Trustfall

Chloe was just finishing her shift at the café when her phone rang. She brushed the loose hairs escaping her ponytail behind her ear and answered, balancing the phone between her chin and shoulder while loading the last cups in the dishwasher.

“Hey, are we still on for eight?” Stephanie’s voice came through the receiver.

“Yes, I am literally just finishing up.” Chloe rolled her eyes.

“Great, I will go ahead and get us a table. We will get trashed!” she yelled.

Chloe hung up, shaking her head and chuckling. Stephanie had been asking her to go out for the last few days, but Chloe just wasn’t in the mood. Carlo had been coming home late every night this week without explanation. She glanced at her phone for what felt like the thousandth time today. No new texts. A whole day without a word from her boyfriend. She shoved her phone in her back pocket and tried to push away the knot tightening in her stomach. She had to finish up and meet Stephanie.

Chloe finally locked the door of the café and pulled out her phone to look up the directions to the bar. She normally worked at the café on campus, but her boss had been asking her to take late shifts at the location in town lately. It was later evenings but better money since she had to lock up, so she wasn’t about to refuse. She tightened her coat around her, trying to block out the cold autumn wind and followed the directions on her phone.

After fifteen minutes of walking, Chloe was certain that she’d gone the wrong way. The bar was supposed to be only a few blocks away from the café, but the farther she walked, the darker the streets got. She spotted a lit-up street and headed toward it, hoping to make out the sign on the corner and orient herself. She squinted, trying to match up the street name to the one on her phone when a man’s laugh caught her attention. She looked up to find a couple hugging outside the restaurant across the street.

They looked like something out of a movie. The girl was stereotypically beautiful, with long blonde hair, big eyes, and expertly applied makeup. She was dressed head to toe in what looked like designer clothes and high heels, giving her enough height to wrap her arms lovingly around the tall guy’s neck.

The guy had his back to Chloe, but he had broad shoulders and dark mid-length hair. He wore a long teal coat, white trainers, and a white baseball cap, which Chloe knew very well. A chill ran down her spine as the girl lifted her chin and their lips met in a deep, long kiss.

Chloe couldn’t peel her eyes away from the nightmare unfolding before her. She did not want to believe what she was seeing. Could it really be him? A sharp pang pierced her chest, and her eyes welled up.

Carlo.

A painful, burning ball in her throat threatened to choke her, and she finally exhaled a shaky breath she didn’t realize she was holding. The blonde seemed to sense that someone was watching them and caught Chloe staring. She quickly leaned in and whispered something to the guy, and he turned his head in Chloe’s direction.

Time seemed to slow. She saw the way the girl squeezed his shoulders, her lips brushing against his ear as she told him about the woman staring at them across the street. Carlo’s head twisted to look at Chloe.

A jolt of cold panic snapped Chloe out of her trance. She didn’t want to meet his eyes. She didn’t want him to see her. She couldn’t bear it.

Like an animal in panic, she turned and ran as fast as she could in the other direction. Klaxons sounded in her mind, and her chest burned with pain, though it wasn’t from the exercise. Carlo had torn her heart out of her chest, but right now all she could do was run. She had to get as far away as possible.

She heard shouting behind her. It sounded like her name, but she drowned it out, not wanting to turn around. Not wanting to face it. The sound of Carlo’s voice filled her with dread. There was no way she could outrun him. She had to hide.

Chloe took a sudden corner and darted into an alleyway, throwing herself behind a large garbage container. She crouched, trying not to breathe in the horrific smell of rotten waste. Terrified that her loud breathing would give her away, she clamped a hand over her mouth. Her heart drummed so loudly in her ears it felt like it might burst out of her chest any minute. Footsteps thudded past her and disappeared into the distance. Whoever it was didn’t seem to notice her. Chloe sat frozen, leaning against the dirty wall, waiting for it all to pass.

She didn’t know how long she sat there in silence before a mild vibration shook her back into awareness. In a daze, she fished her phone out of her pocket, grateful that it was still on vibrate from work. It was eight-thirty p.m. Carlo was calling. Chloe had another five missed calls—one of them was Stephanie. She scrolled past the others and clicked on Stephanie’s name.

“Hey, Chloe, where the hell are you? Did you get lost?” Stephanie’s apprehensive tone cut through the noisy background in the bar. “You didn’t ditch me, did you?”

At the sound of Stephanie’s voice, Chloe’s hands started to shake, and as if a tap had been opened, tears flooded down her cheeks. She let out a loud sob.

“Chloe! Are you okay?”

Chloe took a deep breath, trying to speak, but she could only let out an incoherent wail.

“Chloe?” Stephanie repeated, her voice full of concern. “Where are you? What happened?”

“C-can you c-come get m-me?”

“Of course, Chloe. Send me your location!” Stephanie demanded without hesitating. “Just don’t hang up. I’ll come get you!”

Hands still shaking, Chloe clumsily pressed the right buttons to send Stephanie her live location.

“I am really close, Chloe, don’t worry,” Stephanie kept on saying. All Chloe could do was sob.

It didn’t take long for Stephanie’s perfume to fill the alleyway. She ran into the dark street, eyes wild with worry. As soon as her eyes spotted Chloe, she slumped on the ground in front of her, not caring about the dirt and puddles.

Stephanie instantly pulled Chloe into a hug and stroked her back soothingly. “Are you hurt?” she whispered.

Chloe’s shoulders shook, and another sob racked her body. Stephanie pulled her tighter. She quickly scanned the alleyway for danger, but seeing no one else there, she relaxed a little.

“What happened, Chloe?” she said gently.

It took Chloe a moment to get the words out.

“I-I saw Carlo,” she mumbled weakly into Stephanie’s hair, and Stephanie stiffened at his name. “H-he was with s-someone e-else…” The last words were barely audible through a new wave of sobs.

Stephanie cursed under her breath and rested her chin on top of Chloe’s head. “Shh,” she soothed her.

Chloe had expected a nasty comment or even a well-deserved “I told you so” since Stephanie never liked Carlo, but none came.

“Let’s go to my place,” she said instead and guided Chloe upward by the arms. Chloe staggered dizzily, the image of Carlo and the blonde woman kissing playing in her mind on repeat. Stephanie gripped her firmly, and Chloe let herself be led out of the alley.

The trip back to Stephanie’s dorm room was a hazy memory. Stephanie had called a taxi and guided Chloe into the car, then led her to her room.

Stephanie’s roommate, Tia, gave her a questioning stare, but she just waved her away and laid Chloe in her bed, bringing the covers up to her chin and climbing in next to her.

Grateful, Chloe nestled into Stephanie’s hug and cried until she passed out.

Chloe woke up feeling like she was hit by a train. Her throat and eyes hurt, and her skin felt tight and sore when she touched it.

Stephanie appeared to have gone out, and Tia was also nowhere to be seen. Chloe was alone. She sat up in Stephanie’s bed, a little confused about where she was at first, but then memories of last night flooded in, and a wave of pain tore through her chest, knocking the air out of her lungs.

Carlo. That heartless, cheating bastard. How could he have betrayed her like that?

Could it be that this man who had gone out of his way to win her love was seeing someone else behind her back?

Tears filled her eyes again, and a mix of unbearable sadness and violent anger overcame her. Unable to handle both, she just sat there and cried, clenching her fists till they hurt.

“You’re going to injure yourself,” Stephanie reprimanded, coming inside the dorm room and setting down a bag on the floor.

She quickly approached the bed and swept Chloe’s hands in hers, scowling at the red marks left by her nails. Chloe looked up at her meekly and didn’t know what to say.

“I took the liberty to block his number,” Stephanie said, handing Chloe her phone. She glanced at the time—11 a.m. already.

“Thank you,” she whispered, impossibly grateful for Stephanie’s friendship. Stephanie smiled at her gently, her dark-green eyes shining with affection. She brushed a strand of long brown hair out of Chloe’s eyes. Chloe opened her mouth to say something, but then her phone lit up in her lap, and she automatically swiped upward.

She looked down at the message that appeared on the screen. Someone had dropped a picture in the group chat. It was a picture of Carlo. Stephanie quickly locked the screen and tried to hide the phone, but Chloe’s hand shot out at lightning speed, snatching it from her hand.

“Chloe, no! You don’t want to see it.” Stephanie reached to grab it back, but Chloe shot her a look.

“Show me,” she demanded in a low voice, and reluctantly, Stephanie took the phone and unlocked it, handing it back to her.

It was Carlo in somebody’s house, his face buried in a girl’s neck. And it wasn’t even the blonde from last night. A number of outraged and mocking messages followed the picture. Chloe glanced up to find that it was the badminton group chat. It made sense that the girls who hung around the sports building would be gossiping about the most popular guy in the basketball team.

She dropped the phone, her stomach sinking like a stone. Carlo had cheated on her, and not just once.

They were over. What they had was gone.