Chasing His Kickass Luna Back

#Chapter 25 - Chole Argues

Abby

At least she whispers it. I glance around, but none of my employees seem to have heard her. I shush

her, grabbing her arm.

Karl smirks. “Chloe.”

She glowers at him. “Karl.”

“You’ll be working with Jack again,” I say to Karl, squeezing Chloe’s arm a little. The last thing I need is

for them to make a scene. “Listen to what he says this time, okay?”

Karl nods. “Sure boss.”

I watch him walk away, then turn to Chloe. “Come with me,” I hiss.

She follows me to my office. I turn to face her, not bothering to close the door. I don’t have enough time

to get into this right now, anyway.

“What are you doing here?” I ask. “Are you here for dinner?”

She crosses her arms. “Don’t change the subject. Why is he here? Since when are you guys even

talking?”

I cringe. It dawns on me that I haven’t seen her recently, and she has no idea that Karl’s been hanging

around. I guess Leah never spilled the beans either. Based on the look on her face, I have a lot of

explaining to do.

“Look,” I start. I honestly have no idea what to say. The look on Chloe’s face makes me want to cower

a little. “He’s just helping out for the time being. He was there when all my employees quit, and he just

wants to make things a little easier for me.”

She doesn’t look very convinced. “He just wants to help,” she repeats, sounding somewhat disgusted.

“Yeah, that sounds like him.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” I can tell by her tone, though, that she doesn’t mean anything good. I

always thought Leah disliked him more, but I guess I was wrong. She took the news that he’s back a lot

better than Chloe currently is.

The sad thing is, Chloe and Karl always got along when we were married. I’ve known Chloe for a long

time, and she’s one of the few friends who stuck with me when I stopped being a Luna. She was never

fake like some of the others.

I can still remember how shocked she was when I told her we were getting a divorce. “I thought you’d

be together forever,” she had said. At the time, I thought so too. But things change, and I’ve come to

accept that now. I understand that she’s just looking out for me, but she seems to have forgotten how

much she liked Karl at the beginning.

“Seriously, Abby.” She shakes her head. “Come on. What’s the ulterior motive? I know he’s got one.

And you know he’s got one, too, even if he hasn’t admitted it yet.”

I look down, weighing my words. If I come clean, I know I’m only going to paint his motives in a worse

light. But, then again, maybe he doesn’t have the best motives for being here in the first place. There’s

no reason for me to try to make him look better than he really is.

“He maybe, kind of, wants to get back together,” I admit.

The look she gives me almost makes me want to cower. I knew she wouldn’t support my decision to

allow him back into my life, even if it’s just to help me out for a few days, but I didn’t expect her to look

this unnerved. I’ve been putting off telling her because I had a feeling she’d react this way. I can tell by

the look on her face that she thinks I might actually take him back.

“You’re not thinking about it, are you?” she says.

“No.” I cross my arms. “We’re never getting back together. I promise.” Even as I say the words, though,

something sits heavy in my chest.

She stares hard at me. I don’t think she believes me. Not that I really blame her. I’m not even sure if I

believe it myself. There’s a part of me that thinks as I say the words that I’m not just trying to convince

her, but that I’m trying to convince the both of us.

“Just don’t forget all the shit he put you through,” she says, sounding exasperated. “I was there after

the divorce. You were broken, and unless I’m mistaken, your wolf still isn’t awake.”

“I don’t know if I would say broken.”

“You wouldn’t get out of bed,” she argues.

I try not to think too much about the weeks immediately following the divorce, but I know she’s right.

Like my wolf, I spent most of my time asleep. I was shocked and heartbroken. My marriage was ending

for no reason that I could think of,and I had to mourn that relationship. I lost weight, lost time, lost my

mind. But I got over the other side of it, and I’ve made a life for myself since then. Heartbreak sucks,

but it made me a stronger person. In a way, I’m glad that it happened. But it doesn’t mean that I’ll ever

go back to Karl.

“I remember,” I say. “I promise I’m not getting back together with him.”

She gestures around at the restaurant like it’s the ultimate proof. “He can’t just weasel his way back

into your life now,” she says. “Look at how far you’ve come! Look at all you’ve accomplished! If you let

him back in, he’ll just destroy all of it.”

“I haven’t forgotten any of that, but that doesn’t mean I can’t take his help when he offers it now,” I say.

“I could use the help.”

Chloe sighs. “I just worry that one day you’re taking his help, and the next you’re taking him back,” she

answers. “It’s not like it was a mutual decision for you two to get a divorce. Unless you keep your guard

up, he’ll just start manipulating you, and then you’ll be exactly where you were before.”

I frown, slightly put off by Chloe’s words. Is that who she really thinks I am? A weak little girl who would

go running back to her ex husband when she’s got a perfectly good fiancee at home? “That’s never

going to happen,” I say, unable to hide the hint of annoyance in my voice. “What will it take for you to

believe me?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess only time will tell.”

I check the clock in the office, and frown. I’ve only got a few minutes until my customers start to arrive.

“We’re opening soon. I don’t have time to get into this right now.”

She nods but pins me with a stare. “But we’re going to talk about it more later.”

“Fine,” I say with a resigned sigh. “Now, what was it you were here for? Before you Karl distracted you.”

She smiles, finally relaxing a little. “Well, I heard that you’re still looking for a good bartender.”

I nod. One of the waiters has been working behind the bar, but he’s pretty slow. I don’t think he’s ever

worked behind a bar before.

“I was thinking I could come work here for a while. I’m in between things now, and I used to work as a novelbin

bartender a few years back.” I nod. I remember the bar she used to work at. Karl and I would go there

sometimes if he had a free night.

“That would be amazing!”

“Great.”

I start to tell her where she can find an extra uniform, when Karl pokes his head into the room, softly

rapping on the edge of the doorframe with his knuckles.

I jump a little, turning to face him. Chloe turns around and pins him with a glare, her arms crossed.

“Ethan was looking for you,” he says, ignoring Chloe completely. She’s still glaring at him, and I know

he’s more than aware. “He needs you at the front desk, I think.”

“Alright.”

I look back at Chloe. “Go find Andrew. He’s working behind the bar right now. He’ll get you a uniform

and get you started. You can work together tonight while you’re getting used to things, then I’ll have

you back there by yourself.”

——————

Chloe approaches the table with three glasses balanced between her hands. She puts them down and

slides them across to us.

“Thanks,” I say, taking a sip.

“I’m glad we’re doing this.” Chloe gives me a pointed look. “We needed a girl’s night.” Leah’s too busy

looking around the bar to notice Chloe’s expression. “Yeah, me too,” Leah says.

Unfortunately, I have the sense that Chloe is partly here because she’s not satisfied with our

conversation today. She clearly didn’t believe me when I said I have no intention of getting back

together with Karl.

Maybe she thinks she can get Leah on her side so they can gang up on me.