Chapter SEVEN-Are you a goddess?

Married? Janet and Ken? They were married, how possible? Chloe felt a sharp pain in her chest and some sort of dizziness, her heart was heavy like a stone sinking in the sand. “So, you’re telling me, Ken and Janet got married?”

“Yes, it was summer last year. We had a big celebration.” Mrs. Palmer explained her eyes swell with joy. “Ken is such a sweet boy.” She added.

“Indeed,” Chloe mumbled sarcastically. “So how long have you known Ken?”

“Since Janet was in college, he would seldomly come for the weekends and he was such a good boy.” Mr. Palmer said with a small smile as he sipped from his drink, Mrs. Palmer got up in a hurry and rushed inside, she came out almost immediately holding a large folder.

“What is this?” She queried curiously as Mrs. Palmer handed her the folder.

“That is Janet and Ken’ photo album book for the wedding.” She said sitting very close to Chloe urging her to open it. Chloe’s shaky fingers opened the folder and her heart sank when she saw that indeed, Janet had a wedding with Ken. She was dressed in a big white dress and was smiling heavily, Ken was wearing a navy-blue suit, there was a picture where they kissed, another one where he was carrying her, and they both looked so much in love with each other. Chloe’s vision was getting blurred by tears but she was trying to hold it back desperately; it was as though she had stepped on a path full of thorns but the stinging pain was in her heart.

The only thing that came across her mind was a question, and it was, why? Why would Janet or Ken do this to her? She had genuinely loved them both, so, why?

“Chloe, are you okay?” Mr. Palmer was quick to notice the tears that had fallen onto the picture folder, and Mrs. Palmer got up in a rush and hurriedly ran across the room to bring a box of tissues. “Oh my! Honey, I didn’t mean to make you sad.” She apologized, handing Chloe the tissue box.

“Janet had said you were having surgery so you wouldn’t make it to the wedding, she also said you bought her a congratulatory gift. Did you not know she was getting married?”

Chloe shook her head as she wiped the tears that had continued to spill from her eyes.

“I’m not angry,” she claims and lets out a small nervous laugh. “I’ll admit, I’m a little hurt but I’m just happy for her.”

“Just you wait until that child comes, we need to know why she lied.” Mrs. Palmer said, feeling slightly offended by the way Chloe sounded.

Chloe wiped her tears, recalling the reason she came in search of Janet.

Janet and Ken didn’t matter to her anymore, all she needed was her money.

“Do you know why they went to the Himalayas?” she inquired the old folks curiously. “Did they tell you when they’ll be back?”

“You know, Ken is quite a busy man and so the wedding was done in a kind of rush, and they postponed their honeymoon for later.” Mrs. Palmer said and just then Chloe realized.

“So they are in the Bahamas, for their honeymoon?” And they both nodded accordingly. Chloe snapped the folder shut and got up, handing over it back to Mrs. Palmer with a straight face.

“Honey, are you okay?” she pleaded curiously and Chloe nodded, her eyes darting to the antique wall clock that was hung in the opposite direction of where she was standing. “Oh, my God! Look at the time.” She exclaimed nervously. “Mom and Dad, I’ll come and see you some other time. I almost forgot I have a meeting now.” She lied as she headed towards the door, the old folks walked her to the door, and Mrs. Palmer’s eyes saddened a bit. “I was hoping you will stay till dinner, but you are just as busy as Janet says.”

There were a lot of emotions going through Chloe, the most dominant one was anger but no matter how angry she was; she couldn’t take it out on Janet’s parents. They seem clueless about this whole thing already, it’s not their fault they have a shitty daughter. She had known them almost all her life and they are good people.

Reluctantly, Chloe pulls Mrs. Palmer into a brief hug and then moves onto Me. Palmer too.

“I’ll stop by in my free time.”

As the door closes Mr. Palmer wraps an arm over his wife and walks her back to the living room. “I think something is going on between the children.” He said his head hanging downwards like one that is in deep thought.

“You think so too?”

“Don’t you think the same, it’s quite strange Chloe doesn’t know Janet got married last year if you ask me. They have been friends since they were little girls.” Mrs. Palmer sat very close to her husband. “What do you think?” she asked softly.

“It will be a shame if Janet ruins her friendship with Chloe. Chloe is a good child, I’ll just hope that is not the case,”

Chloe wobbled towards her car, got in, and slammed the door shut, her limbs trembling from the shock, she ignited the engine and drove out of Palmer’s family’s residence. Her head was pounding and so was her heart, both her arms and legs trembled from anger and despair as her tear-filled eyes were focused on the road.

“What the hell!” she cursed. Even though she is desperately trying to concentrate on the road her mind keeps wandering off to the thought of ending it all. “Shit!” she cursed again, as she maneuvered the car away from the motorcyclist, turning the wheels abruptly to the right, she gasped in shock when she was able to park the car without hitting the motorcyclist or bumping into anything.

It ended with the motorcyclist swearing at her through the window and a lot of cars honking wildly, she blocked the noise by covering her ears with her hands. After some time, the police came and knocked on the window. Chloe didn't know how long she had been sitting there in the car but judging by the presence of the police, she knew it had been quite some time.

“Good afternoon miss.” One of them said politely and she turned slightly towards them. “As much as we would like you to continue your rest, we are afraid you can’t be parked in the middle of the highway.”

“What do I do, officer?” she asked curiously, and fresh tears made their way to her eyes. “I keep hearing voices telling me to crash the car.”

Both Officers had horrified looks on their faces, and they went silent for a while before they shared a look. “Ma’am, can you drive?” The lady officer asked and she shook her head slowly in response.

“This is serious,” The lady officer commented and pulled her colleague over to the side to have a small chat with him, after some minutes, she walked up to the car again. “Ma’am, do you have someone you can call to drive you home or to the hospital?”

Chloe nodded.

“That’s great, so step outside miss, I’ll drive you somewhere you can wait for that person.” The nice officer lady said and Chloe unstrapped herself and got out of the car, she watched the officer lady get into the driver’s seat before she got in the back.

“Thank you.” She muttered softly, feeling both physically and emotionally drained, the officer ignited the engine and drove the car slowly.

“Hello,” Chloe breathed into the phone.

“You! Sis, Mom has been worried sick, how did the meeting go?” Leona’s voice rang from the other end of the phone, from the sounds of things, she was still at home.

“I need you to come pick up the car,” Chloe stated tiredly, rubbing her forehead.

“Why? Where are you? Are you okay?” Leona asked curiously, worried etched in her voice. “Don’t tell me that bastard did something to you!”

“Leona, I’ll explain later, so come here now. I’ll send you my location as soon as I’m parked.” She said and ended the call, without waiting for Leona’s relentless questions, she sighed loudly and the officer glanced at her from the rear mirror.

“Let me guess, is it a breakup?” The officer lady asked curiously yet sympathetic.

“Something close, I caught my best friend with my boyfriend.” She said yet again drawing another sharp sigh. “I just found out; they had been married for almost a year now.”

“People are trash.” The officer commented, shaking her head, slowing from side to side.

“That’s not all, the bastard duped me, sold my house and now they are enjoying a sweet honeymoon in the Himalayas.” Chloe noticed that somehow suddenly, the heavyweight that was hooded upon her chest was no longer there, talking to this officer had lessened the pain she once felt.

“Now, I’m in a shit ton of debt. I don't know what to do.” Her voice was now breaking at the end. “Officer, I don’t usually do this, but… I’m so exhausted.”

“I can imagine, if anyone should die, it isn’t you. So don’t try to end your life, you can make their lives even more miserable than yours.”

Make their lives miserable? That’s something she could do, but can she do that with Henry Sanderson in expectation of his payment of forty-five million dollars? She doesn’t even have time to make their lives miserable, her life is ruined first. The officer had been long gone, and she kept on pondering her piece of advice, she didn’t know how long she sat there, the car keys in her hands and deep in thought.

She laughs slightly, the frustration that had once disappeared found its way back in. Fuck that, shit! She heard knocks from the window and she gasped, jolting away in surprise. Only to see Leona standing there, gawking at her worriedly.

“Chloe, why were you laughing?” she asked and Chloe glared back. “You should slow down or you’ll lose more screws from that big head of yours.”

Chloe ignores her sister and steps out of the car, surprising Leona by handing her the keys. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll be home late!” she yells back as she hailed a taxi and got in, leaving Leona standing there cluelessly.

Chloe went to the beach, she had been so busy with work and family problems that she had forgotten to relax once in a while, she usually came to the beach to relax with Janet and sometimes Ken but today she wasn’t here to relax, she was here to forget.

In just some days, her life had taken a complete three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn, but negatively. She found out the company wasn’t doing well, she had to retire from the agency earlier, not to mention the scandal. She figures her fiancé was cheating on her with her best friend, and her father owes a loan shark a huge amount of money.

She sat in the cold sand of the beach, holding her shoes next to her, as she gazed into the sea, which was as troubled as she was. She brought out her phone again and made a call to Ken.

“Person you’re trying to reach is unavailable but you can leave a message after the beep.” The machine advised and Chloe paused for a while, waiting for the beep to come and then she decided to leave him a message.

“Ken,” she called softly into the phone. “What were you thinking when you told me you loved me the most? I just found out you sold my house, the one with the agency. I also noticed that I signed those papers myself, I didn’t read them because I trusted you.” She buried her feet into the sand, sniffing quietly, the tears threatening to spill. “I also found out you got married to Janet last year, you look so damn happy in those photos. So, I wanted to ask you, was it fun?” She paused, gazing into the phone, it was still recording her message.

“Was it fun? Ken, you would always praise me, you would always kiss me and tell me how much you loved me, it was so genuine that I had never once doubted how much you loved me. It must be so amusing for a fool like myself to be all over you when you have someone else in your heart.”

This time, it was so easy to stop the tears from spilling and streaming down her face.

“But if there is any motive behind your actions, it would take more than that to ruin me. I don’t care what methods I use, even if I have to make a pact with the devil, I will come for you and burn your happiness right in front of you. I swear on my father’s grave, Ken. I will have your life in my hands” She sent the voicemail, dropping her phone to hug her knees tightly. Now that she had threatened him, she was so relieved, she smiled to herself hoping he would choke on his saliva when he listened to it and died.

But it would be a waste if he were to die just like that.

She spent some more time on the beach and didn’t leave until the sun had dissolved into the sea. She picked up her shoes and walked back towards a local bar. It had been quite some time since she had drinks, and she walked into the bar. It was crowded with mostly men, who sat in groups and were discussing loudly, some of them were singing along to the music, overall, it was lively. She walks towards the counter and takes a seat on one of the stools, the bartender stalks towards her with an empty glass.

“What would you like to have, Miss?” He asked, placing the glass in front of her with a small friendly and welcoming smile.

“Give me the strongest thing you have.” She replied as she scouted through her purse in search of some cash, she gave the tender all the cash she had and nodded at him.

“Oh, my God?” Someone exclaimed slightly from behind, she turned slightly, to be met by a man probably in his mid-thirties, she had never seen him before. “Are you goddess Chloe?”

She gawked at this strange gentleman that knew her so well, he even knew the stage name she goes by when she used to be an idol.

It was almost impossible to meet someone who recognized her.

“Keep your voice down,” she turned around to make sure they weren’t pulling attention. Fortunately, everyone else was just having their drinks and doing what they were doing. The stranger pulled out a stool for himself and sat next to her, the bartender brought out a bottle of wine and handed it over to her; noticing that she had company he brought another empty glass.

“My name is Mario; I have been a die-hard fan of Queen Chloe. I bought all the products and items of yours and I followed you on every social media.” He declared with a happy smug on his face, his eyes shining like gold coins. Chloe rolled her eyes; it has been quite a long time since she met someone who was so religiously invested in her, she hoped he would talk quickly or probably ask for her autograph and just go away and leave her alone.

“I was a bit sad when you quit, I also heard some rumors about you saying you retired because you got a better offer in the pornographic industry.”