back to the house and bury herself under 10 pounds of blankets, but when Mark called her yesterday and practically begged for her to stand in for some model at a local GK shoot she couldn’t tell him no. He had been so good to her, even when she had been acting like a straight up brat her first few days back in LA. She owed him. So, she had forced herself out of bed at the ass crack of dawn, thrown on as many layers as possible and convinced Zack to drive her to some small studio rented for the day. Although, surprisingly enough, getting her cousin to give her a lift had been the easiest part of her morning. An odd feeling in the depths of Chloe’s brain was nagging at her that something was off about that, but she hadn’t had enough coffee to deal with that feeling just yet.

Zack finally pulled up in front of the fairly nondescript building. Chloe braced herself and quickly climbed out of the car. The cold December wind slapped her right in the face and Chloe let out a whine, gloved fingers reaching to pull her scarf up over her nose. Zack chuckled, walking over and wrapping his arm around her thin frame. Chloe eyed him suspiciously out of the corner of her eye as he began whistling softly, leading them both towards the front door.

The heat of the inside of the building had Chloe peeling off her scarf, hat and gloves immediately. Zack’s hands were outstretched to collect them without Chloe even having to ask. She slowly popped the snaps open on Oli’s jacket and Zack let out a chuckle. Chloe raised an eyebrow.

“Do you own any clothing that isn’t Oli’s?” Chloe glanced down at her sweater.

“This isn’t Oli’s.” Now Zack raised an eyebrow. Chloe giggled. “Well it’s not anymore.” Zack rolled his eyes playfully before giving Chloe back her winter wear.

“Alright Miss Model, you go smile for those cameras and I’ll go get us some coffee.”

“You’re a saint.” Chloe smiled before placing a quick kiss to Zack’s cheek and heading towards the back where she could hear the shuffling of other models and crew members.

Chloe felt a sense of home wash over her as she got close enough to smell the hair irons and perfume. She slipped into the hair and make-up room and quietly made her way towards the rack labeled with her name. The clothing for the shoot was already hanging up with a spare hanger for her own clothing. Chloe removed Oli’s jacket and placed it on the hanger. Arms wrapped around her shoulders, spinning her around. Chloe grinned at the familiar face in front of her, throwing herself into his arms.

“Ari!”

“Chloe!”

“What are you doing here?”

“Mark sent the whole team out for the shoot. It’s a pretty big one.” Chloe gave him a questioning look. Ari gasped dramatically. “You mean he didn’t tell you?”

“No, he was too busy begging me to fill in for Katrina or whatever that flaky bitch’s name is.”

Ari laughed lightly before grinning at her in a way that had Chloe squirming in her own skin.

“What do you know that I don’t, Ari?”

“Oh nothing. I’ve got to set up my chair for you so take a quick peak at the clothes.” He winked and then scurried away.

Chloe scowled at his retreating back. If there was one thing she absolutely hated it was when she was sent to work for important clients and not told in advance. Somewhat angrily she began flipping through the hangers. Two shirts in her fingers came to a dead stop. Chloe stared, wide eyed, at the article of clothing in front of her. The room suddenly felt too small. Chloe felt her chest tightening. Her body turned without Chloe ever making the decision to do so and she found herself practically sprinting out the door. She had absolutely no idea where she was going, but her legs somehow managed to carry her to a deserted hallway far away from everyone else. She slid down the wall, slumping onto the cold floor. She took a few moments to gather herself before unlocking her phone and dialing Mark’s number.

“Chloe? What’s wrong? Aren’t you supposed to be at the shoot?”

“I’m not doing this shoot, Mark.”

“What!? Why?”

“You know why!”

“Chloe, c’mon. You’re the only one I have. I’m relying on you!”

“I don’t give a flying fuck. Go ahead and fire me or blacklist me or whatever it is you want to do. I’m not doing this shoot.”

“Please, Chloe, I need you. I even sent you a surprise to make up for it.”

“The fact that you sent Ari here is not going to change my mind.”

“Not just Ari. I sent Holiday too.”

“What?!” Chloe’s screech was cut off by another, louder voice.

“CHLOEEEEEEEEE!”

“Ah, so she’s arrived.”

“I’m still not doing this fucking shoot, Mark.”

“Awh, don’t you like my clothes, Chlobo?”

Chloe froze again, her hand dropping from her ear, the phone almost slipping through her fingers. Slowly, she turned her head and looked up into the puppy dog eyes of the one and only Jack Bassam Barakat.